Bloodstone Heart (10 page)

"Sure. It's a lot to take in. We understand completely. Now since we have opened the can of worms regarding vampires, I suppose it would be a good time to explain something about myself and Dean, before we get to your story. Early this past summer, when Darby and I met Blake and Devon, Blake's vampire brother, we ran into some trouble. In an attempt to trap Devon and Blake, a man named Terrance Paine kidnapped me and injected me with several doses of werewolf’s blood, hoping to kill me.
 
Much to everyone's surprise, what happened was that I was turned into a werewolf and the change happens a couple of days out of the month.
 
Talk about your PMS," Rowan joked hoping to lighten the mood.
 
Blake chuckled, but Melanie and Josh just stared. Melanie seemed to be taking all the information much better than Josh, who looked like a deer stunned by the headlights of an oncoming eighteen wheeler.

Melanie said, "So you and Blake are living together, right? But aren't werewolves and vampires mortal enemies?"

Rowan answered, "Well, that is what the folklore says, but we've found that the two races are actually quite similar. They both are very fast, very strong, and heal very quickly.
 
Normally I can't read thoughts, but when I am in wolf form, I can telepathically communicate with Blake, Devon, and Dean.
 
Dean was born a werewolf and I thought, after seeing Josh's reaction to Blake, that bringing him over without an explanation would be a little much.
 
Since you had already met me, I figured it was easier to tell you my tale and ease into Dean."

"That was very thoughtful of you," Melanie said. "So Sally, where do you fit into this picture?"

Sally smiled and said, "Well, that's a long story too, but let's just say that I'm a witch."

"She's being modest," Rowan said. "She's a very powerful witch, amazing even. She and Dean have hooked up.
 
Dean lives next door."

"So how did you meet Dean?" Melanie asked.

"Well, remember how I told you that Terrance Paine had injected me with werewolf blood?
 
In order to obtain that blood, he had killed a werewolf, who happened to be Dean's brother, Benjamin.
 
We were trying to find out all we could about werewolves and found out about Dean.
 
We figured, who better than a werewolf to get the scoop on werewolves. One thing led to another and we all became very close friends."

"Will Devon, your brother, be joining us?" Melanie asked Blake.

"No, I'm afraid not," Blake answered.

Rowan said, "That question brings us back to Darby. You asked why she was in Massachusetts.
 
Devon and Darby fell pretty hard for each other when they met last summer. In November, Blake and Devon's uncle Dominic flew out from the east coast hoping to bring back Devon and Blake to help figure out what was ailing his son, Anton.
 
Blake couldn’t go at that time, so Devon and Darby went instead.
 
While there, Anton's estranged wife Libby showed up.
 
Devon had been in love with Libby years ago, before Anton had met her, but when Anton and Libby met, they ran off and eloped and apparently Devon took it badly and held it against Anton for years.
 
Devon and Libby hooked up while Devon and Darby were in Connecticut and Devon ran off with Libby.
 

"Darby seems to have taken the break up badly and just can't seem to come to terms with the fact that Devon left her for Libby.
 
She seems to think that Libby has kidnapped Devon, or is holding him against his will. Darby decided she had to find Devon and rescue him from Libby.
 
She came back here in December and sold the bookstore to Sally, packed up some clothes, and moved to Massachusetts to search for Devon."

"So you don't think there's any merit to Darby's quest for Devon?"

"No. I think her heart is broken and she can't see the situation for what it is."

"What about you, Blake? What's your take on this? After all, this is your brother we're talking about."

"I don't think Devon made the right choice taking off with Libby, but he's always seen her through rose-colored glasses and I think that once he saw her again, all those old feelings rushed back and she talked him into leaving with her."

"So Devon isn't a super loyal guy, then? I mean anyone who would dump someone and take off with another, especially the wife of his cousin, can't be very gallant. That's what puzzles me. I just can't see Darby with someone who isn’t all those things since that is how she is."

"My brother is loyal and gallant. Sometimes to a fault, truly. Ask anyone."

"Then maybe Darby's right. Of course, it isn't really my place to say anything of the sort, so maybe we should explain why we are here." Melanie looked at Josh for affirmation. He nodded, but didn't say anything.

 
Melanie continued, "Josh has had a run in with two vampires.
 
The first attacked him in an alley and he was very nearly killed.
 
When the vampire came in for the kill, Josh grabbed a piece of wood to defend himself and the vampire came down on it and exploded into ash. A week later, Josh went back to the alley in hopes of finding something that made sense to him about what he had experienced only to find another vampire. We think the second vampire was there investigating the remains of the previous one. We also think that the vampire found Josh's house while he was staying with me.
 

“When we went to Josh’s house to get some things, the house had been trashed.
 
We headed back to my house only to find the vampire talking to another tenant in my apartment building, so we ran back to Josh's, jumped on his bike and headed south.
 
We made the mistake of using Josh's iPhone while we were trying to map out how we were going to get here and the next morning the vampire was at the motel office when we came back from breakfast. As soon as he was out of sight, we ducked into the room, grabbed our stuff, and jumped on the bike again.
 
That was this morning."

Blake asked, "What makes you think the second guy in the alley was a vampire?"

Melanie said, "When we were at Josh's place and he was packing, I was wandering through the house and found the glass in the back door had been broken.
 
I'm sure that is how the person got in. I have the ability to touch items and sense things about the person who last touched it. So, I put my hands on the doorknob. I felt a very intelligent, strong mind. Some horrible death scenes played out in my head that I'm pretty sure were his victims. When Josh showed me the alley where he was attacked I touched the ashes of the previous vampire, but it had been a week and I couldn't sense much, however, I did get the impression that he had stolen something from the second vampire."

"So each of them was looking for something?" Blake said.

"Yes."
 

"Do you know what?"

"No."

"Josh, walk me through what happened the night you ran into the first vampire."

"Umm, yeah. I had walked Melanie home that evening.
 
When I came to the alley something on the ground caught my attention."

"What was it?"

"I don't know. It glinted in the streetlight and I took a step into the alley and bent down to pick it up, and that's when I sensed the vampire.
 
He was agitated. His mind was all over the place and he was looking for something.
 
That's when he sensed me. He made some mental note that he might as well appease his hunger and that's when he came at me like lightning and threw me up against the brick wall, where I dropped my groceries."

"Back up a bit...you said you bent down to pick up the item that caught your attention. Did you pick it up?"

"I...I barely remember, yes, I think I did."
 

"What did you do with it?"

"I put it in my pocket as I stood up."

"Do you still have it?"

"No.
 
It must have fallen out at some point, because there is nothing in my pocket but my iPod."

"Do you remember seeing the item? What it looked like? What it was?"

"No.
 
Everything happened so fast I didn't have time to look at it in the light and when I thought about it later it wasn't in my pocket."

"Hmmm.
 
Okay, so you got thrown against the brick wall, then what?"

"Ummm, he grabbed me around the neck with one hand and threw me back to the end of the alley where I landed and smashed an old pallet.
 
He crept closer to me and I could see his eyes were bright red and he had fangs. Then he leapt at me and I grabbed the only thing I could reach and pointed it towards him as he descended on it.
 
It had been a sharp scrap of wood.
 
He couldn't stop his momentum.
 
His face seemed to change to a more human form, his eyes turned green and he exploded into ash and dust.
 
I dropped the wood and ran home."

"Were you able to read anything significant from him during the combat?"

"No, just that he saw the wood and couldn't stop and then it was over."

"Nothing about the item he was looking for?"

"No."

Melanie jumped in, "I do remember when I touched the back door where the vampire broke in at Josh's, the words 'Black Orchid' came to mind.
 
I don't know if that means anything."

"Black Orchid?" Blake asked.

"Yes."

"Hmmm. That could be helpful.
 
So what happened when you met the other vampire, Josh?"

"I went back to the alley about a week later.
 
I thought if I went back maybe something would stand out or make some sense.
 
When I got to the back of the alley there was a man kneeling down over the ashes of the other vampire.
 
We sensed each other at the same exact time and I turned and ran. He watched me from the end of the alley as I went into the corner store and I'm guessing he must have followed me to Lanie's."

"What did you sense from him?"
 

"He was angry with the other vampire. He was looking for something the other vampire had taken. He had a lot better control of his thoughts than the other vampire."

"Good.
 
So he must have sensed from you that you met with the vampire that had stolen his item and he thinks you have this lost thing. The good news is that if this is an intelligent vampire, which it sounds like, even if he does catch up with you, he's not going to take on another vampire, two werewolves, and a witch. As long as you don't go wandering off by yourself, you should be safe with us. If he gets either of you alone, however, that's when we will have plenty of trouble.
 
The trick is going to be figuring out what it is he thinks you have and why it's so important.

"The Black Orchid sounds familiar to me, so I will call Dominic tomorrow morning and see if he can't give us any information on its meaning or what it is. In the meantime, we'll introduce you to Dean and you should definitely stay here where we can protect you, if this vampire comes looking.
 
Sally, could you ask Dean if he wouldn't mind coming over to meet our guests?"

"Yeah. No problem." Sally excused herself as she went out the front door.

Melanie asked, "Who is Dominic?"

"Dominic Larsen is my uncle.
 
He lives in Connecticut. He dabbles in vampire history as a hobby and is pretty well known in the vampire community.
 
The Larsen family is one of very few blue blood vampire families left."
 

"Blue blood?" Melanie asked.

"Pure vampire bloodline.
 
Dominic's sister, my mother Abby, was the first in our family to marry someone who wasn't a blue blood, so Devon and I are considered tainted blood."

Sally and Dean walked in just then.
 
Blake said, "Dean, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of Darby's.
 
Dean Wolfe, this is Melanie Harper and Josh. I'm sorry Josh, I don't think I caught your last name."

Josh said, "Josh Brenner." He stood up as did Melanie, and shook Dean’s hand.
 

Dean stood about six foot two inches with a very broad chest.
 
His hair was short and messy and his eyes were hazel and kind, however his eyebrows made him look stern.
 
He had a day-old beard, and after he shook hands with Josh he took his place behind the very petite Sally, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.
 

Blake explained Josh and Melanie's situation briefly to Dean, who nodded at pertinent information. When Blake was done he said, "So what do you think?"

Dean said, "Well, I think that the safest place for Josh is where we can be close. We keep this guy at a distance, at least until we can come up with more information and form a better plan."

Blake said, "That was our thinking too. I thought I could call Dominic tomorrow and we can have him check into what the 'Black Orchid' might mean. Maybe the name will ring a bell."

"Sounds like a plan.
 
Are you okay with all of this, Josh? Melanie?" Dean said as he set his chin on Sally's head.

Josh said, "I feel a little uncomfortable putting you into danger, but since we are not really prepared to deal with vampires, I guess we should accept your offer."

"Great.
 
So what do you say to dinner at Paddy's and then you two can crash in Darby's room?" Blake offered.

Josh started to fidget before saying, "Ummm, dinner sounds great. I'm starved but well, we aren't really, ummm, together."

“Oh? Really, but I thought I saw...I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed," Blake said a bit embarrassed.
 
"That's fine. The couch is pretty comfortable. One of you is welcome to it."

Josh looked at Melanie and said, "You should take the bedroom.
 
I'll take the couch."