Midnight Surrender: A Paranormal Romance Anthology

by Abel, Charlotte

  “Shadows are at play,” Drew says, staring at the moon.

  “Even more important for me to know how to kill the moon then, right?”

  He gives my hand a History Channel kiss.

  “Tell me about The Seven Cities of Gold,” I say.

  He holds my hand in his and we walk off the field and onto the track.

  “First, you need to know...the truth.”

  “About what?”

  “About me.” Drew glances at the moon again. “Stand here.” He wraps his arms around my waist and gently walks me over by the bleachers. We stop only a few feet away from them. He lets go of me and stands a few feet away, staring at the all-weather track. “Ready?”

  I swallow hard. “Sure.”

  He smiles and takes guarded steps, one and then another, inching his way toward me and never taking his eyes off the track. I watch our shadows blend into one. When I feel his hand on my lower back a flash of silver light surrounds us. I jump into his arms, trembling, and search his golden eyes, more gorgeous than ever. He holds tight to me, and whispers, “Close your eyes.”

  So I do. His voice is different, deeper, with an accent I can’t place. A chill ripples from my head to my feet.

  “Now…open them again.”

  I open my eyes to the gentle crash of waves on an enormous beach. The warm evening air heavy on my skin.

  “You only know me as Drew, the boy I’ve had to become. But I want you to know the real me. My name is Andrés Carrera De Portolo.”

  “Andrés?” I whisper, liking the way his real name leaves my lips––mysterious, foreign and dangerous. Even though Drew doesn’t sound like the Drew I know, his accent makes him hotter than ever. I bend down and run my fingers over the sand, letting it sift through my fingers. This is real.

  “It was here that the last Slayer came for me. It was here I gave him his Last Life.”

  “Tell me about the Slayer before you.”

  Drew takes a full breath and looks up the slight rise of the beach to a field of palm trees. He sets his gaze back on me as if he’s measuring his words. Considering.

  “The world knew the last Slayer as Francisco Vazquez de Coronado.”

  “Coronado. The explorer?”

  Drew nods. “The same. He was tormented in his Last Life by the pursuit of the gold he would never find. But, he was also tortured by something more.”

  I swallow hard. “The Seven Cities?”

  Drew casts a long eye on the silver ocean, sparkling at the horizon. “Do you know what it is to live in a world where men kill women for sport? Where simple gossip can kill a woman?”

  I’m breathless and can’t focus. Yet the look in Drew’s eyes comfort me in spite of all that he says. In spite of the lives he lived before I was born. His golden eyes seem to glow, even in the dead of night.

  “No,” I say. “I don’t know anything about killing women for sport. But I do know how gossip can kill, or might as well. The way some girls at school can spread a rumor, it’s like they might as well have the power of life and death.”

  “Clearly. But, you must be ready for something more. Something deadly. Especially if you are to kill the moon. There are places where women could not go. Would not go. Dared not go. This is one of them.” Drew uses his whole arm to sweep the expanse of ocean in front of us. “I had not seen a woman in ten years, not until I saw the picture of...you.”

  “How could…”

  “Your likeness was inlaid in gold, burnished in a charm as was the tradition. The necklace, a gift given to sailors on long journeys, was ceremoniously kissed by their girlfriends in hopes the kiss and the gold would offer protection enough to reunite the lovers. Yours was lost at sea. It washed up on shore…” he says taking a few short steps, sort of pacing. He stops, kneels low to the ground and runs his hand over the wet grains of sand in the spot of surf where the island meets the sea. “Here.”

  “It wasn’t me,” I say with a laugh.

  Drew reaches around his neck and lifts a golden chain with a simple charm over his head and hands the necklace to me, charm first.

  I cradle the charm, licking my lips, straining to see the worn inscription.

  “That’s a sailor’s moon,” Drew says, staring at the heavens, at the beautiful silver circle in the sky. “Step out of the light and let the moon show you what you long to see.”

  I hold the charm in the silver light. Familiar waves of hair burnished into the gold, and a slight smile comes into view. I gasp at the sight. “She’s…me.”

  “The Seven Cities were legend, its quest the greatest of its time. Its mystery, one of the greatest of ours. The Seven Cities was an ancient quest that ended in murder, deceit and worst of all––utter and total failure.”

  I shake my head. “This can’t be me.” I’ve wanted to hear about The Seven Cities of Gold ever since I claimed my sword. I’ve longed to know its story, to hear about my sword’s origins. I’ve longed to know how the sword came to be. But now, my stomach churns and I want to freeze time. I want to go back to the football field and lie in the grass. I’m afraid of who I am, now more than ever.

  “But, The Seven Cities of Gold were discovered. By some. They weren’t just a crazy man’s dream, although they certainly turned into his nightmare. All who had lusted for them had been blinded by desire and riches beyond the young world’s imaginings. But these are the things that bewitch young men. Adventure. Honor. A great quest. What young man upon hearing of their treasure would not want to ravage them? Would not want to stake his claim?”

  My mind is dizzy with everything Drew and I have been through. Dizzy with the idea of five hundred more years of this. Drew’s no boy. And as he talks, it seems like he’s turning into another man. One I’m not sure I’ll ever really know.

  “How did you know? How did you know I was the next Slayer? How did you figure out it was me?”

  “I saw it in your shadow.”

  I gaze deeply into his ancient eyes, questioning.

  “The Slayer’s shadow glistens. The sheen only seen by Slayers alone.”

  The full moon is so bright it casts my shadow as dark as the noonday sun. Down in the darkness of my sandy, full moon shadow a golden light sparkles from the outside edge into the center and back out again.

  “We’d met in darkness. It was only when I saw you in the light that I knew. Only when I saw you in the cafeteria that I knew you were the Slayer.”

  “But that couldn’t have been the only way. You would have had to comb the Earth in search of a single shadow. It would have taken forever to find me out of all of the people on Earth. There had to be something more to it.” I say so fast I can’t keep up with my own words. I literally choke on my own curiosity.

  Drew raises his eyebrows. “I’ve loved you for centuries.”

  “Centuries?”

  His face softens as if he’s let something go, a secret he’s been trusted to keep and is now finally free of.

  “You did?” I barely get the words out because he slays me with his stare. “But…I wasn’t born, yet. How could you? You couldn’t have known me.”

  “I thought you a sprite. A dream. A ghost, at first.”

  He reaches into his pocket. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to give you this small token.” He pulls out a string of shells. One after the other they spill out of his pocket. White and beautiful. As if they’d just been plucked from the sand. One tied to the other with knots that seem to hug each shell. I lean in closer to Drew and he lifts the shells over my head. They settle on my chest, over my Oakdale Red Devil football jersey. Drew’s football jersey.

  “I made this for you,” he says staring at me from under his blond bangs. “The promise of this moment is the only thing that kept me alive.”

  Learn more about Laura A.H. Elliott and the Shadow Slayer Series at: www.Laurasmagicday.wordpress.com

  13 on Halloween (Shadow Series #1) and Shadow Slayer (Shadow Series #2) are available now

  Tunnel of Love (or Hear
tbreak) By Amy Maurer Jones

  Liv’s backyard

  June 2015

  “Jedd, Shy is dangerous! He killed two of our classmates and kidnapped a little girl! Why are you being so stubborn about this?” I demanded an explanation for his pigheadedness. He was being impossible.

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little overly dramatic, Liv? I just want to help.” He rolled his eyes at me.

  He’s always so passive when it comes to his own safety.

  “Getting yourself killed isn’t going to help anyone!” I think I’m about to have an aneurism.

  “There you go again…” More eye rolling, a flip of his hand, dismiss, dismiss, dismiss…

  “You think this is so simple…” I can’t believe his attitude. “OK Mr. ‘I know it all,’ please enlighten me! Please explain to me exactly how I am overreacting to your desire to hunt down a soul sucking Daeva?” I was fuming now. This better be good.

  He shrugged first to enunciate his point. What a jerk! “I am more of an asset to you than I am a liability.” I was about to say, ‘so what stupid’ but he held up the palm of his hand in objection. I hate how he can read me so well. “You said you were going to be traveling underground with the Gnomes.” He just stared at me. “…right?” he prompted me further. I nodded in agreement. “OK, so what is the big deal? I’ll be under the ground. The mother Earth suffocates and kills Daevas. Do you think Shy is going to come looking for me under the ground?” He had a superior look on his face that I was tempted to smack off, but he did have a point. As much as a hated to admit it… I gestured for him to continue. His Cheshire Cat grin widened. “If my life or my soul is ever in danger, I’ll just burrow down into the bunny hole. See? It’s no big deal. Meanwhile, you’ll have an extra Spiriter on duty. I can see masks and feel allures just as well as you and your Gnomes can.” He was positively proud of himself… and so darn cute! Gaaah! Life is so unfair.

  “Fine…” I caved. I’m such a sucker for his steely blues and gleaming grin. “Meet me in Gaea’s meadow tomorrow at six o’clock sharp.”

  “Six o’clock in the morning?” he uttered in disbelief.

  “Do you want to go or not?” I challenged.

  He straightened his posture abruptly and nodded a salute. It took everything in me not to roll my eyes this time.

  “See you in the morning.” He smiled, warming my heart again. He could be every bit as sweet as he could be infuriating.

  “Six o’clock,” I reemphasized.

  This was not the time to go weak in the knees over a boy. There is a Daeva on the loose for crying out loud. He didn’t cooperate with my efforts. His eyes remained playful and his smile endearing.

  “… on the dot.” He chuckled and with a quick wink he turned and headed for home.

  The next morning…

  “Six o’clock on the dot, just as promised.” Jedd beamed as he stepped through the misty trees that outlined Gaea’s meadow.

  Gaea is the Oracle of Life. She’s an Elder Guardian Spirit that chose the form of a grand old Oak tree after her human charge passed on to the Spirit World. Her son, Beau is my mentor, my Guardian Spirit. Jedd and Beau don’t like each other very much.

  “He’s pretty cute. I can see why my Beau is so jealous,” Gaea whispered to me as Jedd approached.

  I shushed her and her branches wriggled in laughter. Everyone is a comedian…

  “You really don’t have to do this Jedd.”

  He can’t say I didn’t offer him a way out when the Gnome’s tunnels leave him feeling filthy and claustrophobic.

  “No way Liv, I’m not going to bail. Forget it!”

  He was being thoroughly pigheaded again, even at this early hour. He wasn’t going to change his mind so I suppose I should just accept it. I sighed…

  “Fine, this way…”

  I moaned and groaned under my breath as we silently trudged off toward the forest line. He kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye but he didn’t speak. He was probably worried I would change my mind about allowing him to join me on the quest. After several minutes of stepping over tree knots and ducking under leafy green limbs we came to a ledge in the forest floor. It wasn’t a significant drop but would still require a careful decent. At the bottom of the decline rushed a stream of crystal clear water.

  “We’re meeting Gert and the others on the opposite side of the stream,” I informed Jedd.

  “Gert? What kind of a name is Gert?” he asked incredulously.

  I pretended not to hear him. If he thinks Gert’s name is odd just wait until he sees his caution sign orange glowing hair. Jedd followed me down the embankment. As it turns out I was more in need of assistance than he was. I slipped on three different occasions and he caught my fall each time. Each steadying hand was accompanied by a gloating superior smile.

  “Oh fine, so you can walk more stealthily through the woods than I can, big deal!” I complained.

  He laughed at me, but his smile transformed from cocky to adoring. After we crossed the stream I tried to feel for the Gnome’s allures. Jedd picked up on what I was doing and joined in my search. After a few minutes we caught their signal.

  “This way…” Jedd nodded beyond a large boulder in the brush.

  He scaled the humongous chunk of rock in about the same time it took me to walk around it.

  “You can quit showing off,” I teased.

  “You know you like it,” he flirted back, wagging his eyebrows at me.

  Ugh! He’s just too cute. OK, time to snap out of it. It’s show time. I began stomping on the ground to let the Gnomes know our exact location. Jedd watched me skeptically.

  “What?”

  What was his problem now?

  “You’re like this demi – God, super ninja Spirit girl and the best you can do to summon your Gnomes is stomp on the ground?”

  He was making fun of me… and I loved it. To Jedd, I would always be his best friend Liv. No more, no less. I gave in and shared a laugh with him. It felt nice to be plain old Liv and Jedd for a brief moment. He accompanied me in my Gnome stomping dance and it felt like we were back in the third grade again trying to pack the dirt down where we had buried our most recent treasure. Unfortunately, the trip down memory lane was short lived. Before I knew it, chunks of dirt came flying up into the air followed by a clan of Gnomes with Crayola coded hair coloring. Jedd stared at their tiny, stodgy looking, little figures in amazement.

  “Ha! They look just like those little naked troll dolls you can fasten on your key chain or insert on the top of your pencil… except they’re wearing clothes…” he babbled.

  He continued to chuckle in amusement. I could tell his fascination with them was innocent but I wasn’t sure the Gnomes would appreciate his behavior so I elbowed him in the ribs. The Gnomes merely looked momentarily confused before returning their expectant gaze to me.

  “Jedd, this is Gert, Nort, Runt, Mo and Snert.” I pointed to each Gnome as I spoke his name. Jedd nodded to each of them and they grunted their return. “Gert, what news do you have for me? Were you able to make contact with any of the Gnome clans in the south or out west?” I asked Gert because he is the Master of the eastern clan.

  “Grrnt, yes, there have been sightings of your Daeva in both areas. Grrnt, here is a list of the most likely cities to find him.” Gert handed me a piece of paper.

  The hand written list read:

  Memphis

  Tulsa

  Pittsburgh

  Las Vegas

  Cincinnati

  Nashville

  Albuquerque

  “OK, so what’s next?” Jedd wondered.

  “We’ll need to plot out a course of destination. You know, map out a travel route,” I answered and Jedd pulled a map of the United States out of his back pack. I shook my head. “We’ll require a different type of map, a map of the Gnome’s underground tunnels.”

  Just as I finished my sentence, Nort fished just such a map out of his pocket. He unfolded it and spread it
out on an adjacent smaller rock next to the boulder Jedd climbed over minutes before. This time Jedd pulled a red Sharpe pen out of his bag and handed it to Gert. Good job, Jedd. He’s such a quick learner. Appreciative of Jedd’s gesture, Gert took the pen immediately and circled the listed cities on the tunnel map. Then he began to number them in order of priority for the journey; Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis, Tulsa, Albuquerque, and finally Las Vegas. The order may have varied slightly had we been preparing to travel above ground but tunnel travel was different. There were short cuts and a general lack of obstacles. We wouldn’t have to climb mountains or cross rivers. It would be a straight shot from one city to the next which would seriously decrease the distance.

  “Whoa, you mean we can travel on foot to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Nashville in just two days? That’s crazy awesome!” Jedd breathed in honest appreciation.

  The Gnomes were delighted by Jedd’s enthusiasm and fascination with their tunnels. Jedd asked them all kinds of questions.

  “How did you create the tunnels and how long have they been here?” Jedd bantered excitedly.

  “Grrnt, we dug them many, many years ago,” Nort answered as he dug his fingers into his scalp of red fuzzy hair to scratch his head. “Grrnt, it is hard to say how long they have been here… many millennia no doubt.”

  Jedd’s eyes widened.

  “Well, how can you tell where it would be safe to dig or not to dig?” Jedd persisted.

  This time Mo, the purple headed Gnome, answered. “Grrnt, we use our nature charms to sense water, lava or anything that may endanger us.”

  “Wow, but how do you navigate? A compass won’t work under the ground.” Jedd was unstoppable but the Gnomes seemed to enjoy his curiosity.

  “Grrnt, you could say we possess our own version of charmed GPS.” Gert laughed and the rest of the Gnomes and Jedd joined in.

  Male bonding? Go figure…

  The journey...

  The first stop on our journey was Pittsburgh, PA. This bustling city would be the perfect place for a Daeva to hide. Home to the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins, this historically known, industrial driven, steel and glass town is a sports fan’s dream spot. People come from all over to cheer on their favorite team. They could easily be lost or misplaced in the festivities and conveniently tossed into the Allegheny River after their souls have been consumed. Jedd and I planted ourselves on a riverside park bench and scoured the newspapers for traces of Shy. There were literally dozens of papers to choose from; Arts and Entertainment, Sports, Business, African American, and half a dozen university press pages. We decided to sift through the more traditional newspapers dedicated predominantly to the local, regional and national news. Jedd was flipping through the Pittsburgh Post – Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune – Review while I paged through the Pittsburgh City Paper and The South Pittsburgh Reporter.