Mystic Realms: A Limited Edition Collection

by Nicole Morgan

  "Yup, just add in an extra shot of espresso. I've got a long night ahead of me."

  "Maybe if I come over I could make the night go by faster." She winked while her bright red nails typed in the order.

  Jon's groin tightened at the tempting offer. After a long hard day out in the sun he needed a little fun, especially if Kerry offered. He couldn't tonight. The pendant called out to him and he wanted to crack all its secrets. No one else would take away his chance for glory.

  "I'll need to take a rain check," he whispered in a deep husky voice. "I'm working on something that needs my undivided attention."

  Her strawberry lips pouted. "That's too bad. I didn't want to be alone tonight."

  "I'll make it up to you some other time." He reached into his wallet and handed her a twenty dollar bill with a wink. "Keep the change, use it to get something pretty for yourself."

  Kerri giggled as she put the money in the register.

  When she turned to make his coffee he stared at her slender body and that dark raven hair pinned up in a messy bun. When she bent down to open a cabinet her shirt crept up around her waist, revealing a thorn-like black tattoo on her lower back. Jon shifted his legs to adjust the growing bulge while he watched her brew the espresso and built a fantasy of taking her while she made him his coffee. He stiffed a grin. There wouldn’t be much coffee left after he was done with her.

  Kerri slowly poured the coffee into a cup. She added the cream and mixed it, dragging out each move. A drop of cream dripped on the side of the cup and she wiped it with her finger and licked it off slowly. Her eyes found his and she cast him a longing glance.

  Jon's mouth went dry. Kerri pushed the limits tonight. Any other night he would not have rejected her, but his ego drove him towards research.

  "Here you go, Jon." Kerri winked as she handed him the drink, her fingers touching his.

  "Thanks." He croaked as he clutched the cup and hurried out the door.

  He sped down the streets and parked in the garage ten minutes later. Coffee cup in hand, he jumped out of the car. Wasting no time, he popped open the trunk and took hold of the small plastic box labeled Artifact 324 Silver Pendant and a larger box labeled Artifact 337 Human Bones.

  He placed his coffee on the garage shelf by the door and pressed the button to close the garage doors. When the door closed, he fumbled with opening the door to the house. Fortunately, he always left it unlocked, which helped when his hands were full of groceries or, in this case, boxes. The door swung open and he grabbed his coffee. He juggled the boxes and his coffee through the hallway and to the kitchen before he carefully placed both boxes on the kitchen island. He took another sip of coffee before he put his cup down and lifted the lid off the smaller box. He gently picked up the tarnished silver pendant. The center held the image of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god of sun and war, surrounded by aquamarine stones. The Aztec's worshiped him more than the other gods, and many of the human sacrifices were given to him. Jon twisted the pendant in the light and sipped his coffee, feeling the caffeine start to take effect. According to the legend, the pendant was brought down from the highest mountain in the Aztec empire by a warrior who claimed Huitzilopochtli bestowed it to him. The warrior stated the pendant was to be used to grant immortality to the one who would lead the empire in Huitzilopochtli’s name.

  History always fascinated Jon, and the more new things he uncovered the deeper his desire became to uncover more. He wanted to be the first to introduce the world to something that had been buried for hundreds of years. To unlock a secret that would solve a mystery would be his heaven.

  He finished the coffee and placed the pendant back into the box. His body screamed for a long hot shower. Archaeological work was never easy or clean. He sat in dirt or sand all day and had to delicately unearth artifacts with brushes and tiny chisels without damaging them. The weather usually didn't cooperate, throwing either a downpour or scorching hot sun on everyone. Today it was the latter, with the temperature in the 90s and a strong wind that kicked sand and dirt in their faces.

  Mindlessly, he wandered over to the patio door and opened it to let the warm breeze in from the ocean. The cloak of the pitch black night surrounded him and the music of the ocean soothed his tired body. When news of the Aztec discovery broke he’d instantly looked for a house to buy close to the dig site. Many others had reasonable prices, but they didn't give him the nourishment his soul needed like the ocean did.

  He stretched out his stiff muscles and headed to go upstairs to shower. As he approached the stairs a sharp pain penetrated his chest. He grabbed his chest and discovered blood seeping through a wound caused by a sharp metal object that stuck out of his chest.

  A knife! his mind screamed as he realized that someone had stabbed him from behind. He tried to turn around to see the person, but he fell forward towards the stairs. His face slid down the scratchy synthetic carpet and then...darkness.

  Chapter Two

  Jessica Brettwood drove up the driveway and parked her car in front of her new home and her new life. She grabbed her purse and rolling bag out of the car and walked up to the front door. She reached inside her purse and yanked out the massive keychain with over a dozen keys. Studying the keys, she frowned. They were all similar in both size and shape. It would take her forever to figure out which ones went where. The first key she tried fit but didn't turn the lock. The second and the third didn't open the door, either. Finally, the fourth key was the magic key and the door opened.

  The house was empty, but Jessi could visualize the way the entrance would look after the rest of her things arrived. She dropped her purse and bag by the door and ran through the house, pulling up all the blinds.

  "Oh, it's perfect!" she squealed as she ran into the master bedroom. Compared to her apartment in New York this room was a palace. She ran into the connected bathroom and sighed when her gaze stopped at the enormous bathtub. Two people could easily fit in it with room on the side for glasses of champagne. She pulled out her phone and took a picture and sent it to her best friend, Abigail Worth, with the caption 'My tub is the size of a swimming pool!'. Abigail would be so envious. Everything in New York was tiny, including bathrooms. An apartment that had a decent size bathroom would cost a year's salary.

  Jessi walked over to the small octagon window and peeked out. The ocean bellowed and churned below. Waves crashed against the beach and raked the sand as it receded.

  Her phone rang and she smiled as she answered. "So, you jealous?"

  Abigail laughed in her ear. "I'm coming over for Christmas, and I'm bringing the bubble bath!"

  "Bring your swimsuit, too, because the ocean is at my back door!" She ran to the bedroom and slid the window open. The sound of the waves crashing made Abigail moan.

  "It sounds so great! I hate you right now."

  Jessi smiled. "Hey, you can always come down here and be my roommate."

  Abigail’s moan became louder. "You know I can't. My whole life is here."

  Jessi leaned out the window. "So was mine."

  "But your situation was different. You needed to get away from everyone."

  Jessi sighed as Abigail's words sank in. Divorcing a well-connected man was a risky thing to do, but staying with a cheater was not an option. "I still can't believe my family wanted me to forgive him. I mean, he fathered a child with another woman while he kept telling me that he didn't want to be a dad!"

  Anger raced through her veins and her pulse quickened. Gazing back at the deep blue sea made her feel at peace.

  "Forget them. They only care about their social status, not your sanity or well-being. This move is good for you. You can start fresh with no interference from your family. You can do what you want, not what they say you want."

  The salty air from the water filled her lungs. This is what freedom felt like. Her lips formed a smile, the first genuine smile in months.

  "I owe you a lot, Abigail. If you weren't standing by my side I would have caved to them," Jessi admitted
as she watched the seagulls glide across the blue sky.

  "I wasn't able to stop you from marrying Ben, so I wanted to make damn sure that you didn't end up staying with the bastard." Abigail’s voice held an edge. "He treated you like shit all the time, but you didn't even see it."

  Tears filled Jessi's eyes. "I know."

  "I'm so damn happy that you're out of here. You'll be able to learn who you really are."

  Jessi clinched the phone tighter as she wiped tears away and focused back at the waves rolling in. "Maybe I'll take up surfing."

  Abigail's laugh made her jump and almost drop the phone. "You need to learn how to swim first. Take it slow. Unpack everything, figure out your routine and then start a list of things you want to try."

  "Uh, I don't know how I'm going to get everything done. I want to head over to the dig site tomorrow."

  "Jessi, they have been digging at that site for months now. A couple more days won't make much of a difference. You'll get all the material you need for your book, just take things one step at a time."

  "You're right. It's not like my old blog site where I had to write every single day." Her heart sank at the thought. Her website had been one of the most popular on love and relationships for years. She’d poured everything she had to make it a success. Ben's infidelity had crushed her and her business.

  "Jessi, one day you may want to go back to that. Don't shut the door on love completely, okay?"

  "I'm not holding my breath, Abigail."

  "Trust me, I have a feeling that you'll find someone who will make you realize what love really is."

  Jessi grinned. "You sound like a greeting card."

  "And you sound like a stubborn old person."

  "Hey!"

  "Keep an open mind, okay?"

  Jessi moved a strand of hair the wind had thrown into her face. "All right, if it makes you stop calling me old."

  "Good. Now I have to get back to work. Shoot me some pics when you unpack everything."

  "Yup, I will."

  She ended the call and stared back at the turbulent tide. The rhythmic waves hypnotized her, making her just itch to go dip her feet into the water. She ran down the stairs and skipped to the patio door.

  The waves outside moved, churned and flowed with power. All those years she’d lived in Manhattan and never noticed the ocean that surrounded her. Her life was all indoors, entertaining, or dining or doing something to raise her social status. Now she found the motions of the water utterly amazing and peaceful. With such a tranquil scenery in front of her, Jessi wanted to lounge out on the deck and read a book.

  As she stared out a reflection in the glass startled her. A man stood behind her. His arms were across his chest.

  Jessi’s heart started to race. How did he get in without her hearing him? Did she not lock the front door? Was he her new neighbor or some serial killer? There was nothing close to her that she could use as a weapon. Her only escape would be through the patio doors.

  She put on a fake smile and turned around. "Hi, I'm ..." The room was empty. How could someone move so fast? No one could move that fast. She would have heard him. She had to be seeing things. With the excitement of this new house and the move, her exhausted body must be playing games with her.

  Still, she didn’t want to take any chances. She began to pull out the drawers in the kitchen to look for something she could use as a weapon in case he had been real and was hiding now. Jess had heard the previous owner was murdered in the home which is why she got such a bargain on the house. It didn’t bother her much, since she’d stayed at many haunted places where murders occurred with Abigail.

  The house came with a few things the family couldn’t sell like spare dishes and pots. She pulled open another drawer and smiled- knives. That’s what she needed. She grabbed one and quietly walked back to the living room. Her phone and pepper spray were in her purse and she needed both. Her hand shook slightly as she held the knife and crept through the hallway. She spotted her purse and bolted to it. Jessi grabbed it and ran towards the front door. She turned the doorknob to find the door locked. Her heart felt like it would stop beating as her hand shook and unlocked the door. She yanked the door open and then ran to her car. Fumbling in her purse, she pulled out her car keys and pressed the unlock button. Jessi jumped into the driver’s seat and pressed the lock button. She ripped opened her purse and dug until she found her cell phone to dial 911.

  What if the man she saw was the murderer?

  She tried to stop her racing heart as she explained to the dispatcher what she saw.

  Jon had stared at her and she’d looked right back at him.

  Since he woke up in this new existence uncertainty had enveloped him. He’d awakened to find himself standing over his body lying face first on the stairs. His eyes were lifeless, his skin pale. The dark blood from his wound soaked his shirt completely. The object that stabbed him was nowhere to be found. Fury had built inside of him as he stood helplessly when the police came in and started their investigation. He tried to talk to them, but no one could see or hear him. The rage built up so much that he hit one of the side tables and everything on it jumped. The police shrugged the occurrence off as a large truck hitting a pothole outside, but it was a glimmer of hope to him. Emotion was the key to him moving objects. The police tagged and packed some of his belongings and took them in as evidence, but Jon wouldn't let them take his Aztec notebook. He channeled the rage inside him and pushed the notes off the counter and into the corner bookshelf before they could take it away.

  He stood in the living room and glanced out the window to see the woman in her car, talking on her cell phone. He didn’t mean to spook her. He was happy that there finally was a person in his house. Jessica was the first person who’d interacted with him. How could that be? And why did she stop when she turned around? Did he become invisible to her? Jon searched his memory to find the answer. The water, she was amazed by the ocean, he could feel her love for the water and the serenity of it. He knew women that loved the water, but this was different. She was different.

  He knew it the day she walked in to view the house. When the Realtor opened the door to the house and the young woman walked in he felt everything around him still. Average in size, she carried a strong confidence as she walked through the living room. Her straight brown hair framed her face and her green eyes sparkled with excitement as she peered through every door. When she saw the patio door she ran to it, opened it and stepped out on the deck.

  “Look at the ocean view!”

  The Realtor joined her. “Yes, it’s a beautiful site, especially in the morning.”

  “It’s so lovely.”

  If Jon had a beating heart it would have skipped a beat. Her voice made him feel warm, comforted. He’d followed her as she toured the rest of the house and made sure that she fell in love with it. The leaky sink didn’t leak when she walked into the bathroom, and the floor didn’t creak in the bedroom as she peered into the closet. He even moved Bob the spider out of the bathroom so she wouldn’t get spooked by him. Jon learned how to do those things with a thought, and with every day he was getting better and better at it. When they returned back to the front door, she’d smiled.

  “I take it you like the house?”

  “I love it, where do I sign?”

  Jon felt like she was signing his redemption. She was his hope and his ray of light and now she was calling the police on him. He leaned his head against the window as he saw the police cruiser pull up. It would take him a long time to convince her that he wasn’t a threat.

  Jessica closed the doors behind the police and locked it. They didn’t find anyone in her house or any evidence of anyone breaking in. She leaned her body against the door and sighed. Was the man just a figment of her imagination? She’d never seen anyone disappear as fast as he did. Just in case he was real, she’d called a locksmith to change the locks tomorrow. In the meantime, she decided to carry her phone and pepper spray on her at all times. There
was no way she was taking chances on this man coming back again. She grabbed the extra bags she brought from her car and went to the living room. She searched through them and pulled out her electric kettle and her box of tea. It was definitely a night for Chamomile tea.

  She walked down the hall and into the kitchen. There was a perfect spot for her kettle next to the sink. She plugged the base in and put it on the counter. Taking the kettle to the sink, she thought about making the house homey. She filled it with water and returned to the counter to place it on the base. Absentmindedly, she pressed the button to start it and went into the living room to find her speaker for her phone.

  It took her a while, but she managed to find it in one of the bags. She turned it on and scrolled through her phone and put on a fast song to uplift her mood.

  Jessi started to sing along and stretched herself out on the floor. She spread her legs in front of her and leaned forward to stretch. The feeling that she was being watched came over her and she stopped and looked around the room. Nothing. She leaned forward again and breathed out.

  "New house, new city, ..." she mumbled to calm her mind. "It's a safe neighborhood."

  The kettle began to whistle. Jessi got up and turned it off. She carefully poured the boiling water into the cup with the Chamomile tea bag. With her teacup in hand, she went out to the deck and gazed at the colors of the sunset that bounced off the blue water. The perfect picture of romance.

  Jessi wrapped her arms around her body to comfort herself. She’d always believed in finding her one true love. That was part of the reason her blog on love came to be so popular, that and thinking that her true love was her ex-husband Ben. But Ben had showed her differently. The pain still gnawed at her, but it wasn't as raw as before. This move gave her a chance to run away from her past and try to mend her broken heart. Someday maybe she would trust someone enough to love again.