Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (20 page)

We stopped kissing for a moment. I looked through squinted eyes at the cloudy sky that had snuck up on us.

“I wonder if this is some sort of sign?” Jesse asked.

I laughed and shrugged then cuddled back up to him and we stood up and ran through the maze-like courtyard to get inside.

Most of our roommates held a conversation in the dining room, so we snuck through the kitchen and went upstairs. We were soaking wet, so I was going to head to my room but Jesse caught my hand and led me to his room.

“I’d like to show you something,” he said.

I went along with him. I didn’t care how wet I was as long as he didn’t either. He opened the door to his room and made a “ladies first” gesture. I obliged and stepped inside.

The room contrasted starkly with the rest of the house, which was decorated in shades of red, dark brown and gold. The bedding, the walls, the curtains—everything—was white. The dresser, nightstand, and bookshelf were stained so dark they were almost black. It reminded me a modern hotel room. The modern décor of his room clashed with the more traditional and romantic themes in the rest of the house.

Balcony doors swung in the breeze and rain trickled in. Jesse rushed to close them.

I looked around a little more to see if I could find something that would give me a clue about Jesse’s personality. He was so mysterious. The dresser had a few books on it, and the bookcase was stocked with more. Another book rested on the bedside stand. I was trying to peek at the title but was interrupted.

He had emerged from the closet with a small box. He handed it to me and said, “Open it. I want you to see what I looked like back in the day. I haven’t changed much, except my clothing, but that’s what happens when you don’t age I suppose,” Jesse said as he took off his wet shirt. I was too busy looking at the body before me to open the box he handed me. He flaunted muscles chiseled into his form; an association that truly fit someone who turned into a statue at night. I snapped out of my daze and turned my attention back to the box.

I opened it then lifted out the few photographs inside. There were five in all. They all dated back to 1922. There was a picture of him with two other men, who he pointed out to be his father and brother. I thought it was ironic that I’d thought his statue could have been his father or brother and was now finding out he actually did have a father and brother who resembled Jesse.

Next, there were two pictures of him alone, a picture with a woman standing next to him, who he pointed out to be his mother, and a picture of him with a dog.

“These are wonderful,” I said before I put them back in the box for him. “That is a beautiful dog. I’m not sure I would have ever placed you as a dog person.”

“Yeah, I have a soft spot for all animals. My family took him in when I was pretty young. He was my best friend as a kid.”

“That’s sweet. He must have lived a long time,” I said.

“Yes, he lived to be an old dog. He died of old age not long after this picture was taken. Sometimes I wish I had that luxury, but now that I’ve met you I’m grateful I don’t,” Jesse said before his eyes caught mine and he kissed me. We were still standing, but Jesse slowly and gently migrated towards the bed. When we were close enough, he put his arm around my back and gently laid me down, all the time still kissing me.

I stopped him, “We’re soaking wet,” I said.

“I have extra bedding, I’m not worried about that,” he said. Then he looked at me again, this time he studied my face. I was an open book. “But, if we’re moving too fast, I understand.”

I didn’t want to hurt him. I did have feelings for him, but I was still confused about the whole Tom situation. I couldn’t help feeling guilty since I’d been with Tom only a few days ago. “I just need a little break, you know. Everything is changing so fast, I want at least one thing that will blossom in time. I want this to be right for both of us and I don’t want to rush.”

“I have plenty of time and patience for you, and I would never want to push you into anything you aren’t ready for,” he said as he straightened up to a sitting position on the bed.

“Thank you,” I whispered before I stood up and leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go take a nap.”

It was a white lie. I really needed time to clear my head.

“Alright, will I see you at dinner? There are some things we all need to discuss.”

“Yes, I will be there,” I said with a smile. Jesse smiled back and then walked me to the door. I went down the hall to my room and tried to wrap my head around everything.

After an hour of laying in complete silence, except for in my mind, I gave up on all notions of sanity and went to find Alani. I needed my best friend right now. I found her and Nalani in the kitchen preparing dinner. They were making a traditional Hawaiian dish, usually served at luaus. They had to improvise a little, but it looked like they were cooking a ham, poi, breadfruit and pineapple. Hiu must have brought the supplies off of the boat at some point. It smelled delicious.

I would get the benefit of talking to both of them. Nalani was great with advice. Both of them were. Alani tended to give me her point of view. Nothing was kept to herself.
Nalani used her experience and good moral sense to solve problems wisely.

“Aloha, ladies!” I said as cheery as possible. They both greeted me just as enthusiastically.

“Where have you been?” Alani asked. “I haven’t seen much of you the last couple days,” she added with a slight worry line crossing her forehead.

“I’ve been around. Thinking a lot. You know, trying to figure out what I’m going to do,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” Alani asked.

“Well, I just can’t get Tom out of my head. It’s like I’m stuck on him. I want to move on, but my brain won’t let me.” I took my time to reveal each word as I measured what Alani’s reaction was.

“Your brain? Or your heart?” Nalani asked.

“My heart, I suppose. But I’m also being pulled in another direction, which is good since Tom and I can’t be together anyway, but I still feel bad leaving him in the dust.”

“What direction are you being pulled in?” Alani asked, with one brow lifted.

“Well, Jesse has made it apparent he has feelings for me, and I think I feel the same for him,” I said slowly. I was careful not to give away that I’d just been with him this afternoon . . . in his bedroom . . . kissing.

“Well, dear,” Nalani began, “I believe Tom’s idea of what your life could be is not the right path for you, but you need more closure. Your heart will ache for him, but your head will never let you be with him. As for Jesse, I think you should be patient. You don’t want a repeat of what happened with Tom. In order to move on you need to somehow put Tom in the past, and you must do this before moving forward with Jesse if you chose to do so.”

“I think you are absolutely right,” I replied. “I can’t move forward with Jesse until I put Tom behind me, and I can’t put Tom behind me without closure. I don’t know how I’m going to do that, but I have to figure it out.”

I let the silence settle for a moment.

“Do you think Jesse is a good match for me? Or am I just wasting my time? He is another immortal. It’s hard to say what our future would be like or if we could even have a future. He did say there might be a way to get a witch to reverse his curse, and make him mortal again, but there are no promises.”

“I believe Jesse is a good man, and I hope he can get the curse lifted because he does seem very unhappy in his current state. I also believe it’s too soon to tell if he’s a good match for you, but there is no harm in trying once you get your business in order and your heart and your head are free to choose him,” Nalani said.

“I think he’s totally hot,” Alani said excitedly.

I giggled.

“Oh, would you guys keep this to yourselves? I don’t want the house knowing anything about mine and Jesse’s ‘might-have-been, but still-could-be-thing.’ Not until it’s official anyway.”

“No problem!” Alani said while Nalani made a locking motion to her lips and threw away the invisible key.

“Well, I’m going to go get cleaned up for this wonderful dinner you guys are preparing for us, I’ll see you in a few,” I said.

At dinner, only the clanking of silverware filled the air. We all anticipated Jesse’s words. Hiu was late and Jesse didn’t want to start until Hiu returned. He’d gone to his boat to load some supplies. I started to worry about possible lurking drudges when Hiu walked through the door. Anger painted his face red.

He looked around the room and said, “You never believe what I found on the boat today.”

Everyone waited for him to continue. Jesse spoke up, “What did you find Hiu?”

“A tracking device!” he shouted. The contempt in his expression was clear.

“What?” a few people asked, clearly astonished.

“Those leeches put a tracking device on my boat. Ass why they found us at Moana’s wikiwiki. They track us there and follow us to her house.” Hiu’s voice grew louder.

“This is not good Hiu. What did you do with it?” Jesse asked.

“I left it. I figure I bettah let you guys know first. They must know where we are. We need to move. I didn’t disconnect the da kine cuz I didn’t want them to know we found it. It might make them move on us. I’ve had-it with those bloodsuckers!” Hiu’s fist formed into tight balls. It’s a good thing there weren’t any vampires in the room aside from Perry, and even now I feared a little for his safety.

“Good thinking, Hiu,” Latoria said. Jesse nodded in agreement—too busy thinking to say actual words. His eyes seemed to move across images in his mind I couldn’t see. He was formulating a plan.

Jesse’s face snapped up. He took a deep breath. “Well, the reason I wanted us to eat dinner together tonight is because I’ve been in contact with a friend of mine. He lives in Las Vegas and he told me things are getting bad there. He needs a way out. There is no public transportation and working cars are becoming scarce. I told him I would come get him out of there,” Jesse announced.

“Are we all going?” Edison asked.

“I think it would be too dangerous,” Jesse said, “So, I will go while the rest of you go to the boat. Once you get off-shore, disable the tracking device and I will meet up with you at another location, preferably south, as close to Vegas as you can get.”

Hiu nodded then went to the side table covered with maps and began consulting them to find a good location.

“You shouldn’t go alone,” I said to Jesse.

He looked up at me and shook his head. “I don’t want to put anyone else at risk,” he replied.

“I want to go with you,” I said firmly. Latoria turned her attention to me.

“No, it’s not safe,” Jesse replied.

“It’s not safe anywhere I go,” I argued, “I’m the target and they could be watching this house already. It’s better that I stay clear from the boat, and safer for everyone else.”

“Shit. It’s too late now, but we should be discussing this on paper,” he said, completely ignoring my argument.

Jesse gestured to Latoria for a piece of paper and began writing. When he finished he passed it to me.

Everyone is leaving at noon tomorrow. Pack only the necessities tonight and make sure your windows and blinds are closed. We do not want them to know we are leaving. We will all take the secret passage, so pack light. We will meet in the garden at 11:15. Do not speak out loud about our plans. We don’t know if they’re listening, if they are, we already gave ourselves away, but we still need to be cautious just in case.

I passed it to the rest and one by one everyone nodded at Jesse as they read the note. We resumed dinner and tried for normal conversations. I tried to figure out how I could get Jesse to let me go with him. Jesse left the table to go to his spot in the garden, and I followed him once I thought no one would catch on to what I was doing. I caught up to him near his spot.

“I want to come with you. You might need some help out there. You may be immortal, but you can’t be in two places at once,” I said.

Unaware of my presence before I spoke up, Jesse snapped his head to the side at the sound of my voice.

He stopped just short of his spot and turned to me. “Ava, it’s too dangerous and it’s my car. I decide who goes.”

“You can leave me behind, but you can’t make me get on Hiu’s boat.”

“Technically, I’m stronger than you. So yes, I can,” Jesse argued with a coy grin. His expression became more serious and his tone matched it. “I don’t want to put you in any more danger than you’re already in.”

“You may be able to force me on the boat, but you can’t keep me there. I can swim.”

“So stubborn,” Jesse said with a sigh and a slight smile that only touched the corners of his mouth.

“Yes, I am.” I smiled, as I realized he was about to give in. “So, I’ll meet you tomorrow morning.”

“Well, I don’t really have a choice. I don’t want to take the chance of you not forgiving me for handcuffing you to the boat,” he said with a chuckle as he turned and took the few steps toward his spot.

The last ray of sun disappeared from the sky at that moment, and Jesse turned to stone with a smile still on his face.