“No, I’m good.”
“Really? You seem so lonely.”
“I’ve been lonely for years, Darby.”
“Well, how about I come back after you’ve had a rest and read to you, or play some cards or something?”
“Why? Don’t you have anything better to do?”
“No. Your father is scared I’ll wreck the car, having never driven in snow. Your wife has my boyfriend captive in New York for the day, maybe the night. That leaves throwing the ball incessantly to Sammy or hanging with your dad.”
“Okay, so you don’t have anything better to do. Why didn’t you go to New York with them?”
“What would be the point?”
“To save your relationship.”
“That wouldn’t save my relationship. After this conversation and the one I had with Devon last night, I’m not sure there is a relationship left. You can’t carry a torch for forty years for someone and love another someone.”
“Somehow, I’ll bet Devon could. But then again, maybe he doesn’t deserve your love.”
“Maybe, maybe not. I guess I’ll just have to see what happens. So, what about later?”
“I’d like that. How about some cards? Cribbage?”
“Perfect. I’ll check on you later. Rest up, so I can kick your butt later and not feel guilty about beating a sick guy.”
“Funny too. Now I see why Dad likes you so much. You are an awful lot like Aunt Abby.”
Chapter 10
While Darby let Anton get some rest, she brought her cell phone down into the library and texted Blake and Rowan. Rowan was at school so it was just Blake.
So u R still there. Work things out with Devon?
Not exactly. We did talk & I no all about Libby, but guess who showed up in the interim?
Pleez tell me it wasn’t Libby.
It was. And they R presently living it up in NYC.
No. Y did u let him go w/o you?
What’s the point, Blake? She was practically naked bouncing up and down in front of him telling him they should get reacquainted by his taking her to the city. She thought I was his servant and she kept calling me every name BUT Darby.
That’s only because she’s threatened by you. The torch carrier has a new bedmate. Hard on an ego to know she’s lost her biggest groupie.
Bed mate, HA! He hasn’t touched me since your uncle showed in CA. So I guess she wins, because I was pretty sure his eyes were going to roll out of his head and HE would start calling me Debbie.
Who’s Debbie?
Men are so dumb sometimes.
Come on. I’m sure it’s not all that bad.
U no u’ve been saying that over & over & it just keeps getting worse. Haven’t u learned NEthing u goofy string bean?
If u r that worried about what he’ll do, Y didn’t u go?
2 save what, Blake?
OK now I no UR overreacting.
U no what Blake, That’s it. I’m done w/ talking 2 u 2.
Come on Darby, what did I do?
She turned her phone off. Two gorgeous Bloomington morons, she thought. No more.
Darby went downstairs to meet Bernard and Dominic, who had decided they’d go into town and pick out a tree to be delivered. Darby tagged along to give her opinion. Besides, it was something to do while she let Anton sleep, and it kept her mind off the sex fiend baiting her boyfriend in New York at the moment.
They went to a farm not far from the house just outside of town. Apparently, Dominic had been going there for years. They knew what size he’d want and walked them out into the woods to show them five different trees to choose from. All five were nice, but the third was the fullest and prettiest tree to Darby. She kept quiet through the viewing of all the trees and when they had seen the last tree, Dominic asked Darby, “So, was one of those trees to your liking?”
“My liking? It’s your home, silly, it should be to your liking.”
“My dear, our home has been without a woman’s touch for so long, it would be an honor to have you pick one.”
“Well, they are all beautiful, but I think I like the third one the best.”
Dominic smiled and said, “Frank, we’ll take the third one you showed us. You’ll deliver it as usual? Thank you. And thank you, Darby. It’s going to be a lovely Christmas with you here.”
Darby smiled as they headed back to the car and drove home. Once in the house she grabbed a deck of cards and the cribbage board and headed up to Anton’s room. She tapped lightly on the door.
“Come in,” Anton said.
She had two glasses and a bottle of wine with her. She set the glasses on the nightstand along with the bottle and set the cribbage board and cards on the bed. “First thing first.” She walked over to the chest of drawers and pulled the top two drawers out of the chest and walked to the closet, dumping their contents all over the floor. She then picked up the pile of Anton’s things and put them neatly back in the drawer. As a final touch, she tossed the wet towel she had used to clean up the floor on top of the frilly little things and shut the door. She walked over to the nightstand, poured them each a glass of wine, sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, and began to shuffle the cards.
“You know there will be hell to pay for that stunt?”
“Bill me. Besides, if she thinks I’m the hired help, then I might as well act like it. Maybe you and I should have an affair just to piss her off.”
“You are a handful, Darby. Have any sisters?”
“I do, and she’s more than Blake can handle.”
“Good for him. At least he’s on the right track.”
“Yeah, well, as of this afternoon I’m not speaking to him either.”
“Really, why?”
“Because he keeps telling me I’m overreacting and that things aren’t as bad as I keep saying they are.”
“Well, he always was a great defender of Devon’s.”
“He’s supposed to come once he finishes up some contract he’s working on.”
“Great. Will your sister be coming too?”
She looked at him suspiciously. “You’d have a better chance with me,” Darby said, laughing. “Besides, there is an issue.”
“What’s that?”
“This summer she was injected with werewolf blood and is now regularly turning into a werewolf on the full moon.”
“OOOoohhh! I’ll bet Dad just loved that! Yikes. Blake’s finally defying Uncle Dominic? Your family is turning this one upside down.”
“Well, it was not our intention.”
“Trust me; it needed a little turn of soil. The weeds were getting a little too comfortable. Wow. A werewolf.”
“If that makes you happy, then you will like to know that my sister and I are also from a long line of witches, and now we have a friendly werewolf and another witch living next door.”
“Wow. I have got to get better so I can visit California.” Anton laughed and shook his head for a quite awhile.
“Do you think she, Libby I mean, will, you know, draw Devon back to her?”
“If she can manage it, probably, but Devon’s quite a boy scout. He takes loyalty pretty seriously – too seriously at times. If anyone can keep her at bay, he can with his morality and principles.”
“But will he want to keep her at bay? You said it yourself; he’s been carrying a heavy torch for her for a very long time. And what about you? How do you feel about him being in NY with your wife?”
“A long time ago I gave up giving any credence to the word ‘wife.’ You say it like Devon says it. Like it has a deep spiritual meaning to you. I learned early on that she was only my wife on paper. She has no feelings for me, or the institution of marriage.”
“Why don’t you just divorce her and find someone to love and cherish?”
“I’ve become too calloused against marriage and love. It doesn’t exist to me anymore. There may have been a time when I might have searched for love again, but Dad wouldn’t let me divorce her.”
“Why? Catholics
get divorced nowadays. It’s not that frowned upon anymore.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. Maybe she had something over Dad, manipulating him as she has me. I’m not sure, but like I said, I don’t look for love anymore.”
“How sad. What gets you out of bed in the morning?”
“Not much these days, aside from a glass of water today.”
“Aren’t you lonely?”
“Every minute of every day.”
“Then do something about it, you bonehead. Tell her to stay away. Get out there and find someone.”
“Every time I’ve gotten close to someone, that someone miraculously disappears.”
“You don’t find that odd?”
“Sure I do, but what can I do about it?”
“Get off your butt and find them.”
“Well, if they left, what’s to find?”
“Maybe they didn’t leave. Maybe they were sent away.”
“What?”
“Maybe Libby found out about them and sent them away?”
“No. Libby’s manipulative, not cruel.”
“You sure about that?”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
“Okay, prove it.”
“How?”
“Give me three names of women you started a relationship with, that miraculously left.”
“Don’t be silly.”
“I’m not, prove it. If you are so sure that Libby had nothing to do with it, give me three names and their last known whereabouts.”
“Fine,” he said and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and started writing. He handed the paper to Darby. “But this is stupid.”
“I’m sure it is, but won’t it be nice to find out for sure?”
“I suppose.”
“Good. Well you’ve beaten me twice; you must be feeling a little better. Sure you don’t want a little nibble?” she said, pointing to her neck. “Devon says it doesn’t hurt, just a little pin prick. Might make you feel better.”
“I couldn’t possibly, Darby. Very sweet of you to offer, but no.”
“Okay, but I want you to promise me something.”
“What’s that?”
“No nooky tonight, if she comes home at all. Be a man and just say NO. No nibbling and no nooky. If she cared at all about you, she wouldn’t even ask, you’re too weak. Please promise me.”
“Why is it so important to you?”
“I’d like to see you get better, Anton. Can I bring you anything before I call it a night?”
“You’re not going to wait up for Devon?”
She held the doorjamb and turned back. “Anton, he hasn’t kissed me or said he loves me since your father showed up at our doorstep. I don’t think there’s much hope anymore. Good night. Sleep well. I’ll check in on you in the morning.”
She went to her room and let Mr. Chow and Sammy in. She hit the power button on her phone to find a ton of texts from Blake. Without reading them she erased them all. Nothing from Rowan. Pooo, she thought. She emailed her.
Rowan. Can you do me a huge favor? I was wondering if you could do a search on three women to see if you can find them: Colleen Heenan – Rhode Island, Samantha Collins - Massachusetts, Angela Marcus - New York.
Anything you can find would be great. Love you and miss you. D
Then she wrote to Sally.
Hey Sally, was wondering if you could do a search for me in the store and beyond. I need to know if there is any record of ailments with vampires. Symptoms being: extreme weakness and exhaustion. Devon’s cousin is very sick and no one has ever heard of a vampire being sick. Thanks Sweetie, kisses to Dean. Darby
Benefits of owning a bookstore.
The Cauldron, Book and Candle, which Darby owned back in Oljone, California, was being run by Sally and Rowan in her absence. The bookstore carried all kinds of books pertaining to the supernatural. As it said on her business card, they have books from A – abracadabra to Z - the Zugarramurdi Witches, witches in the Basque village of Zugarramurdi who were accused of vampiric behavior and anything in between.
She said her goodnights to Bernard and Dominic, went upstairs, and got ready for bed. She wasn’t really ready for sleep, but she had finished her book and just didn’t want to go downstairs again, in case she ran into Devon and Libby coming in. She turned off the light and went to bed.
Chapter 11
This morning, Darby was awake before Bernard quietly tap, tap, tapped on her door. On her way to the dining room she decided to stop by Anton’s room and see if he wanted anything brought up to him. She knocked quietly and there was no answer so she opened the door and started to say, “Ant…”
There on the bed, the gorgeous woman with golden ringlets trickling down her bare back was naked and straddled on top of Anton. She turned her head to look at Darby and put her red-nailed finger to her smiling lips. There was blood on her chin and a tiny bit of white shown on her blood red lips.
Darby shut the door immediately and ran down the stairs. Disturbed, she made no eye contact with anyone in the dining room, especially Devon, and tried very hard to block her thoughts. She grabbed her coffee and a muffin and sat down without a word to anyone.
“How are you this morning, dear? Sleep well?” Dominic said cheerily, but perhaps sensing something was wrong.
She was so disturbed by what she had seen and trying so hard to block her thoughts, she barely heard a word he said. “What? Oh, sleep, yes. Anton and I played cards for a while and then, yes, I slept well. Thank you!”
Confused, Dominic looked at her with concern this time. Devon never moved from behind his paper. “The tree will be coming today. Devon, will you be joining us in decorating it?”
He dropped his paper to answer. He looked pale. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was not loosely back in a ponytail as he most often wore it. It was long and loose around his face, covering his neck and ears. He was even wearing a turtleneck. Darby didn’t even know he owned one. He looked gothic and striking with this new look, but she wasn’t sure if she liked it. Oh sure, the man could be wearing a trash bag and make it look like a fashion statement, but his eyes seemed far away and distant like they were that night down at the cottage when he stood like a sentry in front of the fireplace.
As he opened his mouth to answer, who should come bouncing in but Libby. She wore another gorgeous negligee, this time in black, but just as sheer and just as revealing as the morning before. Her hands were all over Devon and she kissed him long and hard on the mouth, smearing red lipstick all over his lips. “Good morning, love. Didn’t we have the best time yesterday?” She bounced over to the sideboard for a cup of tea.
Devon, completely oblivious to the horrific display of lipstick he was donning, watched Libby’s every move with an adoring smile.
“Daisy, you should have joined us. We went to this lovely French restaurant and then we went to several elite nightclubs. I haven’t danced so much in years.”
“Wow! Sounds great. I’m glad you had fun. Did you get all acquainted again?”
“You have no idea, does she, love?” Libby smiled devilishly at Devon, caressing his face, and then she looked to Darby. “And what did you do yesterday, Delia?”
“Well, we picked out a Christmas tree for the foyer and Anton and I played some cards. I was hoping maybe you could tell me if you’ve noticed the decline in your husband’s health, Lori?
“It’s Libby, Doris, and since when is my husband any of your business? And what is that thing around your neck?”
“My mistake, Lizzy, but that is why Devon and I are here, to get to the bottom of what’s ailing your husband. You know him better than anyone, so you are the logical person to ask,” Darby said as Libby practically ran to her side to look at the bauble around Darby’s neck. With a most disgusted expression, she picked at it with her red claws and put it in her palm, tossing it up as if it was not on a chain around Darby’s neck.
Then she turned to Dominic. “How droll. Pathetic even, Dominic,�
�� Libby said and then dropped it as if it was burning her hand. As she slinked back to her seat, she paused to run her hands all over Devon.
“Well, Dixie, I find nothing at all ailing my husband. Maybe he claims to be sick to be away from all you boring people.”
“Well, Lexi, he can barely stand up on his own, and I fear your love bites are draining him.”
Libby hissed at Darby and Dominic was ready to come to Darby’s defense, even if Devon was in some kind of sickening stupor.
“Stay away from my husband, you letch.”
“Stay away from my boyfriend, you leech.”
She hissed again, like a cat, and suddenly jumped out of her chair as if she were going to pounce on Darby. Dominic got up at the same time, warning Libby that she may be younger, but he was much stronger and she would not survive a fight with him. She relaxed her posture and went back to her seductive prowl, wrapping everything she had around Devon, who still seemed to be in some kind of oblivious trance. She kissed him again, dragging him out of the chair and as she did so, rubbing every inch of her body over him in a perverse attempt at seduction. Darby just stared as Libby dragged Devon out of the room with her.
“That was a very dangerous thing to do, my dear.”
“I know, I really hadn’t meant to get nasty, but she was really piss…I mean she was really making me angry.”
“I’m sorry you had to endure that. I’m quite embarrassed by her behavior, and Devon’s, for that matter.”
“Why? She’s obviously influencing him, Dominic.”
“It’s not possible, Darby. Vampires can’t influence other vampires.”
“Not that you know of, that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. I mean, up until a few months ago, I didn’t know that vampires or werewolves were real. Don’t shut your mind to what may be possible. Your grandmother should have taught you that. And what did she mean about the necklace you gave me?”
“I believe she may have been the cause of your injuries.”
“How? There was no one there.”
“Not that you could see. Vampires can be very fast and they can easily confuse human vision and perception. Her fingernails, I believe, were laced with a toxic oil that kept your wounds from healing. It doesn’t work on vampires, but I’ve seen it used by vampire women on humans that annoy them. I had Dr. Rowe test for the oils I suspected, and that is why the salve worked so well. We made a type of antidote with similar oils.
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