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Authors: Jessa L. Gilbert

Origins (A Black Novel, #1) (8 page)

BOOK: Origins (A Black Novel, #1)
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“So, if you can age then why does your mom still look 25?” she cuts in.

I look up abruptly and regard her seriously for a few minutes before lowering my eyes and replying lowly, “A Born Immortal will stop aging when they consume the life force of a human for the first time.”

“Life force?” she questions dumbly. “You mean….Oh.
OH,”
she falters as understanding dawns on her.

My eyes remain locked on the floor as I reply, “Yes, life force, as in killing a human by blood consumption. We take their essence, their life, which allows us to become stronger and survive longer without blood but it also takes away our ‘humanity’.” Why, why, did she have to ask that question?

“How old were you?” she asks quietly, so quietly that if I had been human I wouldn’t have heard her.

Despite knowing that I can choose to not answer, knowing that she is giving me a way out, I shift uncomfortably and swallow loudly. For some reason, I want her to know. My eyes flick to her face quickly before focusing again on the floor. “I was 19…..the first time.”


The first time?!
How many times have you….Wait. No, don’t answer that. Please. I don’t want to know.” Slowly I raise my eyes to hers, my head still tilted slightly downward and I can just barely make out her features through my eyelashes.

My voice is husky when I speak next, all traces of my usual humor gone. “More times than I can count.”

My eyes search her face, slow and lingering, before I lean in close to whisper, “You’ll have to do it too- kill- if you want to maintain the change. It’s the only way.” I don’t know why but I want her to hate me, I want her to run screaming away and never look back. My voice is low, dangerous, as I continue, “I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking that you’ll never do it. You’ll never kill. But are you sure? Do you really want to give up the chance of becoming Immortal? How about never getting to see your mother again? Is she worth killing for? She did it for you.”

“Why are you telling me this?” she asks, her jaw clenched in anger.

“Because, you have a choice to make, a very difficult choice, and I believe that in order to make a choice you need to know all the facts; the good….and the bad. The choice is yours alone to make.

You need to decide what you want more, what you’re willing to give up. Would you rather retain your morals and stay human, live your life unchanged with your father…..Or, would you give it all up and, with it, your humanity- your innocence- to become Immortal? You would be able to stay with your mother, find out who you were meant to be…..Who you were born to become.” I splay my hands before me, as if I am physically weighing her options in my hands, before dropping them to rest immobile in my lap.

“So,” she says, swallowing noisily, “what’s the good side to being Immortal?”

“That is not something I can tell you.”

“Then, why did you—”

“I can show you, if you’re up for it?”

“What do I have to do?” she questions cautiously.

“Trust me,” I reply simply before standing up and offering her my hand, patiently waiting for her to decide.

I can see a silent battle raging in her eyes. Part of me hopes that she will trust me, that she isn’t afraid, but a larger part, deep down, hopes that she will see me for what I am and make the decision to distance herself from me. The right decision?

After several minutes she stands and silently places her hand in mine and I can’t help but feel pleased.

Chapter Nine

V
raiden leads me down the hall, my hand gently clasped in his warm embrace. He stops outside one of the many doorways.

“Stay here,” he says, giving my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go and knocking quickly on the door.

“Yes?” Moira calls from the other side.

Vraiden pushes open the door and steps into the entranceway.

“Mother, Sera,” he starts, nodding to each of them in. “If it’s acceptable I would like to take Adelin home tonight. I have a few things I would like to show her.”

Sera’s mouth springs open, a look of alarm evident on her face.

“Absolutely no----”

“That would be fine, Vraiden,” Moira cuts in, silencing Sera with a sharp look. “Do try to behave yourselves though.”

“Yes, mother. Sera, don’t worry, I promise nothing will happen to Adelin tonight,” Vraiden interjects smoothly before shutting the door and grabbing my hand once more. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” I ask confused as he begins towing me outside. We stop beside an oversized black jeep. He opens the passenger side door and proceeds to help me in, even going so far as to buckle my seat belt for me.

“No more questions,” he says after he climbs in and starts the engine. “Just trust me. I promised nothing would happen to you and I take my promises very seriously.”

The drive is short, filled with silence, and before long we stop near a darkened tree line. As I climb out I can make out the sounds of the ocean crashing against the rocky shoreline but the sound is distant enough I can’t make out how close we are to the actual water.

Vraiden takes off immediately, stopping just on the outskirts of the thicket of trees and turns back to face me. “Are you coming or not?” he asks, eyebrows raised, a wicked grin accentuating his handsome face. He spins and saunters off into the woods without waiting for any acknowledgement from me, leaving me with no choice but to follow.

“Wait!” I yell as I stumble after him. I stop fifteen feet into the tree line, my feet throbbing. Hobbling over to the nearest tree I lean back into it and close my eyes briefly. When I look up I notice Vraiden lounging against a tree a little ways in front of me, watching me with an amused expression.

“What?! Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk through the woods in a dress
and
heels?!”

“So take them off…..”

“What?” I question him, confused.

“Well, not the dress obviously….unless you want to. I won’t object,” he smirks. “The shoes. Take off your shoes.”

“I’m not going to walk through the woods barefoot.”

“Why not?” He walks over towards me, his expression playful. “It’s not like you’re going to get tetanus. Take off your shoes,” he demands gently as he stops in front of me.

“Uh-uh,” I reply, unable to make an intelligent statement with him this close. I shake my head for added emphasis.

“Fine,” he responds as he kneels down in front of me, shocking me mute.

Looking up at me through his thick golden lashes, his bright blue eyes twinkling, he slowly reaches out a hand towards my leg. His hand is warm on my skin as he gentle grips my ankle and props my foot on his bent knee, his eyes never once wavering from mine. My breath catches in my throat as his hand slides from my ankle up my leg, the warmth and smoothness of his skin making me shiver. He pauses halfway to my knee, his hand gently clasping the back of my calf and simultaneously brings his other hand up to grip the bottom my shoe. A small smile curves the corners of his lips upward as he tugs my shoe off and sets my foot gently on the ground before patting his knee in encouragement. “Now, give me your other foot,” his voice comes out slightly husky, making my heart thunder in my chest.

I hesitate, dumbfounded, before conceding and slowly lift my left foot to rest on his knee. Dizzy from holding my breath, I reach out a hand to steady myself, blushing when I realize I’ve put my hand on his shoulder. My eyes quickly flit back to his as his hand begins to slide from my ankle to my knee. His hand moves slower this time, the gesture seeming worn out, exaggerated.

His eyes are no longer their characteristic bright blue but a dark, smoldering blue the shade of the ocean in the middle of the night.

Lost in the depths of his gaze, I’m no longer paying attention to what he’s doing and don’t even notice he has removed my shoe until he sets my foot back on the ground and stands up, disrupting my line of sight.

“See?” He dangles my shoes in front of my face. “You don’t need these.”

I am too distracted to speak as I remember the feel of his skin on mine; the smoothness, the heat. The lingering warmth of his hands slowly begins to dissipate, causing me to ache from the loss of it.

“Come on,” he says, looping one hand through the toe straps on my heels and using the other to ease my hold off his shoulder. Taking a moment to twine his fingers with mine, he gives me a gentle tug, urging me to follow him as he begins walking.

I am hyperaware of Vraiden’s hand wrapped endearingly around mine as he leads me through the woods, the warmth of his embrace making it increasingly more difficult to concentrate on my foot placement. Every time I stumble he slows our pace so I can regain my footing, eyeing me as he does so with a look of barely contained amusement. I’m not sure if he finds my clumsiness funny or if he has figured out the reason behind it. Most likely it is a combination of the two. I feel as though the flush in my cheeks will remain permanent and I am grateful that I can’t see just how red I actually look.
The arrogant bastard is probably used to women tripping over
their own feet when he’s around
.

I stop completely the next time I trip and scowl angrily at him when his eyes meet mine. “What’s so funny?” I snap, causing him to chuckle.

“Isn’t it obvious?” he smirks.

Ooh, he’s so infuriating!
Sensing what I am trying to do he tightens his grip just enough so I can’t break free as I try to pull away from him and laughs outright at my glare. “I don’t need your help. I know how to walk,” I spit icily.

“Could’ve fooled me,” he teases, grinning crookedly.

“Maybe you should walk slower,” I retort.

“Maybe you should pay more attention to where you’re walking and less attention to the…….view.” He suggests with a sly wink.

I narrow my eyes. “Sorry. It’s kind of hard to concentrate when I’m traipsing around barefoot in the woods, in a dress, with a strange guy in the middle of the night!”

Vraiden regards me silently for a moment before quickly closing the space between us, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he raises his eyebrows. “I could carry you,” he offers, his voice low, suggestive.

His comment catches me off guard, causing me to inhale sharply. He grins slowly in response before gently tugging on my hand. “Come on. We’re almost there.”

After a few more minutes of walking Vraiden stops abruptly in front of me, chuckling softly when I stumble into him before he turns towards me. “This is it,” he announces, a hint of pride in his voice.

I take a step around him to get a better view of our surroundings only to have disappointment course through me as I glance around.


This
is it?” I ask incredulously. My eyebrows shoot upward in speculation. “This is what I had to hike through the woods,
barefoot
, for? Seriously? Wait……you didn’t bring me out here to kill me did you?” I add as an afterthought.

“Believe me when I say there is no way I would have sat through all your stumbling and bickering so I could bring you here to kill you. If that’s what I had in mind I would’ve saved myself the headache and done it back at the jeep. Now, hurry up,” he says with a grin as he tows me further into the clearing in front of us.

I had expected something special but the little semi-secluded area in front of us is nothing but a medium sized circle of dirt and half-dead grass surrounded by tall trees. The most interesting piece of scenery is a dead log lying off to one side, close to five feet in length, which Vraiden is currently directing us towards. As we tromp across the foliage I notice a few dandelions and other wildflowers scattered about mixing in with the dead leaves and broken branches, giving our surroundings random splotches of color in the otherwise barren landscape.

He pauses when we reach the log and gestures for me to sit before doing so himself. “Well?” I ask expectantly. “What’s so special about this particular spot that we had to come all the way out here to talk?”

“We’re alone for one thing, nobody to hear us or interrupt….”he trails off with a sly wink, making my heart speed up noticeably.

Surely he’s not implying what it sounds like he is, right?
“Actually, I brought you all the way out here because if our parents knew what we were about to do they would freak out.”

“Oh? And what are we going to do?” I ask bravely over the erratic pounding of my heart.

“You,” he replies slowly, captivating me with his tantalizing blue eyes, “are going to taste my blood.”


What?!
Uh-uh. No way!” I exclaim, frantically shaking my head for extra emphasis. “Are you out of you damned mind?! That’s disgusting and, besides, I haven’t even decided yet if I want to be Immortal.”

“Calm down. Drinking my blood won’t make you Immortal, but it will give you a preview of what being Immortal will be like. Plus, it’s not nearly as gross as you think.”

“I seriously doubt that and how do I know you’re not just saying that so you can turn me?”

“Trust,” he states simply.

“Yeah, and look where that’s gotten me so far…I’m stuck in the middle of the woods with some random weirdo who wants me to drink his blood! No thanks, I’ll pass,” I scoff.

“Adelin,” he says as he places his warm hand gently over mine. “I promise nothing will happen to you and you will not become Immortal if you drink my blood. It will not hurt you. It’s a way, the only way, for you to see what being an Immortal is like. Drinking my blood will take your already heightened senses and strengthen then, make them equal to my own. Think of it as a test drive. If you truly want to make an educated decision then this is the only way to know for sure. I don’t want you to give up the idea of becoming Immortal because of what I, or anyone else, says. I want you to have the chance to actually experience the best part. The least you could do is take a moment to think about it before you freak out and turn me down.”

We sit in silence for several minutes, him starting at me, scrutinizing my profile as I gaze out across the clearing in thought. Either this Immortal thing is all made up and the worst that would happen would be a really bad taste in my mouth, or he’s telling the truth.

BOOK: Origins (A Black Novel, #1)
9.95Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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