Blood Lust Read online

  She lay there for several hours staring at nothing in the darkness of the room. She could hear Devon’s steady breathing and could see his silhouette rise and fall with each breath. She couldn’t sleep, so she silently got up and closed the bedroom door and went into the kitchen, only turning on the light above the burners of the stove. She pulled out the pumpkin pie from the refrigerator and cut a slice. She added some whipped cream from a can and put everything but her plate of pie back into the fridge. She sat at the kitchen table and took a bite. It was good. She thought about how lovely this holiday had started off. How carefree and happy everyone had been. She picked at the whipping cream as she sat in the near darkness.

  She heard a noise coming down the hall, the shuffling of feet. Blake must be ready for a midnight snack of turkey, she thought, and she quickly wiped her eyes of any remaining tears. He was startled to find her there sitting in the dark.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t look fine. You’re sitting in the dark with an uneaten piece of pie that looks like it’s been mutilated.” She looked down and he was right. It looked nothing like the piece of pie she’d placed there a few minutes ago.

  “Can I ask you something?” she said.

  “Sure, as long as you don’t mind me eating while you ask.” He pulled out the Tupperware with turkey from the fridge, set it on the table, and started picking pieces out to eat.

  “What’s going on? Your brother hasn’t said but a handful of words since your uncle left. Should I have not accepted his invitation? Is Devon mad that I’m going? Why are we going to Connecticut?”

  “Wow! That’s a lot more than one something,” he joked. “Devon hasn’t said anything to you about why you’re going there?”

  “The only thing he said was that I am the only reason he’s going, but for some reason, I feel guilty about that.”

  “What do you mean? Guilty?”

  “If I’m the reason he’s going, and he seems to not want to go, then yes, I feel guilty that he is doing something he doesn’t want to do because of me.”

  “There’s nothing to feel guilty about. It’s not you. He and Dominic have always had this...animosity between them, at least since…well, it’s not really my place to say. But I can tell you this, the reason you are going is because Dominic’s son Anton is sick, and he seems to think that since Anton won’t confide in him, then maybe he would confide in his cousins.”

  “He’s sick? I didn’t know vampires could get sick.”

  “That’s what’s so puzzling. We can’t, so there must be something causing it.”

  “But I’ve never even heard either one of you mention Anton. Are you close?”

  “No, not really. Anton and Devon, well, all I can say is they had a falling out a long time ago and Devon just doesn’t like to speak of it.”

  “Seems to be a lot of that going around,” Darby said, sadly poking at her pie. “But if they aren’t close, why would Dominic ask Devon to go? If they don’t get along, why would Anton confide in him?”

  “He probably won’t.”

  “Then why are we going?”

  “Because Dominic demanded it.”

  “Demanded it? I didn’t think Devon would ever do anything demanded of him.”

  “He wouldn’t.”

  “Then why? And where do I fit in?”

  “I can’t go to Connecticut. I just started a project for a firm in San Diego so I can’t leave right now. Devon refused to go. I feel somebody has to go, even if it solves nothing, so I made a deal with both of them. Devon would only go if you went with him, so I told Dominic he had to invite you properly.”

  “Swell. So that’s why he exited so fast. I was forced on him.”

  “It was the only way Devon would go.”

  “But he doesn’t seem to want me to go, so why would you make a deal like that?”

  “He does want you to go, Darby. I can’t explain to you all the complexities that go with it, but he does want you there. You’re the only thing that would keep him together through this.”

  “Then why is he shutting me out, if I’m so darn important?”

  “It’s complicated, Darby, very complicated. He’ll tell you when he can find the words. I know he will. I will also say that, knowing my brother, it will probably get a lot worse before it gets better, but you are everything to him – I do know that. Give him a little time and space. I know he’ll eventually open up, but seeing Dominic like that, I think, has just brought a lot of things up to the surface that he’s pushed way down for a long, long time.

  “Guys are not like girls in any sense of the word when it comes to feelings. I guess we figure if we don’t talk about them, they will eventually go away or be forgotten. I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but it’s just how we deal with things. If we can’t physically fix something, then we stash it away until we don’t think about it and it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “That’s really dumb.”

  “Well, a lot of things girls do don’t make any sense to us either, so let’s just leave it at that.” He smiled at her.

  She finally took a second bite of the pie. “So your advice is to say nothing, until he decides he’s ready, and he will come to me on his own.”

  “Exactly,” Blake said, taking a huge bite of turkey.

  “What if he doesn’t?”

  “He will.”

  “But…what if he doesn’t?”

  “I’ll make a deal with you. If he doesn’t come to you with this, by the time I get there, then I will tell you myself. Deal?”

  “When are you coming?”

  “Probably two, three weeks or so, unless it’s all cleared up by then.”

  “Two or three weeks? Ugh! Is Dominic married? Anton?”

  “Aunt Sophia died a long time ago and well, I can’t really say about Anton. He was married, but I don’t know what the situation is anymore.”

  “So you expect me to live in a house with three angry men, none of whom will be speaking to me or each other, for three weeks?”

  “Two or three weeks.”

  “You don’t understand women at all, do you? I’m going to go nuts without someone to talk to. Geez. Three weeks. Will you at least be bringing Rowan with you when you come?”

  “Probably not. There’s that whole werewolf issue with Uncle Dominic.”

  “Ooooh! That’s right! That explains his behavior during the introductions. How did he know Dean and Rowan were werewolves?”

  “Like me, Uncle Dominic is adept at telepathy and I assume he sensed it. Rowan not so much, but Dean, well, it’s written all over him like a tattoo.”

  “That sucks. Another trip to the east coast and it will be as cold in the house as the weather outside. Yippee! Any advice you can give me to get on Dominic’s good side?”

  “Nope. Once he’s made up his mind, there really is no changing it. Very stubborn.”

  “Hmm. A family trait, I see.”

  “I have no idea to what you are referring!”

  “What about Anton? What’s he like?”

  “I don’t know. He’s Devon’s age. Good looking, I suppose, arrogant, self centered, stubborn.”

  “Gee! Do you think your uncle would be insulted if I took back my acceptance to his invitation?”

  “I don’t think he’d like that at all, plus it’s too late now. You’ll be fine, Darby. Everybody likes you. You’ll win them over; you may not know you’ve done so, but you will.”

  “Wow, you paint such a pretty picture of the next few weeks. I think I’m more depressed than when we started this conversation.”

  She had picked up her plate and started for the sink when Blake said, “You’re not going to throw that away, are you?”

  “I was. Why? Do you want it?”

  “Duh!”

  “Where do you put it all?”

  “You’re very funny this evening. Keep it up; you’ll need it for Connecticut.” She set her plat
e down in front of him and kissed the top of his head.

  “You’re messing up my hair,” he said. She took both hands and shuffled them rapidly through his hair, making it stand up. “Thanks!” he said. “That was helpful.”

  “Anytime, string bean.”

  “Night, Darby.”

  “Goodnight, Blake.”

  Chapter 3

  Darby woke the next morning to find Devon already out of bed, showered, and packing.

  “Good morning, Sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?”

  “Hmmm,” he answered as he continued to pack. The sadness she had felt the night before hit her again hard. Devon was still ice cold. She got out of bed and stood behind him and wrapped her arms around him. She kissed his back and laid her face on it. He patted her hands the way he might a child or a dog, and said, “You should get into the shower. We have to leave in forty-five minutes.” With that, he spun out of her arms and continued to pack.

  She backed up and sat down on the foot of the bed, watching him. After several minutes of silence, she went to take her shower.

  Afterwards, she finished packing, zipped up her bag, grabbed her long black wool coat from her closet, and laid it on her bag. She went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, staring all the while out the window over the sink. She could hear Devon making trips back and forth to the car with the luggage. Maybe he will warm up and talk to me on the plane. After all, they would be sitting next to one another for almost eight hours. But she couldn’t push away the feeling that this was how it was going to be for a long, long while.

  Hadn’t they been through enough together that he would confide in her? Hadn’t he learned anything from pushing her away during their last argument? Didn’t he understand how scared she was to meet his family? She thought about her conversation with Blake in the darkness the night before, and knew that she was going to miss him very much.

  She continued to stand there, slowly sipping her coffee in silence, wondering what was about to happen to her. Devon entered the kitchen.

  “Are you ready? We need to get going.”

  “Yeah.” She poured the rest of the coffee down the drain and set the cup in the sink. She passed him without making eye contact and headed to the living room, where Rowan was sitting on the couch in her robe and Blake was next to her eating more pie. Darby felt her chest tense up and the hot tears come as she turned to them. She hugged her sister tightly and the tears poured out. She tried not to look at her and turned to Blake, reaching up to hug the handsome vampire. He spoke to her telepathically, obviously blocking Devon from hearing what he was saying. Don’t cry, Darby. Please don’t cry. He’ll come clean with you. He loves you.

  I’m not so sure, Blake, something is terribly wrong.

  It’s just your imagination.

  No, Blake, something very bad is about to happen. Ask Rowan, I’ll bet she’ll be able to see something coming in a runes reading or a tarot card reading.

  Trust me, Darby. There’s nothing in this world that could keep him from you.

  Devon said coldly, “Come on, Darby, the limo is here, we have to go.”

  She let go of Blake, but held his gaze as she wiped her tears away. Something is very wrong, Blake. Trust me.

  He looked at her with concern and she put her head down, avoiding eye contact with Rowan and Devon as she walked out the door. Devon started to close the door when Blake grabbed his shoulder and spoke to him telepathically. Damn it, Devon, talk to her. She’s scared. She needs to know and if you don’t tell her, I will.

  Without responding, verbally or otherwise, Devon closed the door and followed Darby to the limo. The driver had already opened the door for her and was headed around to the other side to open the door for Devon. Once all were inside, the limo slowly drove off, leaving Rowan and Blake watching out the window. Rowan looked at Blake and asked, “What the heck just happened?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You were here. What’s with your brother? He’s turned into ‘ice man’. If I didn’t know better I would have sworn they just left for a funeral.”

  “Oh, that. Nothing. Everything is fine.”

  “I’m sorry, Blake, but you are dead wrong. Nothing about that scene was fine. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “You and your sister have very active imaginations.”

  “What? She thinks the same thing, doesn’t she? You’ve talked to her, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “So, what did she say?”

  “She said Devon wasn’t speaking to her and was a little standoffish.”

  “A little standoffish? Are you insane? There hasn’t been a half an inch gap between the two of them in months and in a matter of fifteen hours, there seems to be miles of distance between them. What else did she say?”

  “She just asked why Devon was acting like this.”

  “And you said?”

  “It’s not my place to tell her, or you for that matter.”

  “I swear to God, Blake, if you are letting my sister walk into a lion’s den of danger, I’m going to make you very miserable.”

  “A lion’s den? Come on. It’s family.”

  “Not our family. She doesn’t know anyone there, and it’s not like your uncle was super friendly to her. Now Devon’s not speaking to her. Why are they going anyways?”

  “My cousin, Anton, is very sick. Dominic just asked us to come and help him figure out what is wrong.”

  “He’s a vampire right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why would he be sick?”

  “That’s the point. No one knows, so he asked us to come and talk with Anton.”

  “Well, that seems pretty innocent.”

  “See?” he said.

  “But you aren’t telling me everything, are you?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Then out with it,” she demanded.

  “I can’t.”

  “God, you and your loyalty crap. Geez. Will it really be so bad if you just told me what was going on?”

  “I can tell you, as I told Darby, Anton and Devon don’t really get along.”

  “Then why in the heck would Devon be going?”

  “Because I can’t. I’ve got to work.”

  “Are you closer to Anton?”

  “Not really, but I’d say we get along better.”

  “So what’s the beef between them?”

  “Can’t say.”

  “UHHHHHHH! You make me so crazy.”

  “That’s why you love me, right?”

  “Not exactly, and certainly not at this particular minute. So can you tell me why Darby is going?”

  “Because it was the only way Devon would go.”

  “So a deal was made. That’s why the formal invite at dinner last night and I guess that would explain your uncle’s hasty departure.”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you be going?”

  “When I get things cleared off my desk, yes.”

  “Will I be going?”

  “Hmmm. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “The werewolf thing.”

  “Right! Things just keep getting better and better. So Uncle Dominic doesn’t approve of your being with me.”

  “Not exactly.”

  “And how does he feel about Darby?”

  “I don’t know, fine I guess. You have to understand, our family, the Larsen side at least, are pure bloods, descendents of vampire royalty. They look down their noses at anyone who isn’t of such nobility. According to the Larsens, my mother married beneath her and so Devon and I have had to put up with the wrath of the family ever since.”

  “So Darby isn’t good enough, and I’m beneath pond scum.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that, and I don’t think that, but Dominic might. I’m not proud of his arrogance and behavior, but he’s the only family we have.”

  “That’s not true. You have us now.”

  “You
know what I mean. Blood family.”

  “Great! So that is all well and good, but it doesn’t explain anything about Devon’s behavior.”

  “I can’t go there, Rowan. I will say that I told Darby if Devon had not explained himself by the time I arrived, I would explain everything then. That gives Devon time to come clean on his own.”

  “Come clean? So there is some kind of family issue, and it’s big, isn’t it?”

  “Pretty big.”

  Chapter 4

  As the limo drove along the freeway, Darby stared out the window watching familiar landmarks go by. This drive on 280 North, towards San Francisco, was always so pretty. Not as pretty as it was in the spring, when the new grass was growing all along the foothills, but pretty just the same.

  There was the familiar stone missionary pointing towards the ocean from atop his hill. There were the pretty waters of Crystal Springs reservoir and the rolling hills in general with their ancient live oaks, madrones, and pines. But none of these things brought comfort to her as tears fell for most of the ride.

  Thirty-five minutes later, the limo driver was pulling to the curb at the United Airlines terminal. He jumped out and opened the door for Darby, offering his hand as Devon had in the past. She wiped her eyes and took his hand. Devon was already out of the car and waiting at the curb as Darby came around and stood behind him. The driver took their baggage from the trunk and deposited it next to Devon, who handed some money to the gentleman without saying anything.

  Darby met eyes with the driver, and said, “Thank you.” He tipped his hat. Devon already had the bags and was walking through the automatic sliding doors when Darby turned from the driver towards the terminal. If she had turned a split second later, she would have found herself completely alone at the curb. This stabbed at her heart, worse than anything he had done earlier. For a second she thought she should hail a cab and go home, but she knew that wasn’t a mature reaction and it certainly wouldn’t make anything better.