The Onyx Talisman
The Onyx Talisman
Book Three Talisman Series
by
Brenda Pandos
NOOK EDITION
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Published By
http://www.obsidianmtpublishing.com
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Text Copyright © 2011 by Brenda Pandos. All rights reserved.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond intend of the author.
No part of the book may be used or reproduced without written permission of the author.
For Kristie,
Because you believed in me
and pushed me to do my best.
For all my fans,
Because you loved my characters as much as I do
and wouldn’t let me off the hook.
O
ne life is all we have and we live it as we
believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you
are and to live without belief, that is a fate
more terrible than dying.
- Joan of Arc
Table of Contents
“I need some ore,” Phil said with a scrupulous grin behind his fanned out cards as his sexy dark eyes flirted directly with mine, framed in a perpetually perfect shock of sandy blonde hair. “Anyone got any?”
Three ore cards mocked me within my undisclosed hand, along with a few others. If I traded my ore—which I really didn’t need—he might win again. His smug aura told me he pretty much had this game in the bag; it was a matter of time.
“I’ll trade for a brick?” he asked, his sharp canines revealed in his smile. No one budged, though I sensed a few were tempted. “Two bricks?”
Katie caved first. “Okay. Here.”
Within moments of the trade, Phil switched out his city for a settlement, pleasure beaming from him like a strobe light.
“Nice,” Tyler said with a twisted grin.
“Pschtt!” I nudged Katie in the arm, pretending to be upset. “Why did you do that?”
“I need a brick and Phil’s sitting on a brick factory over there.” She pointed at the game board and blew aside her black bangs tinged with florescent pink highlights.
True.
Tyler’s turn was next. As I watched him palm the dice, my competitive side itched for Lady Luck to grace me this turn. Normally the rolls I needed came up all the time, but not in this particular board game of
Settlers of Catan
.
Scarlett sat off to the side, dark hair falling over her shoulders in glossy waves, and read her worn
Tales
by Edgar Allen Poe. The fact she enjoyed the stories as much as she did gave me the creeps. Her mind-reading abilities had ousted her from playing any games with us—not that she’d play anyway.
Tyler blew into his partially closed fist. “Come on, karma! Papa needs a new set of shoes.” He shot us a coy smile then winked at Katie.
I withheld my comment as Katie giggled and wove her fingers through his brown locks at the nape of his neck. If she got the karma she deserved, she’d lose every game. Quick as a flash, Katie grabbed his hand and kissed his fingers before he could fling the white cubes. The interruption discombobulated his throw, causing them to skitter across the table, and onto the floor. I peeked over Tyler’s knee and watched a die move of its own accord from a four to a five.
Scarlett coughed. Her icy-blue eyes peered at us momentarily over the binding of her book.
“You so cheat,” I accused Phil, who appeared bewildered.
“I didn’t do it.” Phil held up his hands—truth rolling off him in huge waves. “This is crap anyway.”
“That was
so
a four.” I pursed my lips and raised a brow as guilt billowed out of Katie like a hole in a balloon.
She snickered and waggled her eyebrows. “What?”
“Fine, it’s a four. No arguing.” Tyler pulled a face and finished his turn.
Katie’s turn was next. I crossed my fingers for something I could use.
“Eight,” she called out. While she traded out her cards and moved her pieces on the board, I playfully mad-dogged Phil. Our competitive sides quietly bantered with one another through our eyes. My turn was next. I only had one chance to finish him off. While feeling for the dice, I kept an eye on Phil when Katie’s shock and sudden elation sliced through my psyche.
Her squeal, followed by her inhumanly fast flit around the table, upset the board onto the floor. Annoyed, I pushed away from the table and moved over to the couch opposite Scarlett, away from Katie’s blatant display. Though she rarely won, I wouldn’t indulge her poor sportsmanship with any type of congratulations.
Phil came over and sat next to me—a little too close, actually. His wonderful natural scent filled my lungs and tempted me to bury my nose in his neck.
“Awww, don’t pout,” he whispered in his golden honey voice.
A huge part of me wanted to lean over and kiss him right then and there, but I knew his powers of persuasion were running at a high level. I fought the temptation and pulled out my
iPhone
instead, searching for a text from my missing boyfriend Nicholas—an obsession I couldn’t kick.
“I’m not,” I said defiantly. “If I would have gotten one more turn, I would have won. Katie was
lucky
.”
“I see.” He touched the tip of my nose then pointed to my touch-screen. “Anything exciting happening at Drama High?”
With a smirk, I put the phone away in my pocket. “No. Not today. But that reminds me. My Dad’s out of town this weekend and—”
“No,” Phil said quickly, flipping from sexy to cold in an instant. “Out of the question. We’ve already discussed the dangers as a group, not to mention I will not escort you to L.A. without your father’s knowledge. Not after what happened.”
His words sent tiny pinpricks of pain radiating across my chest. Every day I’d conspired a way to get Phil to take me to L.A to see Nicholas and every time he’d tell me no. All to his benefit, of course. Without Nicholas around, Phil got all my attention. I couldn’t complain. Alora had resurrected him from the pits of hell and he’d practically become a saint.
But what I did hate her for was the fact she’d awakened Nicholas’ vampire side by feeding him blood. She’d hoped, by turning him to the dark side, he’d retrieve her talisman from me so she could become invincible. The plan almost worked until Phil defected from her rule and saved me in the nick of time.
The horrific family reunion came to an end once Preston, Nicholas’ father and avenger of evil, came to the rescue and took his wayward wife and son back to L.A. with a promise to rehabilitate them. The only thing I’d received to even suggest he was on the mend was a letter stating he missed me and a reassurance he’d come home soon. That was a month ago.
The lyrics hid in my pocket, practically falling apart from all the times I’ve read them.
Down by the ocean tide
the still of the moonlight
Its come at the right time
The moment we caught eyes
The sun hits your eyelids
an hour too early
and your heart starts racing
too quick for the morning
Ill equipped
for pretty sights
we're just ships
passing in the night
Just say the words
and I'll be right over
I'll meet you
at your bedroom roof top
The porcelain doves
chime above the highway hum
serenade the setting sun
I’m caught in your balcony breeze
Turn around
the winter jasmine crowns are born
they're waiting for a head to adorn
a pretty little head like yours
a pretty little little head like yours.
Ill-equipped
for pretty sights
we're just ships
passing in the night
I’d continually looked for clues to what he was thinking when he wrote them. But all I could decipher was that separated ships never docked at the same time. Was that how he saw our relationship? Something that could never really be?
I curled my arms across my chest and huffed. His words promised he’d meet me on my bedroom rooftop. But when? Where was he?
“I can’t keep doing this day after day. I have to find out something,” I finally said with clenched teeth.
“I know.” Phil looked at me tenderly while he massaged my shoulder, infusing me with his stress-releasing charm. “Patience, my dear sweet Parker. Patience.”
I slid up against his chest. Whether I liked it or not, Phil did make me feel better. My spirit mended in his presence and I was beginning to need him—like a drug. I shut down my empathy and closed my eyes so I didn’t have to watch Katie and Tyler snuggled up together on the opposite couch as they started a movie. She of all people didn’t deserve the happiness wafting around us and lately my jealousy was getting the better of me. I didn’t want to be a love buzz-kill, but their blatant displays often rubbed raw the longing in my heart.
But, for some reason, I always returned to hang with the Fab Five. Sam, my supposed BFF, had all her free time sucked up with her boyfriend Todd. So, I had no choice but to melt into the coven’s regular routine where my melancholy mood was understood, for the most part. Phil and Katie were our sober vampires, Tyler and I were the inducted humans, and Scarlett was the token shape-shifting half-vampire den mother—a very motley group. After school, Tyler and I would hang out at Nicholas’ abandoned house where Phil and Katie hid during the daylight hours.
“Do you have homework?” Phil asked while petting my hair.
“Mostly studying for finals,” I murmured. “I also need to finish my history report.”
Phil scoffed. “So glad I never have to finish high school.”
I nudged him in the side. “Brat.”
After a few minutes and with much reluctance, I slid down onto the floor and opened my backpack. My report wasn’t going to write itself. Phil continued to try to distract me by playing with my hair, but he eventually succumbed to the movie.
I started to read about Betsy Ross, the subject of my report, but my mind drifted. The group didn’t know, but I’d devised a new plan to see Nicholas. Sam and I were going to Disneyland for a few days as soon as school was out for summer. She’d scored tickets from her aunt and during the trip, somehow, someway, I’d get to Preston’s house and see Nicholas in person. I had to.