A Touch of Fire (Meridian Island Book 1) Read online




  A Touch of Fire (Meridian Island #1)

  Jennie Dah

  Table of contents

  Title page

  Dedication

  Author’s Note

  Blurb

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dedication

  Thank you Angela for inspiring me to do this. None of this would have been possible without you. This one is for you.

  Love you.

  Author’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Any similarities to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses or companies, events, institutions or locales is purely coincidental.

  Blurb

  Wake up from a dream and then being told you’re a supernatural and a pureblood at that?

  I’ve been there, already done that.

  Have a window try to kill you while you try to escape?

  That’s old news to me.

  Running away from my issues and pushing them to the back of my mind to be dealt with later?

  I’ve got medals in perfecting the art but what I never thought I’d ever hear in my life is that someone’s looking to kill me.

  I’m a generally nice person so why would anyone want to kill me?

  My greatest mistake was pushing it out of my mind but it wasn’t completely my fault.

  Have a giant man who looks like pure perfection tell you he wants to be with you for life and let see if you can think straight.

  I should have left when I had the chance and now the man I love is in danger when my memories finally catch up with me.

  And now I have to pay the ultimate prize but what they don’t know is that for Nicholas, I’d die a thousand times and never regret it.

  Chapter 1

  MAKAFUI

  I grab the back of my neck and roll it from side to side, lightly massaging it to get rid of the dull ache there. I sigh and tune back into the lecture just as the professor dismisses the class.

  Thank God.

  A loud yawn escapes my open mouth and I cover my mouth with the back of my hand, earning me pitying looks from a few of the students but whatever. I look around the space that has served as my Economics class for the past month and wonder why no one has tried to talk to me yet.

  “Maybe they will if you tried talking to them.”

  “And maybe you should mind your own business,” I murmur to the voice in my head.

  It is true I haven’t really tried to make any friends in this class and I contemplate whether I should maybe try harder but quickly dismiss the idea. It’s not like I haven’t tried because I did, it’s just I freeze up and get all tongue tied whenever I try to talk to someone new and then I just end up babbling nonsense.

  Being in a strange new place is never easy. Whoever said that it was, is a big fat liar with a big ass. I grab my bag and head out of the class and the fresh air does little to make me feel better.

  Feeling so damn tired, I head out into the hallway and in my haste to get to the dorms faster so I can take a short nap, I bump into a few of the students milling about only managing to mumble halfhearted apologies.

  For the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling really tired and restless and even though I sleep before 9pm each night, it feels like I haven’t been getting enough sleep. Most days it feels like I’ve only been at sleep for a few seconds.

  Every morning I wake up and it feels like I’ve been lifting weights in the dead of the night. Even now my muscles protest against any movement but I just grit my teeth through the pain. I’d blame all this on the jet lag but I’ve been here for almost half a year now. Another yawn escapes me and I feel like I’m about to drop where I stand.

  Suddenly, the ground looks so inviting, it calls to me. That’s it, all you have to do is lie down and sleep. You’ll be all better after you wake up.

  It takes everything in me which isn’t much at this point to ignore the voice in my head and I give a vigorous shake of my head to dislodge the thought. What the hell is happening to me? I pick up the pace lest I give in to the temptation and sleep on the sidewalk.

  God, I miss the Ghanaian weather. It should be harmattan already over there. I shiver at the biting cold in the air here and snow hasn’t even started falling yet. How do people survive here?

  I can’t wait to go back home after I’m done here. Grandpa Mawuli might be a grump but he’s the only family I have left and even though he doesn’t want to see me right now, I’m hoping some time away from me will make him miss me a little bit and maybe he might want to see me then but I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon since he won’t even answer my calls.

  Even after I changed my number three times, he somehow figured it out that it’s me and hits the ignore button. A chilling gust of wind hits me in the face and I swear I feel the muscles in my face freeze for a few seconds before relaxing.

  Damn it, I need to get inside. Even upon all the five layers of clothing I have on under the very thick coat I’m wearing, I’m still shivering. Why did I choose New York of all places to come?

  I smile sadly, my chest constricting as the memory of Nanaga Sena hits me. I’m here freezing my ass off because it’s where she wanted to see the most in the world but she can’t now after she died so I wanted to do it for her. I hope she’s happy wherever she is.

  Then I feel it again and stop abruptly looking around the campus but nothing looks out of the ordinary. Except for a few people milling around, I see nothing unusual just like the other times that I’ve felt those eyes on me.

  The hair on the back of my neck stand on end and begin to prickle making a shiver roll through my body, this one having a more sinister feel too it.

  No, no, no, not again.

  I start walking again but this time much faster and even though I can still feel the eyes on me, I just ignore it. It’s probably just nothing, I’m just being my usual suspicious and paranoid self, I think to myself but still the feeling persists.

  I sigh in relief when my dorm comes into view and I walk even faster ignoring the pain in my limbs.

  Almost there, just a few more steps and you can fall into bed, I think to myself but the seven floors brownstone building surrounded by a few cluster of other more modernised ones looks so damn far away making me groan tiredly. I finally make it sighing in relief and key in the code and unlock the door.

  Yes, yes! I chant in my head but before I can step foot inside someone calls out my name and I freeze.

  No, I groan and decide to ignore whoever it is but the person calls out more loudly this time and I roll my eyes heavenward asking for some patience.

  Ugh, I can’t pretend I didn’t hear that one so I let out a long suffering sigh before turning around to whoever’s trying to foil my plans.

  “Celia, wait up.” Oh come on, this guy again?

  As horrible as I feel today, I don’t have the energy to break out even my fake smile. He’s in my poli sci class and since the first day after his friend got a little too handsy with me after I agreed against my better judgment to join them for drinks, I’ve been avoiding him but he started showing up at the dorm about two weeks ago.

  “What is it?” I mutter not seeing his lanky frame when my eyes grow hazy. I probably sound rude but wh
atever, I just want my bed. Why's that so hard for people to understand?

  My eyes feel dry and scratchy suddenly and I raise a hand and rub at them hard to get rid of the itchiness but the feeling persists.

  “Uhh… are you okay? You don’t look very good,” he says with a grimace and I roll my eyes at him.

  Seriously, he stopped me to tell me I look like shit? I think incredulously and shoot him my best unimpressed look not even bothering to answer him.

  I turn around and head inside heading straight for the elevator and press on the button for the doors to open. I wait with a dejected groan when they don’t swing open immediately like I expected it too.

  I shuffle awkwardly and look around the lobby self consciously feeling too exposed standing here alone. The woman at the front desk is busy on the phone and there are students rushing around some probably trying not to be late for class.

  There’s a guy sitting in the waiting area and there’s nothing strange about him but it’s the shocking strands of white hair escaping from underneath his cap that has my attention. I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of dyed hair that looks so natural and soft before. I can’t see much of his face and I’m still trying to catch a glimpse when someone speaks from behind me.

  “The elevator is broken. It won’t be fixed until tomorrow so everyone’s using the stairs for now.” I startle my head whipping to the side but I don’t see anyone and then I wince at the words.

  “Sucks, I know.” I turn around and see a girl about my age standing behind me. I think I have her in one of my classes but I can’t be sure at the moment.

  My mind is kind of foggy and it feels like someone stuck cotton balls in my head. I look to the door that leads into the stairwell and immediately grow light-headed.

  I curse under my breath at my rotten luck, an intense wave of dizziness hitting me out of nowhere. I hunch over slightly and grip the top of my thighs breathing in deeply through my nose and letting it out slowly through my mouth.

  Perfect, just perfect. With my luck, I’ll probably fall down the damn stairs and break my neck before I make it two feet in the door. The girl steps towards me and holds out a hand.

  “Hi, I’m Stella,” she smiles warmly her voice light and airy. I straighten and take the offered hand with a little shake, eyeing her skeptically. Something niggles at my mind at her easy smile and I frown, slightly puzzled.

  There’s nothing intimidating or sinister about her, in fact she’s quite beautiful with her warm brown eyes and that magazine cover model face so why do I feel the need to get away from her?

  “I’m Makafui but call me Kafui. Everyone does,” I finally croak releasing her hand. My throat suddenly feels dry and I try swallowing but I can’t even manage a pinch of saliva. I try to clear it but that only makes pain shoot down my throat and I stop.

  I touch my throat with a frown and look back at the waiting area but the man’s gone. I feel something trickle down my nose and at the same time slide down the back of my throat. It tickles my lips and I feel the urge to sneeze.

  I swipe a hand across my mouth and it comes away with blood, just as the coppery taste of blood hits my taste buds. What the hell? I sway a little on my feet. Stella reaches a her hand out to steady me and I fall into her losing control of my body.

  My body starts to heat up and I reach a hand up to my collar to loosen it a little bit but I only touch sweat soaked skin. What the hell is happening to me?

  It surprises me that in all this time I’ve not even felt a lick of fear yet. Shouldn’t I be afraid that maybe I’m about to die? Why is it so damn hot in here? Air. I need some fresh air. I hear someone yelling but it sounds really far away.

  Then it sounds like everyone is talking at once and it makes my ears hurt badly and the only thing I can think of is how to get away from here. I wouldn’t be surprised if my ears are bleeding too.

  Someone shakes my shoulders and everything starts to blur together.

  Sleep, comes that whispered command. You just need some rest. Everything will be okay once you go to sleep. Just close your eyes and sleep. Give in to it.

  My eyes are so damn heavy and my whole body hurts but something inside me keeps fighting against the foreign invasive presence in my head trying to bend me to its will. Someone shakes at my shoulders again but this time more forcefully. I look up through half slit eyes and see Stella looking down at me with tears trailing down her face, some hitting my cheeks.

  Why is she all the way up there and why am I down here? I reach up a shaky hand up to her face and softly touch her cheek. Why is she crying?

  I shakily wipe at the tears trailing down her face and I grunt at the stinging pain that shoots through my hand. Unable to hold my eyes open any longer, I lose the battle finally giving in to the voice and then the darkness takes over.

  Chapter 2

  MAKAFUI

  Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound is starting to drive me crazy. I’ve been awake for the past thirty minutes and still my eyes refuse to open. In the thirty minutes that I’ve been awake, I figured it out that the beeping sound is coming from a heart monitor which means hospital.

  What I can’t wrap my head around is what the hell I’d be doing in a hospital. I should be in class by now if today isn’t a Saturday or a Sunday. Also I must have been heavily sedated if I still can’t move any part of my body after thirty minutes of being awake. I sigh long and hard but still nothing.

  I count seventy-two beeps before my eyes finally flutter open which immediately snap slam shut at the instant glare of the harsh fluorescent lights. I forgot I’m in a hospital.

  Slowly, I peek them back open again and let them adjust to the lighting in the room. I still can’t move anything but now I can see so that’s a miracle to me.

  I look at the plain white wall and then at the door. Something catches my eye and I look back in the corner on my right. There in the couch, sleeps someone. I can’t see much else besides brown wavy hair though and since I can’t move, I can’t strain even a little to get a good look at the person’s face.

  Who is that? I know it’s neither my mother nor my sister because I don’t have either one of those.

  Also I have no one else who would care enough about me to be here. So who is that? I squint a little to get a better look at the person but still nothing.

  ‘You wake up in a hospital and that’s your main concern?’ A surprised voice whispers in my head.

  I was starting to wonder where she’d gone. I’ve been talking to the nag ever since I learned how to steal meat from the soup pot and get away with it. I was five.

  ‘Oh, you’re still here,’ I say in my best disappointed voice but secretly thrilled that she's here.

  'I'm just going to pretend you didn’t say that.’

  ‘Then mind your own business,’ I snap a slight smile tipping up my lips since the muscles in my face are also frozen apparently.

  ‘Your business is my business.’

  ‘Unfortunately,’ I think darkly remembering all the times she stuck her nose in my business.

  ‘So…’

  'So what?’

  ‘You’re exhausting, you know that right?’

  'Makes me wonder what you’re still doing in my head.’

  ‘That’s because I’m you.'

  ‘Pffft, yeah right.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re okay,' she murmurs softly a wave of affection rushing through my mind.

  ‘Yeah me too,’ I answer softly with a sigh. ‘Now if you’re done with the Opera Winfrey heart to heart, can you leave me alone?’

  ‘You make me mad, bitch.'

  'Feeling's mutual. Call me a bitch again and I’ll block you out for a week,’ I threaten. An image of myself with the stink eye flashes through my mind.

  ‘Fuck you too.’

  And then silence. Blissful silence. I sigh in relief. Hmm.

  ‘I can still hear you.’

  ‘Then get out!' I grouse petulantly.

 
; She huffs and my mind goes silent again. I let out a low groan and pain rips through my throat and down my chest. The sound must not have been so low because 'brown hair' flies off of the couch and rushes over to my side.

  I stare blankly at the frantic face staring at me in surprise with a small frown pulling at her lips. I can’t seem to place her face. And why is she looking at me like I woke up after being declared dead. Or maybe I have something on my face?

  “Makafui? Can you hear me? Are you feeling okay?” She asks frantically but her eyes appear blank devoid of feeling. She’s showing concern on her face but her eyes are vacant of any emotion.

  How is she pulling that off? No, I don’t care about that. How the hell does she know my name? Especially that name. Most people here just call me Celia, my English name.

  “Makafui?” How is she even pronouncing it perfectly like that? I stare at her face and try hard to remember how I know this woman but still nothing comes to mind.

  She looks worriedly down at me with those blank eyes and something niggles at the back of my mind but it floats out of reach before I can grasp it and I continue to peer blankly at her. I have the feeling I know her but how?

  A furrow appears between her brows as she continues to stare at my face and I blink at her quizzical expression. She reaches above my head probably pressing the call button for the nurse and a few seconds later a nurse pushes her way into the room with a long suffering sigh, a pinched look on her face.

  Ooh. Hasn’t anyone ever told her that her face looks like an asshole with that expression? Mmm, it’s none of my business anyway.

  “What is it this time?” She snaps at ‘brown hair'. What the hell? She didn’t even glance in my direction. What is the call button for? I wait for her to notice that I’m awake.

  “We don’t have anymore extra pillows and she won’t get any more comfortable than she is right now,” she huffs cocking her hips.

  When ‘brown hair’ goes to talk she raises a meaty paw to cut her off her face tightening even more.