Deadman's Blood (34 page)

*****

Anton knew he needed to talk to his dad about the Dark Angel, the ring, and Jules, but he just wasn’t looking forward to it. He really wished Jules had never returned the family ring and it could go on as one of the family mysteries that would never be solved.

It was all embarrassing enough that he’d been duped and had fallen for another ‘bad news’ woman. Mark told Anton that he couldn’t lie to Dominic about what happened, so if Anton wouldn’t tell him, he would. Anton knew he was right, but he also knew that it was a lot easier said than done.

Most of the house had gone to bed and Anton knew his father was in the study. There would be no better time than now to confront him. He stood at the door, took a deep breath, knocked, and entered.

“Dad? Got a minute? There’s something we need to talk about,” he said as a wave of nausea swept through him. He shrugged it off.

“Sure, Anton. Sit down.”

Anton made his way over to the huge desk and took a seat in one of the big leather chairs across from his father.

“What is it, Anton? Everything all right?” Dominic asked.

“Well, yes, I guess. I suppose it depends on your perspective,” Anton said, rubbing the back of his neck, trying to loosen the tension and wipe away some of the sweat that had accumulated there from his flash of nausea.

Dominic cocked his head, trying to decipher the cryptic statement.

Anton adjusted his posture in the seat and said, “Remember the dream you had about great uncle Owen and the girl in the barn?”

“Yes,” Dominic said, puzzled.

“Turns out that your dream was not just a dream but factual. I think they call it retrocognition.”

“How do you know it wasn’t a dream?” Dominic asked.

“Well, funny thing, I met the girl and she told me the story.”

“The girl? Oh, the one that was made into a vampire by Edward?”

“Yes,” Anton confirmed.

“How extraordinary! You should invite her over some evening. I would love to talk to her.”

“Yes. I’m sure you would, but she didn’t know that Owen had been killed.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. She thought he jilted her and when she went to the Larsens’ after Edward turned her, she didn’t understand why they turned her away.”

“Then she didn’t know that Edward had set her up for the murder of Owen. That’s terrible. It’s amazing she survived all this time without any guidance from her maker,” Dominic said.

“You have no idea, Dad. She’s quite resilient. She learned to control her hunger like a born vampire.”

“I didn’t know that was possible. How intriguing. You must invite her over, Anton.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea. She’s only just come to realize what really happened back then. For a very long time she was incredibly angry with the family.”

“That’s probably why she survived. Anger can be an incredible force.”

“Yes. I suppose it can. She did give me this, though, to give back to the family.” Anton pulled out the ring from his pocket and presented it to his father.

“Oh my. The Blood Diamond. Then the story was true! Owen had given this to his love as an engagement ring,” Dominic said as he inspected the beautiful ring, its facets catching the light from the desk lamp and fire, making it look more red than black.

“Yes,” Anton said as he looked down at his clasped hands in his lap.

“It is just as the stories described it. You know, it is said that each of the Ancient Four were given a precious jewel by their father when he gave them each a kingdom of their own. A ruby, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. At that time, the diamond was said to be as white as the snow. When the brothers started fighting amongst themselves for each other’s kingdoms, the diamond turned blood red and then to black as the kingdoms fell apart.”

“Yeah. You told me the old stories of the Ancient Four,” Anton said, feeling a bit sick again.

“Of course, you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just so incredible to have something so legendary in my hand,” Dominic said, still admiring the craftsmanship. “But why would the woman give this back if she was so angry with our family? After all, it was a gift.”

“I don’t know. Maybe after realizing that Owen hadn’t betrayed her after all, and that it was Edward that had turned her and poisoned the family towards her, she felt it was some kind of retribution for what she had done to the family,” Anton surmised.

“What she has done to the family? Why? Who is the woman? Is there something I should know?”

“Yes. It’s just a little hard for me,” Anton admitted.

“Why, son? What’s wrong?”

“Well, you see, she happens to be the woman I was kind of dating.”

“You mean the one you brought to Devon and Darby’s engagement party?”

“Yes.”

Dominic chuckled, “You mean you were dating your great uncle’s fiancée?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

Still chuckling and still admiring the ring, Dominic continued, “I know it isn’t ideal, son, but I hardly call that harming the family.”

“That’s not it, Dad,” Anton said in frustration.

“Then what is it, Anton?” Dominic put down the ring and gave his undivided attention to Anton.

“It turns out that she was not only great uncle Owen’s fiancée, but….”

“But what? Out with it, Son.”

“But she is also the Dark Angel.”

All the color left Dominic’s face as the reality hit him. “You’re saying your girlfriend is the Dark Angel?”

“She’s not my girlfriend. We dated a couple of times, that’s it.”

“Oh, Anton. I’m so sorry. This must have been devastating after all that happened with Libby. But how did you find out?”

“Mark and I went to the altar room looking for a hidden room. We had compared the room to the original drawing and decided there must be more than what we’ve seen. While we were there the Dark Angel arrived. At first she didn’t know I was there. She had Mark pinned to the wall when I came out of one of the side rooms. She was surprised to see me and dropped Mark and headed for me, since I was a bigger threat.

“Surprisingly, though, Mark’s new abilities leant to our advantage and he turned into a dragon right before our eyes. She stepped back and tripped over a bag Mark had left on the floor and hit her head on the hearth, which knocked her out temporarily. We tied her up with some crazy anti-vampire rope Mark had made, and he left to get some air. When she came to, I pulled back her hood, revealing her true identity.”

“What did you do?”

“Well, besides being shocked, we talked. She had told me a while back how she was turned, but she never mentioned the Larsens by name until our conversation in the altar room. That’s when I told her what really happened with Owen, Edward, and the Larsen family. She was really thrown by the truth.”

“What happened then?”

“I told her how appalled I was with her involvement in trying to kill our family; Blake with the Deadman’s Blood, Josh’s parents, Josh and the car in MN, and poor Melanie with Dimitri and all his goons.”

“And what did she have to say about that?”

“She admitted that she had hired Dimitri, but that killing Melanie or Josh had never been in her plan. She said that was all Dimitri.”

“I can see that being true.”

“Maybe, but I told her I saw her kill the businessman and collect his blood in my dream.”

“And…”

“And she admitted she killed the guy but said that she gave the blood to her employer. She claims she had nothing further to do with the blood.”

“So she didn’t poison Blake or Devon?”

“That’s her claim. She also says she never knew Josh was my brother or that there had been several attempts on his life. She said if she had known she would have pulled out of the deal with her employer sooner.”

“Do you believe her?”

“No. Maybe…I don’t know. She’s the Dark Angel, Dad. How can I believe anything she says?”

“Did she say who her employer is?”

“That’s the kicker. She had the gall to accuse Dr. Rowe.”

“Michael?”

“I know! Right? What kind of idiot does she think I am?” Anton said.

But there was no response from Dominic as the name Dr. Rowe ricocheted around his brain.

“She’s obviously lying. I mean, Dr. Rowe has been your best friend for, well, forever. What an absurd accusation.”

But still there was no response from Dominic as he was still thinking about the statement and what it could mean.

“Dad?” Anton asked.

“Hmmm?” Dominic uttered.

“You don’t think there’s any credence to her allegations, do you?”

“I don’t know. I’d like to say no without hesitation, but something about it makes sense.”

Anton was floored. He felt the wind had been stolen from his sails and he sat dead on the water wondering what had just happened. His father’s reaction to it all made Anton wonder if he had been fair with Jules.
Could she have been telling the truth?
Had the dark angel never intended to hurt or destroy the Larsens? Could it have been someone else all along? And could that someone else be their most trusted friend, Dr. Rowe?

*****

Dominic pulled into the parking lot of the clinic around five minutes to eleven that morning. The knot in his stomach had not gone away since he had spoken to Katarina the day before.

He hadn’t slept much the night before after talking with Anton. A feeling of dread was creeping over him. Not because of Katarina, no, that knot was a completely other thing all together, the thought that someone was out to destroy the Larsens along with their prophecy. It was the sentence in the prophecy that had repeated itself over and over again after Anton had told him that the Dark Angel had warned them about Michael being untrustworthy…

”The dark one guises himself as a friend, but the blood on his hands will be revealed when the archives of the ancients are opened once more.”

He tried to push it out of his mind, and focus on the task at hand. Right now Katarina needed him, something he had dreamt of, but never felt possible until Josh came into his life. After a moment, he found himself being escorted into a comfortable room with several chairs and a round table. It was not as clinical as the previous room he’d visited. He waited a few minutes alone in the room and just about jumped out of his chair when the door clicked open and Katarina was escorted in by the doctor. Dominic rose at her entrance.

Standing in front of them, the doctor said, “I’m going to leave you alone to discuss the matter that Katarina would like to talk to you about. In promoting her wellness and moving forward with her life, we felt it should be a private discussion, however, should either of you need me, I will just be in my office down the hall.” He shook Dominic’s hand and held Katarina’s hand as a reassuring gesture.

Now Dominic was really nervous…
a private matter? Oh boy
, he thought.

When the door closed, she focused on Dominic. She walked to him and offered him a hug which he gratefully accepted. “Thank you so much for coming, Dominic.”

“Of course, Kat. Anything you need or want, you just have to ask,” Dominic reiterated. He motioned for her to take a seat, and when she did, he sat too.

“Dominic, I wanted to apologize for how our last meeting went. I was overwhelmed by the information, but I’ve had time to think about all that was said. I’ve also done some therapy that has brought most of my memories back about the time leading up to my entering the hospital.

“All these memories have brought up all these feelings and the doctor felt it should be brought up since you are involved,” Katarina confessed.

Dominic swallowed hard and, though nervous was not a suit he wore often; he was definitely wearing it right now. Trying to make things easier on her he said, “I can imagine, dear Kat. You must be so angry with me. I made a decision for both of us that should have been decided by us both. At the time I really thought I was doing the right thing. If I had known you were pregnant, I would have never left. I feel terrible that you had to endure that without explanation or help. Things would have been so different if I hadn’t left,” he said wearily.

“My sweet Niky…I’m not angry with you. That’s not why we’re here. Now that I remember things more clearly, I’m pretty sure I knew you were not a normal human guy. When I think back, I’m pretty sure I would have eventually figured the vampire thing out for myself.

“I was heartbroken when you left. I guess I assumed you went back to a wife you hadn’t told me about and a family you couldn’t give up. That’s why I didn’t go looking for you. My question to you is, you keep saying that if you had known about Josh and the pregnancy, you never would have left. What I want to know is why? Why only if I was pregnant would you have stayed?”

He swallowed hard again, knowing the ball was in his court. “Because I loved you. I wanted you to have a normal life, not a life with a vampire and all that comes with that.”