Page 48 of Into The Green

"Learned from the best," I snapped back, snatching all the herbs and tying their strings together as they finished up. "Where did Onyx go?" I asked, sure to direct it to Doyle even though I didn't look his way.

"He bounded off right before sunrise. Figured he was hunting. We can get moving though. He will sniff us out."

Not really having a counter-argument, except maybe my aching ankle, I nodded and fell into step behind them. If Jasper could walk around with half of his body torn open, I could hobble on my likely-twisted ankle.

About half an hour into the walk, that wasn't the only thing bothering me. With nothing else to do but pay attention to my aches and pains thanks to the stubborn silence of my companions, everything was starting to hurt. My ankle, my face, my ribs.

An image of Doyle popped into my head, reaching for the hem of my dress. Up ahead of me, I was sure I saw Jasper stiffen, as if he was mentally eavesdropping again. And, maybe it was the ultimate of petty of me, but I let that image linger, I focused on it until it was bright and crisp. I dug deeper in slow motion as he lifted my skirt and gently ran his fingers over my skin. Then I let the moment linger after, when he was just giving me an intense look.

Then I shut that shield back down, sealing Jasper out.

Let him think what he would like about that. Let him wonder if it maybe went beyond that, if maybe something had happened between us. Doyle was, after all, good looking, charming, sweet, and sexy.

And maybe I was willing to use that to my advantage so I didn't feel quite so embarrassed about what happened with Jasper and about what I had, maybe, started to think it meant before he squashed that all to hell.

"Hey Doyle?" I called, just a little coyly.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" he asked, smiling his usual charming smile over his shoulder at me. It was a smile that Jasper would see differently now.

"Why don't you come back here and keep me company?" I suggested.

Doyle jogged backward to me, bumping his shoulder into mine. "Whatever the lady wishes," he said with a wink.

This wasn't a game I would normally play. I wasn't that kind of girl- petty, vengeful. Maybe it was the mix of adrenaline, fear, anxiety, danger, hunger, and exhaustion. Maybe it was just the fact that I was sick and freaking tired of having people yank my chain. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I liked Jasper. It was stupid of me. He was at the top of the list of bad choices. One, because he was the brother to my best friend which always automatically made him off-limits. Two, he wasn't my type. Three, he was a jerk.

"There," Jasper said, pointing to the left, head tilted like he heard something.

"Well," Doyle said, rubbing his hands together with a wicked smile, "let's go get to work, shall we?" he asked and bounded into the clearing.

I smiled for a second, finding his enthusiasm charming, before I remembered about him cheating on Jade.

"Hey," Jasper said, watching me.

"What?"

"He's part nymph, Cece," he said as if that explained everything.

"Um... okay?"

"In the human realm, he's great. He was the best boyfriend Jade ever had. He loved her like nothing else in the world."

"If he loved her so much," I cut in only to have him cut me off.

"The problem is, he has family in The Green that he keeps in touch with. So, occasionally, he has to come back in for celebrations. So when he crosses over the border, his urges start up. The longer he's here, the harder it is for him to control them. In the human realm, he was faithful to Jade. Here, he really couldn't control it."

"That's why Jade doesn't hate him," I said, understanding. "She understood that he couldn't control it."

"But it didn't take away the betrayal," Jasper agreed. "They still love each other. They probably always will. But Doyle can't change and Jade can't live with that heartbreak every time he needs to visit here."

I nodded, swallowing past the sudden lump in my throat, suddenly bone-deep sad for the both of them. Jade, because she was so worthy of the best. Doyle, because I knew he could give that to her. But they couldn't have it.

"Let's go," Jasper said, voice hard again.

"Happily. Hell, I'd rather subject myself to a bikini wax from Edward Scissorhands than stand here with you for another second." With that, I charged into the meadow clearing, stopping suddenly beside Doyle who was just standing there grinning.

Because the nymphs, yeah, they were straight out of a John William Waterhouse painting. Meaning, that they were stark freaking naked, every last one of them. It was T&A&P everywhere.

"T and A and P?" Jasper asked, standing to my side, brow raised.