Revolutions (Davenport Manor Book 3)

by Melissa Zaroski

  “Yeah, that seems to be the problem I also considered. Let’s just say Todd and I do end up back together by some grace of God. Kelly knows too much. She knows what she is, she knows what she can do, and knows that she can kill us with her blood. What do we do about that?”

  “Kill her,” Daniel flatly said. Emma was unsure if he was being serious or sarcastic.

  “Okay, Aidan,” she rolled her eyes at him. “She doesn’t deserve to die because of what she is. I have never shared Aidan’s theory on living weapons. That would be like us having to die simply because we’re vampires. Or someone having to die because they have blonde hair. It’s just who they are and how they are made at no fault of their own. I don’t believe in killing living weapons. However, as long as she is living under this roof, there is going to be a problem. And frankly, I don’t trust her when it comes to me.”

  “Kill her,” Daniel repeated.

  “I’m not going to kill her.”

  “Then call Aidan. He’ll kill her.”

  “Dude…what’s with the violence this morning?” Emma laughed as she gave him a mock-disgusted look.

  “I’m just teasing…kind of. However, I do think you need to call Aidan for two reasons. He needs to know about Todd’s turn of events. And, if you don’t entirely trust Kelly, perhaps Aidan would have an idea of how to…ah…redistribute her.”

  Emma leaned to the side, away from Daniel, and gave him an incredulous side-eye. “Seriously, who are you? If I wasn’t Queen, I’d swear you were King!”

  Daniel raised his glass in a solitary “cheers”.

  “Redistribute her, huh? Kelly’s a person, not a possession.”

  “You weren’t singing that tune a few months ago. I hear you kept her around simply so you could have two living weapons in your possession.”

  Emma cringed. She did say that, didn’t she? When Zachariah had suggested that Kelly come to live in the Manor, he reminded her of the power that she would have with not just one, but two living weapons. That decision came to bite her in the butt now as she never thought that Kelly and Todd would become so enamored with each other.

  “Call Aidan,” Daniel urged as he set down his empty glass on the step, and leaned back. He closed his eyes as he felt the sun saturate his usually cold skin.

  Emma knew he was right and stood up, brushing the dirt off of her butt from sitting on the cement steps. “I’ll give him a call now. Wish me luck, sounds like I’m going into the war zone in there!”

  “Brave soul!”

  By then the arguing had ceased, but there was still tension lingering in the house. She could hear one slamming things around in the kitchen, and the other slamming things around in the bedroom. Luckily, this was her chance to avoid both of them and make a quick beeline for her bedroom. She wasn’t sure how Todd would behave around her since she was the cause of Kelly’s suspicions.

  She dashed up the stairs into the hallway and made it to her bedroom undetected. She picked up her phone and speed dialed Aidan, letting out a huff of air as she held the phone to her ear. She was not looking forward to this conversation. It seemed that every time she called him, some new drama was arising.

  His deep, gravelly, Scottish brogue picked up, delighted to hear from her. After they exchanged their pleasant greetings, Emma dove in to tell him everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

  “Never a dull moment in North America, is there darlin’?” He chuckled, much to Emma’s relief. “Well…I don’t see how Todd would be much of a threat anymore. However, I do fear that some vampires might go overboard and actually hurt him. Not being malicious, but too many drinking his blood. Many were turned without consent and might be happy to become human once again. My advice is to keep him under your protection, but let’s not advertise what he is now. I do want to ask a delicate question, though…are any of you considering drinking from him? I need to know since you are the North American Royals.”

  “I’m fairly certain that Zachariah is. He hasn’t told me directly, but I overheard some conversations and I just get the feeling. I just know.”

  “Do we know for certain if Todd’s blood is still the cure? What if it was a one-time thing?”

  “I had that same thought,” Emma said. “And frankly I do not want Zachariah to be the guinea pig. I was thinking of using a vampire that’s under punishment. I have a few that have been buried alive as punishment out in my forest. I was thinking of digging one up and using them as the guinea pig. What do you think?”

  “It sounds like the best plan that we have,” Aidan agreed. “You do that and let me know how everything goes.”

  Emma decided not to bring up the Kelly situation to him just yet. She didn’t want to overload him with drama since the Todd thing was pretty big news. They bid their farewells and hung up before Emma called for Daniel to come in to her room. He appeared in the doorway in a flash, eager to hear what Aidan had to say. She relayed all the information to him, which induced a confused look from him.

  “What do you mean we’re going to dig up a vampire? I’m lost here,” he asked.

  “Yeah…so, when vampires break the rules and go rogue, us Royals have to enforce them. That means a punishment, usually by being drained and then buried alive. Being drained weakens them so that they can’t fight to get out of their graves, or wherever they are being held captive. I generally like to bury them alive.”

  Daniel’s mouth hung open with horror, never realizing that Emma dished out punishments like that. However, it made him respect her that much more.

  Emma clapped her hands once with a go-get-‘em attitude and exclaimed, “Let’s go get some shovels! But first I need to get some of Todd’s blood. I don’t want a desecrated vampire going anywhere near his neck.”

  Daniel walked away chuckling, “You are far too excited about this.”

  Emma stood in the hallway for a moment and breathed in through her nose, searching for Todd’s scent. As it turned out, he was the one who was banging around in the bedroom that she heard earlier.

  She nervously approached his door, knowing she was the cause of his fights with Kelly. She lightly knocked and heard his footsteps shuffling to the door. He grumpily opened it, assuming it was Kelly, but was pleasantly surprised when he saw Emma’s face before him.

  “Good morning, Todd,” Emma greeted with a big smile, making her best attempt to sweeten him up. “How are you this morning?”

  “I’ve had better days,” he admitted. “I’m sure you heard me and Kelly going at it this morning.”

  “I heard a little bit, but I was outside with Daniel in talking to him, so I was able to avoid eavesdropping the best I could. I have to say though, I’m sorry if I’m causing problems.”

  Todd shrugged and shook his head, “It’s not your fault that Kelly is insecure. Although, you can be pretty intimidating!”

  “Thanks!” Emma smugly exclaimed. She began to explain to him their plan for digging up one of their vampires that were being punished and using them as a guinea pig. They wanted to see if Todd’s blood could still cure vampirism or if it was just a one-time deal. However, they weren’t about to test it out on one of their own vampires in their circle.

  “So, you think Zachariah’s going to do it?” He asked with concern. He knew it had been talked about, but Emma seemed pretty sure that it was going to happen.

  “Honestly, I do. I know Zachariah loves me, but I know he has always resented me for turning him. This time, I’m giving him the choice.”

  Todd was silent for a moment before asking what seemed to be the big question of the day. “What about you? Have you thought about it?”

  Emma walked across his room to sit down on the chaise lounge, and stared out the bay window. She admired the beauty of the scenery before her; everything she could see was her land. The fields, the trees, all of nature’s beauty on the other side of the window pane was her kingdom. “Of course I have,” she mumbled.

  “Do you recall why we broke up?” He aske
d while sitting down beside her, and gazing out the window as well. Neither of them looked at each other.

  “I’m a vampire, I have a vast memory. Of course I remember.”

  “You do realize that you and I could have that normal life together now?”

  She coyly smiled, “It has crossed my mind.”

  “But!” He finally turned to face her. “I would never ask you to change what you are for me. I know you were turned into a vampire without being asked, but I also know that you enjoy being what you are. How could you not? You don’t age, you’re strong and fast, and have witnessed so much history during your time on earth. What’s not to envy?”

  “I’ll never die. Everything has an end; even inanimate objects have an end. Living things have an end. Death is forever and unfortunately, I’m already dead. While this life is great for those who fear death, it also becomes redundant being around for so long. Most of us get to the point where we want the normalcy of having an end.”

  “So what does that mean for you?”

  “It means,” she started, but couldn’t find the right words. “It means…I don’t know what it means. I like being a vampire, but I also long to be human again. I’d really have to think about it.” She stood up to get a better look out the window, and saw that Zachariah had finished his ride and was walking his horse to the stable. She urgently wanted to talk to him.

  Emma took one step to begin walking away, but Todd grabbed her by the arm, not letting her go. He gently pulled her back toward him, trying to lead her back down to the chaise lounge, but she resisted. At that moment, he wanted to finish what was started the night before.

  “You’re with Kelly,” Emma stated as if he didn’t know.

  He stood up to face her, his tall body towering over her. With his head bowed down toward hers, he locked eyes with her and admitted, “I would leave her in a heartbeat if it meant having you as mine. The only reason I moved on with Kelly was because I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

  Emma leaned forward and pressed her forehead to his chest, “I always wanted you. I always loved you. Still do. But, you had no future with me. I wanted you to find someone to grow old with, and that definitely wasn’t going to be me. I certainly wished that someone was me; you have no idea how envious I am of Kelly…well, not entirely envious. I’m an immortal damn it, I’m far superior.” Emma flipped her hair over her shoulder sarcastically and beamed up at Todd.

  He pulled her into a tight hug and said, “We seem to be the definition of star-crossed lovers.”

  “Here’s my question for you, though,” she pulled back, looking up at him. “Would you still feel the same about me if I was just a mere human? I know that part of the allure of being with me is because of what I am. What if I wasn’t anymore?”

  “Your being a vampire is just an added bonus. As a whole, I love you for you. Plain and simple.”

  She nodded in understanding, and took him by the hands. “I seem to have a lot to think about then, huh? I just don’t want to get your hopes up just yet.”

  Todd understood and certainly didn’t want her to make a rush decision. Deep down he was hoping that she would choose to change as well, but he certainly didn’t want her to do it if she wasn’t one hundred percent on board.

  “Now…I need to ask you for a little vial of your blood. Do you mind?” She batted her eyelashes.

  Todd went to his desk and opened the drawer where he kept a few mini bottles of alcohol. He pulled one from the drawer that he didn’t plan to drink anytime soon. He took it into the bathroom and poured the liquor into a little cup (he didn’t want to waste it), washed out the bottle, and got out a pair of scissors. He called Emma into the bathroom with him so she could feed him some of her blood after he drained some of his own. When they were ready, he took the scissors and slashed the palm of his hand, causing blood to drip from his fist. He clenched his teeth and winced and the slicing pain shot through him. He carefully hovered over the empty liquor bottle, allowing his blood to keep dripping until it was full.

  His hand was searing, and he couldn’t wait to drink some of Emma’s blood so that it would heal his hand. He set the bottle aside, indicating to Emma that he was ready, and she bit her own wrist and held it up to his mouth. He had done this so many times before that he knew how much was enough to heal the wound on his palm. Once he was healed, he screwed the cap back on the bottle and rinsed off any remnant of blood from the outside.

  He held up the bottle for Emma and said, “One serving of the magic potion, coming up!”

  “Thank you, love, I’ll let you know how it goes,” she stood up on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” she admitted with her hand over her mouth.

  He took her by the shoulders aggressively, startling her by his sudden action. His eyes were zeroed in on her glistening fangs that still had a bit of her own blood on them. Her lips had a purplish color to them when she went without makeup, yet they were full and inviting to him. He quickly leaned in to kiss her on the mouth, but she was faster and ducked away.

  “Thank you for donating some of your blood, Todd,” she said. “I’ll find you later on and let you know how it goes.”

  And with that, she left him by himself, still stunned that she rejected his kiss.

  She poked her head back in and purred, “A little anticipation never hurt anyone!” And she disappeared out the door with a devilish smile plastered on her face.

  CHAPTER 11

  Emma called for Daniel and together they darted toward the stables, hoping that Zachariah was still there. They each brought a couple jugs of blood and three shovels to use for the task at hand. When they arrived at the location, they were surprised to see Zachariah sitting on the ground where his old cottage used to stand. It was where he lived when he became an orphan and worked at Davenport Manor as their stable boy. Over time, the little cottage where he used to reside became dilapidated and had to be torn down. The stables had been remodeled several times over the decades to keep them in good standing. But, they remained in the same spot as they did in 1839.

  He was sitting on the ground, his knees bent with his elbows resting on them, looking around at the scenery. He didn’t seem surprised when he saw Emma and Daniel show up. They sat on either side of him, not caring if they got dirty from sitting on the ground.

  “So…” Emma began.

  “So.” Zachariah flatly said. “I’m assuming you know what I’m thinking about doing.”

  “Of course I do, that’s why I’m here with this,” she held up the little bottle of Todd’s blood. “However, this isn’t for you; I’ll be darned if you’re going to offer yourself up as a guinea pig. We don’t know if his blood is still the cure or if it was just when Vivienne bit him. So, after conferring with Aidan, we decided the best thing to do to find out for sure is to find a test subject.”

  Zachariah looked at the shovels that they had been caring; it took him a moment, but then he realized what they were doing. “You’re going to dig up one of the prisoners, aren’t you?”

  “Was it the shovels that tipped you off?” Daniel said while scratching his head.

  “Well, I’d rather test the blood on them than on me! Let’s go do this.”

  They ran through the forest to the little area where Emma would bury her prisoners. Their sentences varied; some were for a decade, some for several decades, and some were forever. Those ones committed the most heinous of vampire crimes. Emma decided that one of them would be the one to use. Emma pointed to a spot and the three of them began digging. They heard the faint sound of moaning; so faint it was barely audible to their super-sonic ears. The vampire underneath them obviously heard them above him.

  “Is he going to be nasty looking?” Daniel cringed.

  “Probably,” Zachariah responded matter-of-factly. “I remember this guy, he’s been in here since the 1970s. So probably be pretty shriveled up and corpsy-lookin’.”

  Daniel’s shoveling slowe
d down as he gave Zachariah a disgusted look.

  “Ah, toughen up, kid! Trust me, give yourself a few centuries and you’ll see stuff nastier than this,” Zachariah laughed.

  They continued digging until they were all in the grave and Daniel’s shovel hit something hard. They all knelt down and used their hands to brush away dirt, revealing the wood underneath them.

  “Barry Peterson, you in there?” Emma knocked.

  A very weak vampire struggled to whisper, “Yes.”

  Emma ordered Zachariah and Daniel to climb out of the grave and wait at the top as she tore the wooden boards open. Daniel wrinkled his nose when Barry was revealed; his skin was shriveled and a dark gray, looking like a skeletal raisin. His pitiful eyes squinted from the sunlight pouring in; something he hadn’t seen in nearly forty years.

  Emma lifted him up, making sure not to accidentally inhale because she knew that guy was going to be ripe after spending that much time in a grave. He couldn’t stand, so she laid him on the dirt ground as the three of them stood over him. Emma opened a jug of blood and held it to his mouth. As the blood trickled past his eager lips, his wrinkles began to fade and he began to fill out. His skin color changed from a dark, rotting gray to a light gray. As he gained his strength he was able to sit up and hold the jug on his own. Of course, Emma, Zachariah, and Daniel were all prepared to take him down if he tried to run. After that much time of being buried and without blood, he wouldn’t stand a chance against them.

  “Hey there, Emma, Zachariah,” he croaked and nodded at the both of them. He motioned his head toward Daniel and asked, “Who’s this?”

  “He’s a Royal, Barry,” Emma darkly replied, almost warning him not to mess with her offspring.

  “What made you change your mind about my sentence? I thought that I was in there for good?”

  “I haven’t changed my mind about your sentence,” Emma knelt down next to him as she pulled Todd’s blood out of her pocket. “But, I need you to perform a task right now.”

  After just forty years of being in the ground alone, without blood, and in complete darkness, Barry was willing to do whatever she wanted just so he could be out of the ground for as long as he could.