He grinned widely and nodded. “I’m really glad you’re going to be my future queen. I promise as long as I’m around, I’ll always be your person. I’ll always have your back.”
Lucie smiled at him. “I never doubted your loyalties. I figured for you to be in this position, you must be someone Derrick trusts a lot.”
He smiled. “What I meant was … I’ll always have your back, Lucie. You as in you, not you as in you and Derrick. I just want you to know you can also trust me. And if you ever need anything, I’ll help you, however I can.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me actually. It seems like I may have irritated some of your nobility, huh?” Lucie bit her bottom lip and smiled slightly.
“Don’t worry about it. Amanda needed to be put in her place. She really was trying to cause trouble. She knows how important this treaty is, and even still, she went there. I need to set her straight and?—”
“No.” Lucie’s voice rang firm as she met with Ryan’s amber eyes. “It’s best for you to avoid her at all costs. We can’t afford any more rumors or accidents. After Derrick is back, then you can have your chat with her and let her know how stupid she was being. Then she can know you as Ryan, and whatever happens then can happen.”
“No, I’m done with Amanda. Nothing else will happen there. I can’t ever even entertain someone who would risk putting a wedge in the treaty. What if you had reacted differently? She wanted you to call it off.” Ryan shook his head angrily. “But I understand what you’re saying. We don’t want any more misunderstandings to spread in secret. So I won’t see her privately at all.”
Lucie smiled. “So you wanted to talk about this without Jasper around because you were afraid of his reaction?” She giggled and looked at him curiously. “It seems Jasper has a bit of a reputation here, doesn’t he? The way those women looked and acted … there was real fear in their eyes.”
Something shifted in his gaze. “Jasper isn’t just a strong vampire. He is lethal. And he’s the prince’s right-hand man. NO ONE could even insult the prince without him acting. And I’m not just talking about rebuking. There’s a darkness to his temper, one you don’t want to know. There are two things in the world that have brought this darkness forward.” His gaze held with Lucie’s green eyes. “Derrick … and you, Lucie.”
Lucie remembered Derrick saying something similar back at the cave. He said Jasper had a hard time controlling his temper when it came to who he considered precious. But she didn’treally understand what he meant then … and she didn’t quite get it now.
“So he’s just really protective?” Lucie was trying to understand this better. Aedan and Justice were protective over her too. So what was the difference?
“He almost can’t control himself. It’s like his emotions take over.” Ryan sighed. “You might as well know. Jasper is so invested in you and Derrick that it isn’t a matter of ‘if’ he will kill for you, but ‘when.’ Someone will cross the line, and heaven help them when they do. He isn’t merciful. How he is with you … that’s special. Jasper is a killer, a well-trained assassin. If someone does something to upset you …” He looked at Lucie with a frown. “I don’t know if he could control his rage.” He shook his head. “He can’t control his rage.”
“Well, if I’m there?—”
“Lucie, Jasper would never hurt you. But even if you are there, I don’t know if you can reach him when the darkness takes over. Derrick has had to physically hold him back at times. It’s almost like he blanks out and just reacts.” Ryan chuckled nervously. “That’s why you saw the reactions you did in there, and that’s why?—”
“Why you talked to me about this privately first,” Lucie whispered. It was hard for her to picture Jasper in this light. She had seen how quickly his eyes changed colors when it came to her, but he never seemed unmanageable.
“This isn’t just a Jasper thing though. His father, Jester, was like this as well. Anytime anyone did anything against his brother, he immediately took care of it. It was like he couldn’t help himself. It was the reason he left for as long as he did. He knew he was making things harder on his brother, and that was one person he couldn’t bear to hurt. Somehow he has learned to control his demons better. I don’t know the details, but hedoesn’t react like that anymore. Maybe it just took him time to learn to adjust? Or it’s something else …”
“If it was time, that took him a very long time, right? Like hundreds of years.” Lucie’s eyes widened. What if Jasper decided he had no choice but to leave because of his temper? No. She wouldn’t allow it. She would figure out a way. If she had to subdue Jasper herself, she would. He would never leave them like Jester did.
Lucie went to take a shower as she thought about what Ryan had told her about Jasper. It was weird for him to lose himself so much to almost blank out. Like the rage was controlling him and taking over, almost like it acted on its own, subconsciously. It sounded like her father’s blood potion situation only reversed, in protection. Her chest hurt for Jasper. What an incredible burden he must be carrying, and he never talked to her about it. He should have told her about it. Was he afraid she would look at him differently? She would never. He shouldn’t carry this burden alone. Yes, Derrick knew about it, but she should too, since she was also the cause of his dark anger.
What was the best way to combat darkness? Light. And she didn’t have just an ordinary light now. She was a fairy princess. A very special and unique light in the world. She stepped out of the shower and decided … she would find a way to help Jasper. She wouldn’t know the extent of it until she actually saw him in action, which she hoped she never would. But according to Ryan, it would definitely happen at some point. When it did, she would watch his energy and see exactly what she was dealing with.
CHAPTER 40
As Lucie finished getting dressed, she heard yelling outside of the room. She heard Jasper’s sharp voice and she quickly opened the door, finding Jasper growling in Ryan’s face. Aedan had his hand on Jasper’s shoulders trying to calm him down.
“What is going on?!” Lucie said angrily as she stormed over toward the guys.
“I want to know what that crap with Amanda was about?!” Jasper snarled again as Ryan looked away, avoiding eye contact with him.
“Ryan and I already talked about it, Jasper. It’s all worked out. No need to shout. We can talk about it civilly.” Lucie watched as Jasper’s gaze stayed focused on Ryan. She cleared her throat and gave Jasper a wry smile. “That part was said as your friend. Do I need to give you an order as your princess?”That did it. She watched Jasper’s eyes return to normal and a wide smile spread across his face.
“You going to start ordering me around, princess?” Jasper chuckled with a wide grin on his face.
“It might be fun, yes? Though I’d much prefer you listen to me as your best friend, right? Of course … I don’t know if you deserve best friend status after the crap you pulled.” Lucie watched his face go from angry to happy to that of a wounded puppy. It seemed like more than just his anger was connected to her.
“Lucie, I …” Jasper started but she grabbed his hand.
“Jasper, see? Even you made a mistake, right? And I’m not going to punish you for it. You’re my closest and dearest friend, even if you do screw up sometimes.” Lucie smiled. “So have a seat and we’ll talk about this whole Amanda issue.”
Aedan chuckled and plopped down on the couch. “Better do what Mom says or you’re going to get hurt.”
Jasper smiled. “Alright, Lucie. I’m calm. You can let go of my hand now.”
