Immortalis - Book 1 (The Keeper's Immortals)

by Marisa DeMaris

  “Perhaps she’s starting to mature finally after all this centuries.” Jaryn laughed. Ashwin shot him a go-to-hell look before taking her own seat in the front of the plane. She pulled out her headphones and temporally blocked out the situation. She was tired of dealing with her brothers and even though she was somewhat a prisoner Ashwin couldn’t help but to enjoy having another female around. It wasn’t that she had anything against Nora, she didn’t even know her but she was doing this to keep her family together. The only family that she had.

  I felt the plane begin to move and suddenly froze again. They all stopped and looked at me with wonder; they knew something was wrong the moment I started to grab onto the seat for fear I was going to fall. Blake and Jaryn laughed, Sebastian told me to relax but Ashwin took off her headphones and walked over to me quickly to take the seat next to me. She grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze, calming me a bit. Next thing I knew we were up in the air and the seatbelt sign wasn’t lit up any longer. Without exchanging any words Ashwin only smiled and moved back to her original seat. I wanted to thank her but not in front of everyone else. It seemed like it should be something a little more personal and private.

  “Don’t worry you’re pretty head to much Nora, we’ll be in Ireland sooner than you think and I’m sure Reid won’t be too far behind.” Sebastian said calmly as he pulled a news paper up to his face, hiding his smile.

  “Wait…wha…Ireland? You’re taking me to Ireland?” I asked probably sounding slightly annoyed.

  “Where did you think I meant when I said were goin’ home lass?” Jaryn said snidely as he placed the glass of whisky to his lips. I didn’t really know how to answer that without looking foolish although I didn’t know how I couldn’t look that way. I was flying in a plane full of immortals headed to Ireland when no more than an hour ago I was on a simple first date that I never got to finish. I never thought I would be in such a situation. This was something that happened in the movies not to me.

  “Aw keep her speechless please. I can already feel my headache easing up a bit.” Blake said as he continued to massage his tempers.

  “Go to hell Blake!” I barked towards him. He only laughed at my words.

  “Oh lass, if I could die I’m sure I would have a seat next to the devil himself. I’ve been a very bad boy. So has your precious Reid but I’m sure he didn’t tell you everything that he’s ever done eh?” Blake asked knowing the answer already.

  “He’s…told me some.” I admitted to him wanting to know more since Reid hadn’t really divulged any of his back story for me but I unsure if he would tell me or not. I wasn’t sure if I did want to know everything but I knew myself; I was curious by nature.

  “He’s killed people ya know, we all have. Some by mistake but others…others were just for the fun of it.” Blake said making a streak of fear race through my body. By the look on his face he knew that he had scared me to a certain point although I would never tell him. I was in a plane full of murderous immortals. ‘Great’ I thought as I sank lower into the seat.

  “Blake will you kindly stop. You’re gonna give the lass a heart attack.’ Ashwin said before looking towards me. ‘I don’t know about my brother but me, myself, I have not ever killed for pure fun. I will admit that we’ve had to take care of some problems over the years though. With this life you gain some enemies but everyone else was a mistake. Don’t let them scare you and if they do just don’t show it.” She explained before she stood up to walk into the back of the plane where she remained for the rest of the flight.

  Once we had landed safely on the ground I let out a deep sigh of relief. I was the type of person who like her feet firmly planted on the solid ground. Ashwin seemed happiest to be back in her homeland, taking a deep breath of air after she exited the plane. “I do love the smell of Ireland at night.” She said as she walked towards the car that was waiting for them. Jaryn and Blake walked with me in tow towards the same car as Sebastian followed. After everyone was in the car it started moving and ended at a large manor. It was bigger than large, it was huge. Like a place I could surely get lost in.

  I was led in through a large side door, made to sit at the island in the middle of a large, modern looking kitchen. Without warning I burst into tears - the stress of the night had finally taken its toll. I was kidnapped by a group of crazy immortals and taken thousands of miles away from my home. Suddenly my own bed didn’t seem so bad, I should have just gone home after the movie rather than back to Reid’s. The one time I listened to my heart rather than my head and look at where it’s gotten me. Jaryn filled a clear glass with water and handed it to me. I took it carefully not wanting to ruffle his feathers anymore than they already were. “Go on take it lass. You have to be parched after a long trip without one drop of liquid to touch your tongue.” He said kindly.

  “Thank you.” I said as I took the glass, placing it to my lips. At that moment nothing tasted better. He was right although I didn’t want to admit it to him I was dying of thirst. He shot me something that seemed to be a smile then walked over to his siblings where they were discussing the night’s events.

  “What do we do with her?” Blake asked his older brother.

  “We’ll put her up in a room and then we wait. I threw Reid hard so I don’t even know if he’s woken up yet.” Sebastian explained.

  “Were keeping that thing in the house with us?” Blake snapped at his brother and his judgment or lack thereof.

  “She’s not a wild animal Blake, she a human being like us.” Jaryn said, suddenly being a voice of reason.

  “She’s nothing like us, she’s mortal. She shouldn’t even be in the same room as we are.” Blake barked before he stormed off. Although I was close enough to hear everything that was said I was close to hear his words and they hurt.

  “Perhaps this wasn’t a grand idea Sebastian.” Ashwin suggested.

  “We wanted Reid to come home and she will bring him home. He cares for her and doesn’t want any harm to come to her. Trust me Ashwin.” Sebastian said before he walked out of the room and up to his own room. She did trust him, above all the others she trusted Sebastian. He was the eldest and wisest out of them all.

  I was taken to the north wing of the house where they said I was the only one. If I needed something then I would have to get it myself because they didn’t have servants because of their lifestyle, keeping hired help around they would question why they never changed. Made sense to me, hard to explain to an aging maid why her employers weren’t. I thanked both Ashwin and Jaryn before they left me in a large room that was beautifully decorated. My whole house could fit inside this one bedroom so on the inside I was slightly nauseated at that fact. I was just happy that they didn’t place in me a dungeon type room. Instead I was in a room with an over the top bed that was covered in plush pillows, thick bed covers and felt amazing on my skin as I slipped between the sheets finally. Normally I would have explored more of the room, maybe even try to find a way out not that it mattered because I didn’t have anywhere I could go. If I was to ask for help I would be thrown into a psychiatric ward in minutes because the story was too unbelievable. I, myself wouldn’t have believe it if it wasn’t for the fact I had been talking to these people all night. After tossing and turning for what seemed like an hour I finally passed out hoping that Reid was safe and he would find me soon.

  Three

  Reid woke up, jerking his body upwards only to slow his movements after realizing that his head was pounding worse than he thought. Sebastian’s toss had gotten better than it used to be. Reid looked up and around his surroundings. It was daylight out, the birds were singing and the sun was shining brightly; stinging his eyes. He didn’t know how far into the thick trees he had been thrown, all he knew that he was tossed hard enough to split a large three in half which would explain why his back was in searing pain.

  Once he regained his balance he stood for a moment in a failing attempt to ease the pain that was racing through his head. Letting out a deep breath he
started walking toward his car where he hoped to find Nora. After walking for a almost a half an hour he suddenly remembered that Nora wouldn’t be at his car, not because she was safe in her own home but because she had been taken by the people he should have been able to trust; his family. “Shit!” He said out loud as he started running as fast as he could towards the spot where he last saw Nora the night before, watching her get stuffed into dark limo by two of his brothers; Nora screaming for none of them to hurt him. She was being held by a pack of lunatics and she was worried about her immortal date being hurt. All he could do was to hope with everything that he had that she wasn’t hurt and wouldn’t be by the time he reached her. The lump that had formed on Reid’s head had made it hard for him to remember everything that he was told last night. Everything had moved so quickly the night before; it seemed to be a blur. Once he had reached his car he found his barely alive cell phone and called Nora knowing that if she did have her phone then they would have probably taken it form here but if someone would answer just to tell him that she was safe would be fabulous. He listened to the phone ring only to feel a vibration beside him and after some digging he found Nora’s cell, still on silent from their date. Reid threw his head back, hitting the seat and letting out a sigh of frustration. Suddenly he slammed his fist against the steering wheel as his frustration turned to anger. He closed his eyes and thought as hard as he could trying to think about where they took her. ‘If you want her then you’ll have to come and get her brother. You know where to find us.’ Was what Sebastian had said before throwing Reid like a rag doll.

  “Home! They took her home!” Reid finally figured out what part of the world they took her to. They took her to Ireland, their home land and that was where he would head. Reid found his keys still in the ignition but when he tried to start the car he found that the battery was dead after he had accidently left the headlights on all night. He popped the hood and placed his hands on the battery, focusing on all the energy that he could and zapped it with his hands. Within a second the engine was humming like a large cat on the prowl. He smiled wickedly before he slammed the hood shut and jumped into the convertible, not bothering to open the door. He needed to get to an airport quickly and for the time being he was pushing his self control out the window. Other than Nora the only other thing that had tempted that was his passion for driving fast. He loved nothing more than speeding down the Autobahn through Germany and although he wasn’t supposed to drive that fast where he was currently at he didn’t care because he had to get to Nora as soon as he could. Luckily he could out drive any and all policemen he came across. Since he didn’t have the fear of crashing and dying he didn’t have much fear at all, only the fear that someone else would be injured.

  It took Reid twenty minutes to get to the airport when it should have taken an hour. Passing cars left and right, cutting people off and all while barely being on the radar. He boarded the first flight to Ireland that was leaving within the hour. The woman who had booked his ticket handed him back his passport, drivers permit and credit card; three things he always had on him for leaving in a hurry. Running from someone will change you and your habits. “Thank you” he told the woman before he left the counter with his ticket in hand. He had an hour to kill but he knew that he couldn’t wonder far, what he really wanted to do was to call to find out if Nora was at least safe from the hands of his sibling; mainly Blake who had a curtain distaste for mortals.

  He pulled out his cell and dialed only to hang up at the last minute. He had dialed Blake’s number out of habit. Out of all his siblings he was the closet to Blake but he knew that he wasn’t the one who he needed to talk to about this. Reid had also been given the power of self control something that Blake wasn’t blessed with although everyone wished that he was so talking to him about a serious topic wasn’t the best way to go. Blake’s ill temper made some things nearly impossible and conversing with mortals was one of them. The only thing he liked mortals for was satisfying his every need and playing with emotionally. Blake’s main thrill was capturing a young girls heart, using them for everything that they were worth then dumping them without warning and acting as if he didn’t know who they were when they approached him about it.

  Even before they were changed Reid and Blake were the closest out of all the siblings. Always getting in trouble together and always sticking beside each other through thick and thin. Reid could understand why they were all angry with him for leaving but he never thought about it would affect Blake as bad as it has and it seemed to affect the worst. He always had a bad attitude but ever since Reid had left things were tense between every time they did happen to cross paths, this last time being the worst just because Blake had caught his brother with a mortal.

  He finally sucked it up and dialed Blake’s number.

  Moaning was coming from between the sheets, finally a young woman’s head popped up; rocking back and forth as Blake looked up at her. Even over the heavy breathing and thick atmosphere that filled the room he could still be bothered by his cell phone buzzing on the side table. Trying to ignoring it wasn’t working and slammed his hand on the table, grabbing the phone to see who it was. “Silent my ass.” He complained about his phone under his breath, the girl on top of him wasn’t paying his words any attention

  “What do you want?” Blake snapped as he answered the phone.

  “Hello to you to.” Reid barked back with a rude tone.

  “I knew you were gonna call without even using any powers although I didn’t see you calling me. Hmm usually I’m dead on with my visions but you sneaky little devil, you fooled me.” Blake said with a chuckle.

  “If you knew I was going to call then you know why I’m calling eh brother?”

  Blake continued to laugh. “Of course I do but I’m afraid little Miss Nora is fast asleep, away warmly in a bed.”

  “Far away from you I hope.” Reid stated through gritted teeth.

  “Well there is someone on top of me currently.”

  “She wouldn’t touch you and you don’t want to even be in the same room as her.”

  “Well ya got me there brother, she’s one mortal I wouldn’t touch…out of respect of you of course.” Blake said snidely. “So now that you know she’s unavailable I’m gonna kindly hang up the phone…”

  “I’m comin’ to get her and if there is one hair out of place on her head then I will kill you all. Do you understand me? I’ll find a way.” Reid threatened. Blake only smiled at his older brother’s words because he knew Reid well enough to know that he wouldn’t harm any of his siblings even if he could; not even Blake no matter what happened. Reid was all talk.

  “Ha, don’t make me laugh. You’re a big ol’ pussy cat Reid. I’ll see ya soon, we all will.” Blake said as he hung up the phone, throwing into the floor beside his bed then grabbing the hips of the young mortal woman. Once he was done he threw her off of the bed, snapped her neck the tossed her body into the roaring fire that was ablaze in his room and passed out soon afterwards.

  Four

  I woke up feeling oddly peaceful considering I was being held against my will by people I didn’t know. The only thing on my mind was Reid and wondering if he was safe or not. Just as I sat up in the bed I heard a knock at the bedroom door. I told whoever it was to come in and through the doors walked Jaryn, bright eyed and bushy tailed for being so early in the morning.

  “Are you hungry?” He asked me as he took my hand, helping me down off the bed that was entirely too high off the ground.

  “You’re actually going to feed me?” I asked snidely but with a joking tone.

  “Of course we are. You actually have to eat.” He smiled.

  “You don’t have to?” I asked. He laughed at my words.

  “We don’t have to no, since we don’t die but we wouldn’t look to hot. Besides food taste to good, we just don’t have to worry about carbs like you do.” He said with a wink.

  “So what’s on the menu?”

  “The basics; eggs,
bacon, biscuits and a bit of fruit I believe.”

  “That sounds amazing, I’m so hungry.” I said as I patted my stomach, hearing it growl. Apparently Jaryn did as well because he handed me a brush and told me to pretty myself up before we went down. He was defiantly knew how a girls mind worked. I took it from him as I shot him a smile. For the first time since meeting, Jayrn didn’t seem like a horrible person. Although I didn’t know the reasoning behind their attack I’m sure that there was some kind of justification to it, they had just done it in a bad way.

  Once I looked slightly less monstrous we walked down the long hallway, down the flight of stairs and entered the grand kitchen where the night before I sat in panic, fearing for my life. Now I was a bit more calm, sitting around the island with Jaryn on one side while across from me sat Ashwin and serving us was Sebastian.; Blake wasn’t anywhere in sight and that didn’t bother me at all but I knew that it would be short lived.

  Just as a put a bite of eggs into my mouth my calm atmosphere was interrupted by Blake trotting down the back stairs and jumped in the empty seat next to me. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach and placed my fork to the side of my plate, trying but failing to smile. “Honestly don’t let him get to you. He thrives on the pain of others.” Jaryn explained. Blake smirked at his brother while he smiled at me. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him but since he could kill me without thought I held back my urge to mouth off towards him.

  “Go on say it little one, I know you want to say something.” Blake stated as he continued to look at me.

  “I don’t have anything to say.” I said kindly with an undertone of bitterness. I picked my fork back up and began to eat again.

  “Honestly Blake don’t you have anything better to do than to torment the poor girl?” Ashwin asked, tossing her food around on her plate. Blake didn’t make a rude comment in return he just went on with shoveling the food into his mouth. As I finished up my plate I walked over to the sink, rinsed my plate then sat it down. When I sat back at the island I could feel Ashwin’s eyes burning into my skull as I looked out the window. Turning around I found her staring blankly at me but before I could say anything to her she jumped from her seat and walked from the room. I asked if I could be excused and Sebastian agreed, telling me that I could wonder freely but I was to know that if I was the run there would be consequences. I agreed to his terms as well and hurried out the room searching for Ashwin but she seemed to have disappeared in that short moment. Frustrated I plopped to the sofa that was overlooking the green fields. I had to admit that it was gorgeous but I probably would enjoy it more if I wasn’t being held against my will.