Deadman's Blood (37 page)

“Poor Bernard. I hope they haven’t harmed him, whoever they are,” Dominic said solemnly.

“Me too. I’ve really missed the old guy,” Mark said as his stomach growled, Josh gave him a cynical look.

“What? No. I really miss him, not just because of his awesome pancakes. He’s a really great guy,” Mark retorted.

“Did you get to talk to the Dark Angel, Mark?” Dominic asked.

“What? The Dark Angel?” Josh said, alarmed.

“No. Anton did all the talking. I had a lung full of smoke so I had to get out of the tunnels to get some fresh air; when I got back the Dark Angel was gone,” Mark said.

“Then Anton never told you what happened while you were gone?”

“No, not really, just that the Dark Angel broke the vampire rope I made and took off.”

“Vampire rope?” Josh asked.

“Yeah. I came up with this rope I made from stalks of wolfsbane, vervain, and stringy redwood bark,” Mark proclaimed proudly.

“I’m afraid Anton didn’t tell you all that happened, Mark. Maybe I should fill you in. I think he was embarrassed and just didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t really want to talk to me about it, but he felt he had to,” Dominic said.

“Really? Why what happened?”

“It seems the Dark Angel is Julianna, the girl that Anton has been chasing after for the past few months. So as you can imagine, he was embarrassed to have to tell the family that he was dating the Dark Angel.”

“The Dark Angel is a girl?” Mark asked. “I certainly didn’t see that one coming.”

“It threw Anton into a spiral all right. It also turns out that my uncle, Owen, and Julianna were engaged to be married,” Dominic continued.

“Ewwww. Anton was dating his great uncle’s girl? Gross,” Mark said with a disgusted face.

“Well yeah, nearly four hundred year earlier, I think that clears him from anything weird although I too, teased him about it at first. Anton didn’t take too kindly to it, as you can imagine.”

Josh nodded.

“I don’t think either of them knew it. My Uncle Edward turned her into a vampire and framed her for Owen’s murder. Julianna thought Owen had jilted her and she didn’t know how she had died, she just woke up in a crypt all by herself. When she came to the Larsens to find out what happened to Owen, they shunned her and sent her away. She fended for herself and is one of the oldest known made vampires. She was angry and alone for a very long time. I suppose she did what she had to do to survive.”

“Wow. That stinks. Why did Edward kill his brother?” Josh asked.

“For a family heirloom - the Blood Diamond,” Dominic answered.

“Did he get it?” Josh asked.

“No. Owen gave it to Julianna as an engagement ring and she’s had it all this time,” Dominic said.

“Why would anyone want a ring called the ‘Blood Diamond’ for an engagement ring? Seems like with a name like that the marriage would be doomed from the beginning,” Mark asked.

“Well, to a vampire family, ‘blood’ isn’t as taboo as it would be for a human,” Dominic answered.

“I guess you’re right. So how did the diamond get its special name?” Mark asked.

“Well, remember when we all talked about the prophecy and the ‘Ancient Four’ - the four brothers - Wallace, Larsen, Douglas, and Mathew?”

“Yes,” Mark said and Josh nodded.

“When the father set up the four kingdoms for his sons he gave them each a great jewel which each of them set in a ring as part of their royal seal. Wallace was given a sapphire, Douglas was given a ruby, Mathew was given an emerald, and Larsen was given a diamond. As the four kingdoms fell apart from greed, the diamond was said to have changed color from purest white to blood red and as if it were dying it slowly, turned to black,” Dominic explained.

“Ewww. See…we’re right back to ‘Blood Diamond’ being a bad name for an engagement ring,” Mark said wincing.

“You seem awful concerned about it being an engagement ring, Mark…do you have engagement rings on the mind?” Josh said with a smirk.

“What? No. Not at all. I’m just…Well…I’m making a point.”

Dominic and Josh both raised an eyebrow to Mark’s reaction which visibly flustered Mark.

“If she had the diamond all along, how come Edward didn’t find it on her?” Josh asked.

“That’s a good question and I’m not absolutely sure since I wasn’t there, but according to Owen’s journals, he had asked her not to wear it on her finger until they could announce it together. I believe Anton mentioned that she wore it around her neck. My guess is that why Edward didn’t see it on her finger he assumed she didn’t have it on her,” Dominic explained.

“So have you seen this diamond?” Josh asked.

“Not until very recently,” Dominic answered. “It seems when Anton let Julianna go, she gave it to Anton.”

“Wow. Why?” Josh asked.

“I think when she found out the truth about what had happened to Owen and adding with her feelings for Anton, she offered it as an apology for her involvement with all that’s been going on with the Bloodstone Heart and the Deadman’s Blood.”

“That’s right, I forgot. Anton saw inside the Dark Angel’s head and saw her kill that guy and drain him. So is she the one who poisoned Blake, Devon, and Anton?” Mark asked.

“Anton said that she had an employer, like she had been Dimitri’s employer, and that she gave the blood to him and that was the end of her involvement with it,” Dominic said.

“Do you believe her?” Mark asked.

“Yeah, I think I do. It makes sense,” Dominic said.

“And what about what Dimitri did to Lanie?” Josh asked solemnly.

“Anton said she didn’t order that. It was all Dimitri’s doing,” Dominic said.

“But she didn’t stop him,” Josh noted.

“No. She didn’t, but I think she might have if she had known the connection you have with Anton,” Dominic said.

“What about my parents? Was she involved?” Josh asked.

“No. From what Anton said, she didn’t even know about the crash until he had told her about it,” Dominic answered.

“She could be lying,” Mark interjected.

“She could be, but somehow I don’t think so. She told Anton she called her employer and told him she wanted nothing more to do with whatever grudge he had with the Larsens. Apparently her employer was livid and threatened her, but she stood her ground.

“By the way, Mark, Anton mentioned that you found where you think the relic is to be inserted,” Dominic said.

“Yes. I think I have. Just before the Dark Angel, Julie, whatever her name is, showed up, I was sitting on the hearth looking around the room and at that angle, it gave me a different perspective to the room and the lighting. That’s when I noticed an indentation in the middle of the mosaic of the black orchid.”

“What a perfect place for it,” Dominic thought out loud.

“It really is, I mean, you would never see it unless you were looking for it or were sitting in the exact place I was sitting,” Mark answered.

“What do you say we take a quick detour to New York and check it out?” Dominic suggested.

“You have the relic with you?” Josh asked.

“I do.”

“I don’t know. I don’t have my vampire rope or my cross bow,” Mark said rather worried.

“I seriously doubt Julianna is going to show up again,” Dominic said.

“Yeah, well that’s what Anton said, when lo and behold there she was,” Mark retorted.

“Well, then you can do your dragon act again and scare her off,” Dominic said excitedly. “Besides, we don’t have to be there but just a few minutes to see if anything happens.”

“And if a room opens up? You’re not going to want to leave and we don’t have anything to defend ourselves,” Mark argued.

“I promise if anything opens, we take a quick looksee at what we’ve found then hightail it out of there when we can bring more protection. Five minutes - tops,” Dominic said.

“Five minutes…no more. It took me two days to cough out all the soot in my lungs after turning into a dragon, and I don’t want to do that again,” Mark complained.

“Five minutes. I swear," Dominic repeated.

*****

Dominic, Josh, and Mark visited with Darby and Rowan and checked in with Dr. Donaldson. Dominic thought Rowan looked a hundred times better now that Darby was back. Darby had talked the doctor into having all three of the patients in the same room so she and Rowan could spread themselves around easier. Darby focused on Devon and Anton, and Rowan focused on Blake and Devon. It was much easier than dividing themselves up among rooms and allowed Darby and Rowan to visit with one another without leaving the boys alone for any extended time.

Though Josh, Mark, and Dominic’s visit was short it was appreciated by Darby and Rowan, and Dr. Donaldson was working on a better way to filter the vampire blood of the three patients. Dr. Andrews in San Francisco had tried dialysis, and though it worked to some degree it was not able to defeat the invading Deadman’s Blood. Transfusions were still being used to keep Blake alive and now were being used on the other two as the Deadman’s Blood penetrated further into their systems. It had been a miracle that Blake had survived this long considering Deadman’s Blood poison usually killed its host within 2-3 days.

When Blake had been brought to Dr. Donaldson’s care, he first did an extensive detox on him and then on Devon and Anton when they showed up. Chlorophyll, believe it or not, was the main ingredient in this detoxing of the blood. However it had little or no effect on the patients. Dr. Donaldson had decided to try a process called hemoperfusion. It was very much like dialysis, in that it too filtered the blood outside of the body. It was often used in removing drugs or poisons from the blood. Dr. Donaldson had already started treatment on Blake, Devon would be next and then Anton.

The doctor was hopeful this would remove all traces of the Deadman’s Blood, but only time would tell. Though Dominic, Josh, and Mark were more optimistic with the prognosis of the patients when they left the hospital and the girls behind, the conversation on the way to the castle and its altar room beneath it was minimal. As they made their way through the tunnels and into the altar room, Josh said, “Did you notice how great Darby looked despite all that is going on? She looked like she was glowing.”

Mark looked at Josh like he was from Mars, but Dominic nodded and said, “Ah yes. She really does have a way of lighting up a room. I’d say most brides-to-be look that way - hopeful and excited about starting the journey of life with someone they love. It’s quite enchanting.”

Now Mark looked at Dominic like he was visiting Josh on Mars. He shook his head in disbelief as they entered the room and headed for the mosaic.

Mark reminded Dominic, “Now remember, no matter what happens…five minutes is what we agreed upon, no more.”

“I remember, Mark,” Dominic said as he took out the handkerchief-wrapped relic. He twisted it as Josh had suggested on the plane on the way to California and a click was heard by all as the relic now had the look of a sunflower with triangular petals all around its circumference. He looked at Josh then at Mark, who both nodded for him to proceed. Dominic inserted the relic into the perfect fit indentation in the center of the orchid, but nothing happened.

“Well, that was disappointing,” Dominic said.

“What now?” Mark said.

“Try pushing it like a button or turning it,” Josh suggested.

But try as he might, nothing happened. “Well, I have no doubt it goes here, but there must be more to the key in order to make the mechanism work.”

“Well, we tried, let’s go,” Mark said nervously.

“I agree,” Dominic said disappointedly. “Seems we need to do a little more research.”

“Don’t be to disappointed, Dominic. It definitely goes there; we’re just missing a piece to the puzzle. We’ll find it. I mean, come on, three months ago we didn’t even know this place existed. A month ago, we found this amazing key and the prophecy and now we know where it goes. That’s a lot more than we knew a few months ago. If the Bloodstone Heart fiasco taught me anything, it’s that these things take time, but with your brains and resources and Mark’s PI abilities at uncovering just about anything, we’ll figure this out in no time,” Josh encouraged.

Mark smiled, nodding his head rather comically in agreement. Dominic patted Josh on the shoulder, “You’re right, Josh. Together we’ll figure this out. Add the three charming ladies back at the house and we’re nearly impossible to defeat. Let’s head on home.”

One by one they exited the room following one another down the tunnel to the docks and their waiting boat. In no time at all they were back in the Mercedes, calling Katarina, Melanie, and Alyssa to meet them for a lovely dinner in town to update them on all they had learned on their fruitful road trip and the new treatment the doctors were working on for the boys.

*****

The following day found Sally and Dean back at the Larsen house in Connecticut. Dominic had become quite fond of the hazel-eyed, scruffy werewolf and his beautiful, green-eyed witch. He was eager to talk with Sally about this warning that his sister, Abby, and his wife of too few years, Sophia, were trying to verbalize, but right now was a time for rejoicing their safe return, and updating them on Blake, Devon, and Anton’s condition.