Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (13 page)

One of the vampires ran toward Hiu. It was a younger one with bright green eyes, but before he could get to Hiu he hit an invisible wall and bounced backward landing hard on a table that collapsed with his weight.

“You can’t attack them, Jovan, they wear protective rings from the ancient Polynesians,” Tom said. His eyes found the one on my finger. His expression was calm. Too calm for a man who’d been dumped.

“Ava, I’m disappointed that you chose this path. I’m afraid I have no choice but to release my claim of prospect now. Not that you’re in danger with that ring, but if you take it off, you will be.”

“We want those things, now,” Hiu said firmly.

“They’re right over there,” Tom said calmly as he pointed at a box near the ladder that I used to get away from Tom before. Hiu strolled to the box while I stayed at the door and guarded our way out. Hiu pulled out a handful of the devices and stuffed them in his pocket. The one called Jovan tried to attack me, this time he hit the invisible wall, slammed backward into the wall of the warehouse and dented the aluminum.

I let out a scream and flinched away from him, my reaction was a little delayed since the attack happened so fast. The whole thing was over before I understood what happened. The act of violence against me angered Hiu because he charged Jovan and stabbed him in the heart with his obsidian dagger.

Almost instantly, Jovan’s body shriveled up, as if his soul had been sucked out of him. The dagger glowed in Hiu’s hand and then settled. The dagger sucked the soul out of the vampire’s body and left it a crumpled mess. I had wondered how the dagger worked, and now I knew.

I also knew I could never do that to Tom.

I turned to the rest of the room. Seven vampires stared at Jovan’s deformed body in shock. One snarled at Hiu while being held back by Tom.

Tom’s eyes captured mine. I couldn’t move. Hiu came to me and pulled me back toward the door. I snapped out of my daze and started running with him. We quickly got outside and went back to the gate the same way we came. The Range Rover remained. No vampires waited for us, although I had expected it.

We quickly got in the rover then headed for the dock where Hiu’s boat was. I kept an eye behind us for followers, but none showed up. I took a deep breath and turned around as we pulled up to the dock.

“Wikiwiki! To the boat!” Hiu said as he grabbed his dagger.

I opened the door and rushed to the boat with Hiu at my side. We arrived at the dock with no attempted attacks. Inside, Alani and Nalani were waiting. Alani’s dagger sat within her reach.

“I’m so glad you guys are back! I was starting to worry,” Alani said, giving them both a hug. “Did you get one of those thingies?”

“Yeah, I cockaroach a choke ov da kine,” Hiu said excitedly.

“That’s good! That means we can get to California with no problem!” she said.

“Did something happen at the warehouse? Ava, you’re white as a sheet,” Nalani said.

“I killed a vampire. He make-die-dead. He try to attack me, then he try to attack Ava. I show ‘em I got beef. I wen bus him up. That oughtta send a message not to mess wit’ us,” Hiu said, setting his dagger on the table.

“I will use it to carve a ring or bracelet then, but I need a good shell,” Nalani said. She examined the dagger. “You can kill more than one vampire at a time with these, but it’s best to get the souls out right away. Will one of you go fetch me a shell?”

“I’ll go. Ava, can I cockaroach your dagger, just in case?” Hiu asked.

“Of course, here,” I said as I handed him my dagger.

Hiu took it and then headed out to find a “good shell.” I sat at the table with Alani and Nalani then looked around. It had been a while since I had been on Hiu’s boat. Technically, Hiu’s yacht.

He used it to give people mini-cruises around the islands. He made pretty good money doing it too. Tourists loved the mini-cruise. Some would rent out the whole boat for their family. With six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a good sized galley, a dining and entertaining area that opened up to the deck, and a lounge area that opened up to the deck as well. His business was a popular attraction.

Hiu returned shortly with the shell and gave it to Nalani who then said her good nights then retreated to her room. Hiu showed me where my room would be and gave me back my dagger. My room was large for a boat cabin and I had my own bathroom. Alani must have picked up some of my clothes because a bag was on the bed with a few changes of clothes and some bathroom necessities in it. After getting settled in, I decided a hot shower was in order. Everyone had gone to bed except Hiu who piloted the boat. He said that once we got out far enough he’d put it on auto and then rest. His room sat adjoined to the pilothouse.

I put my dagger on the dresser then decided that since the feather pennant was up, I could take off my ring to shower. I didn’t want it going down the drain. Still shaken from the whole warehouse scene, a shower was exactly what I needed to relax. The movement of the boat helped a little too. I never got seasickness. I figured it was part of living on an island, and when I was young my parents would always take a ship to get from California to Hawaii. My mother liked the feeling of the ocean too. She’d always said that flying didn’t allow you to get to know the ocean. I never knew what it meant, but I did have an immunity to seasickness.

After feeling much more at ease, I shut off the water then threw on a bathrobe. I hated going to bed with wet hair, so I dried it. I knew I’d wake up with some serious bed head if I didn’t. Because of the long length of my hair, it took some time to dry, but eventually I finished and left the bathroom.

A dark figure waited for me. I jumped back and peered at the man.

Tom.

A scream welled up inside me, but didn’t release. My eyes darted toward my ring, which was too far away to dive for, so they darted back to Tom.

“I suppose I should be glad your eyes went to the ring on the night stand and not the dagger on the dresser,” he said. He practically spat the word dagger at me.

“I don’t want to kill you, Tom,” I said, backing away toward the bathroom.

“I don’t want to kill you either, Ava.”

“No, you want to change me, which is pretty much the same thing.”

“I only wanted to protect you.”

“Well, I can protect myself. Your protection is not what I would consider convenient. Becoming a vampire is not in my five year plan.”

“And becoming a fugitive is?” Tom raised his voice a little. I backed up another step. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Go ahead and put your ring on if it will make you feel better. I’m only here to talk. I wouldn’t try to change you on the boat. I didn’t bring any blood with me and I’m sure you wouldn’t want your friends as a snack. Oh, and you guys should tie your feather pennant a little tighter next time,” he said.

I went for my ring. I thought it would push him away from me, but it didn’t. He still stood only a few feet away. I assessed his body language He seemed to be calming down.

“Why isn’t this ring pushing you away?” I asked.

“I have to mean you harm or you have to be afraid of me. I mean you no harm and you are a little afraid of me. I can feel its force, but you must trust me a little because it’s not pushing me through the window or anything.”

“What did you come to talk about? I’m not coming with you. You can’t change my mind.”

“I came to tell you that Hiu has been branded a slayer and as his accomplice you are in danger. The other two are in danger as well. I can protect you if you let me change you, Ava.”

“We’re fine, we have rings and daggers.”

“You don’t understand. They will send the drudges after you. Those rings only protect you from vampires, not humans,” Tom said, raising his voice again.

“We can handle humans. I can’t leave them, Tom. They’re my friends. They’re my family,” I corrected, “And I’m staying with them. I will not abandon them and if you succeed in changing me someday, I will not drink one drop of human blood. I refuse to cause my kind harm.”

“If I change you, and you do not drink blood, you will die. You will need to drink human blood at first in order to stay alive.”

“Then I guess I’ll die if you change me. That’s all there is to it,” I said as I crossed my arms.

“You will drink. After a while you’ll get so weak that you won’t be able to think straight, you’ll drink blood thinking it’s water. I’ve seen it happen.”

“No, I won’t do it. I’m strong willed and I’ll make sure of it. I’ll drive an obsidian blade through my own heart before I drink human blood.”

“I’m not going to argue with you right now, Ava. I just wanted to tell you that they have yours and Hiu’s picture and they’ve already sent it out to all Psytech employees. I don’t know if the loners are aware of you yet, but they will be soon enough. Even the rogues might want to kill you to get on the Emperor’s good side.”

“This is all gibberish to me.”

“All you need to know is that all vampires and their drudges are going to be after you. You must especially avoid all Psytech buildings,” Tom warned.

“Vampires can’t hurt us. Not with these,” Ava said, gesturing to her ring.

“The human drudges can, and they will. This is the sort of thing that could get them accepted into the guardianship.”

“What is that?”

“Drudges are humans that seek out vampires to become one. The vampires see them as brave and put them through a training period. If they pass the training period, they become our guardians.”

“Oh, so, killing one of us would be like an initiation test.”

“Yes, I guess you could put it that way,” Tom replied.

“Well, I’m still not worried. We can take care of ourselves.”

“Ava, I just want you to be safe. Please, come with me,” his eyes were pleading and he was leaning toward me. My ring kept him from closing the short distance between us. I ached for his touch, but I pushed past the feeling. I broke my gaze from him.

“Why don’t you come with us? Leave the other vampires. Be with me.” My ring let up on Tom a little. He stepped closer.

“I wish I could, but that would make things even more dangerous for you and I would be hunted as well. We can’t be together as long as you are human, Ava,” Tom’s voice was quiet.

My heart sunk. Our forbidden love was too much for my emotions. I let down my guard completely, and so did the ring. I trusted him. I trusted him more than I probably should, but I didn’t care, I wanted to touch him. I wanted to be in his arms.

Tom opened his arms and I hugged him. I started to cry and he held me tighter. I gazed at him. He was sad too. He was hurting. I wanted to take away his pain. I kissed his lips. First I kissed them tentatively. I had to make sure that he wanted my kisses. After I decided that he did, I kissed him more passionately. He kissed me back and his hands moved down my body. They went down to my lower back.

“This is our only night,” I said between kisses then looked at his eyes, staring right back. He wanted me, and I wanted him. He pushed me down on the bed, gently but playfully aggressive at the same time. My ring put out a short burst of force field, but it ended and Tom kissed me again with a little chuckle. I pulled off Tom’s shirt with a little help from him. My robe opened with a little more help from him. I hadn’t put anything on underneath and Tom’s excitement grew. His kisses were more and more urgent and one of his hands ran down my ribcage.

I unbuttoned Tom’s wet slacks. Wet from the swim, I assumed. His shirt was damp too, now that I thought of it. My thoughts snapped back to the passion when Tom yanked off his pants with lightning speed. He wasn’t wearing shoes, which made things even easier. Then, we were making love. It was different with him than it had been with anyone else.

He obviously knew what he was doing. His strength carried me through a whirlwind of skin and sensations. No other man had ever pushed me to such incredible limits. I felt a sense of euphoria and was in a daze from all the adrenaline.

I fell into Tom’s arms as our lovemaking came to an end. We laid in the bed while I drifted off to sleep in his arms. The night was full of dreams for me. I dreamed of Tom and what it would be like if he wasn’t a vampire. I dreamed of us being together like a normal couple with nothing to worry about except figuring out what to eat for dinner. I woke wishing my dreams could come true, but reality set in when I realized Tom was gone. He left a letter on the dresser beside the obsidian dagger. It was my turn to read a paper made of heartbreak.

My Dear Ava,

I’m sorry for leaving you like this. A one-night stand is not what I had in mind when I pictured our first passionate night together, but unfortunately it is not safe for us to be together right now. I gave you a kiss before I left. I hope that means something. I will miss you so much.

Please reconsider my offer. I don’t want to live without you, especially after last night. If you decide to let me change you, then I will see what I can do about your friends. I can’t make any promises, but I can try to save them from death or from becoming blood slaves. I realize it doesn’t sound very promising, so I don’t blame you if you decide not to go through with it.