Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (31 page)

His beauty was marveling. He’d taken off his shirt before settling in and his musculature showed even more than it did when he was in human form. I admired his six-pack abs, the smooth curves of his strong biceps and triceps, the firmness of his forearms and his bulging pectorals.

At that particular moment, he was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. His position on the recliner was cavalier. He reclined with one arm behind his head and the other on the armrest. His ankles were crossed and he was barefoot. His hair was in disarray from the swim we’d taken and the expression on his face was content. He didn’t smile except with his eyes. The position contrasted sharply with the stance he used in the garden back in L.A.

I approached him slowly and realized he must have noticed my intense reaction. I smiled at him and kissed his cheek before saying goodnight and going to bed.

The next morning, I woke to the sight of Jesse’s curious eyes. He touched my cheek with his soft hand. The softness of his skin always took me by surprise. He spent half of his time as a stone hard statue, yet when he changed back to human form, his skin was so velvety. A true contradiction to what one might think.

His infallible voice gently greeted me, “Good morning, my love.”

“Good morning,” I responded with a smile that reached every part of my body. My excitement of seeing Jesse so close made my fingers and toes tingle. Adrenaline coursed through me as I brought my lips to his. His pleasant reaction pulled me in even closer, although I wasn’t sure if I had made the move myself or if he’d pulled me into his arms. More than likely it was both. Our embrace ended too soon, and Jesse looked into my eyes again.

His curious gaze grew more intense, and I could tell he tried to form a question in his mind. I waited patiently while he gathered his thoughts.

“Last night, you came in looking . . . different. You’ve never looked at me in that way. For the first time, an overwhelmingly pleasant emotion came over me while in my stone prison.”

I felt myself blush, “I was just caught off guard,” I tried to explain, embarrassed that he noticed my reaction.

“I was in the same place you left me,” he said slowly.

“I know. I was expecting that. I wasn’t expecting your . . . divine appearance to catch me off guard,” I explained.

“What do you mean?” he asked, clearly confused by something I’d said.

I remembered how wonderful he looked on the recliner. He was just as wonderful today and every day, but for some reason it had slammed into me last night as I returned from practicing. “I guess I hadn’t let it set in.”

“Let what set in?” Jesse asked, prying for more information.

“How absolutely gorgeous you are,” I finally said.

Jesse let out a short chuckle. His hand made its way to my cheek again and let his fingers brush along my jawbone. I shivered with the sensation. “You are more beautiful than anything I’ve seen in this world and I’ve seen almost everything. I can’t imagine my appearance would even compare to yours. There’s more to your beauty than mine. Your beauty comes also from within. Your heart and soul radiate an energy that blows me out of the water, for lack of better terms.”

I smiled shyly. I wasn’t sure if I quite agreed, but the words were flattering all the same. Then I remembered my conversation with Latoria. The exchange was something Jesse should know about, “I talked to Latoria last night.”

Jesse’s brows lifted. “Did you?”

“Yes. We spoke about you. She was angry. I let some angry words slip as well, but in the end we agreed to disagree and to be civil toward one another. She said someday she may be able to forgive me, for taking you from her, but only if she could come to the realization that it was meant to be,” I summarized.

Jesse’s expression showed fury. “She has no right to hold anything against you.”

“It’s okay,” I assured him, “I get it. I’m a girl too. If I were in her place I’d feel betrayed too. There’s no rhyme or reason for it. It’s just jealousy. Envy is fortuitous as part of the many complex human emotions.”

Jesse’s expression lightened slightly. He understood.

“You are so perceptive. You’re not blinded by anything. It’s something that has drawn me to you since we first met,” he said. He ran one of his hands from my neck to my shoulder, the other hand rested on my leg. We sat across from each other on the bed. His eyes followed my fingers which were moving up and down his muscular arm.

“I don’t know. I felt blinded by Tom.”

“But you still left. You knew you couldn’t stay with him no matter how you felt. Part of you saw what he really was.”

“Jesse, I want to tell you something,” I said. He switched his gaze to my eyes and readied himself for whatever I wanted to speak about.

I continued when I knew he was listening intently. “I want to be with you, for the rest of my immortal life. There is nothing that would make me change my mind at this point. My heart is in your hands and yours alone.”

Jesse smiled, “Ava, you brought me back from my numb existence. I can’t tell you what would happen if I ever lost you. To me, it seems I would turn to dust. My life is nothing without you, my humanity depends on you. My heart, whether it is stone or not, is yours to keep.”

Truth shone through in each word he spoke. I was weary about the possibility of getting hurt, but the fact that we had such a strong bond—stronger even than the one I thought I’d had with Tom—made me disregard any doubts I had. I looked into his eyes and said the words I’d been afraid to say until now, “I love you.”

Jesse’s expression was pleasant. “I love you too, Ava Tanner,” he said. His lips kissed my forehead and then my lips. The energy between Jesse and I had been supercharged.

Our intimate moment was soon interrupted by a knock at the door.

I went to answer it. Hiu stood outside along with Kapono. “Hey, are you guys almost ready?” Hiu asked.

“Yeah, we’ll be ready in a few minutes. Do you want us to meet you in about 10 minutes on the deck?” I asked.

“That works! Hele on!” Hiu said with a wave.

I was relieved Hiu seemed to be sticking to his word about being supportive. Jesse and I prepared for day two of surveillance.

We packed a few guns and obsidian weapons. Jesse was sure to bring his fake badge again. He showed it off to me before putting it in his pocket. I rolled my eyes with a disapproving gaze and a smile.

As soon as we were ready, I went to open the cabin door, but Jesse stopped me. He pulled me into his embrace and held me for a moment.

“I can’t get over how beautiful you are,” he said before he kissed me and then slowly and gently released me.

The rush of adrenaline made me stumble. I caught myself and looked at Jesse with a confident smile.

“You are too much. Your kisses make me . . . flutter. It’s like I can’t think straight or walk straight after I kiss you. It’s like I lose all motor skills.”

“I must have quite the effect on you,” he said with a grin.

“Don’t get a big head,” I replied as I stepped out into the hall. We walked to the deck and met Hiu and Kapono. First, we retrieved my car and drove to the café again. The owner was prepared for us and saved the table next to the window so we could watch the gate. There were only two other people in the café. One ordered coffee to go and the other sat at a far table.

I eyed the man at the far table. He looked normal enough, but then all drudges and vampires looked fairly normal. He wore khaki shorts and a blue short-sleeved, button-up shirt with sandals. He sure wouldn’t be doing any running in them. I pushed my suspicions to the back of my mind and settled down with Jesse at the table. Hiu and Kapono went to their spot from the day before and were reachable by radio again.

I took out my tally list from yesterday and began counting how many cars entered the gate and how many cars left again. Jesse jotted down plate numbers.

“Why are you recording plate numbers?” I finally asked. It had bugged me a little since yesterday.

“So we can keep track of who’s in and who’s out. I’m also putting a star next to the more extravagant vehicles. Those will most likely belong to vampires. Drudges will be driving the less expensive ones,” he explained.

“Have you noticed a black Audi? I haven’t been paying attention to cars—just counting,” I said.

“I saw one yesterday, but I’ve yet to see one today. Why?”

“It’s Tom’s car,” I stated bluntly.

I didn’t want Jesse to ever think of Tom as competition. I knew it was silly to think that he would be jealous of the man who tried to kill me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more than just one kind of rivalry between Jesse and Tom.

I continued my tally. During the time no cars came or went, we cross-referenced our notes and made a list of when more drudges occupied the building compared to times there were more vampires at the building. At the end of our reconnaissance, we found that most drudges cleared out during lunch, but vampires were around most of the day. Leaving for lunch wasn’t a necessity for vampires.

The owner of the café was very attentive. Jesse gave him more money before we left. He explained that we may or may not be back tomorrow. The man graciously took the money and thanked us before he walked us to the door. Hiu and Kapono waited a few blocks away again, so Jesse and I strolled along the road and took our time to breathe in the wonderful air.

It rained overnight and the air was fresh with floral undertones, the way it always was in Hilo after a rainy night; the way it had been the day I planned my escape from Tom. I started to wonder if I would ever get Tom out of my head. It wasn’t that I missed him or anything, but the memories surfaced more often than I expected.

I hated Tom and had no desire to see him again until the day I brought his life to an end. I hated that the memories of the time I spent with him remained in my brain. One day, life wouldn’t be so hectic, and I would be able to replace my memories of Tom with memories of Jesse.

As Jesse and I reached Hiu and Kapono, Jesse stopped me just before we got to the door and gave me a kiss. He opened the door for me and closed it after I stepped in, then went around to his own side. Hiu and Kapono talked about what they saw from their point of view.

“There wasn’t much going on in the warehouses today. At least, nothing we could see,” Hiu reported.

“Yeah, the trucks from yesterday are still outside. They unloaded some boxes, but not all da kine. They were using warehouse one,” Kapono added.

“That makes sense, that’s where they’re most comfortable. It was the original warehouse they used before the takeover,” I said.

“Right, so tomorrow we’ll be targeting that warehouse,” Jesse replied.

The four of us were in agreement. I suddenly became worried about making it out of the warehouse alive the next day. Vampires weren’t necessarily the problem, we had rings to protect us, but drudges with guns would be a problem.

“I think we need to try to get some bulletproof vests,” I said, “For you two and Moana,” I added.

“You need one too,” Jesse replied.

“I’m immortal. I’m not the priority.”

“You can still get hurt. You may not die from a gunshot wound, but you’ll still feel it as if you were human,” Jesse explained.

“I will heal, they may not,” I argued.

“Guys, no need to get futless, I know where to get da kine,” Kapono said. “We only need choke kala!”

Jesse’s face conveyed confusion. Pidgin was something he wasn’t quite used to. “He knows where to get some bulletproof vests, but we need a lot of money,” I whispered.

“Ass what I just said,” Kapono said.

“I have plenty of money,” Jesse replied.

“Tell me where to go, brah,” Hiu said. Kapono gave him directions and soon enough we arrived at a run-down shack. I was a little suspicious about our surroundings. We were in a part of Hilo known for rough and tough natives.

Kapono led everyone to the opening of the shack, and knocked on the wooden frame. There was no door. A voice from inside called out, “Howzit!”

“It’s Kapono, I brought some friends,” Kapono called back.

“Native or haole?”

Kapono glanced back at the rest of us and called back, “Both.”

“Komo mai,” said the deep voice.

Kapono lead us inside. A rather large Hawaiian man sat at a makeshift table in a chair much too small for him. I guessed he was at least 300 pounds, but much of it was muscle. He examined our bunch and his gaze lingered on Jesse. He stood up as his head came within inches of the low ceiling.

“What you need, brah?” he asked Kapono.

“We need vests,” he answered.

“I got da kine, how many?”

“How many you got?” Kapono asked raising a brow.

“Seven or eight,” the man replied with a shrug.

“We’ll take them all,” Jesse spoke up.

The man looked at Jesse and gave him a little bit of a scowl.

“How much?” Jesse asked, unphased by the intimidating man.

“Fifty-five hundred. Cash,” he answered.

“Done,” Jesse said. He took out a giant wad of cash and handed him most of it. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw the amount of money he had. I certainly hadn’t seen him pack that this morning.