Selcouth • J. Hale ✓

xliv.

chapter forty-four.

Jasper felt it before he knew.

As they were heading home, Jasper felt the dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. He felt as if he had never ran so fast in his life to get home and while his family questioned him, he couldn't explain it.

When he made it home, his heart sunk at that fact that Karina's car was gone. His eyes narrowed into slits as he stormed into Edward's room. Bella jumped and Edward looked frightened as Jasper wrapped his hand around his throat and pressed him against the wall.

"You were supposed to be watching her!" Jasper snarled and tightened his hold on Edward's neck.

Edward's eyes widened as he heard the cracking, "It wasn't my fault."

Jasper snarled again and tossed Edward across the room and into the wall. Thankfully not enough to break it as Esme would have his head. "Bullshit! You've never cared about her and never once showed that you would protect her. We're all helped when it came to Bella and now that my mate is in danger too, you ignore it and focus on her."

Bella gulped and wanted to disappear, "Karina's pregnant!" She rushed out and Jasper looked at her like she was crazy. "It's why she ran, go to your room and check."

Jasper wanted nothing more than to tear Edward to pieces and Edward tensed as he heard Jasper's thoughts. With one last glare, Jasper went to his room and found the note and pregnancy stick on his bed.

"I didn't hear her leave, I swear." Edward spoke up from behind Jasper, but Jasper was in shock. "We spoke and I even apologized to her."

His dead heart sunk to the pit of his stomach, and he had never hated himself more than in that moment. He had caused this, he did this to her.

Bella then joined and explained that for some reason, Edward didn't hear Karina's car and even believed that she was still here. Jasper already knew why though, and Bella knew it as Jasper clenched his jaw.

Jasper pulled out his phone and began to call Karina, numerous time but each time it just rang before hitting voicemail. He was slowly falling apart with each fail attempt, and he could hear his family downstairs talking about this, but he didn't care.

Finally, on what was going to be his final attempt, Karina answered. "Hello?"

Jasper almost sighed in relief. "Karina, where are you? What's going on?" He was so worried as he started pacing.

"I'm sorry." Karina said and Jasper shook his head.

"No, look just come home darlin'. Come back." He pleaded and Jasper could hear the prolonged silence approaching. "I know about the baby." He told her.

There was a pause before she spoke again, "What?"

"Bella heard you leave and for some reason, Edward didn't. Since I read the note, I know that you used your unstable gift, that I know that you're in bardo from Victoria's venom and I can fix all of this. But Bella found the test and that makes it harder but," He took a deep breath and started pacing, "Come home so I can fix this, Rina."

"How would you do that, Jas?" Her voice was small, and it was trembling slightly.

"By taking that out of you before it kills you and giving you my venom, so you won't die." He told her and there was no hesitance in his voice.

Jasper just wanted her back in his arms where he knew that she was safe. It killed him to think that he had signed Karina's death sentence with this. He just needed her to be here.

"And that's the problem." She whispered and Jasper knew that she wasn't going to come back.

"Karina, please, you could die!" He slightly shouted and he didn't care that someone had now entered the room.