Page 60 of Into The Green

I shook my head. "You were young and hurt. I don't blame you. My father did have a choice, regardless of what the family said. There is no law saying he couldn't have walked away from my moth... from Opal. That was his own selfishness and you and I know it. It was about the reputation and the money. He could have chosen you. He was young just like you. He made a shit choice. Just like you. I really don't have time for this right now. My sister is in the fucking Dark realm. And my... friend is in Baba fucking Yaga's house having fuck-knows what done to her."

"Done to her?" she asked, brows drawing together. "No one is doing anything to her. Baba Yaga is a wonderful woman who takes care of women who need it."

"She doesn't need it," I snapped. "She needs me. I take care of her."

Alex's eyes twinkled a little then, a smile making her lips twitch. "A friend, huh? Just a friend? What did you do for her to end up here?"

"She was chasing a Will-o'-the-Wisp," I said, stiffening.

"Even so. She never would have gotten past the shield if she wasn't scorned. What did you do?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "I pushed her away. And I stand by that. It was the right decision."

"The right decision, huh? Out of curiosity, was she given a say in this decision or did you just go all bullheaded Winters on her?" She paused for a second. "That's what I thought. I understand that you're stressed and finding Jade is your top priority, but love is never convenient. It never comes when you are prepared for it. It always springs up at the worst possible moment. But that is when you need it most. So pushing it away, Jasper honey, that is just foolish."

"It's not love," I said, shaking my head at the absurdity of that. I barely knew her. True, we had been with each other nonstop and got a pretty damn good idea of each other's rhythms. And we had been through more experiences and stress and turmoil than most actual people in love will in a lifetime, but that didn't mean I loved her. I cared about her safety. I was responsible for her. I respected her stubbornness, bravery, and loyalty. I wanted her, yeah. Hell, I even liked her. But it wasn't love. It was way too soon to even think that word.

"No," Alex said, pursing her lips. "Of course not." She paused, digging her hand into her pocket, producing a small amulet. "I had to start carrying this when I stopped being so jilted by Declan. I wouldn't be able to be on the property without it. It will get you past the wards."

I shook my head at her extended hand. "Don't you need it?"

She snorted. "No. I think I can muster just enough scorn toward him now that I've seen what he has done to our son. There is very little memory of the love we had in the world. You and Jade are all there is. And he marked that. He branded you. He tortured you. Oh, yeah, I got this," she said, her teeth clenched as she shoved the amulet into my hands.

I closed my hand around the amulet, pulsing with power, and took a tentative step over the threshold of the property, waiting for the burning or buzzing, but it never came. Alex smiled at me as I stood fully on the property.

And it was right freaking then that a movement caught my eye and I looked over to find Cece walking around the side of the cottage with a fucking basket slung over her arm, smiling at the bent, wrinkled crone that was none other than Baba fucking Yaga.

"Cece, what the fuck are you doing?" I exploded before I could think better of it.

Cece's smile froze and Baba Yaga's cold gaze found me.

And I had a feeling I was in for a world of shit for being on her land.

And so was my mother.

FOURTEEN

Cece

I started, the smile freezing on my face. Beside me, Baba Yaga had gone positively rigid at the sound of a masculine voice and I was forced to consider that maybe her need to champion women started with her own kind of trauma. What else could possibly explain it? Why would she hate men so much as a whole? Surely she must have known that he was Jasper when he said my name. Why then did she seem so angry at his presence? I had told her he could be coming for me.

In fact, we were just killing time until he showed up. As much as I had genuinely been considering her offer, I knew it wasn't for me. At least, not until I knew Jade was safe. Maybe then I would come back and get some lessons, just so I understood myself and my powers better, could take care of myself, wouldn't need to rely on anyone else. Because, quite frankly, I had no idea what would happen when Jade was found. I was pretty sure Jasper and Jade would hightail it right back into the human realm out of fear of their parents. And while I did crave that safety, that normalcy I had known my whole life, a part of me wanted to understand this whole other world as well. And, Baba Yaga promised me, I could have both. She gave me an open-ended invitation with a little amulet so I could always get onto her land, regardless of my feelings toward men. So I could go into The Green on weekends and then go back and live my little life with Jade on the weekdays.

And Jasper, well, I probably wouldn't ever see him again.

That, somehow, almost made me want to double over in pain.

Then I heard his voice, unexpected, breaking through my excited tour of the grounds so I could collect food to make a soup for myself. Baba Yaga found my steadfast determination not to eat anything but what Jasper, Doyle, or I foraged, amusing she humored me and led me around her yard. It was like a knife to somewhere in my center.

"Hey Jasper," I said a little awkwardly, my brows drawing together at the image of the woman standing beside him, watching the interaction between us with a small smile. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn she was his mother. That was how similar they looked. But Opal was his mother so maybe it was just some relative that I obviously would know nothing about.

"Hey Jasper? Hey Jasper?" he asked, balling up his hands into fists.

"Uncurl those fists, boy," Baba Yaga called, her voice low and vicious. "You shouldn't be trespassing on my property at all, let alone doing it with any anger toward my women."

"She's not your woman," Jasper said, shaking his head. "She's..." he stopped himself abruptly, leaving me to wonder if maybe he was going to say I was his woman. But that was absurd.

"She's on my land, she's my woman. She wouldn't have even been here if it wasn't for you."