Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (25 page)

“Yeah, right now we just cruising up the coast,” Hiu said.

“Well, our goal is to stop Psytech from taking humans as blood slaves,” I said. “We need to get the virus removed from the satellites. Have you talked to your friend from NASA?”

“I haven’t been able to contact him. I called the NASA office, but they say he hasn’t been coming into work. I left a message. I hope he receives it soon.”

“Okay, so what should we do in the mean time?” I asked.

“Well, I think we should go to Hawaii and see if we can find out more about Psytech and the virus they planted. There has to be some sort of code or anti-virus,” Moana said.

“Maybe, but what about all the vampires and drudges? They’ll be after us. Along with Tom,” I said.

“Good!” Hiu replied. “Any of them mosquitoes like beef, they can see what happens when they boddah us.”

“Hiu, we must not start a war. There are many innocent lives on the islands, we can’t risk the vampires’ retaliation,” Nalani scolded.

“We should still go back to Hawaii,” Alani replied. “Hawaii is the center of operations right now, and we have to protect our home land.”

“I think Alani is right,” Jesse said, “Hawaii is ground zero. Does anyone want to stay and track the situation here?”

Edison stood up, “Kassidy and I will stay.”

“I will too,” Perry said, “They may need my help.”

“We can figure out a safe house. Once we get settled, we will contact you,” Kassidy said, “We will call Hiu’s cell at noon, Hawaiian time, so plug in your virus blocker for a minute at noon every day. If we don’t get an answer, we’ll send a text and it should go through next time you turn it on.”

“Okay, that sounds good. So, everyone else is alright with going to Hawaii?” I asked. Everyone nodded.

“Okay, where do you want me to drop you guys off?” Hiu asked.

“Marina Del Rey or Santa Monica is fine, whichever we are closest to,” Edison replied.

“We are about to come up on Marina Del Rey, so I’ll dock there. Should be about 20 minutes.”

Jesse kept his eyes on me throughout the rest of dinner. He was being very attentive. He asked a few times if I needed anything and I declined. I didn’t want Jesse to beat himself up over what had happened and I didn’t want him to feel like he owed me anything. I sent quite a few smiles his way to show that I was just happy to be back.

About 20 minutes later, we said our goodbyes to Kassidy, Edison, and Perry. Then the rest of us shoved off for Hawaii. It would be another four-day journey. We all decided Hiu would use the virus blocker, but only to double-check his own navigation and only for a moment to keep the vampires from tracing us. I was waving to Kassidy, Edison, and Perry when Jesse came up behind me.

“How are you doing?” he asked.

I turned around to face him. “I’m doing well. Especially since I got some closure today. Tom’s a monster. I should have paid more attention to my initial reaction to the news that he was a vampire. He was so manipulative, I guess I manipulated him too, but what he did was much worse. I made the right decision.”

Jesse’s eyes met mine, but sadness tainted them.

“I’m glad you’re alright. I hated my curse more than ever when Tom and the drudges came crashing in. I came back to human form in a panic. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them,” Jesse said with his head hung.

“Don’t worry about it, Jesse. The important thing is that you found me, and everyone is alive and well,” I said as I brought my hand to his shoulder.

“With the exception of those four drudges,” he added.

Jesse put his arm around the small of my back and pulled me a little closer. We both peered out at the shrinking marina as Hiu piloted Palila out to sea. The sun painted the sky orange and pink, so the two of us drifted to the room where Jesse would be staying. Our fingers intertwined and our lips curled into smiles. Words weren’t important to us right now, only the fact that we were in each other’s presence. After a few moments of silence, Jesse sensed the sun would set within minutes.

“I must say goodnight, I will be turning to stone soon, but you’re welcome in my cabin anytime. I can listen if you need to talk but don’t take my silence as an insult,” he said with a smile.

I giggled, “I think I’ll let you be tonight. I can talk quite a bit, and I don’t want to scare you off.”

“Never,” Jesse said as he kissed me on the cheek. I was surprised he didn’t kiss my lips. He was still giving me the time I thought I needed, but as I assessed my emotions I found no guilt or sorrow. I found excitement. I was ready to make the leap from my past to my present, and possibly future, with Jesse. With this thought, I kissed him. It wasn’t a hot, passionate kiss, but a sweet kiss that said I was ready. Ready to be with him.

As I pulled away from the kiss, I looked into Jesse’s surprised eyes. The kiss meant we could move forward.

I smiled again, this time with a more flirty expression. I winked and left him. Tomorrow we would be together and spend time getting to know each other. Jesse waved before shutting his door.

My smile stayed on my face until I got to my room. My thoughts stuck on Jesse and sleeping proved to be a difficult task with my mind racing. I decided to see if Alani was still awake. Best friends come in handy for new-love-sleepless nights.

On my way to Alani and Nalani’s room, I ran into Hiu, almost literally.

“How’s it going, Captain?” I asked.

“Good, I’m getting ready to hit da bocha,” he replied. I noticed the towel and shampoo in his hands.

“Don’t you have a shower in your quarters?” I asked.

“Yeah, but Alani had my junk in her bag, I got it from her.”

“Oh, is she still awake? I was going to see her.”

“Yeah, she be awake for a while. Are you doing okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I just need to talk to someone.”

“Well, you can talk to me if you want,” Hiu offered.

“I don’t want to bore you with my girl talk, Hiu.” An awkward energy threatened to surround us.

“All right, but you know I’m here when you need me,” he replied.

“You, Alani and Nalani are the only ohana I’ve got. Where else am I gonna go when a vampire is trying to change or kill me?”

“I don’t know,” he said with kindness in his eyes. He turned to walk away, but I stopped him.

“Hiu?” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Mahalo,” I replied.

Hiu walked back to me and gave me a hug. “Ko aloha makamae e ipo,” he whispered.

I pulled out of the hug and glanced up at him. He was much taller than me.

“What does that mean?” I asked, but he just smiled a silly grin and waved as he continued walking down the hallway. I sighed. I would ask Alani what he’d said, but pronouncing the Hawaiian language was difficult and repeating a phrase like that would be next to impossible for me.

I found Alani’s room and knocked on the door. Alani answered, “Ava! Hey, I was wondering where you’d gone. I thought maybe you were with Jesse.”

“Shh,” I said. “I don’t want everyone knowing quite yet.”

“Come in here, Nalani is taking a bath. So, there is something to know then, right?”

“Well, we are taking it slow. I kissed him a few minutes ago. I feel like I got that closure we talked about. Tom showed just how bad his ugly side is. I know now, in my head and my heart, he’s nothing but a manipulative monster. I think—I know he killed my parents, and I’m plotting my revenge.”

“It’s good you’ve gone from being in love with the guy to wanting to kill him. That makes me feel a little better about the situation,” Alani said.

I smiled. Alani was definitely the type to speak her mind. Her opinion meant a lot to me.

“I still don’t know if it really was love or if I just got swept up in his blanket of charm, but it doesn’t matter. Jesse and I can move on. And since I’m immortal, it eases some of the fears I had. I don’t know if I want to be immortal, but I don’t think I have a choice. Not right now anyway.”

“Wait. You’re immortal? Nalani didn’t tell me that part. That’s awesome!” Alani exclaimed.

“Yeah, weird huh?”

“A little, but that means you and Jesse are meant to be. You guys can be so happy together!” Alani said excitedly. She clapped her hands together. I think she was already planning our wedding in her head.

“After Tom, I still want to take things slow. It seems like that may be beyond my control, though.”

Alani’s bathroom door opened and Nalani stepped out. “Aloha, Ava!”

“Aloha,” I replied.

“Tutu, did you know sirens are immortal?”

“Why, no I didn’t. I guess that’s something the legends left out,” Nalani said. “Is this something you want, Ava?”

“Well, not necessarily, but I don’t have a choice. It’s in my blood. It’s so strange finding out this way. I wish my mother would have been able to tell me.”

“Your mother and father would both be proud of the way you’re handling the news. They can’t be here now, but they are always with you in your heart. Use them to strengthen your soul and you will go far. Your abilities are a great responsibility. I know you will use them wisely,” Nalani said.

“What you did with the ocean was so cool!” Alani jumped in her seat as if electricity ran through her.

“Thanks, I didn’t even know I could do that until today. It might come in handy. Anyway, I’m going to go to bed now. I think I’m finally tired enough to sleep. I will talk to you in the morning,” I said as I stood up to leave.

“Aloha ahiahi!” Alani and Nalani said.

“Aloha ahiahi!” I replied.

I closed the door behind me and walked to my cabin. Sleep finally approached me like a silent ghost.

I thought about how things were going to be once we got back to Hawaii. The last time I spent days on the boat, I spent them wallowing over an undeserving man. I had two choices on how to spend the trip back to Hawaii. I could either take a mini vacation—because I really needed one—or I could learn more about myself and see just what I was capable of, because once we got to Hawaii, the challenge of conquering the vampires was going to begin.

My plan was to take down Psytech headquarters first. We would have to go in and kill as many vampires as possible. If I were lucky, I would get another chance at Tom, but he’s too smart to be ambushed. We had to figure out how to lure Tom away from his drudges. He might be injured from the dagger I’d thrown at him, so he would increase his personal security.

Now that he knew I was aware of who I was, he would be on the lookout for any power I could use against him. Apparently pearls in the ears of human men made my singing useless. I would use my new-found ability to defeat him. He didn’t know I had been given the power to control the ocean. The fact that he was a vampire meant he was a good swimmer, but whether or not he could beat the current I would throw at him was yet to be determined.

These thoughts threw any notion of a mini vacation out of my head. The sleep that had begun to approach me a few moments ago took a detour, and so did I.

I went out to the deck and to the back of the boat. I leaned over the railing and concentrated on the ocean and the sound and movement of it as the boat glided across it.

I lifted my arms and concentrated. I used the ocean to speed up the boat and push it farther toward our destination. I slowed it down again. I didn’t want to push us off course, but the knowledge of my power comforted me.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the waves. With my fingers spread apart and palms up, I lifted tendrils of the water. They swirled and obeyed my every movement. I pointed in one direction and they followed my command.

I brought one of the tendrils up to me. I made it curl around my waist without letting it touch me. Then I made it form a little shield around me. Not sure that this would actually help during a fight, I returned the tendril to the ocean.

Then I got the idea to make a ball of water I could hurl at drudges. I focused again and lifted about a gallon of water into the air with my thoughts. I used my hands to form the water into a ball shape and then shot it out into the distance. It was too dark to see how far it went, but I was pleased to see my ability at use.

The ocean calmed as I released it in my mind. I decided I would practice again tomorrow and every day until we reached our destination. I wondered if Hiu had anything I could use as targets.

This power came naturally to me. I wondered if my mother had somehow given me everything I needed to be a siren without me realizing it.

“Okay,” I said to myself, “Time for bed.”