The Last Protector

Chapter 8

Jasper pov

Kalia led me to a silver and small VW Golf, and I slid into the passenger seat, throwing my bag in the back as she sat in the driver's seat. It was cramped, and I tried to pull the chair back as far as it could, still having to tuck my long legs up as she started the car and started driving. “So can I ask you now?” I asked her, my patience waning.

She clicked her tongue at me again and I cringed, remembering how she used to do that all the time before she stopped being around us. “Life is forever for us, Jasper. Just take time to relax, enjoy it. Have you ever even been to Iceland before?” She asked me.

I sighed, a loud sigh, but she ignored it, waiting patiently for my reply. “No, I tend to ignore the colder places so I don’t have to wear this ugly s**t,” I told her.

She chuckled, tugging on her own fur coat. “It can be pretty enjoyable once you get used to it. Like wearing a hug everywhere you go.” She said with a grin. “Don’t you like hugs, Jasper? Or are you too cold of a person to like hugs?” She teased.

“I’m not in the mood for teasing, Kalia. I want to get the information I’m seeking, I need to get back home.” I said to her. It felt weird being so far from Grayson, as confusing as Hell that I felt that way. At this point even if my father did dismiss me from my duties of watching the packs, I wouldn’t be able to be in London anymore…it would be too far away.

“I do keep tabs on everything going on, even if I don’t come out of my island. I heard about what was going on recently.” Kalia said. I nodded, I already knew that. That’s why I was shaking down people. As the third vampire ever created, she was almost as important as my parents. All of the first five vampires are, the elders. There had been ten altogether, but over the centuries a few have died, leaving me, Kalia, my parents, and one more, Daniel. He was best friends with my father growing up, and remains at his side even to this day. “I know your father is forcing you to watch a pack filled with protectors, to watch for the daughter. Some say there’s a prophecy involved, and that this daughter will be the last one. The final deciding point between the end of the moon or the start of a new era.” I nodded, but didn’t speak, I could hear in her voice that she wasn’t finished. “How are you out here searching for me if you’re supposed to be watching the pack? Won’t you be in trouble for abandoning your post?” She asked me.

I sighed, shaking my head no. “Father forced me to drink human blood to test my loyalty for him, even though he promised before he’d never force me to drink it again. So as his apology for doing what he wanted, he’s allowed me a vacation.” I replied to her.

“I’m sure he assumed you’d be going to London, your favorite place in the world.” She said, studying me out of the corner of her eye as she drove. I bit my lip, remembering the dreams, the dreams of her, and our secret spot. “So, why is it that you came to find me instead?” She asked as we pulled into a driveway.

I sighed, glad we were finally past the niceties and to the reason I was here, to begin with. We got out of the car and she started walking away from the house, instead of towards it. Confused, I followed her, walking along a trail that lead towards a loud roaring noise. We arrived at another place that people could park a car, and I looked up in wonder at all of the waterfalls. She wasn’t finished though, and we started to walk up a trail, to the top. I could feel the spray of the water hitting the rocks and rising into the air as I followed her. Of course, neither of us was out of breath, but as we walked up a couple was walking down, taking periodical stops to catch their breath. They called out hellos to Kalia and she waved at them, walking past them. It was a good 10-15 minute walk up to the top. There had been only one car parked down there so I wasn’t surprised when we walked up to the top that it was empty now. Welcome to the Dynjandi – Westfjords.” She said with a soft smile.

I stared down in wonder, the beauty of the waterfalls was indescribable, even for me. Even in the dark, it was breathtaking, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like in the early bright morning sun. I shivered, turning to look at Kalia as she studied my expression. She understood it well, she was older than I was. “What we wouldn’t give, to have a day in the sun once more,” she whispered, a deep sadness creeping into her voice. I nodded, not saying a word, not needing to. The secret all of us vampires have, after so many years of playing around as powerful hunters of the nights. In the end, we all grew up, in the end, and the crushing reality of what we want, was what we had from the start. Except for Kalia and me. We never wanted to be vampires, to begin with.

“Have you heard of a Vârcolac?” I asked her after a pause. She looked at me, and I could tell by her expression and the gasp she let out that while she has been informed I was looking for her, she didn’t know why.

“Jasper, what have you gotten yourself into now?” She asked, a whisper in her voice. It was a good thing we were vampires, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to hear each other over the roar of the waterfalls. It made sense as to why she brought me here, where we couldn’t possibly be overheard.

I looked at her, studying her face. “You’re someone I trust, Kalia. It’s rare, there are not many others. Please tell me I can trust you, that you’re still against my parents.” I asked her, a plea in my voice.

If she was on their side, I’d I couldn’t trust her any longer, I didn’t know what I’d do. I’d have nothing, nothing at all. Her eyes darkened as she took a deep breath, her anger spiking for a moment as she took a deep breath. “Jasper. Ever since they tricked me, I’ve never been on their side. And I would be questioning you, but I heard…I heard about the most recent events. The girl…and then the boy.” She whispered. “What were their names? I can’t remember anymore.” She asked, her eyes searching me.

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I closed my eyes. I could see her, the long wavy blond hair, her piercing green eyes, the same color as Zain’s. I could see him, his light brown hair, always sticking up in the strangest of ways, his blue eyes, soft and forgiving. “Her name was Miri, and his name was Elijah,” I said with a frown, wishing I didn’t have to remember.

She nodded, understanding passing through her eyes. “You know, when your mother turned me, I had a lover. He was very understanding, and he never left me. I stayed with him, the rest of his life. Loving him despite his aging body, taking care of him when he was too weak and old to take care of himself. I stayed with him until his last breath, and I’ll never forgive your mother for forcing me to stay like this. If it wasn’t for you, I would have taken my own life. I had to stay, for you. Because we were the same, Jasper. We were both forced into a life we never wanted.” She said.

I knew why she told me. Wanting me to understand that she knew what I was feeling, what I had gone through. Losing people I love, she did as well. It wasn’t fully the same though. Her love died a long life, and mine, they both died by my hands. I looked down at my hands, shuddering as I remembered the past. The way Miri’s green eyes looked at me with such pain, before fading away. The way Eli’s eyes held such forgiveness, a smile on his face as he drew his last breath. It wasn’t the same, not even close.

“It was a long time before I had another lover. Theresa, I met her a century later. She reminded me so much of my husband, before we split up. Over the centuries there’s been a small few.” She said with a soft smile.

“And this current one?” I asked her, raising my eyebrow at her. She turned sharply to look at me, her eyes piercing into me. “I won’t tell, Kalia. You know they can’t read my mind. There are quite a few things that I have hidden from them.” I told her.

“How did you know?” She asked sharply.

I shrugged, looking at her. “I noticed the boots on the front porch. There was a large set, for a man, a smaller set, for you, and two kid-sized sets for children. The type of thing that’s common for a family that doesn’t want to get their floors dirty.” I said to her. “How do you have children? Are they his?” I asked her.

“I need a secret that your parents don’t know. Leverage.” She told me with a frown. “In case you try to tell about my family, I’ll have something to tell them.” She told me sternly.

I rolled my eyes at her, grinning. She always was like this. “I’m friends with two of the current protectors,” I told her.

She sighed, shaking her head no. “That’s nothing new. You befriend the protectors all the time, it’s how you were able to get close to the Elijah boy. In the end, they die, and you move on, and befriend more. Give me something bigger than that.” She told me with a pout.

It was funny, seeing the girl that used to love the same things my mother loved, the dresses and the shoes, become so different from her. She was so much more frown than my psychotic mother, and for the thousandth time in my life, I wished she was my mother instead. “Okay, fine,” I said with a grin, happy to reveal how stupid my father is. “Father kidnapped recently a boy and a girl. He believed the boy was the shifter protector and had him killed. I let him believe he was the shifter protector, even though he wasn’t. The shifter protector is still alive, and stronger than any other shifter protector from before. Oh, and the girl ripped out father’s eyeball. That part wasn’t a secret but I love saying it.” I said with a chuckle.

She stared at me with wide eyes, humor radiating through them. “I heard he lost his arm a couple of years ago, but now his eye as well? And the protector, how did that happen?” She asked, curious.

“Well, I befriended the strange child before we knew he was the protector. One of their friends was wearing his clothes, had a dark hair color and piercings, and only me and a vampire that was killed knew the truth. So I simply told father the boy was the protector, and he believed me.” I said with a shrug.

“I heard about the kidnapping, he was very proud of the death of the shifter protector. So, the boy that was killed. I guess he was just a death that was unnecessary. He was the one your father forced to drink’s blood, right? How are you still friends with the protector if you killed his friend?” She asked me, curious.

I sighed, running my fingers through my damp hair, damp from the spray of the water from the roaring waterfall beside us.

Now we were getting into the reason I was here, finally. “Because, the boy didn’t die,” I said simply, even though I was fairly sure If he did, Jaiden would still like me, that strange child. He would have blamed it all on my father, when I wouldn’t have deserved his forgiveness.

She stared at me, her eyes piercing into me, reading me. “He’s why you’re here.” She said, watching me nod. “That’s why you’re asking about a Vârcolac.” She stated, watching me nod again. She groaned, looking up at the night sky. “Jasper, what have you gotten yourself into now?” She asked me with a sigh.

“So, does that mean it’s real? That it…exists?” I asked her, watching her.

She lowered her head, the wind whipping at her hair, pushing her braids around her body. “Jasper, when will you learn? In the end, all of the stories are true.” She whispered, her voice sounding eerie in the swirling wind. “Every single one of them.”