Blessed (The Chosen Book 2)

by Mayburn, Ann

  Blessed

  A Novel of The Chosen

  By Ann Mayburn

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  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Blessed

  Copyright 2016 Ann Mayburn

  Published by Honey Mountain Publishing

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Blurb

  Eliana Shay is an ordinary college girl with an extraordinary birthright. When handsome professor, Aiden Klemenson, sees her, he singles her out as a potential Chosen of the benevolent gods of Creation. He tries to convince Eliana that she is born to do the work of the gods—something unique and powerful. But Eliana’s past doesn’t allow her to have the trust she needs—in Aiden’s gods and the man himself.

  Aiden must employ all of his considerable charm to break through her defenses, while trying to keep their relationship strictly platonic. A difficult task when the lush and curvy Eliana’s obvious desire and seductive aura shreds his self-control. Despite his best efforts, desire burns between them with an enchantment all its own.

  The gods of Destruction will stop at nothing to keep Eliana from becoming a powerful force against evil. Cunning and deceitful, they send demons and magical serial killers to exterminate her before she can become a Creation god's Chosen hand on earth. In order to survive, Eliana will have to learn to have faith in her own strength and the warrior who stole her heart.

  This title is previously published and has been extensively revised and lengthened in content.

  Chapter

  Elaina Shay balanced on the tips of her knock-off Prada sandals and prepared to play chicken with the downtown Washington D.C. traffic. She joined a group of students scanning the speeding cars and trucks for an opening. The closest traffic light was a ten-minute walk from her dorm, but crossing the busy street here would get her to class with time to spare. There was no way she was going to do the knock of shame on the locked classroom door on the first day of class. Especially when her professors used magical wards to make sure no one snuck in with an illusion spell.

  A girl with purple streaks in her black hair next to Eliana said, “I'm going to throw a slow charm, but I have to wait for that light to change to red so I don’t cause an accident. When it does, cover me.”

  Eliana and the rest of the students around her did their best to hide the girl's actions. Since Eliana was only five-foot-one, any cover she could add was minimal at best unless the girl wanted to hide behind Eliana’s big butt. The rest of the students crowded around the girl as she dug through her backpack. If she was caught using a charm to disrupt traffic, she could be expelled from the university and face charges from the police. They all watched the lights on either end of the street, waiting for the red light to come on. As soon as it did, the girl ducked down so she was hidden in the mass of students.

  “It's got a fifteen-second timer. Everyone get ready!”

  They all watched the purple-haired girl invoke power in the wooden charm and toss it over the traffic with a casual flick of her hand. The traffic for a couple hundred feet on either side of the road slowed down to a crawl.

  Elaina’s long honey-brown hair blew across her face, and a horn blared as she took an impressive leap off the sidewalk. Cars passing through the bubble of the charm slowed down enough so she could easily avoid them. Dodge the taxi, slide off the bumper of the Buick, and dash in front of the delivery truck. Do a little touchdown dance in front of Victoria's Secret and resist the urge to shop. She blew out a breath and glanced over her shoulder as the traffic resumed its normal speed and the drivers yelled out a few choice words to the laughing students. She shook her head and gave the purple haired girl a friendly smile as she passed with her friends.

  Life was good. It was the first week back to school, and she was excited to be back in the city and out of her parents’ house. She would make it to class with time to spare—without having to run in her super-cute yet impractical sandals. It was nice to be able to dress up again in something other than the worn jeans and dingy t-shirts she wore during the summer while helping out at her parent’s landscaping business.

  Fall was almost here, and the breeze drifting through the packed streets around the university held a hint of decaying leaves beneath the stink of exhaust. The air moved along her skin with a caress, and the sun seemed to shine a little bit brighter past the tall buildings. All around her the world seemed to buzz with energy and excitement and she soaked up busy atmosphere with a smile.

  After spending the summer with her parents in their isolated atheist community located in the Shenandoah Valley she was amazed anew at how magic was seamlessly woven into the fabric of society in the rest of the world. Hell, she’d forgotten how nice it was to be able to invoke a cleaning charm that would clean a room with a flick of her wrist. It had actually taken her a bit to get used to living without magic again and her mother had been none too happy, accusing Eliana of being caught up in the religious web of lies that would turn her into another mindless goddess worshiping sheep. Though she would never say it to her parents’ face, she found them far more fanatical about their stance against magic and religion than any magic user or god or goddess worshiper she’d ever met. Memories of spending hours and hours in the local community hall listening to the village elders lecturing about the evils of organized religion made her shudder.

  Trying to clear her mind of those unpleasant thoughts, she looked into the stores she was passing. The sparkles reflecting off her rhinestone-covered backpack sparkled in the bright sunlight like a deranged disco ball against the windows of Victoria's Secret. Her glue-gun-happy witch roommate, Chrissy, had gotten drunk one night and decorated the backpack with protective runes in pink and yellow rhinestones. It was horribly tacky, but Eliana didn't want to hurt Chrissy's feelings and scrape the jewels off. Besides, for all she knew, the runes actually did keep her safe. She just had to hide the backpack from her parents.

  Saying they were less than thrilled about Eliana having a witch roommate was the understatement of the week.

  Eliana shook her head and sighed. Her parents’ prejudices had kept her isolated from the rest of the world for most of her life, and she hated how close-minded they were. A dazzling display of sequenced bras in the window of the store to her left caught her eye. She snorted at the giant photos of size 0 models with DDD boobs pouting their way through life. Eliana had a Marilyn Monroe body in a culture obsessed with starving teenage models. It made her want to eat some chocolate.

  She checked her lip-gloss in the reflection of the window then turned to head down the street to the main campus.

  “Excuse me, miss,” said an old man in a zip-up sweater with patches on the elbows and crooked, yellow teeth. He placed a liver spotted hand on her arm to stop her on the busy sidewalk.

  “Can I help you?” A shiver raced over her skin and she casually shifted her backpack again in an excuse to remove his hand. It felt
cold and slightly moist on her arm. She took a step away, forcing him to release her.

  “Are you Mary Sharp?”

  “No, my name is Eliana.”

  His gaze intensified, darkened somehow, and unease began to speed her heart. He seemed like a harmless old man, but her feeling of disquiet grew and she took another step away from him with a barely disguised shudder of revulsion. He gave her a hurt look, and she immediately felt like a bitch. She was in the middle of downtown D.C. with a crowd around her. It wasn’t like an old man was going to assault her with a hundred people watching. He was just obviously confused and thought she was someone he knew. Yet even as she thought that the hair on the back of her neck stood up as goosebumps raced along her body.

  She moved back another step, not taking her eyes off him. He stunk; a mixture of urine and body odor wafted from his sweater. His thin lips curled back from his teeth in a bad parody of a smile and she blinked at how large they were, like he was wearing dentures three sizes too big for his mouth. Old man or not, he creeped her out.

  His hands flexed at his sides, the skeletal fingers curling like claws. “Oh, my apologies. You look like the daughter of a friend of mine. Such a pretty girl.”

  His smile was wide and friendly, but it didn't reach his eyes. They remained calculating and cold, like the look of a shark before it snatched its prey from the water and swallowed it whole. Panic sped her heart until it thundered in her ears and she glanced around them, hoping someone had noticed their exchange, but no one was paying them any attention. She tried to catch the gaze of a passing middle aged man, but he looked right through her like she wasn’t even there.

  Eliana took a deep breath in an effort to chase away her unease, then shook her head. “Um, nope, sorry that's not me. I have to go. Can't be late for class.”

  “Yes, we wouldn't want anything horrific to happen to someone as special as you.” The wide smile continued to stretch his wrinkled face, and it was definitely mocking now. He tapped a yellow-nailed finger against his temple with a knowing wink. “So young, so innocent, so naive. Bad things happen to little girls like you all the time.”

  Sharp and biting pain suddenly filled her head. It ached like the beginning of a migraine, but with more pressure. His words scared her, but what frightened her even more was the menace in his tone. It sounded as though he hated her. Loathed her even. She tried to think, to make her body move, to do something other than stand there like a statue, but she couldn’t do anything other than moan softly through lips that refused to respond.

  The man's voice cut through her thoughts. “You don't look well, young lady. Why don't you come with me, and we'll go get you some aspirin?”

  He held out his hand to her and she stared at it, her own hand lifting to his like she had no control over it. Yes, that seemed like a wonderful idea. This kind man would take her to get some aspirin, and everything would be all right.

  Aspirin? No, no aspirin, it makes me throw up, her mind managed to blurt out past the pain.

  “I have to go.”

  The words came out sluggish, as if her mouth was filled with cotton and the man shook his head. “Come with me, sweetheart. Come with me. Take my hand and come with me. Now.”

  The pressure in her head increased, and she trembled on the edge of passing out. In Victoria's Secret, a black magic alarm blared from the front door, and the ice pick of agony that was stabbing at her rapidly diminished. She retreated further from the old man, the use of her body rapidly returning to her. The alarm was probably just some stupid kids trying to shoplift with a curse they’d found on the Internet, but it helped break whatever weird hold the old guy had on her.

  The blinding pain faded to a memory, and Eliana took another step back, then another as the old man glared at her before bumping into an irritated woman in a business suit.

  With a frown the woman glared at Eliana. “Watch where you’re going.”

  “Sorry.”

  She turned to look back at the man and found she’d somehow made it at least a dozen steps away from him without even being aware of it. His face slipped back into the friendly smile so quickly she didn't know if she had imagined the fierce look.

  “Have a nice day.”

  The automatic response that had been drilled into her head since she was old enough to talk slipped out. She turned and walked as quickly as she could away from him, the icy feeling in her veins slipping away the further she got. A quick glance over her shoulder showed her the man still standing in the center of the sidewalk, talking into a cell phone, looking once again like someone’s beloved grandfather rather than the menacing figure of moments before. She rubbed the back of her neck, wondering what the heck was wrong with her.

  Guilt rounded her shoulders as she walked away. He’d offered her some aspirin, and she’d acted as if he’d tried to sell her crack—just an old man going for a walk, not a killer muskrat from outer space. Hopefully she hadn’t hurt his feelings too much.

  Taking a deep breath through her nose, she tried to clear the weirdness of the morning out of her mind. There were bigger things to worry about, like maintaining a grade point average that would keep her scholarships flowing.

  The sound of traffic faded as she entered the main campus of the university. Mature oak trees surrounded a large green space bordered by the brick student union and glass religious studies hall. She waved to a girl who lived on the same floor of her dorm as she crossed a small bridge leading to the modern glass-paneled building.

  Shouldering the heavy doors of the religious studies hall open against the wind, she shoved her giant backpack inside. It was her junior year, but this was the first time she had been inside the building. Despite her attempts to be open minded and accepting of everyone, she couldn’t help a sliver of unease as she entered the building. Being lectured all her life about how evil organized religion was, then walking into a building devoted to that worship to learn about it made her almost want to look over her shoulder to see if any of the village elders were watching. The punishment for practicing a religion in her community could be everything from a public shaming to being expelled. But she wasn’t bound by their willful ignorance any longer and she squared her shoulders as she entered the foyer.

  The impressive entranceway made her slow down and stare. In the center of the foyer sat a massive green marble fountain devoted to the Hindu goddess of knowledge, Saraswati. Students lounged around the wide base of the fountain talking and listening to their iPods before their next class started. The religious studies hall was one of the largest—and newest buildings on campus, and they were still finishing the underground spell-testing labs located four stories below ground. A wealthy Indian software developer had given most of the money for erecting this building as thanks to her patron goddess of knowledge.

  As she turned to look around the massive foyer she noticed a vast mural of unfamiliar gods and goddesses dominated one wall in shimmering glass tiles. It was beautifully rendered and she almost felt as if they were watching her as she slowly walked past it. Noting that she had a few minutes to blow before class started, she pulled a copy of her schedule out of her backpack and chose a seat on the edge of the fountain.

  10:20 Introduction to Modern Mythology PRF A. Klemenson PRF J. Ventan.

  “Professor Klem-en-son, K L E M E N S O N,” Eliana said softly.

  “I heard talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity,” an amused voice said from over her shoulder.

  She turned and saw her friend, Tracy, smiling at her while she flipped her auburn ponytail over her shoulder. Eliana grinned and stood up, giving the other girl a quick hug before sitting again. “I'm just making sure I get the professors' names right.”

  “Oh yeah. I remember the little incident in Professor Braf's class last year.” Tracy set her backpack on the edge of the fountain. “I don't think I've ever seen anyone as embarrassed as you were, other than Professor Braf.”

  With a groan, Eliana covered her face with the schedule th
en peeked over the top at her friend. “I swear I thought his name was Professor Barf.”

  Tracy giggled then watched a cute blond guy walk past before turning back and giving Eliana the once-over. “You're looking good, girl. Where did you get that amazing tan? Did you go somewhere this summer?” Tracy fanned herself with a southern belle sigh. “Someplace with guys that have abs so cut you can wash your panties on them?”

  She swatted at Tracy with her schedule. “Not even close. I spent the summer working for my parent’s landscaping company. My mom is half Greek and half African-American, so I get tan pretty quick. Unfortunately, the only abs I saw were on my sixty-year-old neighbor, and he has a set of man-boobs that put my chest to shame.”

  The sound of Tracy's laughter mixed with the tinkling sound of cascading water from the fountain. Looking at her watch, Tracy said, “I’ve gotta head off to class, I'm taking Advanced Runes and Charms with Professor Bherz. What do you have?”

  “Introduction to Modern Mythology.”

  Tracy frowned at Eliana. “That's a freshman class. Why aren't you taking the advanced magic classes?”

  “Yeah, well, my parents are atheists, so I'm totally behind on the whole gods thing.”

  She avoided looking at Tracy and studied the smiling face of a dark-skinned goddess in the mural before glancing back at her friend. Embarrassment heated Eliana’s cheeks as Tracy stared at her in shock. Great, here came the uncomfortable questions that everyone asked when they realized she’d been raised by atheists, and even worse, the way she went from being just another person to a freak.

  “Seriously? How did your parents manage to miss the religious revolution? How do you guys function without magic?”

  She fiddled with her schedule and wondered how many times she was going to have to have this conversation this semester. “Oh, we manage. I guess it's similar to the Amish living without electricity; if you never had it, you don't miss it.”