Blood of a Werewolf (7 page)

“Do you have any family that might be able to tell us specifically what the squabble was about?”

“None that I know of; maybe Devon knows of someone.”

“What about any family records or paperwork, or diaries that might have recorded some such thing?”

“I couldn’t say for sure. Devon took care of all the family belongings when our parents were killed, but I believe we have a storage locker of stuff we thought we should save.
 
Family heirlooms, things like that.”

“Good, good...that would be a great start. So where does Pooba Paine reside? Or reign?”

Blake laughed again. “I believe he resides in Maine, but I’m not absolutely sure.”

“So the fact that you are not sure of quite a few of these facts, I take it that Devon takes care of most of this kind of stuff?” His face went stone cold and stern; she knew he was offended.
 

She continued, “Don’t get me wrong, Blake, it’s the same with me and my sister.
 
She is the free spirit and I am the grounded one, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
 
Sure, we sometimes fight about it, but it’s who we are.
 
She’s like our Mom and I’m more like Dad.
 
She helps me to try to be more spontaneous and live a little, whereas I try to help her see the benefits of what a wee bit more responsibility could do to enhance her life.
 
You know…we’re symbiotic.”

He smiled and nodded. “Yes, I would say that our relationships could be viewed as very similar.
 
Too bad, if I hadn’t just met this amazing girl, I would be very anxious to meet your sister.”

“You will, I’m sure. It’s funny though, when I checked my messages today, she had said that she too, had met a special guy.
 
What a coincidence!
 
Fate throwing her a special curve ball, I suppose. Well, I suppose that’s more information than I can process in one day, so I think I will shack up on the couch.
 
I think you should grab some things from home and sleep in my sister’s room.
 
It’s messy, but clean.”

“I couldn’t do that. Max is not going to be sending anyone tonight and besides, what if your sister comes home?”

“Hon, it’s 11:30, if she’s not home now she won’t be coming home; besides, I told you - New Guy!”

“Oh yeah, right.”

“You don’t know for sure that Max didn’t come here with the other software engineer slayer. Plus, since I am filling in for your grounded brother, I know he wouldn’t want you to take that chance. Just sleep here; I’ll feel better, I know your brother would feel better, and no harm done. Please!”

“Okay, but only because you insisted.
 
Oh, shoot! Is it really 11:30? I was supposed to meet this girl an hour ago.”

“I’m sure with those eyes and that smile, she will forgive you anything. Call her and tell her something came up. That way, you didn’t stand her up.
 
Believe me; girls don’t like to be stood up, not by their sisters, and definitely not by potential boyfriends.”

“Yeah, I will. Hey, ummm…thanks for everything, the advice, the plan, my brother, and, oh yeah, Max.
 
By the way, we still haven’t discussed what you did or how you did what you did.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to block that out of my memory. I don’t have a clue how or what happened. I just felt all these emotions after seeing your brother on the ground. I didn’t want anything else to hurt him. I just wanted it to stop and then Pow!
 
Everything went white and Van Hels... I mean, Max, went flying.
 
I didn’t mean to kill him.
 
The tree, you know, that was an accident. I didn’t aim him for the tree. I just wanted Devon to be okay.”

“Well, remind me not to ever make you angry,” he teased.
 

“Ha! Ha! Very funny!
 
Go get some clothes and go to bed,” she said, pointing to Rowan’s room.

“Okay, okay! I’ll call that girl as I’m grabbing some stuff and I’ll be right back. And by the way, I think my brother would be very upset if he felt he kept you from sleeping in your bed.
 
You two are adults, I’m sure you can control yourself,” he smirked.
 
“I’ll bet you will sleep much better in your own bed than on the couch.”
 

“Okay, little brother, you win.
 
And yes, I can control myself, thank you very much.
 
As for your brother, well, he’s passed out, but even so, he is too much of a gentleman to be anything but embarrassed by the situation.”

“I think you might be surprised.
 
He’s a gentleman, yes, but he is a guy and you are, well, gorgeous.”
 

She blushed deeply and smiled.
 
“Well, thank you, but I’m not.” She continued to smile as she went back to the bedroom, slightly tickled by the compliment.
 

She set the change of clothes Blake had brought for Devon on the chair. She grabbed a pair of flannel shorts out of the dresser drawer and went into the bathroom to attend to her nightly rituals.

As she finished up in the bathroom and turned out the light, she tiptoed to the bed.
 
She checked her patient, and gave him a new, cool rag for his head.
 
No temperature yet, but it was still too early to tell.
 
She’d check his bandages in the morning.
 
In the meantime, Harry was taking up the whole rest of the bed.
 
He was on his back as if mimicking Devon. Harry’s head was turned in what looked like a very uncomfortable position.
 
He had one fuzzy arm over his eyes.
 
It looked like a fainting damsel pose.
 
She laughed and pushed him over so she could have some of the bed and Harry slept between them.
 
Lights out. She wasn’t sure if her head even hit the pillow before she fell asleep.

Chapter 4

A woman’s scream woke Darby.
 
She looked at the clock and it was 1:18 A.M. The scream didn’t affect Harry or Devon.
 
In fact, now that she was awake, she wasn’t sure that the scream hadn’t been a dream, but considering the last 48 hours, she couldn’t be too careful.
 

She grabbed the baseball bat that she kept by the door of the bedroom and headed down the hall towards the living room.
 
The light was on in Rowan’s room and Darby wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard giggling.

She walked very gingerly with the bat in her hand trying not to let the floorboards squeak. She knocked quietly so as not to startle Blake, when Rowan came bouncing to the door with Blake attached to her waist, both smiling like they had been caught doing something they shouldn’t.
 

“Hey, Darby, what’s up!” Rowan said casually.

“What’s up? You scream at 1:15 in the morning and you ask ME what’s up?” Darby whispered loudly.

“Sorry, I don’t always find presents like this in my bedroom.
 
You’re so sweet to me, big sister.
 
Thank you, he’s lovely – just what I always wanted,” she said as she planted a huge kiss on Blake. He didn’t seem to mind in the least.

“I see you’ve met,” Darby whispered.

“Oh, we met a couple of days ago – this is the guy I left you a message about,” Rowan said.

“And this is the girl I told you I had to call tonight,” Blake added.

“So you two...and tonight...Blake...the message?” Darby whispered, confused.

“Pretty much. Why are you whispering?” Rowan said and then looked at Blake. “Why is she whispering and holding a bat?”

Blake raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders, but the smile on his face was as bright as the sun.
 

“All I can tell you is she had a teakettle earlier and now it’s a bat.”
 
He tried to cover his laugh with his hand.

Rowan was smiling. “Is there someone else here?” she whispered. Blake, unable to control his laughter, helplessly looked at Darby.

“Yes, there is! In my bed! His brother! Well, he got shot with a crossbow.”
 
She waved her hand in front of her face as she realized she was just making it sound worse than it was.
 
She shook her head and announced, “I’m going to bed.” Juvenile
oooh’s
and kissing sounds teased her as she walked away.
 
She retorted, “And keep it down in there, some people are trying to sleep.”
 

But even as she rounded the corner to the hall, she quietly laughed to herself as she heard:

Darby and Devon

Kissing in a tree

K – I – S – S – I – N – G

She couldn’t help but smile. Rowan and Blake were perfect for each other, she had to admit.

Back in the bedroom, she had to move Harry again as he had spread out during her absence. She crawled back into bed with a smile on her face, still listening to the giggles from the front bedroom, and then she closed her eyes.

Darby woke up with Harry standing on her chest like he did every morning.
 
His high-pitched meowing was especially annoying today.
 
She was too tired for his shenanigans.
 
She rolled him off her and on to the floor, when she realized that she smelled coffee and there was someone in the kitchen, humming - a man, humming in her kitchen? She looked over at the other side of the bed and a tidal wave of memories of last night came flooding in.
 
She sat straight up and realized Devon was not in bed.
 
Oh my God, where is he
?
 
In a panic she went flying down the hall, but made a u-turn back into the kitchen where the most beautiful man was humming and cooking - making pancakes.
 
It was Devon and he looked fine – fabulous even.
 
She ran to him, not thinking about how she looked, just so absolutely thrilled to see him alive, thriving and gorgeous. She hugged him like she hadn’t seen him in years and her eyes started to well up.
 

“Oh my God, you’re okay. I was so worried.
 
Are you okay? Are you...” she stopped speaking and hugged him again.

“It’s okay, I’m fine.
 
Apparently I had a very skilled nurse at my side all night,” he said and smiled slyly.
 

Her expression was that of utter shock. Then another realization hit her.
 
His hair was wet. He’d taken a shower.
 
“Oh my God, you took a shower?”

Now his smile turned to surprised confusion as one eyebrow lifted towards her.
 
“Was I not supposed to?”

“Of course, I mean, no, I mean your wounds, they’re too deep - you could get a really bad infection. Take your shirt off, let me see,” she demanded.

Both eyebrows rose now, in amusement, as he said, “But can’t you wait? I’m making pancakes.”

“Ha! Ha! You and your brother should go on the road with that comedy act! Now take off your shirt!”
 

“You are even more beautiful when you’re demanding.” Realizing she wasn’t going to budge on the subject, he added, “You won’t like what you see.”

He pulled the t-shirt off.
 
This gorgeous man, trying to make pancakes, was standing there with barely any evidence of having been shot by a crossbow just 12 hours before. A tiny purple indent was visible, but it was hardly noticed after she saw his flat six-pack stomach and broad chest.
 
He must have enormous upper body strength as his biceps and pecs were perfect specimens.
 
He was as flawless as a stone sculpture.
 

When she came to, after gawking, she shook her head in disbelief. “But...that’s...umm...how did...uhh.” She plopped down into the kitchen chair, bewildered.
 
“I need coffee,” she finally said.

Devon turned and threw the burning pancake in the trash.
 
He opened the cabinet and got a cup and poured some coffee for her.
 
She stood up and grabbed the handle of the refrigerator and pulled out the fat free creamer.
 
Sitting back down in front of her coffee, she added the creamer. Every so often she looked up at him and his flawless chest in disbelief.