Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (21 page)

I grinned and said, “Good-night” before going back inside. I went to my room to pack the necessities. Everything I needed fit in my backpack. I hoped I’d fit through the small tunnel with it on. If not, I would need to push it through and that would be more work than I wanted.

I went to sleep soon after I finished packing, and then took my shift at four.

The morning air betrayed no sounds except for the distant yet steady beat of the waves crashing on the beach. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Dark thoughts crept into my mind, but I told myself we were only being monitored for boat movement. I prayed that the vamps and drudges were miles away, watching a blip on a screen. I wondered how the device ended up on the boat.

Tom came to my mind as the only reasonable suspect. The only time the feather pennant came down would’ve been the night he’d come to me. A drudge could have done it since feather pennants are useless against them, but Tom had the most motive to track the boat. I considered he wanted to keep tabs on me, in case he needed to contact me. He’d done the same thing since we’d met, always watching without my knowledge. A drudge would have already found Jesse’s house and there would have been a confrontation. After all, the first drudge didn’t waste any time. I struggled to control my thoughts and forced myself to settle on the theory that Tom planted the tracker.

This potentially meant I had nothing to worry about. To my knowledge, Tom was only interested in my where-a-bout’s. He wanted me to be safe. I reassured myself that Hiu would disconnect the device once they got going anyway and they would all be safe.

I reminded myself of the plan we’d all whispered to each other in the den to ease my troubled mind.

Hiu had a virus-blocking device, and he would use it to call Jesse’s friend once he got to the rendezvous. Once Jesse and I arrived to pick up his friend, he’d let us know that our friends were safe. After that, we’d simply find the boat and go . . . somewhere. I wasn’t sure about the plan after that.

Once eleven o’clock came around, tension filled the house. Every little noise sent the hairs on my neck into an upright position. Hiu went through the passage first around 11:30, so he could ready his boat. At 11:45 Moana, Alani, and Nalani took Moana’s Xterra to the marina. They were to take a detour to make sure no one tailed them. They carried a lot of the heavy supplies like food and water and weapons. Then Latoria, Perry, Kassidy, and Edison went through the passage at 11:50. Jesse and I were last to go.

Jesse went ahead of me to light the way. He had less to carry, so he held the flashlight. The tunnel was tight, especially with my backpack on. The knees on my jeans became moist as I moved through the damp dirt of the tunnel. Occasionally, I brushed off my hands to keep the slightly muddy build up from making me slip. My hands and knees began to hurt about half way through; at least around the time Jesse said, “Half way there.”

Finally, we reached the end. He crawled out and then turned to help me out. I rubbed my knees knowing they were going to be sore for a few days. We crossed the street and hopped on his waiting motorcycle. He drove past the spot where Hiu and the rest waited on the boat. Jesse gestured to Hiu, signaling that everyone was out and Hiu returned the signal, showing they all made it to the boat.

Jesse sped off. We drove around LA for a while until Jesse was sure no one followed. Then he made his way toward his private warehouse where he kept his cars. I studied the storefronts and houses. Fresh damage to the buildings indicated panic and chaos had started. Glass glistened on the ground and ripped packages piled up in parking lots from all the looting. Almost every building showed scars made of shattered windows and broken doors. Spray paint tattooed the sides of the buildings with religious messages and warnings.

People with weary eyes watched as we drove past. Most stores were either cleaned out from looting or had bars installed across windows and doors. Men with guns guarded homes while others had been abandoned. Jesse pulled over his bike near the entrance of a warehouse. Surprisingly, the warehouse was still intact and none of the cars had been tampered with, unlike the cars we saw on the street. We got into a black Hummer and left town for Las Vegas.

We rode in silence for the first half hour. Jesse seemed to be in a determined mood. I knew he worried about what the city would be like and was likely worried about me and the people on the boat as well. My churning mind got the best of me. I had to tell Jesse what I thought about the tracking device.

“I think it was Tom,” I said.

Jesse glanced at me with a questioning in his expression.

“I think he planted the tracking device on Hiu’s boat,” I added.

“Why do you think that?” he asked.

“He was on the boat. On our first night at sea. Our feather pennant fell down, and he got onto the boat. He came into my cabin to talk to me. He tried to convince me to go back with him, but I refused. I think he’s trying to keep tabs on me. I don’t think he’d hurt anyone . . . I just wanted you to know.”

“Well, thank you for telling me. I’m sure that was difficult. I assume no one else knows about his visit?” Jesse said as more of a statement than a question.

I answered anyway. “No. I just thought it was important for you to know.”

“I’m still wondering why he is so insistent on you becoming a vampire, and why he wants you to be willing to do it,” Jesse said. His eyes shifted as if the answer sat right in front of him. “It doesn’t make sense that he would put the wristband on and try to win you over instead of just changing you on day one.”

I shrugged, “Maybe he really did like me and he didn’t want to force me into it because I would resent him for it.”

“Vampires always have an ulterior motive,” he replied.

Our conversation came to a halt. I stared out the window as the foliage changed from dark green to tan. The Mojave Desert opened to us.

I began to feel weak and sick to my stomach. I wondered if it were carsickness or something I ate. More likely, something I didn’t eat. After all, I’d barely eaten since the night before at dinner. Breakfast had eluded me because of my crowded mind.

“Is there anything to eat?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. Are you hungry?” Jesse looked over, and his expression changed a bit when he saw my face.

“Well, kinda. I’m not feeling well. I think I need to eat something. Just feeling weak and nauseous is all,” I replied. I tried to keep him from worrying, but my shaky voice betrayed me.

“We’ll pull into the next open gas station and get you something to get your blood sugar levels up, okay?”

“Sounds good,” I said as I leaned on the door.

“You’re under a lot of stress. I’m sure a snack would help.”

We were on the outskirts of Victorville, and emptiness surrounded us. No other cars traveled alongside us and no gas station seemed to be open.

I became weaker and weaker with every mile. Finally, a gas station with a bright “Open” sign appeared and Jesse pulled in and went inside. He came back out with a sandwich and some chips along with a soda.

“I hope this helps,” he said.

I tried to eat them as Jesse continued driving, but after few bites into the sandwich, I had to make Jesse stop the car so I could throw up on the side of the road. Jesse offered to come with me, but I told him I didn’t want him to see me like that.

After the coast was clear, I got back in.

“Are you all right?” Jesse asked.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. I haven’t been this sick in a long time,” I said.

“Do you normally get carsick?”

“No, never been carsick. My parents and I used to go places all the time. We’d go up and down the west coast in our family car.”

“Did your parents ever take you inland?” Jesse asked. The question seemed odd, but I could tell his wheels were turning. He must know something I didn’t because I couldn’t connect the dots.

“You mean, away from the coast? No, we usually just stuck to the coast on our drives when we lived in California, and well, there really isn’t any inland on the islands, why?”

“Well, it’s something I was wondering. Maybe it’s the different climate. It’s drier around this area and we’re about to enter the desert. Have you ever been out of California or Hawaii?”

“No, not that I can remember anyway,” I replied. We kept driving in silence.

I felt worse and worse. Eventually, we had to pull over again. Worry lines formed on Jesse’s face as I opened the door and rushed out to the side of the road.

When I got back in the car the second time, I caught my reflection in the mirror.

Big mistake.

My skin faded to a sickly pale color, my hair tangled in a mess and my eyes seemed duller than normal.

“Ava, I think I put it together, but I need you to answer a few more questions,” Jesse said in a rushed voice.

“Okay,” I answered, almost in a whisper. My vomiting had diminished my voice to almost nothing.

“Did your mother sing a lot?”

“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked faintly.

“Just trust me.”

“Yes, we used to sing together all the time. When she died I stopped singing,” I explained, still not understanding what was going on in Jesse’s head.

“When you were between 18 and 23 did you ever lose your voice?”

I failed to see the connection between my bout with tonsillitis and the sickness that had overtaken me now, but I answered anyway, “Yeah, I got tonsillitis a few months after my parents died. I lost my voice for four days.”

The engine revved as something clicked in Jesse’s mind. Whatever had set him off eluded me.

“Ava, I think you’re a siren. I need to get you closer to the ocean. We aren’t going to make it to Las Vegas.”

I must have been delirious. I thought I heard him say I was a siren, but I didn’t have the strength to argue at that moment. I wasn’t sure exactly what a siren was. I vaguely remembered learning about them in Greek mythology class in high school. All I remembered about them came to the surface of my mind. They were women that lured sailors to their deaths on rocky shores. I had certainly never done such a thing. Jesse pulled off on an exit and turned around to head back toward LA with more speed than he’d used on the way out. The noise of the engine and the movement of the Hummer pushed me into a deep sleep.

Jesse woke me as we entered LA to tell me he needed to make a few calls at the phone booth just outside the vehicle. I gathered myself and completely sat up in the leather seat.

I felt much better. Symptoms dissipated as I stretched my limbs. I tried to remember what Jesse was talking about earlier. He’d told me he thought I was a siren. I wondered if I dreamt it, but we were indeed back in LA.

After a few minutes, and a quick drink from the soda Jesse had bought me earlier, my groggy-ness wore off. Jesse came back to the car and looked me over. His face still showed signs of worry lines.

“How are you doing?” he asked. His voice showed a morsel of anxiousness.

“Much better,” I replied. “I’m still confused, though. What happened?”

“Ava, I believe you’re a siren. Siren’s get sick if they travel too far from the ocean. I think that’s what happened to you. It’s genetically passed from mother to daughter. I’d briefly considered it before when you told me about how Tom wanted you to change willingly, but I dismissed it because sirens are extremely rare. I’ve only met one in all my years. I know there are more, but most of them hide out. And all of them are aware of their supernatural status.”