Hopeless Devotion ~ A Jasper Hale Story

Chapter Eighteen - Hunt

Jasper's fingers tightened lightly around mine before he tugged me gently toward the window.

Not the door but the window. I slowed automatically. Not because I was scared exactly—more because my brain was still catching up to the reality that launching myself out of a second-story window was apparently a normal activity now.

Behind me, Emmett noticed instantly. "Oh my God," he said dramatically, already grinning. "She's scared."

I whipped around fast enough that the air shifted sharply. "I am not scared," I growled at him

"Sure, sweetheart." Emmett crossed his arms lazily against the doorway. "You just look emotionally attached to solid ground."

Edward sighed somewhere behind him. "Don't encourage her."

"Encourage what? The tiny existential crisis happening right now?"

"I'm going to throw you through a tree," I informed him flatly.

Emmett looked delighted. "There she is."

I took one threatening step toward him—And immediately found myself upside down.

"What the hell—Jasper!"

Jasper's laugh vibrated warmly against my senses as he hauled me effortlessly over his shoulder before I could retaliate. One arm locked securely around my waist while I glared murderously at the back of his shirt. Being mindful of my strength, I hit him in the back, and he kept moving for the window.

"Sorry, darlin'," he drawled, sounding not remotely sorry. "Didn't wanna risk you redecorating the hallway with Emmett."

"I could've taken him."

"Mmhm."

I twisted just enough to look back toward the doorway where Emmett was laughing hard enough to lean against the frame for support.

"You better sleep with one eye open, bear-boy."

Emmett pointed at me immediately. "See? Violent. I was right to block the door."

Then Jasper stepped out the window. The drop barely registered before we landed smoothly in the damp grass below with enough force to crater the ground slightly beneath us. For half a second, an old instinct still screamed that we should both be dead. Instead, Jasper just kept walking casually across the clearing, as if throwing people out windows was a perfectly acceptable mode of transportation.

I smacked his back.

"You absolutely did that on purpose."

"You were hesitating."

"I was adjusting."

"Sure you were."

I narrowed my eyes as he finally set me back onto my feet. The second I was upright again, I shoved his shoulder. Hard. Jasper barely moved. Actually, no—he rocked back maybe half an inch before looking entirely too amused with himself.

"You should've let me show him I'm stronger," I grumbled.

Jasper's grin widened instantly. "Oh, sweetheart, trust me. You'll get your chance."

Something about the promise in his voice made warmth flicker through me automatically. Then he moved. One second, he stood in front of me. Next, he darted backward through the trees in a golden blur. Instinct kicked in before thought. I followed immediately.

The forest exploded around me in impossible detail as I ran. Wind tore through my hair while the ground blurred beneath my feet faster than anything human eyes could've processed. Every scent sharpened instantly—wet earth, moss, river water somewhere ahead, animals moving deeper in the woods.