H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (49 page)

“That was fun,” I said.

“You’re such a ham, Josiah. Was that the
Heisman pose you did when we flew over the Grapevine?”

“You liked that, didn’t you?” I said,
smirking.

“I have missed you a lot. It’s not the same
when you’re not around.”

I looked over at Yari and smiled at my dear
friend. “I have missed you, too.”

Yari rested her head on my shoulder and
snuggled up to me. “So, how was your first night back in the
sack?”

“You mean with Lena?” I asked.

“No, I meant with Tommy,” Yari said,
sarcastically. “Of course, I meant Lena.”

“Nothing happened other than some heavy
cuddling.”

“Nothing?” Yari gasped. “Not even a little
tug for good luck?”

“Nope. No tug boat action.”

“Wow, if you were my boyfriend, we wouldn’t
have come out of that room for two weeks.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that, Yari. You definitely
know your way around a tug boat.”

“No, Josiah, I know my way around you.
Remember, I watched you for two years.”

“Yeah, so.”

Uh oh. I was afraid of what she was about to
say.

“I’ll just put it this way. I learned to
please you by watching the master work on his masterpiece every
night.”

“You really watched me?”

“Sometimes, I transitioned to my Mani form
and play with myself right outside your window.”

Wow, she’s a handful! She knew how to push
my buttons.

Yari looked down at my crotch. “I see you
still desire me, too.” Yari reached down and felt my penis over my
jeans. I was hard as a rock.

“Yari! Don’t!” I said.

“I know, Josiah. Even though she’s not
taking care of you, you’re Lena’s man.”

“That’s right, I am,” I said, taking her
hand off of me.

“You’re right. You are her man,” Yari winked
at me. “I mean, now that you’re back.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Yari was quiet.

“Look Yari, I’m not sure what you’re trying
to do. This is really an unusual spot to try to seduce me. Really,
on the side of the Golden Gate Bridge? There are a lot of reasons
why this needs to stop.”

“Oh really, Josiah? A lot of reasons? Why
don’t you tell me one?”

I was confused why Yari seemed so indignant.
“Well, the obvious one is Lena and I are together. But also, what
about Tommy? Aren’t you two having a thing or something?”

“Why don’t you ask him? He’s your best
friend! Why don’t you ask him what he’s been doing the last month
since you been gone! Better yet, why don’t you ask your precious
Lena what she’s been up to?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re the fucking Houdini, Josiah. Why
don’t you tell me what your girlfriend and best friend have been
doing while you were running around Dracula’s Castle getting
trained by some blue Ewok!”

My head began to spin.

Could Yari be telling the truth? When I
called, they did seem real friendly to each other on the phone.
What could they possibly have done in one month’s time?

I grabbed Yari’s face. “You’d better not
fucking lie to me. What are you talking about?”

“Oh, now you’re interested. We put Lena on
the table and now Josiah is all ears.”

“Yari! What the fuck are you talking about?”
I was now screaming.

“I saw Tommy kiss Lena.”

I nearly fell off the bridge. “What?”

“I saw Tommy not only kiss Lena, but Lena
allowed it.”

“Where?”

“At the beach.”

“What the hell were they doing at the
beach?”

“Josiah, they have been doing everything
together since you’ve been gone. They are like BFF’s. I nearly
barfed when I saw how they ignored each other last night. They went
out of their way to not let on how close they have gotten.”

“And you’re sure they kissed?”

“I’m positive! I was twenty feet away from
them when it happened. I was behind some rocks watching the whole
thing.”

“And they were both into it?”

“Josiah, I know you don’t want to hear this,
but Tommy has it bad for Lena.”

“There’s no way.”

“Why couldn’t there be a way?”

“Because Tommy my best friend and he
wouldn’t do that. There are lines he wouldn’t cross.”

“Oh, he crossed them, Josiah. He’s been
crossing them ever since you left.”

I looked at Yari and I knew she at least
believed what she was saying. She might have been wrong about
Tommy’s intentions, but she definitely believed it. “How did this
happen, Yari?”

“You have been gone for a month. A lot can
happen in four weeks.”

“You’re telling me that they have gotten
real close? Tommy and Lena?”

“They have gotten more than close. I know
that this is hard for you to hear. But you need to know the truth.
I thought about not saying anything to you and just letting you
figure it out, but that wasn’t fair to you, especially because the
reason why you left is to improve as a Mani, to keep us all safe.
For the greater good, you sacrificed a part of your life to bring
strength and understanding to who we are as a group. And
she…they…”

I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t know
what to do. If this was true, then this is the maximum betrayal by
Tommy could commit. “So, did you confront them?”

“Josiah, I’m over 300 years old. I’ve given
the president of the United States a blow job, I’m not about to get
all hung up on some werewolf. It’s his loss.”

I shook my head. “And you think they have
gotten so close that Tommy might be in love with her?”

“When you have been around as long as I
have, you know what the signs are when a person has fallen for
someone. Last night it was eating Tommy up inside that you and Lena
were so close. That you went back into the bedroom together and
shut the door.”

“I can’t believe it! Tommy is like my
brother. He would never do this to me.”

“Josiah, I followed you for two years. I
switched my allegiance from Atticai to you. I’ve stood by your side
through all of this. I have seen too much bullshit to make up
something like this.”

I got up and stood on the bridge. A part of
me just wanted to jump off into the water. Not to kill myself, but
to just feel the sensation of falling. To have some release from
this knot in my stomach.

“What about Lena? How does she feel about
Tommy?”

“That’s what I’m not sure about. Lena looks
at him the way she looks at you. Something is going on, I’m just
not sure exactly what.”

I looked back at Yari. “So, what was your
plan tonight? To get me up here and try to seduce me to get back at
Tommy?”

“I knew I couldn’t seduce you. Again, I have
no desire to get back at Tommy. He was fun while it lasted, just
like you were. Tonight, I thought we would have some fun before I
told you what I really came here to tell you.”

“There’s more?” I felt sick to my stomach.
This was the last thing I thought would happen. I believed Yari.
She had no reason to lie to me. Even if she was still in love with
me, there is no reason for her to go to this level of deceit. She
was telling the truth. I didn’t need any special Mani abilities to
know that. Now the question was: What was I going to do about
it?

“Thanks, Yari,” I said.

“You know I care about you, Josiah.”

“I know… I care about you, too.” I put my
arms around Yari and she playfully reached down to grab my package
again and I smacked her hand away.

“I just miss little Josiah,” she said,
mischievously.

“You and I hooking up won’t fix anything. It
will only make things worse.”

“Only for you. I could go down on you and
not think twice about it.”

I shook my head at Yari and looked out into
the Pacific. “So,” I asked. “Which president?”

“Oh, it’s been more than one,” she said.

“Are you being serious?”

“All I’m going to say is there’s a lot a man
can do even if he’s in a wheelchair.”

Chapter Twelve

Yari and I sat on the bridge and took in the
night for another hour. I didn’t know what I was going to do or how
to handle this. We eventually got up, and transitioned and made our
way back to So-Cal.

We both soared through the air at double
speed. I was pissed and hurt. How could Tommy do this to me? He was
engaged to my sister and he betrayed me like this? I was only gone
for a month. How could the two people I care most about in this
world have done this to me?

As we flew in over Hollywood, I circled Yari
and midair, transitioned into my Mani form. We were at least a mile
above the earth. I looked at the red hawk and said, “I need to be
alone.” With that, I transitioned back to the eagle and flew toward
the San Bernardino Mountains.

My head was spinning and my heart was
aching. How was I going to deal with this? I needed to clear my
head. I needed a change of pace. I flew up into the mountains and
made my way over to Flatlands. It had been a while since I’d been
there. I saw the rocky parking lot from the sky and flew toward it.
I knew this was Atticai’s old stomping grounds and I might not be
welcomed with open arms. Aside from my little group of friends, I
had no idea what the average Mani thought of me, or if they were
even aware that I existed.

I decided to land up the street and walk
down so I wouldn’t go on blast as a white eagle. I looked down at
my cell and it read 3:11 a.m. I figured if there was a party going
on, it must be winding down by now. But then again, these were
freaking vampires and they lived by a whole separate set of
rules.

I stepped onto the Flatlands rock area and
saw three separate bonfires. There was speed metal playing in the
distance and there were large groups of people sitting around each
fire drinking and partying. I saw Rubidoux right away standing by
the bonfire toward the back. How could I miss him with his
bleached-blonde hair? It practically glowed in the dark.

No one seemed to notice, or care, that I was
walking up to their group. I casually strolled over to the bonfire
where Rubidoux was standing. I walked up to him and made eye
contact. When he saw me, he nearly peed his pants.

“Fucking eh, it’s Josiah!” He came over to
me. He then turned and faced the entire Flatlands and yelled,
“Everyone! It’s Josiah Reign!”

Everybody at all three bonfires stopped what
they were doing and made their way over to me. I wasn’t sure if
they were happy to see me or they were getting ready to lynch me. I
was surrounded by at least forty people. I wasn’t sure if all of
them were Mani. I scanned the crowd and tried to find any bad seeds
by reading their minds quickly. I used all the tools in my arsenal
taught to me by Goshi. There were a lot of Tandra and weak Mani
because I could hear a smattering of voices.

I heard things like:

“It’s him!”

“Can you freaking believe it?”

“I thought he’d be taller!”

“Damn, he’s fucking hot!”

I shut the voices down in my head, so I
could hear clearly.

“What brings you up here, Josiah?” Rubidoux
asked.

“There aren’t too many places you can go
where you can be yourself,” I said.

“That’s why we all come here,” he
laughed.

I looked around the crowd. “How many Tandra
are here?”

Rubidoux scanned the crowd also and said,
“Five or six. Why? Do you want them to leave?” He was really giving
me respect. Sure was different from the last time I saw him.

“No, as long as they are trusted, they can
stay,” I said.

“Damn, Josiah!” Rubidoux said. “You have
been MIA since you killed Atticai!”

“You heard about that?” I asked.

“We’re a small community, brother. Word
travels fast around these parts. So is it true?”

“Is what true?” I looked at Rubidoux and
then at everybody else.

“Are you the one?” Rubidoux pressed.

“The one?” I asked.

“Are you the one that has been
prophesied?”

I looked at everyone, and they all were
eagerly awaiting my answer. “Everyone here can be trusted?” I asked
again.

“Of course,” Rubidoux answered.

I nodded my head. “Yes, I am him.”

“Holy shit!” Everyone cheered like I had
just hit a grand slam in the World Series. All of them were looking
at me with admiration, almost as if I was a religious figure. I saw
hope and optimism in their eyes. It was like they had been waiting
for me for a very long time. I don’t know why it took me this long
to make my presence known to these people.

“Show us the white eagle!” one of them
shouted.

Then others yelled out in agreement.

“Show us!”

“Let us see it!”

I calmly looked at the group and said,
“No.”

“Why not?” One yelled out.

“It doesn’t work that way,” I stated to the
crowd. “I’m not a puppet or some spectacle. I have a purpose given
to me by the Triat. My desire isn’t to show off in front of you
people.”

A girl then stepped forward. She was young
looking. She looked like she was fifteen years old.

“Why won’t you show us?” She asked.

“What is your name?” I said to her.

“My name is Caroline.”

“Caroline, I came here for support, not to
stick out my chest and say, ‘look at me’.”

The young girl reached out her hand and
touched my face. “I have been a Mani woman for 500 years, young
Josiah. I have waited a very long time for you, and if you are who
you say you are, I would like for you to show me. I believe after
surviving this world for 500 years, I have earned that right.”

I stared at the petite, young-looking woman.
To think she was 500 years old was mind-blowing to me. “You have
been waiting for a long time?” I asked

“Yes, sir, I have.”

“Why? Why have you needed me to be revealed?
What did you think I could do for you?”

“Sir, you need to know I love our people.
When I was young, I was their daughter and now after all these
years, I have become most of their mothers. I have given my life to
preserve us as a people. I have waited for you, because it
validated my love for all Mani. It was the hope that I held on to
all these years. It gave me a reason to continue. So when you ask,
‘What can I do for you?’ The answer is ultimately, ‘nothing’. But
what you can do is validate my faith. Show me that I am not crazy
for believing for all of these years.”