Bloodstone Heart

by T. Lynne Tolles

  "Here," Rowan handed him a laptop. "You know your way around a computer?"

  "Yeah. I'm a programmer by trade."

  "Great. Have at it. Seems you and Blake have even more in common than I thought."

  "Why's that?"

  "He and Devon are both software engineers."

  "Hmmmm."

  Chapter 12

  Melanie had to admit, if you had to be stuck in a car for a long period of time, the Mercedes was a nice way to be stuck. No doubt it would have been much nicer with Josh, but that wasn't an option. In order for the heat to be taken off of him, it had to be done. She figured he would be pretty angry with her right about now, but she hoped he would eventually understand why she had done it.

  She'd been making pretty good time so far. She had opted to go south as she knew Blake was heading north. If Dimitri followed him then she had that much more mileage between them. It was 9:00 P.M. and she was just coming into Los Angeles. Devon had a pretty good map of California in his car despite having a GPS. She had opted not to use the GPS just in case Dimitri had figured out he'd been duped. She figured he didn't know just yet, but the next part of the plan would take care of that and from then on there was no going back. She figured Los Angeles was a good place to get a fake motel room. She pulled into a motel very close to the freeway that had a gas station, and 7-Eleven all within a two-hundred foot proximity. First she went to the 7-Eleven and got a huge Big Gulp of Pepsi and some snack food. Next she went to the gas station, filled up the car, and got a cross-country map. Lastly, she went to the motel, checked in as Mr. and Mrs. Richard Smith, took the key, and went to the room. She used the bathroom to wash her face and got the iPhone out. She sat on the bed and called the number Blake had given her for the house.

  "Rowan? Hi. It's Melanie. I'm using the iPhone. I figured if we were really on the run, I'd be calling you to tell you we were okay. Did Blake and Sally make it back okay?"

  "Yes, they just got back about twenty minutes ago. Are you okay?"

  "Sure. I'm fine. I know I shouldn't stay on the phone long, but I was hoping to talk to Josh. Is he there? Or is he too angry to speak to me?"

  "No. He's here, and I'm sure he'll want to speak with you. Josh? It's Melanie."

  Josh leaped out of the chair where he had been searching the Internet for the last few hours on the laptop. "Lanie? Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine, Josh. I just didn't like leaving without actually speaking to you, but I knew you would have been able to talk me out of this."

  "And I would have, believe me."

  "Are you very angry with me?"

  "No, Lanie. I'm not angry with you. Terribly worried about you, but not angry. I hate that you are there and I am here and that you've put yourself in such danger."

  "I'm glad you’re not mad. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I'm counting on you to come up with a brilliant plan to end all of this, you know."

  "Geez. No pressure."

  " Please be careful and be safe, Josh. Keep that bloodstone heart close to you. I guess I better go."

  "Be careful, Lanie."

  "I will. Oh, and Josh?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I know this is stupid and I'm sure you don't feel the same, but, well, in case something happens, I..."

  He interrupted her before she could finish with, "Nothing is going to happen."

  "But if it does, I just want you to know that I..."

  "Don't, Lanie. Nothing is going to happen. Save what you want to say for when I see you next."

  "Right. Okay then, I guess this is goodbye."

  "No. It's not goodbye. I'll definitely see you later."

  "All right then. See you later, Josh," she said and she hung up the phone, turned it off, tossed the room key on the bed, and got into the car and back onto the freeway heading east.

  Melanie drove all through the night in hopes of making some good distance between her and Dimitri. Once she got on the I-10 heading east away from Los Angeles and the San Bernadino Valley, the scenery turned to a dry dusty desert scarcely populated with vegetation. In Palm Springs the casinos lit up the sky with marquees advertising singers and performers still on the circuit from ages gone by. The next thing Melanie ran into was the Desert Center in Ragsdale. The signs hinted that the Desert Center was something a sightseer shouldn’t miss. Melanie had to laugh when all she found there was a bunch of dead palm trees, abandoned cars, and mobile homes.

  As Melanie got closer to the California – Arizona border, she met up with the Colorado River. At the border there was a Flying J gas station that seemed to have a vortex for attracting anything that passed by, or maybe it was just the last gas station for quite some time in either direction. Either way, Melanie was sucked into the vortex with the others and got gas and snacks.

  Crossing the border, she noticed that the terrain changed drastically. The desert was now rockier and hillier than it had been in California. Even the vegetation seemed to like the AZ desert more than CA. She couldn’t see a lot in the dark but it seemed prettier and less desolate. She had to laugh when she passed ‘Sore Finger Road.’ She wondered if the road had been named after some bad hammer incident or a hitchhiker down on their luck.

  She made it to Phoenix, Arizona by 2 A.M., but pushed on to La Cruces, New Mexico and ran a credit card there for a room. Like in Los Angeles, she checked in, used the bathroom, messed up the bed, tossed the key on it, and left. She continued on to Abilene, Texas before she actually paid for a room with cash and slept for a while.

  Melanie only slept for a few hours. She took a shower and sat down with the map she’d bought in Los Angeles. Mapping out a course for the next two weeks, she marked it with little blue rectangles with 'cc's on them for 'Credit Card' and pink stars for where she would sleep. She could only find pink and blue post-it notes, so these were the colors she was stuck with. She set it up so that she rarely ever slept in the same state as the motel room she purchased on the credit card. Most often there were at least two to three hours of driving between the motel she ran on the credit card and the motel she paid for in cash where she would actually sleep.

  She even set up a plan if Dimitri got too close or if she had to fly to meet someone for help. She would purchase four pairs of tickets for her and Josh, charging them to their credit cards. Each pair of tickets would be for a different airport at least an hour or two from each other. All the tickets would be for different destinations and all leaving as close to the same time as possible. If Dimitri tried to follow, she would have a 1 in 4 chance that he'd pick the wrong airport.

  She hated not knowing what was going on with the others, or if they were making any headway on a plan, but she knew not calling would keep her and Josh safest. Besides, if something happened, she had the pager that Blake had given her.

  She stuck to the south mostly to avoid any snow. Her sixteen day plan which was now mapped out with stars and rectangles also had a big circle she used by tracing a drinking glass where there were at least three to five airports within one to two hours from each other from which she could make her emergency exit if need be.

  Now that her map was complete, she grabbed all her items and a matchbook from the lobby. She figured she should collect a memento from her crazy adventure by herself. She'd have quite a few by the end of her journey and she thought it would be fun to show Josh all the places she had gone, plus it gave her something fun to think about. With everything tucked in her bag she got in the car and headed to her next destination. She'd run the credit card in Dallas, Texas, but she'd be sleeping in Beaumont, Texas, right on the border of Louisiana near the coast.

  Melanie had been gone for almost twenty-four hours and Josh felt more anxious with every hour that passed. He didn't know how he was going to survive knowing she was out there all alone on the run with a killing machine behind her every move. He thought of his conversation on the phone with her the night before, and the thousand different things he should have said. He should have told her how he felt about her, but he
didn't want her thinking about goodbye's and what could have been's.

  He was lucky though; for someone who wasn't used to being around people, he found it comforting to have the distraction of Blake, Dean, Rowan, and Sally. Blake was great. He jumped right into submerging Josh in ways to hone and control his abilities. He figured Blake could sense when he was getting overwhelmed with worrying about Melanie, and he would distract him with a new lesson. He appreciated this more than he could say.

  It appeared that Dimitri had taken the bait and followed Melanie. Though a plan had not yet been worked out, there were tidbits of information coming in all the time from Dominic. He was hoping to meet Dominic someday. He was obviously well educated, and he seemed to truly want to help.

  Along with all that was going on, Anton was hearing more frequently from Darby, which seemed to be keeping everyone hopping. She was going to be meeting with Anton and Dominic the next day. Something significant was going to happen. Josh wasn't sure what, but somehow he felt it would impact all of them.

  While Josh lay in bed that night with a huge cat purring loudly on his chest, he thought of what Blake had taught him. Their lesson today had been on focusing his thoughts out towards someone in particular. So, while lying there petting Harry, Josh focused on Lanie. He thought about how she had always been able to make him comfortable. Just a smile from her was Relaxation 101. He focused his thoughts on her face and her beautiful blue eyes, her comforting smile, and her creamy white skin. Almost in a dream state, he threw his focus out farther, searching for her. He felt a rush of air as if traveling on the wings of a bird, searching and focusing on only her. A flash of light in the far distance urged him. The air rushed past him and he soared like an eagle through what seemed like clouds, determined to find her. He descended on the light, falling like a feather from the sky, landing in the room where Lanie sat reading a map embellished with squares and stars.

  As if a ghost, he fell toward her, brushing her cheek as he floated downward. He could smell her, the actual scent of her hair. She was cross-legged on the bed mulling over her map and plan before she went to sleep. Was it a dream? Did he want to be near her so badly that he was dreaming about touching her cheek and smelling her hair? Was he going insane?

  She yawned and folded up the map. Got up and locked the door while pulling back her hair into a ponytail and fastening it with a brown elastic band. She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. She lay there for a long time with her eyes open. What was she thinking about? Was she thinking about him? He tried to read her thoughts, but then remembered he couldn’t read her thoughts when he was near her, let alone miles away. He was happy to see her even if it was just a dream. It was so serene being in her presence. Contentment washed over him, as if slipping into a warm bath, it swaddled him, easing him into a deep and peaceful sleep.

  Josh woke in the morning to the phone ringing. He heard Blake answer somewhere in the house, maybe the kitchen. He was pretty sure he heard Blake say "Dominic" at some point and since Dominic had been calling quite often with information, he thought nothing of it, until Blake's tone changed. Josh figured he might as well get some coffee and see what was going on. He walked into the kitchen just as Blake was saying his goodbyes to Dominic and Dean was walking in the back door. He sat down at the kitchen table, as did Dean. Dean said, "So, was it Darby or Dominic?"

  "Darby? Why, did she call you?" Blake asked.

  "Yeah. She wants me to go to Connecticut to help her. Dominic's willing to put me up and pay for my ticket. What do you suppose changed his mind about werewolves?"

  "Darby changed his mind. She can be quite persuasive. As for your question, it was Dominic. He wants me to grab you and head out there as soon as possible. Darby's convinced Anton and Dominic that she's found Devon and he is in trouble."

  "Do you believe her?"

  "No. I don't know. But it couldn't hurt to talk to her again, either way."

  "What about the situation here?"

  "Well, I think the girls can take care of Dimitri if he comes calling, unless you think we should take Josh, just to be safe?"

  "I am in the room, you know," Josh said.

  "Sorry, Josh. What do you think? If we both go to Connecticut, we will be gone at the very minimum two days. You can come with us if you want. Doesn't matter to us, right Dean?"

  "No problem here."

  "If the girls can handle it, I suppose I would prefer to stay here in case Lanie calls."

  "I can understand that."

  "Dominic was going to get us red eye tickets so we could be there tomorrow morning. That will give us time to talk to Sally and Rowan. While I'm gone, you should keep practicing some of the techniques I've shown you."

  "Speaking of that, I have a question for you."

  "Yeah? What's that?"

  "Last night, I'm not sure if I was dreaming it or if it actually happened, but I was focusing my thoughts on Lanie while I was relaxed and lying in bed. I had the sensation that I was flying towards a light over a great distance and when I descended I could see her sitting on a bed in a hotel room, looking at a map, planning out her next day’s trip."

  "Really? What other sensations did you feel?"

  "I could smell her hair and I could have sworn I touched her face. She has a way of making me feel very comfortable when I am around her and I had that feeling and then I think I fell asleep, unless I was already asleep and it was a dream. I’m not sure. It couldn't have been real, right?"

  "Huh! No. I don't think you were sleeping. What you described sounds sort of like astral projection only your body wasn't there, just your mind. Could you read her thoughts?"

  "No, but then I couldn't do that even when she was sitting right next to me."

  "That's right, I forgot about that,” said Blake. “I can't be sure, but try it again and see if the same thing happens. Put a notepad next to the bed and in the morning write down anything you remember seeing or hearing. If you are really projecting your mind to her, then you are much stronger than I had ever imagined. Either way, your link to her is very strong and that feeds your gift with more energy, like a battery."

  "Okay. So how is this trip of yours going to affect our plan with Dimitri?"

  "Well, unfortunately, it won't affect it at all. Since we haven't come up with a plan as of yet, I don't think a few days will make a huge difference. We will be with Dominic, and when we aren't dealing with Darby, we'll try to stay focused on researching and dealing with your situation. If something happens, we are a phone call away and hopefully closer to Melanie than you are when it comes to distance."

  Chapter 13

  Melanie's stops that day were New Orleans where she would be running a credit card, and then later she would stay in Montgomery, Alabama. Her plan had her doing a lot of backtracking, but she hoped if she kept it as unpredictable as possible, Dimitri would always be at least a state behind her or, at the very least, a few big cities behind her. She tried to keep the driving to a minimum since she knew that it would get really old, really fast. She took her time going through Louisiana, though, especially New Orleans. The architecture of the buildings was so beautiful. The moss hanging from the trees she found to be oddly graceful and elegant. Having never been away from the west coast, for the most part, she might as well enjoy some of the beautiful scenery around her. When she was done sightseeing, she ran the credit card at a motel in the French Quarter, grabbed a book of matches for her collection, messed up the bed, and drove east until she hit Mobile, Alabama around 6:00 P.M.

  She found a small diner and decided it would be nice to have something other than fast food. The place wasn't crowded at all. It was just her, a little boy, his mother and the waitress, whose name was not Flo, but Debbie. With so few people in a place, it was hard not to eavesdrop on the other conversation.

  The mother was facing away from Melanie, but the adorable little boy was about five years old and playing with what appeared to be a new truck. He made revving noises as the truck rolled over ev
erything on the table and the vinyl seats of the booth. His truck even had the super power of flying from one surface to another where it would suddenly take on the noise of a rocket ship. Melanie smiled as she saw the little boy entertaining himself. She noticed that the mother's arm had some substantial bruising, in what looked an awful lot like a handgrip.

  The mother said to her son, "Danny, I have to go use the restroom. You be a good boy and don't wander off. Your burger will be here in a minute okay?"

  "Sure, Mommy."

  "Good boy." She stood up grabbing her purse and turned towards Melanie and headed to the restrooms just past her. Melanie noticed she had a bad limp and horrible black eye to match her cut lip. Melanie smiled at the woman as she passed but the mother would not make eye contact with her. Melanie was making silly faces at the boy who was now very much enjoying her attention. Melanie figured in a small town like this, that the waitress probably knew the little boy and his mother. After several rounds of peek-a-boo with Danny, Melanie asked Debbie if it would be all right to talk to the little boy.

  "I suppose so. Ellen will only be a minute."

  Melanie got up and walked to the table and squatted down next to the boy. "Hi," she said. "My name is Lanie, what's yours?"

  "I'm Danny."

  "Nice to meet you, Danny. Cool truck you got there."

  "Yeah! Mommy got it for me today."

  "You have a pretty nice mommy. Is she okay?"

  "Yeah, I guess. She just has some owies."

  "I can see that. Does that happen a lot?"

  "Sometimes. But not as much as it used to when he lived with us."

  "Well, that's good. Do you hide when he comes?"

  "Yeah. Mommy says that if I wake up and there's noises and she is crying, I'm supposed to grab Mr. Bear and go to Norah's house as fast as I can and stay there until she comes to get me."