Wolf Spell 1 (11 page)

Missing my Friend

– Arabeth –

October 9, 2012

I sat outside by the pool, letting my feet dangle in the water. I kicked them back and forth watching the waves and ripples they created, as the light of the moon glistened on my skin. I tried not to concentrate on the trials life had thrown at me lately.

A shuffle of quiet footsteps made me grin. Jarak hadn’t left. He guarded me. It comforted me to have a friend here, although he refused to call me anything but Es. Even that grew on me. I knew it was short for my birth given name, but it was still hard to hear anything else but Ara. I knew deep inside it was the truth, but it was still hard to accept. I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. It definitely gave me an identity crisis. To everyone around me, I was Esmerelda, and I knew that was true but I still felt like Arabeth.

I twisted my head a little, to see him better.
At least I have great eye candy for a bodyguard
. I watched as he leaned against one of the white pillars by the pool. He looked so relaxed, so in control, so sexy.

His blue eyes stood out with his all black ensemble, and under the moonlight, they had a silver glow. My mouth went dry as I let my eyes roam down his body. Something I caught myself doing—a lot. With just a black t-shirt, I could see his muscles in his arms were taut, and I had no doubt in my mind he would use his strength to defend me without hesitation.

“You might as well come over here and sit if you’re not going to leave me alone.”

“I’m not sure I should.” He shifted his weight and stared out across the pool.

I sighed. “You had fun with me earlier tonight. What’s changed?”

“That’s before—never mind. I’d love to sit.” He strolled over to me. Squatting down, he dipped his fingers in the cool water. “Have you made your decision whether or not you’re going to help? They’re about done in there, and then you can go back in to see Meadow.”

“It’s hard. How do I help her condemn herself to a lifetime of damnation?” I glanced away, not wanting to face him with tears welling in my eyes.

“It’s her decision Es.”

“I know.” I leaned back on my hands, and let out a deep breath.
At least I think I knew.
“I wish I could talk to Ailaina, or my dad, err, I mean Bry. You know?”

He reached behind his back and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He tapped it in his hand a couple times before handing it to me. “I know… do me a favor and don’t tell anyone. And for your sake, as well as mine, please don’t call Bry.”

I couldn’t contain my smile, not that I wanted to hide it. He was going to let me borrow his phone! Excitement bubbled under my skin. “Seriously?”

He grinned. “Yes.” He looked down at the water. “But it’s our secret.”

I knew this was a huge thing for him to let me do, but I was grateful. I snatched the phone and held it in my hands, staring down at the blank touchscreen. I ran my finger over it, and it lit up. I bit my bottom lip, and then flung my arms around him, almost knocking both of us over into the pool.

“Thank you,” I squealed.

At first he just sat there, but then he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back. I took a long deep breath; his scent was a mix between spiced apples and something that reminded me of sandalwood. He smelled so good. I could stay there for hours, but my moment ended as he pulled away from me. I tried not to let myself feel rejected, but his face was hard to read, it was void of any emotion.

I had to break up the odd moment we were in. I gazed back down to the phone still in my hands. “What time is it back home?”

He looked down at his watch. “It’s about midnight here, so around three o’clock in the afternoon. We are nine hours ahead of Nevada.”

I smiled again. That would mean Ailaina would be up. Not that she’d mind being woke up by me anyway, but this made it so much better. I couldn’t wait to talk to her, except I wasn’t sure what to say. If I tell her about my kidnapping, she’d freak out. I wasn’t sure she’d believe me that I was a witch and staying with vampires either. Heck, I just started accepting it myself.

“What are you waiting for?”

I looked up at him. “I’m not sure what to say. She’s my best friend, but I hardly believe what’s happening myself.”

“Just call her.”

I slid my finger across the pad and unlocked it. Mountain scenery with a wolf background lit up his screen. Touching the small phone icon, I inserted her number that I’d memorized.

Her familiar ring-back tone made me relax. This was Ailaina—my best friend. She would know what to say to me. She’s always been there for me, and this would be no different. The song played all the way through, and my hopes were dampening. Right before her message played it clicked.

“Hello?”

I let out a sigh of relief. I heard her voice, and began crying immediately. It was all too much. “Ailaina,” I sniffled.

“Ara! Where are you? Are you okay? Talk to me!” She demanded on the other end of the phone.

I knew she’d be going crazy, and I could hear it in her strained voice. I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m in Spain. I have so much to talk to you about, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay.”

“Chicka, you better start talking. I got home, and you weren’t here. You’re dad has been frantic looking for you. I’m looking up flights to Spain right now. I’ll come get you.”

“No. You can’t… I mean, I want you here more than anything, but it’s not safe,” I cautioned in between sobs. She was so awesome. I should’ve guessed she’d try to come to me.

“Sweetie don’t cry. I’ll be there soon.”

I tried to control the tears. “No, I’m okay, I promise.”

“So what? You can have all the dangerous adventure and leave me out?”

“It’s not like that.” I hesitated then rambled on about everything that happened in the last couple of days.

Her end of the line was quiet. Too quiet, and it worried me.

“Is he cute?”

I laughed. “Out of everything I told you, that’s all you got?” This is what I missed.

“Oh come on Ara, we’ve known each other since we were like, what, five? I know when you’re lying and telling the truth. As weird as it sounds, I believe you. Besides, you know how I always thought supernaturals existed.” I could hear her smiling even from thousands of miles away.

Talking to her made me feel better. The world didn’t seem so heavy on me anymore. “I miss you.” I didn’t want to get deep or soft, but it was true.

“I know, that’s why I just bought my tickets. You tell that hot stuff of a Guardian to pick me up from the airport. My plane lands on Thursday, the eleventh at eight-thirty-five am. It’s gonna be on Air France. Oooohhh, this is going to be so exciting!”

I giggled with her. She was right, with her here it would be epic, and if Victor wanted my help, I needed her with me. “Thanks Ailaina.”

“Anytime. So, I guess I better get off here, it’s close to around what… one-thirty in the morning there?”

Crap. I hadn’t paid any attention to the time. We talked for about an hour and a half. It was perfect, and just what I needed, but I wasn’t sure Jarak would like the international roaming bill. “Yeah, and until you get here, let’s just tweet or something. I’m not sure how the charges rack up internationally for texts either. Not that I care, but Jarak might decide against picking you up, or letting me use the phone once he sees the bill.” We both laughed. It felt so good to be happy again. We both hung up after she promised again not to tell anyone, and I promised at least to send a tweet or something off to let her know I was okay.

I was too excited to sleep. Maybe things could be getting better. I could do this—whatever
this
was, I wasn’t sure, but at that moment, I believed I could accomplish anything.

“So you’ve made a decision?” Jarak’s voice startled me. I had forgotten he was still outside with me. I smiled. He hadn’t stepped in and told me to get off the phone, yet he knew how long I was on it. He was special, that was for sure.

I rolled my eyes before admitting my resolve out loud. “Yup, I have magic, you’re a wolf man and Meadow’s gonna drink blood for eternity.” I chuckled. Just saying that made me sound deluded.

“For the records, Wolf Man would be a cool name if I were a super hero.” He laughed with me.

“Very true.” I had one more thing to tell him. “Ailaina is flying here.”

He smiled and sat back down beside me, watching as his finger created ripples in the water. “I figured that would happen.”

“So you’re not mad?”

“Nope. I wouldn’t have given you the phone if I weren’t okay with it. I know girls. They are always in herds, and they need each other. You need her. I’ll tell Victor.”

“Thanks for understanding.” I wanted to give him another hug, but I remembered earlier and how he backed off.

“Esmerelda.” Victor stood at the back door. “She’s ready.”

I gulped. I wasn’t sure how ready I was, but Ree promised me that once Meadow turned, she’d have no more haunts of death to loom over her pretty face. That was enough to make me at least curious. I nodded toward Victor, “I’ll be right there.”

Jarak took my hand and squeezed it. “I can come if you’d like.”

“I’d like that, thanks.” I wanted nothing more than for him to take me away from here, but no one could, I needed to stay. At least Jarak would be there for support. Lord knew I needed it.

The room blurred behind the tears in my eyes, stinging my soul. Sunk deep into the pillows on the bed was Meadow. Her skin was so pale it appeared grey. The moonlight crept through the open drapes, casting an eerie glow around the room.

I sat down beside her, holding her frail hand. I placed it in my lap—afraid to let go. Jarak sat in the other chair, never letting go of my other hand. He knew I needed that. She didn’t stay awake any longer than to give me a welcoming smile as I entered the room. A knock on the door startled me.

Ree entered the room, but stayed close to the door.

“Hey,” she hesitated.

I gave my best attempt at a grin. “Hey.”

Relief washed over her face. “I was worried you know.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah, when Meadow came here I realized there wasn’t anything we could do but turn her. I worried about how you’d take her decision, and that you wouldn’t help.” Her mouth twisted. “My mother made the decision for me.”

“I’m so sorry Ree.” I wanted to feel sorry for her, but my heart was too heavy with my own problems, lacking the compassion to say more than those words.

“I’m fine. I mean, I am now. It was back in 1915. The First World War had been raging for around a year or so. I traveled through Germany because I trained to be a nurse, and I wanted first hand experiences.

“By the time I came back home I was already sick. The Spanish Flu was a horrid pandemic in the world. I was one of the lucky ones who died. Well, the world thinks I died. My mom watched as I slowly became nothing. I tried fighting my way to health, but it was always two steps ahead of me.

“It became inevitable that I would perish. My mother met Trevor months before I came home and called him over to help. He’d told her what he was in confidentiality; he trusted her and needed a friend.

“One minute I felt my life slipping away, and the next I was in fiery pain as if I’d been thrown in a lake of fire. I never had a choice.” She looked down at the floor.

“So why are you telling me this?”

“I just want you to know that not all vampires are inimical. In the end, most of us just want to die, like every other creature out there. I didn’t choose this Esmerelda, but it is what I am. I drink blood, and I have to hunt for it, but I don’t like hurting people.”

I tensed up a little more, and fought the urge to cover my throat with my hands. “Why haven’t you attacked me?”

She smiled, but it reminded me of an evil sneer. “Oh trust me, I want to. I can smell your blood, your fear, and it calls out to me. I hear how fast your heart beats when you get scared or nervous… like right now. I want to rip your flesh apart and drink the sweet nectar that runs through you until there is no more. My kind is dying off. Nicholas is turning them into crossbreeds. Except without you to fill in the missing gap, they die. I need you to save my family.”

It scared me to think that was all that kept her from tearing me apart. My stomach churned. What if I wasn’t who they thought I was? What if I couldn’t help? I fought down the bile that rose in my throat.
I won’t puke. I won’t puke.
I chanted to myself.

“What about Jarak? Why won’t you bite him?” I was a little worried she would clamp on to him at any time.

“Because he’s a Guardian. Never piss off the Guardians. If I take one out, they will all be after me. They would consume me in fire. I might suck blood, but I ain’t stupid.”

Jarak stifled a small laugh and barely nodded his head. “If you bite Es, you’ll have all of us to deal with, just another incentive not to rip her throat out.” He winked at me.

I didn’t want to read too much into it. He probably just wanted me to help with the whole war thing or something too, but I couldn’t help the pitter patter that fluttered around in my stomach as I smiled back at him.