What can you never get enough of?
Jasper leans against the railing of the second-floor bar. He laughs at a joke one of his crew makes, but his guard has never been less relaxed. His back is to me, the taut muscles belying his casual demeanor to none but the most stringent observers.
Like me. I’ve memorized every line, every curve, every nuance of his expressions and movements. He’s an open book, to me. A book I was supposed to destroy, but one I don’t want to stop reading. I want to see his story through to the end. I want to be a part of it.
I’m acutely aware of the empty holster at my back. I left my gun behind in my apartment, with my badge, as a symbol of my resolve. The chief would be furious when she found my letter; she had expressed concerns that I was in too deep, that she wanted to pull me out. The commissioner had denied her requests.
Lapis knows I’m the best shot she has at Jasper. No one else has been able to get as close to him as I have. But she never told me the reason she wanted him. She told me he was dangerous. She said he was responsible for over 70% of the crime in our city and that he had connections everywhere. She failed to mention her own connection to him.
Jasper runs a hand through black hair tipped green. He glances over his shoulder and spots me at the base of the stairs. “Jet!” His eyes dance in the strobing lights and he waves me up. If I go up these stairs, I’m really betraying her.
Well, she betrayed me first. My heart is pounding in my chest as I try not to take the steps two at a time. In a few strides, I am at his side and he embraces me tightly. “I thought you wouldn’t come back,” he sighs.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” I tease. “It was only a few days. I had to tie up some loose ends.”
“With my sister, there are always missed threads.” He snaps his fingers at a waiter and points to the table in the corner. The man bows and produces a bottle of champagne and two glasses from nowhere I could see as Jasper takes me by the hand and leads me to his table. “Still, your defection is cause for celebration!”
It feels surreal to be toasting something so dreadful, but Lapis had been wrong about Jasper, and she had been wrong about me. She thought she could use me to her own ends. I’d seen her brand of justice, and I wouldn’t take part in it any longer. “She’ll come for me, now.”
He twirls his champagne glass between his fingers as he watches me sip mine. “I wouldn’t worry about it, man. I’ve lost track of how many times she’s tried to kill me.”
I lean across the table towards him, feeling a devilish smirk pull at my lips. “How can you be sure I’m not still going to try to kill you for her? Maybe I’m lying about my change of heart.”
His eyes narrow slightly. He’s calculating. Weighing my words against the years we spent dancing around each other, getting to know each other, growing to trust each other. He knows I’m joking, but that hesitation thrills me. “You can’t kill me,” he said with a smirk to match my own.
I snort a laugh. “No? What makes you so- “
He leans across the table and kisses me breathless. When he pulls away, his eyes are serious. “You can’t kill me, because you love me.”
My mind is reeling. How did he know? I’d barely realized it myself until a week ago. It was why I resolved to turn turncoat. Because he was right. I couldn’t kill him. I planned on telling him, one day, but not tonight.
He’s still staring at me, expecting a response. I sigh. I couldn’t lie to him. “Yes.” Before it can get awkward, I add, “but after a kiss like that, can you blame me?” I think my joke has worked. He’s laughing. I quickly realize it’s not his usual laugh. He’s manic. “Jas?”
“I can’t believe it,” he cries. “She’s going to be furious. I win again!”
My blood runs cold. “What?”
“That look on your face is priceless,” he grins, baring his teeth. “Seriously, I can never get enough of that look from you. How many times have you fallen for me?”
“How-?” He taps my forehead with his finger and memories pour into me.
Memories of an eternal struggle between two immortal beings. Memories of a hereditary destructive power that could tip the scales in their war. Memories of that power being stolen away. Memories of lifetimes of fighting for one or the other as they tried to gain an edge over the other without that power. Memories of lifetimes of betrayals.
I turn away from the table and vomit on the floor. I thought my mind had reeled before? “What was all that?”
“We’ve been at this for longer than you know,” he said. “We fight on earth. You come after one or the other of us. We all die and start all over.” The smile is gone from his eyes now. “Your lost power could truly kill us, could end the cycle of deaths and betrayals. In the early cycles, one of us found a way to take it from you and lock it away, but we’ve long forgotten who or where.”
“I don’t understand,” I wheeze. My lungs feel like they’ve been pulled through my throat. “Why?” It’s the only question I can think of.
“Why tell you now?” That’s as good a place to start as any. I nod. His face softens. “Because I’m tired of this. I’m tired of the cycles of reincarnations. I’m tired of fighting my sister for the world. I’m tired of her sending the one person I cannot kill after me every single time we reincarnate.” He looks away and I see the truth in his eyes as he whispers the next sentence. After all, I know him more intimately than anyone. “I’m tired of betraying you.”
Notes: Crap. This one got away from me too. I don’t really want to end it here, but it is waaay past my bedtime and I have work in the morning. This started out as a “person thinks they get the drop on their nemesis only to realize they fell into a trap, again” but somehow over the course of several hours morphed into an enemies-to-lovers-soulmates extravaganza? It was supposed to end with Jasper revealing that he’s an evil dickbag who has toyed with this man for-literally-ever but I guess he actually loves Jet too now? Shit man, I dunno. I need sleep. I can’t get enough sleep. For real.
I was planning on writing another prompt tomorrow, but at this point I am gonna be sleep deprived at work and might not make it to writing another one. I guess we’ll see? K. Have a great Wednesday y’all! See you again soon!
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Closet Full of Notebooks 