“What about?”
“How lucky Devon is for one thing. You’ve stuck to your guns through all this for him, not knowing if he was alive or not, or even if he betrayed you. He’s very lucky to have someone who cares about him so much, enough to lose your own family, and everything you’ve worked so hard for. Not many people would do that for another.
“I, on the other hand, have someone who left me for dead, taking my cousin in my place. How many people has she hurt, killed, or committed? Forty years of my life with someone who never loved me; just wanted my name, my blood, my…someone who was so selfish that she wouldn’t even allow me to be happy with someone else. It’s all so overwhelming. How did you stay so strong, through this, Darby?”
“I don’t know, Anton. Guess I’m just stubborn…or crazy. I’m certainly not looking forward to another round of this with Blake. And who knows, Anton, another month of this, I might have been calling it quits myself. I can’t say. I know I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of being so alone. I’m tired of defending myself and Devon. I’m tired of not having a home, a real home and a best friend to talk to. And I’m so tired of being sad. I miss my big fat cat, Harry. I’m not sure I would have survived much longer, Anton. If this doesn’t bring Devon home to me, I’m just not sure I will survive it.”
“Please don’t say that, Darby. Dominic and I will be your family, always. You’ve been the optimistic one for so long; don’t let that go just yet. I’ll deal with Blake. Just don’t give up yet. Despite the way people are acting, they do want to see Devon come home. They just don’t believe like you do. Whether Blake helps or not, I will do my best to help. I may not be able to kill her, Darby, but I can certainly keep her from killing you, Dean, or Devon. Okay? We’re in this together. You saved my life, not too long ago. I won’t ever forget that, and I won’t ever stop being grateful for the sacrifice you made in doing that for me and for my family.”
“Thank you, Anton, for believing in me.”
Chapter 18
Mark was able to have a buddy take over the stakeout and headed to Westport to take Darby up on her invitation. It was nice to finally put a face with a name. Anton and Dominic were very pleasant and hospitable to him. They all had dinner together and Mark filled them in on what he had found out from his buddy when he took over.
He too had confirmed that it was very likely that Robert Ross was the next address. The only unknowns were if there were any others they didn’t know about, and, of course, the exact whereabouts of Devon.
“Is there any way we can search the Openheimer house without her knowing we were there? My worry is if we go crashing in there and Devon isn’t there, then she knows we’re on her tail and she disappears again and we have nothing. Sure we will have saved the six vampires, but we won’t have saved the one we were trying to save,” Darby asked.
Mark said, “Well, that’s why we are still tailing her. This is what we know. Exactly every seven days, she goes to one of these houses. She never does more than one house at least not that we’ve caught her at yet. So it’s easy to assume there is a man to drain for every day. The only house she goes to in between is the one in Fairfield. That house makes the most sense for Devon to be at. All the others are residents who are more or less willing participants. Like Darby mentioned to me, If Devon isn’t a willing participant, she couldn’t leave him alone for seven days, without him healing himself and escaping, and she’d have to make her feedings more often on him.”
“So what would your plan be then?” Anton asked Mark.
“I say unless my man finds Libby going somewhere unexpected tonight, we go to Fairfield when she is not there. Grab Devon and get him to safety. Dean, Anton, and hopefully Blake can take care of Libby when she shows up.”
“What if she suspects and goes after Devon?”
“I don’t know, didn’t get that far in the plan. I’m up for any suggestions.”
Darby said, “We could take Devon to my house. Libby would have no idea that existed. She would assume we’d take him to Westport. I don’t think she knows Anton is alive and I don’t think she will be expecting a werewolf.”
Mark said, “You don’t know that, Darby. She may very well know you are there. If I were her, I’d sure as heck keep tabs on where you were.”
“He’s right, Darby. I too, would keep an eye on you if I was worried about Devon being found. I doubt she thinks you’re capable of what you’ve uncovered, but I’m sure she considers you a problem,” Anton said.
“Okay then, what if we don’t get him clear of the house, we just go in there and take her on and I keep a bubble around Devon and help where I can?”
Dominic said, “Keep a what around him?”
“Oh, I’m sorry; you’ve never seen any of my powers. Mentally, I can project a force field around someone or myself. I don’t know if I could keep her out of it, but Blake says it’s pretty strong. He helped me perfect it. At first, I could only use it like a wall to protect myself or in throwing someone back and away from me. When Mr. Paine, the guy that killed Mr. and Mrs. Bloomington, sent some men after Devon and Blake, I kind of accidentally threw one of his goons back into a tree, killing him. He had shot Devon, and well, I…I didn’t mean to kill him, but I had never used or even knew I had the power at that time.” All three men stared at the skinny, fragile Darby. She guessed they couldn’t picture her killing anyone or having such an amazing power.
She continued, “Yeah, well it wasn’t pretty, but it kept Blake from being killed that night. The arrows he was shooting from his crossbow were Yew and covered in some kind of…”
Dominic interrupted her, “A Yew seed poison!”
“Yes, that’s right. Blake and I got that out of him and of course he healed right up. I thought it was my great nursing capabilities. I didn’t know at the time he was a vampire, just thought he was a cute guy who lived next door that I was kind of falling for.” Again all three men stared at her.
“We caught up with Paine in Maine, when he kidnapped Rowan and started subjecting her to injections of werewolf blood. I told you about this, Dominic.” He nodded and the other two men looked at him and then back at Darby. “Paine thought that Blake had turned Rowan to a vampire, so he injected her with werewolf blood thinking the two bloods would fight it out and both die, killing her.”
“My God. That’s despicable,” Anton interjected.
“You’re telling me!” she continued. “Since Rowan didn’t have any vampire blood in her, she just turned into a werewolf at the next full moon. While we were dealing with all that, Blake had suggested that I put my mental bubble around Paine instead of just using it like a wall to protect myself. So I did that, and held him in that state for about two hours before I just about passed out from exhaustion. I was able to make the bubble airproof, so when he was trapped and running out of air he finally told us where Rowan was and the guys went and got her.”
Dominic, Anton, and Mark were stunned. Sweet little Darby, kicking butt and sending mental bubbles, wow. None of them could picture her doing any of this.
“Now I haven’t done this in a couple of months, but I’m sure I could keep her from harming Devon any more, while the fight was on. Or I could hold her in a bubble until you guys could surround her and take her out.”
Dominic was floored. “Take her out? Like a gangster?” He started laughing. “You are one amazing woman, Darby O’Rielly. Sweet Jesus, ‘take her out’.”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“I believe every word, sweetheart. Every word. You are so much like Gail, it’s alarming. Of course, I believe you. Why else would you have survived all these months, searching and searching for Devon? You are stronger and more courageous than any man or vampire I’ve ever known.” He chuckled again, then murmured to himself, shaking his head, “I’d sure like to ‘take her out’ that nasty little vixen.” More laughing. “Gail would have loved that,” he said and then chuckled some more. Now everyone was staring at Dominic, including Darby
.
“So…with my mental bubble stuff, maybe I should stay there with you guys and help in the fight.”
Anton said, “I sure wish that we could get you and Devon to safety instead.”
“I like that plan better too. If indeed he is still alive, Devon and Darby deserve to not have to fight this one,” said Mark.
Anton agreed. “Maybe we should finish up the fine points of the plan when Dean and Blake get here in the morning?”
“What time will they be here?”
“Plane gets in at 9:35 A.M.”
“Mark, why don’t you go get some sleep; you’ve been up for days and you look like you are about to drop,” Dominic said and Anton agreed.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll come find you if I hear anything from Wally.”
“Thanks, Mark. Sleep well,” Darby said to Mark as he staggered up the stairs. “I feel so helpless. We’re so close, and yet still nowhere closer to finding him,” Darby said.
“I know it seems that way,” Anton said, “but we are very close. I do understand your tension. Especially since you’ve waited for so long to get here. But you too should try and get some rest.”
“Are you insane? That’s the last thing I’ll be able to do.”
“Well, then maybe we should play some cards or something to get your mind off everything.”
“I don’t know, Anton, I don’t think I would be very much fun to play with. I feel as if I’m about to come out of my skin.”
“Well, then, can I offer you a brandy, or glass of wine, beer, something?”
“You have beer?”
“We do, in fact. Bernard keeps it on hand from time to time. Would you like one?”
“Oh yes, please. I haven’t had a beer in so long I’ve forgotten what it tastes like.”
“Well, then, let’s not keep you waiting any longer.” He was off to the kitchen in a flash and back with two long-neck bottles.
“Oh, thank you, Anton. You’re a prince.”
“Who knew all I had to do was get you a beer to think of me as a prince?” he laughed. He tapped her bottle and said, “Here’s to finding Devon.”
She smiled and said, “I will definitely drink to that.”
With a couple of beers and a couple of games of cribbage, she started to get very drowsy. He got up and started to pick her up. “No, Anton, I don’t want to go to bed. I don’t want to be alone. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and be alone forever.”
“You’ll never be alone again, Darby. I promise. I’ll stay with you. You won’t be alone. I will be there when you wake up. I promise.”
“Okay, but only if you don’t go anywhere.”
“I promise.”
His father passed him on the stairs and smiled at him. Bernard had already pulled back the covers so Anton laid her down and took off her shoes. He pulled a cover up over her thin form, completely clothed and still wearing Devon’s overcoat. He grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and brought it near the bed and grabbed a book off a shelf. Getting himself comfortable, he saw that she kept opening her eyes to see that he was still there. He smiled at her and said, “Close your eyes and get some rest. I’m not going anywhere, Darby. I’ll stay right here. I promise.” She smiled and closed her eyes for the last time that evening.
Chapter 19
Darby slept more soundly than she had in months and if it hadn’t been such a huge day, she would have slept there for another three days, making Anton stick to his promise. She opened her eyes to the prettiest room ever. She remembered it being gorgeous when she stayed there before, but something about today made it all the more lovely. She rolled over to find Anton sleeping very uncomfortably in the chair. His head was flung back, mouth open, book across his chest, and feet on the bed near her knees.
Darby found this quite comical as he made a most obnoxious noise trying to breathe with his head in such an odd position. She giggled as she tickled his feet. He practically snorted himself to death and fell out of the chair.
“Oh, Anton. I’m so sorry. I didn’t think you’d react that way. My, you are quite ticklish, aren’t you?”
Still a bit groggy and obviously in a bit of discomfort the way he was stretching, he smiled to see her laughing. She helped him off the floor and asked, “What time is it?”
Anton rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch and answered, “Almost 10:00.”
She grabbed his hand, “Come on, they’ll be here soon.” He wasn’t sure why they were running, but he followed her anyway down to the dining room. She saw Dominic in his familiar spot and Mark eating the biggest stack of pancakes she had ever seen. She let go of Anton’s hand and rounded the table with ‘Good mornings’ and kisses on the cheek to all. Even when Bernard entered with more coffee, he too got a kiss on the cheek and a ‘good morning.’
All the men in the room were happy to see her so chipper. A good night’s rest had done her a ton of good; of course, Anton was looking a bit deprived. He sat down with a plop and rubbed his hand through his very short hair when Darby placed a cup of coffee in front of him and kissed him on the cheek. Instantly, he was wide awake.
“So, has anyone heard if Dean and Blake have landed safely? Are they on their way? How long will it take for them to get here? Have you heard from Wally, Mark? Anything new there?”
Mark said, “Are you high on Pepsi again, Darby? Slow down.”
Dominic laughed and answered her questions. “Yes, sweetheart. We’ve heard from Blake. They’ve landed and are on their way. They should be here in about fifteen minutes. Does that answer all your questions?”
She looked at Mark. He took a huge swallow of pancakes and said, “No, there is no news. She never left the house in Fairfield when she came back last night.”
She smiled and took a sip of coffee, looking at all the men around the table. She said, “You really going to eat all those pancakes, Mark?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Just asking. You sure you’re not related to Blake? That giant string bean can put away a stack of pancakes like no one’s business.”
“Sounds like a great guy,” Mark said and smiled.
“Oh, you’ll like him a lot. Dean too, for that matter. Both of them are very competitive and have this stupid tough guy syndrome going for them.”
“Smart guys,” Mark said, nodding his head and giving Darby a forced smile behind a full mouth of pancakes.
“Hey, Bernard, you better make a gazillion more of those pancakes if Blake’s coming. My guess is there will be some stupid contest between these guys on who can eat the most.”
Bernard poked his head in and said. “I’m way ahead of you, Miss. I’ve been making pancakes for an hour now. I’ve got quite a reserve for Master Blake.”
“Yeah, Bernard, but you’ve never met Dean. He’ll be wanting in on that competition, trust me.”
Dominic dropped his paper and started cracking up, much to his son’s surprise. Anton just shook his head in amazement.
There was a loud commotion in the foyer and Darby jumped up and ran to the front door screaming, “String bean, my giant string bean!”
She wrapped her arms around Blake practically knocking him over, only to be steadied by Dean. She turned to Dean and kissed him so hard on the cheek he thought he would have permanent lip marks there that he’d have to explain to Sally.
“Come, come. Bernard is making pancakes. I know how you love pancakes, Blake, and Mark is in competing mode. Come on.”
Blake looked at Dean and they both shrugged, “Who’s Mark?”
“I don’t know, but I’m up for pancakes. Giant string bean?” said Dean. Blake nodded with a smile, but then started to say something about the string bean comment and they both walked into the dining room.
“Blake, this is Mark Rosenthal. He’s a private investigator and a very good friend of mine. Mark, this is Blake Bloomington, Devon’s brother. This big guy is Dean Wolfe. I think the three of you will have a lot to talk about. Dean, you met Dominic on Thanksgiving. Anton, th
is is Dean Wolfe, a very good friend of mine. Dean, Anton is Blake and Devon’s cousin, Dominic’s son.”
Dean said, “Nice to meet you. Where are the pancakes?”
Darby laughed and said, “They’re coming, Dean.” They all sat down and Blake got into his Parental Mode and started to tell Darby that she needed to come home and quit all this nonsense, when Dominic looked at him and said, “Blake…shut up and listen.” The Parental Mode quickly dissipated.
While the pancakes were consumed, Darby and Mark filled them in and told them everything that needed to be said about Libby, her gentlemen, what she was, and where they thought Devon was.
Blake said, “So all this time, Darby, you’ve been here looking for him?”
“I have, and Mark and I are pretty sure he’s here being held at a house in Fairfield. We staked it out and everything. We think she uses that as her home base. Openheimer has been dead for quite awhile now. I guess she figured if no one was using the house, she would. She doesn’t know that Anton is alive. But you, Blake, need to be very careful, if we don’t catch her right away, because if she can’t have Devon, she’s going to want you or Dominic. She seems to have very particular tastes and seems pretty happy with the taste of Larsen blood. So if she gets away from us, Blake, you and Dominic will be her next targets.”
“Dominic, is this all true?” Blake asked.
“As far as I can tell, yes. She’s done a hell of an investigation, her and Mark, here. There’s a ton of proof, Blake. It’s all in the library on the table if you want to go through it. We’re just hoping that Devon isn’t dead yet.
“This house in Fairfield seems to be the most likely spot she’d hold him. All the other gentlemen she frequents well, I’m ashamed to say, do so willingly, but Devon, is another matter. We think she needs to keep him close and drained often, because otherwise he’d heal and leave.”
Blake jumped and said, “So let’s go and get him, if that’s where he is.”
Darby said, “Well, that’s what we want to talk to you about. We want a plan and a back up plan, if possible, before we go bolting in there.”
Blood Lust Page 14
