Darkest Dreams Page 27

  “Whatever is the matter with you, Sean?” Cassie asked, backing slowly to the door.

  “I have to know if it’s my face that has Gemini frightened or if it is just the sight of a man in general,” Sean said.

  “Why don’t you just tell them the bloody truth,” came Alex’s harsh whisper from the corridor. “You think I’ve done something to harm the woman. You don’t trust me.”

  “What the hell am I supposed to think when a woman goes mad the second she looks at me and I know she has no reason to fear me? She must have mistaken us, and be afraid of you.”

  “If it were me in your shoes, I’d look for a different explanation. And if you were any other man I’d challenge you for the insult.”

  “Consider it done,” Sean said sharply.

  Alex didn’t reply. Then he spoke to me. “Andrie, I want everyone to back away from your sister. Then I want to try something.”

  I looked at Cassie; tears fell from her eyes. I didn’t have to touch her to know she felt that everything we’d done to dispel the Dragon’s Curse had, with a few words, been undone.

  “All right, Alex. You can come in,” I said. He didn’t at first, but he started chanting in a very low voice that was so melodious and soothing it washed over me like a benediction from heaven. Nobody moved; everyone was entranced by his voice. After a few minutes, he slipped into the room. He didn’t look at Gemini or move toward her, he went to the corner farthest from her, still chanting softly. Then after a short time, he increased the volume of his voice.

  Gemini held the poker higher, and Alex lowered his voice until she seemed to ease a bit, or grew tired of holding the poker so high. Then he chanted louder. This time she didn’t brandish the poker higher, and her crying decreased. Next, Alex moved to the middle of the room and did the same thing. He kept working his way closer and closer to her, never looking her way or advancing directly at her, but crisscrossing the room side to side with his deep voice soothing over her continuously. She stopped crying, but remained huddled.

  I watched, too stunned, too mesmerized to feel the least discomfort at having stood for what had been much longer than an hour. This was what he’d done in the training ring with Iris. The beauty and the gentle strength of him filled the room. Alex eventually reached Gemini, but he didn’t take the poker away. He kept moving side to side, never facing her, but now he let the sleeve of his shirt brush against the hand that held the poker. She watched him, moving her gaze back and forth to follow him. On the next pass, he slid his fingers over her hand, then her arm, then her face. Then he took the fisted hand she had clutched against her mouth in his and urged her to stand. He moved back a step at a time, bringing her forward until he reached the divan where he eased her to sit down. Only then did he touch the poker, easing it from her grasp and slipping it behind him. Still chanting, he motioned me to move toward him. When I reached his side, he motioned for Cassie.

  “Sing softly to her something she knows,” he chanted, using English for the first time. “And keep singing quietly as I back from the room. Prudence and Bridget, back out with me. I’ll stay outside the door until we see what she does. She’s slightly hypnotized at the moment, but when she slowly comes to, she should be calmer than before.”

  As he backed away, I didn’t touch Gemini but continued to sing with Cassie the lullabies we’d sung many times, years ago. Alex’s voice got lower and lower until I no longer heard it.

  Gemini’s eyes began to droop, and she wavered on the divan. I caught her shoulder and eased her back, reading her thoughts as I did. Amazingly, she was thinking about the time there’d been an awful thunderstorm and the three of us had huddled under a blanket until the morning sun had risen. I told Cassie.

  “Then we’ll huddle until dawn,” she said, taking a step to ease a blanket from the end of the bed.

  “Blimey, what did you do?” I heard Bridget ask outside in the corridor.

  Alex didn’t answer. Stuart did.

  “It’s an ancient Druid ritual of mesmerizing to put anything wild at ease.”

  “Why would they do that?” asked Bridget.

  “It’s a secret used by the very best horse trainers in the world,” Stuart replied.

  “You better tell the whole truth now, Stuart. That’s what it’s used for today,” said Alex. “Back then they used it to put their sacrificial victims into a trance. Also, I think I have an idea of what the symbol represents. A crude version of an inverted cross with an eye in the center. Either evil is watching or the killer is watching for evil.”

  I shivered and nearly groaned with dismay. Why did Alex almost deliberately seem to be setting himself up for blame? His knowledge of Druid sacrifices and their symbols would surely be incriminating evidence to some.

  “Mum, Bridget, Timmy!” Gemini cried out, shocking us all. The voice wasn’t Gemini’s. “I’m so bloody sorry. I should have never left you. I sinned and he punished me. Jack ripped me from the inside out. Forgive me, please! Forgive me! Please! Forgive me—”

  “Flora?” Bridget cried, running into the room.

  Gemini stood and fell to her knees crying. “Forgive me, Briggie, please!”

  After a stunned moment Bridget knelt down and wrapped her arms around Gemini. “You’re forgiven, Flory. We love you.” Bridget burst into tears. “All you did was love. You didn’t bloody sin. Jack did. He’s evil. Who is he, Flory? He needs to be punished.”

  “Tell Mum and Timmy I love them. I love you.” Gemini fainted in Bridget’s arms.

  I looked up to find that all three of the Killdaren men had entered the room.

  Cassie stood. She was crying and her whole body shook, as did mine. She looked at Sean. “My sister isn’t insane. She’s not evil. Andrie isn’t and I’m not either. We’re just different, Sean. Please understand.”

  Sean looked at Cassie as if she had shot him through the heart. He crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. “Good God, woman, how could you doubt me? How could you doubt my love?”

  “Now you know how I feel,” said Alex quietly to Sean before he turned away. “Stuart, help Bridget. I’ll get Gemini.”

  Alex eased Gemini out of Bridget’s tight grasp, and Stuart swung a weeping Bridget up into his arms.

  “I love you, Bridget,” Stuart rasped, his dark eyes filled with deep emotion. Bridget turned to him, burying her face against the solid strength of his chest. He pulled her closer as he carried her from the room.

  Prudence had already moved to the bed and fixed the pillows and counterpane, readying it for Gemini. Alex laid her gently down, and I pulled the covers up, pressing my palm to her forehead.

  Gemini opened her eyes. “Andrie, my head hurts. I’m so tired.”

  “I know,” I said, tears of joy filling my eyes. “You just need to rest and you’ll be all right.” My sister was back and she was whole.

  “No, it won’t,” she said. “Everyone knows that I hear ghosts now. Mum said people would kill me if they found out. I wasn’t ever supposed to listen to them. I was supposed to ignore them. I wasn’t ever supposed to tell anyone. Remember the day that I said it was going to rain and it did? A ghost told me and I told Mother. It was the first time she ever believed me. And remember when the man was run over by the carriage on the street? I saw his ghost leave his body. He hovered over everyone, looking down at himself. That’s why I fainted. He was so angry and flew right at me.”

  It was surprising to learn about Gemini, but given mine and Cassie’s gifts, it wasn’t shocking. Some of the pieces of our lives fell into place. An odd comment or two from Gemini every now and then. Her focused obsession with parties and fashion. She kept herself busy and distracted so she didn’t have time to listen to ghosts.

  “It’s all right, Gemmi,” Cassie said softly, coming to the side of the bed.

  “Oh, Cassie!” Gemini reached for her and Cassie gathered her close.

  “Alex!” Sean said sharply.

  I turned to find the room empty, and I hurried to the doo
r. Sean stood in the middle of the corridor. Alex faced him from the doorway of the bedroom he’d slept in.

  “We have to talk,” Sean said.

  “Maybe,” Alex replied. “It will have to wait.”

  “I’ll expect you for dinner tonight, and we’ll talk after. Not everybody in this world is as bloody perfect as you are,” Sean said, then turned and left.

  Alex looked stunned.

  Apparently there was more bubbling beneath the rift between Alex and Sean than even Alex knew.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The following day simmered with a dark tension that reached the boiling point by dinnertime. After resting most of the day, Gemini seemed to be herself again, though her skin remained pale and dark circles shaded her eyes. Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson came to see her. I watched both men carefully for any indication that one or both of them could be Jack. We had sat in the drawing room and as usual Gemini wrapped herself up warmly in a blanket.

  I was properly grateful that the men had sounded the alarm about the fire at the Kennedy Mansion and told them so, but I still remained suspicious that they were so conveniently placed. They didn’t stay long, though, as they were extremely uncomfortable with the fact that Gemini had fainted and had remained unconscious for such an extended time. It wasn’t “normal,” and Lord Ashton advised Gemini to seek treatment for such a “sensitive” condition. I thanked them for their concern and ushered them from the room, stating Gemini needed to rest.

  Gemini cried then. “Lord Ashton doesn’t even know the whole of it and already he’s put off. Mother was right.”

  “Maybe.” I thought about how Alex didn’t even hesitate to carry Gemini to the bed, and how upset Sean was that Cassie had felt the need to defend us. Was it possible Alex could be as accepting of my gift? I set the thought aside. “Maybe it is that way with most people, but not all.”

  “How do you know who you can trust and who you can’t? One mistake can cost you everything.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “Maybe you know who to trust when you find true love, a man who accepts all of you.”

  “Cassie is very lucky.”

  “Yes, she is.” I realized just how fragile love was too. What would happen to Cassie and Sean if Sean never resolved his conflict with Alex, and Cassie had twins and history repeated itself? Would she blame Sean then?

  “Well,” I said. “I wouldn’t feel too upset about Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson. You play cards much better than they do.”

  “With a little help,” Gemini replied with a giggle.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Don’t tell Cassie, but there’s a ghost at Killdaren’s Castle.”

  I sat back shocked. “Where?”

  “Here,” she said. “In the drawing room. He likes to play cards. The day I beat Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson at cards, he told me what cards they had in their hands.”

  “Heavens!” I glanced about and didn’t see a thing. Then I blinked. “You cheated.”

  Gemini winced. “Just for the marzipan.”

  I laughed until I cried and then I hugged my sister. “I think that is one secret that we’ll keep just between you and me. You’re right. I don’t think Cassie is up for a ghost, and what’s a little marzipan?”

  Gemini smiled brightly, and we spent the rest of the day recalling moments from our lives that were filled with warmth and tenderness.

  I thought Sean mostly responsible for the antipathy between him and Alex until the dinner hour came and Alex didn’t show. Everyone else was there–Lord Ashton, Mr. Drayson, Sir Warwick, the earl– but the conversation never flowed smoothly.

  “It’s a godsend that place burned to the ground,” Mr. Drayson said. His voice rang with relief that seemed to me overdone for a person who had so little connection to the Kennedys. A quick glance at Gemini showed me that she’d fisted her hand upon the table, but otherwise appeared to be able to deal with the traumatic subject.

  “Why?” I asked, challenging him.

  He flushed. “Well, because it was…evil… Didn’t you feel it when you were there?”

  “Evil was done there, but the place itself was very sad. It was someone’s home at one time and should have been filled with the love and laughter of those to whose family it belonged. Were there no heirs?”

  Mr. Drayson frowned. “I don’t know. Ashton? You were distantly related, weren’t you? Did Lord Kennedy have an heir?”

  Lord Ashton’s brows rose. “Not related by blood. Lady Helen’s mother was the cousin of the man who married my aunt Louisa. I don’t know who would have inherited the estate and the title, though I gather from her father’s gambling debts there wasn’t much to it.”

  I set my gaze on the earl. “Didn’t you pay her a considerable sum?”

  He flushed a deep red. “I, um, I gave her a cache of jewels that night to whet her appetite, but didn’t get the chance to pay her the money, as she didn’t live to collect.” My insides twisted. That was convenient for the earl.

  “Tell them the rest.” Surprisingly, this came from Prudence.

  The earl buried his face in his hands. “Days after Helen was murdered, I was too burdened to let my promise to her go. I took the money to her father and told him how much his daughter had loved him, and that he’d better not squander the money.”

  “Jesus,” said Sean. “He killed himself instead.”

  “That night,” the earl whispered.

  “What happened to the money?” I asked.

  The earl shrugged. “I assumed he’d had his factotum take it and attend his debts.”

  I wondered if those debts were ever paid. Though Helen’s father’s suicide was plausible, it also struck me as convenient.

  Sir Warwick changed the subject, but the political topic was forced and quickly petered out, as did the rest. So a loud disturbance in the center hall toward the end of the meal came as a welcomed relief at first.

  Alex appeared in the dining room. He held two deadly looking swords, one in each hand. Sean’s chair toppled backward as he stood.

  “You accepted my challenge last night.” Alex tossed Sean a sword. Sean adeptly caught the blade by the hilt.

  “So I did,” Sean said with soft menace.

  “Shall we?” Alex motioned for Sean to precede him from the room.

  “Where?” asked Sean.

  “Your choice.”

  “The terrace.”

  “No.” Cassie stood. “This is insane. You two are gown men.”

  Neither Sean nor Alex looked at her as they left the room. We all followed in a state of silent, surreal shock. I couldn’t quite believe that Alex was challenging Sean to a duel. That he’d risk either of their lives like this. I couldn’t believe that I could be so wrong about who he was. I refused to believe it.

  When we reached the smooth stone of the terrace, Sean and Alex circled each other, Alex holding his sword low, Sean holding his higher and balancing his uneven gait well with his cane. The only light came from the moon. The only sounds came from the wind and the sea and the men. Powerful, charismatic and deadly, they both looked as if they were breathing fire.

  Sean made the first attack, Alex defended, and the night erupted in a duel of sparking steel and hard blows from two sword masters with no equal. They covered the entire length of the terrace. Alex flipped and rolled, but could never gain an edge on Sean, who met his every move with confidence and drove home a number of impressive attacks that had Alex sweating to defend.

  “Just as you’ve always feared,” Alex said. “I’m here to kill you. The Dragon’s Curse is real. I’m going to win, and when I do, I’m going place your body at the feet of your wife, because I’m a cold-hearted bastard who can’t ever be trusted.”

  My heart wrenched as I realized what Alex was doing. He was deliberately being exactly what Sean feared.

  Sean halted mid-thrust and stared at Alex hard. The tension was so thick I could barely breathe. To my shock, Sean burst into laughter and tossed his sword
aside. Then he started walking toward Alex. Alex brought his sword toward Sean. I expected Sean to block the blow with his cane. He didn’t, but stood there as a sacrifice. At the last second, Alex twisted his wrist and hit Sean on the shoulder with the flat of the blade. Then he threw the sword to the ground,

  “You fool,” Alex said. “You’re the one who taught me never to disarm yourself before friend or foe.”

  “I didn’t. I disarmed myself before my brother,” Sean said.

  Alex stilled, and Sean clasped Alex to him. After a moment, Alex returned the embrace. Either it was sweat rolling down Alex and Sean’s cheeks, or they’d both shed tears. Cassie, with tears streaming down her face, motioned for everyone to go back inside and leave Alex and Sean alone. Love, it would seem, was the answer to ending the curse.

  “Well, Drayson, you were right.” Lord Ashton clapped Mr. Drayson on the back.

  “About what, my friend?” Mr. Drayson looked puzzled.

  Lord Ashton laughed. “You’ll find it interesting to know, ladies,”—he motioned to Gemini, Cassie and myself—“that after meeting you at the inn this summer, he said the only way to reconcile Alex and Sean was to get them involved with the Andrews sisters.”

  Mr. Drayson laughed. “I did say that. We had a devil of a time convincing Alex to leave his horses long enough to come to the inn, didn’t we?”

  “However it came about,” the earl said, sounding as if he’d been given new lease on life, “it’s a miracle I’m not going to question.”

  “How much will you wager me, Dartraven, that the truce won’t last out the year?” Sir Warwick said, being his usual cloud of cynical darkness.

  The earl swung around from where he walked just ahead and shoved Sir Warwick against the corridor’s wall. “Don’t even bloody suggest it, you hear me? I hear you even mention the Dragon’s Curse, and I will…”

  “What?” Sir Warwick laughed.

  Prudence grabbed the earl’s arm. “Ignore him, Seamus. He isn’t worth the upset.”

  Surprising us all, the earl released Sir Warwick and moved ahead down the corridor at Prudence’s side. Sir Warwick shrugged indifferently, but not before I saw a spark of pure disgust in his eyes.