Blood Lust (4 page)

“Are you closer to Anton?”

“Not really, but I’d say we get along better.”

“So what’s the beef between them?”

“Can’t say.”

“UHHHHHHH! You make me so crazy.”

“That’s why you love me, right?”

“Not exactly, and certainly not at this particular minute. So can you tell me why Darby is going?”

“Because it was the only way Devon would go.”

“So a deal was made. That’s why the formal invite at dinner last night and I guess that would explain your uncle’s hasty departure.”

“Yes.”

“Will you be going?”

“When I get things cleared off my desk, yes.”

“Will I be going?”

“Hmmm. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why?”

“The werewolf thing.”

“Right! Things just keep getting better and better. So Uncle Dominic doesn’t approve of your being with me.”

“Not exactly.”

“And how does he feel about Darby?”

“I don’t know, fine I guess. You have to understand, our family, the Larsen side at least, are pure bloods, descendents of vampire royalty. They look down their noses at anyone who isn’t of such nobility. According to the Larsens, my mother married beneath her and so Devon and I have had to put up with the wrath of the family ever since.”

“So Darby isn’t good enough, and I’m beneath pond scum.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, and I don’t think that, but Dominic might. I’m not proud of his arrogance and behavior, but he’s the only family we have.”

“That’s not true. You have us now.”

“You know what I mean. Blood family.”

“Great! So that is all well and good, but it doesn’t explain anything about Devon’s behavior.”

“I can’t go there, Rowan. I will say that I told Darby if Devon had not explained himself by the time I arrived, I would explain everything then. That gives Devon time to come clean on his own.”

“Come clean? So there is some kind of family issue, and it’s big, isn’t it?”

“Pretty big.”

Chapter 4

As the limo drove along the freeway, Darby stared out the window watching familiar landmarks go by. This drive on 280 North, towards San Francisco, was always so pretty. Not as pretty as it was in the spring, when the new grass was growing all along the foothills, but pretty just the same.

There was the familiar stone missionary pointing towards the ocean from atop his hill. There were the pretty waters of Crystal Springs reservoir and the rolling hills in general with their ancient live oaks, madrones, and pines. But none of these things brought comfort to her as tears fell for most of the ride.

Thirty-five minutes later, the limo driver was pulling to the curb at the United Airlines terminal. He jumped out and opened the door for Darby, offering his hand as Devon had in the past. She wiped her eyes and took his hand. Devon was already out of the car and waiting at the curb as Darby came around and stood behind him. The driver took their baggage from the trunk and deposited it next to Devon, who handed some money to the gentleman without saying anything.

Darby met eyes with the driver, and said, “Thank you.” He tipped his hat. Devon already had the bags and was walking through the automatic sliding doors when Darby turned from the driver towards the terminal. If she had turned a split second later, she would have found herself completely alone at the curb. This stabbed at her heart, worse than anything he had done earlier. For a second she thought she should hail a cab and go home, but she knew that wasn’t a mature reaction and it certainly wouldn’t make anything better.

She bit her lip and entered the huge terminal where she saw Devon in the First Class line looking a little annoyed. She walked quickly to the line, getting her ID out for the woman behind the counter. After depositing their bags at the counter and receiving their boarding passes, they headed for the line through security. Darby had completely forgotten about security. Normally she would have worn shoes that were easily slipped off and she certainly wouldn’t have worn a belt.

After being searched, probed, disrobed (at least of her belt and shoes), and walking through a metal detector, she gathered all her items and sat down to put on her shoes. Devon was already done and standing impatiently at the security exit waiting for her.
At least he waited for me this time
, she thought.

Following behind Devon, who seemed to be on a mission, they came to gate 6A and found a seat near the window. There was still a half an hour before boarding so Darby walked to the gift shop to get a book. Since things had been so quiet in the car, she figured the chance that things were going to get any better on the plane was slim. She looked through the shelves of books and found a new Jim Butcher book she hadn’t read yet, so she grabbed that and some mints and went to the register.

Book in hand and mint in mouth, she headed back to find Dominic sitting silently next to Devon.
Ugh,
she thought,
and so it begins
. She walked up to the two handsome men, reaching in her bag and offering each of them a mint, to which they both declined with a quiet “No, thank you.”

She tried small talk with Dominic, who seemed politely annoyed at her attempts.
Glad I got a book. Should have bought ten. Guess I’ll be doing a lot of reading for the next couple of weeks.

Over the loud speaker it was announced that first class passengers were now boarding. Both Dominic and Devon stood, grabbing their coats and Dominic his hat. Darby grabbed her book and made her way toward the smiling woman collecting boarding passes. Silently, they walked down the jet way ramp to the awaiting plane to be greeted by yet another smiling woman welcoming them aboard and pointing to their seats. Devon offered the window seat to Darby and deposited her coat in the overhead compartment along with his coat and briefcase. He sat down next to her and Dominic sat in the seat across the aisle.

It was almost a thrill to have the stewardess ask her if she wanted a mimosa as she had been without conversation for so long. “Yes, please!” she said enthusiastically only to get a disapproving eyebrow from Dominic, who waved off the stewardess, as did Devon. Darby had never been in first class before and was amazed at the attention they received from the stewardesses. She was going to say something about it to Devon when she looked at his stern face staring straight ahead and thought better of it. The first mimosa went down quickly; even before everyone had boarded, the stewardess was bringing her another. When she caught another disapproving look from Dominic, she thought,
if the guy is going to be mad at me I might as well make him good and mad and have a good time doing it.
She could have sworn out of the corner of her eye that she saw Devon smile, but she wasn’t certain, and she really didn’t care.

Devon slept, or at least pretended to sleep through the entire flight. She was a good two-thirds of the way through her book when they landed in Hartford, Connecticut.

As they departed the plane, Darby thanked the stewardess only to see Dominic yet again disapprove of her conduct. They meandered to the baggage claim and waited. A chauffeur was there waiting for Dominic, who pointed to his bags, as did Devon. Darby tried to grab her bag as it went by, only to be stopped by the chauffeur. She thanked him for his help and he smiled at her. They followed the chauffeur out the door and to the car waiting at the curb. He quickly opened the door for Dominic and headed for the other side to open it for Darby. She offered the seat to Devon, who shook his head and opened the door next to the driver and got in.

Swell. I hope this isn’t going to be a long ride.
She sat there in the backseat with Dominic. He glanced over at her book in her lap and she met his eyes and smiled.

“He’s quite a good fiction writer if you like that sort of thing. He’s very comical. The series is about Harry Dresden, who’s a wizard for hire and a part-time private investigator. He…”

“I only read the classics, Miss Darby,” Dominic said.

“Oh, my mistake. When you looked at it, I thought it was out of interest, but I see it was disapproval. I misunderstood. At least now that I know quite a few of your disapproving looks, I’ll make a mental note of them for the future.”

She turned to look out the window in the silence again. It was dark and she couldn’t see much of anything, but it didn’t matter. She pulled out her cell phone and texted Blake and Rowan that they were on the ground and safe in Connecticut.

Arrived safely in CT. Having a BLAST! U better b right about Devon, Blake, or I’m going 2 hunt u down n cast a spell on u that u will not soon forget. ;(

She looked up to find Dominic watching her.

“Would you like me to read it to you? Just a note to my sister, the werewolf, and Blake.” Dominic cringed at the word
werewolf
.

“Told them what a blast I’m having with you two. It also says that Blake better be right about Devon telling me what the heck is going on here, or I’m going to hunt Blake down and cast a spell on him he won’t soon forget. That’s right, Mr. Larsen, I’m sure you have surmised I am a witch, as is my sister. For centuries and centuries, that’s all we O’Riellys have been, at least until last June. That’s when we came across the maniac who tried to kill Devon and Blake. He concluded that Blake must have turned my sister to a vampire and then thought it would be fun to inject her with werewolf blood to kill the vampire in her. Lo and behold, there was no vampire blood in her and it turned her to a werewolf.”

By now the tears were pouring down her face. All the silence of the day had made her even madder than she had thought. “I’m sorry you don’t approve of my friends and my family, Mr. Larsen, but that doesn’t change anything. I still love your nephew with every ounce of my being, at least I did until you showed up and he changed. I don’t know what is up with you two or why I’m here, or what the heck is going on, but I am not going to spend the next few weeks in total silence like I have for over twenty-four hours now.”

She wasn’t sure what the emotion was that she saw on Dominic’s face. Devon never turned around, so she had no idea what his reaction was. Dominic said, “No one has spoken to me like that since Gail died. No one.”

“Well, I don’t know who Gail is, but maybe you needed it,” Darby said.

Then she heard a familiar voice from the front of the car. “Gail was my mother. Most people called her Abigail or Abby for short, but Dominic always called her Gail.”

“Yes. She was the only one who got away with speaking to me like that.”

“Great. Too bad she’s not here to smack you both around a bit,” Darby said looking out the window at blackness.

Dominic started to chuckle which grew into a full out belly laugh. Darby looked at him as if he were crazy. Devon turned around looking as though he had never seen his uncle laugh.
Could that be true? Dear Lord, that couldn’t be true, could it?
Dominic’s laughter died down and he said, “Oh, Miss Darby, thank you. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed so heartily. Dear Lord, I think you must be the reincarnate of my Gail.”

“That’s just gross, Dominic, I am not dating my mother,” Devon said.

“Oh, Devon. I didn’t mean it like that. She was one of a kind. She was sweet and sassy at the same time. She spoke her mind, but not with the intent to hurt. She felt so strongly about things. She was always trying to fix something or help someone. She was a beautiful and free spirit, strong and sappy sweet. I miss her so much.”

“She sounds nice,” Darby said as she continued to look out the window. “How’d she end up with a crabby guy like you for a brother?”

“Who knows?” Dominic quietly chuckled. “Guess I was just lucky.”

They turned off the main road and went through a gate. She couldn’t see much through the tinted windows in the dark, but the road sounded like crushed stone. They pulled up to the biggest house Darby had ever been near. Oh sure, she’d seen big places in pictures and on television but had not actually been inside one. It was thrilling and ominous at the same time. The chauffeur stopped the car and rushed to let Darby out first. He was smiling at her as if he had truly enjoyed what he had heard from the backseat. She smiled back coyly and stretched. It had been a long day.

Dominic was helped out of the car and Devon walked around the front to the steps of the house.