B. Donna - Blood Pool

He brushed his hand across her cheek, wiping away a rogue tear. “Of course. Emerald is upstairs checking on Mordred. When you get back, I’m going to call in a few favors.”

Raven nodded and turned toward the lab.

“Tell me again why we have to do this?” Jade asked the man in the shadows. The only light came from the flames in the hearth that created streams of shadows and illumination.

He stepped into the light. His chestnut hair was streaked with white at the temples, his eyes the color of brandy. Not overtly handsome, he was attractive in a rugged and dangerous way. His aura hinted of both as did his manner and appearance.

“Because you made me promise not to hurt her,” Laroque said to his daughter. Purposely his voice remained level, void of any trace of anger.

“I don’t want things to be this way, père ,” she pleaded as she stood before him, the warmth of the fire at her back.

“Now that you’ve seen her, you have a change of heart?” He spoke softly to his daughter. Taking a cigar out of his humidor, he lit it.

He, to this day, could not get over the striking resemblance she bore to her mother. At some moments, when his guard was down, he could almost feel Nicolette’s presence. The tone of Jade’s voice, the color of her hair and the glint in her eyes all echoed Nicolette.

Jade fanned the smoky air in front of her. “Raven’s my family. No matter how much you hate Tobias, she is still my sister.”

He reined in his frustration. “I explained all of this to you. I can’t touch Tobias. The only way to get to him is through his family. You begged me not to harm Raven. What else can I do but go after the man she loves?” He poured a cup of tea from an antique china pot.

Jade frowned. “Yes, I remember all that.” She turned away and stared into the flames.

Laroque walked over to his daughter. “Tobias took your mother away from us. He made her feel incredibly guilty over what happened, he never let up on her and he drove her to suicide.” He felt the muscles in his neck strain as he tried to keep his voice in check. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she moved away, toward the sofa opposite the fireplace.

Jade sat. “How do you know that?”

“Because I know Tobias!” Laroque slammed the delicate china cup against the desktop, causing it to splinter into tiny fragments. Jade pushed him too far. Every conversation that included mention of her mother and Tobias ended the same way. Laroque stormed over to the opposite end of the room in a fury. An archway separated him from his daughter. He stood in his office.

He sensed Jade’s apprehension. Ever since she’d seen her sister, she’d had mixed emotions about everything. Laroque could read his daughter and knew Jade began to question the whole situation after observing Raven and Tobias together at the festival. The ancient Lamai appeared to care deeply about his daughter. Laroque was aware of Jade’s propensity to empathize with others.

Why would Tobias take Raven’s mother away from her? Jade had asked her father that question numerous times. And he patiently explained that was exactly what happened. It did not make sense to her, though. Jade pointed out that the dark-haired vampire loved Nicolette as much as her own father did. That enraged him, but he hid his emotions well.

She followed her father into his private office.

“The police know you’re here.”

“So?” Laroque had calmed down. “I had no intention of keeping my presence here a secret.” He tried to keep an aura of power and strength around him. But in his daughter’s company, he softened. Jade, as her mother before her, had that effect on him. It was as if they had the secret code to his heart and knew exactly how to open it.

Not only did Jade inherit her mother’s good looks, she also had her gift of psychic intuition. “It’s a matter of time before they piece this all together. I don’t want to lose you, too!” she cried.

“You won’t lose me, ma précieuse,” he reassured her.

Jade walked to her father and settled into his arms. He hugged her tightly.

“I just wish you could let this go,” she said.

“I know you do, but I cannot… He not only took your mother from me, he took you for the first four years of your life and let that lawyer’s sister raise you. If I hadn’t found you, you would never have known the truth. You would never have known about me. That I cannot forgive.” He guided his daughter to his leather chair and sat her down. Silently, he walked to the fireplace and stoked the fire back to roaring flames.

“You promise you’re not going to hurt them-not Frank and Deidre?” She looked plaintively at him.

“I promise. I have some business I have to attend to. I’ll be back in a little while.”

“His blood work is back. He’s unconscious due to the Tetradotoxin.” Raven stood next to Bo once more as she shared the results from the blood panel with Tracy.

“Due to the fact that Bo is a shape shifter, his blood differs from Derrick’s. He is infected, though. Something is going on. I may have to wait a while until this new strain of virus incubates. I don’t know how this is going to affect him. He’s not like the others. He’s consumed my blood. That will either help him, or kill him.”

“His temperature is the same. I suppose it’s a good sign that it hasn’t elevated,” Tracy remarked. “I can do some more lab work, if you like. If there’s anything to be found I’ll find it. I’ll start ELISA testing and PCR.”

“Already on it. You could try virus isolation.”

“You got it.”

Raven pulled a chair over to Bo’s bedside. “That would be great, thanks, Trace. I saw Mat and Joe arrive. Mat’s going to give blood and we’ll start the transfusions. Where is Dr. Odin?”

“Your father came by with Nathaniel, Dr. Odin’s brother. I think they’re brainstorming. I didn’t know Nat is an M.D., with extensive experience in hematology and immunology…of both the magickal and medical persuasions.” Tracy winked and headed to the door trying somehow to put her boss’s mind at ease.

“That must be the favor my father was calling in-Nathaniel.”

Sitting next to Bo, Raven tried desperately to reach him. They were always able to communicate without words, but this time he wasn’t responding. For the first time she feared she might lose him. Forever.

She knew of only one way to help him and that was to find Jade. She was the key to this whole mystery, and if Raven could enlist her aid, then maybe he would have a fighting chance.

“I’ll be back as soon as I’m able, meu dragoste.” She leaned over and kissed his lips. He lay there unmoving. Her heart fractured into tiny pieces. She couldn’t lose him.

“Maureen, they know how to get in touch with me. I’ve got to try to find whoever did this to Bo and the others.”

Maureen nodded with a sad smile. “Be careful,” was all she said.

The festivities had ended for the night. It was approaching two a.m. Raven stood at the Three Maidens Marina dock waiting for Caleb Gosling, an old family friend. Uncle Caleb, as she called him, used to take her fishing when she was a little girl. So when Raven called and asked him to borrow a boat, he simply asked, “Where and when do you want to meet?”

Raven knew she could count on him.

“You headed far?” Caleb asked, wiping the sleep from his denim blue eyes as he walked toward her.

He handed a set of keys to Raven. Caleb was one of the few humans on the island whom she trusted.

“No, not very far. Thanks, Uncle Caleb.”

Untying the line around the cleat, he asked, “You’re going alone? That detective going with you?”

“No, I’m going alone.” She hopped into the twenty-five-foot Boston Whaler, tossing her bag onto the passenger seat.