Black Blood
Authors: Melissa Pearl
Tags: #Love, #History, #Paranormal, #adventure action
Time Spirit Trilogy
Book
Two
by
Melissa Pearl
*****
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2011 Melissa
Pearl
http://melissapearl.blogspot.com/
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in
any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
author.
*****
This is a work of
fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are
either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental.
*****
Cover art (copyright)
by Amanda Crane. All rights reserved.
http://thecranes.net.nz/creative/
Smashwords Edition,
License Notes
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Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
Praise for Golden
Blood
"
Ms.
Pearl's debut novel is YA and a reading treat. She kept me guessing
until the end, setting up conflicts and mysteries that bounced my
emotions around. As the MC grows in character, she gets the
proverbial rug pulled out from under her. Great storyline."
CD Coffelt
http://spiritcalled.blogspot.com/
"
I loved this book! Harrison and
Gemma were engaging, and the plot pacing was great. The author does
a good job of satisfying the reader while making them salivate for
the next book."
Author, C. M. Keller
http://screwinguptime.blogspot.com/
Table of
Contents
For
J.C.
Thanks for sticking to
the plan.
You saved my life.
One should rather die
than be betrayed.
There is no deceit in
death. It delivers precisely what it promised.
Betrayal though –
betrayal is the wilful slaughter of hope.
Steven Deitz
Centuries ago an oath was taken. It was sealed with blood
and considered sacred by all members of the village. This oath
would guard the secret of the pure ones, the ones who appeared with
the morning star… the ones who could change history. Their destiny
was to create a race of beings who could learn their ways, work
behind this cloak of secrecy and deliver the world from certain
evils. But they never considered the seventh man. Decimus was sent
with no mate. His destiny was to wander the earth alone. They never
thought he would break their oath. They never thought he would
cheat
.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida – 2011 AD
The waves
lapped against the shore, their smooth ebb and flow being jolted
only by the thump of Gemma’s feet along the sand. She splashed in
and out of the water, running until her lungs burned and her
muscles screamed for release.
Her breaths
came out in bursts of fear the further she got down the endless
beach. Against her will, her head turned to peek over her shoulder
and the fear rounded on her like a tidal wave. Trying to hold in
the scream, she pumped her arms and urged her body forward.
Then he was
there, standing before her, making her flight hopeless. She skidded
to a halt and fell to her knees, covering her head and begging for
him to leave. But he wouldn’t move.
He had her
surrounded. His penetrating eyes burned through her flesh, searing
her soul to charcoal.
“I’m not a pure
one!” she screamed. “Please, just leave me alone!”
Sobs wracked
her body as she huddled on the ground, the waves pounding over her,
tugging at her clothing, beckoning her into the surf.
She embraced
the feeling, willing the waves to get higher and wash away the
seeds of doubt that were taking root in her brain.
Was she to be
the next Decimus? Loving a forbidden one had nearly wiped out her
race.
She rose from
her dream with a gasp. Her heart still thumped in an accelerated
rhythm, but she wasn’t wet, she wasn’t crying and no one was
standing over her demanding she know the truth.
She couldn’t
deny that a small part of her needed to know what the man on the
beach had been talking about. But a bigger, more determined part,
had taken the cell phone he had given her and shoved it into the
deepest recesses of her underwear drawer.
“
I’ll be waiting for your call,”
he had said.
Yeah? Well, he
could just wait a while longer.
She didn’t want
to hear what he had to say because more than anything she was
petrified she’d hear the words that being with her boyfriend,
Harrison, was going to bring about her family’s demise.
The fact he had
called her a pure one still played in her mind, but she didn’t have
the patience to work out what he was talking about. All her brain
could conjure was that the man on the beach was comparing her to
the only pure one their kind ever bothered talking about.
“I’m not
Decimus,” she said it aloud for her own peace of mind.
The
iP
hone next to her bed
gave a quick beep. She glanced at the clock. Three in the morning
could only mean one person. Reading his short text, she smiled then
dialed his number.
“Hey pretty
girl, you okay?”
Harrison’s
voice was like balm.
“Just another
bad dream.” She nestled her head back into the pillows and clutched
the phone to her ear. “How’d you know to call me?”
“Just a
feeling.”
She felt a jolt
of wonder. Ever since returning from their trip to 14th Century
England his sixth sense had been on overdrive. He seemed to read
her better and had premonitions moments before an event would
happen. It was kind of freaky and she had tried to make light of
her disquiet by teasing him.
He took it well
and probably appreciated her attempts. She was sure the new
phenomenon unnerved him too.
“Was it the
same dream? About that guy on the beach?”
“Yeah,” she
sighed, happy that she’d told him.
When the man
had appeared to her for real she had been stunned frozen for nearly
half an hour, standing in the water, just staring at the stranger’s
departing footprints. He shouldn’t have known who she was, but he
looked at her as though he’d been studying her for years. The idea
sent a cold shiver down her spine.
He had spoken
his warning with such calm certainty that her brain had been
unwilling to write him off as just some weirdo. Whatever he had to
tell her was going to be life changing and that was what she
feared. Her imagination had been on overdrive conjuring up a list
of harrowing options that nearly had her doubled over in pain as
she stood in the water fighting for breath. If it hadn’t been for
Harrison coming to find her, she would probably still be standing
there waiting for dooms day to hit.
“Are you sure
ignoring him is the right thing to do, Gem? Maybe what he has to
tell you isn’t as bad as you think?”
“And what if it
is?”
She had been
too afraid to share her most obvious conclusion with her boyfriend,
worried that he might see the sense in it and leave her. That would
be his way, walk away so that she wouldn’t have to.
“I’m so scared
of what he might tell me. I know I’m a chicken, but I don’t want my
life to be turned upside down. I just want to enjoy this summer
with you and forget that conversation ever happened.”
She heard his
reticent sigh.
“It’s your
decision. I just want you to be safe.”
“You make me
safe. If I’m with you, I’m safe.”
“Gem…”
“Don’t.” She
stopped him before he could start with his speech of how he would
do anything to protect her, but was worried he couldn’t always do
it. “Let’s just talk about something else. I need to try and relax
before I can get any sleep.”
He was silent
for a moment, obviously miffed at having his spiel cut off. She
smiled at his sigh of surrender.
“You missed a
good dinner tonight. Bryan was raving about having you come and
work with us over the summer.”
“Really?” Her
smile was broad. She had been over the moon when his stepfather
offered her a job working at his garage. One, it meant she could
legitimately be close to Harrison every day and her parents could
form no solid argument to stop her. Secondly, it meant working with
some very nice classic cars. She knew she was only on cleaning
detail with Bryan’s daughter, Rosie, but it would still be fun.
“He wants you
to park your Ducati out front each day, thinks it might draw in a
few more people.”
Gemma grinned
as she thought about her baby nestled in the garage. It was her
pride and joy and the best thing that had happened to her before
Harrison came along. The only good thing about living so far north
of her boyfriend was the sheer joy of cruising down the highway
each morning.
Harrison
yawned.
“I guess I
should let you get some sleep.”
“No, we can
talk for as long as you need, babe.”
She could
picture him lying in his bed, his lean body stretched from one tip
to the bottom. He’d be on his back, with his arm behind his head,
staring at the ceiling… with his eyes closed. His thick waves of
hair would be all tussled and she would do anything in that moment
to be lying next to him just so she could run her fingers through
it.
“I’m good. Your
voice is enough to calm my nerves. Thanks for the text.”
“I’m always
here for you, Gem.”
“I know. I love
you.”
“Tu es ma stella del mattino. Tu es ma
gioiello.”
“Are you going
to tell me what that means yet?”