Everlasting Embrace (Embrace Series) (2 page)

“
Thanks Sophia.
I really didn
’
t know if I
’
d be able to talk him into it. I
’
m just glad he was able to listen to reason.
”


  

  


It
’
s been two month
s since I
Embraced
Nathanial
—
and nearly three months since my best f
riend Ebony lost her husband,
Matt. Christmas
passed
us by before we even knew it. I
n just a few
days,
it will be the New Year. I know many of the town
’
s people were hoping that we woul
d have another party this year
,
but we just don
’
t feel up to a party. So much has happened in the past yea
r
,
and not a lot of it worth celebrating. It
’
s still hard to bel
ieve how many people we
’
ve lost:
Ms. Edwina, Mr. and Mrs. McCord
—
and Matt. If it
weren
’
t
for Constance
E
mbracing
Ebony, we would
’
ve lost her too.

I have to say
though;
it hasn
’
t all been bad
—there
have be
en a few good points. Like
, through losing Ms. Edwina, Ebony and Eliza have le
arned to communicate with her and
their long deceased parents. Then
,
when Mr. and Mrs. McCord, Nathanial
’
s parents
,
died
,
Isaac was able to save Nik
,
their unborn baby.
Since
Mrs. McCord was bitten by a rogue vampire before she passed, the venom had the opportunity to infect her unborn child. We realized
,
almost instantly, that Nik is a day
walker:
half vampire
,
half-mortal
. Since Nik is a day
walker
, he has vampire strength and skills, but survives as a regular human. After the McCord
’
s died, Luke and Nate tried to decide what would be best for Nik. They came to the conclusion that it would be best for Luke to return to college and complete his degree in order to get a proper job to support their baby brother. Upon th
eir decision, I
Embraced
Nate, w
hich
allowed
him to join me for all eternity
—
and help
s
him to
care for Nik as a vampire role model. I
’
m not happy about him giving up his goals and dreams, but I couldn
’
t argue with him when it came to Nik
’
s best interests.

Matilda
immediately
noticed that Matt and Ebony
’
s little girl
,
Elyn
,
and Nathanial
’
s brother
,
Nik
,
are
soul mates
. With some of the visions Ebony was having
,
we
also
learned more about angels. We found out another close friend of ours is a supernatural too. Since then
,
we have been able to confide about our existence to him
—
to Ben. When we discovered t
hat he is
nephilim
—
part angel
,
part mortal
—
we knew he needed our help. A
nephilim
is born from an angel and a mortal
. T
hey receive their powers around their eighteenth birthday. We
’
ve been working with B
en since we found out about him
,
and about the angels that want to destroy him. They were able to get Mel
,
another
nephilim
—
a
nd Ebony
’
s Achilles
heel
—
before we could help her. I only hope that throws the other angels off Ben
’
s trail. I mean
,
what are the chances of two
nephilim
being in the same small town?

Now we are determin
ed to protect Ben and lead
him in the right direction. Unfortunately
,
we know very little about angels. Even though Matt, Ebony
’
s husband
,
was training to be a guardian
—
a
n angel of sorts
—
these angels are much different. Guardians are supernatural beings, here to help witches. They are good beings, but much different from God
’
s angels. I just hope we can find more information about them. I don
’
t understand why they are working so hard to destroy the
nephilim, rather
than train
ing
them to do good here on
Earth
.

Ever since we began to protect Ben, the Williams family, ou
r shifter friends
,
thought it might
be a great idea to start a school for supernaturals. Elijah is working on the legalities
,
and almost everything is finalized
.
H
e
’
s found a great supernatural contractor that has begun
to
work
on an extension to our house
. The school will be underground and hidden away from all, but he has added a small extension to the house above to help conceal it. The
Magnificent Ones
are working on spells that will also help conceal the whereabouts of our school from others, mortal and supernatural alike. I think this will be the best place to hide and to teach Ben. Ebony and Eliza have been using magick to track other supernaturals. We
’
ve also contacted various known groups. In regards to the school, it looks as if when we open we
’
ll have thirty or more students. We
’
ve already began preparing, purchasing books and equipment fo
r their regular studies as well
as for their magickal studies and physical training.


  

  


Back at the house, Nathanial and Ben are filling the others in on the angelic attack. When Ebony and I walk in the room
,
they all turn and await our news.

“
It
’
s good to see you girls. W
e were beginning to get concerned,
”
Florence admits.

“
It
’
s all thanks to Ebony. She convinced the angel to give Ben time to prove himself. He
’
s given not only Ben, but us
, six months to prove th
at the angel
’
s
secret will not be in
any
danger.
”

B
en breathes a sigh of relief.
“
W
ell
,
that is great news. But how
,
exactly
,
am I supposed to accomplish this?
”

“
I don
’
t know if there
’
s anything any of us can actually do. You just have to prove yourself
pure
of
heart, and we already know that you are. I don
’
t perceive any of this being a problem,
”
Ebony explains.

“
Elijah
,
is there any more news on when the school will be com
pleted?
I just think that will be the best place for Ben. The
angel
—
he called himself Martian
—
assured
us that he
and the others are
watching
;
and not just
Ben
,
but
the entire family
. W
e may have to work on getting the school set up a little faster than expected. I have to admit that concerns
me a little
,
with the babies around.
”

“
Sophia, we have faith in Ben
,
and we have to have faith that these angels will realize he means no harm. After all
,
they are dealing with vampires and witches
,
and
they
didn
’
t harm any of you. Let
’
s just take precautions
to remain safe
—
and prove that we can be of assistance to them
,
”
Florence suggests.

“
I agree with Florence
…we
need to be careful. H
e said they will be watching all of us. We already have the Cerberus and the d
emons to worry about
…
now angels. We need to find a way to work with them.
”
Ebony shows a hint of her stress.

“
Is there anything we can do to help speed along the opening of the school? I think things will be much better
once we can begin full training
,
and have the protective cover of the school,
”
I push a little more.

Elijah smiles at Florence, and I can see them both nodding in agreement. The
n
Florence ad
mits,
“
Well kids
; it
’
s
finished. A
ll we have left to do is decorate and stock it with supplies. Isaac and Constance are working to prepare enough of the synthetic b
lood to stock the entire school, s
o
that
we can make sure it
’
s accessible to those of our kind when they need it. Eliza
,
we will need to go shopping and get a full stock of magick supplies too.
”

“
Oh my God
!
I thought we were expecting to open in a few
months
;
n
ot right before spring
,
t
hat
’
s for sure,
”
I respond with exhilaration.

“
I
’
m so up for a shopping trip. I
’
ve already started placing some online orders and have a pretty good stock back at the Manor to bring over, but nothing beats making a trip
into Boston to the magick store.
”
Eliza
’
s excitement is evident.

“
Well maybe Ebony and I
can start decorating, while Nate and the boys move some furniture in. I believe I saw the f
urniture stored in the garage
—
considering
I can
’
t park my car there,
”
I joke.

“
That would be great, Sophia
. T
he sooner we get the school set up, the sooner
we can bring in the students.
We have a lot of things to set up
,
and there
’
s more furniture coming tomorrow. We already have most of the dorm rooms set up with beds and dressers. We still
need to set up the common rooms
,
an
d move any of our history
o
r research books
from our library to the school library. If we work hard, we should be able to have everything set up within the week,
”
Elijah encourages.