Eternal Island (Book 1 in the Eternal Series) (36 page)

Ten minutes later Ariana opened the clinic door to find at least forty people in the front lobby. The Shaman walked up to her. “They said they will only see you. The patient rooms are full, too.”

“Great. Looks like another busy afternoon. How did all these people live before I got here?”

“You know what Abe said, Ariana.” Becky took her appointment book out. “I’ll find out what each of them needs and schedule them if they’re not emergencies.”

“Have a nice afternoon, He Who Heals.”

“Thank you. You, too. Oh, and you can call me Bill.”

Ariana smiled. “Thanks, Bill.”

Within seconds, Becky had put a sign on the door that read, NOT TAKING ANY MORE PATIENTS TONIGHT, UNLESS IT’S AN EMERGENCY! CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT!, along with the flyer she’d made earlier.

The appointment book was almost full by the time Ariana had finished with her last patient, two minutes before the sun went down.

She didn’t want Abe barging in here, ready to throw people out, so she texted him to say they were on their way back.

C
HAPTER 54

When she pulled in garage number three, Abe was leaning against his Hummer as if he were about to leave when he got her text. It made her smile. He opened the door for her and offered her his hand.

“You okay to go for a walk tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Becky took care of the appointments. I told you we had it organized. Are we going to the cave?”

“See you in the morning, girl,” Becky said, already most of the way to the elevator.

“Good night, Becky.”

Abe took something out of his back pocket and a light came on. “I had to steal it from Ryan in maintenance. You drowned mine. It’s alright. If you’re up to it, we can run to town later and buy him a new one.” He looked at the one he was holding. “It looks as though he might need a new one, anyway. Come on, let’s go. There’s a door that leads to the gardens over here.”

When they got to the door, he bent down and picked a big black duffle bag off the floor.

“What’s in the bag?”

He grinned. “You’ll see. How long has it been since you ate?”

“Um, Becky got us something just before we went to work. I didn’t have time for a break after that.”

Abe rolled his eyes. “We are definitely putting a clinic here, in the palace, for you. And you will take regular, scheduled breaks, just like everyone else on the island. You might consider yourself their equal, but you damn sure aren’t going to be beneath them. I’ll get the medical stuff ordered for you and you can set it up how you like. Make me a list of anything special you need. You can still work for “He Who Doesn’t Know What He’s Doing” if you’re too kind to put him out of business, but you will be working from the palace, not the clinic. I’m not trying to tell you what to do – I know you don’t like that since you’ve shouted it at me in the elevator – but you are going to wear your immune system down and get sick, and we both know you can’t use your magic on yourself, don’t we?”

“If that’s what you want, Abe.”

“Is it what you want, Ariana?” He had stopped and was looking at her searchingly.

“I don’t care where I work, as long as I get to help people. You won’t let me go off the island to heal, so…”

“That’s not negotiable, but this is. I just want you to be safe and healthy.”

“And you want me where you can stop in anytime you want and aggravate me, huh?”

“That, too. I might even need some healing occasionally; my heart’s been aching a lot lately.”

They both laughed as they walked in the cave. Abe turned the flashlight on and handed it to her. He started walking again and suddenly the whole cave lit up before him.

“What the…” He turned quickly and looked at Ariana who had her hand out, a globe of blinding light resting in it. She smiled as she handed the flashlight back to him.

“You really come in handy, you know?”

She giggled. “I know.”

The cave was magnificent. Long pillars rose all the way up to the ceiling. The pool of water Ariana had almost fallen in the other night was actually a beautiful stream that lead to the pond outside. The cave walls glistened, multicoloured light bouncing off shiny rocks embedded in their surface.

“What are the shiny stones in the wall?”

Abe smiled. “What do you think they are?”

She covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. “Diamonds?”

“They are not diamonds. They are some type of jewel; I’m not sure what, though. It might be one that hasn’t been discovered yet. We could chisel some out and have some jewelry made for you, if you want.”

“Definitely.”

He still hadn’t said what they were going to look at and she assumed it wasn’t this beautiful antechamber, since he hadn’t stopped walking yet. It would be highly unlikely that he would answer her questions outright, so Ariana decided to open her mind to his briefly, to see if she could get a clue.

“I’m not telling you, Ariana, I’m not telling you, Ariana, I’m not telling you, Ariana…”

So much for that. Not even her magic could breach his walls tonight. She just hoped she didn’t faint from the surprise.

“How much further?”

“Not long. Are you tired? Do you want me to carry you?”

“No, I’m fine, I was just wondering.”

“Here we are,” Abe said as he stepped aside.

They had walked into an open space that had a huge stone table with at least twenty stone chairs lined up around it. There were six open passageways in the walls of the room. Unusual objects hung from the high ceiling – people must have used those for lighting.

“We weren’t the first ones here,” Abe explained, “but there was no one here when our kind came. We don’t know what happened to them. There are no skeletons, nor anything that resembled food or cups, or any other possessions. It’s empty. The rooms back there,” he pointed to the passageways, “have flat stones, raised off the ground, that resemble beds. But again, no sign of blankets or bedding material. It’s like whoever lived here packed their bags and left. There is writing of some nature carved in the walls everywhere. I’ve been all around the world and I’ve never seen it anywhere else.”

“Well, this isn’t any stranger than witches and vampires being real. Maybe they were aliens that just went back home.”

“Maybe.” Abe laid the big duffle bag on the table, unzipped it, and started pulling out the contents. “Few people on the island know of this place. I’ve never brought anyone here. I wanted you to be the first.” He stopped and framed her face with his hands. “I want to make love with you here, Ariana. This place is special to me, for some reason. I want you to be part of it, because you’re special to me, too.”

Ariana sensed a chill to the room, like a presence watching them. She opened her mind, allowing muted sounds to break through. Abruptly, her head was filled with voices, angry voices.

Her eyes grew wide. “Abe… I think we should go; they don’t want us here.”

Abe laughed at first, but then he seemed to really see her face. “Ariana, what’s wrong? What do you hear?”

“A lot of angry voices. They aren’t speaking English or Spanish – that’s all I learned in school – but whatever they’re saying is not good.”

Abe used his vampire speed to whip everything back into the duffle bag. He picked her up, too, and bolted out of the cave.

“How about out here, anything?” He’d stopped by the edge of the pond.

Ariana was breathless; the voices had scared her out of her skin. She opened her mind again, and there was nothing but the regular thoughts from those on the island.

“No, no. Here’s fine.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“You didn’t know. It’s okay, but I think that cave is bad news and doesn’t need to be disturbed. Those people were so mad, and there were so many of them… I wonder what happened. Maybe I can send them all where they need to go; they may be trapped there.”

“You’re not going in there unless I’m with you, okay?”

She rolled her eyes and he smiled while unzipping the duffle and taking out the contents. He spread out a king-sized blanket on the grass, and threw two pillows to one end of it. Next, he took out silverware and candles, put them in place in the middle, and took a lighter out of his pocket. Ariana whispered fire and lit the candles before he got to them. Abe glanced at her, returned to the duffle and took out a plate and a to-go box.

“I can eat out of the box, I don’t need fine china.”

Abe held up his hand and brought his finger and thumb together, telling her to be quiet and let him treat her right.

She laughed. “Okay, I’ll let you do this. Me and my magic have stopped interfering. I don’t want to ruin the perfect night you’ve planned.”

He nodded and smiled, and then transferred the food from the box to the plate.

“I made it myself. I haven’t cooked for anyone in a decade or so, so I brought some chips and a sandwich, too, as back-up, in case it’s really bad.” He reached in the duffle and pulled out two Michelob Ultras. “Your choice of drink, Milady.”

“What did I tell you about the ‘My Lady’ crap?”

“It isn’t crap. You are My Lady… and you were evidently born of noble or gentle birth. It’s obvious God has gifted you. Milady should be the least anyone should call you. I would actually choose Goddess.” He smiled, then motioned toward the food. “Eat. I brought a six pack, in case you want to get drunk and take advantage of me.”

Ariana laughed. “I think you may have that backwards.”

“Maybe I do. Either way, you can take advantage of me.”

“Maybe I will. Going for a swim after I eat wouldn’t be out of the question, either.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” Abe rummaged through the duffle once more and pulled out a black bikini.

She laughed a hearty laugh. “You did think of everything, didn’t you?”

“Well, you did say I should find something to do. When you don’t have anything to do for six hours, but worry, and the person you’re worrying about won’t answer her phone…”

“My phone was answered!”

“By Becky. I wanted to hear your voice.”

“Okay, I will answer it from now on, as long as you don’t call every thirty minutes, like you did today. I think Becky set the schedule so I only have two patients an hour, so I should be able to find five minutes to talk to you.”

“Every hour?”

“If you insist.”

“How long does each patient take? You think you can manage ten-minute breaks, or even longer?”

“Abe!”

“I was just thinking. Sorry… Not my fault I can’t get enough of you.” Abe picked up the silver fork and scooped up some of the potatoes he’d made. “Come on, eat, and then we will swim.”

Ariana opened her mouth and let him feed her.

“Ummm.” The cheesy spiced potatoes melted in her mouth. “Abe, this is really good.”

“I was a chef for a little while, in Italy. I know how to cook; I just don’t do it that often. I miss cooking for people. Maybe being with you will rekindle my hobby.”

“You were a chef?” Ariana laughed. “You’re full of surprises, Abe, I have to say.”

He cut the steak and Ariana’s mouth watered before he even put it in her mouth, knowing how tender it would be.

“When were you in Italy? You said you became king a hundred and forty years ago. That must have been before electricity was even invented, right?”

“Yes, by a few years. 1879 – electricity was invented. I met Thomas Edison a couple of times; he was one weird cookie. Think he may have shocked himself a few times,” he said and chuckled lightly.

“So, how…”

“I left here about forty years ago and returned ten years later. I got tired of the island, well… of the life here, anyway. I was bored and contemplating ending my life. There didn’t seem to be anything worth living for. Max told me to leave for a while. He took care of everything while I was away. I had to leave Italy after about ten years. Either that or get some gray hair color, to make it look as though I were aging.”

“And when you showed back up here Max just handed it all back?”

“He didn’t have a choice. It’s the law. I was still King while I was away, he was just doing all the work. I will be High Vampire of Eternal Island until I get killed or choose to die. If someone kills me, the island’s people will vote in a new High Vampire.”

Abe kissed her softly. “I’m glad I went to Italy, or I may never had had the chance to meet you. I guess Max was good for something, after all.

“Everything happens for a reason.”

He stood up and picked her up from the blanket. “Yes, it does.”

Then he ran and jumped in the water with Ariana in his arms, fully clothed.

C
HAPTER 55

Ariana woke up in Abe’s arms. He was carrying her through the palace rather quickly.

“I could have walked.”

“There wasn’t time, and I wasn’t going to leave you there alone – lions, tigers and bears, remember?”

“There wasn’t time for what? Walking?”

“I fell asleep, too, and woke to the sky getting brighter. That wouldn’t have been so good for me. I think we made it with about two minutes to spare, that’s all.”

“What time is it? And what time am I leaving?” Ariana asked between yawns.

“The sun rises about five thirty this time of year and I think you’re leaving around ten. You can go back to sleep for a few hours when we get home.”

“I can’t sleep any longer, I’m too excited. I get to see my best friend this evening.”

Abe laughed and looked down at her as he opened his room door. “I really hope you have fun today. I know you will, but be careful. The humans in California can be a little weird sometimes,” he said as he laid her on the bed.

“Nothing is going to happen to me, Abe. We’ll be perfectly fine. You and Jonah just need to find something to occupy your time while we’re gone.”

“Yeah, you said. And I tried that once already, with debatable results. Don’t be mad at me, but I asked Elton to go with you. He can fly the plane and rest while you, ladies, shop. I want you here with me tonight, okay?”

“If that’ll make you feel better, I’m fine with it.”

“Good. You want to take a shower with me? You wash my back and I’ll wash yours.”