Abe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The news was good and it was bad, too, but he could and would do anything she asked of him.
“I will try to stay away from you,” Abe said as they started walking back to the Hummer. “You may just have to remind me from time to time, if I get too close. I’m like a moth to your flame. Completely helpless.”
He was hoping for a smile, but Ariana looked anxious. What was on her mind now? Abe started the engine and turned the car back towards the club. He was about to open his mouth, but then he remembered his promise and pressed his lips together; she would ask in her own time.
He didn’t have long to wait.
“What are your intentions with me if I choose to be with you?”
“Live happily ever after, of course.” Abe laughed lightly, but as he looked at Ariana his expression changed to worry. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m not sure I want an eternity here, on Earth. I believe in God and the afterlife and that there may be a place in Heaven for me when I die. If I choose to be with you, well, you are immortal and I will eventually die. Could you live with that?”
“No!” Abe said, suddenly frantic.
He slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the Hummer. He managed two steps before he buckled and he fell to his knees and elbows in the fine sand of the lane, his hands clutching his head. He’d gone over different scenarios in his mind, but none of them involved watching Ariana die. He wanted her to become his mate and the island’s High Vampess. In his dreams, she was beautiful and radiant and forever young. But if he told her that, she would surely run.
He choked as the air left his lungs. What kind of trap was this miserable existence? He couldn’t stop the tears that were pouring out of his eyes or the tearing pain in his chest, where his heart was breaking. How the hell could he even have a broken heart when his hadn’t beat in hundreds of years? Nothing had gone as planned since he saw her in the crystal ball, and nothing was all he could do about it. He couldn’t force her to change; he would never do that to her against her will. If only she could find it in her heart to love him… She would soon see things his way, he was sure of it.
Ariana’s soft hand was suddenly on his shoulder. He hadn’t even heard her approach. “Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry if I did. What did I say, Abe? Please tell me.”
Abe sat back on the heels of his feet, but he didn’t stand up and didn’t turn to look at her. The moon was on his back, so she couldn’t see the tears on his face. He spoke in a subdued whisper.
“I can’t watch you die, Ariana. I’m sorry, that is something I won’t do for you. The only thing I won’t do for you. If you choose to be with me, you would be my mate and the island’s High Vampess; that is how it will have to be. I won’t watch you die – of an accident, an illness or old age. I won’t insist on you being turned immediately, but I am not strong enough to watch you suffer. If you can’t even consider this option, tell me now. I will have no choice but to leave you alone.”
This was exactly what Ariana feared. Pain twisted in her gut and her heart started pounding. “Will you take me home, please? I think I’m done for the night.” She got back in her seat and buckled up.
Abe grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the moon. What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t endure much more of this agony. He would just have to take this one second at a time, the way he’d lived through the past few days and hope and pray Ariana would see the love in his heart and change her mind. Maybe Rainey, Becky or even Jonah could reason with her. No, not Jonah; he still didn’t want that womanizer anywhere around her. It would be just his luck for Ariana to fall in love with Jonah, and then what would he do? He would have to kill himself a woman-stealing vampire, that’s what he’d have to do.
Abe got up and slid back in the driver’s seat. “I’ll call Rainey and tell her you aren’t feeling well. She can get a ride with Becky, if she doesn’t drag some poor unsuspecting guy back with her.” Abe dialed Rainey’s number and she picked up on the first ring.
“Everything go okay, Abe?”
“No. It’s not that simple. Ariana isn’t feeling well so I’m going to take her back to the palace. Can you catch a ride with Becky or someone, or do you need me to pick you up?”
There was a pause on the line. “Do you want me to talk to her, Abe?”
“Not now, Rainey.”
“Abe, don’t do anything stupid. You’d better be in your room when the sun comes up, do you hear me? Abe…”
He ended the call and swung the Hummer onto the 85 Mile Highway. There was so much he wanted to say to Ariana, and he was sure she could hear everything that was running through his mind, but he just couldn’t make the words come out of his mouth. She probably didn’t want to talk to him right now, anyway.
The ride back to the palace was quiet, much too quiet. Abe wished he had one of those mp3 players so Ariana could listen to music instead of him boo-hooing in his head over her. He felt humiliated and embarrassed, but he still couldn’t help his thoughts.
Ariana knew only too well that Abe couldn’t stop the focus of his thoughts and she tried numerous times to shut him out instead, to give him some privacy and also to give herself a break. Unfortunately, banishing other people’s thoughts from her mind was not a skill she’d mastered just yet. She couldn’t get more than fifteen seconds’ silence at a time.
She feared Abe would soon think her rude for not talking to him, but shutting thoughts out and holding an intelligent conversation at the same time was well beyond her current abilities. Maybe if they talked about something different she could focus on other things and ignore the whirlpool of thoughts in her head.
Ariana cleared her throat and Abe stiffened in his seat. Before she spoke she heard his thoughts. Here it comes, here is her telling me that she doesn’t have any feelings for me what-so-ever and she could never be happy in my world.
“Oh, good grief, stop it! I need a little more than five minutes to think my life over. I was just going to say that I’m not intentionally being rude, not talking to you. I just feel like I’m constantly eavesdropping on your thoughts and so I’m trying my hardest to concentrate on keeping my mind turned off, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think you rude. I just expected you to be… anguished, I suppose. Worried, maybe. I mean, I realize it can’t be easy… the situation you are in. Please know I only want you to be happy. I’ve never felt like this before, so I can’t control these new emotions, especially with you right here, by my side. Everything is heightened, more intense with you near. I apologize for any thoughts you may find upsetting.”
Ariana didn’t know what to say to that. She appreciated him trying to explain his feelings, especially since she could tell he wasn’t used to baring his soul. At least they were having a two-sided conversation, out loud; it wasn’t just her listening to his internal monologue anymore.
“Why don’t we try talking about something other than you and me? You won’t have to force yourself to control your thoughts and I won’t have to keep trying to block you out. Any suggestions on how to work these newly found powers of mine?”
Abe was happy to hear her voice again, but most of all he was elated that she didn’t seem to be mad at him. If all she was doing was trying to shut off her mind so she could give him some privacy, then that was a very considerate, kind thing to do. He loved her even more for that. Only snag was that, while he could talk forever about being immortal, lightening fast and incredibly strong, he didn’t have a clue about how to deal with magic.
“What can you do, so far?”
“Um, I can read minds, obviously, but I can only shut that off for about fifteen seconds at a time. Still, I’m getting better; I had zero control yesterday,” Ariana said as she patted herself on the back. Abe laughed. “And I can move objects with my mind. That one is pretty easy. Rainey had me moving all sorts of things at the restaurant. It doesn’t matter how heavy or light, they just move where I want them to move. Wel
l, I haven’t tried to move a vehicle or anything that size yet, but I moved a chair and it was just as easy as the straws I confiscated from the waitress.”
Ariana was in a lot better mood now that her and Abe were talking. She loved to watch him laugh; he had such a lovely smile, she thought.
“What would you like to be able to do? Rainey says you can do pretty much whatever you want.”
“The mind reading started almost immediately after her spell, you know, the one she used to figure out if I was a witch. Me moving things with my mind was a total accident, I just asked for a straw and they came flying. I really haven’t ever thought about what I would do if I had infinite powers. Maybe I could heal the sick or find missing children; something meaningful and rewarding, like that.”
“There aren’t a whole lot of kids that go missing on the island.”
Abe was smiling but his smile froze on his face when he looked at Ariana and her expression plainly told him that she would be looking for missing kids somewhere other than the island. Fear of her leaving slowly crept back in his thoughts and he found himself speechless once again.
“Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Since I’m not just a human anymore, will I be allowed to leave and come back or will Rainey have to abracadabra my brain and make me forget about this place, if I decide to leave? I mean, other people leave and come back. She did, for example, when she brought me over. That Jonah guy, too. He just came back from God knows where and waltzed in my bedroom with me standing there half naked. Wish Rainey could abracadabra that picture out of his head.”
Abe busted out laughing.
“What? I didn’t think it was very funny.”
“Jonah was actually the one who told me about you going at him with your make-shift blowtorch. Ingenious, I have to say. Of course, he had no idea who you were or why you were here. When I figured out it was you he was talking about, I was really pissed off at him, but hearing that you really don’t like him anymore than I do, kind of makes it funny.”
“I’m glad I amuse you,” she smiled at him.
“That’s not all you do to me.” Abe realized he might be heading into dangerous territory and quickly changed the subject. “So, what else would you like to do?”
“I definitely want to learn how to dream-walk so I can visit my best friend, Janie, and let her know that I’m alright. Don’t worry, I won’t tell her where I am, just that I’m alive and well. That’s okay, isn’t it?”
“Sure. Are you planning to tell her what you are and, well, about the rest of us here on the island?”
It really made no difference to him if she told someone about witches and vampires; the island was invisible. He was just trying to keep the conversation going. If her friend Janie did tell anyone that Ariana visited her in a dream and told her she was a witch and that there were vampires roaming the planet, people would just think she was having bizarre dreams.
“I guess. Would that be a problem?”
“Only if you told her our location,” Abe smiled at her. “Which you don’t know, do you?”
“No.”
“Fine, tell her anything you want. What else do you want to do?” Abe said as he turned left at the stop sign.
“I don’t really know. What do witches do?”
“Some of them can see people’s auras. Some can make fire come out of their hands. I don’t know, some of them can only make hand lotions and shampoos that make you look cleaner, younger, or get rid of acne.”
Abe pulled over to the side of the road.
“Why have we stopped here?” Ariana asked.
Abe opened her door and helped her down. “This is the park. A lot of witches come here to practice their magic. I want to see you try your hand at fire, but my Hummer is a little small to do that in, especially for a beginner.” Abe smiled at her. “Not that I don’t trust you, but I’m a vampire; we don’t do well around fire. That is why Jonah split when he saw your homemade blowtorch. Come on, come over here.”
“I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”
“Uh, I don’t know. How did you make things move with your mind?”
“I just asked for it. I envisioned it happening, and it did.”
“Well, try that. Picture fire in your hands and tell fire to be there.” Abe sat down on a bench beside a palm tree and watched her with amusement in his eyes.
“Okay, I’ll try it, but you’d better not laugh.”
“Never.” His face turned suddenly solemn.
Ariana stood about twenty feet away from Abe, with her back to him. Not because she was embarrassed, but because if it did work, she didn’t want to scorch the High Vampire, not now that she was beginning to like him again. She cupped her hands together and closed her eyes. If Janie could see her now… Ariana took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She pictured in her mind a glowing ball of fire and then told her mind to put fire in her hands. When she opened her eyes, there was a little speck of light about as big as a lightening bug glowing in her hand.
Abe was literally rolling on the ground when Ariana turned around. She put her hands on her hips.
“I thought you said you wouldn’t laugh?”
“I’m so sorry, Ariana.” Abe got up and straightened his face until there was no sign of a smile. “Why don’t you ask for it out loud, with feeling and emotion? Fire!” Abe shouted as he put his hand out, imitating her posture.
Nothing happened, of course, and while she didn’t expect fire to burst out of a vampire’s hand, Abe looked so funny, she couldn’t help but laugh at him.
“Okay, smarty pants, I’ll try it.”
Ariana held out her hand and pictured a ball of fire in her hand. She could feel her body start to tremble as she gathered her emotions to the surface. And in one word, she let it all go.
“Fire!”
Fire shot out of her hand ten feet tall. It wasn’t hot to her touch, but the tongue of flame licked at the nearest tree and caught.
“Oh my God, What do I do?” Ariana stared wide-eyed at her latest creation. “Go away, go away, go away.” The fire in her hand went out as fast as it had come, but the whole tree was up in flames now.
“Abe, help. What do I do?”
Abe was laughing so hard he couldn’t catch a breath to answer her. Ariana closed her eyes and pictured a lot of water splashing the tree. “Water!” she yelled with all her might as she flung her hands at the tree. Several hundred gallons of water came out of thin air at her command, and went straight for the blazing tree. The fire was out in a matter of seconds.
Ariana stood there looking at the smoking ashes of the palm tree. At first it was just a giggle, and then another. Soon Ariana was laughing so hard, tears were streaming from her eyes.
“Did you see that, Abe?”
Ariana turned around to see Abe with his mouth agape and his eyes wide.
“H-o-l-y… Shit!” Abe said as he ran his hands through his hair. “How the hell did you do that?”
“Just like you told me to. I pictured it happening, I gathered my emotions, and then I told it what to do. Pretty neat, huh? You’d make a good teacher.”
“Yeah, pretty neat. I’m just glad we weren’t in my Hummer. You’re going to be a kick ass witch, and I wouldn’t mind being your teacher at all, if I actually knew what I was doing, which I don’t. I think, for now, the park is definitely the best place for you to practice. Don’t do any fire or water tricks in the palace, okay? Not yet.”
They started laughing. Abe opened the passenger door and helped Ariana in. When he got in, Ariana was beaming at him.
“What?” Abe asked smiling.
“Nothing. I mean, thank you. I feel like I can try anything now. As long as it’s outside. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Ariana quickly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and then straightened up and buckled her seatbelt.
Abe couldn’t move for a moment. He took a deep breath and turned his mind to thoughts of bunny rabbits and bugs so she didn’t catch what was really go
ing through his head. If he ever did get the chance to kiss Ariana, he was going to have to be careful not to hurt her, he wanted her that bad.
He concentrated on starting the engine and drove slower than usual to the palace. Every now and then his thoughts kept slipping to the feel of her lips on his cheek, his neck, his lips. God, make it stop.
“Ariana, please think of something to talk about. I’m dying over here.”
Abe’s voice breaking the silence made Ariana jump. She had been in the middle of another try at turning her mind off. They were closer to the palace and the voices were getting louder.
“Are you okay?”
Ariana opened her mind to him at the same time he was thinking of running his fingers through her hair; he was kissing her so deeply that she almost didn’t block it out.
“Um, okay. How ’bout we talk about your kind for a change? Do vampires breed? I mean, can you have babies? Oh, God, this isn’t the best topic, is it?”
Abe was starring out the driver’s side window with his elbow on the door and his chin propped on his fist, counting each tree as they went by.
“I’m really sorry, Abe, I shouldn’t have…”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” he snapped. “Do you have any idea how many seconds are in a day? Do you? There are eighty-six thousand four hundred fucking seconds in a day. I have been awake for almost five twenty-four hour days. I can’t sleep. I think about you every second of every minute of every hour of every day. I can’t help it. Do you want to know how many times I have thought about kissing you? Different ways I could kiss you? I wanted our first kiss to be sweet, really special, fucking hot!” he said and slapped the steering wheel with his palm as he forced himself to look out the window again.
Ariana crossed her arms over her chest and looked out the window. Abe peeked at her as she was wiping a tear off her face. “Ah, crap! Ariana, please… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Shit… I’m an asshole.” He sighed. “Please don’t cry. I’m not strong enough to watch you cry.”
Abe pulled into his parking spot in garage number three and Ariana hopped out without waiting for his help. She turned to him when she got to the elevator; Abe was right on her heels.
Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) Page 12