Immortal Coil: A Novel (Immortal Trilogy Book 1) (28 page)

They all lived in the Victorian mansion together, although there had been some major changes over the years. For starters, there was a distinctively feminine touch to the house. The bland unadorned walls were now covered in family portraits and artwork. The living room had larger windows which allowed in more sunlight during the day, and more moon and starlight at night. The windows were covered in light, airy drapes which matched the furniture. Through the previous eighteen years the house had been adorned with the artwork and awards Gardner brought home from school. This year was Gardner’s senior year.

Earlier that night, David watched his son receive his diploma and turned to Maggie at his right and smiled. She was crying. He hugged her. The night graduation ceremony ended and the group headed home. Gardner chatted quietly with Randal and Antony in the back seat. David could catch certain words spoken: College, tuition, major. Gardner was talking about his future. It was a future where he would grow up, marry; and he may even get a job, even though he would never want for money. He would grow up, grow old, and die.

…But not if David could help it.

When the others were all ensconced in their own business, David led Gardner to the back of the house, past the stairs leading up to their bedrooms and the stairs leading down to the panic room. He led him down the hall to the den, past the bathroom, under the pretense that he had something important to tell him in private.

“Yea, Dad?” Gardner asked. He was young, handsome and charismatic. It was the perfect time to turn him immortal, David thought.

“I’m very proud of you,” David said.

“Thanks, Dad,” Gardner said and they hugged.

He wasn’t sure if he should give Gardner the option to become immortal, or choose the option for him. He couldn’t sit back and watch his son grow old. Soon Gardner would look older than him. This just wasn’t right. His son would grow old and die; and David couldn’t sit back and watch that happen. It was a gruesome death, what David proposed for his son, but a glorious future.

But could David really do this? He planned on draining his son and killing him. He had debated this over the years, and he always came out with the same result. No matter the cost, he couldn’t let Gardner grow old. How could a fifty-year-old Gardner introduce a twenty something as his father? It was already hard enough convincing people that David was old enough to be Gardner’s father, and he was too proud of his son to ever have to lie about their relationship to each other.

But now the time had come and David wasn’t sure he could go through with it. His mind was spinning at the thought that this could destroy Gardner’s trust in him.

David gripped Gardner by his shoulders and held the boy out at arm’s length. He looked deeply into Gardner’s eyes. Finally, he said, “Have you ever wondered why Uncle Antony, Uncle Randal and I sleep all day and only come out at night? Have you wondered why we three, and your mother as well, seem to be no older than when you were young? Or why your mother seems to know things before they happen?”

“Well,” Gardner began. “You always told me Uncle Randal had a growth defect that made him look like a child even though he was really a grown man; and you explained mom has uncanny abilities.”

David squeezed his son’s strong arms, still holding him out at a distance. “That may not have been the complete truth,” David said. He did not continue. Gardner waited. He watched as his father’s eyes turned red. Were they really red or was it a trick of the light? David pulled his son in to an embrace.

David’s head moved inches from Gardner’s jugular. The time had come. His son was eighteen, young and handsome. If he waited much longer, Gardner would begin to grow old. He couldn’t bear to see his son whither into an old man and die. Gardner’s skin twitched where David’s fangs touched it.

The hug lasted a couple minutes longer then ended. The moment passed. David couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill his son no matter the reason. He smiled and held Gardner out at arm’s length once again. David’s red eyes had returned to a normal blue-green, and there were tears in them. Gardner wiped them away.

“You will do well in college. I have every confidence in you.” David kissed his son on the cheek and walked away.

Gardner stood there for a moment longer, confused. He was sure his father had been about to tell him something, some mysterious family secret. What had it been? Gardner sighed, and turned back to the living room and the rest of the graduation party.

When it happened, Gardner barely even registered the event.

Gardner walked down the hall, and as he passed one of the spare bedrooms, a black blur bolted out of the darkness. The mysterious animal bit him on the forearm, and then shot away with preternatural speed. He barely had time to gasp.

He thought he knew the wolf, had seen it before when he was younger. Was it a family pet? There were a lot of oddities surrounding his family such as why Uncle Randal still looked like a boy after all these years. And what was up with that wolf?

It didn’t matter. The bite wasn’t bad, just a nip really. The skin was broken but a single bandage would cover the wound. Instead of returning to the group, Gardner headed to the bathroom and rinsed the cut. He wasn’t sure but it looked like it was already starting to heal. The strangeness didn’t end there.

Gardner, your father couldn’t do what he wanted to do because it would mean your death. What I have done is much less…fatal.
The voice Gardner heard inside his head belonged to his mother. He looked out the doorway into the hall, but no one was standing there.

“Mom?” he asked aloud. “What’s going on?”

Something wonderful.
His mother’s response did not pass through his ears; but instead, seemed to echo inside his head. His mother wasn’t talking to him. He was hearing her thoughts. He was confused at first, but then began to understand a little. This was not a new ability to him. He had known he could read thoughts of others from a very young age. But the ability had been hard to use, and harder to control. But now something that his mother had done caused the ability to open up in him, blossom; like a flower whose petals had been closed, now spread wide. He could hear the thoughts with perfect clarity. 

Gardner thought:
Am I going to learn all the family secrets now?

His mother did not respond.

“Mom, where are you?” he said aloud.

Gardner looked back toward the bathroom door and this time there was something there. The black wolf was standing in the doorway looking at him. Gardner saw his mother’s eyes looking at him from the wolf.

Inside his mind Gardner heard his mother say:
We have a dangerous mission ahead of us, and I had to give you my gift so you could protect yourself from what lies ahead. I hope you can forgive me for what I have done.

What is this task?
Gardner thought, but he received no answer.

Gardner concluded he was hearing his mother’s thoughts but she was not hearing his.

Please forgive me, my baby. I have passed on my gift to you. Sometimes it will not seem so gift-like, but it is. It really is.

I have already forgiven you,
Gardner thought but knew it was not being conveyed.
What you don’t realize is you’ve given me much more. Your gift has unleashed another power inside of me. Something I always suspected was there but didn’t know how to use it. Now, whatever you did—whatever your gift is—it has unleashed my other power.

Moments later, his father moved to stand behind the wolf. Then Uncle Rand and Uncle Antony joined them. They were all looking at him. As he stood looking into the crowd of family members, he listened to their thoughts. Words and phrases and images all tumbled out of them and into his head. He could read their minds, but they could not read his.

He now had a secret of his own.

End of Book One:

The story continues in Immortal Clash.

Thank you for reading. Please look for my other books in the Immortal Trilogy…

Immortal Clash

Immortal Conquest.

Also by James McNally…

Keepers of the Forest

It was dark and there was desert all around as she ran. The blood on her face wasn’t hers. She had been running for a long time and was exhausted, but she couldn’t rest. Not yet. She was hungry and cold. She was in the New Mexico desert, that much she remembered. She thought deserts were supposed to be hot? The light sheen of sweat on her skin was chilling her, causing her to shiver.

And she was thirsty. So thirsty.

In the distance a wolf howled and the girl stopped with a gasp. Were they close? How close? She had to know.

              Remembering the carnage in the banquet hall caused her to cry but she stubbornly wiped away the tears. She had precious little moisture left in her body and crying was using up resources she couldn’t afford to lose. She could grieve for her friends later, not now. Not while her own life was still in danger. There were so many horrible looking wolves. One minute the room was full of people, talking and laughing. Only moments later the wolves came, killing everyone. Just killing them! Why would wolves do that?

              A sound nearby startled her from her memories of death: heavy breathing…

              Emotionally and physically exhausted, she knew she should run. But she could go no further, didn’t even want to. Instead, she dropped into the sand and waited to die.

              Cringing in a fetal ball with her head cradled in her arms, she felt the hot breath on her neck…