Deadman's Blood (41 page)

“Thank you for that, but the diamond was your family’s and it seemed only right that it should be back in your hands. You give me way too much credit, Dominic, but I’m glad I was here just the same,” Julianna said.

After about a half an hour or more exploring the contents of the library, they slowly ascended to the altar room with their load of books. The bookcase was slid shut and the ring and insignia taken from the black orchid. But before they left for the docks, Julianna said, “Mark, Josh, and Dominic? I’d like to show you the indentations I found. They obviously don’t pertain to the archives, but I think it’s important. I found them some years ago by accident. Maybe you can make heads or tails of what it’s for.”

They all followed Julianna into the opposite room from the one that had the door to the archives. This room had an alcove built into the wall that looked like it was deep enough to house a few books. Due to the black soot that discolored part of the wall, it had obviously had a candle set there at some point. Julianna went to an ancient sconce on a nearby wall and turned it counter clockwise, making a sliding noise at the alcove. A piece of wood in the back of the alcove had slid down revealing four rectangular indentations splayed out like north, south, east and west of a compass rose on a map.

“I found this one day when was trying to see if the sconce had any oil in it and I heard it trigger the mechanism,” Julianna explained, “but I have no idea what it’s for. Obviously something important, or it wouldn’t be hidden like it is.”

“Fascinating. I wonder if it is just another compartment to the library so that in case one side was found, not all the books would be looted - like the many rooms of an Egyptian tomb. Josh…look at this!” Dominic said.

“What is it?” Josh said as he came closer.

“Here…inside each of the indentations…see?” Dominic directed.

“Oh yeah! Look at that. Mark, Lanie, the rest of you, look. In each of the indentations is a symbol of an animal. The same animals associated with the Ancient Ones: a lion, an eagle, a bear, and a wolf,” Josh noted.

Julianna said, “I didn’t know the animals were related to the Ancient Ones. That’s very interesting. How did you come to know that?”

“Dominic’s a pretty resourceful guy. He’s been studying this stuff for a long time. It’s amazing all the stuff he knows,” Josh pointed out.

“Then he is truly the perfect librarian for the archives. Well, I guess I better head out. Looks like you have everything you need. Thank you for the happy news you shared with me about Anton’s treatment. I really appreciate it and your letting me be involved with this. This was great,” Julianna said.

“What? You’re not coming back to the house with us?” Josh asked.

“No. I think I’ve imposed on the family enough, but I will keep you posted if I come up with any hard proof for you about your enemies,” Julianna assured him.

“But. That’s it? You’re just going to recede into the shadows again?” Josh said rather disappointed.

“No. I’m not going back to that life ever again. I’m done, but now that I know Anton is recovering, I should probably back off. He was pretty angry with me when we last spoke and I’m not sure, given what he went through with Libby, that he will be able to forgive me,” Julianna said.

“But we may need you! If push comes to shove and we have to fight, we’re down three vampires,” Josh said.

“You can get a hold of me if you need me. I’ll fight with you if it comes to that. I left my number with your father, I mean, Dominic,” Julianna explained.

“You can call him my dad. I’m cool with that,” Josh said and then shared a glance with Dominic who had an arm around Katarina and was beaming like a headlight with pride and gratitude.

“I wish you would reconsider, Julianna. We can always use another pair of eyes looking out for us, and of course, there’s always research…” Dominic chided.

“That’s very kind, but I’m sure Mark would feel more comfortable with me out of the picture,” Julianna remarked.

“Well they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer - that way I can keep an eye on you,” Mark retorted.

“I’m not your enemy, Mark,” Julianna defended.

“Hmmm,” Mark said, rolling his eyes.

Alyssa hit him hard with an elbow and said, “He knows that, Julianna; he’s just being a smart-ass, using his tough-guy act on you. He’s a big, gooey marshmallow just below the surface. Don’t let him fool you.”

Dean started laughing and was awful proud of himself when he moved quickly, avoiding an elbowing of his own from Sally, only to receive one from Alyssa from the other side.

“Hey…that’s not cool. You don’t elbow a werewolf without consequences, girlie,” Dean threatened.

“If I can elbow a dragon, I sure as heck can elbow a werewolf, especially when I have permission from your girlfriend,” Alyssa said and then high-fived Sally.

“Hey now…you can’t gang up on a guy like that. It’s not fair,” Dean whined.

“Aw, is the poor little wolfman gonna cry because a girl poked him?” Alyssa said with her best pouty lip and baby talk. Sally was barely able to stifle her giggles.

Mark started laughing when he got elbowed by Alyssa, again staring him down with her ‘I’m not messin’ around’ look, and he looked away, trying to ignore her.

Dean said to Mark, “Hey man, are you going to let her talk to me that way and smack me with those evil elbows? Control your woman, monkey-man!”

“Monkey-man? Did you just call me Monkey-man? That’s Dragon-man to you, Wolfie!” Mark said swaggering towards Dean in a bad John Wayne impression. But the girls knew where this was going and stepped in front of both of them, backs to each other, hands on their man’s chest, as the two men eyeballed each other with strange, contorted faces.

Alyssa said, “Unless Monkey-man and Wolfie would like to sleep with each other on a bench by the pond tonight, knock it off now!”

“I’m with Alyssa. You don’t want to mess with either one of us. Save your snarky remarks for when we get home,” Sally added.

Both guys backed off, grumbling under their breath as Dominic, Josh, Melanie, and Julianna tried to hold back their laughter.

Julianna said to Josh, “Thanks for the vote of confidence and the kind words. I’ll think about what you said.”

“Please do,” Dominic said and Katarina, huddled safely in the crook of his arm, nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” Josh said and Melanie smiled.

They said their goodbyes and headed home.

*****

When all had taken their leave of the dinner table to go about their business in their individual rooms or for a walk around the grounds and pond, the doorbell rang. Before Dominic could make his way to the door, it opened and Dr. Michael Rowe appeared.

Dominic was stunned, but after all, it was quite normal for the doctor to enter on his own as he had for years. Dominic decided right there that he was going to act as if he knew nothing of the possibility that his very best friend was a traitor. If he was a traitor, then it would be better for him not to know they knew he was until they were able to get more information. If he wasn’t a traitor, then there would be no harm done.

“Michael! What a surprise?” He reached out to shake his hand, as he always greeted Dr. Rowe.

“Well, you are a very hard person to meet up with these days,” Dr. Rowe said.

“Yes, well, with being in California it has been difficult indeed,” Dominic said. “Can I offer you a nightcap?”

“Oh no. I can’t stay, I just thought I’d stop by on my way home and see how Blake is doing? Since you are back home, I assume better?”

“He’s still in a coma, but he’s on the east coast now - under Dr. Donaldson’s care,” Dominic explained.

“Why did you move him? Things not working out with Dr. Andrews?” Dr. Rowe asked.

“No. It just made more sense when Devon came home from Ireland in the same condition, and now Anton too,” Dominic answered.

“Oh, Dominic, I’m so sorry. All three of them? That’s terrible. Do they know what’s wrong? I just saw Anton not two weeks ago and he seemed fine,” Dr. Rowe said, seemingly concerned.

“He told me you stopped by while I was gone. That was very kind of you. All three of them seem to have been poisoned by Deadman’s Blood, they just don’t know how,” Dominic said, watching Michael for some kind of reaction that might give something away.

“That’s absolutely horrible. Why would anyone poison them? They’re such good boys. I still remember how thrilled I was to be there to greet Anton at his birth. Is there anything I can do? Maybe I could go and confer with Donaldson and lend a hand. He’s still working out of Johns Hopkins, right?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, he is. Thank you for the offer, Michael, but today the doctor told us he thinks that they may be making progress. He’s been using this procedure used for victims of overdoses, when dialysis, transfusions, and detoxing don’t seem to be doing the trick. The good news has really been a nice change, but I will keep your offer in mind if the need should arise,” Dominic explained.

“That’s great news, Dominic. Guess I should have tried harder to see how things were. Deadman’s Blood, huh? That’s a painful way to go; I’m glad Donaldson decided to use hemoperfusion. Too bad Andrews didn’t think of it first,” Dr. Rowe said.

“Yes. That was the name of the procedure - hemoperfusion. Have you used that before?” Dominic asked, hoping his suspicion would not be evident.

“No. I’ve read about it. I imagine it is pretty experimental on a vampire though. I wouldn’t get your hopes up too much, I’m sorry to say. It’s really designed to filter the blood from toxins,” Dr. Rowe said.

“Isn’t Deadman’s Blood considered a poison of sorts?” Dominic asked.

“It is and it isn’t. I mean, it’s still blood; it’s just dead blood, not necessarily a toxin. It has all the same properties…what am I saying? I’m sure Donaldson knows what he’s doing. Like I said, if I can be of help, just let me know. Anything else going on? The rest of the bunch of hooligans okay? Anything your old buddy should know about or you want to talk about before I head home?” the doctor asked.

Dominic thought hard about whether or not he should mention Katarina or the attempts on Josh’s life. He decided to go with, “Well, there’s other stuff, but nothing as huge as the boys being in the hospital. The rest can wait until we have some more time; maybe we can have dinner soon,” Dominic suggested.

“So there is more?” Dr. Rowe asked, concerned.

“There is…Bernard seems to have gone missing. I’ve got Mark working on that, and someone tried to run down Josh when he was in Minnesota burying his parents, but we’ll talk soon,” Dominic said.

“Are you sure? I could stay,” Michael said.

“No. I’m exhausted. We’ll catch up soon, though. I promise,” Dominic said.

“Okay. Well, send my well wishes to the boys and keep me apprised on their condition,” Dr. Rowe said as he headed out the door.

“I will. Thanks for checking up on me. You’re a good friend, Michael. I’ll talk to you soon,” Dominic tried to convince him.

“Goodnight, Dominic,” Dr. Rowe said before closing the door.

Dominic took a deep breath of relief when he heard Katarina behind him ask, “Niky? Who was that man?”

“That, my dear, was the infamous Dr. Rowe,” Dominic said as he enclosed her tiny waist in his arms and pulled her close.

“Oh dear…Niky, you are not going to like what I have to say then,” Katarina said nervously.

“What’s that?” Dominic said as he pulled away from her just enough to see her face and brush away a wayward lock of hair that was veiling her eyes.

“Niky, I saw that man earlier today at the hospital,” Katarina said.

“What? Where?” He was now holding her by the shoulders.

“In the boys’ room today. I had gotten the coffee and entered the room only to find him working on one of the machines, and he immediately stopped, practically knocking me over trying to get out the room,” Katarina explained.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Kat?”

“He was a doctor. I didn’t really think anything of it until I saw him here,” Katarina explained.

“What do you suppose he was doing there?” Dominic wondered.

“Probably nothing good. I got a really bad vibe from him in the hospital, but like I said, he was dressed like a doctor in a hospital, so I didn’t really think much of it. But if anything that Julianna has told us about this guy is true, then he wasn’t there to bring them flowers. My guess is that when he didn’t recognize me as anyone he knew, he didn’t think much about it aside from getting out of there before he got caught by someone who would recognize him,” Katarina explained.

“That’s a very good point, Sweetheart. It’s a very good thing he didn’t know who you were or he might have done something awful. I think I’m going to make a few calls, the first being to Dr. Donaldson. Thank you for telling me this. You may have just saved Devon, Blake, and Anton’s lives,” Dominic said gratefully, then kissed her on the forehead and ran for the study.

*****

As Dr. Rowe shut the door behind him at the Larsen house, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He headed towards his car parked near the corner of the house. As he made his way to the car, he pulled out his cellphone.