Ever So Lightly- Book 1

24

"I don't like it."

Jasper pushed a hanging branch aside as he followed Bennet into the woods. He broke a smaller branch of to fiddle with as he walked. They were on guard duty for the night and were slowly circling around the camp in an attempt to head off any intruders before they reached the makeshift tents and bedrolls.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Bennet responded, keeping his voice low.

"Why would Houndsley let him go? Why would he want to go? He's been Lorelei's minion for years." Jasper couldn't keep the bitterness from seeping into his words.

"We'll just have to keep tabs on him. I don't think he's much of a threat with that gash on his leg, but it's shallow and will heal quickly." Bennet paused. "I definitely think he's up to something." Jasper only huffed a breath out as he nodded in ascent.

Then men continued their rounds in silence, Jasper's mood growing more foul by the minute. The falling temperature didn't help. After several unseasonably warm days, this night was clenched in the icy cold grip of winter. Jasper glowered at the air in front of him, his breath swirling in his face. He couldn't stop thinking about what a terrible idea it was to let Kade travel with them, but Zephyr seemed to have her heart set on helping the man. When he and Bennet had left camp she had been checking under Kade's bandages for signs of infection.

Jasper snapped the branch.

Bennet let out a small chuckle. "You're wound tighter than one of Saria's curls." Jasper looked at the broken twigs in his hand for a moment before tossing them aside. He shoved one hand in his pocket and rested the other on the pommel of his sword.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain woman would it?" Bennet's voice was teasing and his eyes gleamed with mischief in the moonlight. Jasper threw a glare in the other man's direction and walked faster. Bennet increased his pace to catch up before starting in again.

"I wouldn't worry about having any competition, at least not from him. She isn't going to be trusting Kade any time soon. Stars, the only reason she trusted us was because she had to." Bennet's tone changed a bit with that last statement and Jasper turned toward his friend at last. Bennet's face had gone from cheerful to serious, a somewhat rare change. Jasper waited for him to continue.

"I think you should be careful, Jas," Bennet said. Jasper's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond but Bennet held up a hand to stop him.

"Hear me out. It's pretty obvious that you're smitten." Again, Jasper made an attempt at protest, but promptly gave up when Bennet gave him a bored stare. "We've been friends for what? Twelve years? I know when you're smitten. You get this look, where your mouth turns up a bit at the corners and your eyes go all squished."

"I smile." Jasper gave Bennet his first eye roll of the evening.

"Smile! Yes, that's it. More specifically, you smile at the object you're smitten with. In this case, Zephyr."

Stars above, Jasper couldn't even hear her name without his pulse giving a start and his face warming. Not that he would ever admit those things to Bennet.

"Okay, so are you planning to circle back to why I need to be careful?"

Bennet clapped a hand on Jasper's shoulder.

"Ah. Yes. That." Bennet's tone once again had a layer of seriousness to it. "You're as much family to me as my ma and Lyra. I don't want to see you get hurt. And I really don't want to see Zephyr get hurt."

"Neither do I." Jasper's voice was solemn as he glanced up toward the moons hanging in the veil of blackness above.

"She's been through a lot, Jas. I don't think now would be a good time for any declarations of love."