Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (26 page)

The next morning, I found everyone out on the deck eating breakfast. Nalani got up early and prepared ham and eggs for everyone. Hiu seemed to be focused on some maps and calculations.

“I don’t get it,” Hiu said to Jesse, “I turned the GPS on for just a minute this morning. We are farther along than we should be. We musta caught a current or something.”

“Uh, I might be responsible for the current you’re talking about,” I said.

Hiu turned to me, “What do you mean?”

“Last night I was practicing with the ocean and I pushed the boat a little. I didn’t do it for long because I didn’t want to push us off course, but I wanted to find out if I could actually do it if I had to.”

“Wow, so ass why I’m so futless. It was you!” Hiu exclaimed. “You good to have around, kama’aina.”

Hiu’s comments made me smile with pride. I didn’t want the role of damsel in distress. I wanted the role of the powerful siren. “Hey, do you have anything I can use for target practice? A flotation device we can drag behind the boat or something?”

“What are you shooting it with?” Hiu asked.

“Water,” I replied with a smile.

“Oh yeah, I got da kine you need. There some life preservers we can throw out there,” he said. He disappeared to retrieve them.

“What’s going on?” Jesse asked.

“I’m going to practice my ocean control. I think it’s my best weapon against the vampires and drudges,” I replied.

“That’s a good idea. You should definitely try to get more familiar with your abilities, you never know when you might need them,” Jesse said. He put his arm around my shoulder. I leaned in and gave him a little hug. After a short while, Hiu came around the corner with four life preservers attached to some rope. I rushed over to help him.

“I spaced them out for you, I tied some good knots, so you should be able to throw a lot of water at these and still keep them on the line. They’re at 20-yard intervals.”

“Thanks, Hiu!” I said. Hiu went to the railing and tied the end of the rope to it. Then he threw out the preserver that would be farthest and so on, until all four preservers were out. I thanked him again and went to the railing to concentrate. A crowd formed behind me as my friends all watched with curious eyes.

I wanted to try the water ball thing again, so I began with that. I gathered up about a gallon of water again. I formed the ball in mid-air. Then I flicked my wrists out toward the closest life preserver. The water ball almost hit it but was a little off. Everyone clapped anyway, and pressure built up in the form of my embarrassment.

I tried it again, but this time I focused even harder. With a flick of my wrists, I hit the life preserver with the water ball. Everyone clapped again. I decided to try to hit the second farthest one, and with my nearly infallible concentration, I did. I formed a fourth ball, and aimed for the third preserver and hit it. I was getting faster too. My aim improved as the fourth preserver took a direct hit. With each hit, my friends cheered me on.

My connection with the ocean grew stronger and stronger. The ocean seemed to anticipate my next command. This time, I drew up two water balls and shot one after the other. I hit the 40-yard and the 60-yard preserver. Then I tried three and hit the 40, 60 and the 80-yard preserver.

I manipulated the ocean like a sculptor manipulated clay. I made columns of water shoot out from the center of each life preserver. Each column reached a height of about 25 feet. Another idea came to me. I climbed over the railing and dove into the water. Some of my friends shouted my name, but I reappeared with a column of water supporting me. The water swirled around my waist and held me steady. Everyone clapped and cheered.

“Anyone want to join me?” I asked.

Jesse and Alani made their way to the railing and dove in. I used my connection with the ocean to lift them up as well. Jesse and Alani both laughed.

“This is crazy!” Alani shouted.

I made the columns gently set the three of us down safely on the deck of the boat and sent the water back out to sea. Hiu and the others came to meet us.

“That was gnarly!” Hiu hollered, as he came down the steps from the upper deck. Everyone else agreed in some way or another. All except Latoria who glared and rolled her eyes with crossed arms from farther back.

It didn’t matter.

Empowerment rushed over me. My abilities gave me a close connection to the ocean, and also a close connection to my mother. If my mother could see me now, she would be glowing with pride. I couldn’t let this part of myself go.

I was now a siren. At heart and by blood. I could not destroy this connection to my mother, and so I decided I would not give up my immortality or anything else connected to my ancestry.

I needed to inform Jesse of my decision. I needed to let him know where I stood on the issue before our relationship went any further.

I looked around. Everyone chatted with each other about me and my powers and things they thought I may be able to do. Jesse and Latoria were near the stairs. I approached them and received a hostile glare from Latoria as she turned and walked away. Jesse’s expression was strong and stubborn until he saw me. It melted into a gentle and almost apologetic one.

“You are quite the young siren, Ava. With more practice, you can expand your abilities to the fullest. Of course, you must decide what you want out of life before you get too attached to your abilities.”

I nodded, “That’s why I came over here. I want to talk to you about a few things.”

“Okay, let’s go somewhere a little more private,” he said. The two of us snuck away while Hiu pulled up the life preservers and Alani tried to describe to everyone else what it felt like to be held up by water. We found a discrete mechanical room and closed ourselves in.

“I just want to say . . .” I paused and tried to map out my words. We’d been so honest with each other since we met, I needed to continue. “If you want to be together, I’m ready. Yesterday and last night settled all my emotions, and I actually took time to think about us. I want to give it a shot, but before you tell me one way or another, my decision is to remain immortal as a true siren. I felt a connection with my mother today and I can’t ever let that go. Without my knowledge, I think she groomed me to be a siren. It’s coming so naturally to me.”

“My decision will likely be to remain immortal as well. When I saw you out in the water, I thought you might decide this way. Your eyes said it all. If you hadn’t come to this conclusion on your own, I would have begged you to do so. This is what you are meant to be. So, I told Latoria we must continue the search for a witch, but one with the power to allow me to remain immortal.”

“Why did she seem so cold at the end of your conversation? Isn’t that what she wanted?”

“She wanted to help me find a witch, but she did not want me to remain immortal. She wants me for herself. When I told her I wanted to keep my immortality she questioned my reasons. I told her I had found someone I wanted to stay immortal with and she put the pieces together. I’m afraid she will most likely be hostile toward you, but I made it clear that even if you weren’t in my life I still had no romantic feelings for her,” Jesse explained.

“What if we find a witch but she can’t give you immortality?”

“Then we will decide what’s better for you: an immortal who cannot protect you in the dark hours of the night or a man that can only protect you for the remainder of a human lifetime.”

“You don’t need to protect me, Jesse.” I said.

Jesse put his hand on my cheek and kissed me passionately.

“I know I don’t, but there’s nothing I’d rather do for the rest of my life. Even if we get rid of Tom, there will always be another vampire seeking a siren to control. You’re a rare treasure. Both as a kind and thoughtful person and as a supernatural being. I want to be on your side.”

I melted into his arms and felt butterflies in my stomach. I kissed him and knew our meeting was fate. No one else made me feel this way, not even Tom.

By comparison, Tom was like an animal. Beautiful and majestic from a distance, but deep down, he was untamed. Jesse was exactly who he claimed to be. Although he was mysterious, I also trusted him, which is something I never had with Tom. Jesse was a true gentleman, not a lion in sheep’s clothing. He was the kind of man that comes along once in a lifetime. He wasn’t selfish, as I had first judged him to be. Jesse Sutton was someone I could possibly spend an eternity with. I felt it with every ounce of my being.

It was almost as if I were blinded by Tom. I’ve opened my eyes and he can’t lead me astray anymore.

My thoughts settled and I pulled gently away from Jesse. I stared into his kind eyes; the eyes that had never betrayed me. He kissed my forehead.

“What are you thinking about, my love?”

“I’m thinking about you. What else would I be thinking about in a cramped control room on a boat in the middle of the ocean staring into the eyes of the best-looking man walking the planet?” I said with a giggle.

“Perhaps we should find somewhere else to go. Somewhere more romantic?”

“Well, I think we’re eventually going to have to tell everyone about us. I already told Alani and Nalani probably has it figured out. Latoria knows too, so I guess we should tell everyone before gossip distracts everyone from the task at hand.”

“I have a feeling Hiu will be disappointed,” Jesse said.

“I suppose, but it’s only a crush, he’ll get over it,” I replied.

“I think you underestimate his feelings for you. I believe he’s in love. The way he watches you is intense,” Jesse noted.

“That’s because we’re family,” I said.

“I’m not so sure, but we can break the news whenever you want.”

“I was thinking dinner time?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Jesse and I parted ways so he could try to contact his friend at NASA again and I could continue to practice my affinity with the ocean. I discovered a few new ways to manipulate the water. Among other things, I found I could create an arc of water and more than likely use it to sink a vessel if I desired.

Soon, it was dinnertime. Chicken and vegetables were on the menu. It was a fairly generic meal, but extremely tasty with the added herbs and spices. Halfway through dinner, Jesse and I decided it was time to tell the others about our relationship.

“Everyone, we want to announce something,” Jesse said as he stood up. I stood as well. Everyone turned to see us, and Jesse continued, “I’m sure some of you are aware or at least suspected something was going on between us, but we wanted to put rumors to rest. Ava and I are seeing each other. We found a true connection, and we hope all of you can be happy for us.”

“We’re glad something good has come from this whole adventure,” I chimed in, “We didn’t want to leave you all in the dark, and hopefully you’ll support our connection.”

Everyone remained silent for a few seconds. Alani was the first to speak, “I’m so happy for you guys!”

Moana smiled and Nalani didn’t look surprised, but I could tell she was happy for us. Hiu and Latoria were both upset. Latoria seemed furious while Hiu acted like he’d missed the last ride at an amusement park. His sad expression did not change once we sat back down. He was being quieter than usual.

Dinner finished without much more fuss. Alani pretty much ran the table conversation and, to my embarrassment, talked about mine and Jesse’s imminent wedding and how cute our kids would be. Jesse and I had never talked about kids or getting married. Even before Psytech and the virus, I had barely ever given it a thought. I turned my head toward Jesse with a nervous expression. He seemed to be un-phased by the conversation. He politely handled all the comments and questions while holding my hand under the table.

Moana asked if Jesse and I were going to be cabin mates. That was another question that caught me off-guard, but Jesse was coy in his answer, “If Ava doesn’t mind sleeping with a boulder in her bed, I would love to accommodate her.”

I smiled. We’d already shared a hotel room. This wasn’t much different. “I might need to consider that offer. Did you want to take my cabin, Moana? That way you don’t share a bed anymore?”

“Well, if you don’t mind, that would be very considerate of you.”

“I think we might be living on this boat for a while. There really isn’t anywhere we can go in Hawaii that’s safe from the vampires, so I think it might be more comfortable for you,” I said, “We can move our things after dinner or tomorrow morning if you want.”

“The morning will be fine, it’s not that I don’t like rooming with Latoria, but these cabins are a little cramped.”

I nodded but turned my attention to Hiu. He didn’t seem to be listening. He was staring into space. Then his eyes shifted and stared into mine. He was hurting. After a moment, he abruptly left the table. I looked back at Jesse. He had been right.

“Go ahead,” he whispered.

I went after Hiu. He was walking rather fast toward his cabin. He got to his door and I was right behind him.

“Hiu, wait!” I said.

“I can’t wait, Ava. Not anymore. I’ve been waiting and waiting for you, but it’s been a waste of time. I’ve waited too long.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked him.

“Ever since we met I’ve been waiting for the right time to make my feelings for you clear. After your parents died, you seemed so distant, so I gave you time to heal. Then, you seemed to be coming around, but everything blew up in my face. The whole virus thing, Psytech, and the vampires. That bloodsucker, Tom. I wanted to give you your space, but I shoulda gone for it.”

“Hiu, I don’t understand. What did you say? The other night in the hallway, you said something to me in Hawaiian, what was it?”

“It was ‘Ko aloha makamae e ipo.’ It means you are so precious, sweetheart. You said thank you, and I was just telling you that you are too precious to me to let anything happen to you.” Hiu paused and took a deep breath, “I’m in love with you, Ava. I always have been.” Hiu finally admitted in plain English.

I was silent. I always knew Hiu had feelings for me, but the extent of it surprised me.