Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (12 page)

Turning to Aaron
,
she quickly walked to him.
 

“I saved you for last so that you could watch your brother die.  Your heart is strong and the beat is music to my ears.”

“I hope you rot in hell!”

“Well, when I do go to hell, eventually you will catch up with me
.”

Laughing
,
she drove her fangs into his neck
,
his
body buck
ed
under the first
initial
sting of the venom before calming.  He felt like he was floating and could no longer feel the hard rock under his back.
  He saw the light far off
in the
distance
,
and that was when he really knew that he was dying
.
Aaron welcomed it.  Standing, smiling with their arms outstretched, was his
Grandparents
.  Smiling
in return
with
relief,
he reached for
their
hand
s
.  Looking up at his
Grandfather
’
s
face, he watched as the smile
turned
to a look of horror.  Turning around to follow his gaze, fear struck him in his heart as a shadow reached out to wrap around his waist and pull him back.  Struggling to fight against the evil, he looked for his
Grandparents
.   Both
of them
and
the
light had vanished.

Hanging up
the
phone,
Dragan leaned back in his chair to watch Aaron’s face staring off into
oblivion
.  He did not have to ask what he was thinking of
,
it
was written all over
him
.

“You have got to let it go
,
Aaron.”

Startled from his reverie, he looked back at Dragan blankly, blinking as if to return to the surface of reality.

“It is not so easy for me.”  Raising his hand to stop Dragan from replying he continued.  “Please, do not start talking about the forgiveness bullshit.”

“
Forgiveness
is not for them but yourself
,
Aaron. 
Maybe
you would find some
semblance
of peace if you could wrap your stubborn head around that.”

“
Bloody hell, Dragan!
What I want to do is wrap my fingers around her throat for what she did to us.”

“It is done and has been done for 300 years.  You must accept it.”

“Ok
ay
.  I will accept it when you do.”

Both brothers knew that they were at an impasse.  Aaron
,
choosing
to change the subject
,
grinned at his brother who was now writing something on a tablet
,
and it gave him great amusement watching Dragan’s head snap to attention
at his next comment
.

“Hey, how is your new tenant working out?”

“
Ah, I have been meaning to ask you about that.”

“Do you like her?”

“And what do you know of Amira?”

“
Amira is it? 
Actually, not much.  A friend of mine told me about her
,
and I thought that you two would be perfect for each other.”

“Do tell.
Have you become a matchmaker now?”

Laughing, Aaron noted the
irritation
in his
brother
’
s
tone.

“She sounded like the complete opposite of you
,
and since I knew I was coming for a visit
, I
figured
it
would give me amusement.”

“I like her actually
,
Aaron.”

Now it was Aaron
’
s turn to look surprised.

“What did you just say?”

“I like her
,
and I am looking forward to getting to know her better.”

Aaron thoughtfully looked at his brother.  This was a surprise.   From his
brother
’
s
tone, he was being serious.  Dragan’s phone rang again.

Standing to his feet, Aaron shook his
brother
’
s
hand.

“I am going to leave now and let you get back to your….job.  Why you
would
bother working since you have more money than you
possibly
could ever spend
, I will never know
.  I will be staying at the manor with you
,
if that is ok
ay
…”

A knock came at the door
,
and both brothers watched Carla
’s head poke
around
the corner.

“So sorry to bother you
,
Dr. Reynolds, but Dr. Kingsley is holding for you on line three
,
and your next appointment arrived 10 minutes ago.

“Thank you
,
Carla.  Tell Dr. Kingsley, I will be with him in a moment.”

Turning to his
brother,
he nodded.  “Stay as long as you like.  It is good to have you home
,
Aaron.”
  Aaron walked to the door.  As an after
thought,
Dragan called his brother back.  “Still like to run the woods
,
Aaron?”  At his brother nod, worry crossed Dragan’s face.  “It seems that there is someone hunting on the property, and I have not been able to catch him yet.  Be careful…don’t want you getting shot at.”

Incredulous, Aaron could not hide the disbelief from entering his voice.  “Slacking are we
,
brother?  You used to be the best tracker around.”

“
You are very funny
,
Aaron.  It has n
ot
been
from lack of trying.  Just be careful smart ass.  You and I both know the bullet
won’t
kill either one of us, but I don’t want to have to deal with digging something out of your skin either
,
and if you should happen to run across someone that doesn’t look like they belong, you have my permission to do whatever you like to them
.”

As soon as his brother closed the door, Dragan picked up the phone, pressing on the blinking light.

“Dr. Kingsley!  What can I do for you this
morning?
”

“Good
morning
,
Doctor
Reynolds
.  I want to pick you
r
brain if
that would
be ok.”

“I have about 10 minutes
,
Harvey
,
and then my day begins in earnest. 
I will
certainly
do my best.”

“I have a patient
who
is 27 years old.  I have been treating her for
Protein C
Deficiency
since she was
nine
,
and she had responded extremely well to treatment up until
a year ago
whe
n
she
became seriously
ill again.  In running a battery of test
s
, we found she
is
dying.”

“I do not
specialize
in hematology doctor.
  Protein C – from the little bit I know
,
is
quite
manageable
under a doctor
’
s supervision
.
”

Harvey
hesitated
.  “Dragan, I need to be frank with you.  I was speaking to a Dr.
Omar Benjamin of the
European
Center
for Disease control in
Sweden
.  When he mentioned your name, I told him that I actually knew you.  Dr.
Benjamin
stated that you were doing major research on various disorders and anomalies of the blood.  I knew it would be a long shot but
,
Dragan,
I have
become
extremely attached to this patient.
 
Something
very bizarre
has happened with her blood. 
A mutation
has formed.  It is clear that s
he will die
if I cannot find a cure.”

Frowning
,
Dragan stared down at his hands. 
Mutations he did
know
something about.  He had been testing
h
is own blood for years looking for a cure in an attempt to
reverse
his
vampirism
.  He had
known
that eventually
word would get out about his
blood
research
because it was so unique
.

“I
’ll
tell you what
,
Harvey
.  Send me her blood reports
,
and I will take a look and
see if it looks familiar
. E
ither way,
I will
get back to you.

Knowing this was
all he could ask for
, Harvey Kinsley breathed a sigh of relief.  “Thank you so much.  That is all that I need right now.”

Dragan
pulled into the driveway looking at the cottage
before stepping out of the car.
  He needed to see her
but wasn’t convinced that showing up unannounced was a good idea
either.
 
Hesitating
,
he knocked o
n the front door, frown
ing
when no one answered.  Closing his eyes
,
he listened for her.  Faintly he
heard her voice speaking softly
,
but she was a
distance
away.
 
Did she have
a guest? A twinge of jealousy stabbed his gut.
Following the path behind her house that wound through the forest, her voice grew louder with each step he took.  After a short
few
minutes,
he stood at the outskirts of a tiny clearing.  Amira was
sitting
by her self
,
reading
aloud
.  Her voice
,
soft and gentle
,
was mesmerizing.  Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he watched as a rabbit hopped in to squat next
to
her. 
Reaching
into the
basket
t
h
at rested next to her
,
he
watched as she
pulled out a pellet of food, holding it out in her palm to the
small creature
.  Immediately,
and unafraid
,
the rabbit nibbled on the pellet.  Leaning against a tree
,
h
e felt his body relax as he
listened
to her words
.

And all the world looked upon His greatness

His love encompasses all.

From the rabbit to the wolf

They all heed his call.

“See Shadow, I even wrote about you.”

Shadow
’
s
giant head rested on his
front
paws while his
golden
eyes
remained
transfixed on her
as she continued to read
.

W
hat greater gift has
H
e
g
iven?

Throughout th
is
glorious land
.

True love between woman and man

Which he holds in
the palm of
His
hand.