"Dirk,"
Seth called after him. "You take good care of her, you hear?"
"I'll
do my best. You staying?"
"If
you don't mind."
"I
appreciate the reinforcements." Saluting, he went in the bedroom
and shut the solid wood door behind him.
"Put
the bar on it," Seth called quietly. He smiled when he heard the
heavy oak bar drop in the cast iron slot on the doorframe. Settling
down, he lay on the couch, his shotgun in his hands.
Dirk
curled his body behind Rafaela, his arm around her, holding her
close. He pulled the other blankets over them. The room was chilly
and a little damp. He hadn't thought to check the heat, wondering if
the old place had a furnace. Suddenly tired, he didn't feel like
getting up.
Sleep
came hard. He couldn't seem to unwind and relax. He felt like far too
many people knew who they were and what they were doing. Not that
they exactly knew what they were doing. It was insanity,
whatever other name he wanted to put on it. He was working with
Hunters to kill his own kind. Not that he objected to killing other
vampires. There were always squabbles and battles with one group or
another. He didn't mind that part. What bothered him was that he'd
joined the enemy. He would be seen as a traitor after this. He
wondered if he'd be able to survive the fallout this alliance would
create.
Finally
too tired to give another damn, he fell asleep. His dreams were
haunted by nightmare images of big black creatures with fangs—and
each of them had his face.
Rafaela
woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and biscuits. She also
detected bacon and, if she wasn't mistaken, omelettes. Sitting up too
fast, she clutched her head. The room swam around her, and she threw
up a little in her mouth.
The
door popped open. Dirk's frowzy, unshaven face came into view. His
welcoming smile disappeared quickly when he saw her.
"Baby?
You okay?"
"Yeah."
She swallowed hard as bile rose again. "No."
Seth
followed quietly, concern washing over him as he looked at her. "She
okay?"
"I
can answer for myself," Rafaela snapped. "I'm not
completely disabled."
"Close
enough," Seth replied caustically. "Do you think food would
help?" he directed at Dirk once more.
The
vampire had been doing a quick and thorough assessment. His
heightened senses could pick up on irregularities in her blood scent,
pulse and respiration. He checked her eyes, smelled the odor of her
vomit and exhaled sharply, his frown deepened.
"This
is a hell of a dose," he said to Seth. "I don't see how it
could be just from the shampoo and bubble bath. The injection for the
stitches she had would have affected her before now. Could there be
something in the cabin doing it?"
"I
don't know how. Nothing at my place, either."
"Maybe
it's something other than just the wolf's bane?" Dirk asked.
"I'm
fine!" Rafaela interjected. "I need food and a shower. I
promise I won't use any soap."
Seth
got up quickly, followed by Dirk. They went out to examine the water
supply. Rafaela had a cistern for rain water, as well as a small,
deep well. Sniffing around, Dirk located them both. He ripped the
tops off. There, floating in the cistern water, was more wolf's bane.
"Someone's
sure got a hard on for our girl," Seth commented as Dirk scooped
out the offending plants.
"So
it seems. I assume your cabin is unsullied?"
"Yeah.
It's fine."
Dirk
grabbed Seth's shirt, yanking the younger man's face close to his as
his fangs descended. "Now's the time you confess. If you did
this to her, I'll kill you where you stand."
"I
didn't do this," Seth growled in reply. "She's not only my
aunt, she's another Hunter. We need our numbers to survive against
your kind. Unlike you, we can't propagate. I may not approve of this
relationship, but I wouldn't do anything to hurt Rafaela."
Dirk
inhaled deeply while he gauged the Hunter's pulse and watched his
pupils and respiration. He could tell that Seth was telling the
truth.
They
checked the well after the cistern. It wasn't contaminated. Seth got
a pipe wrench and set about redirecting the water flow so it came
only from the well. To be safe, they emptied the cistern to remove
anymore contaminated water.
"We
know how," Seth said as they ate their meal. He'd fixed fresh
coffee with bottled water. "We don't know who or why."
"It
could be anyone," Dirk replied. "Over the years, Rafe's
made a lot of enemies."
"I
doubt it was a vampire," Rafaela speculated. "But it could
have been a mesmerized human. I doubt my wards would affect them."
Seth
shook his head. "I keep telling you, Auntie, you need to go more
high tech. When we're done with this job, I'll get you set up."
©
Dellani Oakes 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment