Obsidian (Mystic Stones Series #1) (24 page)

Once their feet hit the sand, I gave Hiu the keys to my Hummer and told them to follow me.

“Look for ‘Closed’ signs. I’ll bet they’re in an abandoned gas station or diner. This road is seeing less and less traffic since the virus. No one wants to brave the desert without a cell phone,” I said. I filled a large water bottle with ocean water.

It wasn’t long before we were on the Interstate. About 20 miles in, we found the first abandoned gas station. After a good search, we moved on to a diner at the same exit. This happened for five more stops. Soon we were at Barstow with no luck. We continued on, and after two more stops we found a gas station with a ‘Closed’ sign, but a dead giveaway sent adrenaline through me. A limo sticking out from the side of the building. I thought vampires were supposed to be smart.

I motioned to the others behind me to keep going. We drove until we found a secluded area to park.

“That has to be it,” I announced.

Hiu nodded in agreement and asked, “So, what the plan?”

“We’re going to leave the vehicles here, we want to take them by surprise,” I replied. I got off the bike and grabbed all my gear. I took out my dagger, my handgun and enough ammo to make sure the odds of all of us getting out of there alive were good. Hiu had his shotgun and two daggers. Perry had a rifle, He’d decided he didn’t want a dagger anywhere near him. Edison grabbed Ava’s dagger and handgun.

We hiked until we came within eyeshot of the building. After watching a few minutes, we didn’t see anyone come out of the building, so we moved forward. We watched for any drudges or vampires and soon found ourselves right outside. All four of us tried to be quiet. We made sure the back entrance was blocked before moving to the front. I motioned for Perry to go in first since he had vampire speed. The rest of us followed quickly like a well-trained SWAT team.

Inside, Perry caught two drudges off-guard. When we came in they were even more surprised. Four guns pointed at the two drudges. They were outnumbered and out gunned.

“Where’s Ava?” I asked.

“And where is that bloodsucker, Tom?” Hiu added.

Neither of the drudges answered. Then, a door opened and two more drudges walked into the gas station lobby with guns drawn. Hiu chambered his shotgun with a series of clicks and the sound of sliding metal.

I stepped out front. “I realize you’re all humans. What you don’t realize, is that there are two immortals amongst us. We’ll eventually win.”

One of the drudges chambered a bullet in his gun. The two that we caught off guard had now pulled out their guns and pointed them at us.

A gunshot rang out in the confined space.

Hiu fired first. He injured two of them with his spread of bb’s. The other two ducked behind a counter at the sound. I jumped on the counter and one of the drudges tried to shoot me. The bullet ricocheted off of my granite hard skin and hit a window. A stinging pain made me wince but didn’t take me down.

By this time, Perry was already behind the counter and we each shot the drudges down.

Tom came out of the back room with a vengeance on his face. “I must admit, I hoped they would take at least one of you out. You two humans will be easy, but I didn’t want to be so outnumbered. Oh well, once I get it down to the two immortals, my job will be a little easier.”

He seemed to be stalling. He couldn’t beat us all.

“Where’s Ava?” I asked again.

Tom just laughed and looked at Hiu, whose eyes filled with fire.

“You know, I might have to keep you alive for a little while,” Tom said to Hiu, “You might come in handy with my negotiations.”

“You like beef?” Hiu said, lifting his hand to show his ring. “Try something, go ahead. We both wearing rings and dem guys are just like you,” Hiu said gesturing to me and Perry.

Tom kept his poker face, but I knew he must have been thinking of an escape route. Suddenly, Tom disappeared into the back room with vampire speed. We ran after him and found him next to Ava with a knife.

“She’s weak enough. Her immortality will be useless against a blade across her neck,” Tom slithered.

I looked at Ava. Her dulled eyes had just a little spark behind them. She was in bad shape, but she still had some fight in her. I just prayed that something would distract Tom so that I could get the ocean water on her. Even a few drops would give her a few minutes of strength. My prayers were soon answered.

Gunshots from another room woke me. At least I thought it was from another room. Shouts and crashes reverberated off the walls. My head throbbed at each loud noise.

I blacked out again and came to with an ice-cold blade on my neck and Tom’s voice slithering into my ear. Dark figures stood across the room. Two seemed familiar. When one of them spoke, relief washed over me.

“If you even try anything, I’ll do to you what I did to that other vampire, that’s a promise,” Hiu said. I noticed he talked so that Tom would be able to understand exactly what he was saying. Hiu didn’t want any misconceptions about what he would do if Tom tried to hurt me.

I’d known deep down they would come for me. I hoped it wasn’t too late. The little energy I had left struggled against Tom’s hold.

Tom turned his head to Hiu. “Don’t underestimate me. I have bloodstone, and I’ll kill you before you can get in another blow.”

“Bloodstone will only protect you from the first dagger and there are three here, I’d say our chances are pretty good,” Jesse countered.

“I will be the one to kill you, and nothing can save you from my rage,” Hiu said. His voice grew loud.

My head pounded. Tom was now fully occupied with taunting Hiu. I started to worry that someone would get hurt. Then I saw Jesse make a move. He threw a bottle of water into the air and shot it over mine and Tom’s heads.

Water rained down on me and revived me instantly. Tom jumped up and flew toward Jesse at high speed. He crashed into him and knocked the obsidian dagger away from Jesse. Both of them fell to the floor in a punching, rolling fight. Edison took out his dagger and tried to stab Tom, but before he could, Tom knocked him out of the way and into a wall where he collapsed. The ring had no effect once the wearer launched an attack. Perry came to me and broke my handcuffs off. Hiu waited for his chance. Jesse had the strength of a vampire. He tried to hold Tom down so that Hiu could stab him. Hiu lunged and hit him right in the heart, but the bloodstone allowed the dagger to melt right off him and the wound healed before our eyes. Hiu turned to find another dagger, but I had already found it.

Tom wriggled free before I could get to him with it. He headed for the door at high speed, as I hurled the dagger at him. I caught a glimpse of it sticking in his shoulder. He was gone before the rest of us could try to stop him. My throw was a little off, no doubt a side effect of my weakened state. I wished it had landed just a few inches to the right.

“I’m going after him,” Perry said.

“No, Perry! He still has the dagger. I don’t want to put you at risk. We won’t be able to keep up with you,” Jesse said.

“I can handle it. He’s injured,” Perry countered.

“We’re all alive and safe, let’s regroup and get back to the boat. Ava needs to get back to the coast. That ocean water will wear off quickly in this heat,” Jesse said as he turned to me. I could see the relief on his face.

He was right. The effects of the ocean water began to wear off, and my muscles began to shake and fault. Hiu and Jesse both came to my side. I was glad to see them all, but I didn’t want them to fuss over me.

“Are you okay, Ava?” Hiu asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.

“You’re pale. Let’s get you into the car,” Jesse said.

Jesse and Hiu both helped me outside. The hot desert air hit me like an open oven door. I thought it might knock me out. Suddenly, the urge to vomit overcame me. I pulled free from the guys and collapsed in the searing sand. After getting sick a few times, I motioned for them to help me. Perry had run to the Hummer and brought it around. I climbed in and Jesse gave me some water.

“This should help a little, but it’s not ocean water, so it’s not going to push you to one hundred percent. It should help with your nausea until we can get you to the ocean,” Jesse said.

Everyone else piled in. Jesse took the driver seat while Perry moved to the passenger side. Hiu and Edison were in the back with me. I drifted in and out of sleep like I had when Jesse and I tried to go to Las Vegas.

Finally, I woke when we were back in L.A. It was a short drive to the beach where Hiu had left his boat. It was still there, along with the life raft that they’d apparently hidden behind some trees. The beach we were on wasn’t a very busy one, which was good luck for the five of us.

Once we were all out of the car, I felt much better, but the desire to jump into the water shifted my legs into autopilot. I ran, without warning anyone about what I was doing, and dove into the ocean. The cool water splashed, and I came up for air with a smile on my face. It felt so wonderful to be alive. The ocean water rejuvenated every cell in my body.

I turned to see the rest of them watching me.

“Come on!” I yelled.

Hiu and Jesse looked at each other then made a run for it. They both joined me in the water within seconds. Edison and Perry laughed, but neither of them followed. Instead, they got the life raft into the water and started paddling toward us.

“Let’s go,” Edison said, “I’m sure the others are worried about us.”

I smiled. “Don’t you wanna have a little fun? Get rid of the some built up stress?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to keep Kassidy waiting,” he replied.

I splashed at them, but instead of just getting them wet, the wave I created grew and tipped the life raft over. Both Perry and Edison fell into the water and surfaced. Hiu and Jesse laughed, but I treaded the water with my mouth wide open.

“Hey, no fair!” Perry said. “Playing the siren card is against the rules!” he said with a chuckle.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize I could do that!” I exclaimed.

“Some sirens can, others can’t. It’s a rare power to be able to control the ocean with thought and motion,” Jesse explained.

“That’s amazing. I guess I’ll need to be more careful,” I said, “I suppose you guys are right, though. We better get back.”

We all climbed into the raft after Jesse and Perry turned it back over. They went for the paddles, but I stopped them.

“Hang on guys. Save your energy. Let me try something,” I said. My intuition told me that my ability to tip the life raft could double as an ability to move the life raft.

I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the sound of the ocean and the movement of the raft. I lifted my hands from my knees and pushed my palms forward. With that motion, the raft moved forward. The guys all gasped as the boat lunged then gently glided out to sea. I opened my eyes and used my hands to persuade the ocean to guide our raft swiftly to the side of the boat. I turned my palms up to the sky and the ocean swelled under us . . . and lifted the raft to the deck.

“All aboard!” I shouted.

Everyone climbed onto the deck. Alani, Nalani, Moana, Kassidy, and Latoria all came up from down below to see what was happening. Jesse helped me off the raft, and Hiu and Edison pulled the raft all the way onto the boat. I lowered my arms and the ocean receded.

“That was amazing!” Alani said, “Did you do that Ava?”

“Yeah, I guess it comes with the siren package,” I said as I gave Alani a big hug.

“We’re so glad you’re back. When Hiu told us what was going on we were so worried!” Alani said.

We came out of the hug and she looked at me as if we had been apart for years.

“I still can’t believe you’re a siren!” Alani continued, “I asked Nalani to fill me in, she thought they were extinct, but she told me about what you can do and how you can’t get too far away from the ocean. It’s incredible. I always knew there was something different about you!”

“Yeah, she’s a funny kine alright,” Hiu jumped in. He gave me the hundredth hug since the guys had come to rescue me. I smiled and hugged him back. Alani smacked him on the back of the head.

“You be good to her, kokohe!” she said.

“What? She’s ‘ohana, she knows I’m just messing around!” he answered. Then he left us so he could prepare the boat to set sail.

“What’s kokohe, again?” I asked.

“It means rascal,” Alani replied.

“Oh, that’s Hiu alright,” I said.

“So, are you ready for some grinds?”

“Yeah, I’m starving! I haven’t eaten since last night in the motel room.”

“Good, we’ve been working on dinner. We’re having fish . . . that we caught ourselves . . . with no help from the guys!”

I giggled, “Awesome!”

Everyone sat out on the deck. Food and conversation floated around us. We celebrated my return. It was almost a normal dinner; friends and family gathering together for a good meal. Although, I felt bombarded with questions and comments. It was comparable to the reaction Jesse had when he told his secret.

Jesse quieted everyone down.

“We must decide what to do next. Should we stay in California? Or possibly go to Hawaii? We need a plan,” he said.