The Vampire Keeper (23 page)

“It wouldn’t have to get serious; if you would not chase after …”

Jezalyn ran in interrupting them, “Hey is everyone alright? The building just shook. I think we might’ve had an earthquake or something. There are books scattered about all over the floor in the shop.”

“We felt it too,” said Julius whipping his mouth with his sleeve.

“Oh my gosh, you’re bleeding,” said Jezalyn as she clasped her hand to her mouth only a second before pulling herself together to give demanding instructions. “Larkin! Go get Wyler; he’s coughing up a lot of blood.”

Larkin did not have to move because in that instant both Wyler and Ana were flying through the door.

“What happened?” cried Ana as Wyler ran to his medical kit.

The phrase, “I’m fine,” spurted out of Julius’s bloody mouth as he took a seat at the little table where they had played dominoes before adding “everyone go back to bed. I just bumped my lip on the table.”

“I’ll go pick up the books before heading back to bed,” mumbled Jezalyn as she turned to leave the stockroom.

“Books?” asked Wyler.

She stopped and responded, “Yeah, the earthquake shook several of the shelves.”

Wyler knew there had been no earthquake, and it was Larkin and Julius that had caused the ruckus she heard or felt. Wyler also knew the first course of action was to get Julius downstairs so that he could examine his chest wound. There were no way the wounds Julius had sustained earlier that day had enough time to completely heal, so Wyler scarcely expressed any concern over the books as he encouraged Jezalyn to go back to bed.

“I’ll pick them up in the morning,” said Ana following her husband’s lead.

Jezalyn nodded her head, but as she turned to go back to her loft, she stopped once and asked, “Larkin, would you mind walking me back up?”

Larkin smiled gingerly at Jezalyn and agreed, although he was rather irritated at her for allowing Julius to accompany her up earlier. As Larkin escorted her up, he felt something new; it could not be a reflection of Jezalyn or Ana feeling, since he drank the potion, but his own emotions that occupied his thoughts. He realized that he was not only mad at himself for losing his temper with Julius almost to the point of exposure, but that he was genuinely concerned about the potential injuries that he might have inflicted on his friend.

Julius removed his black tee so that Wyler could examine his chest. His shirtless body exposed an almost eight inch makeshift suture. As Wyler examined his work, he requested Ana get some water and rags. Reluctant as Ana normally would have been at the thought of her kitchen turning into a trauma room, she moved swiftly to get all the items Wyler required never once complaining about the bloody state of her kitchen as Wyler burst Julius’s suture stitching every few inches. Julius gritted his teeth at the sound of each stitch popping under the pressure of Ana’s cutlery knife.

“Watch the edges of that thing!” blared Julius as one of the jagged edges of the cutlery knife nipped his skin near his nipple.

“Only a couple more to go,” said Ana trying to calm him. Wyler stared at her with eerie displeasure as he observed the unusual attention she displayed toward Julius. It was not the time to deliberate on the reasons of her sudden change of heart because right now Wyler needed to make sure whatever little tiff Julius and Larkin just entangled themselves in did not re-rupture his heart valve connections. Of course, he knew Julius could still go on even if the valve was severed, but Wyler needed Julius to heal fast so that he could help Larkin protect them efficiently when the time came.

Almost prepared to cut open the last few sutures, Wyler snapped, “Ana get a spoon.” Following his command Ana rummaged through her kitchen drawers. A few moments later, a black plastic ladle disrupted Wyler’s view as Ana let it dangle in front of his face. “Get a wooden one, something Julius can bite down on,” said Wyler disapproving of her selection. Ana dropped the ladle in his lap and ran back to the drawers.

“I don’t need something to bite down on.”

“I am about to remove the last few stitches, and when I do, your chest will spring open faster than an overcooked, dehydrated Thanksgiving turkey. I suspect it is going to hurt, and we need to muffle the range of your…” said Wyler as he slid the cold jagged steel under the last few loops holding Julius’s chest together. Ana returned with the wooden spoon, placed it into Julius’s mouth, and Wyler pulled the knife upward. Julius face contorted from the pain, but he barely released a cry at the jolt of his chest splitting open.

Wyler mumbled under his breath, “Now to find and check the heart,” as he placed his hand into Julius’s chest cavity. When Wyler found the heart, he pulled it into the gaping opening and examined the valves. He inspected the superior pulmonary veins before moving on to the arteries. The veins had fused back together without any problems, but the left aortic valve seemed to be partially separated. Larkin washed his hands and threaded his needle. “Ana. Keep him quiet,” was his only response as he dug around in Julius chest once again to retrieve his heart. A vampire’s heart shifted around inside them much like a snake’s heart so that penetration of the heart with an animate object became difficult. The elasticity of a vampire’s heart provided them with a great defense against their adversary.

Ana moved to Julius’s head and pressed down on his shoulders as he writhed in pain. The grip of his clenched jaws broke the spoon as Wyler inserted a needle into his cusp trying to stitch closed the hole. A sound of agony burst out Julius’s mouth and Wyler, with a look of wildness in his eyes and face covered in blood from griping the needle between his teeth every now and then, said in an earnest tone, “Keep him still and quiet.”

Ana somewhat terrified at the expression in her husband’s face braced her knees around Julius’s head and placed her hand over his mouth to muffle out the cries. When that attempt to stifle the sound did not work, she shoved her wrist into his mouth and gagged him. Julius bit down on her wrist, as he had the spoon, and Ana winced at the sharp pain that ran up her arm. Blood trickled down into his mouth, and Julius tried not to swallow, but his lust for blood overwhelmed him. The thirst was uncontrollable and he swallowed until Wyler screamed out, “I got it.”

Julius released his grip as his heart recoiled back into his chest. Ana holding her arm clenched to her chest barely heard her husband’s command to get some blood out of the refrigerator.

“Ana! The blood now, Ana!” demanded Wyler. Ana opened the refrigerator pulled out two bags and dropped them next to Wyler. Without noticing the pasty hue of Ana’s skin, he picked up the bag ripped it open and emptied it into Julius’s chest. The pain was less intense and Julius was able to stifle his own cries, as Wyler re-stitched the open chest cavity closed. Wyler prepared to knot the last stitch, when he heard a loud thud behind him. He turned to discover his wife’s body sprawled out on the floor behind him.

***

Several hours later, Larkin returned downstairs to find the loft dark and quiet. He snuck up behind Julius, who sat on the edge of the couch sipping a cup of blood, and put his hand on his shoulder; “You okay?”

“Hmm, the question is, are you okay?” replied Julius turning to face him.

He exhaled deeply with a sigh. “I am sorry about the Jezalyn thing. I don’t know what happened.”

“Jealous much?” was the only taunting response he gave Larkin.

Gritting his teeth, he said, “Perhaps, I don’t know what came over me. I guess my problem was that I was not ready to find out if Jezalyn’s interest in me was as superficial as yours usually is in women,” said Larkin trying to goad him back.

“And is it?” he said ignoring Larkin’s womanizing statement.

“No, but you already knew that. Jezalyn is still uneasy about your test and her uncontrollable compulsion to retaliate.”

Julius motioned to rub his cheek. “That one is a fire cat all right.”

“I should not have assumed your motives dishonorable.”

“Well, I did test her,” replied Julius with a rather tantalizing smirk as an image of him kissing the nape of Jezalyn’s neck materialized in his mind.

Larkin ignored Julius’s provoking attempt. “Either way, I am glad there is no need for concern.”

Somewhat irritated at Larkin’s deflection of his prodding attempt, he icily responded, “Your problem is called love, and my current interest is not in Jezalyn. It is, however, in your brother and why he attacked me.”

“He attacked you to get at me.”

“Tell me something I don’t know, like, why you kept your sadistic twin a secret?”

“Theron was not a secret; I thought he was dead so that’s where I left him. As twins, we were bonded together from birth, but when I turned, the bond broke. My feud with my brother goes back centuries, before I entered into this being.”

Julius felt he was owed more of an explanation, so he dug for a motive, “And the cause of the rift?”

With sadness in his eyes, he responded, “It was a long time ago. Let’s just say my brother and I have been at odds since…”

Sorrowfulness crossed Larkin’s face; it was only for a moment, but that was a moment too long and Julius’s expression hardened. “He ripped my heart out over a woman,” said Julius as he tightened his grip on the porcelain cup. It took him several minutes to realize the pressure had shattered the cup before slowly opening his hand letting blood and glass trickle to the floor.

“Calm down,” said Larkin, “I’ll go get Wyler.”

“No! I am fine,” replied Julius bending down to pick up the broken cup.

“Looks like a lot of blood. Wyler will stitch it up for you.”

“I’ll wrap a towel around it; I will be fine. Wyler has too much going on with Ana right now.”

“What’s wrong with Ana, now?” asked Larkin a bit irritated thinking about the way the night had played out. His aggression was not with Ana, but Theron. Larkin feared that Ana was too weak to handle the intensity of assuming the role of Keeper, but he agreed to take her on to oblige Wyler. Had he known his brother was still alive, he would have never consented.

“Our little romp created a tear in my heart, and Wyler had to go back in and close it up.”

Larkin tried to hide his tone of annoyance, “Okay—and the problem with Ana?”

Julius became irritated at Larkin’s annoyance and blurted out, “She passed out?”

“What?” cried Larkin.

“What a weakling I initially thought, but when I realized we both fed on her tonight; it was understandable that she was unable to maintain her balance.”

“You fed on her! Why? You do realize you will be bonded to her forever.”

“I did, and that’s why I forced my blood down her throat.”

“You didn’t!”

“I did,” he said mischievously.

“Did she transform?” asked Larkin with a horror stricken face.

“Unfortunately, she did not,” he said as he placed his hands on his head while mimicking a face of agony before blurting out, “She vomited. I don’t know how you do it!”

A feeling of relief swept over Larkin’s face, and he disappeared into the kitchen, boiled some water, and added a bud of Wood Avens and other herbs, the same herbs he had used to block Ana’s and Jezalyn’s bond a few hours before. “Here drink this; it will help your body heal faster.”

Julius took the cup off the saucer and placed the shatter pieces he collected on it. “Why have you not given this to me earlier?”

“Because it’s difficult to obtain. Besides, there is only one wound our bodies won’t heal from, and that’s what it’s saved for.”

“What wound?”

“Black Bat Flower is lethal to us, if we ingest the tentacles.”

“What?” a wave of anger took over his tone.

Larkin responded with calming news. “The flowers were destroyed centuries ago by Theron,” he said watching Julius’s harden features relax, “I suppose I should warn you that Blaise found a way to acquire some, which he wrapped around the arrow that injured Theron, so do not underestimate him.”

He lifted the cup to his mouth and gulped down the last bit of the concoction before he responded, “Who? Blaise or Theron.”

“Both.”

Julius said nothing else as he laughed all the way to the couch where he closed his eyes and tried to block the low rapid beat of Ana’s sleeping heart.

***

When Larkin closed Jezalyn’s apartment door behind him to go downstairs and check on Julius, Jezalyn dove into her bed sprawling out across the foot of it rubbing her red irritated eyes. She held her fingers pressed tightly against them trying to relieve some of the pain. She had not experienced this type of exhaustion since last December when she stayed up all night cramming for finals. Without opening her eyes, she fumbled for the edge of the blanket and folded it over her. She quickly fell into slumber where her unconscious mind took over. By the time she entered the dream realm, her mind aimlessly bounced through that nights images. She thought of Larkin and his tender kisses, and her hand connecting with Julius’s face for kissing the nape of her neck as he requested to come in, but that image turned from her hand to Larkin’s hand. She ran her finger over his scar and instantly found herself being drug to the foot of the bed. As she kicked and wiggled to get free, she felt a pinch on her thigh. With the sting sensation, her body awoke startled and sweaty.

Jezalyn’s heart raced; panic-stricken she flung back the blanket and hunted for marks. Upon finding none, she brushed her partially damp hair back out of her face and strutted into the bathroom. As she splashed water onto her face she repeated to herself, “It was just another nightmare,” and to prove it to herself she checked her legs once more before retreating to bed. She tossed and turned trying to get the dream out of her head, but it was to no avail, so she reached over picked up a book, and read. She thumbed through her book trying to remember where she left off, reading a bit here and there and every so often closing her tired eyes. By the time Jezalyn found her place, her eyes were too tired to read, so she let the book close with her finger still as the marker. She intended only to rest her eyes for a moment. However, when she re-opened them she found the red numbers on her clock blurry. Once her eyes became alert, Jezalyn was stunned to discover she had slept through most of the day. She heard a loud thud as she energetically swung her rested legs off the bed.

After opening the drapes to her window, Jezalyn spotted her book lying on the floor and soon realized the thud she heard earlier was her book.
Hmm, I must have knocked it off the bed
, she thought as she picked it up and sat down on the bed to read. Even though the drapes were open, it was too late for the sun to brighten the room, so Jezalyn reached over to turn on the lamp. The light illuminated the nightstand drawing her attention to the memoir. Jezalyn put down her book and cradled the memoirs in her arm like a baby as she scooted backward until her back rested against the headboard. She removed the pages from the hard case cover, tossing it to the side with the old twine still nestled inside. Jezalyn glanced at the first page, but before she could turn it, something caught her eye. It was not a word or a phrase; it was a name, Drythe—Theron Drythe. Without care or gentle ease she spread the papers out frantically nudging and scanning several papers from the center. She stopped suddenly and stood on her knees letting the papers slip off her lap as she read,

Julius is like a Greek God embodying beauty, dominance, and valor. He breaks every law except the gentlemanly invitation. It is the only rule he is bound by except the elusive golden ray. The allure of his stature and the soft kiss to the nape of their necks is too great for them to resist. One by one, they invite him in. He always entertains them before entertaining himself. Beware world: a Vampire God is born.