Free Bloodstone Heart by T. Lynne Tolles Page B

you don't think there's any merit to Darby's quest for Devon?"
    "No. I think her heart is broken and she can't see the situation for what it is."
    "What about you, Blake? What's your take on this? After all, this is your brother we're talking about."
    "I don't think Devon made the right choice taking off with Libby, but he's always seen her through rose-colored glasses and I think that once he saw her again, all those old feelings rushed back and she talked him into leaving with her."
    "So Devon isn't a super loyal guy, then? I mean anyone who would dump someone and take off with another, especially the wife of his cousin, can't be very gallant. That's what puzzles me. I just can't see Darby with someone who isn’t all those things since that is how she is."
    "My brother is loyal and gallant. Sometimes to a fault, truly. Ask anyone."
    "Then maybe Darby's right. Of course, it isn't really my place to say anything of the sort, so maybe we should explain why we are here." Melanie looked at Josh for affirmation. He nodded, but didn't say anything.
      Melanie continued, "Josh has had a run in with two vampires.   The first attacked him in an alley and he was very nearly killed.   When the vampire came in for the kill, Josh grabbed a piece of wood to defend himself and the vampire came down on it and exploded into ash. A week later, Josh went back to the alley in hopes of finding something that made sense to him about what he had experienced only to find another vampire. We think the second vampire was there investigating the remains of the previous one. We also think that the vampire found Josh's house while he was staying with me.  
    “When we went to Josh’s house to get some things, the house had been trashed.   We headed back to my house only to find the vampire talking to another tenant in my apartment building, so we ran back to Josh's, jumped on his bike and headed south.   We made the mistake of using Josh's iPhone while we were trying to map out how we were going to get here and the next morning the vampire was at the motel office when we came back from breakfast. As soon as he was out of sight, we ducked into the room, grabbed our stuff, and jumped on the bike again.   That was this morning."
    Blake asked, "What makes you think the second guy in the alley was a vampire?"
    Melanie said, "When we were at Josh's place and he was packing, I was wandering through the house and found the glass in the back door had been broken.   I'm sure that is how the person got in. I have the ability to touch items and sense things about the person who last touched it. So, I put my hands on the doorknob. I felt a very intelligent, strong mind. Some horrible death scenes played out in my head that I'm pretty sure were his victims. When Josh showed me the alley where he was attacked I touched the ashes of the previous vampire, but it had been a week and I couldn't sense much, however, I did get the impression that he had stolen something from the second vampire."
    "So each of them was looking for something?" Blake said.
    "Yes."  
    "Do you know what?"
    "No."
    "Josh, walk me through what happened the night you ran into the first vampire."
    "Umm, yeah. I had walked Melanie home that evening.   When I came to the alley something on the ground caught my attention."
    "What was it?"
    "I don't know. It glinted in the streetlight and I took a step into the alley and bent down to pick it up, and that's when I sensed the vampire.   He was agitated. His mind was all over the place and he was looking for something.   That's when he sensed me. He made some mental note that he might as well appease his hunger and that's when he came at me like lightning and threw me up against the brick wall, where I dropped my groceries."
    "Back up a bit...you said you bent down to pick up the item that caught your attention. Did you pick it up?"
    "I...I barely remember, yes, I think I did."  
    "What did you do with it?"
    "I put it in my pocket as I stood