Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) (13 page)

“Abe, you’re going a hundred and fifty, and you’ve just shouted at Becky and Ariana. Nice ice-breaker. Now, why don’t you slow down a little and stay behind them?”

“Shit! Really? That’s them?” Abe let off the gas pedal enough to get off Becky’s bumper.

“Right. As I was saying, a Pure Natural Witch is someone with infinite power. They don’t have to use spells or wands or any of the kit I use, for example. They can do anything they wish just by thinking it.” Rainey looked out the window. “And I’d never met one… until today.”

“We have one on the island? Cool. I’d love to be able to make things happen just by thinking it. I would picture Julia having a heart attack, only she doesn’t have a heart. So, who is this pure witch person?”

“She’s in front of you, dopey. It’s Ariana. She asked the waitress at the restaurant today for a straw and a dozen of them came flying through the air at her. The waitress was twenty feet away and didn’t even hear the question. Hell, Ariana didn’t even get it all out of her mouth before the straws started floating through the air and landed in her lap. Then, she finished speaking, not that there was any need for that.”

“Ariana? Girl’s full of surprises. Oh.” Abe’s face dropped.

“What? I thought you’d be pleased.”

Abe shook his head as if trying to get rid of a niggling thought. “I was thinking… What if that’s the reason she was in your vision? What if she was supposed to be on Eternal Island because of what she is, and not because I’m in love with her?”

“Jesus, man, you only need to look at yourself for a minute to know you’re in love with her. I’m just not positive she will feel the same. It’s why I’m telling you all this, so you can be careful, think it through.”

Rainey looked out the window and smiled to herself as Abe ran his fingers through his hair and propped his elbow on the door. He looked so pitiful that she almost told him Ariana was head over heels, but she changed her mind. She would see how this played out without any of her interference.

She pulled out her cell and called Jonah. Jonah picked up on the third ring. “Well, it’s been a while Rainey. I was beginning to think you didn’t love me anymore. What’s up?”

“I wasn’t aware you got a pass back to the island until I heard about a little incident with a half naked girl, a can of hairspray and a lighter.” Rainey chuckled. “Sounds like your charm doesn’t work on every girl.”

Abe cleared his throat. “And he’d better remember the lesson I gave him about that particular girl. Tell him to meet us in Code Red and we’ll fill him in on everything when he gets there.”

Jonah laughed. “You tell Abe he can fill me in on everything when
he
gets there. I’ll be waiting.”

The call ended and a bright red flash whipped around from the back of Abe’s Hummer passing both cars in a blur. Jonah’s taillight was out of sight in an instant.

“I told you he was tracking me tonight. He’s probably afraid he might miss a split second of my very exciting social life if his head isn’t constantly stuck up my ass. I knew there was a reason I kicked him off the island before.”

Rainey laughed. “You two just had a fight. Let bygones be bygones. I know what he did pissed you off at the time, but I think you hurt his feelings, too, by not bothering to listen to his side of the story. He loves you like a brother and he’s certainly more loyal to you than Max or any of your other close friends. You’ve given him a chance, which is good, though I think asking him to get rid of Julia is quite a steep price to pay. I don’t think Satan himself could get rid of her.”

“You know that last vision of yours? Me, crying? I think I know what that’s all about. I was getting dressed tonight and I couldn’t find my favorite shirt…”

“The one with the fangs?”

“That’s the one. I think my old habit of sleeping around finally caught up with me. Kelli Danners must have my shirt. She wore it to her room after she left mine, last week. What I’m getting at is that… well… there’s a lot of them.”

“Shirts?”

“Women, Rainey. And I wouldn’t want any of them to spoil my chances with Ariana by picking on her. She is special to me and none of the others were. I was debating whether to ship them all off to the mainland.”

“The island would be almost empty…”

“Very funny, Rainey. I don’t want Ariana hurt. And I don’t want her to think she is like all the others… The worry is choking me. What if Julia gets to her first and… does something… out of petty jealousy? That, I think… seeing her hurt… would be the only thing that would make me cry. I can’t lose her. It would kill me. And soon that will be obvious to everyone, including Julia.”

Abe followed Becky’s car around to the back parking lot and parked beside her.

“What do I say to her? You’ve got to help me with this.”

Rainey laughed as she opened her door. “I don’t recall you helping me with any of my relationship drama; you can handle yours.” She winked at Abe and shut the door.

Ariana got out of Becky’s car and caught sight of Rainey getting out of a black Hummer.

“Cool ride, Rainey. Who’s your date?” She almost passed out when Abe opened the driver’s side door. Ariana turned around to Becky. “Let’s go inside, quick.”

“What’s wrong, girl?” Becky asked as she jogged to catch up with Ariana, who was already pulling the club’s door open.

Ariana turned around as soon as they walked through the door. “She does like him, Becky. She was flirting with him when she got out of his vehicle. Laughing and winking at him.”

Becky put her hands on Ariana’s shoulders. “She does not, Ariana. You’re twisting it the wrong way. Why are you so upset? Rainey has been Abe’s personal psychic for seventeen years and they have never done anything other than business together. He’s like a big brother to her. But she mothers him and protects him like a mother would look after her child. I know his feelings for her are the same; you can see how irritated he gets with her attitude sometimes.”

“So why did she ride with him, then? Why didn’t she just ride with us?”

“Just work. She didn’t get a lot of time to help him with his problems because she spent the day with us, shopping. Remember? Oh, Ariana. You really do like him, don’t you?” Ariana nodded meekly. “Look, I care about you and I really don’t want to see you hurt. Abe doesn’t make a secret of his love life. If he’d been interested in Rainey, the whole island would know. But seeing the way he looked at you, well, I worry you might be next. Just be aware that if he does have any interest in you at all, it’s simply to get in your pants. Then he’ll throw you away, the way he always does. Half the women on this island must have hoped they would be ‘the one’ for Abe, at some point. Believe me, Ariana, there isn’t just ‘one’ for Abe. He wants one and then he wants to move on to the next one.”

Becky and Ariana walked up to the bar and Becky ordered her a beer. “What do you want to drink?”

Ariana fought back the tears, wondering whether she would have been better off staying home and getting a decent night’s sleep. Vampire relationships were too much trouble, the way she felt right now.

“I’ll have a shot of Jack, please,” Ariana told the bartender, who was in bad need of a beautician. His Mohawk was about eight inches long and a rainbow of colors.

“That’s what I’m talking about – my kind of drink. I’ll have a double of that and I’m buying their drinks tonight, as well, so just put it on my tab,” Abe said as he smiled at Ariana.

Ariana downed her shot and put a five dollar bill on the bar. “I can pay for my own, thank you. Come on, Becky, I need to dance.”

Abe stood staring after her, his glass halfway up to his mouth.

“You having woman problems, cousin? That’s not like you. She must be out of your league. I honestly didn’t think that was possible, but I think she just shot you down. What’s going on that you needed my expert advice?”

“I don’t need your advice. I need you to do your job. You see that girl out there, on the dance floor? The one that just shot me down? The same one you mind-molested last night? I’m in love for the first time in my life and that is the girl I’m in love with.”

“You’re in love?” Jonah said, flabbergasted.

“Julia found out about her today, and she is coming here tonight to introduce herself, if you know what I mean. I don’t want my girl hurt and you have a job to do, so here is your chance.”

“I… uh… I really haven’t had a whole lot of time to strategize, Abe. I mean, I plan to get the job done, but how do you get rid of a psychic, witch, mind-reading vampire?”

Abe was in a daze. The answer to Jonah’s question was staring him in the eyes, so to speak.

Thinking about it, he’d always known it, deep down. But it was never going to happen.
He
wouldn’t ever let it happen; it was way too dangerous. Why didn’t he see this earlier? Rainey’s voice rang in his head ‘
She is a Pure Natural Witch with infinite power’.
She wasn’t here for him; she was here to destroy Julia. Good versus Evil. His heart shattered on his last thought.

Rainey walked up beside Jonah. “What’s up, Abe? Abe?”

Jonah shook his head. “He’s been like that for a couple of minutes. He seems to be… thinking.”

Abe snapped out of it and headed to the dance floor. A guy a few inches shorter than Abe was asking Ariana to dance. He walked in between them, facing Ariana. “We need to talk!”

“Hey, buddy, wait your turn,” the guy said from behind Abe.

Abe quickly turned around. “Do you know who I am?”

The guy almost fell over his own feet trying to get away. But when Abe turned back to Ariana, she was gone. He scanned the club, but she was nowhere. He looked back toward the bar and caught sight of Rainey waving goodbye to Jonah. Rainey joined the girls, heading out the back door. Were they leaving? Abe took off at a dead run and beat them to Becky’s car.

“I said, I need to talk to you!”

“Yeah, I heard you. You didn’t bother to ask if I wanted to listen. I’m not one of your little tramps that is gonna bow down and call you ‘My Lord’ or ‘Your Highness’ or beg to kiss your ass any time soon, so go jump off a bridge. Rainey, didn’t you tell me that if I wanted to go home you would erase my memory and take me back? Let’s do it.”

Abe bowed his head and dropped to his knees. Everybody stared. “Which one?”

Ariana turned to gawp at him, too. “Excuse me?”

Abe looked up at Ariana and a tear rolled down his face. “I’ll do it. Which bridge would you like me to jump off? I would do anything for you to stay, just long enough to hear the whole story. If you still want to go after that… I won’t stop you. And you can still choose the bridge, although the sun will actually get the job done faster.”

Abe looked at Rainey with tears in his eyes. “If you take her back, be prepared to name Max the new High Vampire when you return. I won’t have a reason to be here anymore.”

Jonah walked forward from the shadows and put his arm around Rainey’s shoulders. He must have followed them out. Becky gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Abe’s gaze shifted to Becky. “I guess I have you to thank for the education Ariana got on my life story. It’s okay, I’m not mad at you, I deserve all of it. I just wish I knew then what I know now, and we wouldn’t be having this problem, any of it.” Abe moved his eyes back to Ariana. “Will you let me explain everything to you, or am I going to meet the sun at dawn?”

Ariana’s eyes darted from Becky’s stunned expression to Rainey’s tear-streaked cheeks, to Jonah’s mask of sorrow and back to Abe’s piercing eyes.

“I… I don’t understand any of this. What the hell is going on? And why on Earth would you want to do that?” Ariana cried.

Ariana turned to Rainey. “Rainey? Is this it? Is this what you were hiding from me? You really weren’t after him yourself, but just trying to get us together?” Rainey nodded, but kept her eyes down. “Why?” There was no answer.

Ariana looked back to Abe and lowered her voice. “We went shopping today. The shoes, the make-up, dresses… That was you, paying for it all, right?”

“I couldn’t let you know it was me. There is a very good explanation for all of this.”

“And I would like to hear it,” Julia said as she stepped out from behind Abe’s Hummer, laughing, wickedly amused to see Abe on his knees. Abe flashed in front of Ariana, hiding her from Julia’s view, arms splayed out protectively. “My, you are pitiful, Abe. I’ve never seen you on your knees for anyone before. Well, except for that one time in my bed chambers, but we won’t get into that, will we? Let me guess: Rainey here had a vision of this girl? And you, for the first time ever, fell head over heels in love? Why would you keep that from me? I am ecstatic. I am so glad that in almost a thousand years, you have finally managed to find love. Though I am a little surprised that you’ve managed to work out what love
is
. Ha-ha-ha.”

Julia focused her attention on Ariana who was peeking around Abe’s arm. “My name is Julia, dear. I’m sure you’ve heard all about me. I’m really not as bad as your friends here make me out to be.” Julia moved closer to Ariana and Abe’s fangs elongated. Julia laughed. “For God’s sake, Abe, I’m not going to hurt her. I thought I felt a lot of energy the other day, down by Rainey’s lair, and now I come face to face with it. You are quite a piece of work, aren’t you, dear? And I bet you don’t know half of what you can do, do you?”

“Rainey said I’m a Pure Natural Witch, or something like that. I can move things just by thinking about them. And I can’t turn my mind off; I hear everyone’s thoughts, all the time.”

“I can help you with your problem, if you like.”

“No!” Abe and Rainey both shouted at the same time.

Julia sighed theatrically. “Fine. If it gets to be too much to handle, sweetie, you know where to find me. Now, I’ve come to drink and dance, so if you’ll excuse me…” Julia said as she walked into the club.

Ariana was the first to break the silence. “She didn’t seem all that bad.”

Rainey hooked her arm through Jonah’s and walked to Becky, grabbed her hand, and started towing them toward the club. “Come on, you guys. I think Abe has some explaining to do.”

C
HAPTER 20