Blood Moon (29 page)

“I had him help me move the girls from my apartment to the mausoleum.
 
I couldn’t carry them myself.”

Rowan jabbed Blake in the ribs hard. “Jerk,” she said.

Blake said, “Owww! What?”

“What? Telling everyone you spent three days having sex with her? How old are you? Fourteen?” Rowan argued.

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember much of anything.
 
Just beds… the crypt…” Blake explained.

“You told them I had sex with you in the crypt? Gross! You people must think I’m horrible,” Sally said rather embarrassed.

Dean said, “No, but we did have some kinky thoughts!”

“You too? I’ve got to get out of here.” She said to Dean.

“No, Sally.
 
It’s okay. Really.”

“Darby, you’ve been sweet. It’s bad enough what I helped my sister do out of my stupidity and love for her, but you’re the only friends I thought I might be able to have, and you all thought I was some kinky Goth girl who got her kicks out of putting spells on vampires so I could have sex with them for three days in a crypt, no less? No.
 
That’s not right.” Sally said then spun on her heels out of Dean’s grasp and out the back door. Dean was running after her with Darby right behind him. The rest of them sat at the kitchen table giving Blake the evil eye.

“What? How was I supposed to know?” Blake said. Rowan got up and said, “jerk” under her breath as she left the kitchen and headed for her room.

Devon sat there with a smirk on his face, shaking his head.

“What? You too?” Blake said.

“I didn’t say a word, Blake,” Devon replied.

“You don’t have to. It’s the same disapproving look Dad used to give that is all over your face right now.”

“Sorry, Blake, I’m not trying to make you feel bad.”

“I know.
 
I’m making myself feel pretty bad.
 
I guess linking the image of beds and the crypt was a pretty stupid leap to make without anything solid, but I seriously didn’t think I would ever be sitting down to breakfast with the woman either.”

“So do something about it!”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know; you’re the one who made the mess, try cleaning it up.”

“That’s helpful.”

“That’s what big brothers are for, Blake.”

“Great.” Devon smiled, got up and went to take a shower, leaving Blake alone at the kitchen table that up until ten minutes before had been full of happy people.
 

Crap,
Blake said to himself as he got up and went out the back door. He hopped the fence to his own backyard, and went in the back door.

Dean and Darby were standing in the front room trying to talk Sally into staying when Blake entered the room.
 

“Can I talk to Sally alone?” Blake said, looking at Sally for her approval, and when she nodded, Darby and Dean left the room. He motioned for her to sit down. She reluctantly agreed and then he sat down across from her.

“First off, I want to say that I am sorry for jumping to any conclusions about those three days. I made a broad leap without anything to back it up. Who knew that a few weeks later we’d be sitting down to breakfast and the subject would come up?”

“Pretty unlikely, I suppose. I don’t blame you really. I can’t remember all that I did and I’ve made a ton of mistakes without your help.”

“Look, I know you are feeling pretty crappy about yourself right now, but I’ll tell you, you couldn’t find a better set of friends than these guys.
 
I made a really stupid move a couple months back. They all stuck by me until I got it right again.

“I think now that everything is out there for all to see, it can only get better, right?
 
And then there’s Dean.
 
We started out hating each other, but I’ve learned so much from him in just a few months, he’s like another brother to me now. In fact, I think he teases me worse than my own brother does. If you think there is a hair of a chance for you and Dean, I say, go for it.
 
You won’t find a more loyal guy anywhere, aside from me and my brother and we’re taken. So don’t give up on these guys because of something stupid I said.”
 

“So you do this ‘stupidity’ thing a lot?” she asked.

“Only when the occasion calls for it, but yeah, pretty much.”

“And you think Dean’s a good guy – worth taking a risk for?”

“Definitely, at least when he’s not trashing me. Can I ask you something?”

“I suppose.”

“Is it true? Did you ask Darby to bind your powers too?”

“I did. I figured I deserved what Rachel got. Besides, according to the spell, if I redeem myself, I’ll get them back someday.”
 

“I think that’s pretty noble of you.
 
Most people wouldn’t give up their gifts for anything.”

“Thanks, Blake.
 
I even have a plan to redeem myself.”

“Do tell.”

“I plan on being a guardian angel to the thirteen women we abducted and make sure that nothing bad happens to them. That’s why I would like to stay in the area, to be close to them and keep an eye out for them.
 
My family has always had money and being the last of the line of Keatons, all that has come to Rachel and me.
 
I plan to use my half to have my own happy life and make sure a few others have a little monetary help, along with maybe a little magic.”

“Darby was right.
 
You really do have a good heart. If you allow us, we will be right behind you all the way to making that plan of yours come true.”

“Really?”

“Really. You can count on us anytime, anywhere.”

Chapter 27

The rest of October was a whirlwind of happiness for Blake, Rowan, Darby, and Devon.
 
Dean sold his farm in Colorado and bought the house next door from old lady Bennett. Blake and Devon officially moved their stuff in with the O’Rielly girls and shared the spare bedroom as an office.

Rachel Keaton was incarcerated for thirteen counts of kidnapping and was going to be in prison for a long time. Sally continued at UC Santa Cruz, changing her classes to things she actually wanted to take.
 
She followed through on her plan to keep an eye on the thirteen women.
 

Cathy Davis, who worked for the goofy professor Sorensen at UCSC, was offered a job with the Dean for double the money.

Linda Danvers, who had worked at Sam’s Restaurant, miraculously came into some money from a relative she didn’t even know she had, and she bought the restaurant.
 

Bree Nelson now owned one of those little shops on Main Street in Pescadero.
 
A woman approached her at the bar where she worked, telling her she had seen some of her photos. The woman said she would like to back Bree in opening a small gallery.
 

Brenda Olsen now headed her department and no longer had to deal with the project crunch time problem.
 
She had people that did that for her.
 

Carly Smith, who owned a little shop in Halfmoon Bay, now had a small catering business.
 
Seems they rescheduled that dinner she had been planning the night of her abduction and everyone loved the food so much she finally got the courage to take the leap of faith, closed the shop, and opened the catering business she had always dreamed about.
 

Sydney Alder was introduced to a handsome young man who was big in Greenpeace.
 
They are getting married in April.
 

Beth Jorgensen was given a large sum of money for a surfboard she designed and she opened her own surf shop in Capitola, where she could close down and surf whenever she wanted.
 

Hayley Jones finished her thesis and was awarded a scholarship to do more research on the subject.
 
She was also given a position at UC Santa Cruz as a professor and was able to buy her own cottage near the little creek she so adored.
 

Faith Meyer hit it big in the real estate business and is now working for a big shot realtor in Tiburon.
 

Ellen Addams met a single dad at the daycare and fell madly in love with him and his son, Toby.
 
They are to be married next fall.
 

Sarah Fontaine found four very expensive, puncture-proof tires on her porch one day when she came home.
 

Mina Jansson now owns her own veterinary business in a very well-lit part of town and won over just about all of the old 24-hour emergency clinic’s clients.

Sally has since regained her magic powers and works part time for Darby at the bookstore. She’s taught Darby and Rowan magic her ancestors taught her and they’ve all become great friends. Blake had been right in advising her to take a chance on this bunch, especially Dean. Sally is practically living with Dean now.
 

Rowan was going to help Darby make Thanksgiving dinner for all six of them.
 
Cooking wasn’t Darby’s forte, but with Rowan’s help, she figured she could manage.
 
They started stuffing the largest turkey Darby had ever seen at 7:00 in the morning.
 

“Is it going to fit in the oven?” Darby asked.

“Yes, Darby. It will fit.”

“Thank God we did most of the cooking yesterday.
 
Nothing else is going to fit in that oven.”
 

“As long as it is all hot at the same time, no one but you and I will know that most of it was cooked yesterday. Why don’t you go work on the centerpiece for the table?”

Darby said, “You’re trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”

Rowan laughed, “No, Sweetie, not at all.
 
Once the turkey’s in, there’s nothing much to do except baste every once in a while for hours.”

It was nice that they had done the cooking the day before. They were able to sit with the guys and visit with each other. The guys were totally engrossed with the game and yelled here and there, while the girls chatted about this and that. The last hour before they were to eat was the most stressful.
 
There were dishes being run over to Dean’s house to be put in the oven and finally the bird came out of the oven and they could put all the rest of the items in while the turkey rested.
 

The girls brought the dishes one by one to the table where Darby had made a beautiful centerpiece of candles, leaves, pinecones, and dried hydrangeas.
 
Rowan carried the turkey out and placed it in front of Devon, and Darby lit the candles of the centerpiece. Devon sharpened the knife while Dean told him how it should be done.
 
Blake poured the wine and Devon began to carve the humongous bird. Harry was very intrigued by this large, yummy smelling bird sitting on a table that every one kept shooing him off of.
 
Before he made a mess of things, Rowan called him to the kitchen for some giblets she had made just for him that had been cooling in his giant kitty bowl.

She walked back to the table and sat down as the food was being passed around.
 
Before everyone started to eat, Devon stood up with his glass of wine.
 

“I’d like to make a toast,” he said.
 
Everyone reached for their wine glass.
 

“Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family, friends, and loved ones.
 
I want to say that I am thankful for each and every one of you in this room. You’ve all become family to Blake and me. May we always have each other to call family!”
 

They all raised their glasses and clinked them together.
 

“To family,” said Blake and they all repeated, “To family.”
 
After sipping their wine, they all set their glasses down and started to dig in to the feast.

Laughing and talking ensued and all seemed perfect when the doorbell rang. Devon and Darby looked at each other and Devon said, “I’ll get it.” He set his napkin down and headed for the door.