The Eternal Gift Vol. 1: NA Urban Fantasy (The Eternal Series)

by Candy Crum

  Rachel punched me in the leg. “Kailah!” she scolded in a loud whisper. “She’s a Vampire! It might be a good idea to cut the sarcastic attitude.”

  I nearly laughed at her warning, given that she was about to rip the woman’s head off not moments before for being less than polite to me.

  “Here,” Kim said, handing me a shot glass filled with an amber-colored liquid. I started to protest about my age, but she gave me an incredulous look. “If I wanted to, I could convince the guy sitting next to you that he’s Cher. Do you honestly think anyone is going to question me more than once about who I serve?”

  She smiled and pushed the glass closer. “It’ll ease your mind a bit. There are only friends in here, so you can put those edgy nerves of yours at ease. This is a sanctuary. No violence is allowed on my grounds. If feeding occurs, it is with a willing host and it never results in death, though they may be a bit dizzy.” She winked.

  “You own this place?” I asked.

  She nodded. “This is all mine. I’ve taken a lot of time to build my business and the reputation that it has. Like I said… Only friends here. As long as you are kind and never raise your power to harm a Vampire, unless it is in defense of someone in grave danger, then you and I are friends. No Vampire in here will harm you, or they will feel the sting of my wrath.”

  Though I wasn’t sure why, I believed her. I knew plenty of girls that would swoon over Vampires. Hell, I was one of them up until recently. I was a Lestat lover, like many of my friends. That had all changed the day I found out they existed. But I didn’t think for a second that there was any kind of shortage of women, or men, willing to give themselves to a beautiful dark creature.

  “Thank you,” I said, tipping back the shot. I’d never had Bourbon before, though I’d had other things. The burn wasn’t new, but it was stronger than most other things I’d drank. Of course, it came with the customary hiss afterward.

  Kim looked thoughtful as she looked me over. “You really don’t know about any of this, do you?”

  I shook my head and she rolled her eyes.

  “Sweetheart, you desperately need to talk to someone. You’re going to get yourself killed. You don’t understand how big of a target Immortals are for Vampires. You’re young. You can’t just walk around unprotected. Especially if you don’t know how to use your own power.”

  She was sweet, and I knew she was trying to help, but I felt inexplicably snarky in response to everything she said. Even if she told me I was the most amazingly awesome person she’d ever met, I was pretty sure I’d want to roll my eyes at her. That wasn’t like me, and I didn’t like it. What was causing that?

  It wasn’t like I knew how to find other Immortals to ask questions. There was supposed to be some kind of internal Immortal radar that I was gifted with, but I had no idea how to use it. I needed to use the mystical radar in order to find someone to ask how to use the radar… More vicious circles. Not fun.

  Chapter Seven

  Kim walked away to serve other patrons. Rachel and I exchanged relieved expressions just before a short, bulky – seemingly human – man stepped in front of us and rudely took our orders. He acted as though he couldn’t be bothered with us, so we quickly ordered, trying to get out of his way as fast as possible. Rachel got a Grey Goose and Cran, and I got a coke. Once we had our drinks, we headed out to the floor as we attempted to find a place to sit.

  The loud music radiated off everything it touched, bringing it to life. Nearly the entire club was on its feet, dancing and grinding against one another to the beat of the drum. Luckily for me, the DJ was good and the music thrummed through my body with its every heavy beat, soothing me.

  We found an empty booth along the wall and hurriedly took it while we had the chance. I sat my drink down and slid into the seat next to the wall.

  “Gross!” Rachel yelped as she took a sip of her drink.

  “What? Did Smilie spit in it?” I laughed.

  “No, but I’d be careful with yours,” she said with a wink.

  I made a disgusted face as I looked into the glass I’d already been drinking from and half slid it across the table.

  Rachel sniffed hers and made another hilarious face. “It tastes horrible. It’s damn near straight vodka. Don’t get me wrong, that’s great and all, but I was expecting a mixed drink. This is just enough juice to turn the vodka a color. I’ll be right back.”

  I smiled and shook my head at her pickiness. She never failed to make me laugh.

  Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm my climbing nerves. They were starting to buzz again. There must have been another Vampire in the area. What the hell was I doing? I was in a Vampire club. It was possible that I was just too freaked out to care, passing my breaking point and slipping into breakdown territory.

  “Oh, Kailah!” Rachel said in a sing-song voice.

  After everything that had happened within the last week, somehow what bothered me most was the two men she wore, one on each arm, like a completely unnecessary shawl. Rachel was a greedy girl, nor was she known for playing around. Jeff was the only man she’d ever been with, though, she enjoyed flirting when single. No… She didn’t plan to entertain them both. The nerve rattling part was that one of those admittedly attractive men was for me.

  Awesome.

  “Kailah, this is Brett Banica,” she said with wide eyes and a mischievous smile, another pink drink in hand, I noticed. It was obvious she’d claimed that one for her own. That meant the tall one was meant for me. “And this gorgeous specimen of the male species is Aeric.”

  Inwardly, I sighed. Rachel knew how much I despised the idea of dating. I’d tried it twice and it blew up in my face both times. That was why I decided to focus on myself rather than trying to find a guy. There was plenty of time for that later. Well, I hoped that I’d have time for that later, and that I wouldn’t be dead.

  Brett was the one that Rachel picked for herself, so, he was the one that I had the most concern about. He was very tall, around 6’2” or 6’3”. His hair was black as night and short on the sides and back with a couple of inches on top. He was very dark complected, possibly Greek or Italian. I wasn’t familiar with the last name, so I had no idea where it may have originated. His eyes were a deep jade-green. Those with that hair and skin – oh… my. Even I had to admit it was a stunning combination.

  His fitted white tee, dark jeans, and black boots suited his frame well. He was well built. Physically, he reminded me a bit of Vin Diesel, though, Brett was a bit longer and leaner than bulky. All in all, I had to say that he was very sexy. When he smiled, it seemed genuine and his eyes seemed to reinforce that. At least, I didn’t get the vibe that he was thinking about how he couldn’t wait to get in Rachel’s pants while he was smiling. So, that was a good thing.

  When I looked to Aeric, I shamefully felt my heart skip. He was even taller, just a bit over six and a half feet tall. His hair was somehow even darker than Brett’s. It was a beautiful raven color, like the Vampire from my dream. It hung in long, board-straight layers a couple of inches past his shoulders. That was the first time in my life that I’d ever wanted to molest a man’s hair. Somehow, I refrained.

  His face was delicate, but masculine. Like Brett’s, Aeric’s eyes were green, but they were a deep, emerald green rather than the jade. He had thick lashes lining them that intensified his features. His beautiful olive colored skin matched Brett’s in tone as well.

  He was wearing a black, fitted, long-sleeved tee, what looked like very expensive, black, fitted boot-cut jeans. They fit his hips perfectly, but were slightly loose in the legs and were looser around the black combat boots that he wore. I couldn’t help but notice how his shirt subtly showed off the contours of his arms and chest. His body reminded me of Ryan Reynolds from Blade Trinity. Long and lean with a look that screamed powerful.

  When I looked up, I saw that he was softly smiling. I wasn’t sure if he was just smiling to be friendly, or if he somehow knew what I was thinking while looking at him. I
hoped that he was just being polite instead of being an arrogant jerk.

  “You’re brothers, I assume,” I said.

  Brett laughed. “Oh, yeah. But I’m older.” His voice was smooth.

  Aeric laughed and looked to his brother. “Yeah, by five minutes, and that was only because I kicked your short, stubby ass out.”

  I meant to laugh at the joke, but an unexpected chill interrupted me, alerting me of something I had no interest in. Aeric’s voice was smooth, but slightly deeper than his brother’s. It somehow resonated within me, and I hated the mixture of loathing, yet curious feelings that now accompanied his presence. He didn’t have a red aura, so it didn’t make sense that I would have such a bad feeling about him so quickly. Unless he was just a bad guy…

  “Don’t let him fool ya, Kay. He’s not at all the badass that he likes to thin he is,” Brett said with a wink.

  I couldn’t help but smile at him. It was easy to tell that they were close, and their relationship was a good one. I admired that a lot.

  “Have a seat guys,” Rachel said in her flirty voice.

  She scooted across the bench toward the wall, Brett sitting next to her. My nerves raged as Aeric slid in next to me. I wasn’t sure if I liked the situation at all. I immediately began to feel trapped and claustrophobic, my stomach dancing around again. It was truly annoying me.

  “It’s lovely to meet you,” Aeric said, extending his hand.

  Smiling tightly, I took his hand and shook. I silently chastised myself for taking into account how strong, yet gentle and warm his hand was.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” I said through partially gritted teeth. My discomfort didn’t seem to register with him.

  “So, what do you do, Kailah?” he asked.

  “ER tech and nursing student,” I said flatly, staring down at the table.

  “That’s amazing. I really admire those who are able to care for others. It’s a very difficult job. When do you graduate?”

  “This semester.” My replies were short; I couldn’t seem to stop it. There was something nagging at me while something else was pulling me closer. I decided to ignore the confusion altogether and just not like him. Every jerk I’d ever met, male or female, had that same charisma while still turning my stomach.

  When I felt a warm hand gently rest on my knee, I realized that I’d been nervously bouncing them. I quickly moved from under Aeric’s touch and looked in his direction, seeing that his expression was one of concern, not lechery.

  “Forgive me. I meant nothing by it. I noticed you shaking. Do I make you uncomfortable? I assure you, that’s not my goal.” His voice was soft.

  I looked away. “N-no.” As soon as the word left my mouth, I realized that I stuttered. I cleared my throat and prepared myself. “No. Why?”

  “A few reasons, but if I make you uncomfortable, I can leave. It’s not as problem.”

  His niceness, while I appreciated it, made me nervous. It was my personal experience that charismatic men liked to screw me over. Just ask my first boyfriend who had made a bet with his friends on how long it would take to sleep with me. Or my second boyfriend… The guy that had just “broken up” with his girlfriend and got “kicked out” of his apartment. He convinced me to let him move in, and left while I was at work after stealing some of my things, like my debit card, and went back to his real girlfriend. I’d been had more than a time or two. It made me annoyingly paranoid.

  “Kailah, are you going to say something?” Rachel asked impatiently.

  I realized that I had been stuck in my head a bit too long. “I said, you aren’t bothering me. I’m fine.”

  “Very well then,” Aeric said. “If you change your mind, let me know. Would you like something to drink?”

  I shook my head and tapped my glass of possible saliva Coke.

  “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”

  No… There wasn’t. In fact, I just wanted him to shut his perfect, gorgeous mouth. There were several times that I almost felt bad for being rude, but then that nagging feeling would come back. Maybe it was the claustrophobia. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to think about it.

  My heart began to race and my stomach rolled. It was beating faster than it ever had before, and I knew. There was a Vampire in the area. A Vampire that wasn’t Kim. Whoever it was, was overwhelming my untrained senses.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Excuse me.” I was afraid to raise my voice for fear that I might get sick at the table, but it didn’t matter. Aeric heard me just fine.

  He stood and gently placed his hand under my arm to help me out of the large booth. If I hadn’t been about to lose the small amount of potentially saliva-flavored Coke that I drank, I might have thanked him. Instead, I headed straight toward the bar, where I’d earlier seen restroom signs hanging off to the right.

  As I passed the bar, I noticed that the bartender, Kim, was staring at me with a strange expression. Being under the scrutiny of her gaze like that unnerved me even more, but I did my best to let it go so I could get to the bathroom.

  Just as I’d expected, the bathroom was packed. Pushing through, I made my way over to the sink and splashed cold water on my face. The paper towels were some of the roughest I’d ever felt. The bathroom was crazy nice. Have a nice relaxing pee and then saw your hands off with the paper towels. Seems logical.

  The sensation of being watched settled in, and I felt even more discomfort. I looked in the mirror and saw a dark shadow cross through. Luckily, the music was too loud – even in the bathroom – for anyone to notice the loud gasp that I made.

  It was faint, but I could see the outline of dark, almond shaped eyes. They were wrinkled at the corners. A few long, loose silver strands of hair blew across his face. It was Taima.

  Not now. Not here. Please, just make it all go away, I thought.

  As I stared into those dark eyes, I waited for something, anything. I could only make out the outline of the top of his face, the rest of his aged features blurring into the mirror. Looking around, I made sure that no one was paying any attention as I pretended to fix my hair and makeup, long forgetting the queasiness that had brought me in there in the first place.

  The old man looked downward in such a way that I was compelled to follow along. I saw nothing as I peered into the sink. Without the ability to speak, I conveyed my confusion with my expression. As much as I could, anyway, without someone seeing it and thinking I was ridiculous for making faces at myself in the mirror. Or worse… Think that I was challenging them.

  He looked down again. Sighing, I knelt down to find whatever it may be that he needed me to see. Under the sink, I found a small charm bracelet that had been dropped. It looked like the chain had broken open and fell off without the owner even noticing that it was missing.

  Reaching for the tiny bracelet made me feel strange, but what didn’t at that point? I was pretty sure just simple breathing was next on the list. I hesitated, but knew that Taima wouldn’t have pointed it out without good reason. Even with everything around me pointing to the huge neon-lit sign, I was still a bit uncertain. I put it aside and took a deep breath. Reaching out, I grabbed the charm and saw a flash of a woman. She was a little shorter than me with shoulder-length auburn hair and light eyes. I couldn’t make out anything else about her face aside from the color of her eyes. It was too dark.

  Another flash went through my mind, and I realized the bad lighting was due to her being outside in the dark. She was talking to someone, but I couldn’t hear anything. The whole thing was as bad as watching a flickering TV on mute. The next image sped through, only it was far more disturbing. Fear coursed through me as I saw Jeff. He was the one talking to the woman. He threw something big over his shoulder. And I shivered as I realized it was a person. What would Jeff and some strange woman want with another person?

  He dropped the victim on the ground and I gasped. Tears fell onto my cheeks as my wide eyes no longer saw the bathroom around me, but only my best friend lying on
the ground in front of Jeff, fear in her eyes as they darted between him and the strange woman. Was it a premonition? Was it happening right then? I had no way to know… I only knew that Rachel was in serious danger, and I had been given the ability to see it. Hopefully in time to save her…

  Jeff reached down with one hand and grabbed Rachel by the throat. He picked her up with only one hand as easily as he would have picked up a bag of apples. The look in his eyes was absolutely terrifying. They were a darker shade of hazel than before, almost charcoal grey, and looked sinister. The evil look in those soulless eyes was exacerbated by the pale, alabaster tone of his skin. Skin that had once been horrible and uncared for, but was now smooth and flawless.

  “I don’t think things are going to work out,” Jeff said.

  Chills ran through me when I heard his voice. It was so cold and it shot daggers of fear through me. Jeff wasn’t normal; I felt it all over.

  “I’m really going to enjoy this,” he growled.

  In a movement so fast that I could barely see, his mouth was at her throat. Blood quickly soaked the front of her shirt as it flowed from her neck. I felt that halo of energy surrounding me again. I felt the same way that I did when I met Sydney. The illusion that my grandfather had set for me came to mind.

  There were a lot of things that I wasn’t sure about, but one thing that I was absolutely sure of was that if that vision turned out to be real, then my best friend was about to get attacked by her boyfriend. A boyfriend that I knew was a Vampire hell bent on killing her.

  Chapter Eight

  It didn’t take long for me to get back to the booth. Not when I was extra generous with persuasive elbows and shoves. I didn’t care. There wasn’t any time, as far as I was concerned anyway. I didn’t have time for politeness with the life of my best friend in danger. When I reached the table, my fears were semi-confirmed.

  “Where’s Rachel?” I asked Brett and Aeric, who were still sitting at our booth.