Dhampir Secrets

by Lewis, Shirlee

  “William, I don’t know where she is. She was in my bathroom when I went in. I didn’t know she was there until I turned on the light. She had me go outside with her, and that’s all I know.” I pleaded.

  “I don’t believe you. She left England because of you. If Tony hadn’t brought you, she would not have left. I’ll take care of him in time.”

  “William, please understand. Tony has nothing—”

  “Tony has everything to do with Charlotte disappearing. He is responsible, and he will be held accountable.”

  “Accountable for what, he has done nothing,” I said, upset and feeling nauseous.

  “Let me explain. He is a half breed. He shouldn’t exist. Charlotte would have taken care of him long ago if Victor hadn’t interfered,” William said with such hatred.

  “He’s your great-grandson. How can you be so cruel to call him a half breed? He has a beating heart and you don’t. The one that shouldn’t be here is you!” I said, with anger.

  “Oh, but I didn’t create him, unlike Victor. He was wrong finding that human he married. He was wrong creating Tony. He took my house and locked me up in the upper rooms, my own personal prison. He hired his nephew to care for his human, knowing I couldn’t touch him.”

  “Why can’t you touch Jason?” I asked.

  “He’s family.”

  “So, is Tony,” I said, calmer.

  “But Tony brought you to the house and caused Charlotte to go mad over your scent.” He spat out.

  “Tony didn’t know I went up there. He wouldn’t tell me anything. I thought it was more furniture so I went when he wasn’t home on my own. You saved me from Charlotte.”

  “Doesn’t matter anyway,” William growled. “Charlotte wouldn’t have come looking for you if it wasn’t for Tony,” he said, taking a step toward me.

  “William, please, Tony is my life. Don’t hurt him please. He had nothing to do with me going up there. It was me, William, all me. If I could take it back I would. Just please don’t hurt Tony. I love him.”

  “You can plead all you want, but it isn’t going to do you any good. I’m sure he’s out there looking for you now and it will be too late,” he said, taking another step toward me.

  “William!” Tony yelled and stepped out of the trees.

  William turned to see Tony. He smiled wide and took off for him. I screamed NOoo! Just before William reached Tony, Victor came out of nowhere and caught William by the throat with his fangs. William backhanded Victor off of him and sent him sailing into the trees. Forgetting about Tony and me, William ran over to Victor and picked him up off the ground by his neck.

  I ran over to Tony and got behind him. Tony pushed me backward into the trees, making sure I stayed behind him.

  Victor pushed William off him with his foot. William went flying through the air landing on his feet. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was off in the air heading to Victor.

  “Stay here in the trees, and don’t move,” Tony ordered me.

  “Tony, don’t…” I said, grabbing onto his arm.

  Tony released my hold, looked at me with a vampirism stare and stepped out of the trees.

  “William,” Tony said, when he stepped out of the trees, “It’s me you want.”

  William landed on his feet, turned, and glared at Tony. He was taking a step toward him when Victor grabbed him around the throat and held him up in the air. Tony reached into his back pocket, pulled out a stake running toward William. Victor lowered William as Tony got to him. Tony raised the stake and stuck it in his heart. William screeched and went limp.

  My eyes widened and my mouth fell to the ground. I witnessed a vampire death before my very eyes.

  “Get her out of here,” Victor commanded Tony.

  Tony came over to me, picked me up and carried me out of the trees. I heard ripping and tearing behind me, but I didn’t look back. Laying my head on Tony’s shoulder, I closed my eyes. It was now over for good.

  Tony carried me to the house. He put me down on the porch, took my face in his hands, and kissed me passionately. “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you,” I repeated. “I told you I could help. Is Victor coming back?” I asked.

  “I’m right here, Jess,” he said, behind Tony.

  I went to Victor and hugged him. “Thank you,” I said and released my hug.

  Victor stood in shock for a minute. “You’re welcome,” he said and went in the house.

  Tony and I embraced again. I was so happy having him here with me. “I’m sorry about what William said. He’s wrong about you.”

  “Jess, I’ve heard that my whole life from people I didn’t even know. It doesn’t bother me. Don’t let it bother you.”

  “I won’t.”

  Tony and I went in the house.

  “I’ll take that coffee now, Jennifer,” I said, with a smile on my face.

  Tony and I sat on the sofa. He wrapped his arm around me, putting his lips to my ear. “Thank you!” he whispered.

  “For what,” I asked.

  “For loving me,” he said.

  “Tony, you told me you’d go to the ends of the earth for me,” I paused. “I would do the same for you,” I said, looking into his eyes.

  Jennifer brought me my coffee.

  Victor walked through the house heading out into the backyard. Tony kissed my cheek, got up, and followed. Looking back to the yard, I watched as they headed to a shed at the end of the property. Tonight Tony’s eyes would be translucent. They were celebrating a victory. I smiled.

  “Thank you for being there for Victor and Tony and helping them with William,” Jennifer told me.

  “You’re welcome. It was hard convincing them to let me stay. It paid off, though.”

  “I’m just sorry that it had to end this way. Victor always thought a lot of his grandfather.” Jennifer sighed.

  I got up and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry too.”

  “Will you let Tony know I went home?” I asked.

  “Sure, you know they’ll be awhile, don’t you.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Walking home, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Stopping on the porch, I looked to where the shed stood. A light illuminating from the window emitted shadows of Tony and Victor laughing and drinking. Tonight they were celebrating. Closing the front door, I turned the porch light on.

  I went to the kitchen and looked out the window. No more red eyes would ever be staring back at me. I turned off the kitchen light and went to the bedroom, gathered up my night shirt and headed for the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I couldn’t help but smile. All the things I had been through were now over.

  I ran a hot bubble bath. Relaxing in the tub, I smiled knowing Tony and I were going to have normal lives. I closed my eyes and soaked for a while.

  Finishing my bath, I went to bed and soon I was asleep.

  Tony crawling into bed woke me up. “Did you have a nice time?” I asked.

  “Yes, but not as nice a time as I’m going to have right now,” he said, kissing my neck. His growl didn’t start low in his chest. He didn’t have a growl at all. I looked into his eyes and saw the flames dancing wild with a hint of orange and blue. My only guess—He celebrated a little too much. His lust was insatiable.

  Tony was still asleep when I woke up. I knew he would be awake the minute I was out of bed, but I couldn’t lie there any longer. I needed to stretch and get a coffee.

  I went in the kitchen to start breakfast and coffee. Tony usually was up by now so I went to check on him. My mistake, he was awake lying in bed. “Why aren’t you up yet?” I asked. His eyes were still translucent. “Why didn’t you come in the kitchen?”

  Without a word, Tony patted the bed with a huge grin on his face.

  It was noon before Tony’s eyes started getting back to normal and his appetite for me was satisfied. “How much did you drink last night?” I asked.

  “More than I should have,” he said. “Father and I got to talki
ng, lost track of time and bags.”

  “Oh!” was all I said with a smirk on my face.

  We went to the living room. Tony went to his chair and I to the sofa. He turned on the television, grabbing his head when the sound was too loud. He reached for the button and muted the sound.

  “Do you have a blood hangover?” I asked, trying not to smile.

  He turned his head to me and gave me a look of disgust. Turning his head back to the television, I couldn’t help but smile. I got up and called Jennifer. Jennifer answered on the first ring.

  “Hello,” she said, into the receiver.

  “Hi Jennifer, Jess. Are you doing anything today?” I asked.

  “I was planning on going shopping, why?”

  “Would you mind if I went shopping with you?”

  “No, dear, I was just about to leave.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” I said and hung up the phone.

  I went into the bedroom and found my sweater. On my way back into the living room, I stopped at the recliner. Tony was lying with his eyes closed. I kissed his cheek. He didn’t move. In the kitchen I wrote on the dry erase board in big, bold letters. ‘I’m shopping with your mother. Back in a bit! Love, Jess.’

  Closing the door behind me, I went to join Jennifer. I got in on the passenger side, and off we headed to the shopping center. Thinking about Tony’s blood hangover, I couldn’t help but wonder about Victor.

  “How is Victor this afternoon?” I asked.

  “Not good. He stayed out in the shed until around five this morning. He woke me up coming to bed. How’s Tony?” she asked.

  “Not good,” I said.

  “So is it possible for them to get a blood hangover?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “Oh, Jess, you have a lot to learn. Yes, it is possible.”

  “How long does it take to wear off?”

  “That depends on much they drank. Apparently they had more than they should have.”

  “Oh, how do you know when it’s too much?”

  “Victor, for instance, gets full on about five or six bags in a day. Ten bags and I know it. The amount he had last night was enough to keep him loving me for several hours. Let’s just say I have more than one bite mark. My neck is the only one visible that I have to keep covered,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong. I love Victor and would do anything for him, but last night was a little too much celebration.”

  “So it’s normal for them when they’re drunk on blood?

  “It sure is dear,” she said, smiling.

  “Is he sleeping it off now?”

  “Yes, that’s why we’re going shopping. How’s Tony?”

  “Same shape as Victor. He’s sleeping it off and I have enough love marks on my body to last me awhile.”

  We both grinned.

  Jennifer and I got to know each other better. She was just like my mother—easy to talk to. Before heading home, we stopped at the diner for supper. We were giving our guys time to sleep it off. After the diner, we headed home.

  “I opened the door to see Tony sitting in the recliner awake. He didn’t acknowledge the door opening and closing.

  I went over to Tony. He smiled up at me. He eyes were normal. “How was your day?” he asked.

  “Good, how was yours?”

  “Oh, Jess, I don’t ever want to do that again. I just woke up when the door opened. I feel horrible.”

  “Come on, honey, you need to go to bed,” I said, helping him stand up. He got up and put his arm around my shoulder. I helped him walk to the bedroom, pulled the covers back, and helped him into bed. The second his head hit the pillow his eyes closed.

  Going to the kitchen, I called Jennifer. “I just need to know if Tony is going to be all right. He’s still sleeping.”

  “Jess, dear, he’ll be fine in the morning. He won’t remember anything that happened.”

  “He won’t remember anything?”

  “No, dear, he won’t remember anything. Victor gets like this once in a while. Don’t worry, okay? Tony will be fine. I promise.”

  “Okay,” I said sounding worried.

  “Jess, relax. He’ll be fine.”

  “Thanks, Jennifer. See you tomorrow,” I said, hanging up the phone.

  Turning off the lights and locking the front door, I went to bed. Tony didn’t move a muscle when I got in beside him and wrapped my arm around him. He lightly snored. I kissed his cheek, scooted close to him, and fell asleep.

  In the morning, just like Jennifer said, Tony was fine. He got up, dressed, and went to the kitchen to get a flask. He took a drink and sat at the table.

  “Jess, I have been doing some thinking. I know we have been through a lot together.”

  “We sure have.” I grinned.

  “I want to spend every minute of every day with you. You have made my life complete and I can’t see spending it without you.”

  “I feel the same way, Tony.”

  Tony got up and pulled a black box out of his back pocket. I didn’t notice I was too busy taking a drink of coffee. Tony got down on one knee.

  “Jess, will you marry me?” he asked opening the black box.

  My mouth flew open and I set the cup down on the table. The ring was in the shape of two hearts overlapping each other with a diamond in the front heart. It was the ring I designed on paper.

  “I saw this drawing you made. I thought it would be the perfect ring to ask your hand in marriage,” he said smiling his half smile.

  “Oh Tony, it’s beautiful,” I said taking the box out of his hand. “I never dreamed it would actually be made into a ring.”

  “What name did you have in mind for this ring?” he asked still on his knee.

  “I toyed with, Linking Hearts Together.”

  “I like it. It’s our hearts, linked together,” he said.

  I looked down at him. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever laid eyes on.

  “Yes Tony. I’ll marry you.”

  “I love you, Jessica.”

  “I love you too, Tony.”

  Tony got up and I stood up. We hugged each other tight and kissed a long passionate kiss. I was the happiest girl in the whole wide world.

  We were going to spend the rest of our lives together.

  All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2013 Shirlee Lewis. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, or stored in a database retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author. You must not circulate this book in any format. Thank you for respecting the rights of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover Art by: Tasha Gwartney

  Formatted by: Tasha Gwartney