Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (59 page)

    “Come here often
?” Alexander said to it. He didn’t expect a response but thought that he would try anyway. It didn’t have a mouth to form words in the normal sense.

    It cursed at him and then added, “Go away
vampire
.”

    The sheriff’s eyebrows shifted. There was obviously some intelligence
there. Could it be someone
had been turned into that thing? Alexander had no knowledge of such a monster and was unsure of what to do next. “Where did you come from? What are you doing here?”

    “Mind your own business vampire. This is your las
t warning. Your fangs won’t protect
you.”

    The sheriff took a couple of steps back and simply observed. He wondered what a bu
llet would do to it
. In any case he was go
ing to follow
. The front
page of the New York Times would
certainly be an interesting read tomorrow
if anyone got a shot of it
. The concealed wizard was
aware that the spell that cloaked him was slowly wearing off; tiny particles of his energy were now escaping. Those fiery bones were detecting the particles, but with so little of it he couldn’t zero in on it. It was becoming angrier and more annoyed by the second. It threw fire at Alexander and he dodged it.

    “Wait Tessy, I know you want to attack it but I have a bad feeling about that damn thing. Just wait.
I need to think.
”

    The dog growled deep down in its throat.

    The bones threw a bal
l of fire at the dog and she dodged it, barking
viciously at it, revealing her fangs; a human would have run as fast as it could to escape that scary sight.  It laughed but stopped suddenly. A little more of the wizard’s
energy was being released,
tiny purplish blue particles floating in the air
to the skeleton
, but it couldn’t track it back to its source. The wizard Adoros was tempted to flee but
they were evenly matched in speed
and he was fortunate to have made it as far as he did. He considered that if the sheriff attacked it that might be a big enough diversion for him to escape, but all he could do was wait and hope.

   A jogger that had entered the area couldn’t believe his eyes. The young fellow in yellow was sure they were filming a movie but as he couldn’t see any cameras he approached; he was attacked by the skeleton and set on fire, in less than a second nothing but ashes remained. He hadn’t even had time to scream.

   Alexander and Tessy attacked. The sheriff’s sword went right through the flames and passed through its bones without making contact, as if fighting a ghost. Tessy grabbed its femur but was set aflame by the act and she fell and squealed it as consumed her. Her body attempted to heal itself but it was evenly match by the healing and tearing down of the fire. She lay prone on the
grass as her beautiful fur burned. Alexander shot it several times but it solved nothing, it didn’t react to the bullets. Every energy source that it consumed made the thing stronger and helped it to evolve.

    “Now you die vampire!” It rushed Alexander so fast that he didn’t have time to move. The collision sen
t him flying across the lawn with the flames sticking
to him; he threw
his sword and screamed in agony
.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

     
 
LAUREN AND MI
CHAEL HAD FINISHED THEIR MEAL in
the b
eautifully lush
Barbetta garden
with
the
century-old trees and
flowered with the scented blossoms of jasmine, oleander, magnolia, wisteria, and gardenia
. I
t was a wonderful place to dine. It was thought to be one of
the most romantic places to eat
in New York.
Former president Clinton had been there a couple of days ago.
Michael wore his black suit and Lauren wore an expensive ornately embroidered black cocktail dress.
The cuisine of Piemonte and their Italian flavo
r
s were
magnificent with the food being
prepared
in
the same fashion that it was prepared in Italy. The restaurant had been Lauren’s idea
but Michael
had suggested that they take a
carriage ride
after dinner and so they did
.

    The ride through Central Park was exquis
ite; the clip clop of the horse
was
almost hypnotic
.
They kissed and held hands like teenagers.
They stared lovingly into one another’s eyes.
The ride included roses, chocolates and champagne.
The chocolates contained a small amount of blood in the center of each one.
Lauren appeared to be distracted at times
as she stared off at one thing or another
, and Michael wondered if she didn’t have some bad news for him, maybe that Dracula had taken him off the list to be transformed into a red sheriff.
The time
was fast approaching.
If
he would have been able to read her mind he would have. She had had a call earlier that
morning that
seeme
d to have changed her mood
.

    They watched as a young couple passed them in another horse-drawn carriage, and they were practically tearing of
f each other’s clothes
. Lauren had to laugh but it actually gave Michael ideas. They lost an article of clothing and the woman told her husband to leave it. They both thought that the woman’s perfume was overpowering.

    “Michael, I have some news for you. I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.” And with that she didn’t say another word for at least a mile.
She liked to leave Michael hanging he had such an expressive face.

    Michael attempted to
wait her out and not say anything
until she came out with it, whatever it was, but her mischievous smile was simply too much to take. “Is that all you’re going to say? Is that how the story ends? It wouldn’t make much
of a movie.
”

    “I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you. It’s a lot more fun to see you squirm.”

    “Lauren, you are a vixen. No wait, what is the definition of vixen?
Well, woman
, I have a secret too and I’m not telling. If you want to know my secret you’ll have to tell me yours.
See how that works? We’ll exchange secrets like spies in the park.
”

    Lauren
laughed at him. “Well man
, I just minded you and I can see that you are just pretending to have a secret.
What do you say to that?
”

    “
Hey, you’re not playing fair.
I thought that we agreed that since I can
’t read your mind
yo
u wouldn’t read mine.
It’s an invasion of privacy.
”

    “It was an accident.”

    “
You accidentally read my mind?”

    “That’s all I could come up with on such short notice.
If you could read my mind you’d be reading it all the time and you know it.
I’ll try hard not to do it anymore. Your head is usually empty anyway.
”

    “I’ve never been so insulted.”

     “Maybe I should insult you more often then?”

    Michael kissed her, tasted her beautiful lips and it was wonderful to savor such a delightful mouth.
It was nature’s gift to the opposite sexes.
“Well if you’re not going to tell whatever it is, I say that we make out right here in the carriage.”

   “I’m sure Michael, right here in public. I don’t think so.”
She felt Michael’s hand on her breast.
“I’ll throw you right out of this thing.”

    “And then you’ll be going around the park all by yours
elf, how romantic would that be?
”

    “
I wouldn’t be alone I’d still have the handsome driver up there.
Do you want to hear what I have to tell you or not?”

    “Does it have anything to do with us making out?
Beca
use I’d be a lot more interested
if it has to do with us making out.
”

    “Actually it does
have to do with making out
.”

    “Well then tell me, tell me, tell me.”

    She slowly turned her head toward him.
“
I’m pregnant Michael
.”

    “
You
can’t make me believe that.
”

    “That’s all you have to say about the fact that I’m pregnant and you’re going to be a father.”

    “Lauren, everyone knows that vampires can’t get pregnant, that’s not how it works.”