Dragan's Redemption Book One of the Manor at Echo Lake Trilogy (32 page)

Seeing
Dragan’s
shadow, he caught up
to him
quickly.  They walked toward the lake in silence for several moments.

“It’s my venom
,
brother that kills the bad cells.  Not just my venom, and I don’t know why, but it only works when I am feeding from her directly.”

“That is weird, isn’t
it?
”

Letting out a heavy sigh, Dragan nodded.

“It certainly would be a lot easier if I could make vaccinations of the venom and inject her.  The control would be much easier and less dangerous.”

Aaron stopped walking grabbing his
brother’s
arm, gripping tightly. 
“What do you mean dangerous
?
”

“Aaron, I don’t know how much will kill all of the cells.  Every last one needs to die otherwise it will just grow stronger.”

Aaron stared at his brother before he continued to walk.
  “I know how much.”

“What?”

Aaron’s voice was low as he spoke. 
“
Do you remember when we were first turned by her?  We spent several months lost and scared out of our minds,
and then
we met
that
old woman in the
Galloway
Forest
in
Scotland
.  You and I had
just finished making
a pact that we would figure out how to kill each other
to end our misery
.”

Dragan nodded remember
ing
that dark period in their lives.  They both hated who they were and felt that death was the only solution to their circumstance. 
Frowning
,
he looked at his brother wondering what that time
300 years ago
had to do with the current circumstance.

Reaching the lake, Aaron walked to the waters edge staring out at
the water.  “She gave me a book that night, k
ind of the ins and outs of being a vampire written by one a thousand yea
rs older than
we were
at that time.  I still have it.”

“Why is this the first time that I have ever heard of this
,
Aaron?”

Aaron’s voice was sharp.  “Because you wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say.  She told me a lot that night
,
Dragan
,
when she gave me the book.  She convinced me that suicide was not the answer and the reasons behind that option. 
However,
as in anything in life, there are so many fine
lines, twists,
and turns.  Many
‘
ifs
’
.”

“So that is why you
wouldn’t
kill me.”

“
Yes
.
  I knew that murder wasn’t the
way
out of our plight.
”

Dragan thought back to the argument they had that night.  That argument cumulated into a span of lonely years for him as the
twin
’
s
separated
for the first time.  The fight had been bad. 
Going
their separate ways was the only way they could figure themselves out.  After 100 years of killing and drain
ing
people
of their
blood, Dragan made the decision to renew his faith
- w
hich is how he had spent his last 150
years begging
for forgiveness.

“Why are you telling me all of this now?  What does this have to do with
Amira?
”

Aaron turned
staring
at his twin.  “You can’t save her
,
Dragan.  Amira will die.”

“That can’t be true.”

Charging
his brother, he tossed him into the air watching as he flew 100 feet along the shore.  Aaron grunted as he landed hard.

“My venom kills the bad cells.  It has to work
,
or I will die trying.”

Hissing
,
Aaron tackled his brother.
“Well that is exactly what is going to happen if you try.”

“What the hell are you talking
about?
”

“For her to live
,
you have to die
; your
life for hers
,
Dragan!
”

Dragan stilled under his brother.  Aaron jumped to his feet.  Now he had his attention.

“What?!”

“You have to drain her
,
t
iming it perfectly
,
and the key is the heartbeat.  One in every so many seconds.  She will appear dead to the human eye, but she would live.  On the other hand, you would have ingested every one
of the
bad
cells
,
and it will eat you alive inside causing
your
own death.  If it is not done right, both of you will die.  Dropping to his
knees,
he put both hands on his
brother’s
shoulders
.  Dragan looked as if he were in shock.

“I can’t lose both of you
,
brother.  I can’t live without you!”

Dragan watched the tears fall down Aaron
’
s face, and he realized that he also was crying.

“She has a bucket list you know.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand, a bucket list?”

“Yes
, i
n her closet in her bedroom. 
Five
things she wants to do before she dies.”

Aaron heart split in two at the
anguish
he heard in his
brother’s
voice
.  He knew that this was not the time to tell him that he had seen her list
.

“She wants to visit
Nantucket
.  I want to take her there.
  We leave tomorrow.
”
  Aaron rose to his feet and walked from his brother
,
leaving him to sob alone.

Amira ran at full speed across the sand.  Making Shadow give her a
head start,
she had a huge lead on him
,
but she knew that he would catch up with her.  After several
minutes,
Dragan watched the wolf charge after her, his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, kicking up sand as he ran
,
a big grin on his hairy face.  Shaking his head, he followed them.  He never understood
the
running game of theirs but couldn’t help laugh
aloud
at watching her try
to
beat Shadow to the finish line.  She was stunning as she
ran;
her long legs with their muscles contracting under the effort caused a flash of desire to build within him.  Amira stopped abruptly
,
and Dragan watched as she grabbed at the wolf as he ran past
, h
er fingers briefly touching the wolf fur.  Stopping before the finish line,
the animal
turned, watching h
er
walk towards him,
quickly
stepping over the line, just as she reached him.

Dropping to the
ground,
she gasped for air wrapping an arm around his massive head as he dropped down next to her panting.

“You two are
weird
.”

“Takes one to know one
,
vamp man.”

Smiling, Dragan held out his hand to her, hauling her to her feet.  “Do you have your bathing suit on?”

“Of course!”

“Come with me then.”  Walking further down the beach, she saw a small boat pulled up on the shore
.
H
elping her step in and waiting for Shadow to jump in, he sailed out to a larger boat that she had observed earlier that morning bobbing in the waves.

“Is that boat yours?”

“Yes.  I have a surprise for you
,
Amira.”

Amira watched him sail the small craft, the wind carrying
them quickly to the large boat where a crew helped them climb the stairs.

Standing on the deck
,
Amira heard him speak to a man, whom she assumed was the captain.  After a brief conversation,
Dragan
led her to
several
chairs at the front of the boat
.  A
table had been placed
next to them
with several glasses.  Pouring
Champagne
into them, he handed one to her as her eyebrows
rose
in surprise.

“Are we celebrating
something
,
Dragan?”

“We, my love
,
are celebrating us and checking a few items off of your bucket
list
.”

Grinning she looked up at him, the love he saw there filled him with bittersweet
emotions.
  He would remember this moment, hanging on to it like a treasure.  Tapping his glass with hers, she downed the contents completely before he could even take his sip.

Hearing a shout behind them, they both turned to see the crew point out to the water on the starboard side.  Amira looked out over the water while Dragan watched her expression, loving the way her eyes widened in shock then complete delight.  This time away was the best decision he made.

“Whales!!  You brought me to see whales!”
  Running over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist hugging him close.

“We can’t swim with them, but we can get pretty close!”

“But this is like swimming with them.  They are all around us!”  Amira squealed with delight at watching one of the whales expel the excess air from his blowhole, before diving back under the water.
S
hadow ran back and forth along the deck picking up her excitement. S
he s
cream
ed
again as another leapt out of the water, only to twist and splash heavily.  They were on full display
,
and she was in heaven.  Dragan made the crew stay, only ordering them to head back when all of the whales had disappeared
,
and Amira’s teeth started to chatter from the cool evening air.

After docking, they walked
the beach back up to the house, his eyes
smiling
as she sang
,
danc
ing
her way up the stairs, twirling into the house.

James smiled at him as he held the door open.  “We had another great day I see.”

Amira hugged the butler tightly.  “Oh it was fantastic!  I saw whales
,
James!  They were so close, I could have reached out and touch
ed
them, but Dragan said that was too dangerous….oh, but I so wanted to do it.”

“Indeed
,
Miss.”  James caught the look of sadness pass
across
the
vampire’s
eyes before hiding it behind another smile.  There were so many moments that James kept
catching
the small looks of worry, and sadness.  He knew this trip was all for her,
and everyone
,
who now knew she was dying, hid their sadness wanting to make this trip for her something she would remember until she took her last breath.

“Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes i
f you both would like to shower and change?”

“Amira, go on up, I will be there in a minute.”  All eyes watched as she walked up the stairs her smile still
shining
brightly.

“You have made her very happy
,
Dragan.”

“Yes.  I believe I have.”  Turning to his old friend, the smile left his face.  “We are leaving tomorrow
,
James, please inform the staff.”

“Yes, of course
,
Sir.”

Walking up the stairs following Amira, he heard the water running in the shower.  Sitting on the bed, he felt overwhelmed with his love for her and a huge sadness for a life they would never share together. 
Nantucket
was a blessing as it soothed his spirit while he
finalized
his plans for the upcoming week.  Shaking off his mood, he stood and undressed.  They still had tonight, and he was not going to waste it feeling sorry for
them
.