Chapter 33
If he could breathe on the astral, he would have sighed. But what he observed in his household left him more confused than relieved. Eden’s essence hummed in a state of profound calm, a striking contrast from the near palpable anxiety evident in Kathleen and all three of his brothers. Forced by Nell’s presence, he rematerialized a distance away, and found himself in the deserted hallway outside his bedchamber door.
The vinegary scent of cleaning soap rent the air. Dom frowned. This stretch of floor wasn’t scheduled to be swabbed for another two weeks. And Nell should have been retired to the boarding house for the night.
The servants were told nothing of his absence so he had no need to make a show of his arrival home. He often absented himself for days at a time so not seeing him would not strike anyone as odd.
He slipped the spectacles from his lapel pocket. After days of viewing the world free of their dimming pall, donning them seemed wrong somehow. But no matter, he had bigger concerns with which to occupy his mind. Dominic fingered the knob, noticing it too had recently come under a polishing rag. What would he find behind the door?
His brothers and Kathleen ringed the bed like pallbearers surrounding a coffin, with solemn expressions and slumped shoulders. Wash bucket within arm’s reach, Nell scrubbed hard at the floor. The unholy scent of blood and cleaning soap cloyed at his nostrils whilst fear seized his heart.
No one seemed to notice his arrival. Except for the quiet squish of Nell’s monotonous swabbing, the room was still. He advanced, dreading what he would find yet knowing all the same. She is alive. He repeated the words in his head, over and over, fortifying himself. Were she not, then her essence would no longer dwell on the astral. He believed that after death, souls sojourn to either heaven or hell, but even if they did not, he knew that they left the astral realm.
“Cara?” Her wan visage stood out against the dark bedding, almost as white as the thick wrapping of gauze and bandages bound to her wrist with tight-drawn surgeon’s tape. He almost didn’t recognize her, his Eden. Her hair fanned the pillow in interlocking ribbons of ink and ash. The contrast was starker than the dark circles against her porcelain complexion. Dominic turned his horror on the one person he knew should have been able to prevent it.
“Ethan?”
His brother met the silent question with confusion as profound as his own.
“She attempted to harm herself again, did in fact, within an inch of her life. Took an overdose of laudanum and then slit her wrist.”
He looked to the taller man at Ethan’s right. “Stephan…”
The Sphinx spoke with solemn calm. His jaw set in stone. “I have come to know Eden, and I do not believe that is what happened.”
“And Cael, what is your opinion?
“I haven’t formulated a precise scenario, but I agree with Stephan. A second suicide attempt is not consistent with my assessment of Miss Prescott. She was not despondent in the least, much less desperate enough to…”
“Ahem. Kathleen?”
Her head snapped around. Dominic knew he caught the Scotswoman off-guard. He generally made a point of excluding her in matters he considered family business. Over the years he had become lax, but never comfortable enough to solicit an opinion. Of late, her constant presence allowed a certain level of familiarity even he found surprising.
“I would like to know your mind on the subject.”
She gave a stiff nod. “Aye, tis’ something amiss. I donna what, but tha wee one was no’ herself. She asked ta see Stephan before I left her alone ta rest. Was insistent about it, ‘twas as if she had something especially urgent she wished ta discuss with him. I canna say for sure, but it strikes me false dat tha lass would knock herself off before she’d done so.”
“Perhaps, she sent you on a fool’s errand, fetching Stephan.” Ethan suggested. “So she could get at the laudanum in my bag.”
“Naw. I was half out tha door anyways. ‘Twas my idea dat she should be alone ta rest, ‘specially after dat ordeal. Tha wee one asked ta see him because she had somethin’ on her mind. I’m sure of it.”
“Ordeal?” Dominic glanced from face to face, settling at last on the kneeling maid. “Nell, the floor is clean enough. Please take yourself off to bed.”
“Yes, sir.” The jittery maid managed to exit without sloshing too much water over the edge of the swabbing bucket.
“Now then. Stephan, what’s happened?”
He didn’t hesitate. “She spent several hours locked in the wine vault last evening. There was no harm done, but she emerged a bit—”
“Tilted ta tha wind.” Kathleen finished colorfully.
Dominic tensed, seized by long ago memories of his own imprisonment. On some level he knew his reaction was more to his own experiences but he couldn’t seem to call back the words or the angry frustration behind them. “She is precious to me. I entrusted her to your care, how on earth did she manage to get herself foxed in the cellar.”
His younger brother did not flinch nor shirk the accusation. “I protected her as best I could, but you neglected to mention that we were up against an otherworldly threat.”
Ahhh, now he understood. The imagined entity again. “She told you about this thing she claims plagues her.”
“You sound as if you doubt of its existence.”
“I…” Did he? Was he willing to subscribe to the inane theory of otherworldly evil bent on mischief just to avoid the realization that he’d willfully gotten involved with a woman no more stable than his long dead mother?
“I sensed it for myself, Dominic. Last night, after you’d gone she cried out. When I entered the room…” he paused, as if trying to find the words to explain what he’d witnessed.
“What did you see?” Cael prompted.
By now, all eyes were on Stephan.
“I didn’t see anything. I sensed it, a residual awareness that comes along with my…gift. A coldness inhabited the room. The cold shrank away from me as if it were almost…alive.”
“The fireplace was blazing when I left.”
“Yes. I know. The fire was my doing. But later the hearth was barren, although the room itself did not feel chilled. Only when I neared her did the cold hit me. It pricked my skin. I have not your ability to see human souls or sense spirits in the otherworld, but on my life… Eden was not alone in this room and the thing with her wished her ill. Her hair had turned thus, as you see it now.”
An awkward silence settled over the foursome. Dominic took that opportunity to bend and take Eden’s bandaged hand lovingly in his. Pain slashed at him.
“What did you mean, the fire was your doing?” Cael inquired.
Stephan faced him across the bed, and gestured eloquently in the direction of the hearth. Crimson-orange flames roared to life.
“Heavens!” Kathleen’s eyes grew round.
“The fire at the university that razed the dormitory…” Cael trailed off.
“I thought you couldn’t control it.” Ethan mused.
“I usually can’t. For whatever reason, I have it more in hand when Eden is in close proximity.”
“Fascinating.” Cael stared at Stephan whilst Ethan’s and Kathleen’s faces lingered on the hypnotic flames dancing behind the grate.
“Ahem, Ethan.” Dominic cleared his throat and lay Eden’s limp arm back down on the bed. “You healed her wrist.”
He snapped back to his patient. “Of course, but the effects of the laudanum I could not counteract. Either she will come out of it or she won’t. There is no way to know, but I can tell you this: from my estimation she downed enough of the stuff to fell a person twice her size. She lay unconscious there where the maid scrubbed, in a pool of her own blood. I don’t even see how she was able to walk from her chamber to yours in her condition. By rights she should be dead twice over.”
Dominic reached down to stroke her two-tone hair, reverently. “She mustn’t be left alone. I want someone sitting with her until she recovers and is able to
provide an explanation…for this as well.” He let the tresses drift through his fingers.
“You don’t believe me then.”
Dominic eyed Stephan askance. “I am not willing to take a chance either way. She must be protected, both from herself and this mysterious entity until such time as we are able to find a permanent solution.”
Ethan chimed in, speaking to no one in particular. “Which ever of us is sitting with her in the morning hours will have to make a show of changing the bandage. I am amply supplied with pig’s blood for authenticity’s sake.”
“And if the entity does truly exist?” Stephan probed Dominic.
He cringed from the very idea, but he could no longer ignore the mounting evidence. Eden’s problems went beyond merely the possibility of mental instability.
“I’ll take first watch.” Kathleen offered. “Since me mornings are spent hunched over tha chamber pot with Ethan rubbing me back.”
“Dear, mightn’t you be a touch more delicate in describing certain matters.”
Chapter 34
The full board did not convene. Matthias had expected as much when he made the decision to seek out an audience with the pompous head of social reform. No matter. All he required were one or two witnesses to legitimize his claim. He would have rather dealt with Greyson individually, but anything less than a formal accusation of misconduct and Greyson would know the grievance for what it was, a personal swipe at him.
His charge must be irreproachable. A citizen doing his duty towards his fellow man…or rather in this case, his fellow lady.
He waited in the board’s meeting hall with Egan by his side prepared to back up his claims. Finally, the clanging of a chime signaled the period of consideration for citizen’s concerns and complaints. Matthias heaved his stocky bulk from the squat rows of chairs in the public area of the hall. The hall was divided into two areas by a waist-high gate with a swinging door. The raised panel behind the swinging door housed seats reserved for board members. Centered in front of the panel was a speaker’s podium. The five members present were scattered among the empty spaces along the semicircular panel that spanned the entire far wall of the meeting hall.
Gleeful at striking his first blow at the man he deemed the cause of his recent misfortune, Matthias squared his shoulders and ambled to the podium with purpose. He scanned the panel, bringing his gaze to rest on the straight-nosed, scholarly mien of Davide Greyson.
“Ahem, Matthias Montgomery wit a citizen’s concern.”
“What is the nature of your concern?” Greyson inquired formally.
“I knows of a lady wot’s being held against ‘er will by a nobleman. Touch in tha head, most like. Dat’s tha reason tha gent was able ta cart her off from polite society so discreet-like. ‘Tis often tha case when madness strikes an aristocratic family.” Matthias puffed out his chest. “Tis tha general way of things, among tha genteel crowd dat such blights in lineage must be kept quiet by any means, ya understand? If I had me a nickel for every nervous, after-hours visit I’ve received from Lords seeking ta whisk away a cousin or uncle a bit touched in tha head—”
Greyson held up his palm. “Mr. Montgomery, if you will please focus on the matter at hand. Now then, tell us, who is this young woman and on what estate is she being held.”
He had him right where he wanted him. “Don’t rightly know tha lady’s name, but I say someone ought ta inquire immediate-like into tha goings-on at dat estate of ‘is…Conte Dominic Ambrosi.”
He watched the furrow in the haughty Davide Greyson’s brow deepen. The self-righteous ass. Let him squirm. Matthias struggled to contain his triumphant smile. Greyson would be forced to institute some sort of action against Ambrosi or risk alienating the other board members. Matthias scanned the faces of the four. A bloody disapproving lot, they were. The chorus of resolved nods and murmurs coalesced into a final consensus that something would have to be done. Yes, his own board would help Matthias paint their leader into a corner.
Just to be on the safe side, he stroked their passion for justice by throwing another log on the fire. “Has her housed in his private suites, he does, and uses her most abominably.” His voice boomed like a rector working up his sermon. “He must be confronted and stopped, tha bastard, for exploitin’ tha young miss, featherhead dat she is.”
Greyson narrowed his eyes on him. “Prey, tell us, Mr. Montgomery, how did the Lady’s precarious position become known to you?”
The Asylum Keeper gestured to his most trusted custodian. “My man Egan ‘ere, he keeps company wit one of tha maids. She told him tha way of things at tha Ambrosi ‘ouse, knowing Egan ta be connected ta those who would help folks in need.”
Egan stood from his seat, a ways behind the podium. Shoulders slumped in deference, and crushing his hat in his hand he spoke low and reverent. “I passed my gal’s concerns for the young miss’s welfare along to Mr. Montgomery, see.”
Matthias could have kissed Egan. Instead he followed the prompt. “And I passed ‘is concerns on ta ya. I would ‘ave intervened myself, but wot wit Ambrosi being a high-ranking noble an’ all. Thought it best left up ta tha Board.”
“You did right.” One of the other members returned, with a sharp decisive nod.
Chapter 35
Three days had passed since Dominic returned to find Eden in the grip of death. He’d scarcely left her side. Though the five of them agreed to share the burden of sitting with her, he couldn’t tear himself away for fear some unseen evil would swoop down and take her from him. Even as Ethan slipped quietly into the chamber to relieve him, he resisted.
“Dominic you need to rest. If she wakes up and catches a glimpse of your sleep-weary eyes and three-day beard it will likely startle her back into unconsciousness.”
He gently laid her limp hand back down. His gaze lingered on the soft rise and fall of her chest to reassure himself of her continued safety. “Her coloring is better today. I think she looks more…alive.”
“Yes…” Ethan lifted the same wrist with careful fingers whilst he laid his other palm against her brow to take her temperature. Next, he clapped his hands just inches above her stoic face, poked and prodded her with a rubber tipped hammer-like instrument. Dominic watched him perform the same cursory exam for the past three days.
“How is she?” He demanded the second the doctor had finished his tasks.
“I believe she will awaken soon. She is responsive to stimuli. According to Kathleen, her sleep has become increasingly restless.”
Dominic took his first easy breath in days. He would soon have his heart back.
“Now, will you rest?” The doctor turned his concern on his brother.
“No, I want to be here when she awakens.” He missed her luminous hazel eyes and soft welcoming expression, the warm seduction of her body curled around him beneath the very sheets upon which she now lay. He even missed the silky feel of her hair twined between his fingers…remembering its natural texture and color. His eyes roamed to her current style. He winced at the striped mess.
“Promise me you will rest once she is conscious.”
He raised his gaze, odd eyes twinkling mischievously. “You may tie me to the bed if you like, Ethan.”
Dominic nearly smiled at his brother’s pained expression. “I fear Kathleen is not a good influence on your already atrocious lack of etiquette.”
Just then, an especially forceful exhale of breath drew their attention back to the patient. Dominic was at her side in an instant, caressing her uninjured hand against his cheek.
“Cara?”
Her head lulled to the side, seeming to seek out his voice. Her lips parted.
* * *
Eden struggled mightily to rise above the lethargic haze that gripped her body like a vice. Her lids were as lead, her mind a blur…filled with blank spots and indistinct thoughts. She must focus.
“Dom?” Her voice sounded weak, confused even to her ears.
“Yes, cara. I’m here.”
He
r foggy mind became aware of her hand caressing someone’s stubble-roughened skin. Had the entity taken over again? At the moment, she possessed neither the strength nor the coordination in either of her limbs to navigate such a pleasing stroke.
The spicy scent of male wafted up her nostrils drugging her with languid pleasure, making her forget her thought. What had she been concerned about?
“Is it really you this time?”
“You are welcome to open your eyes and see for yourself.”
His voice sounded urgent, anxious.
“Don’t rush her, Dom. Let her acclimate.”
Dr. Raine. She recognized him. Again she tried to peel back her lids. This time she succeeded in slitting them just enough to glimpse a visage looming large over her.
“I’m thirsty.”
The face moved away and then she heard the splash of water being poured into a glass. Nell must have taken to leaving a pitcher by the bed since she so frequently spent time recovering from various follies. And almost always woke up craving a refreshing drink.
In the next moment, her hand abruptly stopped stroking his face. Two strong arms half lifted her into a sitting position and held her there while a cool surface touched her lips. She parted them on instinct and was rewarded with a steady trickled of water poured carefully into her mouth. The coolness on her parched tongue was like manna from heaven. She drank greedily, somehow finding the strength to bring one hand up to tilt the glass at a steeper angle. When it was empty, the arms allowed her to collapse gently back onto the pillows.
She fought the lethargy to pry her lids further open. Ahhh, she loved his eyes. Those mix-matched wonders of his were so expressive.
“Thank you, Dom.”
“Are you hungry? You’ve taken only broth and minimal sips of water for the past three days.”
Dominic's Nemesis Page 23