Blood Lust

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “Look, I know I can get Dean out here, but I’m not sure Blake and Rowan will come. They haven’t spoken to me since I moved out here. Like you, they thought I went off the deep end and that there was no saving me. I guess I can understand that. It will have to be you to bring Blake here. Dean could do it on his own with the help of some vampires, but I’m useless against vampires. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve but nothing that can stop a vampire.

  “I’m begging you. In order to save Devon, we need at least Blake and you two to keep her at bay while Dean takes care of her. If you can’t do the deed, then you’re going to need Dean and Rowan. You decide. I’m going to check on Mark and see if Libby’s made any moves.”

  Chapter 16

  Darby called Mark. “How’s the stakeout going?”

  “Well, I followed her to Mystic, CT. She’s in the house right now. I’ve been here for about an hour now. If I’m right, she’ll head back to Fairfield later.”

  “So you think Openheimer’s is her home base, so to speak?”

  “Not sure yet, but I suspect so. So far all of the other homes have residents in them.”

  “So she either has Devon at Openheimer’s or he’s at another house.”

  “Right.”

  “Well, that doesn’t make sense, Mark.”

  “Why?”

  “He has to be at Openheimer’s because she needs to keep an eye on him. All the other men are living in their own homes and to some extent are willing participants. She’d need to keep Devon close to her, or he would bolt.”

  “Unless, Darby, he is a willing participant like the others.”

  “I like my theory better.”

  “No doubt. How’s it going with the Larsens?”

  “They don’t want to kill her; even after all she’s done to their family.”

  “Really? Huh! Well they do have a lot of history with her.”

  “Yeah…all bad!”

  “Isn’t that kind of how families are? You take the good with the bad?”

  “Well sure, but she’s not going to repent. She’ll just start over again.”

  “You know that, and I know that, but…”

  “But nothing. She’s killing people. And she’s been doing it for a long time. Lord knows how many she’s killed.”

  “You can’t make them do what they don’t want to.”

  “Sure, I can. I’ll just send for my werewolf friend and his witch girlfriend and we’ll take her out.”

  “You have that much power?”

  “No, but Sally does and between the two of us we can hold her until Dean rips her apart.”

  “Sounds like you have your plan.”

  “Yeah, I guess, just wish I had a little bit more support. Why don’t you give me all the addresses we do have and I will run them past Dominic. Dominic said he would put together a list of pure bloods he knows within driving distance and we will compare the two lists and see if anything jumps out at us.”

  “Okay, Darby. Hang in there. We’re moving into the home stretch here.”

  “You think?”

  “I’m hoping. You’ve been through enough, Darby. Besides that, we have six addresses. There can’t be more than one or two more.”

  “God, I hope not. I don’t know how much more time he has. Be careful, Mark, she’s beautiful and dangerous. Remember to scootch down.”

  “Okay. I’ll keep you posted. Are you staying there tonight?”

  “I don’t know, probably, unless you need me.”

  “No, you get yourself a nice warm meal in a nice warm house. It would be good for you.”

  “Thanks, Mark. Bye.”

  Darby walked back into the library. “Good news, boys. Mark followed her to another house in…” she looked at her notes, “Mystic, CT. That leaves us with only one or two more.” They smiled at her. “So Mark gave me all the address he has so far and I was going to compare them with the list you come up with for the pure bloods.”

  They again smiled at her. “What’s with you two? This is good news.”

  Dominic said, “It is, dear, truly, we were just wondering…”

  “Wondering what?”

  “Well, what if we are too late? What if Devon is dead?”

  “He’s not.”

  “But what if he is, Darby,” Anton said. She plopped down in the chair and put her head in her hands. “How long have you been wearing Devon’s overcoat?” She looked at her arms and realized she hadn’t taken it off.

  “Oh, I don’t know, I guess since I found it in your apartment in New York. That’s also where we found the address to Leon Openheimer’s house in a woman’s writing.”

  “How do you know it’s not my coat?” Anton said.

  She pulled out the bobby pins from the pocket. “They’re mine, from the night Devon told me about Libby when we were in the cottage. He wrapped this coat around me and carried me to the cottage. We argued and I came up to the house still wearing this coat and pulled the pins from my hair and put them in the pocket before I fell asleep in front of the fire over there.”

  Anton and Dominic looked at each other and then back at her. “Aren’t you warm now? You can take it off.”

  “Oh no, I’m fine. You know it still barely smells like him. It’s comforting to have something of his so near me. I can close my eyes and almost imagine him holding me.” She closed her eyes for a second and smiled and then opened them again seeing the concern in Dominic’s and Anton’s eyes.

  “You know last night it was unbearable sitting in that car, maybe yards from Devon and not being able to help him.”

  “You don’t know that he was in that house.”

  “No, I don’t, but I could imagine it. What if he was in there taking his last breath? I was so close and yet I couldn’t touch him or help him.”

  “Darby you need some rest and some food. Why don’t you give me that list and you go take a nap.”

  “Oh no, I can’t. We’re so close. Even Mark thinks so. Maybe only one more house then we can squash her like a bug for the awful things she’s done to all of you. We can work on the list together. I’d like that. I’ve missed you both so much.” Of course, just then Sammy dropped his tennis ball on her foot under the table. “Oh Sammy, I missed you too.” She rubbed his ears and kicked the ball for him.

  “But you are no good to him if you drop from exhaustion,” Dominic said.

  “Oh, I’m far from that. I’ve had a lot of Pepsi! Besides, you need to make your minds up about Dean and Sally. It’s going to take them a full day to get here, Rowan and Blake too, if you go that route. We need to give them a heads up.”

  “Then say that you will at least spend the night here. I’m not driving you back to that ice box of a house,” Anton said.

  “Fine, but we need to get to it. Poor Mark is the only one out there working and he hasn’t had any sleep either.”

  “You mean you were at the stakeout all night with him before I picked you up?”

  “Yeah. He dropped me off and I had just finished changing when you knocked.”

  “Geez, Darby, when was the last time you slept?”

  “I don’t know, four or five months ago? Just kidding, I don’t know; I guess, night before last.”

  “And ate?”

  “Pizza last night.”

  “You do realize that if Devon is alive and we find him, he’s going to kill Dad and I for letting you do this to yourself.”

  “Look, the only thing that matters is that we find him, and find him in time. You two may not hate her for what she’s done to this family, but I sure as hell do and I’m not going to let her live to try and kill another Bloomington or Larsen, if I have to die trying. Now are you going to call Dean or shall I?”

  “Make your call, Darby. I’ll call Blake,” Anton said. She smiled and ran over to him and kissed him on the cheek and did the same to Dominic. Then she pranced over to the big leather chair in front of the fire and sat on the ottoman and called Dean.

  “Sally? Hi,
sweetie! It’s Darby. How are you?”

  “Darby? Oh my God, are you all right? Where are you?”

  “I’m in Connecticut. I need to know if you and Dean would be willing to come out here and help me with something.”

  “Umm. Well, I probably shouldn’t with the bookstore and all, but I’m sure Dean would come.”

  “I may need your magic, Sally. If Rowan and Blake won’t come, I will definitely need your help. So if you want to wait to find out what their plans are, that is cool.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that. If Rowan stays I’m sure she could watch the store for me.”

  “Thank you from the very bottom of my heart. Is Dean available? Can I talk to him?”

  “Anything, Darby. Absolutely anything. I’ve missed you so much. It’s been so awful here since you’ve been gone. Let me go find Dean. Love you, Darby! Hang on.” She could hear that Sally had set the phone down, and she thought she heard the back door slam. Then there were monstrous steps getting closer.

  “Darby? Is it really you? Where the hell have you been?”

  “Hi, sweetie. God, it’s great to hear your voice, Dean. I can’t tell you how great it sounds…” she got lost in her thoughts for a moment, then caught herself and continued. “Dean. I need you desperately.”

  “Just what every man wants to hear.”

  “I’ve missed that sense of humor, Big Guy! I’m going to have Dominic send you some tickets to fly out here as fast as you can.”

  “Dominic is going to send ME tickets?”

  “Yes, he is. And you will be staying here in Connecticut.”

  “As a pet?”

  “No, silly, as an ally. I need you as a werewolf to take out a nasty vampire.”

  “Cool.”

  “Depending on whether Blake and Rowan come and help, will decide whether or not I need Sally to help. Anton is getting in contact with Blake right now.”

  “So what is this all about?”

  “It’s what it’s always been about: Devon.”

  “Darby, I don’t know. Rowan and Blake are pretty dead set against all this confusion about you and Devon.”

  “It’s okay, Dean. I have proof that I’m not insane. I’ve spent the last four months tracking down Libby and her ‘Men’ and we think we are down to the final few. I want to act fast. Devon may be in pretty bad shape.”

  “Are you sure about this? I mean, Blake and I are pretty good buddies, I don’t want to be stepping on family toes, so to speak.”

  “It’s okay. When Anton gets done talking to Blake, if you would like to talk to him, before you decide, I’ll be all right with it. Disappointed, but all right. But let’s make things perfectly clear, Dean. This favor I’m calling is for Devon and me. If you can’t do that, then I guess I’ll deal with it. Okay?”

  “Yeah, sure, you and Devon. I’ll call you back in a couple of hours with an answer.”

  “Good. If it’s yes, I’ll have Dominic make sure tickets are waiting for you and/or Sally at the terminal. Thanks, Dean. Miss you.”

  “Miss you too, Darby, and Devon, for that matter.”

  She hung up. She was so tired of convincing people she was right. Did they all think she was an idiot? Geez. Would everyone have given up looking for her so easily if this had been her and not Devon? Ugh! she thought. She looked over at Dominic who seemed to be racking his brain to make his list and Anton seemed to not be making too much headway with Blake. How could Devon’s own brother have given up on him? Rowan giving up on her, and Blake giving up on Devon, that bothered her more than anything. If someone had told her a year ago that this would happen, she would have laughed at them. Rowan not being her best friend? How ridiculous that sounded! What a bizarre thought. Blake not believing his brother might be in danger? Preposterous. And yet here we are.

  The fire felt so good as she sat there in the comfy chair, and the slightest smell of Devon from his coat she still wore was comforting. Hearing Anton’s voice in the background was the icing on the cake and she melted into the chair, closed her eyes, and fell fast asleep.

  Chapter 17

  Darby woke with Mr. Chow next to her on the comfy chair in front of the fire. The sun was now low in the sky and Dominic and Anton had left the room. She jumped up, scaring the heck out of Mr. Chow, and was on her feet in an instant hunting the two men down in the house. As she searched the house she looked at her cell phone to see if she had missed any messages and to see what time it was. It was six P.M. She started panicking. “Anton. Anton, where are you? Anton.” He appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “It’s all right, Darby. I’m right here. Are you okay? We thought we’d let you sleep,” he said as he descended the stairs.

  “Please don’t. I don’t want to be alone. It was comforting hearing your voice.” He put his arms around her and held her. Oh God she thought, how long had it been since someone had held her like this? It seemed like forever. She stood still and relished the comfort of his arms and the sound of his heart.

  He said as she didn’t move, “Are you all right, Darby, really?”

  “What? I’m sorry, I…it’s just been so long since anyone has held me. I forgot…never mind. So what did Blake say?”

  “He’s coming.”

  “To help or to be a butt?”

  “Probably a bit of both.”

  “And Rowan?”

  He shook his head. Her heart sank. “Dean?”

  “Yes, he’s coming too.”

  “When?”

  “Red eye. They’ll be here in the morning.”

  “Blake didn’t believe you, did he?”

  “No, but I’m hoping when he sees all the paperwork and research you did, he’ll change his mind.”

  “So he’s really just coming here to get in my face.”

  “Probably a bit.”

  “Great. Just what I need! I’m so sick of trying to convince people. How easily all of you just assumed the worst about Devon! Especially Blake. I’m tired. I just want this to be over.” She held her head for a minute and then said, “Did you get anywhere with the list of pure bloods?”

  “Yes, actually. Dad came up with two names not on your list. He’s having some staff at the office look into anything odd concerning the men. They are to report back if the men have been seen by others in the office in the last month or so. If not, we may have our other addresses.”

  “Since Dominic knows most of these people, he could feasibly call these gentlemen too, without anyone feeling it was odd, right?”

  “True. What are you getting at?”

  “I’m thinking that if he calls all these gentlemen and is able to talk to them, number one, we’ll know they are all still alive; and number two, we’ll know where Devon isn’t.”

  “Okay. I see what you are saying, but it doesn’t tell us where he is.”

  “True. Unless we find another address that we can’t account a pure blood for, I’m guessing he is at Openheimer’s house in Fairfield. I’m going to call Mark.” She pulled out her cell phone and began to dial.

  “Mark? How are you doing? You must be exhausted.”

  “Getting there.”

  “Anything new?”

  “No, we’re back in Fairfield.”

  “Dominic came up with two possibilities. Robert Ross in the Hamptons and Carter Peterson of New York. Do either of those ring any bells for you?”

  “Hmmm . Not sure. Neither name seems to strike any chord but the Hamptons came up a couple of times in my searches. What about help? Any coming?”

  “Dean’s coming.”

  “Not the witch or your sister, huh?”

  “No.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “Blake, but I think he’s just coming to put me in a loony bin, not to help.”

  “Can we do this with just us and Dean?”

  “Oh no. You are not going to get yourself into this mess. I’ve already gotten you too involved in our family problems. Once you’re done tracking her, you’re going home, Mister.

/>   “Dean and I will manage. Maybe Dominic will help. I don’t think Anton has the stomach to kill his wife or be involved in doing so.”

  “You’re going to need my help, Darby. You need all the capable bodies you can get.”

  “I’m hoping to persuade Blake once he’s here and sees the evidence for himself. He might even listen to you, but probably not me.”

  “When are they coming?”

  “They’re taking the red eye in and will be here in the morning. You’re welcome to come here when you are done there.”

  “I’ll call you if I find out anything else.”

  “All right.” Darby hung up the phone and looked at Anton.

  “Nothing new. They are back in Fairfield at Openheimer’s.” Just then Dominic walked in.

  “I just found out from one of my sources that Robert Ross hasn’t been seen in the office for at least a month now.”

  “Then that has to be the last one. I just got off the phone with Mark and he didn’t recognize the name, but said that the Hamptons had come up in his records a couple of times. What I’d like you to do, Dominic, is call these guys, all six. See if you can actually talk to them. That way we know that all of them are still alive. If we can get them all on the phone, then we know Devon has to be in Fairfield.”

  “Okay, I’ll get right on it.” Dominic left the room again. Darby pulled out her phone and texted Mark.

  Mark

  No one has seen Robert Ross in a month. The Hamptons has to be our other address. Dominic is calling them now to see if he can talk to them.

  Darby

  Darby walked out of the library and found Anton, hands in his pockets, staring out the huge glass wall where Darby and Bernard had watched the snow fall a few months ago. “Anton? Are you okay?”

  He turned and smiled. “Yeah, I was just thinking.”