Rainey didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t want Julia to think she was that easily intimidated. She also needed to know what to expect when Julia figured out Abe was in love with Ariana. So she threw herself to the wolves, so to speak. “So what if we are together? He’s unattached. He’s not interested in you, and he never will be.”
Before Julia walked out the door, she turned around and smiled at Rainey. “You’re not after Abe, but someone is, or will be. Have fun at Code Red with Becky, Abe and… Ariana, is it? Interesting, I haven’t met her yet. I wonder what’s keeping us apart. I may have to make an appearance at Code Red myself. To say hello – it’s sheer courtesy.” Julia slipped through the door leaving Rainey standing there with her mouth open.
§ § §
Becky and Ariana were ready to go. Becky wore the little red dress and heels that Jonah had bought for her; the dress hugged her curves well. The heels were half a size too big, but she didn’t care; no one would notice. Ariana had put on a backless burgundy halter dress; shiny gold straps criss-crossed her back and tied at the back of her neck. It was tight fitting to the waist; the skirt flared down to right above her knees. She wore shiny gold high-heeled sandals.
She hadn’t even looked at what Jonah bought her. She figured it would be a see-through towel, with the way his mind worked. When Becky offered to unzip the bag, Ariana stopped her and said she was returning it to him unopened. Becky rolled her eyes, but didn’t press her further.
“Come on, Ariana. Let’s go before all the hot guys are taken. It’s a long way to the club and I’m ready to dance my ass off and drink till I pass out.”
The girls headed for the elevator. “That sounds really fun, for some reason. I haven’t had a drink since me and Michael…”
“Oh, no, Ariana. You’re gonna make your mascara run. What did we agree to earlier?”
Ariana sniffed. “That we won’t worry about anything and that we’ll have a good time tonight.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” Ariana cleared her mind of the past and wiped at the single tear that had threatened to fall.
“Good, let’s go,” Becky said as they stepped out of the elevator into the garage and walked to her yellow 2008 Pontiac G8.
“Cool car.”
“It’s not as cool as Rainey’s, but I like it.” Becky started the engine and plugged her mp3 player in. She pushed ‘play’ and The Beach Boys’ ‘Kokomo’ blared out of the car’s speaker system. Both girls started singing. “Aruba, Jamaica, ooohh I wanna take ya…”
Becky pulled out of the garage and turned the volume down. “I’ll take you by the church. I forgot to point it out when we were in town today. It’s almost a hundred miles to the club, so we need to hurry.”
“A hundred miles! This is an island. How can it be a hundred miles to anywhere?”
“Excuse my French, but it’s a big fuckin’ island. It’s about ten miles to 85 Mile Highway and that is exactly how long it is – eighty five miles. It goes straight through the middle of the island and it has roads that lead off in different directions, but no twists and turns, so you can haul ass down it. No speed limit. The club is about five miles from the highway, so it is almost a hundred miles, like I said.” Becky pointed to the huge building with a few different symbols on its front, one of which was a big wooden cross. “There it is. You’ll see the inside of it Thursday night.” Becky stopped at a four-way and turned right. “Hang on tight, roomie. Here we go.” She pushed the accelerator to the floor and the car took off.
CHAPTER 19
Rainey pulled out her cell phone and dialed Abe’s number with shaky fingers. He picked up on the first ring. “I’m waiting in my Hummer. Hurry up.” The call ended. Rainey ran out the door and concentrated on taking the shortest route to the garages.
Abe had already left finger impressions in the steering wheel while waiting for Rainey to call. He knew it had only been about ten minutes since he’d left her lair, but it felt like he’d been sitting in his black Hummer, starring at his cell and waiting for it to ring, for hours. Rainey opened the passenger door.
“You sure you don’t wanna take my car? It’s faster.”
“Evidently, you don’t know what I’ve got under the hood. Get in. What the hell did Julia want?”
“What do you think she wanted? She wanted to pick at my brain, and as hard as I tried not to think about it, she still got enough to put two and two together. Hearing your voice only helped the process, I’m sure. You should have kept quiet. She knows about Ariana and she’s coming to Code Red tonight, ‘to say hello’, apparently.” Rainey looked at Abe as he shoved the stick shift into first gear and peeled out of the garage.
“Damn! Shit! Son of a Bitch! That bitch deserves to be in Hell. I just don’t know how to send her there. Even if I planned to tie her up and throw her out in the sun, she would see it coming.” Abe whipped through the tight roads around the Palace and didn’t even slow down as he turned the right angle onto 85 Mile Highway and floored it. “Do you still have Jonah’s cell number?”
“Yeah, why? He isn’t on the island, is he? Oh my God, he is! That’s who Becky was talking about when she was telling me about this guy busting in on her and Ariana last night. That is Jonah’s old room, and he featured in my vision, too.”
“Yeah, he’s back, and I’m not too happy about Jonah seeing my woman in a towel. I haven’t seen her in a towel yet. The only way he can stay is if he gets rid of Julia for me. I’ve already told him. Call and tell him to meet us at Code Red and not to dick around about it. I’m sure he’s tracking me tonight anyway, to see where I’m going. Tell him what’s happening.”
“Ariana isn’t your woman, you know? She has no clue that you like her. In fact, I had a hard time convincing her you don’t hate her, after that little outburst of yours earlier today. ‘I didn’t say it, I thought it,’” Rainey imitated his morose tone of voice to perfection. Abe closed his eyes in frustration. Could he get anything right anymore? “Anyway,” Rainey continued. “I guess the cat is out of the bag now, so you may as well let her know how you feel about her. But that doesn’t mean she will like you back. This is one relationship you’ll have to work at, if you really love her.”
Rainey knew Ariana liked Abe, but she just wanted to make him sweat a little, and at the same time ensure she would be treated right, with the adoration and reverence she deserved; she felt very fond of Ariana already, and she didn’t want to see her hurt, on purpose or through some misguided, clumsy attempt at courtship. It wasn’t like Abe’d had a lot of experience at respecting the women in his life.
“Yeah, I know she isn’t mine, yet. I really don’t know how to go about getting her to be, either. I’m not good at this kind of stuff. I have all these new feelings inside of me and I don’t know what any of them are or what they mean. I just know that if I can’t have her, there is no reason for me to go on living. She is my reason for existence. I don’t know why we were born over nine hundred years apart though; that confuses me.”
Rainey smiled. “That was beautifully said, Abe. Maybe you could start with just saying that to her.” Rainey chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated how to tell him of the discovery they’d made at the restaurant. “There is more to Ariana than we expected, by the way. A lot more. Do you know what a Pure Natural Witch is?”
“No, but I guess you’re gonna tell me.” Abe had to slow down because there was a grandma-driven car in front of him; it was irritatingly slow. “Move bloody over!” he yelled at the car.
“Abe, you’re going a hundred and fifty, and you’ve just shouted at Becky and Ariana. Nice ice-breaker. Now, why don’t you slow down a little and stay behind them?”
“Shit! Really? That’s them?” Abe let off the gas pedal enough to get off Becky’s bumper.
“Right. As I was saying, a Pure Natural Witch is someone with infinite power. They don’t have to use spells or wands or any of the kit I use, for example. They can do anything they wish just by thinking
it.” Rainey looked out the window. “And I’d never met one… until today.”
“We have one on the island? Cool. I’d love to be able to make things happen just by thinking it. I would picture Julia having a heart attack, only she doesn’t have a heart. So, who is this pure witch person?”
“She’s in front of you, dopey. It’s Ariana. She asked the waitress at the restaurant today for a straw and a dozen of them came flying through the air at her. The waitress was twenty feet away and didn’t even hear the question. Hell, Ariana didn’t even get it all out of her mouth before the straws started floating through the air and landed in her lap. Then, she finished speaking, not that there was any need for that.”
“Ariana? Girl’s full of surprises. Oh.” Abe’s face dropped.
“What? I thought you’d be pleased.”
Abe shook his head as if trying to get rid of a niggling thought. “I was thinking… What if that’s the reason she was in your vision? What if she was supposed to be on Eternal Island because of what she is, and not because I’m in love with her?”
“Jesus, man, you only need to look at yourself for a minute to know you’re in love with her. I’m just not positive she will feel the same. It’s why I’m telling you all this, so you can be careful, think it through.”
Rainey looked out the window and smiled to herself as Abe ran his fingers through his hair and propped his elbow on the door. He looked so pitiful that she almost told him Ariana was head over heels, but she changed her mind. She would see how this played out without any of her interference.
She pulled out her cell and called Jonah. Jonah picked up on the third ring. “Well, it’s been a while Rainey. I was beginning to think you didn’t love me anymore. What’s up?”
“I wasn’t aware you got a pass back to the island until I heard about a little incident with a half naked girl, a can of hairspray and a lighter.” Rainey chuckled. “Sounds like your charm doesn’t work on every girl.”
Abe cleared his throat. “And he’d better remember the lesson I gave him about that particular girl. Tell him to meet us in Code Red and we’ll fill him in on everything when he gets there.”
Jonah laughed. “You tell Abe he can fill me in on everything when he gets there. I’ll be waiting.”
The call ended and a bright red flash whipped around from the back of Abe’s Hummer passing both cars in a blur. Jonah’s taillight was out of sight in an instant.
“I told you he was tracking me tonight. He’s probably afraid he might miss a split second of my very exciting social life if his head isn’t constantly stuck up my ass. I knew there was a reason I kicked him off the island before.”
Rainey laughed. “You two just had a fight. Let bygones be bygones. I know what he did pissed you off at the time, but I think you hurt his feelings, too, by not bothering to listen to his side of the story. He loves you like a brother and he’s certainly more loyal to you than Max or any of your other close friends. You’ve given him a chance, which is good, though I think asking him to get rid of Julia is quite a steep price to pay. I don’t think Satan himself could get rid of her.”
“You know that last vision of yours? Me, crying? I think I know what that’s all about. I was getting dressed tonight and I couldn’t find my favorite shirt…”
“The one with the fangs?”
“That’s the one. I think my old habit of sleeping around finally caught up with me. Kelli Danners must have my shirt. She wore it to her room after she left mine, last week. What I’m getting at is that… well… there’s a lot of them.”
“Shirts?”
“Women, Rainey. And I wouldn’t want any of them to spoil my chances with Ariana by picking on her. She is special to me and none of the others were. I was debating whether to ship them all off to the mainland.”
“The island would be almost empty…”
“Very funny, Rainey. I don’t want Ariana hurt. And I don’t want her to think she is like all the others… The worry is choking me. What if Julia gets to her first and… does something… out of petty jealousy? That, I think… seeing her hurt… would be the only thing that would make me cry. I can’t lose her. It would kill me. And soon that will be obvious to everyone, including Julia.”
Abe followed Becky’s car around to the back parking lot and parked beside her.
“What do I say to her? You’ve got to help me with this.”
Rainey laughed as she opened her door. “I don’t recall you helping me with any of my relationship drama; you can handle yours.” She winked at Abe and shut the door.
Ariana got out of Becky’s car and caught sight of Rainey getting out of a black Hummer.
“Cool ride, Rainey. Who’s your date?” She almost passed out when Abe opened the driver’s side door. Ariana turned around to Becky. “Let’s go inside, quick.”
“What’s wrong, girl?” Becky asked as she jogged to catch up with Ariana, who was already pulling the club’s door open.
Ariana turned around as soon as they walked through the door. “She does like him, Becky. She was flirting with him when she got out of his vehicle. Laughing and winking at him.”
Becky put her hands on Ariana’s shoulders. “She does not, Ariana. You’re twisting it the wrong way. Why are you so upset? Rainey has been Abe’s personal psychic for seventeen years and they have never done anything other than business together. He’s like a big brother to her. But she mothers him and protects him like a mother would look after her child. I know his feelings for her are the same; you can see how irritated he gets with her attitude sometimes.”
“So why did she ride with him, then? Why didn’t she just ride with us?”
“Just work. She didn’t get a lot of time to help him with his problems because she spent the day with us, shopping. Remember? Oh, Ariana. You really do like him, don’t you?” Ariana nodded meekly. “Look, I care about you and I really don’t want to see you hurt. Abe doesn’t make a secret of his love life. If he’d been interested in Rainey, the whole island would know. But seeing the way he looked at you, well, I worry you might be next. Just be aware that if he does have any interest in you at all, it’s simply to get in your pants. Then he’ll throw you away, the way he always does. Half the women on this island must have hoped they would be ‘the one’ for Abe, at some point. Believe me, Ariana, there isn’t just ‘one’ for Abe. He wants one and then he wants to move on to the next one.”
Becky and Ariana walked up to the bar and Becky ordered her a beer. “What do you want to drink?”
Ariana fought back the tears, wondering whether she would have been better off staying home and getting a decent night’s sleep. Vampire relationships were too much trouble, the way she felt right now.
“I’ll have a shot of Jack, please,” Ariana told the bartender, who was in bad need of a beautician. His Mohawk was about eight inches long and a rainbow of colors.
“That’s what I’m talking about – my kind of drink. I’ll have a double of that and I’m buying their drinks tonight, as well, so just put it on my tab,” Abe said as he smiled at Ariana.
Ariana downed her shot and put a five dollar bill on the bar. “I can pay for my own, thank you. Come on, Becky, I need to dance.”
Abe stood staring after her, his glass halfway up to his mouth.
“You having woman problems, cousin? That’s not like you. She must be out of your league. I honestly didn’t think that was possible, but I think she just shot you down. What’s going on that you needed my expert advice?”
“I don’t need your advice. I need you to do your job. You see that girl out there, on the dance floor? The one that just shot me down? The same one you mind-molested last night? I’m in love for the first time in my life and that is the girl I’m in love with.”
“You’re in love?” Jonah said, flabbergasted.
“Julia found out about her today, and she is coming here tonight to introduce herself, if you know what I mean. I don’t want my girl hurt and you have a job to do, so here is
your chance.”
“I… uh… I really haven’t had a whole lot of time to strategize, Abe. I mean, I plan to get the job done, but how do you get rid of a psychic, witch, mind-reading vampire?”
Abe was in a daze. The answer to Jonah’s question was staring him in the eyes, so to speak.
Thinking about it, he’d always known it, deep down. But it was never going to happen. He wouldn’t ever let it happen; it was way too dangerous. Why didn’t he see this earlier? Rainey’s voice rang in his head ‘She is a Pure Natural Witch with infinite power’. She wasn’t here for him; she was here to destroy Julia. Good versus Evil. His heart shattered on his last thought.
Rainey walked up beside Jonah. “What’s up, Abe? Abe?”
Jonah shook his head. “He’s been like that for a couple of minutes. He seems to be… thinking.”
Abe snapped out of it and headed to the dance floor. A guy a few inches shorter than Abe was asking Ariana to dance. He walked in between them, facing Ariana. “We need to talk!”
“Hey, buddy, wait your turn,” the guy said from behind Abe.
Abe quickly turned around. “Do you know who I am?”
The guy almost fell over his own feet trying to get away. But when Abe turned back to Ariana, she was gone. He scanned the club, but she was nowhere. He looked back toward the bar and caught sight of Rainey waving goodbye to Jonah. Rainey joined the girls, heading out the back door. Were they leaving? Abe took off at a dead run and beat them to Becky’s car.
“I said, I need to talk to you!”
“Yeah, I heard you. You didn’t bother to ask if I wanted to listen. I’m not one of your little tramps that is gonna bow down and call you ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Highness’ or beg to kiss your ass any time soon, so go jump off a bridge. Rainey, didn’t you tell me that if I wanted to go home you would erase my memory and take me back? Let’s do it.”
Abe bowed his head and dropped to his knees. Everybody stared. “Which one?”
Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) Page 10