Dracula Hearts of Fire Book two of Dracula Hearts

JENNY AND ALLISON TOOK THE LIMOUSINE waiting for them at the airport to Dracula’s residence on Martin Street in Moncton. The rain was moderate when they arrived. They first noticed the new red Ferrari 458 Italia sitting in the yard. Jenny was immediately excited. Allison thought that Dracula wouldn’t dare as Jenny jumped out of the black stretch limo and danced in the yard. She kissed the car. It was what she had asked for, so how could it not be hers?

“Jenny, you don’t know that that’s your car,” Allison said to her daughter, but she guessed it probably was. “Dracula has a lot of famous friends, you know.”

Jenny showed her mother a smirk. “That would be some coincidence, Mother. You know it’s mine. It might not be so bad to have Dracula as a father. I’ll bet he could buy me a seat on the Russian Soyuz.” Jenny entered the house and found Dracula sitting on the sofa talking to Piers Anthony. Between them was the cat, Moon Diamond.

Dracula turned to his daughter. “Hello Jenny, this is the author, Piers Anthony. Piers, this is my daughter.”

Jenny was immediately disappointed. “Mister Anthony, is that your car out there? It is, isn’t it?”

Piers looked up at Jenny. “As a matter of fact, it isn’t.”

Jenny stared at the Siamese. “What a beautiful cat. Is that MY car?”

“He is quite fetching, isn’t he.” Piers petted the cat, making it stick its butt in the air, and of course, that irritated Zacharia.

Jenny turned her attention to Dracula and waited for him to say it. Allison entered behind her. Jenny and her father stared at one another, waiting for the other to speak. Piers was enjoying the pseudo-confrontation. Allison was aware of the awkward silence and the grin on the author’s face. Jenny glanced at the cat and then back at her father; she was getting weird vibes from the animal gazing up at her. The cat gave the Master a high five for having such a beautiful daughter.

Dracula finally spoke. “Jenny, what’s my name?”

She smiled. “You don’t know your name?”

“What’s my name?”

“Dracula? King of the vampires? The head honcho? Chief biter? Did that cat just give you a high five?”

“What’s my name?”

Jenny hesitated as Piers and Allison waited to see if she would say it. “Father?”

Dracula nodded. “There you go, that wasn’t so difficult?”

“Yes, FATHER, it was difficult. Is that my car in the driveway, or isn’t it?”

And again, Dracula nodded. “It is.”

“I knew it!” Jenny ran out and jumped in the car. They could all hear the music blaring from inside the Ferrari. Allison gave him a stern look but didn’t want to say too much in front of the author.

Dracula shrugged. “I know, but look how happy she is. She deserves something nice because of you lying to her for all those years. It’s a good distraction, don’t you think?”

“I thought we agreed not to get her a freaking Ferrari!”

“It was on sale.”

“Oh, it was not. Those things don’t go on sale.”

“Half price.”

“Dracula, you are not the least bit funny.”

“This is Piers Anthony, the author. And Zacharia here is an old friend of mine. His soul is trapped inside his cat.”

Allison turned to Piers. “Is he being funny?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Piers. “I’ll let him explain it to you.”

Allison sat down on the loveseat, facing them as she stared at the cat. “I’m listening.”

Dracula had considered before he spoke. “I’m getting tired of telling this story. I can tell you that. Zacharia had this cat, and instead of letting it perish of natural causes, he used a small part of his soul to keep it alive. But when he was killed in a fight, his soul, instead of moving on, was pulled into the cat.”

Allison scrunched her eyebrows and looked confused. “What happened to the cat’s soul?”

“They’re both in there. Zacharia has no body to return to, so he’s stuck in there.”

Allison considered it but couldn’t imagine it. “How awful.”

“He’s getting used to it. At least he’s not complaining as much.”

Allison noticed Moon Diamond shaking his head in disagreement. “You poor thing. Hello to you, Piers.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Allison.”

Allison turned to Dracula. “When are they coming?”

Dracula looked at his Rolex. “They should be here within the hour.”

“She has to do this?”

“Allison, she’s a top-of-the-line blood wizard with no training. She could be a danger to herself and you. Her dreams can help her to a degree, but she needs the guidance that she’ll receive from Caius. Something came up with the other guy that I had in mind.”

Piers stood as he didn’t want to be in the way, and he was sure they had plenty of things to discuss. “I have someone to see, but I’ll be back later. It was nice to meet you, Allison.” And with that, the author blurred out of the house.”

Allison turned to Dracula. “Why did you buy her that stupid Ferrari when I told you not to do it?”

“Let me assure you that a Ferrari is never stupid.”

“Things like that that can change her personality. Now how am I supposed to make her give it up? She’ll hate me and love you.”

“It would take more than a dozen sports cars to make her love me. Anyway, her light is of the white variety and cannot be changed. At least, that’s my story. The only thing we have to worry about is getting her killed. And don’t think that I don’t know about Jenny being shot. We’ll talk about it later.”

That was quite a shock to Allison. “How on earth did you find out about that?”

“That is not important.”

Allison looked out the window at Jenny in her new Ferrari 458; she was beaming as she moved to the beat of the music. The rain was moderate, and Jenny had the wipers going in the car. Then, she realized she didn’t have the heart to take the car from her. What an expensive playhouse. It aggravated her that Dracula had gotten away with it.

At just after three, two gentlemen dressed in black suits entered the house. One had a handlebar mustache, and the other had a deep scar across his left cheek. The scar was earned in a fight but remained even after he had been turned for some reason. They had the shiniest black shoes that Allison had ever seen, reminding her of secret service agents’ style and how they handled themselves. Not many handled themselves with such panache.

Jenny was brought into the house from her Ferrari as they all sat around the kitchen table; she was more interested in the car than what they had to say. Moon Diamond sat in on the conversation and listened intently. Dracula explained the cat to Jenny, and she was both impressed and sorry for Zacharia.

Dracula introduced the two gentlemen. “Jenny, this is Edwin and Floyd. Floyd’s the one with the handlebar.”

Jenny accessed the two and discovered that they were pretty powerful. “Hello.”

Dracula got straight to the point. “These two fellas will escort you deep into the forest of British Columbia. There you will find a small cottage. You’ll spend the night there or perhaps even longer. The cottage will lead you to a blood wizard called Caius. You should not come back until you get into that cottage.”

Jenny looked at her mother and shook her head. “You want me to go where with the who and the what now, FATHER.” She placed emphasis on her father because she knew that it annoyed him.

Edwin and Floyd looked at one another and were surprised at the information. Had Dracula offspring? That was the most remarkable thing that they had ever heard. Why hadn’t they heard about the child before now? They both wondered how powerful such a child would be having Dracula for a father. They had many questions but didn’t dare ask any.

“Caius is not in the cottage, but it leads to him. No one can help you with that. It’s something that you have to figure out for yourself. Many have given up getting into that cabin.”

“I thought you said it was a cottage?”

“Whatever,” said Dracula.

“Why don’t you just give him a call and order him to come here?”

“It doesn’t work that way?”

Jenny looked at her mother. “Why not?”

He knew that Jenny would push his buttons, and there wasn’t much he could do about it. “Because blood wizards are fickle creatures, and I cannot order them around, at least some of them.”

“It sucks to be you.”

“Jenny!”

Jenny continued to be angry at both her parents. “Well, he does suck; he’s a vampire.”

Edwin showed the slightest smile. He, of course, had never heard anyone talk to the Master like that, but he guessed that being an offspring had its perks. He would love to follow those two around and observe their interactions for a week.

“Edwin, you have something to say on the matter?” Dracula had noticed the smile.

“I have nothing to say, Master.”

“Father, what did he call you?”

“Never mind.”

Jenny became angry as she observed her mother and then her father. Unfortunately, the gift of the car did get him some points. “Let me get this straight. Are my parents sending me off into the woods with two strange men? Excellent parenting. We’ll be on Jerry Springer in no time. Should I run with scissors? Would you like to sharpen them first? I’m just asking.”

“Run with grenades if it’s your heart’s desire.” Dracula was a bit aggravated, and that was surprising to him. “Let me just say a couple of things, Jenny. One, neither of these fellows would dare to touch you. I would tie them up with their own intestines. (Jenny’s face showed distaste as she imagined it.) Two, I’ve read all three of you, and I can tell that you can kick both their asses simultaneously. That’s the same time if you don’t understand that big word. And hey, I did buy you a car.”

Allison had to laugh. The budding relationship between Jenny and Dracula was going to be interesting. They did, at times, have similar character traits that neither realized.

Jenny had to smile even though she didn’t want to. “Buying me that car put up the broken fence Father but it didn’t fix it. The fence is still broken. I can’t wait to go down the road at two hundred miles per hour, Mother.”

Dracula turned to Allison as he raised his eyebrows. “Does she talk like that all the time? You know she wants to kick me? I can delve only slightly into her mind, and I discover she wants to kick me.”

“See, that happens when you buy her a Ferrari.”

Jenny stared at her mother and then at her father; she examined Edwin and Floyd as they were both forced to look away. “And this little adventure is necessary?”

“If you were a powerful bodybuilder but didn’t know how to lift weights, what would happen?”

Jenny smiled. “I’d hurt myself. BUT. If I was a powerful bodybuilder, I would already know how to lift weights, wouldn’t I? Otherwise, how’d I get to be so powerful?”

Dracula nodded slightly. “Do I have to take you over my knee?”

Those were fighting words to his daughter. “Oh? Do you want to go? Come on, bring it on!”

They all had to laugh.

“I think she’s serious.”

Jenny realized the error. “All right, so maybe I can’t take you yet. Just wait until you fall asleep, Dad. You have to sleep sometime.”

Dracula slapped his hand on the table. “She called me DAD. Mark it down on the calendar. You heard it, Edwin; she called me Dad. What was that crack about me sleeping?”

Allison shook her head. “I have no idea, and I don’t think I want to know.”

Dracula stared into his daughter’s eyes, attempting to enter her mind, but she wouldn’t let him. “Jenny, let me impart this to you. Evil eyes can be closed, but you must be more determined than they are.”

“Un-huh. Listen, Dad; stop trying to poke around in my brain.”

“I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did.”

“She’s not supposed to be able to detect that.”

“You two are good at lying, aren’t you, Mother? Experts even.”

“Allison, I told you to tell her years ago, but no. I’m the innocent one.” Dracula nodded. “The innocent one is right here.”

“I suppose she overpowered you?”

“Well, ah. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.”

Floyd and Edwin had never seen this part of Dracula, which was a delightful experience. Their eyes were wide as they took it all in. The Master was poking around in both of their brains simultaneously, forcing them to control their thoughts.

Jenny was satisfied with her situation, so she showed them a beautiful smile, but she was laughing inside.

Dracula nodded knowingly. “All right, back to business.”