Black Blood (8 page)

Mild surprise
swept through the worry as his eyebrows rose.

“And?”

“And I’m fine.
That guy’s a liar. My parents are not bad people, Harrison.” She
shook her head. “I don’t know what that Gabe guy is up to, but
we’re going to stay away from him.”

“Are you sure
you want to do that?”

She felt a
shock wave ride down her body as she looked at her boyfriend.

“What did you
just say?”

He ran a hand
through his hair and cleared his throat. “I just think you need to
find out a little more.”

“Are you saying
you believe him?”

He looked to
the pavement for a second then met her gaze.

“
Look
Gem, I know this sucks. I know this revelation throws your whole
life out of balance, but…” he shoved his hands into his pockets, “I
believe him.”

An
incredulous chuckle spat from her lips. She couldn’t bring herself
to look at him. The one person in the world she felt closest to was
willing to write off her family after a fifteen-minute conversation
with some ripped jean, scruffy headed, middle-aged man! Her hand
gripped the throttle. The urge to fire up the engine and leave him
standing on the sidewalk was strong, but she knew she’d regret it
later and just end up coming back for him under a cloud of
humiliation.

Summoning her
self-control, she switched off her emotions and looked at him with
bland eyes.

“Well, I don’t.
I want you stay away from him, Harrison.”

“Gem, he only
wants to talk.”

“And fill my
head with lies!”

Harrison’s face pinched with a flash of anger at her tone.
She could see him working his way to control before saying
anything. “He told me you can-”

“I don’t want
to know!” She cut him off before the talons of doubt, which she
thought she had unhooked, dug in any deeper. “I’m not going to talk
about this again.”

She could
tell he disagreed with her decision, but he could obviously tell
she wasn’t going to let up either. They stared at each other in a
silent stand off for what seemed an eternity.

“Are you
coming?”

Unable to bear
it a second longer she gunned the engine. Without a word Harrison
grabbed the spare helmet and shoved it on his head as he joined
her. The satisfaction she usually got from feeling Harrison’s arms
glide around her waist was not there.

Chapter Ten

St Augustine, Florida
– 2011 AD

The day had
been long and painful. Harrison sensed his mother notice the small
rift between him and Gemma as soon as she entered the garage. She
tried to raise it with him over lunch, but he had fobbed her off.
He didn’t want to talk about the fact his girlfriend was being
ridiculously stubborn.

Gemma knew he
was a good judge of character, but was refusing to believe him. Did
she not trust him enough to know he would keep her as far from
danger as he could? There was no way he’d be encouraging her to
talk to Gabe if he didn’t think the guy had some valid
information.

He let
out a grunt as he wrestled with the radiator cap of the archaic
Cadillac Fleetwood Bryan had just purchased.

You’re just as
stubborn as my girl, you stupid…

“Need a hand?”
Gemma’s voice was quiet behind him.

He sighed as he
stood tall and wiped his hands on the grimy rag from his back
pocket.

“I’ll get it
eventually,” he mumbled, not quite ready to turn and look at her.
He knew the effect those eyes had on him and he wasn’t in the frame
of mind to bend on his stance just yet.

“Please don’t
be mad with me, Harrison. Please,” Gemma’s voice wobbled making him
spin.

His heart
wilted as he took in her expression.

“Gem, don’t
cry.” He raised a greasy thumb to wipe at her tears.

“I don’t know
how to handle this.” She sniffed. “You don’t get what you’re asking
me to do.” She wiped at her face and stepped back from him. “My
parents love me. They’ve spent their lives raising me and teaching
me and… I know they can be hard work and their expectations are
high, but they’re just trying to protect me. And now you’re asking
me to write them off because of a five minute conversation with a
man I’ve just met?”

“Gem.” Harrison
chucked his rag on the floor and leaned back against the car. “I’m
not asking you to write them off. I’m just saying you should hear
this guy out.”

“And feed off
his lies?” She threw her hands in the air. “Harrison, I don’t want
him to make me believe my family are capable of murder and
kidnapping! I love them. As it is, I’ve put myself at odds with
them over you and it’s been worth it.” She touched his arm. “But
this guy… I mean what’s he trying to do?”

Harrison
watched two fat tears roll down her smooth cheeks and felt a tinge
of regret. He had been expecting too much. Just because he could
swallow this man’s theories didn’t mean she could. It wasn’t his
parents’ virtue that was being slathered with mud.

“And now he’s
made you mad with me and it’s killing me, because I… I need
you.”

Her voice
was so little. His heart began to spasm.

“Gemma, I’m not
mad with you,” he kept his voice soft. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a
lot to take in. I just had a good sense about the guy, that’s all.”
He shrugged.

Her large eyes
studied him for what seemed an age. He waited through the silence,
forcing his gaze to remain on hers.

“Please don’t
make me talk about this again. Please.” Her child-like begging
pulled at him and he knew she was past her threshold as a fresh
wave of tears built on her lashes.

“Okay.” He
nodded and stepped towards her.

Right now he’d
agree to anything in order to wash that look from her face.

“Come here.” He
reached for her and smiled as she stepped into his embrace, placing
her soft lips onto his.

His hands
glided up her back and into her hair as the fire tore through his
body. A short snort of disgust had the flames petering out as Gemma
tried to pull away from him. He held her close as Rosie called over
her shoulder.

“Seriously! Get
a room!”

* * * *

The natural
light in his room was beginning to dim as the sun said farewell for
the day. His fingers paused on his guitar strings to look out the
window at the darkening horizon. The sky was a deep navy, spotted
with the first stars of the evening. It was his favorite time of
night.

He turned a
smile to Gemma who was lounging in cat-like comfort on his bed, her
head propped on a pillow, her lazy smile luxurious.

Leaning back
over his guitar he resumed his play, fiddling with the notes of a
few of his mother’s favorite classical pieces.

The evening had
been better than the day. As soon as he’d relented on the Gabe
issue, Gemma had been set free. She had bounced back to cleaning
cars and he had finally managed to win over the radiator cap.

He was still
struggling with losing the battle over Gabe. An imminent sense of
foreboding was brewing in his gut, but he chose to ignore it. Gemma
needed his support and he just hoped that silently biding his time
was the right move.

“What are you
playing?” She sat up.

“Um…” Harrison
looked back to his guitar and re-played the last rift. “It’s a song
by Emilie Clayton.”

Her eyes grew
distant as she smiled. “That’s what he hummed to those two
children.”

“Who?”

“Nathaniel
Clay… Clayton.” Gemma’s eyes grew round with pleasure. “Do you
think he was somehow related to her?”

Harrison
propped his guitar on the stand and dragged his chair back to the
desk. Fueled by Gemma’s excitement, he opened his laptop and began
a hasty search.

“I wonder if he
was directly related to Robert, Emilie’s husband.”

“That’s so
gotta be it.” Gemma leaned over him.

A couple of
Google searches later and his eyes were skimming over a historic
account of the life of Lord and Emilie Clayton.

“It mentions
something here about him having a twin brother,” Harrison murmured.
“Here we go.” He sat forward, feeling the thrill of discovery.
“Nathaniel was a writer. He never married, that’s unusual.”

“Not if you saw
the expression on his face when we talked about this woman. I can’t
imagine him ever being in love with anyone else.”

“I know how he
feels.”

Harrison felt a
warm fuzz shimmer down his collarbone as she kissed his neck. His
lips formed a goofy grin as his eyes kept scanning.

“There’s not
much here. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a page of his own.”

“Wait a
second.” Gemma tapped his shoulder. “Scroll down a bit further,
what’s that link down the bottom?”

Harrison
followed her finger to the word witchcraft and clicked on the blue
letters.

“Whoa.” His
eyebrows rose as he read through the document. “Do you think he was
in love with a witch?”

“It might
explain why she had to leave him. Did they still kill witches in
the 1800s?”

“
I’m sure
they wouldn’t have been practicing that in the
19
^th
Century.”

“
Even so,
a witch and a gentry
man?
Probably not the most accepted combination.”

“That’s
true.”

Harrison
clicked back to the previous page and finished reading the few
paragraphs. His eyes scrunched with disappointment.

“What is
it?”

Gemma’s hand
tightened on his shoulder as she followed his pointing finger.

“In 1821 Robert
Clayton’s brother was found dead.”

“Dead? As in
murdered?” Gemma slumped onto his bed looking heart broken.

“It doesn’t
say.” Harrison swallowed. “I can try looking into it some more if
you want me to.”

“No, it’s okay.
Maybe some other time.” She shook her head. “That’s so sad. He was
such a nice guy.”

Harrison moved
from his chair to the bed so he could put his arm around her. “I’m
sorry, babe.”

“It just sucks
that he never got to see her again… find out why she left. I mean,
he sounded so in love and just hollow without her.” Gemma glanced
up at him before dropping her gaze with a blush. “I could imagine
that that’s exactly what I’d feel like without you.”

Harrison put
his fingers beneath her chin and raised her gaze.

“You’ll never
need to feel that way. I’m not leaving you. And don’t even think
about leaving me, because if you do I’m gonna follow you.”

A slow smile
spread over her lips.

“Like a mangy
little mutt who doesn’t have a home.”

His belly
shivered with a chuckle.

“I prefer to
think of it like a body guard who will never leave your side.”

“A body guard?”
Gemma’s eyes gleamed. “A body guard who could get his butt whipped
by the woman he’s protecting?”

“Hey.” Harrison
drew his arm around Gemma’s neck in a quick headlock. Her laughter
grew as they tussled on the bed, but quickly died as she let out a
groan.

“I have to
go.”

Harrison hid
his frown and kept his reply casual. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Okay.” She
slapped his knee as she rose from the bed.

He grabbed her
wrist as it swung past him. “Just do it here.”

“No!” She
twisted out of his grasp, indignant. “I don’t like you watching me
return. It’s embarrassing.”

“Would it help
if I took my clothes off too?”

“Harrison!” Her
musical laughter filled the room as she threw back his door and
headed for the bathroom.

He lay back down, his head resting on his
hands, and stared up at the ceiling with a smile. It soon slid from
his face. As much as he didn’t want to, he found his mind wandering
to the dark haired man in the café with his coaxing eyes, his
dazzling smile and his much too plausible warning.

Chapter Eleven

Italy - 58 BC

Gemma opened
her eyes. The night was peaceful, the naked expanse above them
uninterrupted by streetlights or city traffic. The grass beneath
her feet was damp with fresh rain; she could still feel moisture
lingering in the air. Taking in a deep breath, she drew in the
scent of fresh pine and wild flowers around her.

For the
first time in record she would have been quite happy to stay naked.
There was a sense of peace in these woods. If she had been alone
she could imagine herself dancing beneath the stars then running to
the distant waterfall she could hear.

Harrison, I
wish you were here right now.

“Gemma!” Her
father’s voice was a sharp slap and had her whirling around to face
him.

“Hey Dad.” She
smiled sweetly trying to ignore the flashing image of him cradling
a newborn child in his arms while running away from a dying
body.

“You okay?” He
looked concerned.

“I’m fine.
Why?”

He shrugged
then smiled. “You just seem a little distant, that’s all.”

“No, I’m good.”
She nodded. “You got any clothes for me?” She held out her hands
and felt her heart sink as they remained empty.

“We’re only
observing tonight guys. We can stay hidden in the trees.”

“What? Dad!”
Ruby’s complaint was loud. “Do you have to bring us along for these
ones? You used to go on your own.”

Her father
raised an eyebrow. “Problem, Ruby? I wasn’t disturbing anything
important, was I?”

His question
was innocent enough, but the look of shame that crept over Ruby’s
face gave her away.

Gemma and Dom
tried to quell their chuckles. She had spent a good ten minutes on
her cell phone listening to Ruby argue with herself about what she
should wear for the extremely hot date she had that night. Gemma
could only guess what her sister had been busy doing when she was
disturbed. If the college guy was as gorgeous as Ruby described,
she was sure it would have been smokin’.