Blood of a Werewolf (2 page)

“Hey, Kyle – Happy Friday!” she said as she sat on the barstool.
 

“Hey, yourself, Darby!
 
Good to see you!” he replied with a big smile.

“How did Jenn’s doctor’s appointment go this week?” she asked, hoping and praying for good news.

He beamed with a huge smile, “Good, Good! All the tests came back with good results, so we are hopeful!
 
Her hair is starting to come back in now that the chemo sessions have stopped.
 
She’s glad about that.
 
She still has her good days and bad days, but the bad days are getting to be fewer and fewer.
 
The doctors seem very optimistic, so we are thrilled!”

“Oh my God, Kyle! That is such great news.” She leaned over the bar and gave him a huge hug.
 

“Tell Jenn I hope to see her out and about soon, and send her my love!” Darby said.

“I will.
 
I know she has appreciated all the books, flowers, and cards.
 
You’ve been a great friend, Darby!” Kyle replied with a warm smile.

“Aw, well aren’t you just the sweetest thing! You’re going to make me cry! You and Jenn are just the best, and I can’t think of anyone that deserves to have some good news come their way more than the two of you!” Darby said, her eyes starting to well up.

“Thanks. So what can I get you?
 
Are you here waiting on Rowan?”
 
Kyle asked.

“Well, for starters, could you get me a pint of Red Hook and put an order in for one of Kate’s specials?
 
As for Rowan, yeah! She said to meet her here, but I don’t actually expect her to show,” Darby answered.

While Darby talked, Kyle filled a glass with beer and set it, with a napkin under it, in front of Darby. He then grabbed the pencil behind his ear and pad from his rear pocket and jotted down her order.
 
As he walked toward the kitchen he replied, “She’s just at that age. We all went through it. Hey, grab your seat before it gets crowded. I’ll be back in a flash; I’m just going to put your order in.”

Darby grabbed her beer and napkin and turned towards the fireplace, heading for the blue comfy chair she loved.
 
She had jokingly told Kate one day, that if the chair ever disappeared, she would probably find it in Darby’s front room.
 
It was wide enough to cross her legs and read a magazine or just ponder life.
 
It was covered with the softest blue velvet; the cushions were perfectly broken in, in all the right places, and it seemed to form to her body perfectly.
 
She took a big swig of beer before setting her glass on the coffee table and then she plopped down in the chair and stared at the fire.
 
All the week’s worries and stresses seemed to melt away.

Kyle came back in and yelled across the room, “It’ll be about 15 minutes, Darby!”

“Thanks, Big Guy! No hurry!” She returned. She absent-mindedly pulled the heart-shaped stone of amethyst out of her pocket and began to rub it with her thumb.
 
It helped her relax.
 
It was the stone she most connected with and she always had it in her pocket.
 
Her father had given it to her when she was a little girl. Now, whenever she would get nervous or stressed about something, she’d rub the stone.

She was in her own little comfortable world, when a dark figure took up a seat in the loveseat across from her. She noticed his presence. How could she not, it was like a neon sign in her head, but she continued to look at the fire.
 
She sensed something from him. Something covered in darkness that startled her and she jumped as he started to speak to her.
 

“You are the water nymph that lives next door to me, aren’t you?” he said with a smirk.

“Huh? Water nymph?” He had caught her off her guard even though she knew he was there and had felt his ominous presence.

“I’ll Stop The World and Melt With you!” he sang perfectly.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, she grabbed her beer for something to do with her hands and answered, “Ah, my groupie!”

“At your service always, my liege.”
 
He stood up and bowed to her like a peasant to his royal majesty.

“Hmmm,” she nodded her head with a little smile.
 
But inside, she was as giddy as a little girl – she thought to herself,
He is very smooth – maybe too smooth
.

Then he smiled as if he had heard her thoughts.

She offered her hand to him, palm down, keeping up with the royalty act, and said, “I’m Darby O’Rielly. Who might you be?”

He took her hand and kissed it so tenderly that she thought she would have a heart attack from the tingling up her arm, and answered, “I’m Devon Bloomington and it is an honor to meet you, Darby O’Rielly.”

She flushed like she was a high school girl
.
 
This guy can’t be for real, can he?
she thought. His shoulder length dark hair was slightly slicked back, but in a disheveled way.
 
When he wasn’t smiling, his piercing eyes gave the impression that he could see every fault she, or an ancestor of hers, might have had. At the same time, though, his eyes were angelic and hypnotic. They were mahogany brown with flecks of caramel, and when he smiled they lit up like a little boy’s. The smile permeated every inch of his face.
 
He had a mustache that seemed as though it hadn’t quite grown all the way in, but she felt that this may be its permanent appearance.
 
He had a line of hair about a half inch thick that extended from his lower lip to his chin, meeting with a tiny tuft of a beard – a goatee of sorts, strangely seductive on him.
 

She hadn’t seen him standing but as far as she could tell, he was probably about six feet tall, thin and muscular, but his eyes – Wow! They just looked into her soul and took her breath away.
 
Dumbfounded, she knew this man could have anyone he wanted, so why was he looking at her that way? The darkness she had noticed before had all but disappeared and this gorgeous man had taken its place – or was that her hormones talking?
 
She didn’t know, and right now, she didn’t care.

She finally broke the silence with, “Thank you, Devon, it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” Not sure what else to say, she fumbled with, “I guess you are renting the house from the Bennetts?”
 
Duh,
she thought to herself.
Obviously.

“Yes, my younger brother, Blake, and I have rented the house for the next three months; however, I’m not really sure my brother will be there much,” he answered, seeming somewhat disappointed.

“I understand that. My little sister, Rowan, lives with me too, but I rarely am blessed with her presence.
 
She’s a firecracker and a whole lot of fun to be around, but she can be flakey sometimes.
 
For instance, she begged me to come here to meet her tonight, but I doubt she’ll show. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death, but I worry about her – a lot!” she said.

With a knowing nod, a smile, and a raised eyebrow, he replied, “Sounds like my brother and your sister are one in the same – Yin and Yang, so to speak.”

She took a long sip of her beer and replied, “Hmm.
 
Could be.”
 
Then she smiled, embarrassed. “Here I am drinking a beer in front of you, that is awfully rude! Would you allow me to buy you one?” she asked, figuring someone like this guy probably had plans on a Friday night and would probably bow out graciously and take his leave. He had probably just come over to tease her about her behavior earlier that evening.

He seemed shocked at her offer and then maybe a little embarrassed as he said, “Someone such as yourself, shouldn’t be buying a gentleman a drink; it should have been me that offered you the gesture.” He looked down.

“What century are you from?” she joked.
 
“Besides, since you are new in town and my burger will be coming any minute, I’ll buy you a beer and you can order the best burger you can buy anywhere around here and join me!”
 
Again she thought to herself how stupid that had sounded.
Why is it you can always think of the perfect thing to say, 20 minutes after the perfect time to say it?

He smiled again as if he had heard her thoughts, replied, “I would like that very much,” and chuckled, his eyes smiling and looking into her soul.

“Kyle, this is Devon Bloomington. He is renting the Bennetts’ house for the next three months. Could you put in an order for another “Special” and whatever he would like on tap?” she yelled.

“Sure thing, Darby. Welcome to Oljone, Devon. What can I get you to quench your thirst this evening?” Kyle yelled back.

“What do you have on tap?” Devon asked.

“Redhook, Anchor Steam, Bass, and Bud,” Kyle answered.

“Definitely Redhook,” Devon replied, and again, Darby flushed like a schoolgirl.

As the evening progressed, she expected Devon to get up and gallantly give his apologies in order to flee for a more engrossing engagement, but it never happened. They continued talking long into the night. The place got more and more crowded as the night went on, and many beautiful women tried to get his attention, but he never once looked at anyone but Darby.
 

She had learned that he was a software engineer and was there contracting for a startup company in Mountain View.
 
He set his own hours and worked mostly from home.
Guess those are the perks when you are really good at what you do
, Darby thought.
 
Devon was amazingly intelligent and seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.
 
He had told her of his childhood in Europe, his travels there and in the states all the while with his brother in tow.
 
His brother, Blake, was also a software engineer, but he dabbled in a lot of areas – arts, stocks, business, etc.

She had told him of how when she and Rowan were little girls playing in the basement, they had found an old trunk of Great Grandma Lorelai’s. In it they had found an old, leather bound, black book.
 
Carefully carved into the cover by hand was a Celtic symbol of never ending, intertwined bands.
 
Inside the book, they found their heritage.
 
They had always been accused of being witches, but until finding this amazing family Book of Shadows, there had never been any proof of such a thing. The book had fascinated them with its old, crumbly pages of spells, charms, and potions, along with lists of herbs and their medicinal properties, and stones from the Earth with different healing powers, all packaged neatly in a beautiful book. Her entire family had contributed to it, their different handwritings adding information through the centuries. Darby’s fascination for this amazing, primitively bound book was the fuel that fed her dream to open a bookstore.

She had opened Cauldron, Book, and Candle several years before, with book titles varying from Wicca practices to aliens and everything in between.
 
She carried old books and new books, but it was always the old books that intrigued her. She didn’t believe in everything that she sold, but that wasn’t the point.
 
The point was that a person should be able to believe in whatever they want, without being criticized for it.
 
The Internet helped a lot.
 
Being such a specialized bookstore, she got requests from all over the world and that thrilled her.
 
She could accommodate people everywhere with knowledge, and without prejudices.
 
This was very personal to her, as she had descended from a long ancestry of witches.
 
She and Rowan had had their share of insults thrown at them throughout their lives.
 
Though it didn’t happen often, it still hurt like a knife cutting deep into her soul. However, the opening of the bookstore seemed to have helped the situation.
 
At first, she felt like a leper peddling her disease, but slowly, curiosity overwhelmed the would-be patrons and they inquired within.
 
The doors had been open now for several years and Darby felt closer to the community than ever, having friends she never thought she would.

Devon seemed riveted by her story and truly inspired by her community acceptance.
 
She thought she had detected sadness behind his eyes, that maybe he too had wished to be accepted into a community as she had. It was amazing.
 
Never had she felt so comfortable and connected with someone who, up until a few hours ago, was a complete and utter stranger.
 
She didn’t want it to end, but Kyle was shouting it was last call.
Where had the time gone?
A wave of embarrassment flooded over her as she stood.
 
She felt that she had dominated the conversation with this beautiful stranger and she wished she could have learned more about him and his seemingly interesting life.

“Well,” she said, ”I guess I should get going.
 
I’ve really enjoyed this...you...getting to know you better.”
 

“Me too! Guess Rowan isn’t coming,” he said with a little chuckle.

“Guess not,” she smiled and rolled her eyes.

“In that case, may I have the privilege of escorting you home? I wouldn’t want to let you go home by yourself this late at night,” he said this with a chivalrous air.

“I only live a few blocks from here, as you very well know. What do you think is going to happen? A vampire is going to grab me out of the shadows and whisk me away to his lair?” she smirked with one hand on her hip and one eyebrow cocked.

He went white as a ghost.
 
His mouth was slightly open as if he was searching for a quick response.
 

“Dear Lord, Devon, I’m joking. Besides, I’m sure that even if there was a vampire out there lurking, he could be a very nice guy, maybe even wanting to borrow a cup of Wolf’s bane,” she quickly said.