Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (27 page)

“What’s the problem
,
Amira?
It can’t be t
he fact that I found out?”

“I didn’t want you to know until I was ready.”

“You didn’t want me to know.”  Grabbing her
shoulders,
he held her in one place.
 
“Do you have any idea what it did to me learning that you are dying
,
and it didn’t come from
your own mouth
?
”

Pushing at his
chest,
she tried to move away from him, but grabbing her wrist, he kept her close.

“Why didn’t you want me to know?”

“Let me go.”

“
Not
until you answer me.”

“The reason is stupid and doesn’t matter anymore because you know.”

“Not good enough.”

She watched his jaw set knowing there was no way to get out of it.

“I didn’t want you feeling sorry for me.  I don’t want anyone feeling sorry for me.”

“So THAT is why you came to
Echo
Lake
- t
o hide from everyone
?
”
 
Releasing
her,
he watched the anger cross her face.

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it
,
Amira?  You
do not
want me to feel sorry for you, but you are languishing here at the
l
ake giving up
,
making your fucking bucket list
,
and ready to die.  Who is feeling sorry for
whom
now
?
”

Amira slapped him hard across the face. 
The crack resounded in the kitchen
stunning them both.

“Dragan
, I’m
….”

“I will let that go only once
,
Amira
.  You ever do that again, you will regret it.  Enjoy your breakfast.”

James looked at the man hunched over
the desk
debating whether he should approach.  He was in unfamiliar territory and
loyalty
was weighing heavily on his heart.
  The decision was made for him
when without looking up
,
Aaron spoke.

“Hey
,
James
,
come
on
in.”

Aaron did not look up from the large book he was reading as James stepped into the room.

“Mr. Reynolds
, a moment of your time if you will.”

Looking up, Aaron stared at the old man.

“James, if you don’t start calling me Aaron, you can walk right out that door. 
Dragan told me that you know our little secret. 
I have you by at least 250 years…age trumps position.”

“Indeed
,
Sir, I mean
,
Aaron.”

“
Is s
omething wrong?”

“It is Dr….Dragan and Miss Amira.”

Sitting down in the chair and l
eaning back Aaron looked thoughtful. 
This had to be good;
James never pried into personal business.

“Go on.”

“I had one of the maids go and check on Miss Amira, as Dragan had requested one of the staff
to do every day
.  Miss Collins said that Miss Amira seemed inconsolable and would not speak to her.  In checking on your brother
I
found him to be in some kind of distress himself.”

“Distress?”

“His office is ripped apart, Sir.  I have kept the staff away from that part of the house.”

“Trouble in paradise, I am going to assume.   They must have had the death, dying
,
doom and gloom conversation.”

“Sir?”

“Amira is dying
,
James.  She is very ill
,
and Dragan
found
out.  I am going to assume that all of th
eir
dramatics is due to a confrontation between the two of them.  I will sort it out.”

“Dying?  Miss Amira is ill?”  James slumped down into the leather chair at the library table.

Aaron rushed over to kneel next to the man
kicking himself for his insensitivity
.  “James, I am sorry. 
Are
you ok?”

“Yes…thank you.  It is just that it will come as quite a shock to everyone here at the manor.  We have become quite attached to her you know.”

“Yes.  I do know.  She kind of wormed her way into my heart also.”

“Is ther
e
a time frame?”

“No, I am sorry.  Dragan is working on a cure.”

“
So t
hat is why he has been closeted in the laboratory.”

“Yes.”

Taking a deep breath, James stood.  “It explains
my
conversations
with her
about
destiny
.
  Very well then….
”

Compassion flashed across Aaron’s face.  “I am sorry to have been the one to tell you.”

“No.  It is good
I know
.  I must get back to work.  You will check on your brother
?
”

Nodding
,
Aaron
looked down at the book on the table.  “Yes, I am almost done here.  I will check on them both, and James, I would appreciate you keeping this conversation between the two of us.”

“Yes, of course.”

Aaron stared down at the pages in the old book.  He needed to speak with Dragan about what he learned
from the pages
.   Unfortunately, what he learned was probably not going to help his
brother’s
mood in any way.  Snapping the cover closed, watching the dust particles rise into the air
;
he stood to find his twin.

∞

Dragan was frustrated.  He had run test after test, and he was not happy with the results that he saw.  Her blood was not reacting to his venom in the culture.  He was sure that he could
not
have been wrong with his observations from all of the other sli
des after his first feeding.  Those cultures were no longer good, as the venom cells died off a long time ago.

Picking up the last
slide,
he threw it against the wall watching it shatter.

“Are you going to destroy everything in this house?”

“Shut up
,
Aaron.”

“
Bad
mood
I see.  That would explain the mess that James is now cleaning up in
your
office.
”

Dragan ignored Aaron
,
reading his notes again.

In a flash, Aaron grabbed him from behind throwing him up against the wall
,
watching him slide down it with satisfaction.

“What the hell was that for?”

“You have been living here for
almost
200 years
,
and
your
little
mood
could kill it in a heartbeat.  Ready to move again are we
?
”

Brushing himself off, Dragan stood then rushing his brother tossed him against the
opposite
wall
,
watching
with satisfaction Aaron
winc
ing
as he
h
it the wall.  Plaster crumbled under the
assault
.

Within
moments,
both
men
were fighting, each trying to get the upper hand.  Aaron had more years of fighting over
Dragan
,
and within
moments
pinned
him to the floor, his hand
crushing
his
brother’s
throat.

“
Cut
the shit.  We are
not
new to this.  You need to get yourself together.”  Standing
,
he hauled Dragan to his feet.

“What the hell is going on between the two of
you?
”

“Nothing.”

“
Right
and
you are
an
idiot
.
You did not trash your office or throw your work against the wall because of nothing.”
  Aaron crossed his arms waiting for an explanation.

Wearily
, Dragan ran his fingers
through his hair.  He was tired
.  H
is initial excitement of thinking he found the cure faded and panic was setting in.

“She told me this
morning
that she was dying
,
and I told her I knew that already.  It seemed that did not go over well.”

“That’s it?  That is what all this drama is about?”

“I don’t
know
;
it seems to have struck a nerve with her.  I was ok
ay
, until she slapped me across the face.”

Aaron tried to hide a smile
,
looking away from his brother.  “And you allowed it?  Wow!”

“What was I going to do?”

Now Aaron was grinning from ear to ear.  “Turn her over your knee and spank her.  At least it might have had a different outcome than you both being miserable.”

Dragan glared at his brother.  “I am so glad you are finding amusement with this.”

“I am sorry.”  Aaron tried his best to look contrite.  “What else?”

“What do you mean what else?”

“We are twin brothers. 
She may not be able to handle a
335-year-old
vampire, but I know y
ou can handle a human woman.  Something else is
bothering
you.  Spit it out man, I have my own work to do.”

“
It’s
not working.”  Aaron
looked confused
,
watching
his brother point to the slides.  “I have taken samples of my venom and have done numerous controlled tests and none of the
venom
cells are killing the anomaly
as it did before
.”

“But I thought you said….”

“What I said is that I need
ed
to
experiment
and run tests.  This is exactly the reason why I said that.  There are so many variables as to what causes something to work and something that doesn’t.”

“I am sorry
,
Dragan.
  So, w
hat’s
the next step
?”

“I need to ask a favor.
  I want you to feed on her.  See if there is a difference in your venom and mine.”

Aaron was stunned.  “
Have you gone insane? 
Y
ou want me to feed off of your girlfriend?”

Dragan’s face darkened.  “I am not asking you to make love to her, just feed.  After
,
I will take some blood and run more test.”

“
You’re
becoming like one of those crazy scientist
s
you know.  But, hey, for the sake of science, I will take a sip.”

“Aaron, behave yourself.  You touch her other than her
neck;
I
swear I
will
rip your heart out
.”

“Chill out
,
bro
ther
. 
However,
I am not going to have you watch
- way
too creepy. 
I d
on’t like having an audience.”

Dragan sighed.  “
You
never did
,
and I figured you would say as much.” 

“And how are you going to tell Amira that I am going to drink her blood so that you can run test
s?
”

“I am
still working
that out.  As a last resort, you can compel her.”