David snatched Anna’s hand off the table to kiss it once more before saluting Derrick on his way out.
“Remember little Copper top. If you ever change your mind about Paris, I’ll take you to places you’ll never forget.” He disappeared inside the house before either she or Derrick could respond.
“Please excuse my brother.” Derrick apologized as he poured the wine. “Everything he says or does is for effect.”
“Why should I be offended? At least he seems honest.”
“You think me dishonest?”
“I don’t think of you at all,” she lied. She thought of little else since their first meeting. Mostly she thought about how much she wanted to see him naked in her bed.
“Anna, mon amour, my behavior last night was unforgiveable. Would you please allow me to try and make amends?”
“I may not have travelled but I do know that mon amour means ‘my love’ in French. I am not your love so don’t call me that.” She took a sip from her glass.
“It was merely a nickname.”
“I don’t like nicknames.”
“You didn’t seem to mind when David called you copper top?”
“Well, that’s different.”
In truth, she hadn’t noticed his term of endearment but it didn’t bother her now she knew how much it upset Derrick.
“How is that different?”
“I don’t know. Listen, if you plan on interrogating me all night… I’d rather go home.” She put down her glass and rose from the table ready to leave. The wind blew a leaf into her hair and in it she smelled the stench of decay. She picked it from her hair and looked anxiously around the patio for the source of the smell.
“No. Please stay.” Reaching for her hand, he gently guided her back to the table. “We’ll change the subject.”
Anna nodded and sat back down. Her eyes quickly doing another scan of the area. The danger was closer. A chill spread its icy tentacles over her skin. She shivered.
“What would you like to talk about?” Derrick topped up her half empty glass and refilled his own. “I know. Let’s talk about the health club,” he took a sip from his glass “I’d like your opinion on the changes.”
“Everything looks great although I can’t understand how we could be making money with the free products you give away.”
“Such as?”
Anna gestured to her dress. “If all the women’s lockers are stocked with the goodies I received, I doubt we’ll stay in business very long.”
Derrick shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Ah. It seems I have unintentionally offended you once again.”
“I won’t be bought or paid off, Derrick. Material things mean nothing to me.”
“It was my way of an apology. I should have known better than to accept the advice of my brother. He suggested that the gifts would smooth the waters between us. I realize now that it was a mistake.”
Anna shrugged. “I guess you both meant well.”
“So, you like the gifts?”
“Of course I do. I would have liked them more if I had bought them for myself that’s all.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, in a way you did.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. “Explain yourself.”
“You plan to continue working in the gym, right?”
She nodded. “Go on.”
“The gym clothes, shoes, toiletries etc. are a tax deduction. You need to look the part to work there.”
“Okay. I’ll accept those items but how do you explain the perfume and the evening wear?”
“Schmoozing the clients. Everyone does it. It’s expected, especially in the fitness industry where customers need a role model to live up too.”
“You’re smooth, Corel. I’ll give you that.” She tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile.
“You definitely should do that more often.”
“What?”
“Smile. You have a beautiful smile, Anna.”
Anna lowered her chin and bit her bottom lip. Finishing the last drop of wine in her glass, she licked her lips appreciatively as she tried to change the subject.
“Mmm. This is really nice Derrick. I like even better than the one you paid for at the restaurant, which was very kind of you by the way. I might buy a few bottles.” She allowed Derrick to top up her glass as she contemplated how bottled wine may improve her image. “Is it more expensive?” She noticed that Derrick was trying, unsuccessfully, to prevent his mouth curling at the sides. He cleared his voice before telling her.
“Around seven hundred dollars a bottle more.”
Anna choked on the mouthful of wine, coughing and spluttering until Derrick patted her on the back. Eight hundred dollars for a bottle of wine? She could purchase six weeks’ worth of groceries for that amount of money. Stay cool, she ordered herself. Act as though money wasn’t an issue. Don’t show him how unsophisticated you are. Change the subject.
“So”—she coughed and excused herself—“David. He lives here with you?”
“Yes he does,” Derrick’s voice sounded serious. “Usually we get along quite well but he can also be a shameless flirt. Don’t take anything he says seriously.”
“I don’t take any man seriously.”
“I got that impression.” Derrick waited until Evan served the entree and hobbled away. Before he had a chance to ask Anna about her statement, she fired out a question of her own.
“Why are you so dead set against giving Patrick a position at the club?”
“You can’t hop from telling me you can’t trust men, to asking me to employ the man who disillusioned you in the first place.”
“What do you know about that?” The familiar sting of humiliation returned.
“Your father told me. Although he understood why you couldn’t stay in town after the incident at the church, he never got over the disappointment of having you live so far away.”
“I don’t want to discuss this.” She swallowed a mouthful of chicken and crab soup, trying to concentrate on the delicious flavor, anything to distract herself from the thoughts of her father. She missed him, so much.
“You brought it up.” Derrick held his spoon up to his mouth but barely touched the soup.
“I’m still waiting for an answer to my question. What do you have against Patrick?”
“Patrick Miller has a reputation that could bring ill repute to our business. Your father worked long and hard to develop the character of the gym and I won’t have that slimy little worm sullying your father’s good name. Does that answer your question?”
“Not quite.” Anna finished her soup and placed the spoon in her empty bowl for Evan to remove. “What has Patrick done to you to deserve being called—what was it you said? Slimy little worm wasn’t it?”
“Isn’t it enough that he hurt you?”
“No. You can’t punish someone for not wanting to be with you. Besides, people can change.” Isn’t that what she was trying to do?
“A leopard can’t change his spots.”
“That’s a bit judgmental isn’t it?”
“Not in this case.”
“But—”
“Look, Anna. I’m sorry to pull rank but it isn’t going to happen. Not while I’m the major stock holder anyway.”
As tempting as it was to argue, she could see Evan shuffling over with the second course wobbling precariously in his arthritic hands. She was about to take the tray from him. Derrick subtly shook his head. After the meal was served and Evan departed, she was given an explanation.
“I know you meant well but he would have been embarrassed. It isn’t often I entertain, especially female guests and he has been looking forward to making everything perfect for you.”
“How sweet.” She licked her lips when Derrick uncovered the meal of Chinese fare. All were her favorites. Chicken Chow Mein, Beef in Black Bean sauce and San Choy Bow, served with a steaming plate of special fried rice. “These are my favorite dishes.”
“I know. Whe
n I had meals with your father, he told me that you both loved Chinese food, especially these dishes.”
“Thank you.” She rewarded him with another smile. “I mean it, Derrick. Thank you for the meal, and also for being a friend to my dad when I wasn’t around.”
“My pleasure.”
They ate their meal in relative silence, savoring the delicious offering while making small talk. Derrick was about to offer dessert when his words were interrupted.
“Master Derrick?”
Evan’s voice sounded strained. Derrick excused himself and rushed inside, leaving Anna alone on the balcony. She rose from the table and did a lap of the terrace. The musicians had discretely moved inside but she could still hear the soft cords of a beautiful sonata as she descended the stairs adjacent to the terrace to inspect the grounds. The estate was massive, larger than anything she had seen in magazines and although dark outside, the garden was bathed in soft light from the numerous imitation bamboo torches lining the paths.
As she neared a clearing in the thick tropical setting, a familiar, gut wrenching sensation took hold of her. Danger awaited her at the next turn. She stopped abruptly and surveyed her surroundings. Even the moon had taken refuge behind a heavy cover of clouds. The crickets ceased their chatter as if they too were waiting for something to happen. Anna held her breath. For most of her life she had suppressed the visions that her doctors had tried to explain away as ocular migraines but now, there was no disputing the seriousness of the auras that colored her sight.
Recently, since the death of her father, she had begun to experience memories of earlier years spent with her parents. These memories—which often appeared in her dreams—revealed an aspect of her mother that she had somehow repressed since her mother’s death. An aspect which seem to explain why Anna was sometimes able to predict the future or sense danger. She now understood that what she had was what some people call a gift and that the ability was hereditary. Now, at this very moment, the gift was screaming at her … run!
Chapter Six
“What are you doing out here?”
She turned and drew a sharp breath placing her hand to her chest.
Derrick looked agitated and appeared to be looking for something before he grabbed Anna’s elbow and began to steer her back towards the house.
“Yes, little Anna.” Agreed the dark stranger who stepped from behind a large alocasia to their left. “It isn’t safe to wander around this particular estate at night. You never know what might be lurking in the bushes.”
Anna stood rooted to the spot. This tall, twisted, skinny man with sunken cheeks and long yellow fingernails acted as if he knew her and worse still, somehow he did seem familiar to her. Although she couldn’t remember his face, it was as though he played an important part in her life. Derek’s nostrils flared and he frowned as he addressed the stranger.
“I heard that you were back in town. What are you doing here, Torke? You know you’re not welcome in my home.”
“And so, I wait in your garden.” The mysterious stranger smiled menacingly at the couple as Derrick shifted Anna behind him. “Besides, Derrick, the view from the garden is prettier,” he winked at Anna “much prettier.”
Anna’s throat began to throb, her neck pained her and she fought the impulse to cover the healing wound near her carotid artery. Torke’s dark eyes bore into her. Her stomach churned at the sight of him. His facial skin appeared to be rotting, like a type of leprosy and the smell … it was the vilest stench she had ever experienced. He looked as though he had clawed his way out of a grave and, although she had never before entertained any real belief that such a creature existed outside of the movies, she suddenly knew exactly what he was. A vampire.
“Leave.” Derrick squared his shoulders at the intruder who shrugged off the territorial stance. “Before I physically remove you from my property.”
“Tsk, tsk, Derrick. Don’t be so rude. Before you and your brother arrived, I was the leader of this area. My visit is purely a courtesy call to inform you that I have returned and I intend to take back control.” He turned his gaze back to Anna and added. “I have unfinished business here.”
Hate laced his words. Hate aimed at her, although she couldn’t understand what she could have done to incite those feelings in someone she had never met. Footsteps pounded behind her and turned in time to see David hurrying towards them with long, focused strides. His playful demeanor gone, replaced by a solemn expression and a look of determination as he stared down the vampire.
“So, the rumors of your return were not unfounded.”
“I suddenly found myself drawn back.”
“You have no jurisdiction here anymore.” Derrick told him. “David is the leader now.”
“Funny,” Torke pointed out in a gleeful tone, “I was told you and your brother were joint leaders.”
“That’s true.” David agreed, casting Derrick a warning look that he reacted to with a forced sigh.
Their eyebrows shifted in silent correspondence. Anna gasped. It was almost as though they were communicating telepathically.
“If you can’t even agree on who is in charge, how can you expect to protect those in your care?”
Derrick drew back his shoulders, his jaw tightened. He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white as he edged towards Torke. She expected him to take a swing at the intruder, but, before he could act, they were joined by another couple who had silently come up from behind them.
“You called?” said the huge man in a deep monotone voice.
Anna guessed by the way he towered over her five feet four-inch frame; and stood at least six inches above Derrick, he must be over seven feet tall. The stranger’s female companion gave him a backhanded slap across his broad chest.
“Don’t mind Stan, Derrick,” said the petite dark haired woman with a roll of her eyes. “He’s been watching re-runs of the Addams family on television,” she turned back to her companion “and it’s ‘you rang’ you idiot.”
“You watched them too, Celeste,” Stan protested, his voice now musical and animated.
“What’s the skinny?”
Anna spun around. Another guest had appeared from nowhere. He looked young. Anna guessed around twenty. He turned his attention on her. “Oolala. Who’s the babe?” he sniffed the air “Dinner guest?”
Derrick looked agitated as more and more “guests” materialized from the darkness. “Why did you call a meeting, David?” He slipped an arm around Anna’s shoulders and squeezed protectively. She leaned into his embrace, somehow aware of the increasing danger and grateful for Derrick’s protective stance.
“I’m sorry, Derrick. I wouldn’t have upset your dinner plans without a good reason.” She noticed that David kept a close eye on the group.
When Derrick grabbed Anna’s hand and led her away from the growing crowd of strangers who seemed to be choosing positions either behind David or Torke, Anna made no attempt to resist. Neither did she look back for fear of what she might see. As frightened as she was of leaving with Derrick at this minute, she knew the real threat was a number of people in the group they left behind. The air rippled with electricity and Anna sensed a power in the group that she had never experienced before. It was clear that these people had never suppressed their abilities and the closer she came to them, the harder it was to hold her own at bay. It was almost as though she was somehow connected to them, that a psychic door had been opened to her.
Evan had parked the car directly outside the front doors in readiness for their swift departure and Derrick almost pushed Anna into her seat before running to the driver’s side and turning the ignition.
“Is David in some sort of trouble? Will those people hurt him?” she finally found the courage to ask as they sped away from the house.
“What do you mean, Anna?”
“I have been slow on the uptake, Derrick, but I’ve finally figured it out.”
“Figured what out?”
“The cold skin, only c
oming out at night, tinted car windows, pretending to eat … shall I go on?”
“All right, so you guessed it.” He stared straight ahead at the road “I have allergies to the sun. I thought I already told you? It’s an embarrassing condition and I don’t like to discuss it.”
“The other night … you licked blood of my neck. How do you explain that?”
“It was an impulse. I have no idea why I did it.”
“How long have you been a vampire?”
“You’ve been watching too many horror movies, Anna. There are no such things as vampires.”
“Fine then, why don’t you meet me at the gym tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.? We can discuss this after you join me in a morning swim at the beach.”
“Sorry, I’m busy in the morning,” He turned his head slightly to reveal a wicked smile. “I’ll take you for that swim after 7 p.m.”
“Ah, huh.” Anna pointed her index finger accusingly. “I knew it.”
“You knew I was busy? I guess I do lead a hectic life.”
Anna shook her head. Derrick knew exactly what she meant. He was endeavoring to put her off the scent with humor. It wasn’t going to work. There was a visible change in his demeanor. Despite his jovial words and sarcasm, his expression had darkened. There was no hiding the concern etched on his perfect face.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to come out in the daylight.”
“Nonsense, Anna.” This time his tone sounded more agitated. “Leave this silly witch hunt alone.”
“Fine.” Anna sat silently, her arms crossed over her chest the rest of the drive to her home, hoping to think of a way to trap him into a confession. By the time they pulled up outside her house, she had formulated a plan.
David stepped out of the car and walked around to the passenger side door. As he opened it, he offered his hand and helped Anna out. They stood motionless for a moment until Derrick suddenly leaned forward and kissed her cheek.
“Good night, Anna. I’m sorry we were forced to finish the evening early. I had hoped to make this evening memorable.”
Kiss of Death (Blood Brothers Book 1) Page 8