Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) (11 page)

Tears sprung in her eyes and she put her hand to her forehead. “He hates me. I accidentally read his mind and he hates me.”

Rainey walked to Ariana, took her hand and dropped to the edge of the couch, next to her. “He doesn’t hate you; he’s just in a bad mood, that’s all.”

Ariana looked at Rainey with a confused expression. “Why do you want the High Vampire to stay away from me? Have I done something wrong? I wasn’t trying to listen to your conversation, but I can’t really turn my head off.”

“Sweet Jesus!” Soundproof bedrooms were obviously no obstacle for mind readers, and that opened up a whole new can of worms. “How much did you hear?”

Ariana’s gaze dropped to her lap. “Just that you were mad because he was talking to me. I probably wouldn’t have noticed with everyone else’s thoughts in my head, but I kind of recognize your inner voice… and Abe’s, too.” Her stare remained firmly fixed to her knees as she whispered. “You like him… Abe, I mean. Don’t you?”

Rainey sighed. “Not the way you think I do, honey. I promise you there’s nothing like that going on. And I can tell you Abe likes you very much, only this mess we’ve got to sort out… Well… it’s bigger than we thought. I need Abe to think straight, so I want him to keep away from anything that may distract him. I promise you: soon, really soon, we will sit down and explain everything to you – the reason I brought you here and the reason…” Rainey chose her next words carefully. “The reason you and Abe have to stay away from each other for now.” Rainey looked at Ariana and smiled at seeing her pout like a toddler who dropped his ice-cream. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Becky butted in. “That’s what I said, but she denied it. I mean you should have seen her drooling over him in the hall a minute ago, she didn’t even hear you say come in.”

Rainey shot Becky a fierce look. “Shut up, Becky!”

Becky rolled her eyes. “I’m just sayin’.”

Rainey put her arm around Ariana’s shoulder and squeezed gently. If Ariana liked Abe half the battle would be won. She would just have to figure out a way to make it work without anything bad happening. Hell, she might as well just let the two love birds go at it and deal with the consequences. “Do you, Ariana? Do you like Abe?”

Ariana kept her head down and sighed. Her shoulders drooped as she stopped resisting. “So what if I do? I’m just a nobody. He’s the High Vampire; he can have anyone he wants. Why would he even look at me?”

Rainey sent a silent ‘thank you’ to the Heavens as she stood up and picked up her purse. “You’re not a nobody, Ariana, or I wouldn’t have flown over a thousand miles to get you. I said I will tell you. Please, trust me. You are very, very special. Now…” Rainey opened the door to her lair, “… are you two ready to go shopping?”

C
HAPTER 16

Jonah thumped his fist on Abe’s door until he put a nice little dent in it. He also tried shouting at the door for fifteen minutes, as a variation to his routine, but that didn’t help either; Abe was obviously intent on completely ignoring him.

He had just kicked and cussed the door one last time when the elevator dinged and Abe stepped out of it. Jonah didn’t want to look like a total idiot, so he tried playing it cool.

“Abe! Oh, hey, man. I was just coming to see you. I… uh… knocked a few times, but you didn’t answer.”

Abe looked at Jonah and then at his dented door and crossed his arms over his chest. “Really? What do you want, Jonah? I’ve got enough on my mind without your problems, too.”

Abe took out his keys and opened the door; Jonah followed him in.

“You’re not sleeping in here, if that’s what you’re after. Talk to Lidia if you want a room. Isn’t your old room still available or did you lose the key you never returned?”

Jonah smiled. “I used the key – that I didn’t lose – to unlock the door last night, and in there I found these two hot chicks. One sweet short-haired platinum blonde who didn’t even notice me at first, but the one that had just gotten out of the shower… Man, she was hot! I sure wanted to help her out of that towel. But she tried to torch me with a can of hairspray and a lighter, instead.”

Abe smiled. “Nice – making an entrance; so your style, Jonah. Still, I admire a woman who can defend herself against your evil charm. Honestly, I don’t get what women see in you. What did you do to piss her off, by the way? Tell her to lose the towel?”

“Yeah, in my head. Turns out she is some kind of mind reader and she heard a bunch of stuff I wouldn’t have said out loud, at least not on the first date.”

Abe’s blood started to boil. He knew of only two mind readers on the island and Jonah had met Julia before. Abe’s teeth clenched as he grabbed Jonah by the head and flipped him through the air over his shoulder; Jonah landed in a heap, on the marble floor. He didn’t get to draw breath before Abe’s hand squeezed around his neck, tight enough that Jonah’s eyes started to roll back in his head. “If I ever see, or hear, of you going near Ariana again, I’ll burn you alive myself.”

Suddenly, Abe let go of Jonah and marched to his wet bar, breathing heavily.

Jonah picked himself up off the floor, uninjured but clearly confused. It would take more than that to hurt a vampire, but Abe sure got his point across. “You wanna tell me what’s going on, Abe?”

“Not in a thousand years, if I even let you live that long.” Abe downed the first shot of Jack and poured another. He got out another shot glass and poured one for Jonah. “It’s not safe to talk here, we are within her range.”

Jonah quickly realized ‘her’ meant Julia and he downed the shot. Something was at the root of Abe’s terrifying mood swings, and he had a feeling it was connected to Julia somehow. “Come to my room and talk, cousin; it’s right next to my old one. The view should be nice, if my neighbors have their door open.” Jonah smiled and Abe growled. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Abe; I’m not that fond of Russian Roulette. The reason I came up here is Max.”

“What’s wrong with Max?” Abe asked, not in the least interested.

“I was taking a swim and Lidia brought me the key to my new room. We were catching up on old times and she told me some… stuff that was bothering her. I told her everything would work out for the best and I gave her a hug. Then Max came in and spazzed out on us. I love Lidia like a kid sister. I’m not worried about me, I can take care of myself, but he was pretty hard on her.”

“Look Jonah, Lidia is a grown woman and I’m not getting in the middle of anyone’s marriage. People made me High Vampire to protect them, not their relationships. If Lidia and Max are having problems, they need to work it out themselves, and if you are their problem, then maybe you should leave.” Abe smiled as he put the Jack bottle back in the wet bar. “Now, I haven’t slept in three days so, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get a few hours’ rest before I go out tonight.”

Jonah was curious, which was nothing new; he was that way all the time. He learned a lot by asking questions, but at the same time, that’s what got him into most of his trouble. “Where are you going tonight and why haven’t you slept in three days?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“I don’t think you did.”

“Can’t be any of your damn business, then, can it?” Abe said with a smile on his face.

“Abe, come on. No one will find out. I won’t say anything about it to anybody, I swear. Look, you tell me what’s bothering you and where you’re going tonight, and I’ll tell you what’s bothering Lidia,” Jonah offered. He would hate to give up Lidia’s secret, but he really wanted to know what was up with Abe.

Abe got into bed, pulled the comforter over him, fluffed his pillow twice and turned his back to Jonah. “Turn that light out when you leave.”

Jonah rolled his eyes and flicked the light switch before walking out the door thinking he should get a little shut eye himself before following Abe wherever he was going later.

C
HAPTER 17

Ariana, Becky and Rainey had been to every store the island had to offer. Ariana swore Rainey had spent at least five thousand dollars or more with all the clothes, shoes and make-up she bought for her. She didn’t even try most of the things on. After Rainey found out what Ariana’s shirt, pant, shoe and dress sizes were, she just went crazy grabbing things off the racks.

Ariana objected numerous times, but that didn’t stop Rainey. “Don’t worry,” she said, “it’s someone else’s money.” Rainey put her hand on her stomach. “And right now that someone is paying for supper, too. Come on, I know the perfect place.”

The girls sat at a table at Randy’s Bar and Grill, gave the waitress their drink order and opened their menus. Becky was telling Rainey the story of Ariana with the hairspray and the lighter between fits of laughter so raucous she was near hyperventilation. The waitress came back for their order and left their drinks and some rolls. As the waitress walked away, Ariana realized she hadn’t left any straws.

“Uh, Miss, can I…” But the waitress was a good twenty feet away and didn’t hear her over the hum of the diners’ voices.

As the waitress turned towards another table, around a dozen of the straws in her apron came out and started floating in the air straight toward Ariana, where they landed in her lap. The three of them stared wide-eyed at the straws as Ariana finished her sentence. “… get a straw, please?”

Becky looked to Ariana. “Did you just do that?”

“I didn’t do anything. I just asked her for a straw.”

Rainey blinked in amazement. “Did you think about a straw coming to you, Ariana?”

“Um… possibly… after I spotted the straws in the waitress’ apron. But I was thinking of her bringing me one; I wasn’t expecting a bunch of them to come flying through the air at me.”

Rainey jumped up and hugged Ariana. “Oh my God! I have heard of them, but I’ve never met one before. This is so freaking awesome, kiddo.”

“Met a what? Who?” Ariana asked, still stunned by Rainey’s reaction.

Rainey calmed down, but her smile was still plastered on her face from ear to ear. “What you are, Ariana. One hundred percent Pure Natural Witch. Don’t you get it? You can do anything just by thinking of it. You don’t have to use spells, or herbs, or even a crystal ball. That is why your mind reading doesn’t have a range on it. Julia’s does. I think I figured it out!” Rainey shouted as she clasped her hands together in front of her. “You have to simply tell your brain to stop reading minds. Go on, try it.”

Ariana closed her eyes and thought of silence. Everything stopped for a second, but then everyone’s thoughts came crashing back into her head. “I can’t. It stopped for a moment, but now it’s back and worse than before.”

“Okay, okay. Maybe you need a little meditation, since it’s so strong. It’s a bit late today and you’ll be too tired to make any real progress. Come to my lair tomorrow morning and I will teach you a few things about meditation.”

Their order arrived. “Do you really need all of those straws?” the waitress asked. All the girls laughed as Ariana handed the straws back, keeping just one, and thanked her.

Rainey couldn’t contain her excitement as she ate her meal, her mind full of different things she would have Ariana try to do. Ariana tried a few tricks and they seemed to come easily to her, second nature, almost. She had a couple more goes at turning the voices in her head off, or at least down a little. She could only get about ten seconds’ peace, but she was happy with that progress, and hopeful that she would soon find a way to control the babble completely.

They were all in good spirits as Rainey drove them back to the palace. As they entered the garage, she called for one of the bellboys to help them carry all of Ariana’s bags to her room.

Ariana grabbed the bag from Dabir Jewelers and stuffed it in her new Gucci handbag before Becky started unloading the trunk of Rainey’s Lotus.

“Rainey, I want to thank you for taking me shopping, and I don’t think I thanked you properly for bringing me here, yet. It has been a little overwhelming, a lot to take in. But I love the island. Thank you. I just miss my friends, Janie and Lance, and my hus…” Ariana almost choked on the lump in her throat. It was always there whenever she thought of her friends and her dead husband. How would she make it without them and how could she go on with her life? Despite the golden gilt of happiness, despite all the distractions, she could feel the full force of the enormity of her life changes crashing down on her now.

Rainey hugged Ariana tightly. “Hey, hey. No sadness allowed, honey. We can have a go… I think… With your power, I think there might be a way for you to see your friends.”

Ariana’s face brightened. “Really? Will you show me how? Please, Rainey.”

“I can only give you the idea, because it’s new to me, too. You will just have to practice on your own. Can you do that? I’ll find out everything I can about it. There is a guy I see in my dreams; I can ask him to explain how he does it. It might take strong meditation skills to be a dream walker, or maybe you just have to go to sleep thinking of the person you want to visit. I don’t know, girl. We’ll have to try and see. You, my dear, will probably be able to do anything, once you put your mind to it. Just be patient, take it slow; you won’t learn everything overnight.”

Rainey bid her goodbyes and told the girls she would see them later, at Code Red. Ariana noticed Becky hadn’t said much since they were at the restaurant.

“Is something wrong? Did I do something to make you mad at me?”

Becky sighed. “No. I’m just a little jealous, I guess. Rainey bought you all this stuff and you’re like superwoman with all your powers now. I know you had a best friend, back on the mainland, and I know you miss her a lot, but I feel like… in the last couple of days… well… that I might be your best friend, that’s all.”

Ariana plucked her Gucci handbag off the bed and pulled out the Dabir Jewelers bag inside. She held it out to Becky.

“Can’t I have two best friends? I bought it when you weren’t looking. It’s just a friendship bracelet. If you don’t like it, you can take it back and get something you do like. I won’t be mad if you do, I promise.”