“What do I care? I have no quarrel with them… mostly. You may want to tell them to keep out of the picture if you value their lives.”
Abe growled. “How did you know where to find her?”
“Oh, that’s the best part. Rainey told me. Tell her Kade says hello and that he decided he wasn’t interested, after all. Will you do that for me, please, baby? I mean, really, did she think she was going to find the man of her dreams actually in her dreams? She’s more gullible than you are,” Julia cackled.
Abe was so angry, he couldn’t think straight. “Kade? You are Kade?”
“You catch on quick, honey. Did you do a mental warm-up earlier, or something?”
“Where are you taking Ariana?”
“I’m sure your very loyal puppet, Jonah, is standing right there, waiting for your next command. Why don’t you ask him? He’ll know where to find us. Max is keen to have a word with Jonah, anyway, so you can bring him with you. I’m thinking of turning Ariana, though… Or I might just make her mine and Max’s blood whore. He’s been eyeing her pretty little neck ever since we picked her up. You’d like to have some of the powerful witch’s blood, wouldn’t you, Max?” Julia goaded, a little way away from the mouthpiece. “Not now, Max. Leave her alone. Let’s wait until Abe gets here; it’ll taste so much sweeter with him watching.” She switched her attention back to the call. “See you soon, baby. You have two hours and fifteen minutes until the sun comes up.” The call went dead.
As Abe threw his phone across the mess hall, Jonah’s started ringing. Jonah looked at it, looked at Abe, and answered it.
“Rainey…” Jonah said as he took off after Abe, who was clearly running for the ocean. The girls had the plane, the watercraft was under repair and there was no other way he could get to Ariana, but swim.
“Oh my God, Jonah, tell me where she is. Help me find Ariana before Abe finds out she’s missing. She was in the dressing room, and I heard her scream. She’s gone, Jonah! Abe’s going to kill me!”
“Rainey, we know. Julia has her.”
“Oh my God! No! How?!” she cried.
“Julia… is Kade, Rainey. Did you by chance tell Kade to meet you in the dress shop?” Rainey whimpered unintelligibly. “Look, keep the others safe. We’re on our way.” Jonah could hear Rainey throwing up in the background. He could imagine how she must feel.
“I… can’t… breathe… Julia… Oh… my… God… Jonah, help us, please,” Rainey pleaded.
“Calm down, Rainey. I said we’re on our way. You won’t be able to reach me on my cell, it’s about to drown.” Jonah closed his eyes, getting a bead for where Ariana was. “Go to Huntington Beach. I think that’s where they’re headed. And think of a way to make us safe after sunrise. Gotta go!”
Jonah threw his phone down at the edge of the water and dove in behind Abe.
CHAPTER 62
“How long will the dust work on her, with her being so powerful? Max asked Julia.
“I’m not sure, but I have plenty. I don’t know how much she has learned of her powers since we left the island, so it would be in our best interest to keep her knocked out.”
Max drove out of Beverly Hills, heading for the coast. “Why do you insist on making it easy for them to find her?”
Julia sighed as if his questions weren’t worth her time and breath. “We have her for a reason, and that reason is to end Abe. She’s just a pawn, Max, the bait. The faster they find her, the faster we can kill them.”
“Got it!” Max paused and thought for a minute. “And how are we going to kill them?”
“I have a spell that will immobilize them until the sun comes up. Then, there will be no Abe or Jonah and we can take over the island tonight.”
“I hope it works.”
She shot him a look. “Of course it will work, you fool!”
Ariana moaned in the back seat.
“Damn!” Julia grabbed her bag of sleeping dust. “Oh, no, you don’t, little girl.”
She threw more dust in Ariana’s face. “This stuff would keep a normal person knocked out about eight hours. She hasn’t been out thirty minutes.”
Max yawned and rolled his window down. “I think I caught a whiff of it.”
“You have to stay awake. I can’t carry her, Max!”
“Yeah, yeah.” He yawned. “I know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Do I need to drive?”
“No, I’m fine. Where are we going?”
“Aim for the Huntington Beach Pier. Abe swam to it a couple of times, just to see how long it would take him. He’s done it in an hour and forty five minutes. I bet, with the love of his life being in trouble, he will break his personal best and set a new record. He could probably make it in an hour and twenty minutes. But Jonah won’t be as fast, since he’s not as old. Abe will be pissed because Jonah can’t keep up. That might hold him up a little. He’ll have to wait for Jonah; he can’t find Ariana without his tracker.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence, with Julia giving Ariana a puff of dust every so often.
§ § §
“Come on, Jonah!” Abe growled through clenched teeth. “Do me a favor and pretend they have Lidia.” Jonah kicked it into overdrive and shot past Abe. “That’s my boy,” Abe said as he caught up with him.
Jonah’s breathing was labored. “You are going to have to find me a meeker when we get Ariana back, or I won’t make it back to the island alive.”
Abe growled. “I’ll get you back in one piece, or Lidia will never forgive me. I can’t do that to her…”
Jonah laughed. “You mean I’ve finally won your trust, daddy-oh?”
Abe growled again. “Hardly, but I guess you’ve proved yourself by being here for me, so I give you my blessing. That doesn’t mean I won’t still kill you if you hurt her, understood?”
Jonah grinned. “And I thought you were going all soft in your old age. Don’t worry about that, I would die before I hurt her. It’s a feeling I’m not used to, but I’m certain of. You know what I mean?”
“Two weeks ago I would have said no, but since Ariana came into my life, yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”
CHAPTER 63
Rainey came out of a store, her arms full of black blankets, black trash bags, duck tape, small nails and a hammer. She threw them onto Becky’s lap, who was sitting on the back seat, and issued her strict instructions to tack the black blankets in place behind the front seats of the suburban she had rented and black out every window, so Jonah and Abe could ride safely.
She opened the driver’s door and got in. “I hope Jonah is right about where they are headed. The sun will be up in under forty five minutes.”
Janie was sobbing into Lance’s shirt. “Why do people keep taking her away from me?”
Becky tried to comfort her. “I know you two have been best friends for a long time, Janie. Ariana hasn’t stopped talking about you since she got on the island. But you haven’t been around since she’s awakened her powers. She will be perfectly capable of taking care of herself until we find her.” I hope, Becky thought to herself as she grabbed the things Rainey handed her. “Now, could you give me a hand with these? Ariana will be so much happier if we can keep her sweetheart safe, too.”
A small smile appeared around Janie’s lips and she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She looked at Becky and nodded.
“We need to tape the trash bags to the windows, and tack the blankets up here, and down the sides, the best we can. Use the tape on top, if necessary.”
Rainey spoke from the front seat. “No sun can penetrate. None of these windows are tinted with the kind of tint we have on the island, do you understand?”
“I’ve got it, Rainey. Stop worrying and just get us to the pier,” Becky said.
Rainey couldn’t help but think this was all her fault, but maybe everything would work out, somehow. She prayed to every God she could think of, and even a few she’d made up there and then, to save Abe, Jonah and Ariana. If once, just
this once, good would prevail and evil would perish, Rainey swore to herself she would die a happy woman.
§ § §
Ariana had tried to wake up three times before, and last time she had opened her eyes for a second to see Julia in the passenger seat and Max driving. Julia heard her, turned and threw some dust in her face, and then blackness engulfed her once again.
This time, she was careful not to move as she peeked through her lashes. It was still dark outside and the vehicle they were in was moving.
“Pull in right here,” she heard Julia say. “There is a storage shed under the Pier; well… more a cage than a shed, but it’s got a locked door. Lock her in there and stay in with her. I’ll put a spell on it once you’re in, so it will be indestructible… unless something happens to me, and then you are on your own, pal, but we have to take our chances. He’s got thirty minutes till the sun comes up.” She sighed. “And so do we. We’ll have to deal with them and make it to safety in less than that; I don’t want to cut it too fine. I’ll keep my mind open for their arrival,” she said to Max’s back as he carried Ariana to the shed under the pier.
Rainey pulled the suburban over about a hundred yards from the pier and watched Max disappear, with Ariana’s limp form over his shoulder, under the pier’s shadow.
“Whatever you do, keep your minds blank. No names, no reason for being here, nothing. The woman is a very powerful mind reader and psychic. Now we just need to wait for the boys.”
There was a knock on her window that scared the bejesus out of her. She quickly rolled the window down to a wet Jonah. “You scared me to death. Where is he and what’s the plan?” Rainey whispered.
“We didn’t know what to expect, so we’re just going to wing it. Also, no plan means the witch can’t read what we’re doing next, either.”
Tears came to Rainey’s eyes. “I’m so sorry. Is he mad at me?”
“No, and quit crying, you need to stay focused. Try and think of a spell that will knock her on her ass for a few minutes. We’ve seen where she’s been taken, but there’s no doubt our common friend is doing something to keep us from getting to the prize. I would, if I were her.”
Rainey got out and opened Becky’s door. “You guys stay in here. I don’t need to worry about you, too. If things go wrong… Becky, take Lance and Janie to the plane and tell Elton to fly them back home. Then go straight to the island – you’d better make it before sundown, for everyone’s sakes – and tell the Force what happened. Let people flee the island, if they so wish. I’m sure she plans to take over, so be prepared, it can turn nasty. I hope to see you guys later. Becky, I love you, girl.”
Tears were flowing down Becky’s face, but she nodded, her jaw set in determination.
Ariana opened her eyes as Max locked them in the cage. That’s what she had been waiting for. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to get out. She brought all of her emotions together and whispered, “You have no vocal chords.”
Max was stunned for a second. “Wh…” He dropped Ariana as he struggled to find out what had happened to him.
Ariana knew she wouldn’t have long before he figured out it was her doing. She laid still on the sand and gathered her emotions together again. “Burn, you bastard!” Max’s eyes got wide as flames engulfed first his arms and then his legs. He tried to scream, but there was no point. He had no voice.
Abe watched in awe from behind an abandoned rowing boat as Ariana took down an eight hundred year old vampire with just a few words. He could see that the flames were getting brighter as Max fell to the ground, and Julia could see the light, too, as she walked cautiously down towards Ariana. He had to do something. He was certain Julia would kill Ariana for her daring, and also to rid herself of such a powerful opponent.
Julia rounded the corner just in time to see the flames burn out on Max’s still, dead body. Forgetting the spell she’d put on it herself, Julia grabbed the door of the cage. It shocked her, stunning her for a second.
Ariana turned to see Julia raise her hands up above her head, ready to cast a spell.
“What have you done to him, you little bitch?” Julia screamed.
No, no, no, no. Ariana wouldn’t stand a chance against a witch so experienced in dealing evil blows. Abe stood up from behind the boat.
“Stop!” he shouted.
The incandescent ball of fire Julia had formed between her hands flew with incredible precision at Abe’s chest.
“Water!” Ariana screamed at the same time.
A column of water ten feet high rushed over to Abe, extinguished the ball of fire as it flew through the air, but caught him full-on in the face and pushed him out of balance.
He almost smiled as he picked himself off the sand and caught the muted “Oops” from Ariana’s direction.
But Julia had not finished. She twisted back towards Ariana and pulled both her hands in front of her body, palms open, facing the cage. A purple light blossomed from Julia’s hands, gradually growing bigger, twisting as it grew. Ariana’s eyes widened in fear. If only she could tell what that was, she might be able to deflect it somehow.
Suddenly, Julia’s body jerked back, but she didn’t stop her spell.
“You, stupid cow! Julia exclaimed as she flicked the purple light over her head and behind her. The light turned into a swarm of buzzing insects, thousands of them. They soared through the air and converged around a dark shape directly behind Julia.
“Aaaaaahhhhh!” Rainey screamed and dropped to the ground.
Jonah ran to her rescue, swatting at the stubborn, tenacious little killers as Rainey twisted and rolled in the sand, screaming in pain.
“Water!” Abe shouted, feeling a little like Ariana’s inferior double act. “Take her into the water!”
Jonah picked Rainey up and dashed to the sea, the angrily buzzing insect cloud hot on their trail.
Julia cackled with glee as Abe advanced on her.
“Hey! It’s me you wanted. And here I am, you life-sucking leach. Stop playing children’s games and pick on someone your own size.”
“Abe! No!” Ariana brought fire to her hands.
Julia gave her a cautious look and then looked back at Abe. “Looks like your little princess has discovered her powers.”
Ariana threw the ball of fire at her and Julia dodged it.
Sudden movement right by the side of the cage caught Ariana’s attention. Out of the darkness, Becky’s face appeared. She held a finger to her lips, a sign to keep quiet. Ariana nodded in her direction.
Meanwhile, Abe was closing in on Julia. A shimmery blade flew towards him, and he flicked it off. Julia shot from place to place, rapidly changing position, and blades rained on Abe from all directions. It was all he could do to keep them from impaling him – not that they would have killed him, but they would probably slow him enough to delay him until sunrise. It looked like Julia was intent on killing him, whatever it took. Well, he would gladly play the same game.
He inhaled deeply and pushed closer and closer to Julia with every step he took.
Ariana couldn’t stand watching him under attack. She had to do something to help.
“Open!” she shouted at the gate holding her in. Nothing happened.
“Try removing the spell,” Becky whispered.
Ariana closed her eyes, trying to get a feel on the energy being used on the cage. It was strong, but maybe if she attacked the spell, instead of the cage, it would work.
Across the beach, Julia sensed the determination in Abe’s mind and brought her hands together once more. A bluish light formed between her hands, but the ball was not uniform. Sharp wedges of light flicked in and out at dizzying speeds. Abe seized his chance and rushed at her, tackling her to the ground. He grabbed her hands, so she wouldn’t be able to throw any spells. The blue light had vanished, and for a moment Abe felt like he was winning.
“I will enjoy killing you slowly, bitch.”
“Yes, Abe, but at what price?” And then Julia cackled and turned her fac
e towards the cage. Abe followed her gaze to see a cloud of blades of all shapes and sizes twirl and twist through the air, on a direct collision course with Ariana. And her eyes were closed!
Becky shot upright as Ariana threw all her energy at Julia’s spell. A loud popping noise followed, and the gate swung open. A furious shredding noise and an ear-splitting scream pierced the air, and Ariana wrenched her eyes open to a terrible sight. Becky was under attack from what looked like a ball of knives; the blades struck and flew away, leaving cuts and gashes all over her body, only to turn and aim again, and then again.
Ariana thought quick – what stops metal blades? Cotton wool? Chainmail? Kevlar or bulletproof vests? Would any of them stop bewitched metal blades? Ariana imagined a combination of all the defensive materials she knew of and screamed as loud as she could, pointing at Becky “Shield!”
A shield materialized over Becky’s body. She’d curled herself into a fetal position on the sand, her hands over her face. The blades kept going, cleaving gashes into the shield, but for now it was holding. The bad news was that the sand was getting darker with Becky’s blood and she’d stopped making any sounds at all.
Lance and Janie were running to the beach. “Keep her away, Lance!” Ariana shouted, and Lance instantly obeyed her command. He put his arms around Janie’s waist and held her in place.
Ariana ran towards Abe and Julia. “Stand back! She’s mine!” Ariana shouted.
“The sun is rising, Ariana. I created this monstrosity, and I will take her out.”
“But the sun will kill you, too.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
What? “Abe, no!”
Ariana wanted to reason with him, make him see sense, but there was no time for reasoning. The dim glow of dawn was visible in the distance, getting nearer. The sky was already bright enough to make them uncomfortable. She couldn’t believe Abe would do this to her. He was going to receive a hell of a talking to, when they got home. Right now, she wasn’t ready to lose the love of her life, and he’d better believe it!
She got her energy together, found Jonah’s thoughts and tried something she hadn’t tried before. “Jonah!” His head popped out of the water. Good, it was working. “On the count of three, get him off her so I can end this. I’m ready.” She could feel the agreement in his thoughts.
Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) Page 32
