“I don’t know, but I smelled something sweet and cinnamon-y,” she answered with wide and expressive eyes.
“Sweet and cinnamon-y,” Desmond echoed Beth’s report. “That doesn’t help much. That could be anything.” Desmond scratched his chin thoughtfully.
“Oh jeez, are you kidding me?” Arianna interjected. “Who cares? Jason is cooking! What else do you need to know? Anything he makes is great. You don’t need to get yourself all hot and bothered for one specific thing.”
“She has a point,” Beth agreed. “Whatever he makes will be spectacular. I know I’ll overeat,” she said to just Arianna.
“Maybe I should change,” Arianna said and noticed that she’d thrown on a pair of fitted jeans. “Yoga pants would probably be better.”
“No way, I am not wasting time changing and risking being last to get to the table. I like my food warm and not picked over, thank you very much,” Beth said and placed her hands on her narrow hips.
Arianna glared at her. “That’s all well and good, but I think I need roomier pants. Not everyone is like you, Beth. You can eat like a horse and you never need to loosen a button. But when I have even a slightly larger-than-normal meal, I look like I’m pregnant.”
“You have never looked anything but perfect!” she protested. “Now come on. Let’s go. Enough stalling,” she continued and began sheparding Arianna and Desmond out the door. Desmond had barely stepped into the black boots he wore most days when Beth had shoved him out into the hallway. “Hurry. Chop, chop,” she urged. “My stomach is growling.”
“She’s a bit bossy today, isn’t she?” Arianna complained.
“Yeah, must be her time of the month,” Desmond smiled and winked at Arianna.
“Ha, ha,” Arianna crinkled her nose at him and said.
Even though he’d make a wise crack about an issue that had been touchy not long ago, Arianna couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous he was when she glanced over her shoulder at him. Tall with broad shoulders, he wore a black polished cotton shirt, which hugged his well-constructed chest, and low-slung jeans that accentuated his tight waist. She had to force herself to look straight ahead and avoid tumbling down the flight of stairs she was approaching.
As they made their way down the steps and found themselves in the large foyer of the house, they heard the sound of voices. Dane’s rose above the faint chatter.
“What up, guys! Jason’s cooking!” he called and gave them a thumbs-up. “Better hurry if you want to eat ‘cause I’m starving,” Dane added. He smiled widely and dimples deep enough to place nickels in appeared at the center of both cheeks. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and baggy jeans that hid his fit physique, but beneath his loose-fitted clothing, everyone knew he was solid. “Later!” he said. He rubbed a hand over his dark hair that was buzzed closely to his scalp then tugged his hood over his head and dashed out the sliding glass doors of the living room to the expansive cedar deck beyond it. There, two picnic tables had been set with tablecloths, plates, glasses and silverware.
“It’s so nice to use something other than paper plates,” MaryAnn commented.
“Hey mom,” Beth said to MaryAnn. “You know Jason. He makes his turn to cook an event.”
“Yeah, he’s a regular Martha Stewart,” Avery, Beth’s younger sister, chimed in and rolled her eyes.
“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Beth advised her sister.
The family resemblance among the Parker women was remarkable. MaryAnn was slender and not much taller than Beth and had the same delicate features. Her wavy hair was styled in a neat bob and she wore khaki cargo pants and a T-shirt. Arianna did not know how old MaryAnn was, but if she were to guess based on her appearance alone, she would say MaryAnn was in her late-twenties. The finest of lines creased her eyes and were the only vague hint of her true age. Her sons were twenty-one. Beth was eighteen and Avery was eleven. Logically she could not be in her late-twenties. But her youthful appearance argued she was not a woman nearing middle age.
Avery looked like a miniature version of Beth and even had her surly look of disdain down pat. Though she was only eleven, she was poised and wise beyond her years.
“He can’t touch me,” Avery smirked cockily. “My powers are growing by the minute.” She shrugged as she followed Arianna, Desmond and Beth out onto the deck.
“Those are some tough words from a pint-sized witch without her powers,” Dane goaded her.
“Shut up!” she fired back.
“Okay you two,” Dr. Adam Parker’s voice said soothingly. Beth’s unassuming father appeared and carried a large tray of sticky buns.
“Look at those buns,” Arianna said and licked her lips as she eyed the heaping tray.
“You’d better be talking about the maple-glazed treats Adam is carrying,” Desmond’s voice whispered, his lips close to her ear. She was about to retort with a snappy comeback when Desmond smiled and raised his brow as if to say, “See, I made a funny, sassy comment.” He was divine.
She simply smiled at him and shook her head slowly, her reply lost.
Desmond chuckled and whispered in her ear again. “I love you,” he breathed before making a beeline for the kitchen to help bring drinks to the table. Arianna started to follow, but Adam told her to sit and relax. She couldn’t help but feel guilty. Though helping with the breakfast preparation wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, letting her and Desmond live there for the last five months was.
Shortly after leaving Maine, Beth had suggested they return to her parents’ home. Arianna had been against it from the start, arguing that she would not put more innocent lives in danger. She was a woman with a bounty on her head. No one was safe in her presence. But Beth had countered that her family was anything but vulnerable as they possessed powers as well. After a lot of bickering back and forth, Beth had persuaded Arianna to spend one night. That had been five months ago.
The Parkers had insisted she stay, that she would be safe. But Arianna knew she was still hunted, a point that worried her endlessly. She just hadn’t been found yet. Each day she remained living and training at the compound nestled deep in the Canadian woods outside Halifax gave her a false sense of security and endangered its inhabitants.
Squeals of delight interrupted her brooding. Arianna looked up to see Beth’s uncle Ted and aunt Kirsten, and their two children making their way down a narrow stone pathway that connected their yard to the porch.
“Yay, breakfast!” Ella, a lively three-year-old with pigtails, said excitedly as she clapped and bounced on the balls of her feet. Her brother, Joe, babbled something unintelligible then lost interest and began plucking at his diaper.
“My blood will stop flowing today!” Beth’s grandfather smacked his lips together and stepped from the kitchen. “I know Jason uses real butter, not the low-fat crap you guys keep trying to feed me.”
“Hey grandpa,” Dane reappeared and mumbled with half a bun sticking out of his mouth.
Arthur Parker smiled warmly and shook his head. He rubbed his generous belly. “Ah to have the metabolism of a young man again.”
“I don’t think it is your metabolism, dear,” his wife Adele slipped a hand into his and said. “I think it’s the cookies you keep in your nightstand.”
Both Adele and Arthur Parker, Beth’s paternal grandparents, were silver-haired and elegant looking. They lived in a small house on the property next door to Beth’s aunt and uncle and their two small children. Her maternal grandparents lived on the property too, along with her great-aunt and uncle.
Six aging family members and two children under the age of five did not inspire much confidence in the safety department, even if they were supernatural beings.
Heaviness colonized deep in Arianna’s chest as she watched the large family settle into the bench seats of the picnic tables. Beth’s mother and father continued bringing platters and bowls out and Desmond carried jugs of juice and milk. When all the food and drinks had been arranged at the center of the tables, Jason s
tepped through the sliding glass doors onto the deck. Numerous compliments were directed at him. Dane offered up several catcalls and Jason smiled shyly.
“Please eat, everyone,” he said softly. Desmond slid onto the bench beside her and did not waste time forking several buttermilk pancakes and scooping up some eggs benedict. He wasn’t alone either. Without hesitation, the entire family, delved into the delightful dishes offered.
Jason wedged himself between Beth and Arianna and was his usual unflustered self. “Hey,” he said. “How is everything?”
“Great,” Desmond replied, his voice garbled by the food he’d shoveled into his mouth.
“So good,” Beth agreed as she chewed enthusiastically.
“What about you, Arianna, aren’t you eating?” Jason asked quietly.
The truth of the matter was that everything looked delicious, but guilt had wormed its way into her belly and interfered with her appetite. Watching all the wonderful people around her, Beth’s warm and welcoming family, she felt troubled. None of them were safe. Not with her around. The realization that the time to leave had come hit her hard. She’d been unprepared for it. She would miss them. And she did not know how or when to tell them of her impending departure.
“Oh yeah, I’m starving,” she said to make Jason happy. “I wanted to wear my yoga pants when I found out you were cooking but someone rushed me down here because she was worried about getting cold or picked over food.” She nudged Beth who was oblivious of the act and too busy stuffing her face to notice.
Jason smiled timidly. “I hope you enjoy your breakfast,” he said then hurried back into the kitchen.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” Beth turned to ask her brother in a voice muddled by food, but he had already disappeared inside. “Please tell me he’s not in there eating yogurt or drinking a protein shake instead of this.”
“I don’t know about all that,” Arianna said. “I’m sure he’ll be back.”
“He’s so odd,” Beth shook her head.
“Who’s odd?” Dane boomed from the end of the table.
“Jason. Who else?” Beth replied.
“Don’t go talking smack about Jay like that! Especially not after he put out this spread,” Dane fired.
“Hello! All of us are odd, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Avery added and silence befell their table. The silence was quickly replaced by laughter and expressions of agreement.
Arianna scanned the faces of everyone present and listened to their comfortable banter. They had embraced her as one of their own, knowing fully that she was the Sola, and that a legion of others who believed in her prophecy sought to kill her. The knowledge of their unquestioning acceptance of her made her chest clench. She inhaled sharply and Beth locked eyes with her, asking with her gaze what troubled Arianna. Arianna simply smiled sadly. Beth offered a slight nod and a weak smile. She knew as readily as if she’d read Arianna’s mind of the guilt and worry motivating her need to leave.
A sick pit twisted in her stomach. She was not looking forward to saying good-bye to Beth. She and Beth and had grown close. Arianna had not had a friend in a long time, much less a close one. The closest she’d come to a true friend had been Lily. And Lily was gone, slain by the fanatical founder of the Soldiers of the Divine Trinity Church, Howard Kane. Her death had been avenged inasmuch as any death could truly be avenged. Kane was dead. But that still did not return Lily to her life. Lily was lost forever. Arianna refused to sacrifice Beth to the same fate. She regretted ever involving her in the mess that was her reality, even if the bond of their friendship was now a treasured gift she would cherish for the rest of her days.
“Here, have pancakes,” Beth broke the spell of her rumination and plopped two plump pancakes on her plate. “Eat. They’re good.” Her warm, dark gaze was unwavering and Arianna was forced to smile her bravest smile.
“Mm, they smell good,” she inhaled exaggeratedly and reached for the maple syrup to her left.
“Jason loves to do this. He would miss not cooking for all of us when it’s his turn,” Beth said with careful emphasis on the word all.
Arianna closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds. She could not keep anything from Beth. Her friend possessed a unique knack for reading people expertly. Arianna and Desmond had teased her about this gift and told her she ought to move to Las Vegas and make a career of professional poker. With her exceptional talent and pixie-like attractiveness, no one would see her coming. She would be a millionaire in no time.
“She knows, you know,” Desmond’s lips brushed her earlobe as he whispered.
“Yeah, I’m getting that too,” Arianna said sarcastically.
He ignored the edge to her voice and smiled at her. His golden hair was still slightly tousled. Sun streaks seeped through massive cedar and fir trees, kissing his exquisite features and making the blues and greens of his irises shimmer. “Love you,” he mouthed and stole her breath away, drawing her deeper than she ever imagined possible. She returned the sentiment, mouthing the same words he had, and they both returned their attention to their meals.
Arianna, Desmond and the Parker clan ate happily and lingered on the deck for more than an hour. When everyone had finished his or her breakfast, plates were cleared and the tables were cleaned. Beth’s aunt and uncle returned to their cottage to put the children down for their late-morning naps and the elders retired to their bungalow to rest as well. MaryAnn and Adam remained, along with Dane, Jason and Beth.
“We’re going to train,” Jason announced as he and Dane disappeared inside, undoubtedly headed to the impressive gym set up in the basement of the house.
“I need to do a little work myself,” Beth commented. Beth had created a small business when she was a high school freshman and designed websites. Her clients consisted of small company owners and independent authors, but since her efforts were impeccable and her prices were reasonable, her business was thriving. She took on multiple clients at once, was capable of operating from any location with Internet connection, and worked in her pajamas most mornings. As a result, Beth managed to leave a trail of happy customers who recommended her to anyone they could reach and had amassed a considerable stash of money.
Arianna wished she could contribute financially to the Parker family. But everyone had agreed that leaving the house and working in town would risk exposure, exactly what they were trying to avoid. Adam Parker was a veterinarian who made house calls in the area and his wife was a visiting nurse. Everyone had a job that they were highly trained for, had schedule flexibility, and were skilled at. Everyone earned a paycheck. Everyone did except for Arianna. She hated herself for loafing off them as she had. Even Desmond took shifts with Dane and Jason at the docks. She had never wanted to be a helpless moocher, yet that’s exactly what she now saw herself as.
“I would love to go upstairs and finish what we started this morning?” Desmond said quietly as Beth’s parents chatted about a pregnant cow at a nearby farm.
“Desmond!” Arianna warned and looked from him to Adam and MaryAnn.
“What? They’re not paying attention. They’re talking about bovine pregnancy. We could catch fire and they wouldn’t notice.”
“I could make that happen, the catching fire thing,” Arianna attempted a joke. Desmond did not smile. “Jeez, tough crowd,” she commented.
“So, what do you say?” he asked, his eyes filled with sincerity, with love.
Arianna smiled. Her belly fluttered. He was impossible to resist. “How can I say no?” she replied. Desmond grinned devilishly.
“Well, we’d better finish up out here and get to the Killen Farm,” Adam said and stood slowly.
“What can I do to help?” Arianna asked.
“Nothing at all. I just need to get a few things from the shed and we will be on our way,” Adam said.
Desmond brought the trash from the deck to the garbage cans on the side of the house then returned quickly. When he did, MaryAnn, Adam and Beth had gone inside. Arianna opened the
sliding glass door and they strode inside. Once in their room, Desmond washed his hands and joined her on the bed. She was propped on one elbow and he was lying flat on his back. She dipped her head and brushed her lips against his, barely touching them, teasing them. He was completely still, his gleaming blue-green eyes heavy. He tipped his chin to kiss her harder, but she withdrew. Her mouth curled into an impish grin. She touched his mouth and traced his lips with her finger, pressing only slightly harder than she had with her lips. He reached out his hand and cupped her cheek tenderly. She was about to lean into him and crush his lips with hers when a colossal wave of awareness crashed against her, throwing her off balance and commanding her mercilessly. She froze and snapped her head toward their closed door.
“What is it?” Desmond bolted upright.
“Something is wrong,” was all she could manage as a sense of dread rose turbulently. Every muscle in her body went rigid. “Do you feel it?”
“I feel something. But you are the Sola. I follow you.”
Arianna barely heard him. Her pulse echoed the erratic tempo of her heart and pounded wildly in her ears. “Others are here. Others like us. I can feel their dark essence. We need to get outside now.”
Desmond sprang to his feet and she grasped his wrist. Together, they sifted to the perimeter of the Parker property, to where grass edged woodland.
The surrounding woods were still, too still. Nothing moved, not even the occasional bird flitting from one branch to the next. The air was heavy with the scent of evergreens and musty earth. But something felt off. Her eyes scanned the backyard. Nothing seemed out of place and her eyes continued surveying the area. They stopped immediately when they reached the shed, though. MaryAnn and Adam Parker stood hunched and deep in conversation. And they were not alone. Two mangy looking figures loomed behind them. The Parkers were oblivious of the fact that they were in danger.
Irregular heartbeats began hammering her chest like shrapnel when she saw that two intruders gripped a pair of large swords, one for each terrifying set of hands, the steel glinting in the early sun.
The Arrival: Arianna Rose, #4 Page 3