Ghost With Cats ~ Book of Eloh #1.Draft

Tal lifted his lips from Annie’s, she had completely forgotten what she was about to say. They just stared at each other in awe for a few moments. His fingertips gently brushing away the tears that ran down her cheeks. He held her tightly, he had never imagined that he could feel anything for a female, let alone this. She jerked her head to look out toward the water, she was fighting her fears. He shouldn’t love her she was a ghost. They stood on the dune looking out at the churning gray sea. She shivered. He smiled, she always got cold so easily. His fingertips turned her face back toward his.

“Do not fear. I love you, Anneliese, I could not bear it if you died, not while I could save you.” He said in a deep, emotional voice.

“I love you too, Tal, but you shouldn’t risk yourself, not for me. If you died because you saved me, I...” she trailed off.

“I will not die, Anneliese. And I will keep you safe,” He meant it, even if it meant never returning to Eloh. There were other Admants who could take his command, including his younger brother.

“Let us go back. You need coffee,” he said, putting the sword in its sheath on his back. They started walking back toward the house.

She smiled up at him then, made a weird face, “I think I cut my tongue on something.”

He laughed a little, then took her hand and put the back of it to his mouth and bit it lightly.

“Ouch, hey!” she exclaimed.

“That’s why we don’t kiss,” he grinned, “Pointed teeth.”

She looked up at his mouth, they didn’t look very pointed from the outside, but she had felt their sharpness. “Oh great, I’m in love with an alpha predator. Do they get sharper when you get angry, like your fingernails?”

He raised an eyebrow, surprised that she had noticed, “Well, that is one of the times the predatory response happens.”

She eyed him, and questioning playfully, “Should I be afraid? Is this a full moon thing? Do I need some kind of special shot since we kissed? Oh wait! I cut my tongue on your fangs, am I going to turn into an Eloh, or do you have to bite me like a vampire?” She teased.

He scowled at her, but his eyes held amusement as he looked down at her in his arms. He had seen some of their monster stories, werewolves and vampires. A movie called Breaking Dawn on the media in the middle of the night at one of the motels. It was very amusing. “You will not turn into an Eloh, or a vampire or a werewolf.”

“Awww,” Annie pretend-pouted. “Then no biting.”

“Fine, I promise not to bite you yet,” he teased back, then he licked her lightly forehead before he released her to opened the door.

A large black and white cat was sitting on the Adirondack chair. It blinked its golden eyes at them. There was a dish of food nearby so Bries must be feeding it. They both smiled at each other past the ache in each of their hearts and she hugged him tightly again.

Annie looked up at Tal, and smiled sadly, “I am going to have to get used to missing all of this.”

His fingers pushed a strand of brown hair away from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. He couldn’t make himself tell her he already did.

^..^

Vorn worked quietly, listening to Sharon talking about how she met Annie, and her work and tonight’s party. More than just beautiful, Sharon was intelligent, articulate, and witty, but there was also a sad quality about her that she hid very deeply, a vulnerability beneath her strength and independence. It made Vorn feel a strange tug toward her.

“So tell me about you job,” Sharon insisted, “I am getting tired of hearing my voice.”

“But your voice is lovely, like music,” he responded smoothly.

“You should be in marketing,” She smiled, brushing off the compliment.

“Very well, my lady. My job is many jobs. I have served as Vanth Tal’s Cypher since he was made Admant at age 15 and I was age 19. Many thought I was too young but I was most compatible with Master Tal. We have been together 16 years. In your terms, I am his manservant, confidant, analyst, physician, priest, bodyguard, warrior and advocate. I am also fortunate enough to be his friend. A luxury many of my fellow Cyphers do not have. They are treated as slaves, lower than servants, but Tal treats me well, considers my arguments, and heeds my advice. The only thing we have disagreed on in a decade was his use of his resurrection crystal to save Lady Annie. He loves her above all and because of this, he has put his own life at great risk when we return at home. I believe someone lured him here to murder him, and they will not stop once we return to our world.”

Sharon listened carefully, her expression neutral, and asked, “Well, can’t you just get another crystal?” She wasn’t going to get mad that he might have let Annie die until she understood why.

“It is not that simple. They are the most guarded items in the kingdom, only the King and the Queen Mother are allowed more than one. They take a year to be made and must be tuned to the bearer. One can be free given, or the one for whom the crystal is tuned must already be dead for another to use it. If Tal dies, I have failed, because I let my feelings for him as my friend cloud my judgment to protect him as my duty. I would deserve my fate,” He responded.

“Your fate?” she asked.

“I would be put to death or be allowed to end myself as is our sect’s way.” He answered without regret.

Sharon was horrified, it was like the feudal samurai code. She took his hand, “But darling, to make him live, having watched the one he loved die when he could have saved her... it is just too cruel, if I could have saved Shmael, I...” She trailed off suddenly and turned away.

He had found it, the thing that grieved her heart. “I apologize, my lady. Shmael is the one you lost? I did not mean to waken your grief. ” He was sincere in his apology, but also in his curiosity. She just nodded.

She couldn’t speak, for a moment she was back in Tel Aviv.

It was her 30th birthday, she and Shmael were laughing about how crazy his mother went when they told her they weren’t going to have children for at least 5 more years. The sunlight and the outdoor cafe had been such a tempting change from their New York life. She had just made partner in her publishing firm. He was moving up in private security world. Being retired IDF, he had a reputation as being one of the best. They had their whole lives ahead of them. A motorbike pulled up, someone shouted something she didn’t understand. Firecrackers started popping and she was stung on the shoulder before her Shmael had thrown himself over her.

As they fell down, he had said, “I love you, shamiyr.”

Her nickname meant sparkling diamond, then he had died before they landed on the concrete. Her world had stopped that moment. It had barely moved for almost 10 years.

Vorn’s power allowed him to feel and see the moment with her, and his heart ached for her loss.

A very gentle hand wiped a tear from her cheek, “Lady Sharon?”

“Oh, I am sorry, Vorn. I was just remember something. It was nothing.” Sharon whispered.

“It was not nothing if it causes a single tear to fall, I am trained to listen and keep confidence if you wish to talk to someone. It grieves me to see you so sad. Or perhaps there is someone I could contact for you, a friend or companion whose voice could comfort you,” he offered.

She blotted her eyes, and smiled gratefully, “You are very sweet but no, there is no one.”

He doesn’t have to pretend to be shocked, “But surely, someone such as yourself must have hundreds willing to be your companions. I mean, I... I am sorry, my lady, I meant no offense I am just surprised that you are not sought after.”

Sharon thought about what Annie had said about their tiers and “required dating” system before she almost laughed. instead she answered seriously. “I have had only a few interested in me over the years, but not the kind I would be interest in. As of right now, no, I don’t have anyone interested in being my companion. I’m too old. I work too much, I still miss my Shmael,” she explained.

He stared at her mouth open, then stammered, “But... but.. you are barely one third of life’s years. You are not old. Working hard is an honorable thing, and having loved, you will love again more deeply. I apologize, for my forwardness, my lady. I struggle to understand your culture sometimes.” He sighed, shaking his head. “You are everything the females of our world are not. Your males are fools. Forgive my judgmental attitude. It is not seeming of a Cypher, but I feel that they are, ” he apologized, attempting to excuse his harsh words.

She laughed and responded, “You’re just too cute. Worried about me that I can’t get a date because I’m 40, when going on a date on your world could get you killed for sport.” Something beeped. She turned and checked the prime rib, basted it, then closed the oven.

“Tell me more about your weird world, Vorn.” She insisted, “We have 4 more hours before we can start anything else except prep work for the hors d’oeuvres to go with the wine.”

“What are hors d’oeuvres? And I do not think I have had wine.” Vorn asked, frowning. His translator did not know the terms.

“Oh honey... Let’s tell each other dating horror stories while I’ll teach you hors d’oeuvres and wine,” Sharon suggested in an amused tone. So they began. It turned into one of the most interesting afternoons either of them had ever spent with the opposite gender.

^..^

Annie brought a change of clothes over for Vorn. She knew from experience that cooking with her best friend was always fun but never clean. He and Sharon had put together a 6 course meal and wine pairing. They started at 6:30 with hors d’oeuvres watching the highlights of New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world. The food was incredible, the wine went perfectly with it. Even Boaz had to admit it was good, but when he asked where the ouzo was after the first course, Sharon grudgingly produced a bottle all the while giving him the stinkeye. Wisely, Annie only consumed fourth glasses because of her size, and limited Bries to just the same because she did not know what it would do to his genetically manufactured nature. She had seen his rage, she couldn’t imagine trying to manage a drunken 350lb toddler having a tantrum if he became grumpy.

When the sparkling wine is served with dessert, it made Bries hiccup and Annie giggled at him.

“It tickles,” Bries laughed.

“It is supposed to, shiny head,” she agreed giddily. Then she caught herself and smelled it. It had a fruity scent. She reached over and looked at the bottle. She didn’t know the brand.

“You do not drink very much of this beverage, but it makes you very silly,” Tal observed.

“That’s because it is an alcoholic beverage, and while it taste good and makes you feel good now, tomorrow, everyone but Sharon will have a hangover and I am trying to avoid that. I told her half glasses only for everyone, and Bries and I’ve had even less.”

“What does alcoholic mean?” Tag asked and he leaned toward her, and smelled her shoulder.

“An intoxicant. It alters your perception and body chemistry, don’t you have fermented or distilled beverages on your world?” she questioned.

Tal frowned for a moment, then shrugged and smiled at her. It made him breathtakingly handsome. Annie realized he was already drunk. “I do not believe so. Perhaps we should.”

She picked up a glass next to his plate and realized it was not water. Tal had drank several ounces of Boaz’s ouzo as well as all the wine. She tried to stand but felt strange. She had only had the equivalent of one and a half glasses, yet she felt completely wasted. Something was wrong. From the living room, she could hear the New Year’s Eve Broadcast. They were counting down somewhere...

“Sharon, where did the wine come from?” Annie asked, suddenly paranoid.

“From the sampler you sent to my office for Christmas. It arrived a few days late so Jean Luc shipped it overnight to me here,” Sharon slurred cheerfully.

Annie had never seen her get drunk off a few glasses of wine, Sharon could drink professional alcoholics under the table and still walk around in 4-inch Manolo Blahnik heels like she was barefoot and sipping tonic. Annie started swearing and stuck her hands in the ice water pitcher then on her face. She gasped in shock. Tal looked at her, confused. She hated cold.

“Anneliese, what is wrong?” he slurred.

She did the same to him. He gasped as her cold hands shocked him, struggling to focusing, he could feel her fear. “I do not understand.” His mind would not focus.

She splashed Bries next, who sat up and stared at her. “The master is in danger,” she hissed “Stand up now,” and Bries rose, growling. He did not understand but he obeyed. Bries felt strange and he did not like it, and if Annie said it was wrong, he believed her.

“We’ve been drugged. I didn’t send this wine to Sharon. Everyone on your feet now. We have to move around,” she ordered, but only Bries and Boaz move.

Boaz who had only drank a small amount of the first wine grabbed Uri who was almost unconscious and shook him. Annie shook Vorn. He opened his eyes, and looked at her through the same haze Tal was looking at her with.

“Vorn, come back, I need you to help me. I need you to focus. We’re in danger, our enemy knows we are here. Help me.” Annie begged.

Vorn gasped suddenly, blinked rapidly, and it was like he was sober. “What happened?”

“The wine is drugged, I did not send this case to Sharon. We need to scatter to the other safe houses,” Annie declared.

Sharon was asleep at the end of the table. Boaz was mumbling profanities as he tried to wake Uri. Bries was pacing unsteadily, making odd growling noises in his throat.

“She had said she was surprised that you would send such a gift, I will try to wake her,” Vorn volunteered. He swallows several times, his mind focused suddenly fighting the sensations. The aftertaste in his mouth was very familiar, but the substance that his mind decided it was does not exist on this planet. His mind started to drift but he pulled it back, using all his training to overcome the intoxicants.

Annie was saying, “Bries is almost okay, but Tal is completely drunk and Uri is unconscious. Everyone, needs to go into the living room like we are going to watch the big screen and we’ll pull a few of the blinds so we can slip out through the side a few at a time. We need it to look like we don’t know we’ve been drugged.” She swayed unsteadily as she stood. “Oh, I’ll be right back.” She rushed out of the dining room. From the bathroom, Vorn and Boaz could her vomiting.

“I do not know how she is resisting the effect,” Vorn revealed, “I have training to resist poisons and drugs, and am struggling.”

“It’s Annie. She will fight it, till it kills her,” Boaz revealed and frowned.

Annie went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of glasses of cloudy water. She gave one to Bries and told him to drink it, warning him that it may make him vomit later. She handed one to Vorn.

“Tal, you need to drink this to get the drugs out of your system.” She knelt next to Tal talking to him softly, he kept touching her face.

“You are so beautiful in the color of my tier.” Tal muttered, thinking how she belonged in the colors of his tier.

"That's nice, now drink." She made him drink the charcoal water. Vorn had Sharon awake and drinking. Boaz unceremoniously dumped a glass down Uri, who immediately doubled over and puked on the floor.

“Bries, here is the keys to the Jetty Museum. Be ready to leave with Tal at any moment.” Annie gave him the key to the hurricane shelter room hidden under the Jetty Park museum on the far south end of the community. She and Bries had been there twice.

“Yes, Lady Annie.” He knew every way to get there and how to go unseen, even underwater down the river. His job was to get Tal there safely. Bries also knew where all the other safe places were, just in case.

Rule #2 for Surviving : Always have a plan, another plan, and an exit strategy.

“Boaz and I will create a distraction. Meanwhile, Vorn, you get Sharon to safety at the other rental up the river in town. ” Annie stated. They would regroup at the Dunes rental later tomorrow.

Annie walked into the living room carrying one of the wine bottles and turning up the sound for the Live from Time Square broadcast. The Deck door was open, so she walked out, sure she was being watched. It was actually a nice 58 degrees, she waved at the neighbors and called Happy New Years to them. Unfortunately, Bries had to vomit and Tal followed her out and hugged her from behind. The neighbors up and down the river were shooting fireworks over the Colorado River.

“What are we doing?” Tal whispered against her neck, it sent shivers up her spine. If she wasn’t scared out of her mind for them, she might have liked it.

“We are trying to get you to safety, Admant,” She said seriously, trying to get him to focus on the danger by calling him by his rank, as he nibbled on her like one of Vorn and Sharon’s hors d’oeuvres.

“But I don’t want to go, I like it here. You smell good,” and he licked her neck, “and you taste sweet.”

“Tal, you have to stop, this isn’t you, it is the alcohol and the drugs in the wine. Bries is going to take you to a safe house at the museum or the dunes house. Okay?”

She turned in his arms to look up at him, she felt flushed. He really was very handsome, but she could not think about that now. She had to get him to safety, and yet she really just wanted to forget about everything and kiss him again and maybe forever, and she knew that was definitely the alcohol talking or was it. Her mind felt like a carousel. She had to wondered what the heck was in that wine! His lips brushed hers before she could lean back and time stopped. She could see the stars inside his eyes when the kiss stopped. It was mesmerizing and strange, reminding her just how different they were, that he was not human and she was. As he leaned in to kiss her a second time, she was suddenly more terrified of what she was feeling than of being killed, but she let it happen again. She let it happened because she wanted it and so much more.