The Immortal Warriors Boxed Set: Books 1-11

by H. T. Night

  “Oh my,” Lena smiled.

  I looked around for a towel and there wasn’t one. “Is there a towel?” I asked.

  “Behind you,” Lena said. I turned around and across the pool was a white towel. I walked over to it and dried myself off. Lena walked over to me, “Can we go inside and talk?”

  “Okay,” I said.

  I finished drying off and then walked over and threw the towel over by Yari. “Thanks, princess,” I said to Yari. “Once again, you’re a wild ride.”

  “I do my best, Josiah,” Yari answered.

  “I know you do. In all seriousness, thanks for everything you said.”

  “No problem. I believe in you,” Yari said.

  “That means a lot to me.” I walked into the house through the back sliding door with Lena behind me. My heart was full and my head was spinning. I knew Lena and I were about to connect in a huge way. I felt a bit giddy, like a schoolboy. I made my way up the stairs with Lena close behind. I opened the door to my room. Lena entered and didn’t say a word. She looked up at me and her eyes were filled with so much love.

  “I messed up, Josiah. I am so sorry. I love you more than you could ever know.”

  “You didn’t mess up, Lena. You just were caught up in the moment. This whole experience is bigger than all of us.”

  “Still, I should have never let Tommy get so close.”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.”

  Lena walked up to me. “Would you just hold me?”

  I looked down at this beautiful creature that had my heart in such a giant way. I couldn’t explain it and I didn’t want to understand it. In her presence, I was home. She was the love of my life and there was no denying that. I stared into her eyes and slowly wrapped my arms around her. I held her close. I held her in a way I had never held or touched anyone. She was my destiny. She was the person I knew I was supposed to do all of this with. She was the one who was going to stand by my side through thick and thin. There was a time for everything, and at this moment, this was a time of forgiveness and looking back.

  “Do you really love me, Josiah?”

  I swallowed and just slowly nodded my head and said, “I love you more at this moment than I have ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life.”

  She sighed and I held her tighter.

  “This life,” Lena said. “This chance that we have been given is more than I can bear. I need to do this with you. I want to fight alongside you.”

  “I want you to stand with me,” I said. “But I don’t want you to fight.”

  “I just want to quit wasting time. It’s time for us to celebrate what this is between us.”

  “I completely agree.” I walked Lena over to my bed. I sat on the edge of it and Lena sat on my lap. All the sexual desires I’d had earlier were replaced by an overwhelming love.

  Lena sat on my lap and looked me in the eye and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m okay.”

  “Did you find the answers you needed?”

  “Yes...”

  “And...”

  “And it led me back to you,” I said lovingly. “It led me back here. I realized I couldn’t move forward without you.” I leaned in and gently kissed Lena on the lips. She cupped my chin with both of her hands. Tears were dripping from both of our eyes.

  “I am so sorry,” she said. “I am so sorry for hurting you in any way.”

  “I know you are,” I said comforting her. “From this moment forward... no more ‘I’m sorry’s.’”

  “Okay.”

  I scooted back on my bed and placed Lena’s delicate frame next to me and we lay down. I slowly brushed my hand across her face. Her eyes were as beautiful as I ever remembered. Whenever she lay next to me, she seemed fairy-like. She was so tiny and delicate, and one thing I knew in the core of my heart: I would always take care of her.

  We lay there, holding each other until we both fell asleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I woke up with Lena pressed tightly against my body.

  We were fully clothed because last night was about reconnecting emotionally, not necessarily sexually. The night was one of the most outrageous nights I had ever experienced. It started in a hotel in Tijuana, then in a bunker, then an underground fight club and then ended back here in Victorville with Lena and me falling asleep in each other arms.

  Yeah, it was some night.

  I looked at the clock in my room and it read 5:00 p.m. The best sleep I seemed to get was when Lena was lying beside me. I leaned over and kissed her cheek. She smiled out of the corner of her mouth.

  “You awake?” I asked.

  “Unfortunately, yes.” She rolled onto her back and exhaled.

  “Why the sigh?” I asked.

  “Well, where do we go from here?”

  “You and me?”

  “You and me. Me and you. Yes, Josiah, us.”

  “I think it’s fair to say we need to just try to exist.”

  “Exist?” Lena laughed. “I think we have that part down pat.”

  “We need to try to exist together—to be by each other’s side.”

  Lena looked at me and smiled. “I’d like that.” She then reached her arm out and placed it on my lap.

  “I’d like that, too.”

  “So, what’s on your agenda for tonight?” Lena asked.

  “Wow, already keeping tabs on me,” I said, joking.

  “It’s nothing like that. I was just wondering if we could go on a real date.”

  “A real date?”

  “Yes, a real date. We have never gone on a proper date, Josiah. Think about it.”

  “You mean like dinner and a movie?”

  “I mean like anything; bowling, miniature golf, pizza, a picnic, nothing. We have never been on a real date.”

  A Tandra date. I thought about it for a second and Lena was absolutely right. “Well, if we’re going to go on a date then we need to do it right.”

  “How do you suppose we do that?” Lena grinned.

  “Go grab your cell phone,” I said.

  “My cell phone?” She was now confused.

  “Just do it.”

  Lena left my room and I immediately reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone and dialed Lena’s number. It rang a couple of times and then she answered it.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Yes, may I help you?” Lena asked.

  “Hey there. This is Josiah,” I said, as cute as I could. “How are you?”

  “I’m good and you?”

  “I’m great. Well... anyhoo.”

  “Anyhoo?” Lena laughed.

  “Yes, anyhoo,” I said adamantly. “I was wondering if you would like to go out with me tonight?”

  “Go out where?” Lena yawned, teasingly.

  “I was hoping that you could accompany me to dinner and a show.”

  “A show? Who talks like that?” Lena teased.

  “Cut me some slack,” I said. “I have never done this before.”

  “Okay, sweetie, what kind of show would you like us to attend?”

  “The theater,” I pronounced, proudly.

  “Wow, the theater. You mean like the Shakespeare Globe Theater—kind of theater?”

  “More like Andrew Lloyd Webber Evita kind of theater.”

  “Wow, that does sound divine,” Lena said, still teasing me. What did I expect? I pulled the biggest cheese-ball move of all time by calling her for an official date, from the same room.

  “Okay. Let me grab some tickets and I’ll pick you up at 8:00 p.m.”

  “Where do you suppose you’ll pick me up?”

  “At your house.”

  “Can’t wait.”

  “Me, too,” I said.

  I pressed ‘end call’ after saying goodbye and decided I better plan this night right. I went online and saw that West Side Story was playing at Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles. I didn’t want to fly. I actually wanted to drive like a normal person on this date,
so I needed to push the date up to picking Lena up at 6:30 p.m. I called her back and she pretended to be annoyed, but still couldn’t hide her excitement.

  I went to my closet and pulled out some slacks, a white button-down shirt and a slick black tie. I had a casual dinner jacket that went well with the outfit. It kind of gave me a Reservoir Dogs look, with a bit of hip-hop.

  I took a shower and avoided seeing Lena, so we wouldn’t see each other getting ready. It was now late September and sunset was around 6:00 p.m. in Southern California, which was perfect for the time we planned on leaving.

  After a day of relaxing, I decided it was time to put on my clothes and a spritz of cologne. I could hear Lena getting ready downstairs. I combed my hair and made some final touches to my appearance. Once I felt I looked as good as I was ever going to, I went over to the trap door in my bedroom. I opened it up, jumped out and landed on the ground. I made my way to my white truck that had been parked in the driveway for months. I had hardly driven my truck since learning to fly.

  I started my truck and it put-putted a bit, and then started up nicely. I decided to drive off the property to give it the whole pulling-into-the-huge-house-to-pick-up-my-date-bit.

  I hadn’t been on too many dates in my life. But I still knew the drill. I parked my truck near the house and walked up. There was a rosebush out front, so I decided to reach down and pick one off at the stem. It was a bit sad; the petals were brown, but what’s a guy to do on such short notice?

  I walked up to the door and knocked. Cyrus answered the door. “Damn Josiah, you clean up quite nice.”

  “Is Lena here?”

  “She said you two were going out, but I didn’t realize you were going to go to this extreme,” Cyrus laughed.

  “Lena, your date is here!” he yelled, like an obnoxious younger brother.

  I stepped into the doorway. I looked up the stairwell and Lena was walking down. She was wearing a long black dress that was tight in the legs and waist. It was sexy and elegant. She looked incredible. She was actually wearing lipstick. I don’t think I had ever seen her wear lipstick. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her. My breath was pretty taken away.

  She approached me at the bottom of the stairs and all I could say was, “Wow!”

  “Wow, yourself,” she said, smiling. She had done her hair up in a cute up ’do and she just looked incredible.

  “You ready to go?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am.”

  I was still holding the pathetic rose in my hand. “Oh yeah, I got you this.” I handed the rose to her.

  “It’s... beautiful?” she said, trying not to hurt my feelings.

  “You can say it. It’s the saddest looking flower you have ever seen.”

  “It’s the thought that counts.”

  I grinned and put my arm out for Lena to hold. She laid the rose on the counter. She took my arm and we walked out the front door to my truck. I opened the passenger side door for Lena and she slid in. She smelled wonderful. I walked around the back and made my way to the door. I opened it and jumped in. I looked to my right and Lena had put her seatbelt on. All I could do was shake my head at how amazing she looked. She had so much natural beauty. She was definitely not your typical California girl.

  “You look like a million bucks,” I said.

  “Josiah Reign,” Lena said, with a hint of playfulness in her voice. “Are you flirting with me?”

  “I might have a little crush. I’ll let you know how it develops throughout the night.” I started up the truck and we were off.

  We made our way to the freeway and I took the 15 freeway to the 10. The 10 freeway is a direct shot right into Los Angeles. I had made reservations at a restaurant near the theater, which keeps their kitchen open till one in the morning.

  “So, what are we seeing?” Lena asked.

  “The Sharks vs. the Jets,” I said.

  “We’re watching a football game?” Lena asked, disappointed.

  “No, dear,” I said. “Have you ever seen West Side Story?”

  “The movie?”

  “No, the cooking show on Bravo,” I said, jokingly. “Of course I’m talking about the movie, or musical for that matter.”

  “Yes, I’ve seen the movie. I saw it in the ninth grade.”

  “So did I,” I said excitedly. “Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how old the movie was when I watched it. It was in color and I thought it came out in the 80s.”

  “No, it’s much older than that.”

  “I know that now. I saw it in my ninth-grade English class and absolutely fell in love with Natalie Wood, you know, the actress that plays Maria in the movie. For some reason, it didn’t dawn on me that I might have a problem professing my newfound love to her. I went home and thought out exactly how I was going to tell her how I fell head over heels for her. I logged on to my computer and tried to find a Natalie Wood website fan page. I was pretty saddened to find out she had died nearly 30 years earlier by drowning in a boating accident. I was heartbroken.”

  “You poor baby,” Lena said, as honest and sincere as anyone could, considering how pathetic the true tale was. “That makes me so sad.”

  “Why does it make you sad?” I asked.

  “Your first love died thirty years before you even knew she existed.”

  “She was definitely not my first love.”

  “Oh, she wasn’t?”

  “Nope, Christina Martinez was my first love,” I said.

  “How old were you?”

  “Five,” I said proudly.

  “Five?”

  “She lived across the street. She used to play with her Barbies in the front yard while I pretended to play with my monster trucks across the street.”

  “I can’t even remember one thing about being five years old, let alone liking a boy.”

  “I had a crush on at least one girl every year from kindergarten till my senior year.”

  “Josiah, you are the definition of girl crazy.”

  “What can I say, I have always been fond of the opposite sex. How about you? When and who was your first boyfriend?”

  “Junior high. His name was Garret Kennedy!”

  “Garret Kennedy? Seriously? That guy was your first boyfriend?”

  “You knew him?”

  “Of course I knew him; you and I went to the same junior high and high school. That guy was totally weird.”

  “He was my kind of weird.”

  “That guy used to draw pentagrams on his school folders.”

  “He was just being creative.”

  “Wow, even then you were into the dark weirdos.”

  “Now, I just like the blonde weirdos,” Lena joked. “How old were you, Josiah, when you had your first grownup kiss?”

  “You mean tongue?”

  “That does qualify as a grownup kiss.”

  “Tilly Ramirez, eighth grade.”

  “Wow, you sure like the Latinas.”

  “It was the demographic of where we lived. It was on the eighth-grade graduation trip to Disneyland. We were riding on ‘It’s a Small World.’”

  Lena laughed out loud.

  “You’ve seen the goods, lady,” I said, referring to my package. “Obviously, the ride had no symbolic reference to what I’m packing.”

  “Easy, tiger.” Lena continued laughing. “Knowing that your first kiss was on a kids’ ride is pretty hysterical.”

  “All we did was make out on the ride and nothing more.”

  “Didn’t the song repeating over and over on the ride kill the mood?”

  “It happened at the end of the ride. She was nudging me and I turned my head, and there she was, sticking her tongue down my throat.”

  “She stuck her tongue down your throat? You’re not sure it wasn’t the other way around?”

  “No, it was definitely her. She actually screwed me up in the kissing department for a couple of years.”

  “How so?”

  “For the longest time, I thought that
was the way people were supposed to kiss. You shove your tongue deep in someone’s mouth and just slosh it around.”

  “How did you figure it out?” Lena asked.

  “I had a friend of mine ask an old girlfriend if I was a good kisser.”

  “She said ‘no’?”

  “Not only did she say I wasn’t a good kisser, she proceeded to give a detailed account of how horrible it was to be kissed by me. She compared it to a mouth assault.”

  “Really? That is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “I’m glad you’re enjoying my traumatic high school youth.”

  “Well, you obviously fixed the problem. I think you’re a fantastic kisser.”

  “Really? Fantastic?”

  “Yes. At least in my top three.” Lena winked at me.

  “Top three even. I don’t even want to know who the other two are.”

  “It’s not who you think. To be fair, Tommy didn’t have a chance to prove himself, and Atticai never kissed me like that.”

  “Word is... Tommy is a good kisser,” I said. “My sister was pretty impressed.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Lena assured me. “So, how did you turn your kissing woes around?” Lena asked, purposely changing the subject away from Tommy and I knew it.

  “Promise not to laugh?”

  “Oh, this is going to be good.”

  “It’s more than good.”

  “Okay, I promise not to laugh,” Lena swore.

  “My sister was a huge Archie comics fan. So, I would read them as a kid and I began to enjoy reading the comics myself.”

  “You liked reading Archie comic books?”

  “What’s so weird about that?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Everything about it is,” Lena stated, teasingly.

  “Anyway, one Christmas, my sister bought me this life-size Archie head. It was like a puppet. She bought it for me as a joke because she knew I would sneak around, reading her comic books. The life-size head was made out of rubber and if you put your fingers in the back of the head, you could control his mouth.”

  “You didn’t?” Lena laughed.

  “I did. I made out with Archie until I damn well was great at kissing.”