Deadman's Blood (40 page)

“Let’s see…Rowan has started showing powers of pyrokinesis, Blake was moving objects around with telekenesis, Devon has been showing signs of great speed and scaring Darby every time she turned around, and Anton was having dreams of being in your head and seeing what you saw. I’m guessing the connection between you must be quite intense for such lucid dreaming,” Dominic said.

“And you?” Julianna asked Dominic.

“Me, I guess mine is retrocognition. I’ve been having dreams of the past, your past to be exact,” Dominic admitted.

“My past?” Julianna asked, confused.

“Yes. I saw the whole scene play out of your being turned, Owen’s murder, and Edward pinning it all on you,” Dominic revealed.

Julianna was astonished and staggered backward for a moment. “You saw the whole thing? That’s how Anton knew what happened. He claimed it was in a journal or something. I had no idea!”

“Well, there are some facts in some books I have, but there were a lot of holes in the story that were filled in when I had the dream. At first I thought it was just a dream, but when everyone around me was showing signs of new powers after the incident with the Bloodstone Heart, I knew it was more than just a coincidence. It was history playing out for me like a movie in my head.”

“How amazing,” Julianna said. “You have all been truly blessed with these new powers and each other. Anton’s very lucky he has such good friends and a kind, loving family. I was wondering though, doesn’t the prophecy say that four brothers would be brought together? Anton only has one brother,” she said.

“Often in ancient texts extended families lived together and cousins were referred to as brothers or sisters,” Dominic explained.

“So…Josh, Anton AND Devon and Blake, make up the four brothers,” Julianna surmised.

“That’s our thinking, yes,” Dominic replied.

“Josh, being a non-vampire, flew under the radar and is considered the fourth brother no one knew about?” Julianna asked.

“Actually it’s a little more complicated than that, but Josh is a half brother to Anton and I think that is why no one knew about the fourth brother. We, Katarina and I, didn’t even know about Josh until the night of the engagement party,” Dominic relayed.

“Well, if the parents don’t know about the child, chances are, no one else knows. Remind me later to ask you about that, because I’m a bit fuzzy on how that could happen,” Julianna said.

Katarina and Dominic both chuckled a bit and Katarina added, “You’re telling me!”

“Does Michael Rowe know about the prophecy?” Julianna asked.

“Not to my knowledge,” Dominic said.

“Are you sure? Because it would make sense if he did. Could he be a descendent of one of the other ‘Ancient Ones’?” Julianna wondered.

“Maybe, but his name doesn’t match any of them, plus as far as I know the other bloodlines died out hundreds of years ago, way before my time, and Michael’s my age,” Dominic explained.

“Oh no, he’s not,” Julianna corrected.

“What do you mean?” Dominic asked.

“I mean, I’ve been working for the man for almost all my four hundred years and he was well established long before me.

“But that’s impossible. We went to school together,” Dominic argued.

“Maybe, but it wasn’t the first time he graduated. He’s very, very old. It’s harder to tell with the born vampires, but trust me, he’s well over 500 years old and probably a lot older than that. And as for the name not matching and Ancient - people change their names all the time,” Julianna said.

“Well, that is something, isn’t it?” Dominic puzzled.

“Wait a minute here,” Mark jumped in, “You’re trying to tell me that you think Dr. Rowe is behind all this? I’d say it would be more likely to be Bernard. After he disappeared without a trace just before all this mayhem started, and his last name is Wallace.”

“What would Bernard have to benefit from our demise? Besides he’s human,” Dominic argued.

“What? Vampires can’t fake being human? Seems like it would be pretty easy to me. He’s had access to the blood supply and everything else you’ve mentioned. He’s been privy to all our conversations and you can’t get much closer to the family than a live-in butler. I’d check out that theory before I believed in her. She could be pushing us off their tracks by shoving us in the direction of Dr. Rowe, while she and Bernard finish you off,” Mark said defiantly.

“I suppose that’s all possible, but I’d like to give Julianna a chance to prove herself. We all deserve second chances and I refuse to believe Bernard is anything but a beloved friend,” Dominic retorted and Mark pouted.

“Do you have much information on the lineage of the other brothers?” Josh asked Dominic.

“Not as much as the Larsens, but if we could find the archives, we’d have a better source,” Dominic said.

“The archives? I’m pretty sure those are hidden somewhere below the altar room,” Julianna said.

“What? Why would you say that?” Dominic asked eagerly.

“I read somewhere that the archives were hidden ‘near the home of the heart.’ I always figured that meant the Bloodstone Heart and since the altar room was home to the initially ‘good’ Black Orchids, and the heart was carved from the altar stone itself, the altar room had to be the ‘home of the heart’,” Julianna explained.

“That’s my thinking too. Look here.” Dominic showed Julianna the map with the vellum sketch. “See how the room has this extra space on each side?” Julianna nodded.

Dominic picked up the insignia and twisted it, revealing the triangular petals around the edge. “Well, look at that,” Julianna said with amazement.

“This, we believe, is the key to opening the room. We insert this into the indentation in the wall and then turn it with the ring that’s been around your neck for hundreds of years,” Dominic said as he placed the familiar ring into the groove in the back of the insignia.

“Well, what do you know?” Julianna said. “But wait, there’s four indentations in the wall, not one, and they are all rectangular, not round, with this jagged circumference.”

“Four indentations? No. There’s only one that we saw in the middle of the mosaic of the black orchid,” Dominic corrected.

“I never looked there. What a perfect hiding place. Hmmm. I wonder what the four indentations on the wall behind the bookcase in the little room on the left are for then?” Julianna wondered.

“I don’t know. But if this does open a door, maybe we’ll find out what the other indentions are for in the contents of the hidden room,” Dominic concluded.

The following day, they planned to meet Julianna at the altar room after a visit to the hospital. As they closed in on the last few doors before their room, Katarina said, “Niky, I’m going to use the bathroom before I go in. Does anyone want any coffee or something to drink? I was going to get myself a cup.”

Most of the crowd shook their head ‘no’ except for Dominic. “Thank you, Kat. I really would love some coffee.”

“Good, then I will meet you in the room in a few minutes,” Katarina said.

Dominic kissed her cheek as they parted.

Before they all descended on the patients, Dr. Donaldson spotted them and invited them into his office for a quick update. Once they were all in the office he began.

“Good news. I think we are starting to see signs of the treatments working. The latest blood tests on all three patients show a decrease in the red blood cells dying off. I’m not saying we are out of the woods just yet, but I feel optimistic that we are on the right track in treating them.”

“That is excellent news, Dr. Donaldson. Have you told Darby and Rowan yet?” Dominic asked.

“I have. They went to have a bite to eat in celebration,” the doctor said. Then he went on about the procedure and how it worked using medical terms that no one in the room understood but dutifully listened to anyway.

In the interim, Katarina had used the facilities and went to the cafeteria to get two cups of coffee. She entered the room to find a dark-haired doctor attending to one of the machines. He excused himself upon her entry and brushed against her, nearly spilling the coffee in her hands on his retreat. She sat the coffee down on one of the rolling tables and readjusted the blankets on Anton’s bed. She could see Dominic’s genes in Anton and hoped soon she would get to meet him in person along with the other handsome gentlemen in the room.

As she was attending to Devon’s blankets, the rest of the visitors came in the room and Dominic beamed, “Kat, sweet Kat, they’re getting better. The doctor feels the last set of test results shows improvement. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“It is. I’m so happy. I can’t wait to meet them all. When will he know for sure if the treatment is working?” she asked.

“Within another day or two. He’s hopeful they will be coming out of their comas soon,” Dominic relayed.

“That’s wonderful news,” Katarina said as she hugged a very pleased Dominic. “Where are the girls?”

“The doctor said they stepped out for a bite to eat,” Dominic answered. The others meandered from patient to patient saying their hellos and giving their good wishes.

“That’s good. I’m glad they could get out of here for a few minutes and enjoy the day,” Katarina said.

“Me too. I’m glad we all have something to celebrate,” Dominic said then patted his son’s hand and said a few fatherly things to him in almost a whisper.

*****

With a feeling of relief and jubilation, the group set out to meet Julianna in the altar room under the castle on Heart Island. Even if nothing came of it, it had been a good day. The sun was shining brightly on the water as the boat made its way to the dock of the island in the St. Lawrence River. They met Julianna at the dock and all proceeded through the deserted tunnels and to the altar room.

Julianna inspected the mosaic, noticing for the first time the indentations hidden in the pattern. “Amazing!” she said quietly to herself as Dominic pulled out the insignia, twisted it, and then inserted it into the indentation the opposite way he had before. Placing the ring on his pinky finger, he twisted his wrist to the right. A loud mechanical sound was heard like a clock unwinding itself, but nothing in the room seemed different.

“Okay, gang, spread out and see if you find anything different,” Dominic said excitedly.

Footfalls were heard all around and it was Mark who had ventured into the room off the right side of the big room. “In here,” he called out. “The bookcase has opened up. There are some steps leading downward. Did anyone think to bring a flashlight?”

Sally said, “I have a little one in my purse.”

“Me too,” called out Alyssa.

“The rest of you should use your phones for lights. The steps are narrow so go slowly. Dominic? You should do the honors and go first,” Mark said.

Dominic smiled and led the rest slowly down the stairs. The cobwebs were as thick as curtains, and rats scurried along the edges of the lights’ illuminations.

“Anyone have any matches?” Dominic asked.

Alyssa was the only one who had a lighter in her purse and she handed it to Dominic. He had found a candle on a table as the others spread out. He and the others started lighting candles, sconces, and torches that seemed to be everywhere. Though it wasn’t great reading light, it was enough to see the whole of the room and its contents. It was definitely a library of some sort; a little more investigation would reveal if it was indeed the ancient lost archives of the vampires.

They looked around in silence, wiping and blowing dust and webs away to see the titles on the bindings. There were thousands of books here - a treasure trove of history and when Dominic reached the realization that this indeed was the archives, he was as giddy as a school boy. The smile on his face could have lit the whole room with no need for candles or flashlights.

“We’ve found it. This IS the Ancient Archive of the Vampires and it’s all in pretty good shape despite the dampness. Can you believe it?” Dominic said out loud. The closest person to him was Katarina and he picked her up and spun her around, making her giggle as the others watched and smiled.

“These books really ought to be moved, but I’m reluctant to do so since they have been safe here for so long. How about each of you grab a couple of books that look interesting and we’ll take those back to the house, locking the rest up safe and sound here. Then at some given time I’ll come down here again and start cataloging the books and their contents for future reference. To start with, be on the lookout for any books on the Ancient Ones or something pertaining to the four brothers.”

Julianna came over to personally congratulate Dominic on the find. She knew the books would be in good hands with him and eventually the world would have access to the great treasure that had been found. “Dominic, congratulations. I’m so glad I could be here to find something so significant.”

“Well, you were a big part in our finding it, Julianna,” he said.

“I was? How?”

“If it hadn’t been for you and your relationship with Anton, we wouldn’t have had the Blood Diamond and the key wouldn’t have been whole,” Dominic admitted.