"I know. I overreacted. I shouldn't have made a scene at your party; I just wasn't ready for it. It caught me off guard."
"I know. It caught me off guard too when Devon suggested it. I know it is a long way away, but you must have known that we wouldn't live together forever. I mean, two couples in a house, that wouldn't work. We need some privacy as do you and Blake."
"I know all that in my head, my heart just doesn't want to accept it."
"Mine either, sometimes. Besides you'll be flying over so much for the wedding preparations that you'll get good and sick of Ireland."
"Oh, I doubt that. So that's where you want to have the ceremony?"
"Yeah. I think that's what we both would like. I think Devon feels closest to his parents there and I think that's important."
"Yeah. Definitely."
"It will be months before we actually move, too. Devon's started talking with people there to start renovations, but they are talking months before they can get the right stuff shipped there and then the modifications need to be made, then installation - and that's just for getting his work stuff implemented. There's updating the wiring and plumbing and some minor repairs that need to be made since no one has been doing any maintenance on it for quite a while, so it will be quite a while before we move."
"Hmm. What about Harry? Will you take him?"
"We talked about that, and we decided he wouldn't be happy away from the only home he's ever known. He's king of that neighborhood - I just couldn't do that to him. I’ll miss him terribly, but I love him too much to take him away from his home. Besides customs would put him in quarantine for several months, and he'd never survive being caged up away from everyone he loves, that would be awful. So if it is okay with you, I'd like to have him stay there with you and Blake."
"I'd like that too. For as much of a pain in the butt he is, I don't think it would be home without him. You know, he thinks he owns your room. Blake and I had a little tiff and I slept in your bed one night. When I got up to get some water in the middle of the night, he had gotten off the bed and closed the door on me. He wanted the bed to himself. The only one he has allowed in bed with him so far is Josh. They must have had some male bonding thing or something, it was cute though."
"How funny. He really closed the door on you? What a bad fuzzy boy," Darby said as she laughed. "I also wanted to thank you for taking Melanie in like you did. What you and Blake did for her and Josh was really wonderful."
"It's nothing you and Devon wouldn't have done. I guess we've both had some pretty great teachers."
"No, I think you and he have always been this way, it's just that maybe being the older siblings, Devon and I never let you shine like the bright stars you both are."
"Maybe - maybe not. I do know that Blake and I have a new appreciation for you and Devon when we had to step up and fill in. But I think we've made some really amazing friends. I've never seen Blake so responsible. He's been fretting about Josh for weeks, like a big brother. I've gotten to see a side of him I didn't know existed. In fact, one I'm not sure he knew existed."
"I see you and Sally have really become good friends."
"True. She's definitely not you, but she's pretty amazing. She stepped in while you were gone. I guess I felt pretty lost without you, along with feeling guilty and about a hundred other things."
"Don't do that. I have no bad feelings towards Blake and you. You did what you could. You had to live your life the way you saw fit, just as I had to do what I did. I'm just glad it ended the way it did instead of me in some funny farm, and trust me, there were times I doubted myself. It wasn't easy on anyone and I'm sorry you spent months feeling guilty. I never wanted you to. I might have felt the same way if the tables were turned - most everyone did."
"You're pretty amazing, Darby. I'm pretty lucky to have you as a sister - crazy or not," she teased. "And I am sure glad you found Devon and that we are all back together."
"I'm pretty lucky too, you know. You're a pretty amazing sister too," she hugged Rowan and said, "I love you, Rowan."
"I love you too, D. Always will."
Up in his room, Anton thought about all the happy couples downstairs and remembered his beautiful date from the engagement party. Why had Jules left like that? Had he done something wrong? He mulled it around in his head and just couldn't come up with any explanation.
Had someone said something to her? Why would they do that? No one even knew her. He hadn't even gotten a chance to introduce her to anyone. No matter what excuse he came up with, he just couldn't see any logic behind her departure.
With things so crazy since the party, he hadn't really had a chance to try and give her a call, maybe now was the time to get some answers. He pulled out his wallet and a business card and dialed the number he had written there.
The phone rang four times and he was just about to hang up when he heard her melodious voice on the other end with its slight accent say, "Hello?"
"Uhh. Hi. Jules? It's Anton."
"Hello, Anton."
"Hi. I...well....I...."
"I guess you are wondering why I ducked out of the party without any explanation."
"I... Yes, why?"
"I don't have an excuse, Anton. I guess I just got scared."
"You? Why? Did someone say something to you?"
"Oh no, nothing like that, No. It was all just too lovely. And you were too...wonderful. I panicked."
"Too wonderful? That's a bad thing?"
"Not at all, for a normal person. I just, well, haven't been involved with anyone I could care about in a very...very...long time."
"I see. I suppose it wasn't the best setting for a first date. I should have planned something a little more secluded or intimate, maybe with handcuffs to keep you from darting."
She laughed quietly. "I doubt that would have kept me from darting since I am an excellent lock pick."
"Me too," he said excitedly - maybe a little too excitedly. "So would you, maybe, be willing to try it again? A little more casual? A little less pressure?"
She hesitated for a moment and Anton started to feel she would say no, when she said, "I might."
"Great. No pressure though."
"Right. Okay, well..."
"Well, then I'll say goodnight, Jules, but before I do, can I say, I look forward to our next meeting."
"You may. I think...I do too."
"Goodnight, Jules."
"Goodnight, Anton."
Chapter 36
After dinner, Josh and Lanie went up the stairs for a little alone time that was long overdue. He invited her into his room, closing the door behind them. She sat on the bed and looked at him. "So are you going to explain to me how you knew what Dimitri did to me?
"Hmm. I suppose I should," he said as he lay across the bed, supporting his head with his hand. "I've learned some things while you were gone. I mean Blake taught me some things and other things just came on their own. I hope this doesn't freak you out." She reclined, facing him on the bed supporting her head in her hand.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Well, at first I thought it was a dream, but after describing it to Blake, he was sure that it wasn't. Apparently I can project myself to places - more specifically, to places you are."
"What do you mean?"
"I guess I had been worrying about you and fell asleep thinking about you, and the next thing I knew I was flying, speeding towards a light, faster and faster. That light was you. I could see you, smell your hair, watch what you were doing, but I couldn't touch you or speak to you. After a few nights, I started traveling to be with you without even knowing it.
“I told you before, I feel a comfort I've never felt before with anyone when I'm near you and Blake thinks that I craved that feeling so much that I traveled to you every night, whether I meant to or not, to sleep with you."
"To sleep with me?"
"To just lay next to you, be close to you. Apparently I couldn't sleep without you, so my mind would transp
ort itself to you."
"That's interesting, because there were times at night I could have sworn you were there with me, but I just thought I was losing it."
"No. You weren't. It was me. Later, though, when Dimitri abducted you and tied you up, I could feel your pain and see it, but I couldn't do anything about it. When he knocked you up against the wall, or when he split your mouth open, I felt that, in fact I just about killed myself falling down the stairs, when you hit the wall. That’s how I got this.” He pointed to the stitches on his chin and the cut on his cheek.
“Or when he almost drained you when he first got a hold of you? I could hear you screaming in my head, so loud I thought it would split. That was the first time I transported to you while I was awake. I think somehow, though, that's how I found you in the boathouse. I think you had given up, you weren't yelling for me anymore, but I felt you somehow and found you tied to the boat under the water. I just about died right there. I've never been so scared in all my life, not even when that first vampire tried to kill me. Seeing you there, not moving or breathing. I...."
"I'm sorry, Josh."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"Sorry that you had to go through all of that."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. You didn't do anything but save me over and over again. Because of you I can control what I hear and what I let in or out. I can teleport myself - which I might add is pretty cool, and I can link people. Plus..."
"Link people?"
"Yes. Apparently vampires sense each other not by smell but by thought, so Blake had me link him, Devon, Dean, and Anton to myself, so that we could all communicate without the other vampires sensing them. That's how they were able to come when I needed them and how they took Dimitri and his vampires by surprise.
“Plus I feel like I have a real family for the first time in a long time. Friends - can you believe that? The recluse has friends. All of these things I have because of you."
"What? I had nothing to do with any of that. You did all that on your own, Josh. You always had the power within you to do the things you learned from Blake, you just needed a nudge from someone who knew how to help. And the friends, well, you made those on your own. I wasn't even there."
"But you were and it is your doing. I'm so sorry I was such an idiot to not notice it before you left, but I, well I think I've been in love with you since you slipped on the ice that night at the store. I just didn't know what it was I was feeling, but I've had quite a bit of time to mull that over and a few smacks upside the head from Blake," he laughed, "but it's true, Lanie. I AM very much in love with you."
Lanie's eyes welled up with tears and she put her hand to Josh's cheek - no gloves. Her hand felt so warm and soothing to him. He closed his eyes as if it would make the moment last longer and she said, "Oh, Josh. I am SO in love with you too. I wanted to tell you that night on the phone when I was in Los Angeles. I tried, but I was scared you didn't feel the same way, but I do. I really do.”
He started in towards her to kiss her and stopped and fought with himself whether this was the right time. You never get the first kiss back. Once it's done, it's done. What if he kissed her after confessing his love and it felt like kissing a sister? Oh God, that would be bad, he thought, but he started towards her again, stealing another few inches of distance and stopped again.
Maybe we should be sitting up, or maybe we should go for a walk around the pond in the moonlight, that would definitely be more romantic.
Their lips were mere inches away. He could feel her breath on his face and he came in close again this time touching his forehead to hers, her warm breath softly grazing his cheek and lips. He turned his head slightly still, forehead to forehead, he let his cheek touch her cheek and he could feel her lips touch his ear so soft and warm. He then slid his cheek past her lips to where their noses were caressing each other and his lips ever so lightly touched hers, but then her lips came to his, tenderly kissing his bottom lip and that was all it took for the flood gates to open up for Josh.
She rolled to her back as he propped himself on his elbow. One hand on her cheek and the other under her hair and behind her neck pulling her lips closer to him so he could taste every sweetness they could offer him. Much to his relief, this was no kiss from a sister, her kiss was life giving. His heart ached for more and more. How could he ever get enough of this well of sweetness? One of her arms wrapped around his neck and her other around his waist, being careful not to hurt his injured back, but firmly pulling him closer, just the same.
He moaned at her gesture and he slid his hand under her and pulled her waist to him. She pulled away from his lips and kissed his neck working her way up his neck to his earlobe. His hair tickled her nose. She kissed his lobe and slightly grazed her teeth across it and kissed it again whispering "I love you, Josh", while he kissed the hollow of her neck. How long and slender it was. He had always admired its beauty, but now under his lips he could feel just how velvety soft it was with the smell of her hair just inches away. He kissed his way back to her lips where she hungrily accepted them.
This had to be what heaven was all about. Kissing and touching someone you love so intensely, discovering things about each other, that was heaven. Sure he had been with other women, but they didn't mean anything to him, this meant EVERYTHING. He needed her and she him, not just for pleasure, but also for life, for sustenance. He'd always thought how stupid it was to hear people talking about needing someone, love at first sight and other clichés, but now he understood what all the mushy love songs were about. Happiness like this was worth the fight to get there and anyone who had ever felt this peace would want to share it with anyone who would listen.
He melted in her arms and she in his and life was, at least for the moment, perfect.
As Dominic sat at his desk, he saw Mark walk by the door of the study. "Mark! Could I speak with you for a moment?"
Mark reappeared at the door, "Sure, Dominic."
"Could you close the door behind you?"
"Sure," Mark said a little suspiciously. "What's up?"
"I was wondering if I could entice you into working for me, full time - on the payroll."
"You're offering me a permanent job?"
"Yes. Yes, I am. As you know I'm always researching things and thought I could use your expertise."
"On what?"
"Oh, this and that. But to be a little more specific, I think I've uncovered something that could be huge, but I'll need help. You weren't in the altar room when the girls destroyed the bloodstone heart, but some how the blast cracked a stone in the hearth near where I was standing and revealed a very, very old item hidden within a cutout behind a stone. What I have found seems to involve this family - specifically the Larsens. I also think that the altar room has more secrets to reveal, but I'm not at liberty to discuss that just yet.
“I would like it very much if you would work with me on revealing what there is to be found. Does that interest you?
"Immensely."
"Good. I don't know what your situation is with your relationship with Ms. Sarducci, but I think it would behoove us to have you live nearby. You are welcome to stay in the cottage until you find something to your liking, along with Ms. Sarducci if that is in your plan. Once you find something, I can help get you situated, if you need a down payment or something. Does that sound possible?"
"Wow. Yes and thank you. That sounds very doable."
"Great. I look forward to starting our new endeavor, then."
"Me too. Thanks again, Dominic." Mark headed out of the study with a big smile on his face and Dominic chuckled as Mark turned to say goodnight.
With Mark gone and the house quiet, Dominic rose from his chair and crossed the room, closing the door that Mark had left open. A little privacy was just what he needed now that he had Mark on board; it was on to other matters of the family.
He sat down again at his desk and slowly opened the top drawer revealing the manila folder that Michael had given him ear
lier that evening. The results of the DNA test he had secretly run on Josh's hair and his own. He held the sealed envelope in his hands for a moment, wondering if he really wanted to know the results. In his heart he had felt as if he had already decided what the results were, but where Anton, Josh, and the rest of the family were concerned, proof would be needed.
Feeling torn between being excited and worried they wouldn't be what he expected, he picked up the letter opener. He hesitated once more, wondering if now was the time to reveal the secrets it held, but his curiosity won out and the silver letter opener blade slid easily under the flap of the manila folder. The blade sliced through the paper with ease making a quiet ripping sound as it did so. He set the letter opener down and reached into the envelope.
He stopped for only a second as he took a deep breath and then pulled out the results. One word was stamped across the report in blood red ink - MATCH.
Josh was his son.
The end.
References
Special Thanks
To Cyndi True, Bonnie Tolles, Betsy Riccomini, Tina Rollins, Lori Day, and Janet Traxler for being my readers and supporters. Chad Whelan for his travel expertise, Kimberly and Robert Williams for Robert’s Elevator expertise, and Kelly Eckalbar for her travel input from CA to AZ – thank you for all your support.
About the Author
Born and raised in Silicon Valley, T. Lynne Tolles is a stay-at-home mom, part-time bookkeeper and writer. In the summer of 2009 she claims she got a 'wild hair' and sat down in front of her computer and wrote "Blood of a Werewolf'" in three weeks. She started "Blood Moon" and "Blood Lust" back to back, the following week. "It was never my intention to become a writer, but the more I wrote, the more addicted I became." The Blood Series books presently include three titles. The fourth was released in August 2010 "Bloodstone Heart" and a fifth was released June 2011.
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