Blood Lust (8 page)

She ascended the stairs and went to her room. She closed the door and grabbed her jammies from her bag and headed for the huge bathroom. First she inspected her cheek, and yes, there were four distinct red welts on her face. No blood had been drawn, but something had scratched her in the wind. Now wide awake from adrenaline, she decided a hot bath might soothe her heart and her cold feet. As she drew the bath, she found some candles and lit them. She very carefully slipped out of the beautiful dress and hung it on the back of the door on a hook. That’s when she could see four razor cuts on her side. These had drawn blood. Not a lot, but enough to scare her.
Well, nothing to do about it now; a good soak will get any infection out
, she thought, and with that she climbed into the tub.

As her body got acclimated to the heat of the bath water and the stinging subsided in her wounds, her muscles relaxed and the sweet smell of the candles wafted through the humid air of the bathroom. She thought a long while about Devon; his face like porcelain standing in front of the fireplace. He seemed almost as if under some kind of spell. She wondered if she would ever get through to him. Then she thought of the strange wind that came up on her, scratching her, and the horrible laughter.
What a strange night
. She soaked in the bath for twenty minutes or so, and then dried off and found a first aid kit with some gauze and tape and put a patch over her wounded ribs. Then she put on her soft new jammies.

How wonderful new flannel feels against skin, like the fuzzy softness of the inside of a new sweatshirt, or a brand new pair of fluffy socks
, she thought. It made her smile as she drained the tub, blew out the candles, and turned off the light. Not quite ready to go to bed, she grabbed her Jim Butcher book, and read the rest of it that night.

She woke in the morning to tapping on the door. “Come in, Bernard, good morning,” she said as she raked the hair out of her face.

Bernard smiled at her. “Good morning, Miss. How was your evening? Did you and Master Devon talk? Sort things out?”

She turned towards him to answer and he gasped. “Dear Lord, Miss. What happened to your cheek?”

“That’s a lot of questions for someone who hasn’t had any coffee yet, Bernard. Lets see; Okay, no, no, and I got scratched by something in the wind on the way up to the house last night.”

“Excuse me?” Bernard said bewildered.

“The rest of my evening was okay. No, Devon and I didn’t talk. No, Devon and I didn’t sort anything out, and I got scratched by something in a gust of wind on the way back up to the house last night.”

“Oh. Well, maybe we should have a doctor take a look at that.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary. The skin wasn’t even broken, just a couple of welts.” She went to the bathroom mirror as she spoke.
How odd
, she thought. The swelling of the welts had not gone down; they were just as red and raised as they had been the night before. She grabbed her hoodie, putting it on as she walked to the door, and followed Bernard down to the dining room.

As before, Devon was reading the paper when she entered. Anton had joined them and hid himself behind a newspaper. Dominic looked up as she entered the room and said, “Dear child, what happened to you? Are you okay?”

Devon dropped the paper down to look, as did Anton. Facing away from them as she got coffee and a muffin, she answered, “It’s nothing, I’m fine. Something scratched me, is all.”

“What was it, dear? How?” Dominic persisted.

“I’m not sure. It was the weirdest thing.”

She turned back towards the table giving Devon a view of her face.

“Geez!” he said and practically jumped in his seat.

“It’s not that bad, is it? Just a little swollen,” she said bringing her hand to her face as if a little embarrassed by his reaction.

“Weird?” Dominic persisted. “What happened, Darby?”

“I was walking back up to the house after sitting down in the cottage for a while…” She glanced at Devon to see his reaction. “…and out of nowhere a huge gust of wind passed me, nearly knocking me down. As it passed, it felt as though a claw or nails raked across my face and…” She decided not to mention the wound on her ribs. “I could have sworn too that…no, it’s silly, never mind.”

She looked at Devon again, and thought of that disapproving look he had given her when she suggested taking breakfast to Anton. She figured she’d best not mention a wicked woman’s laughing on the wind.
He’d have me locked up in a psyche ward
.

Dominic said, “Laughing? You heard laughing?”

She had totally forgotten to close her mind to them.
One of the drawbacks of living with vampires; they can read every thought you have, but you have no idea what they are thinking.
“Um, well yes, I thought I heard a woman’s laughter, but that’s silly. There was no one around.”

Dominic looked at her with concern, and Anton’s eyes met Dominic’s as if they were speaking telepathically. “Maybe we should have a doctor look at you wounds.”

“It’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m sure the swelling will go down soon.”

“Well, if it doesn’t go down by this evening, I’m sending for a doctor,” Dominic said.

She nodded, disappointed by Devon’s lack of concern. At least Dominic was concerned about her. She had breakfast in silence and the men resumed their places behind a newspaper. Anton was the first to excuse himself, then Devon, again leaving Darby and Dominic in the huge room together. When he thought Devon was out of earshot, Dominic dropped the paper and asked, “My dear, are you quite sure you are okay? Are you telling me everything?”

“Sure, Dominic, I’m fine. It was probably just a twig I didn’t see in the wind. No big deal.”

“Hmm,” he said as if he didn’t believe her. “Did you and Devon have a talk last night? I saw you head down to the cottage – Bernard told me Devon was down there.”

“Oh, well no, we didn’t. He invited me in, but never said a word to me, not even goodbye. It was like he was somewhere else. I’ve never seen him like this before. Is he going to be all right? I’m trying to give him space, but I feel like I am losing my grip on him, as if he is being pulled away from me somehow. I don’t know what to do for him. I feel like everything I say or do is wrong.”

“Oh, Darby, I’m sorry this is hurting you so. Hmm. So he said absolutely nothing last night?”

“No, not a word. I sat down there for at least an hour maybe two or three. He never moved or said a thing. If it weren’t for his breathing I would have thought him dead.”

“I was so hoping he would talk to you about…well, things.”

Darby’s temper flared at the all too familiar evasion. “Yes, ‘things.’ That would be nice if someone would tell the dumb blonde what the hell is going on.”

She realized she’d cursed and was immediately embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, Dominic, I’m frustrated, I should just…” she said as she started to get up.

As she did so, Dominic noticed a large spot of blood soaking through her hoodie.

“You didn’t tell me everything, did you, dear?” She knew instantly to what he was referring and her hand went to her side, leaving her fingertips wet and red. The room faded to gray as her knees weakened and she started to go down.

Having the agility, strength, and speed of a vampire, Dominic was able to get out of his chair, jump the table, and catch her before she hit the floor. He bellowed for Bernard, who was instantly at his side, despite being an ordinary elderly human. “Oh no! What’s happened, Master Dominic?”

“Well, Bernard, I think we have a few problems, but the first is, we need to get her to a hospital. Can you call Dr. Rowe and have him meet us there?”

“Immediately, Master Dominic.”

“And let the boys know where we are going. Anton will probably not be strong enough to come, but Devon most certainly will want to go with us.”

“Yes, Master Dominic.” He was off in a flash. Dominic set Darby on a settee and grabbed an afghan to wrap around her. He saw Bernard racing down the stairs, grabbing the keys, and heading for the garage. Dominic picked up Darby again and headed for the front door, stopping to see if Devon was coming, but after a moment, he proceeded for the door and to the waiting, running black Mercedes at the bottom of the steps. He rushed down the stairs and Bernard opened the backseat door for him. “Is Devon coming?” he asked Bernard.

Bernard dropped his eyes and shook his head.

“Damn it! What is wrong with that boy?” Dominic said as he got into the backseat with Darby on his lap, holding her like a father would his injured daughter.

Bernard hurried around to the driver’s seat and they were off to the local hospital.

Dr. Rowe was waiting for them with a stretcher at the emergency entrance. Dominic deposited Darby on the gurney and explained the details to Dr. Rowe. Darby was starting to regain consciousness as they entered an examination room.

“What’s going on? Where am I?” Darby said.

Dominic was at her side immediately. “You passed out, dear, you are at the hospital. This is Dr. Rowe. He is a very good friend of mine. He’s going to check you out and fix you up. Okay? Everything is fine.”

“Where’s Devon? I want to see Devon.”

His eyes glanced to Bernard and then to Dr. Rowe. “Well, dear, he’s not here, I’m sorry. I’m sure he will be right along.”

“Don’t play coy, you know as well as I do he’s not coming,” she said as the tears poured out of her.

She spent the next two days in the hospital having a large array of tests. She was sure she hadn’t an ounce of blood left. How many tests could one doctor require? And what the heck was he looking for? It was just a couple of scratches!

Dominic was sweet and never left her side. Bernard drove from the house to the hospital about twenty times a day fulfilling his duties to the boys and Master Dominic like a pro. He provided books and meals for the master and even had a nice portable bed brought in for him.

Darby appreciated his company and nurturing, but she kept telling him to go home and be comfortable. She felt stupid being in the hospital for scratches.

The final day of their stay at the hospital, Dr. Rowe came in with a salve that he first put on her face and then on the open scratches on her ribs. It stung at first, tingled, and then got very hot.

“I think this is going to do the trick. It’s already taking the swelling down; take a look, Dominic.”

“Then it’s what I thought?”

“Yes. A slight variation, but definitely in the same category,” Dr. Rowe answered.

“What was what you thought?” Darby asked.

“Nothing for you to worry about, dear,” Dominic answered.

“But I want to know what you are talking about,” Darby said.

“I know, dear, and you will, but not right now. Let’s get you home and healed, then we’ll talk.” Dominic turned to Dr. Rowe again. “So we can go home, then?”

“Yes, I have all the paperwork here,” he said and handed a file folder to Dominic.

“Thank you, Dr. Rowe. You’ll be checking in on her and Anton soon?”

“Yes, in a day or two.”

“Great, we’ll see you then.”

Bernard helped Darby out of bed and into the bathroom where a new set of clothes for her lay on a small table. After Bernard left the room, she looked in the mirror.
It is pretty miraculous, this salve
. The swelling that had persisted for days had gone down in just a few minutes. Now there were only four faintly red lines on her face. She felt like a vampire with their instant healing, the way this stuff was working. She finished dressing and entered the room where Bernard and Dominic were gathering up the last of their items.