Deadman's Blood

by T. Lynne Tolles

  *****

  Doesn’t it always seem that when life starts getting crazy, that’s when all hell breaks loose? That’s how Dominic was feeling right about then. Both of his nephews were in Baltimore in a coma and now his son was too. Of course, this was the time when Katarina was to be discharged into his care and though he was thrilled to have her near, he also feared for her safety.

  Between trips to Baltimore, he signed out Katarina and brought her back to the house. He felt nervous and calm at the same time. He wished this new path with Katarina could have been just the two of them with a much more leisurely itinerary, but life rarely blesses us with such gifts and at least he had her with him through such a trying time.

  In the car on the way back, Katarina could see the stress Dominic tried not to show and said, “Niky…are you okay?” as she held his free hand in both of hers.

  “I wish I could say, yes, Kat, but I can’t. I want to be honest with you,” Dominic said, forcing a smile as he glanced away from the road to take her worried face in.

  “What is it? Are Devon and Blake worse?”

  “No. There’s no change with the boys, however, we have a new addition to the hospital,” Dominic said.

  “Oh no. Who is it? Not Josh - please tell me it’s not Josh.”

  “No. Josh is waiting for us at the house…it’s Anton, Kat. We couldn’t wake him in the morning a couple of days ago and now he has joined his cousins at Johns Hopkins.”

  “I’m so sorry. Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “Pray. Pray that the doctors find a way to help them.”

  “You’re doing all you can for him, Niky. Anton knows that. We’ll find a way somehow.”

  “I wish I could have brought you home to a happier place without all this going on.”

  “Niky, I’m just thrilled to be going home with you; the rest will fall into place in its own time. In the meantime, I’m here for you to lean on and help.”

  “Really? I mean, I’ve been alone for so long, I’ve probably got some horrendous habits that will drive you nuts.”

  “Maybe, but we’ll work it out. I know there are going to be some tough times, I have no doubt, but we’ve waited a long time to be happy and I believe we deserve it. It’s going to be okay.”

  “I wish I had your confidence,” Dominic said.

  “Well for the time being, you can use mine and somewhere down the road, I’ll use yours. Like the doctor told me, little steps and before you know it, you’re where you want to be.”

  He patted her hand as they drove up to the house. “Thanks, Kat. I think I’ll be taking you up on that offer sooner than you may expect.”

  “That’s what I’m here for, Niky. My God…Is this the house? It’s huge and so beautiful.”

  “Thank you. With all the visitors we’ve had in the past year, its size has come in handy.” As Dominic got out of the car and hurried over to the passenger side of the Mercedes to open the door for her, he also pointed out the cottage, where he informed her that Mark and Alyssa were residing.

  “It’s lovely, Niky, really. And your own lake?”

  “Well, it’s a pond.”

  “Darn big one,” she said laughing as he led her to the front door.

  Once inside the foyer, he set his keys down on the table that housed a telephone and a large, empty vase. Normally, it would be filled with flowers, but without Bernard around, it hadn’t seen flowers in several weeks. Dominic thought about this and his face displayed his sadness for a moment before Josh and Melanie entered the foyer hand in hand.

  Dominic quickly introduced Katarina to the young couple. “Katarina, this is Melanie Harper and Josh….Josh Brenner.”

  Josh and Katarina stood stunned and speechless as the introduction was made until Melanie smiled and gently pushed Josh towards Katarina. He wasn’t sure what to do and it was apparent Katarina was feeling the same. Tears welled up in her eyes as Josh stepped forward and took both her hands in each of his. The tears spilled over and ran swiftly down Katarina’s cheeks, leaving shiny streaks behind them.

  “It’s so nice to meet you, Katarina,” Josh said sweetly.

  Katarina lifted one hand to Josh’s day-old beard and softly stroked his face as he leaned into her palm and smiled. Melanie was now sniffling behind him as tears were streaking her pretty face.

  “My sweet boy! You are more handsome than I could have ever imagined, even with Niky as your father,” she chuckled and glanced at Dominic. “I’m so sorry I missed knowing you, Josh.”

  Josh kissed her open palm near his cheek and said, “It wasn’t your doing - I know that now.” He turned to Dominic and smiled. “Dominic has told me everything. I was really blessed with great parents - I mean adoptive parents.”

  “Don’t say that, Josh. They ARE your parents. They were blessed with seeing you grow up and raising you. Dominic and I are just so glad to be a part of your life now, I mean, if that is what you want.”

  “Definitely,” Josh said smiling.

  “Just think of us as a back up set of parents.”

  Josh smiled but looked down at his hands as Melanie stepped forward, putting her hand on his shoulder. Dominic too, stepped forward and said, “Kat, Josh’s parents were recently killed in a plane crash.”

  “Oh God, NO! That’s awful. I’m so sorry” She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Josh’s neck and pulling him down to her like his mother always did and without even thinking, he cried into Katarina’s neck before he even realized he was doing it. A great release was found for Katarina and for Josh as he went limp in Katarina’s arms and she consoled him as if she had always done so and had always been there. A great bond had been formed before Melanie and Dominic’s eyes as Dominic wrapped his arm around the tiny Melanie, pulling her to his side as the two of them watched their loved ones have a moment. Tears spilled down Melanie’s face as she looked up at a proud and smiling Dominic, then Dominic kissed the top of Melanie’s head, tugging her a little closer.

  This was a happy moment -- a time when a mother and child came together during the midst of adversity and sadness. Dominic was glad he was able to bring them together and he knew right there and then that this crazy family of vampires, psychics, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters, and a gypsy were going to make it. Dominic found his confidence in Josh and Katarina and their bond. Some how, some way, Devon, Blake, and Anton were going to make it and things would be okay as Katarina had said.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Katarina, Alyssa, and Melanie took the other car into town to get some much needed shopping done. Katarina and Dominic had already been to Baltimore together to check on the boys the day before and she thought it would be good for the boys to have some alone time. A road trip to Baltimore with Mark and Josh gave Dominic a chance to get caught up with Mark’s investigation on Bernard’s disappearance and more information on what happened in the altar room when Mark and Anton trapped the Dark Angel.

  Dominic asked, “So Mark…anything new pertaining to Bernard?”

  “I’ve got to say that it’s very puzzling. It definitely isn’t a random abduction or accident because it’s too clean. Life is messy and we leave all kinds of clues behind us without realizing, but in this incident, there’s nothing, no traces of any kind. All I’ve been able to gather was that he received a phone call that took him to the west side of the airport in Newport and that’s where the trail ends. His cell phone was found there and that’s how I found the phone call. The call came from a prepaid cellphone, paid with cash, and under a pseudonym. I’ve checked surveillance cameras around the airport but the only thing I’ve been able to gather from that was a dark sedan in the area around that time with no license plates. It was very well planned. I’m still looking into some minor leads but nothing is panning out yet.”

  “Poor Bernard. I hope they haven’t harmed him, whoever they are,” Dominic said solemnly.

  “Me too. I’ve really missed the old guy,” Mark said as his stomach growled, Josh gave h
im a cynical look.

  “What? No. I really miss him, not just because of his awesome pancakes. He’s a really great guy,” Mark retorted.

  “Did you get to talk to the Dark Angel, Mark?” Dominic asked.

  “What? The Dark Angel?” Josh said, alarmed.

  “No. Anton did all the talking. I had a lung full of smoke so I had to get out of the tunnels to get some fresh air; when I got back the Dark Angel was gone,” Mark said.

  “Then Anton never told you what happened while you were gone?”

  “No, not really, just that the Dark Angel broke the vampire rope I made and took off.”

  “Vampire rope?” Josh asked.

  “Yeah. I came up with this rope I made from stalks of wolfsbane, vervain, and stringy redwood bark,” Mark proclaimed proudly.

  “I’m afraid Anton didn’t tell you all that happened, Mark. Maybe I should fill you in. I think he was embarrassed and just didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t really want to talk to me about it, but he felt he had to,” Dominic said.

  “Really? Why what happened?”

  “It seems the Dark Angel is Julianna, the girl that Anton has been chasing after for the past few months. So as you can imagine, he was embarrassed to have to tell the family that he was dating the Dark Angel.”

  “The Dark Angel is a girl?” Mark asked. “I certainly didn’t see that one coming.”

  “It threw Anton into a spiral all right. It also turns out that my uncle, Owen, and Julianna were engaged to be married,” Dominic continued.

  “Ewwww. Anton was dating his great uncle’s girl? Gross,” Mark said with a disgusted face.

  “Well yeah, nearly four hundred year earlier, I think that clears him from anything weird although I too, teased him about it at first. Anton didn’t take too kindly to it, as you can imagine.”

  Josh nodded.

  “I don’t think either of them knew it. My Uncle Edward turned her into a vampire and framed her for Owen’s murder. Julianna thought Owen had jilted her and she didn’t know how she had died, she just woke up in a crypt all by herself. When she came to the Larsens to find out what happened to Owen, they shunned her and sent her away. She fended for herself and is one of the oldest known made vampires. She was angry and alone for a very long time. I suppose she did what she had to do to survive.”

  “Wow. That stinks. Why did Edward kill his brother?” Josh asked.

  “For a family heirloom - the Blood Diamond,” Dominic answered.

  “Did he get it?” Josh asked.

  “No. Owen gave it to Julianna as an engagement ring and she’s had it all this time,” Dominic said.

  “Why would anyone want a ring called the ‘Blood Diamond’ for an engagement ring? Seems like with a name like that the marriage would be doomed from the beginning,” Mark asked.

  “Well, to a vampire family, ‘blood’ isn’t as taboo as it would be for a human,” Dominic answered.

  “I guess you’re right. So how did the diamond get its special name?” Mark asked.

  “Well, remember when we all talked about the prophecy and the ‘Ancient Four’ - the four brothers - Wallace, Larsen, Douglas, and Mathew?”

  “Yes,” Mark said and Josh nodded.

  “When the father set up the four kingdoms for his sons he gave them each a great jewel which each of them set in a ring as part of their royal seal. Wallace was given a sapphire, Douglas was given a ruby, Mathew was given an emerald, and Larsen was given a diamond. As the four kingdoms fell apart from greed, the diamond was said to have changed color from purest white to blood red and as if it were dying it slowly, turned to black,” Dominic explained.

  “Ewww. See…we’re right back to ‘Blood Diamond’ being a bad name for an engagement ring,” Mark said wincing.

  “You seem awful concerned about it being an engagement ring, Mark…do you have engagement rings on the mind?” Josh said with a smirk.

  “What? No. Not at all. I’m just…Well…I’m making a point.”

  Dominic and Josh both raised an eyebrow to Mark’s reaction which visibly flustered Mark.

  “If she had the diamond all along, how come Edward didn’t find it on her?” Josh asked.

  “That’s a good question and I’m not absolutely sure since I wasn’t there, but according to Owen’s journals, he had asked her not to wear it on her finger until they could announce it together. I believe Anton mentioned that she wore it around her neck. My guess is that why Edward didn’t see it on her finger he assumed she didn’t have it on her,” Dominic explained.

  “So have you seen this diamond?” Josh asked.

  “Not until very recently,” Dominic answered. “It seems when Anton let Julianna go, she gave it to Anton.”

  “Wow. Why?” Josh asked.

  “I think when she found out the truth about what had happened to Owen and adding with her feelings for Anton, she offered it as an apology for her involvement with all that’s been going on with the Bloodstone Heart and the Deadman’s Blood.”

  “That’s right, I forgot. Anton saw inside the Dark Angel’s head and saw her kill that guy and drain him. So is she the one who poisoned Blake, Devon, and Anton?” Mark asked.

  “Anton said that she had an employer, like she had been Dimitri’s employer, and that she gave the blood to him and that was the end of her involvement with it,” Dominic said.

  “Do you believe her?” Mark asked.

  “Yeah, I think I do. It makes sense,” Dominic said.

  “And what about what Dimitri did to Lanie?” Josh asked solemnly.

  “Anton said she didn’t order that. It was all Dimitri’s doing,” Dominic said.

  “But she didn’t stop him,” Josh noted.

  “No. She didn’t, but I think she might have if she had known the connection you have with Anton,” Dominic said.

  “What about my parents? Was she involved?” Josh asked.

  “No. From what Anton said, she didn’t even know about the crash until he had told her about it,” Dominic answered.

  “She could be lying,” Mark interjected.

  “She could be, but somehow I don’t think so. She told Anton she called her employer and told him she wanted nothing more to do with whatever grudge he had with the Larsens. Apparently her employer was livid and threatened her, but she stood her ground.

  “By the way, Mark, Anton mentioned that you found where you think the relic is to be inserted,” Dominic said.

  “Yes. I think I have. Just before the Dark Angel, Julie, whatever her name is, showed up, I was sitting on the hearth looking around the room and at that angle, it gave me a different perspective to the room and the lighting. That’s when I noticed an indentation in the middle of the mosaic of the black orchid.”

  “What a perfect place for it,” Dominic thought out loud.

  “It really is, I mean, you would never see it unless you were looking for it or were sitting in the exact place I was sitting,” Mark answered.

  “What do you say we take a quick detour to New York and check it out?” Dominic suggested.

  “You have the relic with you?” Josh asked.

  “I do.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t have my vampire rope or my cross bow,” Mark said rather worried.

  “I seriously doubt Julianna is going to show up again,” Dominic said.

  “Yeah, well that’s what Anton said, when lo and behold there she was,” Mark retorted.

  “Well, then you can do your dragon act again and scare her off,” Dominic said excitedly. “Besides, we don’t have to be there but just a few minutes to see if anything happens.”

  “And if a room opens up? You’re not going to want to leave and we don’t have anything to defend ourselves,” Mark argued.

  “I promise if anything opens, we take a quick looksee at what we’ve found then hightail it out of there when we can bring more protection. Five minutes - tops,” Dominic said.

  “Five minutes…no more. It took me two days to cough out all
the soot in my lungs after turning into a dragon, and I don’t want to do that again,” Mark complained.

  “Five minutes. I swear," Dominic repeated.

  *****

  Dominic, Josh, and Mark visited with Darby and Rowan and checked in with Dr. Donaldson. Dominic thought Rowan looked a hundred times better now that Darby was back. Darby had talked the doctor into having all three of the patients in the same room so she and Rowan could spread themselves around easier. Darby focused on Devon and Anton, and Rowan focused on Blake and Devon. It was much easier than dividing themselves up among rooms and allowed Darby and Rowan to visit with one another without leaving the boys alone for any extended time.

  Though Josh, Mark, and Dominic’s visit was short it was appreciated by Darby and Rowan, and Dr. Donaldson was working on a better way to filter the vampire blood of the three patients. Dr. Andrews in San Francisco had tried dialysis, and though it worked to some degree it was not able to defeat the invading Deadman’s Blood. Transfusions were still being used to keep Blake alive and now were being used on the other two as the Deadman’s Blood penetrated further into their systems. It had been a miracle that Blake had survived this long considering Deadman’s Blood poison usually killed its host within 2-3 days.

  When Blake had been brought to Dr. Donaldson’s care, he first did an extensive detox on him and then on Devon and Anton when they showed up. Chlorophyll, believe it or not, was the main ingredient in this detoxing of the blood. However it had little or no effect on the patients. Dr. Donaldson had decided to try a process called hemoperfusion. It was very much like dialysis, in that it too filtered the blood outside of the body. It was often used in removing drugs or poisons from the blood. Dr. Donaldson had already started treatment on Blake, Devon would be next and then Anton.

  The doctor was hopeful this would remove all traces of the Deadman’s Blood, but only time would tell. Though Dominic, Josh, and Mark were more optimistic with the prognosis of the patients when they left the hospital and the girls behind, the conversation on the way to the castle and its altar room beneath it was minimal. As they made their way through the tunnels and into the altar room, Josh said, “Did you notice how great Darby looked despite all that is going on? She looked like she was glowing.”