Arielle Immortal Journey (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 5) (2 page)

“I love you, Arielle, please don’t worry.”

Arielle reached up and cupped his face with both hands. She
pulled him down to her for a searing kiss. His arms locked about her and he drew her flush against him. She moaned softly, and the kiss grew more demanding. Sebastian finally lifted his head reluctantly and hauled in a deep breath.

“Lets' go home, baby,” he whispered against her lips. “We don’t want to make a scene in front of the stable boys, do we now?”

Her eyes lit up with excitement. She nodded in agreement, a
wide
smile spreading across her face. She took a quick look around.
Several
young men were moving about the grounds, but nobody was
looking their way.

She grinned and, standing on her tippy toes, pressed another quick kiss on his lips. “Nobody is looking,” she said, and pulled out of his arms.

He nodded in agreement and reached out to clasp her hand. “Let’s go,” he said softly, and pulled her towards the car.

On the way home he held her hand as she whined about having to go to school without him.

“It’s only for this week, love,” he said, clearly happy that she
was missing him.

She humphed and mumbled something inaudible. He glanced at her and their gaze locked. “I’ll try to survive without you,” she said gloomily, wondering what he was thinking.

Sebastian’s happy laughter was contagious. Arielle had to admit that it had been a wonderful afternoon.

When Sebastian and Troy couldn’t go to class, Arielle rode with Gabby. The two of them spent lunchtime pouring over books at the
cafeteria pavilion with their friends. She visited the library with
Gabby and Eva sometimes to research information for their classes. Arielle
used the time alone with her best friends to talk about her visit to
Olivia’s house. She told them about Colt and Olivia. They looked
stunned. They sat close to each other and discussed the secret society and all that she had learned from Olivia.

“Are you going to one of the meetings with her?” Gabby asked, her eyes full of interest. Arielle struggled hard to keep a straight face seeing the eagerness in Gabby’s eyes.

Before she had a chance to open her mouth, she heard Eva reply briskly, “Of course she will. She has to learn how to use the spells in the book, it’s very important, right, Arielle?”

“Yes, I have agreed to attend the next meeting with Olivia, and
I’m quite excited about it,” she said glancing between Gabby and
Eva.

“Well, there you are!” Eva said excitingly.

“Is that the little black book with spells and magic?” Gabby asked.

“None other,” Eva said, staring at Gabby. “I remember how eager you were to find out about my books and spells back in
secondary
school. Do you remember that?” Eva asked and smiled. Arielle
thought that she must be reliving memories of her best friend’s curiosity about magic.

Gabby frowned. She didn’t look happy about this at all. Arielle saw a sudden mental image of Marcus flash in Gabrielle's mind and felt her fear. Her friend's lips trembled. It was one of those moments that Arielle wished she could not read the minds of some people.

“What’s got you all upset?” Eva asked, gazing at Gabby.

“I— I don’t know,” she said looking down at her hands. “The
thing is, I seem to remember the bad outcome of practicing spells, and it just gives me the creeps.”

“Gabby, this book has everything to do with protecting Arielle from that crazy immortal who is trying to kill her,” Eva said. There was a lengthy pause.

Gabby looked over at Arielle and said worryingly, “Fine, but I don’t want you to do anything that might put you in danger.”

“I’ll be all right,” said Arielle with a soft smile. She reached over and gave Gabrielle a warm hug. She knew that Gabby was worried about her, and so was Eva. She loved them both so much. She looked down at her watch and realized that they had been there for a while. She stood up, closed the book in front of her, and chuckled softly. “Well, we didn’t get much done today.”

“We sure didn’t,” Gabby said. “Troy will be home soon, and I want to be there, if you know what I mean.” She muffled a chuckle.

“We know exactly what you mean,” Eva insinuated looking at Arielle to share her amusement. They picked up their books, put
them in their book bags, and walked out quietly. The weather had turned cloudy and it looked like rain. A cool breeze blew across their faces and they looked at each other with blissful smiles.

“I guess I’ll go find Ian, so we can go home.” Eva said as she started to walk toward the exit.

“Where is he?” Arielle asked.

“When I go to the library to do my research, he attends a
discussion forum once a week with other medical students,” Eva replied.

“Oh! That sounds really interesting, I didn’t know he was doing that,” Arielle said. Turning her attention to Gabby, she asked, “Why don’t you go with Ian? I thought you guys took the same classes?”

“I really don’t have any interest in the forum discussions,” she said, holding a soft smile. “I like to interact with Troy rather than the other students.” She remained quiet while Arielle and Eva watched her carefully, and she finally broke out into hearty laughter. The three of them laughed wholeheartedly. It was an addicting laughter
that brought tears to the eyes of Arielle and Gabrielle. When they
finally stopped, Eva was watching them with a wretched look on her face. She reached over and ran her fingers across Gabby and Arielle faces, dabbing the tears on their cheeks.

“Thanks to my immortality, I’ll never be able to do this again,” she said softly, looking despondent. “I used to enjoy a good cry now
and then,” she murmured with a slightly choked voice. Arielle and
Gabby gave her a warm hug, letting her know that they felt her pain.

Arielle was elated that she didn’t cross paths with Allworth
during the next four days. Sebastian was coming to class on Monday, and she was looking forward to that meeting. The week ended with no major issues, and they girls happily welcomed the weekend.

Friday and Saturday evening, they watched a couple of new films, visited some new restaurants, and stopped at their favorite
nightclub to enjoy the music. Sebastian and Arielle took their long walks on the beach, holding hands and discussing plans for the future. She was so in love with this stunningly beautiful man that each and every time they were together she prayed for time to stop.

On Sunday morning, Sebastian was meeting Troy at the country club to play golf. He left the bed early but not before making sure his beautiful girl was happy and sated. Arielle went back to sleep, and didn’t wake up until noon. She got out of bed slowly and after taking a warm leisurely shower, she took time to enjoy a light breakfast.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so she decided to traipse through
her
private haven: the garden. She put on a light jacket before walking
outside. A light breeze brushed across her face and her lips curved
up
blissfully. She took a deep breath, filling her nostrils with the salty
scent of the ocean. Every nerve in her body thrummed with joy. She took a seat under her favorite English oak and, placing her journal on her lap, she let the pen glide over the empty pages.

September 30th

Hello once again my silent friend. There is so much going on in my head, and in my life, that I wanted to sit down and put my thoughts on your pages before I start forgetting some of the important things. It seems that my palette is never blank. There is always something lurking around the corner.

Gabrielle came out of the hospital and moved back with her parents. Troy was quite unhappy because he wanted her at home with him. He acted like a spoiled child. Gabrielle needed help due to her injuries, and her mother was the best choice until Gabby could do things for herself.

Ian and Eva came back from their recuperating, or should I say life-
altering,
holiday in Italy. I nearly died when I saw them walk off the plane. They
looked stunning: flawless features, amazing bodies, and seamless
walks. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from them. On the outside, they are
different from the old
Eva and Ian. However, I know that inside nothing has changed; they are
exactly the same two people that I adore. I know that it will take time to get used to their immortal looks, but I’m willing to wait. I often wonder how long it will take for our lives to get back to normal following the horrible accident.

Colt Allworth is our new chemistry professor. I was quite concerned about him because of his weird reaction to the amulet on my necklace, but as it turns out he is a close acquaintance of Olivia Dillon and a member of Olivia’s secret society. He is very familiar with the list that holds the names of the true keepers of such important things as the amulet and the little black books. My name wasn’t on that list, and it gave him great concern as
to how I acquired it. He now knows that it was a gift from Olivia and we
have a friendly understanding.

And, oh…my…gosh… I can’t forget to tell you about Annabel. She
showed up at my campus parking lot on a day that Sebastian didn’t attend classes with me. Eva was with me, and the moment their eyes locked, I thought the earth’s axis tilted. Eva was furious. She had sworn to make Annabel pay for
trying to kill us at St. Jean. I was happy that most of the students had left
the parking lot because I knew it was going to be bad, and it was. Annabel was caught by surprise, unable to understand the changes in Eva’s powers. It was a bloody fight that left me dumbstruck, and Annabel horrified. She was a bloody mess when she left. Eva prevailed, and Annabel was lucky to be alive. We knew that she would heal in a short time, so Eva was ready for her, but she didn’t come back. I hate living with the fear of her showing up unexpectedly and trying to kill me, but I accepted the burden when I fell in love with Sebastian.

Arielle closed the journal. She let her eyes wander across the
ocean
as she sat in silence. She stood up slowly and started to walk back toward the house. She enjoyed each step she took in her private
utopia. The splendor of the garden took her breath away. The fragrance of the winter flowers soothed her senses, and she smiled wide. Once inside, she picked up her mobile and rang Gabrielle and Eva to make
plans for the afternoon. The guys would be late coming back from golf. There was no reason for the girls to wait around, Arielle thought.

Chapter 2

ON MONDAY MORNING,
Sebastian and Arielle walked into Allworth’s class not knowing what to expect. The professor was
sitting at his desk
waiting for everyone to take a seat. His eyes met Arielle’s and he
gave her a meaningful look followed by a brief smile. She smiled back. He immediately averted his gaze back to the papers on his desk.

It turned out to be an enjoyable lecture. At the end of the hour, everyone gathered their books and headed to the exit.

“Just a moment, Arielle,” Allworth called. “Before you go, I’d like to have a word with you and Sebastian.”

Arielle turned to face him, holding Sebastian’s hand. They
waved
at Troy and Gabrielle, and waited until everyone had left the
auditorium.
When the door closed behind the last exiting student, Allworth
stepped
down from the platform and, smiling wide, he extended his hand to
Sebastian.

“Hello, Sebastian,” he said cheerfully. “I had a long talk with
your mother a few nights ago, and I daresay that I was astounded, but delighted, to hear all the details about you and Arielle.” They carried
on a short conversation, Allworth doing most of the talking while
Sebastian listened. There was a kind of awe in Allworth’s eyes as he examined Sebastian’s face, which didn’t escape Arielle. Her mind raced.
Why is he looking at Sebastian like that? Doesn’t he know about his immortality?
She wasn’t sure why the thought unsettled her.

She was still lost in her thoughts when Allworth’s voice snapped her out of her daydream. “How are you, Arielle?” he asked quietly.

“Fine,” she replied mildly.

“First, let me say that I’m extremely pleased to find out that the
rightful owner of the amulet has given it you,” he said excitedly. “I also understand that you don’t quite know the enormous powers that are bestowed upon you while wearing that amulet,” Allworth said flatly.

Arielle sighed audibly. She knew that she had absolutely no idea about the powers of the amulet.