Tangled Blood Lines

by Deborah Noel

  “At my darling Mairead’s wake, Siobhan, confessed through her grief, to the truth. She sobbed as she told me she didn’t understand how your mother could have died with immortality in her blood. At first I thought she was talking about the Irish pixie until, out of frustration, she admitted to vampire blood. I was flabbergasted. I grabbed her shoulders and shook the whole truth out of her. I begged her to tell me where I could find the doctor and my blood sons. She only told me that he had packed up and moved underground, as “not nice” people were beginning to poke around. She had never heard from him again. I cursed her. I demanded she leave and never come back again. I told her if I saw her around you or your sisters, I would kill her myself. That was the last time I saw Siobhan.”

  Silence filled the room. This was more information than I knew what to do with.

  I was half vampire?

  The beasts I had come to be fascinated with and loathe at the same time shared my own heritage and that of my daughter.

  My father’s voice interrupted my uncomfortable thoughts. He was directing his words to Declan.

  “I looked at you as my son always, Declan. I was proud when you asked for Cianna’s hand in marriage. I could finally technically be able to call you son. I knew you would take good care of my daughter. I have watched you with Mattie and couldn’t be happier. I always knew you would be the perfect father I couldn’t be. But you are no different, son. When your momma confessed to your daddy that she had been raped by a vampire, your daddy left. Your momma couldn’t live with the truth and committed suicide. Bethany took you boys in. She told no one of your secret, not even her doctor friend. She brought you to me as you got stronger.”

  My father sat quiet. Tears of blood fell from his eyes. I was unable to move, unable to think of anything. My husband sat motionless beside me.

  “Cianna, my darling girl, please remove this silver from me.”

  I don’t remember getting up to follow my father’s instructions. But what happened next I hadn’t expected.

  Chapter Forty-three

  I undid the handcuffs. My father lifted his hands to lovingly cup my face. I took the amulet from his neck and dropped it on the table beside the chair. My father brought my face to him and gently kissed my cheek. “I love you, my daughter, more than anything. I’m sorry.”

  Before I could answer, he sank his fangs into my neck. It felt as if acid was burning my flesh. Though he didn’t drink any of my blood, the fiery sensation began to creep inside of me. I got feverish. The heat consumed me. I lost the ability to move. My father’s eyes were wild. He threw me onto the sofa. I landed beside Declan. My father lunged over me and bit Declan again. The scream that escaped Declan’s throat was muffled.

  My father stood up and walked over to me, spitting blood from his mouth. He took my hand and knelt down in front of me. I was still unable to move and was definitely in shock.

  “I told no one of your secret. With your grandmother gone, I knew any children you had would be safe. I was so relieved when you had a daughter and not a son. I prayed for that. I didn’t want you to suffer as I had.”

  He rotated to face Declan, “I didn’t want you to go through what I had, losing a son.”

  He turned back to me, “I must tell you though, darling, I am not the same man you knew. I have never been able to contain my anger after I learned the truth. When you mother died, I resented everything and everyone. I left because I didn’t want my hatred and bitterness to rub off on you. It was my burden to carry alone. I felt I had to seek revenge.”

  I tried to utter “Dad… ”

  He cut me off. “I’m sorry, Cianna.”

  Knowing I couldn’t make a sound, I telepathically said, “For what, my heritage? The truth? After ALL these years?”

  He looked at me. He turned and walked from the room. He began pacing the hallway. He stopped and looked at the lifetime of pictures hanging on the wall again. He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and flipped through the condensed photo album filled with his cherished pictures. Without turning around, he tossed it into my lap.

  “It seems I have crossed boundaries I shouldn’t have.”

  Suddenly I felt the color drain from my face.

  Without warning, my father grabbed hold of my hand and forced me further into the sofa. A fiery orange yellow color flashed across his irises and large sharp fangs appeared again in his mouth. He quickly turned and hissed at Declan. Swiftly he was at the side of the couch so his back wasn’t to my husband.

  “The truth is ugly, but necessary.”

  I held my breath uncertain as to what was happening or going to happen. Fear stunned me, stuck so thick in my throat I gasped for air. Then out of the deepest recesses of myself rage boiled over. I felt a strange power growing. An anger I had never felt before engulfed me. I started to shake, but it wasn’t because I was scared. Somehow I found the strength within me to push my father off-balance and backward. I continued to shove him until he was on his back on the floor and I was leaning over top of him.

  “Listen, old man,” I hissed in a voice unrecognizable to my own ears. “You will not push me around and you will do me no harm. I certainly understand your bitterness, but I am not the source and I will not be a doormat for you to stomp on. Now stand down, Father.”

  I jumped off of him and back a few feet, never once losing my balance. I went to Declan who was grower paler by the minute and unable to move. I ripped a piece of his shirt and balled it, putting it over his first wound. I placed his hand on top of the material. “Push down as hard as you can.” His eyes rolled back into his head.

  I screamed at him, “DECLAN!”

  His eyes snapped back and met mine. “Listen to me,” I commanded. “Stay with me and push hard here.” I slapped my hand on his. He barely blinked once.

  I spun around to my father. I hauled off and punched him square in the jaw. “How do I stop the poison?”

  “How are you moving?” he answered.

  “Fuck you! Help my husband!”

  My father just hissed at me. That quick he was on his feet, squaring off with me. Drool fell from the corners of my father’s mouth. His hair wild. His eyes a beady black.

  I knew what had to be said to change his stance. “Mom would be hartbroken if you hurt me. She would never forgive you.”

  He grinned devilishly, “This is true daughter, but she is no longer here.”

  “Bullshit,” I spat at him. “Look around. Take a deep breath! She’s here and you know it.”

  Defiance rolled through his eyes as they narrowed. “I am no longer human child! I’m consumed by evil.”

  I cut him off, “Maybe so, but I am your blood. You will not hurt me.”

  He took that as a challenge and advanced. I didn’t back down. “You may be my blood, child, but the blood that once flowed through my veins no longer does, it was drained from me many years ago. It was replaced with evil.”

  “You will stand down, or I will kill you myself!” I screamed at him. “I am not without powers and I have resources and knowledge you know nothing about. I’m done being nice! Now fucking stand down!”

  I charged him, catching him off guard. Again he fell backward, this time the power in my hit surprised him, sending him down to the floor. I jumped on top of him and shifted my knee to his chest, steadying myself with my other foot on the floor.

  “I will kill you.”

  His resistance eased. I stood up. I was too far away to grab the silver amulet I had left on the table. In one swoop my father was back on his feet.

  “You have much better control of your anger than I. That will prove to be a bonus.”

  “Fuck you! How do I help Declan?”

  “The answer is inside you,” he hissed at me. In a flash he was out the door.

  Chapter Forty-four

  I turned back to Declan. I could see he was using what little strength he had to keep pressure on his wound. The second bite was oozing stuff I had never seen before. It was a slimy liquid with
green, yellow and black mixed with red falling from his flesh. Without thinking I ripped the cloth runner from the coffee table and wiped away the goop. It was hot on my fingers through the fabric. I cleaned the puncture marks carefully. Leaning over him, I heard a sizzle. I looked down and realized that my nose was bleeding along with my own battle wounds. A drop of my blood fell upon Declan’s wound. It sizzled again, but the goo seemed to get thinner.

  My father’s words echoed in my brain, “The answer is inside of you.”

  I instinctively squeezed more of my blood into the holes. As I did, they began to get smaller until there was just a trickle of regular looking blood seeping from the center. Within minutes, the marks were glazed over with a thin skin and the bleeding had stopped.

  I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a dish towel from the drawer and laid it flat on the counter. I opened the freezer nearby and was glad to see ice inside. I dumped the trays onto the towel and went quickly back to my husband. Color had begun to return to his face. I stood in front of him and pulled him against me, his forehead rested against my breasts. I dabbed the ice-filled towel along the back of his neck as a makeshift cold compress. He moaned.

  I moved his hand from the other lesion. It, too, had skinned over

  “Where did that come from? I never saw this side of you. Who are you?”

  I smiled at him, “Someone not to be fucked with.”

  “What happened here?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and looked to the back door through which my father had left.

  Declan slowly sat back.

  “Move slow,” I told him.

  “I feel much better than I did earlier.”

  “Good.” I sat down next to him. We sat quietly for a while. Neither of us said a word. I think we were both in shock.

  Chapter Forty-five

  Declan finally felt like he had his wits back about him. He was wobbly on his feet at first, but quickly was able to steady himself. I helped him out to the Jeep. I insisted on driving.

  “The note,” he said.

  I ran back into the house and went straight to my old bedroom. I lifted the mattress and grabbed the envelope tucked under it. Holding it tightly in my hand, I ran to the Jeep, and hopped in the driver’s seat. Declan began to fade into unconsciousness. I gently slapped his cheek and demanded he stay with me. He moaned. His eyes rolled back in his head. “Sam,” he called out. I tucked the note into my pocket and buckled the five-point harness. I threw the Jeep into gear and pushed the pedal to the floor.

  We made it to the woods in record time. I had telepathically talked to Sam and he was waiting by the big oak tree when we arrived.

  Sam helped me get Declan inside and we were greeted by Bullet, who was back to his normal self. I made a mental note to give him another of Malina’s pills and was impressed how well they were working. He stiffened realizing something was wrong with Declan.

  “Quickly, let’s get him into the conference room. Go get Brae,” Sam instructed me.

  Shane and Brae followed me and when she saw Declan, she said, “We need some healing potion.”

  Shane hurried from the room. He came back with a vial and a plastic wrapped cloth.

  Brae and Shane got done to business using the healing potion on Declan and then me. The liquid that poured from the vile was cool and stunk, and it put us to sleep, but it worked. A few hours later we were back to our normal selves with a few new scars. Sam had taken photos of the fang marks.

  “So what did the note say?” Brae asked.

  I pulled the note from my pocket. “I was so worried about Declan, I never read it.” I opened it and read it out loud.

  Mommy and Daddy,

  Please come get me. I am at 428 Fisher Street, by the Cliffs.

  I miss you and love you.

  Matilda

  The smile disappeared from Brae’s face. Sam stood up.

  “Well, where in hell is that?”

  I tossed the note on the table. “Guess I didn’t teach her about including city and state in her address.” I was a tad bit sarcastic.

  Despite knowing my mood, Sam chuckled out loud.

  “I’m in no mood Sam. We had an unexpected visitor…”

  Brae cut me off, “I knew something was different about you. You look…”

  “Meaner,” Declan interrupted Brae. “Don’t mess with Cianna. Trust me. I just watched her kick a grown man’s ass.”

  “Who?” Sam asked.

  “My father. Or I should say someone who used to be my father.”

  Sam looked at Declan puzzled.

  “Yes, my father-in-law bit me.”

  I don’t think I have ever seen three sets of eyes get as wide as hockey pucks that fast. I didn’t offer a word. I grabbed a can of soda from the cooler Sam had in the corner. I popped the tab and drank the whole thing without stopping for air.

  Shane walked over, took the can from my hand and looked me square in the eyes, “I know where Mattie is.” He waved the note in my face.

  Brae came over. She snatched my daughter’s note from his hand to study it.

  “Bravo! Well played!”

  “What? It’s just a street address,” I grunted at them.

  Brae grabbed my arm and pulled me back to the table.

  “Do we have powder darling?”

  Shane produced a small bottle of blue powder. Brae emptied some into her palm and rubbed it around with her fingers. She brought her palm close to her face and whispered into her hand. She began to sprinkle the powder over the note. It fell all over the paper.

  “Ha! Nothing,” I exclaimed.

  Brae held her hand up to shush me. “Reveal the message to us.” Then she snapped her fingers.

  The blue powder began to dance around the paper. Flakes moved about the page, slowly revealing a message otherwise unseen.

  Come to Ireland on Friday. Go to Doolin in County Clare, by the Cliffs of Moher.

  Then without warning the paper disappear in a puff of smoke.

  I was speechless. Declan squeezed my hand. Sam smiled from ear to ear. Brae and Shane smiled and gave high fives. A sense of relief washed over me. Friday was two days away.

  Declan spoke up. “So, who wants to know about our newest vampire?”

  Declan and I took turns quickly recanting our experience with the man I hadn’t seen in too many years, the man I used to call Daddy. We recanted the brutal attack by my father, as well as his confession about our true blood lines.

  When we were finished talking, you could have heard a blood drop splatter on the floor.

  “I am what I hate,” I said defeated.

  “No,” Brae said. She draped her arm around my shoulders, “You are not what you hate. You hate actions, the evil mean things that certain dead ones do. You aren’t a dead one, you aren’t a blood sucker. You are alive. You have purpose, a soul and you are good. You don’t have an evil bone in your body.”

  Declan, still behind me, laughed under his breath, “You wouldn’t say that if you had seen her a few hours ago.” He looked at me and winked, holding his hands up in the air, “I’m just saying.”

  “Ha, ha. Funny, Declan.” A tear rolled down my cheek. “This is serious shit.”

  “Sheesh,” Shane butted in. “She finds out she’s half vampire and the vulgarity just spews out her mouth.”

  I threw him a sharp look.

  Declan spun me around and kissed the top of my head, “Lighten up, will ya? We will straighten all this out. You can’t change anything. In the meantime, we need to do what is necessary to get to Ireland and Mattie on Friday. This is the least of your worries right now. Besides, I still love you.”

  Chapter Forty-six

  Sam, who was uncharacteristically quiet, went over to the computer and made all the arrangements for a trip for three to Ireland. Brae was going to accompany Declan and me. We were booked to leave Thursday morning to arrive on Friday, flying into Shannon Airport. A rental car would be waiting for us at the airport so we could drive up to Do
olin in County Clare. The countdown had begun. Brae downloaded maps and planned out the routes we would take. The details seemed to be set.

  I could barely contain my excitement to finally have my daughter in my arms again. To see her, touch her, smell her and hug her. I was comforted to know she was unharmed, yet I couldn’t wait to know who had her and why. To be honest, I was chomping at the bit to give whomever it was a good “what for” for taking my daughter without my permission or knowledge, for putting us through hell.

  “Okay,” Shane broke my train of thought. “What do we do about Remmie?”

  “Let’s take a vote,” Sam suggested.

  “I have a grave concern about trusting him,” Brae expressed. “He could be lying about not wanting to go back to Oxmeade. Vampires are cunning, deviant and uncaring. He was hired to find me and return me to Oxmeade. This could be a ploy to achieve that.”

  “True,” I answered her. “However, he doesn’t know it’s you he was hired to find.”

  She nodded, “But he has my true scent. He’s already caught wind of it once and I’m sure it will happen again. I can’t walk around on eggshells, worrying all the time.”

  Declan spoke up, “That’s true. Aren’t there any spells that you can cast to erase your scent from his senses?’

  “I know of one,” Shane said. “But there’s still a problem. If we tell him we need to erase the scent of the target he was sent to bring back, he’ll get suspicious as to why. Why would we care about that? Plus there’s the money factor. He would lose out on his final payment. Why would he risk that?”

  “Can you cast the spell without him knowing,” I asked. “Maybe while he’s sleeping?”

  I could see Shane thinking things through in his mind. Brae was watching him intensely.