Drawing Blood (36 page)

They exchanged a look before Holly dove for it.

“It’s a journal.” Her excitement mingled with fear and she hesitated before turning the first page.

“Do you want me to take you home to read it?”

Holly shook her head. “No. I want to read it now. She lived here while I grew inside her. The atmosphere seems fitting.”

“In that case,” he looked around the attic, spotting a large old rocking chair. “Let’s get comfortable.” He took her hand.

He held her as she read.

My darling daughter:

I begin this journal with a heavy heart. A piece of me and a piece of the man I love are joined in you and that gives me my only happiness. I ask that you not judge me too harshly for I hope the things I tell you come as no surprise.

“She must have meant to give this to me one day,” Holly muttered. “She had no idea I wouldn’t get it until years later.” She continued to read aloud.

 
I trust that by this, your twenty- first year, you and I are close friends with no secrets between us. Your father cried when I told him about you. He was not a man for tears so I trust you understand what it meant for me to see them wash his face.

We did not mean for this to happen in this way. Please forgive us. Perhaps one day you will understand how useless it is to resist a love like ours.

Holly stopped reading. A lump had formed in her throat.

“Would you like me to continue?” Stryker asked.

She shook her head. “No, it has to be me.” She took a deep breath and began reading again, her voice low-pitched and husky.

I love your brother and sister as much as any mother loves her children. I hope that someday you know this kind of fulfillment. I loved my husband, Alan Seaton once as well. But how long can you love your jailor?

Alan Seaton is a driven man. His business interests take him away from his family frequently, yet still he grants me no freedom. He has people watch over me. His love has turned into obsession. I understand at last. He is that kind of man. He frightens me.

In the beginning I did my best to try to understand Alan’s dedication to his work. I even admired it. I was busy raising Matthew and Alison, and didn’t pay that part of his life much mind.

When I finally lifted my head out of the nursery, I realized that Alan’s business is not what I had assumed. He has a finger in an endless number of financial pies, some less than ethical, but that wasn’t what shocked me to the core. It sickens me to write the words but I have to.

Recently I discovered that my husband is a member of a consortium of powerful men who keep a secret from the rest of the world. In their minds, they protect the human race from an unspeakable evil. But in reality they seek only personal power and gain. They will stop at nothing to further their own ends. They claim they’re protecting humankind from an ancient evil, but they’re really just perpetuating a centuries old injustice for their own benefit.

My child, trust me when I tell you, vampires exist. Many walk among us. Alan Seaton’s family and their partners have hunted them for centuries. They see wickedness where there is none but what they nurture in their own hearts.

The Seaton men are bloodstalkers. It is their mission to eradicate what they call ‘the vampire vermin’ from the earth. They use this as an excuse to commit any number of atrocities.

My darling daughter, please trust this…vampires are not evil any more than humans are. They simply seek to exist on this planet. I know this because I’ve fallen in love with one of them.

Holly stopped reading and looked at Stryker solemnly.

“I guess that explains my blood results.”

He kissed her and waited until she began reading again. She took a shaky breath.

My lover is Alan’s current obsession. His prey. Mackenzie Holister has been hunted by my husband and his ilk for many years. By pure chance, Alan managed to capture Mac. He took Mac prisoner and conducted unspeakable experiments on him. Alan and his superiors sought information about the physiology of vampires, their strengths and weaknesses. They wanted to obtain all Mac’s information on other vampires as well. Mac was held prisoner in the extensive basements of the mansion I’d called home. Alan perpetrated this crime for weeks until Mac was broken and almost dead.

Arrogant and foolhardy, Alan underestimated him and in his hubris, let down his guard. Mac managed to escape. He ended up in the back of my car one night as I drove away from the mansion on an errand. When I discovered him he didn’t frighten me. He was too weak to frighten a fly. Somehow I knew he meant me no harm. He needed my help and I gave it gladly.

It was more than love at first sight, Holly. We were two halves of the same spirit. I’ve learned that in the vampire world, we’re called bloodmates. I nursed him back to strength, and yes, my darling daughter, I committed adultery with this man. I confess it freely to you. Forgive me, but I can feel no guilt. I can not.

Alan was furious when I asked for a divorce. He knew nothing of my relationship with Mac. I thought he would kill me. I think he would have had he realized I was the one who freed Mac and we’d fallen in love. He denied me the divorce, then went on with his obsession to find Mac. It grew worse. He refused to let me take my children and I too became his prisoner. His violence against me grew. It wasn’t easy for me to slip away and be with my love. I could not take Matthew and Alison with me. I wouldn’t endanger them that way.

I knew it the moment we conceived you, my darling. Afterwards, I went back to the mansion and gathered up a few things. I contacted a lawyer, seeking custody of your brother and sister. I could not let them be raised in the hatred their father spewed. But I’m no match for him. Alan is far more powerful than I. He has contacts everywhere.

I’m allowed to visit Matthew and Alison under supervision. One night he had me followed, and I am ashamed to admit, I led them straight to my beloved Mac. I felt it when he died. I thought I’d died as well, but I knew I had to carry on. I have you, a piece of him, of us.

My friend Carrie Blue let me stay with her. I will entrust this journal to her with instructions that she give it to you on your twenty-first birthday, if for any reason I am unable to do so.

 
I cannot prove Alan killed Mac, but I know in my heart he did. I have no hope of defeating him and getting my children back…but I have you and that keeps me going.

I know I’m having a daughter so I will name you Holly, after your father, MacKenzie Holister. I will teach you about him and you will love him as I do and ever will.

Today I will visit Matthew and Alison and try to figure out a way to get them away from their father so we can be together. I fear I’ll never find a way.

Holly turned the page and found the rest of the book blank.

“That’s all? But I need to know so much more!”

Stryker said, “She must have gone into labor when she went to visit Matthew and Alison. Your father, or rather, Alan Seaton probably forced her to stay with him. She would have been in no condition to fight him. And you didn’t get the diary on your twenty-first birthday because Helene never got the chance to tell Carrie about it.”

“She died because of me.” There. She’d said it. The fear had haunted her forever, but she’d never given voice to it. Now she had no choice but to face it.

Stryker gave her a gentle shake.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. She gave birth to me and died from complications.”

“How do you know that?” Stryker’s voice was sharp, snapping her out of her self recriminations.

“My fath…Alan Seaton told me…” she said haltingly as it dawned on her what he was getting at.

“Exactly. You have his word only. Until now, you’ve never had reason to question him. Based on what we’ve just found out, there is every reason in the world for him to lie. Hell, the man’s been lying to you for years. He’s a bloodstalker, it’s second nature to him.” He pulled out his Blackberry. “I’m going to get hold of your mother’s hospital records. I’m willing to bet he killed her or had her killed.”

Holly shivered, but maintained a thin control over her body’s reactions. She tried to tap into her anger, better pissed than pitiful. Stryker was right of course, but she couldn’t help trembling just a little as her life unraveled while she sat on his lap in Carrie Blue’s attic.

* * * *

Stryker pulled his car away from the curb. They hadn’t reached the end of Carrie’s street before Holly said,

“I want to go to Fath…Alan Seaton’s home.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea right now.”

“I don’t care.” She looked at him without blinking. Her anger served her well. “I have to make this real somehow.” She started rifling off directions never for a moment, doubting that Stryker would grant her this wish.

The town of
Markham
was situated just north east of the Greater Metropolitan Toronto Area, the GTA, one of the largest cities in
North America
. Holly had grown up in the Seaton family home located in an affluent area known as The Bridle Path.

Holly was silent until Stryker turned onto the winding road that led to the mansion where she’d grown up.

“Prince…or the Artist Formerly Known as… whatever…used to live near us,” Holly said hollowly, making small talk. “He mentions The Bridle Path in one of his songs.”

Her stomach jumped into her chest when she caught sight of the main house. What was once her home now seemed like something foreign, malevolent even, squatting on the lush green grass…some Medieval monster guarding all the Seaton family’s rancid secrets.

They didn’t bother to ring the bell or knock. Holly used her key, disabled the security system and just burst in looking around for signs that
he
was home. Somehow the house had always felt different when he was in residence.

Crossing the imported marble floor of the front foyer, Holly paused in the doorway to the library. She heard the tinkle of ice in a glass, but the room appeared empty. Her senses told her different and she cleared her throat.

She heard movement before she saw him. He was well over six feet tall and able to meet Stryker’s gaze at eye level. Dressed casually he was devastatingly handsome. He frowned darkly until he caught sight of Holly.

“What are you doing here at Hell House? I thought you were the one that got away.” Matthew Seaton smiled at his sister in welcome.

She recovered quickly and said, “Is he home?”

Knowing immediately who
he
was, Matthew shook his head. “No, he’s still in the Caymans. At least that’s where I left him.” With his hand outstretched, he introduced himself to Stryker.

Calmly, Matthew Seaton played the consummate host and asked if they’d like something to drink. When Holly brushed his offer aside, he said, “You might want to reconsider, little sis. Sit down. I’ve got something to tell you.”

Chapter 28

“Father has been in the
Cayman Islands
for the last three weeks.” Matt gestured to Holly and Stryker and they took a seat on the couch. Holly fidgeted and Stryker stroked her back.

Matthew registered Stryker’s instinctive movements with a flicker of an eyelid, but didn’t comment, instead, he said, “We talked at length and I’m out.”

“What does that mean?”

“Father disowned me. Or rather, I disowned him. I’ve had enough. The man has no conscience.” Warming to his subject, Matt continued. “You name just about any dirty deal or unethical business practice in the last twenty years and it has Alan Seaton’s fingerprints on it. He could keep it from me for only so long. When I confronted him, he calmly admitted everything. He was proud of what he’d done and the legacy he’ll leave.”