Drop Dead Gorgeous (12 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Derek was curled up on the sofa in one of the houses, his eyes tightly shut. He’d been deposited there by Samuel and could tell he was in the nest now as he could feel the other brothers nearby.

Samuel spoke into his ear, “You’re lucky she didn’t just let me take care of this. I told her from the start you’d be trouble. Running around, showing off. How did you think this would end?”

Derek couldn’t answer him or even open his eyes, the pain was so excruciating.

He tried to straighten his body out, but it was no use. The pain never subsided.

He felt two more brothers enter the room and heard Billy’s voice.

“Jesus, what’s wrong with him?”

“He’s being punished.” The other voice was Christopher’s.

“For what?”

“He put a human’s needs above Madeline’s.”

“He risked the nest,” Samuel added.

“Couldn’t she just tell him not to do that? Is this necessary? He’s really suffering.”

“This is what happens when you’re new and think you’re smarter than she is. It’s how we learn. How I learned,” Christopher said.

“She’s done this to you too?”

“To all of us.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“But it works.”

“Could have been worse,” Samuel said. “Still might be, actually. The night’s not over.”

Derek felt two brothers moving away a bit and there was a moment of silence before Christopher spoke again.

“Are you coming?”

“No, you go on. I want to stay with him,” Billy said.

“Suit yourself.”

Derek heard the front door open and close and felt Billy sit on the floor beside the sofa. He pressed his hand to Derek’s head and stroked his hair.

“Can you hear me?”

Derek tried to nod his head, but wasn’t sure if Billy got it.

“Is there anything I can do?”

He shook his head.

“This is such bullshit. I mean, I know what she is – what she’s like. But to do this to one of us?”

There was a long silence as Billy continued to stroke Derek’s head soothingly. He finally spoke again, but it seemed it was almost to himself.

“She’s replacing me.” He took a deep breath. “I knew she would. A part of me’s glad, but it also kills me – that she wants someone else. This is fucked up beyond reason. I know you said you’d miss me, but I’m going to end it. This isn’t what I want to be, where I want to be. It’s a nightmare, and I can finish it.”

Derek wished he could speak, to tell Billy to hang on, but he wondered if Billy was right. Hadn’t he just wished the same for himself? None of them should be here. They only brought misery and death to the world. Derek thought of the mess he’d made of Clara’s life – the danger he’d put her in. She would have been better off had he just died that night by the road.

Derek felt Billy stand and leave the room, but he still couldn’t speak or move.

Then as suddenly as the pain had gripped him, it stopped. Derek sat up on the sofa and looked around. He was in Billy’s house and felt some of the brothers nearby as well as Madeline. He stood and started out the door towards Clara’s house. He was concerned about Billy, but needed to make sure Clara was safe first.

As he was cutting through the park, he stopped. What if Madeline still had Clara? He thought of how she’d gripped Clara’s arm on the street, and he turned to go back. He followed the feeling of Madeline, and felt sick when he realized she was in his house.

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Clara heard the front door open and close and then footsteps. When she opened her eyes and lifted her head, Jeffrey entered the room. He stopped and looked at Clara, but she couldn’t read his expression.

“Come have a taste, darling,” Madeline said.

Suddenly, Jeffrey was above her. His eyes were glowing golden brown and filled with lust and hunger as they scanned her throat. He was like another person – like an animal.

Clara’s voice trembled as she whispered, “Please,” just before he bit into her neck.

The pain was startling. She felt her flesh tear as he drank sloppily, noisily. Her stomach turned at the sound and at the scent of her own blood.

She screamed and sobbed and begged him to stop, but he was no longer human – no longer a man she knew.

Then, as suddenly as he’d attacked her, he stopped. He looked into her eyes for an instant, his mouth and fangs bright red with her blood. A flash of confusion crossed his features before he turned and ran towards the door.

Clara was dizzy from the loss of blood, or maybe just the sight of it all, but turned her head, trying to focus her eyes on Jeffrey. She tried to remain conscious, but wasn’t sure if she’d blacked out or not. The room spun.

She stared at the man by the door, but then, it wasn’t Jeffrey any more. Could it be Derek? Was she hallucinating? Was she dying?

He said her name. It was Derek.

A soft sob escaped her lips and she cried tears of gratitude for a final look at him before her death. He was the love she’d always hoped for in her life – her beautiful vampire, and she wanted his face to be the last thing she saw.

He looked at Madeline who said, “Oh good, you’re feeling better. And you’re just in time for the party.”

Clara clung to consciousness, watching Derek’s face, saying a silent farewell, knowing she was about to meet her end, and glad she’d hung on long enough to see him one last time.

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

Derek’s fangs came down and his rage flared when he saw Clara lying on her back, bound to the sofa table, her neck torn open and bleeding. The powerful scent of her blood added fuel to his fire. Terence and Raymond were on the floor in silent agony as Derek had just been. Madeline stood before the fireplace, smiling at him like the Cheshire Cat.

He knew in an instant what to do. He hoped Clara still had her wooden stake in her bra. He would get it and end it all by staking Madeline. It would kill them all, but Derek was fine with that. He was ready to die and to kill the entire nest to protect Clara.

He thought a few moments ahead when they would all be gone and Clara would be left strapped to the table, bleeding. No one would ever come in here looking for her, and leaving her like that would be a death sentence. So, the first thing he did was focus on one of her restraining cuffs and unfasten the metal buckle. She didn’t seem to notice, which was a good thing. All he needed her to do was be still and stay out of the way. He wondered if he could bring the stake to him from where he stood, and he stared between Clara’s breasts, trying to will the stake from its hiding place.

“Are you looking for this?” Madeline broke his concentration.

She pulled a stake from her own cleavage, and Derek recognized it as Clara’s. His heart sank as Madeline turned and tossed it into the fire.

“I don’t like having those around.” She chuckled to herself as a fresh wave of anger consumed him.

He looked above her at the painting, now torn through the center, and then to his unfinished portrait that was also ruined. He wondered if he could get to the wooden easel, break it apart and plunge it into Madeline’s unbeating heart. The table beside the easel held wooden-handled brushes and pencils that called to him.

As if she could read his mind, she said, “You don’t have the guts. What are you going to do, kill us all? You’d kill all your brothers for this human?”

Derek looked down at Terence and Raymond, curled into immobile balls of pain.
Yes, I’d do anything to save her.

Looking back at Madeline, he watched a tiny smile form on her lips before the pain gripped him again. He clutched his chest and hit his knees.

“That’s for thinking about it,” she said.

She walked around the sofa and stood beside Clara. Derek fell onto his side in pain, but managed to keep his eyes open. He could see Madeline eyeing Clara’s bloodied throat, but Clara’s face was obscured by the sofa.

My god, she’s going to kill her right in front of me and there’s nothing I can do.
Derek’s heart was so filled with hatred, he silently vowed to spend every waking moment of every night finding a way to kill Madeline and end them all.

Madeline opened her mouth, revealing her fangs, ready to bite.

Suddenly, Derek felt the presence of another brother and apparently, so did Madeline as she looked up and at the doorway.

“What’s going on?” A man’s voiced asked.

It was Billy. Derek couldn’t turn to see him, but he knew his voice.

Billy walked to Madeline where Derek could see him. He gave the briefest glance around the room at the three vampires lying helpless on the floor before scanning Clara’s body hungrily.

Derek heard Clara whimper in fear.

“Can I have her?” Billy asked, but kept his eyes on Clara. “Is this Derek’s human?”

“She’s yours now if you want her, my dear,” Madeline said.

Derek watched as Billy touched Clara, running his hand over her throat and then tasting the blood on his fingers. Derek stirred, his fury fueling him in spite of the pain.

Billy looked across the room towards the ruined portrait of Derek and said, “After you,” turning his attention to Madeline.

Madeline smiled and bent forward, sinking her fangs into Clara’s already messy neck. Clara screamed, her whole body shuddering beneath Madeline.

Derek rolled onto his stomach and pulled himself up onto the sofa, determined to get to Clara. In the same moment, Clara’s untethered hand went to Madeline’s head to instinctively push her away.

Clara was no match for Madeline’s strength, but the knowledge that Clara had a free hand as well as Madeline’s awareness of Derek’s ability to move startled her. She stopped sucking Clara’s neck and looked at Derek.

Her mouth was covered in blood, and Derek summoned all his strength to reach for Madeline. She hissed at him and in that second, Derek saw Billy raise his hand behind her, and watched as a pencil was magically sucked into his palm.

Derek realized it was one of Raymond’s pencils from the table by his easel. That’s why Billy had eyed that corner of the room. He’d found his weapon.

Madeline’s eyes never left Derek’s as Billy plunged the pencil into the center of her back. She grimaced in pain for an instant and then her face went slack, turning gray as she closed her eyes. Her skin began to flake away and float in the air like ash from a fire. Even her hair became a dull gray and started to disintegrate.

Derek’s pain was immediately gone and he felt Terence and Raymond stirring behind him. Within seconds, Derek was standing and watching a pile of ashes form on top of Clara. Clara had stopped screaming and just held still, watching with wide eyes as Madeline turned to dust. Even Madeline’s clothes became ashes in the pile. Raymond’s pencil was the only recognizable object in the dark gray mess all over Clara.

Derek knew that he and the others would be the next to go and he wanted Clara’s face to be his last sight before he finally died.

He knelt onto the sofa and took her free hand in his. They just looked into each other’s eyes, her face pale. He wished he had time to tell her he was sorry and that he loved her. He hoped she had the strength to free herself and escape. That was all that mattered now. He said her name through his tears, and waited for final death to take him away from her forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

Clara had fallen asleep on the beach again, as she often did on days as glorious as this one. She thought of the day she’d fallen asleep when Derek had awakened her with his big smile and swept her off her feet. That would always be her happiest day – the day she met Derek.

She also thought of her darkest day, nearly a month earlier – strapped to a table in a room full of vampires, with no hope of surviving. She shook the thought out of her head and sat up.

It was getting late and she wanted to get back to the house. She preferred afternoon sun when she painted. Painting was something she’d always wanted to try and now that she had the time and the perfectly lit living room, she’d begun what had quickly become one of her very favorite ways to pass time.

She gathered her things and walked the short distance back to the house. Once inside, she wanted to study her current work with fresh eyes.

The furniture had been moved, transforming most of the room into an artist’s studio. Cabinets and tables held art supplies, the rug had been removed – folded and stored beneath a bed. In its place lay a thick plastic sheet to catch errant paint.

She passed the smaller easel holding a bright abstract portrait of Billy, his messy yellow hair and turquoise eyes waiting for more colors, more layers, more light.

The larger easel sat in the center of the room where the ceiling was highest, displaying a painting she called “Derek,” a shapeless mass of dark teal and pale blue with silver streaks. She’d used the colors that made her think of Derek. It was bold and intense and more than a little dangerous, but beautiful. She got much of her inspiration from the framed pencil sketch on the wall beyond the canvas that had been taken from a home in West Adams on the worst night of her life. It was a perfect likeness of Derek, and the last Raymond Barrington piece the world would ever see.

Her first painting hung over the sofa. “Madeline” was a storm of red and orange with flecks of black and gray. She hoped to sell it and rid herself of the last of Madeline for good – and maybe her nightmares as well. She’d sent a photo of it to Monica who’d promised to use her connections at L.A. galleries to find a buyer. If anyone could do it, Monica could. After all, she’d turned a vampire into an overnight supermodel.

As if on cue, the phone rang and Clara saw it was Monica.

“Hi!” She was always glad to hear from Monica and had missed seeing her since moving up to Santa Barbara.

“How are you doing?” Monica sounded concerned.

“I’m good. Today was a good beach day.”

“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad you’re getting out of the house. How’s the new painting going?”

“Great. I was just contemplating it. The light’s perfect now.”

“Do you want me to call you later?”

“No, that’s fine. I’m really glad you called. I’d rather catch up with you anyway. Painting can wait.”

If Clara had learned anything in recent months, it was to appreciate the people in her life while she could.

“I heard from the ad agency today about the Mercedes spot.”

“Oh?” Clara tread carefully when talking about Derek – Adonis, actually.

“They’ve decided to run the final spot, in spite of…well…in spite of what happened. So your checks should start coming in soon.”

“Well, that’s some good news anyway.”

“Sweetie, I’m just so sorry. You’ve had to deal with so much more than most people.”

Monica didn’t even know the half of it. “Thank you. I’m okay, really. I mean, as good as could be expected.”

Clara thought of the headlines about the very public accidental death of the new up-and-coming supermodel, Adonis. She’d witnessed it, of course, along with a street full of people and a rolling state-of-the-art camera and film crew.

“It’s just so tragic. He was in the prime of his life and on his way both professionally and personally.”

“I know.” She’d been the personal part – and partially responsible for the professional part as well.

“But, you have your memories. And he left an impressive legacy of ads and catalogs – not to mention the Mercedes commercials.”

“He did make his mark, didn’t he?”

“He won’t be forgotten.” Monica always knew the right thing to say.

They changed the subject and talked at length about the business. Monica gently prodded Clara to consider managing other models. She’d done so well with Adonis.

“I’ll think about it,” was what she always said.

After hanging up, Clara took a long hot shower and pulled on her favorite jeans and an old t-shirt of Derek’s. She walked down the hall to the last bedroom.

The room was dimly lit by the bedside lamp, and Derek was sitting up in bed, bare-chested, waiting for Clara, wearing a huge grin.

“Good morning, my love,” he said in a sexy voice.

“Morning, baby.”

She crawled up the bed and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him for a soft kiss.

“How was your day?”

“Wonderful. I went to the beach and had a call from Monica. The Mercedes spot is running.”

“Oh, good. Did you go to the store?”

“Yes. First thing. I got everything on the list.”

“Feel up for some lemon chicken?”

“Sounds heavenly, but no garlic, right?”

“No garlic.”

They got up together and headed for the kitchen. Clara watched while he prepared her dinner. In spite of no longer having the need to eat, Derek loved cooking for her and tried new recipes almost every night.

“I spoke to Billy last night after you went to sleep,” he said.

“Oh? And how is he?”

“He’s fine. He wants to go out on his own – like I did. He’s thinking about San Francisco.”

“Do you think he’s ready? To be away from the others, I mean?”

“I don’t know. Am I? We’re all learning as we go.”

“You’re right. I’m glad he’s looking to the future.”

Derek had told her of Billy’s talk of suicide and of course, she knew he’d tried to kill himself as well as the entire nest when he’d killed Madeline. None of them had expected to survive her demise.

“Any word on Jeffrey?” she asked.

“No. No one’s seen him since he took off that night. He could be anywhere, and also nowhere. He might not have survived. Without any support from us, well…I understand it happens quite a bit. I’m sorry, sweetie.”

She nodded. Derek had also expressed remorse that his computer search of Beacon had led Madeline to Jeffrey in the first place. Clara felt awful about what had happened to Jeffrey until she recalled how viciously he’d bitten her, and that nipped her sympathy in the bud.

“And how is Terence?” she asked, glad to change the subject. Terence had been the one to draw up Madeline’s will, of course, putting much of Derek’s original fortune in Clara’s bank account. She’d rejected Terence’s very reasonable offer to buy Beacon Models. It had passed from Jeffrey’s estate to Madeline’s, along with Jeffrey’s condo. No one in the nest could run it, of course, but she had no desire to go back there.

“He’s good,” Derek said.

“And Raymond?”

“Raymond’s coming up next weekend to work on his portrait of Billy, and to give you some more lessons if you’d like.”

“Oh yes, I’d like very much.”

“We need to come up with a new name for him now that he’s trying a new style of painting.”

“Hmmm,” she pondered.

“Something better than Adonis.”

She smiled. “I loved Adonis.”

“I know,” he said, pulling her to him for a kiss. Then, brushing her hair back from her face, he looked into her eyes and said softly, “You know, you’re the bravest person I know.”

She thought of the worst night of her life and how she’d felt nothing close to brave. She’d been terrified.

“You’re the brave one. You were ready to die to save me.”

“And I’d do it again.”

“Well, now you won’t have to. I mean…you know…now that she’s gone.”

She hated thinking about Madeline. Having her fangs lodged in Clara’s neck, then having Madeline disintegrate all over Clara’s body – well, the whole thing was something she wished she could forget. And, of course, the knowledge that Madeline and Derek had been lovers – well, he’d never used that word for it, but that’s what they’d been. Anyway, it was still an unpleasant thought even though Derek had tried to explain the nature of their very disturbing relationship.

At the end of the day, Clara couldn’t be angry with Derek. He was what he was – a victim of Madeline’s in every way. He couldn’t help what he’d become, and quite frankly, she loved him now for who he was – for what he was. They were both learning to share a life together in spite of their obvious differences.

He went back to cooking and she watched him in silence for a moment until he said, “So, if Billy were to come to Santa Barbara on his way to San Francisco, would it be okay if he stayed here for a while?” The middle bedroom had been altered to be light-tight for Derek’s guests.

“Sure. He’s your brother.”

“You wouldn’t be afraid of him?”

“He saved my life. I trust him.” She hesitated and watched Derek smile as he dropped the pasta into the boiling water. “I mean, should I trust him?” He was a vampire, after all. She had just started to get comfortable with Raymond’s visits.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here. You won’t be alone with him. I’ll always protect you, sweetie.”

“I know.” Who’d have thought she’d ever need a boyfriend who could protect her from other vampires?

“But, you like him, don’t you? He’s really a sweet kid, in spite of what he is,” Derek said.

“Well, I don’t really know him. But he seems nice, and just like all of you, he’s drop dead gorgeous. That never hurts,” she teased.

Derek gave her a grin.

“Hey, he’s never done any modeling, has he?” she asked.

“I don’t know. He’s awfully handsome, even though he’ll need a haircut for eternity.”

“Monica keeps bugging me to manage more models, and I hadn’t really seriously considered it, but…well…all your brothers are handsome.”

Derek stopped and seemed deep in thought for a moment. “You know, you just might be onto something there.”

Clara watched him and thought of their happy life here together. He’d feed her a delicious meal soon, and then they might watch a movie, take a walk on the pier by moonlight. They’d make love and it would be her turn to feed him.

The day she’d met Derek on the beach, she’d felt something change in her heart, but she’d had no way of knowing how much he would change her life. And she’d had no idea how much she would love him. Now they were together and facing their future. Really, what more could she ask for? Unexpected as it was, her life was pretty perfect.