Page 45 of Shifting Hearts

TWELVE

Jas

S ummer slipped into fall and though Jas and Brock made a formidable team, hunting the missing duke.

“You’ve known him for hundreds of years. Think.”

Jasper ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “There is a bond that forms between a vamp and his or her sire. As a member of his line I’m privy to certain knowledge, but there are things even I never knew.”

“What about my sister?” the angel demanded.

He crossed his arms, shielding himself as the separation from Seraphina had taken its toll. He needed to prioritize her healing as he’d caused her enough harm. As a member of his line, the truth behind his transformation was revealed to her.

He’d found her in the shower with her broken wings wrapped around her, as her soulbreaking sobs echoed off the tile.

The steam rose around her like a dancing manifestation of her sorrow.

He stripped off his clothes and joined her, holding her against his broad chest..

He bathed her and washed her hair, as she blinked through her tears.

It broke his heart to watch her suffer in silence, locking herself away from the world. He promised that he would take her and show her all the colors and beauty outside the city. She deserved more than the walls of his penthouse and Conramor headquarters.

For the first time, Jasper’s choices had real consequences. He couldn’t remain indifferent. His heart would beat for her until the end of time.

“Jasper Conrad didn’t have a soul to save. Seraphina offered me salvation and I spat in her face. I treated her shamefully and she almost died to bring me back from the very depths of Hell. I don’t deserve her.”

“Don’t you think she deserves consideration. Maybe instead of making demands, you should ask her what she desires.”

“How can I when all roads with me lead toward damnation.”

The angel shook his head. “I’ve seen evil. You made detestable choices for which Hell is the place you belong. However, you received a chance at redemption. Instead of trying to make it up to my sister, you’re here.”

“I thought you didn’t like me?”

“You’re damn right. But I love my sister.

The man who turned you into a monster tried to destroy her and you nearly died to protect her.

In a way that earns my respect.” The corner of his lip rose as he shrugged one shoulder.

“Evil wears many faces. I was in that club and failed to recognize the danger. I share the responsibility as I’d let my guard down.

“The pain an angel experiences as they lose their innocence is unlike any other. I watched one sister go through that. Now I’m watching the other suffer.”

“We’re both after the man who hurt them. I won’t stop hunting him.”

Brock crossed his arms as he weighed the vampire’s words.

“If you hurt my sister again, you will face my wrath.”

“I’ll never hurt her again,” he vowed.

“Don’t make promises to me. Tell her.”

Jasper touched his gaunt cheek. He’d aged since he stopped eating, and only his mate’s blood could sustain him. He could drain an entire football team without satisfaction. His unkempt beard was coarse beneath his fingers as he scratched his chin.

He pulled out the electric trimmers and cleaned the line as tiny dark curls fell onto the counter top. He brushed them into the wastebasket once he was done before pulling out the straight razor.

Jasper brought the cold steel to his neck to clean up the line. Muscle memory guided his movements as his mind drifted to his angel. Her pleas pulled him back into his darkest moments. Without her by his side, he relived his worst moments repeatedly.

“Fuck,” he hissed as his hand slipped, slicing deep into his neck.

Blood poured rapidly from the wound, making him woozy as he grabbed a towel and applied pressure to stop the hemorrhage.

He slipped on the slick tile and grabbed onto the counter to steady himself, but missed and fell backward.

He slid down the wall, coming to rest as it became difficult to keep his eyes open.

This state was only temporary as his body would repair itself, but in order to heal quickly, he would need to feed. He planned to see Seraphina that afternoon, but going to ask for her blood wasn’t how he’d planned to spend their precious time.

He remained shaky as he bandaged the wound and chose a purple ascot beneath his open collar.

His lips remained pale as he called for a car to take him to Seraphina’s apartment.

He wasn’t stable enough to drive. If he passed out behind the wheel, who knows the carnage that would cause, aside from totalling a hundred thousand dollar sportscar.

The driver stopped at a florist so he could purchase a bouquet for Seraphina. When the florist asked what kind of blooms to include, he found himself unsure what her favorite color or flower were. Jas barely knew her at all.

He’d sought to gain the upper hand against her by exercising control. In his bid for domination, he’d failed to understand anything honest about her. What a fucking travesty.

The bouquet was a unique blend of dandelions, moonflowers, night-blooming cereus, primrose, and celestial lilies, chosen for their astral association as celestial blooms. With his sun sensitivity, observing night-blooming flowers seemed romantic.

Knowing she was a vegetarian, he ordered a vegetable sushi roll with white rice for dinner. For dessert, he brought something he’d made himself, bourbon infused chocolates. It was a recipe he’d perfected a hundred years prior.

When he arrived, Mara answered the door.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

“I was hoping to spend some time with your sister. If she’s amenable to the idea.”

“Hmph.” If her scathing look could kill, he’d be buried and turned to ash by now.

“I understand that you’re protective of Seraphina. She’s lucky to have you. I’m sorry for everything you’ve gone through. I’ll apologize to her every day for the rest of my life. Whatever she needs.”

“And if she asks you to go fuck yourself and leave her the hell alone? Will you just show up like you did today with an arm full of crap?”

He nodded. “I deserve that. It’s complicated.”

“You can say that shit again.”

He sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to make excuses.”

“Mara, let him in,” Seraphina called from the hall. Her voice made his heart race.

“I’m watching you,” Mara hissed.

He expected nothing less as she stood aside to let him in. After walking up the stairs and standing in the door, he became lightheaded.

“Take these,” he grumbled as he shoved his wares into Mara’s arms.

A moment later he was on the floor.

“Of all the thoughtless shit.”

“He’s hurt, Mara.”

“So are you!” she seethed. “This is manipulative, and I won’t have him in this house.”

“For what it’s worth,” Brock began. “I don’t think him fainting in our living room was intentional.”

“Sure, take the side of your new buddy.”

Brock huffed, “You forget my abilities. I’m telling you, I’ve read him repeatedly. I truly believe he cares for Sera. He understands he fucked up. We have to trust our sister’s judgment. If this man is her soulmate, we can’t stand in their way.”

“I don’t like this. Vampires are insidious creatures.”

“You’re telling me,” Jas interrupted their conversation. “If I may speak in my defense. I know I fucked up. I was hoping to spend the evening with Seraphina.”

“You came for her blood, you dirty twisted, bloodsucker.”

“Calling me a bloodsucker is offensive to my kind,” he stated flatly.

Seraphina moved closer to him. “Enough, Mara. Please stop fighting. It hurts me when those I love are at odds with each other.”

“Love?” Mara fumed. “You don’t even know him!”

“You need to back off so I can.”

“Enough!” Brock roared. “I invited him to spend movie night with us.”

It had been a long time since Jas had engaged in something so seemingly mundane. Their bickering was frustrating, but he was glad to know that underneath it, their hearts were in the right place. They loved each other and that fierce protectiveness was merely an expression of it.