Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (19 page)

Words refused to form in my throat, so I studied him. I felt he would return to his stony condition at any moment. I wondered how long he had walked the earth. He said “arranged marriage,” which was a custom from many years ago. I hesitated to ask. I was still uneasy about the situation.

“Who else knows?” I asked.

“Latoria and Perry. They’re helping me with something related to my situation so I had to tell them. They make sure nothing happens to me while I’m in statue form.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Jesse broke eye contact with me and stared out at the distance, before saying, “I’ve met a lot of people who view my curse a little differently than I do.” He looked back at me, “I hope you aren’t frightened.”

“Well, I just found out you’re a gargoyle,” I said before I could stop myself. I wasn’t sure he’d like the term, but he chuckled and showed me a genuine smile.

“Gargoyles are rumored to come to life at night, my curse is the other way around,” he said with a chuckle still in his voice.

I was glad he didn’t take offense, but I couldn’t help feeling awkward. “Right, well I better go and check the monitors.” I said abruptly, “I’m still on duty.”

Jesse’s face seemed confused at first, but he regained his former smiling expression, “Yes, of course, I will see you again at eight. I still hope I didn’t scare you. I have no control over when I change from stone back to living human being. If you want to talk more about it, let me know. I’m going to go clean up before my shift.”

I nodded and returned to my surveillance. I checked the front before going back to the control room. Once inside I let out a breath that had been stuck in my chest since I witnessed Jesse’s transformation. I thought I might hyperventilate.

I had to catch my breath and get a grip on what had happened. I sat in the chair to calm myself. Soon, Jesse came to replace me. I relayed the info I had. There was nothing exciting happening yet. Jesse told me he was going to hold a house meeting and asked if he could talk to me afterward. I agreed and also told him I’d keep his secret until the meeting. I thought that would give me enough time to process.

Later, at the meeting, Jesse told everyone what had happened to him all those years ago. My mind was the same as it had been at the staff meeting the day everyone else had found out Psytech was buying Herrick-Peyton. I was one chapter ahead of everyone, and my mind didn’t want to review that last chapter, so I let my mind wander. Everyone had questions for Jesse, and I left the room early. I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready to talk to Jesse quite yet.

I was in the other room when I heard Jesse cut the questioning short because it was starting to get dark. He invited everyone to come see for themselves what happened to him at night. A few people followed Jesse. Latoria and Perry stayed behind.

Hiu was curious and joined the inquisitive group, but he had been the only one to notice my absence and asked, “Hey, where’d Ava go?” on his way out.

His question went unanswered. Everyone was too preoccupied with the excitement at hand to track me down. And that was fine with me.

The next day, I steered clear of Jesse’s spot when the sun started to rise. I avoided it all together, actually. His statue occasionally entered the corners of my vision, but didn’t I get close enough for him to see me.

When the shift change came up, Jesse found me in the control room. I gave the report on my shift and made up an excuse to leave. I dodged him and everyone else by staying in my room that night. My next shift began and I repeated the routine of evading Jesse’s spot once again.

I made up another excuse when Jesse came to replace me for the third time since I’d found out what he was. I felt guilty for not talking to him about what happened, but I appreciated that he gave me space and didn’t push the issue. I ventured an uneasy wave as I exited the control room, he smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. I could tell Jesse was distressed over the animosity between us, but I wasn’t ready to let him in again.

I felt tired as I walked back to the house, so I decided to take a nap. I woke up after almost four hours of sleep. I couldn’t believe I had slept so long, and went to get some of my energy out by taking a walk in the garden. It was there that I ran into Jesse. It was a little after noon, so he must have been ending his shift. I was still uncomfortable around him even after he told everyone his secret. I didn’t understand why I felt this way, but it was something I couldn’t shake.

“Ava! I’ve been wanting to speak with you, would you mind if I joined you?” Jesse said as he switched to a jog to catch up to me on the path leading into the courtyard.

“Um, sure that would be fine. I was just going for a little walk around the courtyard. It’s a lovely place. I’ve been using it to get my mind off of things.”

“I use it for the same reason,” he said, “I haven’t gotten the chance to talk to you since the other day. I should say I haven’t gotten up the courage. I could see you needed some space. Is everything all right? You seem distant the last couple days. Alani is worried, which makes me worry.”

“Yes, I’m okay. I guess I just needed to clear my head. Everything keeps changing around me and sometimes I just want things to . . . settle down.”

“I’m so sorry you found out this way, Ava. It was sprung on you too soon,” Jesse said as he gazed into my eyes.

My mind ran like a city hit by a tornado. All my thoughts were mixed up and chaotic. I couldn’t understand why my emotions about Jesse’s secret were so much different than everyone else’s. Why wasn’t I excited to have another immortal on our side? Then I realized, his immortality may be the reason I was so reluctant to be as welcoming. He was immortal like Tom had been.

I hadn’t thought about him in days because I turned it all off after Jesse’s reveal. I wondered if I subconsciously thought Jesse could be the cure for my heartbreak. My contempt for his curse could be a result of me developing feelings for him. The idea snuck up on me. I knew I was attracted to him, but to develop feelings for him so early?

My depression and the original dislike I had for him when we first met had masked my attraction, and I now realized Jesse would have been someone I’d like to date had I not been preoccupied with my romance with Tom or the delicate state the world was in as vampires rose to power. I started to get dizzy. Jesse must have noticed because he began to lead me to a bench.

“Are you feeling all right Ava?” he asked holding my arm to give me support.

“I don’t know. Everything is spinning in my head, but I think I know why I avoided you,” I said with a guilty bob of my head. I was reluctant to reveal what I’d just uncovered in my subconscious.

“Why is that? Are you afraid you’ll turn into a gargoyle?” Jesse asked me jokingly.

I giggled a little. Then, I took a deep breath as I sorted out my feelings by saying them out loud. “I think it’s because I started to have feelings for you before I found out about your curse. Ever since our conversation on my first morning here, I felt electrically charged around you. I think after I found out what you were, I was scared because you were now another immortal being to me. My head thinks, ‘You can’t be with him, Ava. Remember what happened last time, it’s not going to work.’ But my heart still wants to try. Of course, I don’t even know if you feel the same way about me, but even if you did, I’m terrified it will end before it even begins.”

“Ava, you’re over thinking this. My situation has changed the way I think about love. I never wanted it, even before I was cursed I only cared about myself. I often wondered what it would be like to stop being so selfish and give in. But I knew my curse would prevent it from even happening, so I put it out of my head and resorted back to my old ways. I didn’t want anyone to know what I was, so I kept the opposite sex at a distance. But, our conversation the other day made me reconsider what I want out of life. I’ve never desired a relationship, but there’s something about you that makes me want to try. I do have feelings for you Ava, but it’s not the end of the world. The difference between ‘last time’ and me is I’m on your side. Not to mention I don’t drink blood and I don’t want to change you. I want to know you, Ava, not my own personalized version of you.”

“But, you don’t age. I’ll grow old while you stay perfectly frozen in time.”

“Perfect is not exactly what I would call it, but there may be a way to change that Ava, if we can find another witch. One powerful enough to break the curse, then I can have a normal life. Of course, we have to save the world from vampire domination first, but eventually I’m hoping to get the curse removed. That’s what Latoria and Perry are helping me with.”

I smiled a little. “How can you give up an eternity?”

“I never wanted an eternity to live. I’ve spent a lot of time in this world. When I met you and talked to you, I knew there was something different about you. I want to see if love exists for someone as cynical as me,” Jesse said as he moved closer to me on the bench.

“Hasn’t there been anyone else?” I asked.

“Well, as I said before, I had a few flings, but no woman has ever been able to hold my attention. I always wondered if part of my curse was not being able to fall in love. Latoria tries to make me happy, she wants to change my mind about the idea of us, but I just don’t feel connected to her. There is no chemistry. I felt instantly drawn to you, as if you were the earth and I was the moon. Like gravity,” Jesse said as his intense gaze sharpened.

This came as a little surprise to me. I didn’t know how to react and where my feelings stood so I changed the subject. “What about this curse breaking thing? How do we find a witch that can break it?”

Jesse snapped out of his intense stare and turned his attention to the horizon, “We have a few leads. I think we should wait until this vampire business is over. I might need my immortality if I’m going to be battling vampires. I just want to take things one step at a time. I don’t want to push you into this. If you want to move on, I will understand. I know it’s a long shot that I’ll be normal again. It’s going to be a long road. So if you would rather just forget about this whole conversation, I will understand.”

“I think taking things slow is a good idea. I don’t think we should make any rash decisions right now. We should concentrate on the vampires for now,” I said.

Jesse nodded in agreement.

The awkward energy that surrounded me, when I was near Jesse, dissipated into the air around us. I took a deep breath. We had both laid it all out on the line. I was completely at ease now that we had talked. I was surprised my feelings came out so quickly. I was barely aware of them before I started talking about it. I suppose when it’s possible the world as we know it will end. There’s no time to lose.

Tom popped into my head. I wasn’t prepared for the assault on my thoughts. I questioned whether or not I still had feelings for him. The love we had shared was so strange, I couldn’t be sure it was real. And if it was, I couldn’t be sure it mattered anymore. Part of me still loved him in some way, but the fact that we could never be together had sunk in. There was nowhere for our relationship to go, and there was a strong possibility that he had deceived me from the moment we met.

I thought all this over and then looked at Jesse. His eyes made me forget everything I had going on in my brain. Our eyes locked on each other. He flashed a brilliant smile, and I returned it. I took a deep breath to keep myself from jumping into his lap and beginning a make-out session.

I’d never met anyone as rare as Jesse. He had the face and style of someone who had lived in another time; most likely because he was from another time. His brown hair swayed in the breeze, his brown eyes astonished me, and his smile was kind. There was nothing evil about his smile, unlike what I’d seen of Tom.

He put his hand on the middle of my back and pulled me closer to him. He stared into my eyes as if to make sure I approved of his intentions. When he determined I was, he kissed me gently. His hand moved up toward my neck and his other arm wrapped around my lower back.

Then, without warning, it started pouring rain.