Chapter 124: A Burden & A Friend

Elara:

The woman tried pulling me forward. "Princess, we need to move."

I ripped my arm from her grasp. "Where is Jasper?" My voice broke.

She looked toward the jacket in my hands and then back at me, her expression suddenly tense. "He must have been separated when the portal closed. But don’t worry about him. Jasper can keep himself safe. Right now, we need to get you inside the academy’s wards first, Princess."

"No." I shook my head violently. "No, he was right there." I turned in a frantic circle, clutching the bloodied jacket against my chest. His absence and the blood staining the jacket was portraying painful images in my mind.

"Jasper!" I screamed into the darkness. "Jasper!"

Crazy darted around my feet, voicing the same words as the woman, but I barely noticed. I didn’t notice the academy towers in the distance. I didn’t notice that we hadn’t returned to the secluded house at all. I didn’t notice the faint glow of Moonveil’s protective wards at the distance. All I could think about was that Jasper was still on the other side of that portal, surrounded by more than a dozen masked men, and somehow I had come through without him.

"Jasper!" I screamed again, my voice cracking completely. "Jasper, where are you?"

The woman grabbed me once more, desperately trying to pull me toward the academy’s safety, but I fought her. I couldn’t leave. Not without him. Not after he had risked his life to protect me. Not after he had taken a risk by taking me to the human realm.

Panic consumed every rational thought in my head. I was just about to tear myself free and run, when two strong arms suddenly wrapped around me from behind and pulled me to a complete stop.

I froze, my breath caught somewhere in my throat. I knew those arms. I knew that warmth. Slowly, almost afraid that moving would make it disappear, I turned my head.

And there, standing behind me, was Jasper.

I didn’t even get the chance to speak. The moment he appeared, he grabbed my arm with one hand and reached for Crazy with the other. My familiar didn’t hesitate for even a second and practically launched himself into Jasper’s waiting arm and curled against his chest as Jasper turned and started running toward the academy wards.

"Move," he ordered, and there was something in his voice that made me obey without questioning it. My legs carried me after him as quickly as they could, the cold night air cutting across my face while the distant glow of the academy wards grew closer with every step.

The woman followed close behind us, and barely a few seconds later, the four of us crossed the invisible boundary. The sensation was almost imperceptible, but I felt the magic settle over my skin the moment we entered the protection of the Academy.

Jasper didn’t stop until we were several steps inside. Only then did the tension finally leave his shoulders. He lowered Crazy carefully, allowing him to jump back into my arms, and immediately turned toward the woman.

"Don’t go back to your house tonight," he said firmly. "Head to Princess’ cottage and stay there until morning. Master Brown is already there, so you’ll be safe."

The woman nodded, but Jasper’s gaze shifted toward me. "If that’s alright with you."

I blinked, surprised that even now, after everything that had happened, he had remembered to ask for my permission before sending a stranger to my home. "Yes," I said quietly.

The woman thanked us and immediately headed toward the direction of the cottage, disappearing among the trees surrounding us.

The moment she was gone, Jasper turned toward me, but my attention had already fallen to his arm. My breath caught when I noticed the huge gash stretched from his shoulder almost to the top of his elbow. Blood had soaked through his dark shirt, running in slow streaks down his arm. I stared at it in horror. "You are badly hurt."

He glanced down as though he had forgotten the wound existed before looking back at me. "It’s nothing."

"Nothing?" I stared at him incredulously. "Jasper, you are bleeding."

He stepped closer, apparently intending to check whether I had been injured instead, and that only made something inside me snap.

"Stop looking at me like that," he said, his expression becoming stern again. "You are fine. That’s what matters." Then, as if the dangerous experience we had just survived wasn’t enough, he decided this was the perfect moment to scold me.

He told me I should have listened when he ordered me to leave, that I couldn’t keep putting myself in danger because I was worried about him, and that if he ever told me to run again, I needed to run without thinking twice.

"You don’t get to decide that your life is worth less than mine," he said firmly. "If I tell you to leave, Elara, you leave. Your safety comes first."

I looked from his bleeding arm to his eyes, my own vision blurring with unshed tears. "I know," I whispered. "I know I’m a burden to you when things become dangerous."

His expression changed immediately. "That’s not what I meant."

But I shook my head and stopped him. "I know I’m not ready, Jasper. I’m not even close. I can barely control my magic, and I certainly can’t protect myself, let alone help you when someone is trying to kill us." My voice trembled despite my attempt to keep it steady. "I know that staying beside you in such situations might make things more dangerous. I know that if you tell me to run and I refuse, I could make it harder for you to protect me." I swallowed painfully before meeting his eyes. "But you can’t do this."

He frowned. "Do what?"

I stepped closer, tears finally slipping free. "You can’t make me lower my walls around you, Jasper. You can’t spend weeks becoming someone I trust, someone I can talk to, someone who sits beside me when I’m falling apart and lets me cry without asking me to stop. You can’t become my friend and then expect me to pretend I don’t care about you when you are standing in front of facing danger."

His face went completely still at my words. Something softened in his eyes, something almost painfully vulnerable, as though hearing me call him a friend had affected him far more than I had intended.

I wiped at my cheek and continued quietly, "I’m not that kind of person. I can’t just walk away while someone I care about is in danger because I’m afraid I might make things harder for them. Maybe someday I’ll be strong enough to protect myself. Maybe someday I won’t need anyone to save me. But until then, don’t ask me to leave you behind as though I wouldn’t care what happened to you."

For a moment, neither of us said anything. Jasper’s expression remained softer than I had ever seen it, and I had the strange feeling that he was trying to find words to say.

I didn’t give him the chance. My eyes dropped toward the blood still soaking his shirt, and I sighed. "We are inside the academy wards now. We are safe. So instead of arguing about what I should have done, let’s get your wound treated before you bleed all over the academy grounds."

He opened his mouth, probably preparing another argument, but a calm voice suddenly came from behind us.

"I’m afraid that might not be possible, Princess."

* * *

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