5. Evie

five

Evie

I was sleeping when a faint rustling drew me from my sleep. Pulling one eye open into a slit, trepidation budded in my chest when I searched for the noise. The fire had waned into nothing more than glowing embers and smoky haze, but it was enough to make out the shadow of Jasper sitting up. Seeing the noise was only him, I calmed until I noticed he was holding out a tattered piece of paper and tilting it toward the light while seemingly deep in thought.

Just as I had suspected. He had the stolen treasure map!

I had guessed it had been in that satchel he'd been guarding all day. Men were always so weird about their possessions, but he had been hypervigilant. Especially since he had taken the care to save it from the shipwreck. Even though I now had my suspicions about him being the thief confirmed, I was unafraid.

There was something about this moment, being so close to him, and being able to study him when he had no idea, that felt sacred. Jasper was intriguing to me. He had his mysterious ways, yet he was obviously caring because he had gone out of his way to go along with my amnesia skit even though I could tell he was totally uncomfortable, and terrible at lying. The poor guy was nearly trembling when I leaned my chin on his arm. If he had wanted to hurt me, he would have done it by now, and he sure wouldn't have gone out of his way to find me after the boat crashed.

Those thugs I had seen on the docks were bad dudes. Everything, from the way they spoke of murder, and revenge, to how filthy gross they were. I felt it in my core just being near them, but Jasper didn't give off any dark vibes. Oddly, I had learned to trust him in this short time, but was still insanely curious as to how he got messed up with dudes like them.

He had to be so brave. I didn't believe for a minute he was a ship captain, but he had a life outside of stealing treasure maps. He was extremely handsome. I noticed it right away, but especially now that I got to see him this close. He did have a deep scar on his neck below his ear, but that didn't hurt his appearance. If anything, it made him more alluring. I wish I could ask him about it, but I don't want to offend him, and the shape was so odd, it didn't look like an accident.

Who are you? I mouthed without sound.

I don't know how much time passed while I studied Jasper before my eyes drifted again. A moment later, a soft touch on my cheek brushed away the hair that had fallen in front of my face. His touch was so tender, it sent a thrill of goosebumps right through me. The warmth of his body so near wafted off of him, and I held my breath, debating on whether I should open my eyes or not. My gut told me to keep them closed. It was clear when I was awake that Jasper wore some sort of a shield, but now that he'd assumed I was sleeping, he seemed to be truly concerned about me, taking watch through the night while I slept.

Time passed, and Jasper got up. I opened one eye to see him kindling the fire, and when that was done, he took several laps around the cave, pausing at the entrance to gaze out into the night. I drifted in and out of sleep, and I was about to offer to take a turn at watch so he could rest when he made a scuffling noise. I assumed he had finally laid down because it got eerily quiet. I opened my eyes to check, and he was gone.