Deadman's Blood (32 page)

The concerned couple hesitated for a moment as Josh limped slightly towards their destination, then they headed to their own home. Melanie got Josh safely in the house and finished the healing. As she did, she explained to him that the driver of the car was a very old vampire and that this wasn’t its only attempt at taking a life, but that was all that she could tell. She got no picture of a face or a hint at who it might have been.

Knowing this attempt may well have been connected to Blake and the Larsens, Josh decided it was time to head back to California to let Dominic know and to check on Blake’s progress with the dialysis.

Devon wasn’t feeling particularly well the day he and Darby planned to go for their underwater adventure, but as he started to feel a little better that evening (at least, that’s what he had told Darby) they headed out to the shoreline in the dark. This way, they were hidden in the shadows of night instead of visible to passersby who might wonder about this couple in wetsuits, underwater without air tanks.

They made their way to the water’s edge, their rubber suits squeaking. With goggles in place, the scrying crystal in a bag tied around Darby’s wrist, and flashlights in hand, Darby put the magical pearl the mermaid queen had given her into her mouth and tentatively descended under the dark water.

There was something serene about being under the water at night, but it could easily turn to creepy in a heartbeat if the circumstances were right. It was cold, no doubt. The initial plunge under the water almost took her breath away, but after a moment, she had either gotten used to it or the numbness from the cold just made it less noticeable.

The pearl worked great. The only worry she had was that she might accidentally swallow it. As they went deeper in the water she felt a sense of isolation even though she was in a big wide ocean; the pressure of the water served almost as her own little box. With the light only able to penetrate several feet around her, she could see how one might feel claustrophobic in such a situation. It did have its beauty though, as fish flitted by, drawn by the light of the flashlight. As she figured it would be, scrying was a bit of a challenge under the water. It took several tries for her to decipher which was the current pulling the stone or the stone telling her where to go. It didn’t take long before she got a handle on it and she waved to Devon to follow her.

After a few minutes, Devon and Darby came across an unbelievable mountain of bottles - green bottles, brown bottles, clear bottles, big bottles, and small bottles. Truly, if one was in the market for bottles, this was the place to come. In the darkness, as it were, it was hard to judge just how big the mountain was without anything to compare it to. It could take them a week to go through all these bottles; thank God there was a little magic to be used.

Darby took out the scrying stone and held it as she had done a hundred times before above water, and let it do its thing. She concentrated on her ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ questions to ask the stone about what direction to go as she hovered over the mountain of bottles. It led her to the Northern most side, but several yards in towards the middle. That is where the digging, so to speak, would begin.

Darby had earlier shown the drawing of the bottle in Nuala’s book to Devon, so at least he could help her sort through the bottles. Every fifteen minutes or so, Devon would go to the surface for more air then travel back down to the arduous task of sifting through bottle after bottle.

After an hour or more of the seemingly insurmountable task, Darby again tried scrying. This time it pointed inwards, away from the hole they had started. When she had gone up to talk to Devon at one point when he had gone for air, she’d noticed the mountain of bottles now looked like a volcano with an odd air vent on its northern bank.

After another half hour of burrowing into the pile, she felt a sense of electricity all around her, like when she put up her force field bubble during a fight. She hoped this was her senses picking up on the magical properties of Biddie’s bottle.

She felt sure they were near it and she waved excitedly for Devon to come quickly as he descended from his air break. By now they had made quite a crater in the side of the mountain. It seemed for every bottle they would throw aside, eight more fell into its place.

Feeling confident, Darby saw something glowing just under a couple of bottles not quite in her reach. She pointed to the glow and Devon acknowledged her by thrusting his arm deep into the pile towards the bottle they were certain was their waiting prize. They hadn’t thought about the stability of the mountain until it was too late.

A rumble of clinking and tinkling of glass came tumbling down upon Devon. It was as if a huge hand shifted the mountain towards the North as if it were filling in a hole with sand.
Could the Sidhe have something to do with it?
Darby wasn’t sure, but now was not the time to worry about it. She had to dig poor Devon out.

With a burst of adrenaline she dug with both hands, spewing bottles between her legs and behind her like she’d been hit with a bolt of electricity. Devon had been completely buried to his shoulders and had been struck in the head with several bottles. When the avalanche of bottles covered him, he had been bent over, whereas Darby had pulled back so Devon could reach for the bottle. If she hadn’t pulled back when she did, they both would have been buried.

She could see Devon trying to help from under the pile. His vampire strength allowed him to move a bit under the weight of the bottles. Within about 20 minutes, they were finally able to pull him free. When he emerged from his prison, he lifted his right hand up and out towards Darby, revealing the bottle they had been looking for. Quickly they surfaced as Devon was overdue for a breath of air. When they broke the surface, Darby lunged for Devon, throwing her arms around him and pulling him close.

“I thought you were a goner there for a moment,” Darby said, stroking his face as he took long, deep breaths of air.

“I was a bit worried too. But then you started digging like a crazy woman and I knew it would be okay,” Devon said out of breath and smiling.

As they waded towards the shore, she asked, “How did you keep ahold of the bottle after that huge slide of bottles came down on you?”

“I don’t know. Guess I had clamped down on it just before it happened and just didn’t change my grip. I’ve never seen anything like it. That avalanche seemed to come out of nowhere,” Devon said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” she said as she crawled to the rocky shore, helping Devon into a sitting position next to her.

“Are you okay? You look pale,” Darby said.

“You might be a little pale too if you almost drowned,” he said.

“No. I mean, I know, its just you weren’t feeling well today and now this,” Darby said, concerned.

“I’ll be fine, Sweetness, I think I’m just tired. Nothing a little blood and a goodnight’s rest won’t cure.”

“Spoken like a true vampire,” she smiled.

They both slowly got up as the adrenaline started to wear off and their bodies were starting to stiffen and ache. It was good to get in the car with towels and wool blankets. Darby wasn’t completely convinced that Devon was telling her the whole truth about how he was doing, but it felt good to get home.

While Darby was trying to peel off the rubber suit, Devon went to the basement fridge for a glass of blood. “This should do the trick,” he said as he climbed the stairs, still donning his wet suit.

He downed the glass and was in the shower with Darby in no time, relishing the divine hot water that was slowly easing away the aches, pains, and cold.

Exhausted by the evening’s events, they both went straight from the shower to a warm bed and fell fast asleep.

*****

The phone rang several times before Anton could answer.

“Hello?” he said.

“Anton? It’s Jules.”

“Oh. What is it?”

“I was hoping we could get together and talk. There are some things you should know,” she said.

“I don’t think so, Jules, I really don’t think I can handle anymore information from you.”

“I know it’s a lot to swallow. I’ve done some things I’m not very proud of, but it never had anything to do with killing your family. The stuff with Josh and the Bloodstone Heart; well truthfully, it was purely coincidental that your family was involved. That is unless my employer knew of it and I didn’t, but even so, I never had any intentions of killing Josh or the Harper girl.”

“Her name is Melanie…and though it may not have been your intention, you didn’t stop any of it either. These are people’s lives, Jules, and you speak of them as if they are meaningless,” Anton pointed out.

“You’re right, I suppose. I’ve been killing for others for so long, I guess I do have a warped sense of humanity. For a long time I was driven by this misconceived anger I had for being abandoned by Owen and the Larsens as a whole, but now that I know the truth, the anger is gone. I feel like a new person. Someone who doesn’t know who they are anymore, but wants to be a better person. I don’t want to be that old villain ever again. I’ve called my employer and I’ve told him so and though he threatened me, I don’t ever intend on being employed to do someone else’s dirty work ever again.

“You have given me this treasure and opened my eyes and made me take a good look at myself. I want to be a better person for me but also I’d like to be one for you,” Julianna explained.

“That’s great, Jules. Glad I could help,” Anton said sarcastically. “Mind telling me who your employer is?”

“Ummmm,” Julianna hesitated.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought,” Anton said.

“Wait, Anton. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you it’s just that you would never believe me if I did tell you,” she admitted.

“Right,” Anton said not really believing her.

“Truly. If I were to tell you who the culprit is, could you find it in your heart to forgive me?” she asked. “Do you think we could try? To have a relationship, I mean?” she asked tentatively.

“Why would I do that, Jules? Why would I open up to you and lay my heart out in front of you for you to stomp all over?” Anton asked.

“Because for the first time in over four hundred years, Anton, you’ve brought a warmth and promise for something I’ve so wanted. You did that, Anton. You mended a broken heart I didn’t think even existed inside me anymore. You know ALL my secrets, Anton; no one ever has before,” she admitted.

“At least not that lived to tell about it,” he said.

“True,” she said, “NO ONE has ever been as close to my heart since Owen. I never let anyone ever get that close.”

“I don’t know, Jules. That’s an awful lot to ask, considering your involvement with all that has been going on,” Anton pointed out.

“I had nothing to do with Josh’s parents deaths. I swear it!” she implored.

“What about Blake? I saw you kill that man. I saw you drain him and collect the blood. Next thing I know Blake is in a coma after having had Deadman’s Blood,” Anton argued.

“You’re right. I did kill that business man and I did retain his blood, but I gave it to my employer per his request. I was doing what was asked of me. I didn’t expose Blake to the blood or have any involvement with him being sick,” she admitted.

“You were just doing your job,” Anton said.

“Yes,” she said, but then realized how harsh that sounded. “I didn’t know that the blood was intended to kill your family. I’m sorry, Anton. I really didn’t know who it was intended for, I just did it,” she said.

“Like you were told,” Anton said.

“Yes,” she said sadly realizing how horrible it all was. “I was a horrid person. I know that. Please believe me, Anton. I know what I’ve done, but I didn’t know it was going to hurt you, or I wouldn’t have done it. I swear,” she pleaded.

“So what about this second attempt on Josh’s life? Did you have anything to do with that?” Anton asked.

“There’s been a second attempt? In California? When did this happen? Is he okay?”

“You’re telling me you didn’t know he was run down by a car when he went home to bury his parents?” Anton asked.

“No. How awful. NO. Is he okay? When did this happen?” she asked.

“A couple of days ago, in Minnesota. Melanie was able to heal him,” Anton explained.

A sigh a relief spilled from her mouth as if she had been holding her breath this whole time. “I’m so sorry. I’m glad he’s better. So Melanie is a healer?”

“Why, are you going to run back to your employer and tell him?” Anton wondered.

“No. I told you, I broke all ties with him and told him to never call me again, that I didn’t want anything to do with his vendetta against the Larsens,” she repeated.

“So you say, but you still haven’t said who he is,” Anton claimed.

“I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” she said, defeated.

“Try me.”

“Will you forgive me if I do?” she asked.

“You really want to throw emotional blackmail around with all the other misdeeds against you?” he asked.

“No. I guess it’s habit. I’m sorry. It would just mean a lot to me if you could find it in your heart to forgive me, Anton. I’d like to start over. Do you think we could do that?”