Blood Lust Read Free

tomorrow.”
    “But don’t you think we should talk about this? I don’t even know why we are going. Is something wrong?”
    “I really am tired, Darby. Can we talk about this some other time, please?”
    “Sure, if that’s what you want, sure. I love you. Sleep well.”
    There was only silence from the other side of the bed, until Harry jumped up between them and started purring as Darby stroked him. She lay there in the dark, wanting so much to hold Devon and ease his . . . whatever it was that was bothering him. Hot tears rolled across her nose and dripped on her pillow as she stared at his back in the dark. Sometimes the loneliest place in the world is lying next to the one you love. They had been through so much since they’d met in June, but in one visit from Mr. Larsen, all that seemed to have been erased in a single swipe.
    She lay there for several hours staring at nothing in the darkness of the room. She could hear Devon’s steady breathing and could see his silhouette rise and fall with each breath. She couldn’t sleep, so she silently got up and closed the bedroom door and went into the kitchen, only turning on the light above the burners of the stove. She pulled out the pumpkin pie from the refrigerator and cut a slice. She added some whipped cream from a can and put everything but her plate of pie back into the fridge. She sat at the kitchen table and took a bite. It was good. She thought about how lovely this holiday had started off. How carefree and happy everyone had been. She picked at the whipping cream as she sat in the near darkness.
    She heard a noise coming down the hall, the shuffling of feet. Blake must be ready for a midnight snack of turkey , she thought, and she quickly wiped her eyes of any remaining tears. He was startled to find her there sitting in the dark.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    “Yeah, sure. I’m fine.”
    “You don’t look fine. You’re sitting in the dark with an uneaten piece of pie that looks like it’s been mutilated.” She looked down and he was right. It looked nothing like the piece of pie she’d placed there a few minutes ago.
    “Can I ask you something?” she said.
    “Sure, as long as you don’t mind me eating while you ask.” He pulled out the Tupperware with turkey from the fridge, set it on the table, and started picking pieces out to eat.
    “What’s going on? Your brother hasn’t said but a handful of words since your uncle left. Should I have not accepted his invitation? Is Devon mad that I’m going? Why are we going to Connecticut?”
    “Wow! That’s a lot more than one something,” he joked. “Devon hasn’t said anything to you about why you’re going there?”
    “The only thing he said was that I am the only reason he’s going, but for some reason, I feel guilty about that.”
    “What do you mean? Guilty?”
    “If I’m the reason he’s going, and he seems to not want to go, then yes, I feel guilty that he is doing something he doesn’t want to do because of me.”
    “There’s nothing to feel guilty about. It’s not you. He and Dominic have always had this...animosity between them, at least since…well, it’s not really my place to say. But I can tell you this, the reason you are going is because Dominic’s son Anton is sick, and he seems to think that since Anton won’t confide in him, then maybe he would confide in his cousins.”
    “He’s sick? I didn’t know vampires could get sick.”
    “That’s what’s so puzzling. We can’t, so there must be something causing it.”
    “But I’ve never even heard either one of you mention Anton. Are you close?”
    “No, not really. Anton and Devon, well, all I can say is they had a falling out a long time ago and Devon just doesn’t like to speak of it.”
    “Seems to be a lot of that going around,” Darby said, sadly poking at her pie. “But if they aren’t close, why would Dominic ask Devon to go? If they don’t get along, why would Anton confide in him?”
    “He