Arielle Immortal Seduction (9 page)

Chapter 8

T
hat night Gabby, Eva, and Arielle decided to stay in and study. The thought of finishing her junior year excited Arielle. It was almost morning when they finally went to bed. Still, Arielle woke up in a great mood and got ready slowly. Her test wasn’t until 11:00 a.m., Gabby’s was at 12:00 p.m., and Eva was already gone. She had a leisurely breakfast and then went to school.

The test was a little harder than she thought it would be, but she made it through just fine. She felt like a new person when she came out of class. She met Eva at the parking lot. Gabrielle was still taking her test, so they decided to wait for her and go home together.

“Eva, I’m so happy I have you, my own private protector, with your incredible visions,” Arielle told her as they walked back toward the building where Gabrielle was taking her exam. Eva looked deep in thought. Arielle wondered what she was thinking about.

“I’m not sure I like the look in your eyes,” she said. “What are you thinking?”

“Well, it’s the aura you project every time I look at you.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“I always feel anxious when I’m around you, as if there is something out there waiting to hurt you,” Eva confessed. “I know about Annabel, and at first I thought she may be the one creating all these visions, but the more I see you the more I feel there are others out there too. I don’t know if they are acting on her behalf or if they have their own issues.” She looked at her friend unhappily, dismayed to deliver such a gloomy thought. But it was the truth.

“Well, we know that Savanna was sent by Annabel to my birthday party, so I suppose it’s possible that she may have other friends she’s using too,” Arielle said. “I know what she looks like, so maybe that’s why she doesn’t show up here herself.”

“Well, I hope things change, because I can’t stop worrying about you,” Eva said, a bit petulantly.

“Look, Eva,” Arielle said, pulling her necklace out of her shirt and holding it up to show her. “You know that Sebastian gave me this necklace. He said it would keep me safe from anyone who wants to harm me. I didn’t have it on the night of my birthday and I didn’t have it on when Matt attacked me, and that is why I was hurt.”

Eva examined the necklace, and her eyes narrowed with extreme interest. “You told me about this necklace before, but I never looked at it carefully,” she said. “Where did Sebastian get it?”

“From his mother.”

“Wow, that’s big! I wonder how she got her hands on something like this. I have read about similar necklaces, but the last owners I know of were men of royal status, like pharaohs. The Scarab beetle goes back to B.C.”

Everything Eva said was true. Her observations sparked Arielle’s curiosity.
How much more could Eva uncover just by looking at a necklace? I’ll have to give her more credit from now on
, Arielle thought.

They dropped the conversation as soon as they saw Gabrielle walking out of the building with a big smile on her face. The sun felt warmer and the sky seemed bluer than on any other day. They were done with their exams and it looked like they had all done well. They smiled happily at each other.

“Let’s party!” Gabrielle said as she approached her two friends, raising her arms skyward in celebration. As they drove home, they made plans for the next two days. Sebastian would be arriving on Friday, and that alone made Arielle feel exuberant. She was just walking into her room when her phone rang. Glancing down, she was surprised to see Ian’s name on the screen.

“Hi, Ian,” she said warmly.

“Hi, Arielle.”

“What’s up?”

“I need your help,” he said pleadingly.

Arielle paused for a short moment. “What can I do for you?”

“I want you to make plans with Gabrielle to bring Eva to Bria’s restaurant before we go to that celebration party at the pub tonight. Can you do that for me?”

“Um, sure,” she replied, a bit confused. She still didn’t know exactly what her role was, but she agreed.

“I’ve already talked to the restaurant manager and they’ll accommodate us,” Ian added.

“What’s the occasion?” she asked, utterly baffled.

“I’m going to propose to Eva,” he said, his voice filled with excitement.

Arielle was stunned by the revelation. “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. “That’s just great! What time do you want us there?”

“Come around six thirty. That will give us plenty of time to eat and celebrate the occasion before the party.”

“All right. I’ll talk to Gabrielle about this in a few minutes,” she said, and added, “Ian, I think Eva will die. She loves you so much!”

“I love her too. She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a girl.”

“I’m so happy for both of you.”

“Thank you, Arielle. I’ll see you at six thirty.”

Slipping the phone into her jeans pocket, she stood awkwardly in the middle of her bedroom. She had a peculiar impulse to laugh or to cry, she wasn’t sure. She did not know how to handle all the sweeping emotions that were surging through her thoughts. She finally turned around and walked out of the bedroom.

Gabrielle was sitting in the living room alone, flipping through the pages of a rubbishy magazine.

“Where is Eva?” Arielle asked.

“She went in to take a shower, something wrong? You look strange,” Gabrielle said, watching her unblinkingly.

Arielle ran and flopped herself down next to Gabrielle. She gave her hand a quick squeeze.

“Guess what.” Arielle’s voice was filled with enthusiasm.

“What?”

“Ian is going to propose to Eva this evening.”

“Oh, my God!” Gabrielle cried out.

“Shh,” Arielle said, quickly putting her index finger to her lips. “We have to make sure she doesn’t suspect anything at all,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Ian wants it to be a total surprise.”

“Oh, Arielle, I’m so excited for her.”

It was a bit later when Eva emerged from her bedroom and walked into the kitchen to get a bottle of water out of the fridge. When her phone rang, both Gabrielle and Arielle eavesdropped without being obvious.

“Hi, baby,” Eva said. She listened for a short while and then they heard her saying, “Oh, okay, I’ll miss you, but I’ll see you at the party. I love you too,” she added, letting out a deep sigh.

Both Arielle and Gabrielle turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?” they asked simultaneously.

“Ian will not be coming to dinner with us, he has some errands to run,” Eva said, a little disappointed. “He’s going to meet us later at the party.”

“Why don’t we call Troy and Paul, and the five of us can go to Bria’s together around six thirty?” Arielle suggested.

Gabrielle and Arielle were so excited for Eva, but they knew they had to keep Ian’s secret. The restaurant was beautiful, and they were all very happy to have their junior year behind them. As they were involved in an animated, cheerful celebration Ian arrived. Eva’s jaw dropped.

“How did you know where to find us?” she asked.

“I talked to Troy while they were on the way to your place and he told me where I could find you. I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer your phone,” Ian replied. He bent his head, and putting his finger under her chin, he tipped up her face to meet his lips in a deep, passionate kiss. It looked like ending the kiss required extra effort on Ian’s part.

They had a wonderful meal together. Towards the end, Ian got down on one knee and asked Eva to marry him, holding a small open box with a gorgeous engagement ring glittering inside. Eva gulped and paused to take a few unsteady breaths. She cleared her throat a couple times and they saw tears welling up in her eyes. She was staring at the ring with startled eyes and couldn’t even move her lips to speak. She looked at Ian with a beautiful smile on her face, then threw her arms around his neck as she kept saying “Yes, yes, yes!” They locked themselves in a passionate kiss once again, while their friends all wished them happiness.

The ring looked amazing on Eva’s finger. Ian held her close and she rested her face on his chest. There was a lot of hugging and kissing following the proposal, and then it was time to leave for the party.

They arrived a little after 8:30. There were people everywhere, laughing, drinking, and having a great time. They pushed their way through the crowd and found a table inside. It was turning out to be a wonderful night.

When everyone was out on the dance floor or engaged in deep conversations, Troy pulled Arielle off toward the balcony, looking for some privacy.

“What is it, Troy?” she asked. “You look so worried, is there something wrong?”

“Arielle, I’m going to tell Gabrielle about me tonight, about, you know…” he said. “I know I have to do it, but I’m scared to death that she’ll reject me when she finds out.”

Arielle reached out and took Troy’s hands in hers. “Gabrielle loves you more than her own life, Troy,” she said softly. “You don’t need to worry, it’ll be okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“She’ll be scared just like I was when Sebastian told me. But I know how Gabrielle feels, and there’s nothing you could say to change that.” She smiled drew a deep breath, then added, “Go ahead. Ask me how I know.”

Troy looked at her with a quizzical look in his eyes. “How do you know?”

“Because I’m a freak,” Arielle giggled. “I can read some people’s minds, and Gabrielle’s is one of the ones I can read.” She laughed as Troy’s jaw dropped.

He was looked at her as if she had two heads.

Troy raised his brows. “What?” he muttered, his gaze frozen on her face.

“I can read minds,” Arielle repeated and chuckled nervously. Troy looked as if he didn’t know whether to believe her or not.

“Can you read my thoughts?” he asked uneasily.

“No, no, you can relax. I can’t read immortal minds, and I’m not sure why I can read some people’s minds and not others, but that’s the way it is.”

Troy laughed softly, clearly relieved.

“Gabrielle doesn’t know this,” Arielle added. “And I would appreciate it very much if you didn’t say anything about it to her until I’m ready to tell her.”

Troy promised not to say anything to Gabrielle.

“Can you read minds?”

“No, I can’t,” he said. “I know that a lot of immortals have that ability, but I’m not one of them.”

“Go ahead and tell her the truth,” Arielle said. “I’ll be there if you need me. She needs to accept you for who you are.”

“Thanks, Arielle.” He gave her a warm hug. He hesitated for a moment, and then he whispered conspiratorially, “I wanted to tell you that I’ve bought an engagement ring for her. But I’ll wait until her birthday to propose.”

“Oh, my God, she’ll be so happy!” Arielle raised her hand and covered her mouth to mute a squeal. Troy smiled gratefully and hugged her warmly.

“Well, I guess we’d better get back to the others before someone wonders what we’re up to,” Troy said. They went back inside, got a couple of beers, and rejoined the others.

Late in the evening, their conversation took an interesting turn toward archeology and Cairo. Paul was just getting ready to make a point when the whole place fell into a stony silence. Everyone looked up and looked at the pub entrance. Two couples were standing at the door. The guys were average looking, but the girls on their arms were stunning. One was tall with beautiful red hair and green eyes. The other was just a little shorter, with long black hair and dark eyes. Their features were flawless, their bodies elegant and graceful. They were both beautiful beyond belief.

Arielle felt a rush of panic. Her body shivered with fear and her hand reached instinctively for her necklace. She was by now familiar with the immortal look, and these girls were unquestionably immortals. An icy feeling washed over her and her mouth went dry. Turning slowly she looked at Troy—and saw the same guarded look in his eyes.

Eva reached over and grabbed Arielle’s hand protectively. Leaning closer, she whispered, “I have the same feeling I had with Savanna. There is evil in here and I think they are here for you.”

Arielle looked back at her and nodded, managing a calm impression. “I’ll be all right,” she murmured, as she clasped her necklace. Eva followed her move and smiled.