Sensing Danger (A Sinclair and Raven Novel Book 1)

by Wendy Vella

  James wanted to be the one to comfort her. Running a hand through his hair, he bit back a frustrated sigh. He could not afford to back down now if he wanted answers, but seeing her distress was like a knife to the chest.

  “How did you know there was poison in my glass, Cam?”

  James watched the three Sinclair siblings grow still, each eyeing him warily. Essex moved to Cam's other side, and he lifted his arm and pulled her close. It was a telling gesture that told James they felt threatened by his questions and were seeking strength in each other.

  “Are you accusing me of something, Raven?”

  Cam seemed to grow several inches before James's eyes, and looked more like his elder brother with every second that passed—right down to the furious glint in his green eyes.

  “You had no way of knowing what was in that glass, Cam, unless you had either tasted it or put it there. The same must be said of Essex, for that matter.”

  “You will not accuse my sister!”

  Lifting his hands in a gesture meant to reassure as Cam roared at him, James shrugged. He hated questioning them like this because he knew instinctively they were innocent; had they not saved his life already several times? Yet he also knew there was something strange going on, and he wanted to know what. He looked at Eden, but she would not meet his eyes. Instead she huddled close to her brother.

  “Then tell me how you both knew what was in that glass?”

  The Sinclairs looked at each other for several seconds and then as if by silent vote Cam spoke.

  “We must first speak with Devon before answering your questions. Therefore, I would ask that you wait until this evening for your answers.”

  Nodding, James realized it would be unfair of him to pursue the matter. Devon was the eldest and therefore their leader, if they needed his consent before speaking then he would wait, but the suspense would near kill him. There was little doubt that what he was to learn was something of great importance to this family.

  “I suggest we then adjourn to the nursery to take tea with our sisters.”

  They did not refuse him as he had thought they would, instead it was a solemn group that trooped up to the nursery, yet when the door opened everyone was all smiles. Soon cakes were devoured by James and the little girls; the others, including Cam, who could devour an entire cake in one sitting, merely nibbled theirs.

  Eden took great pains to hide her distress from her sisters. It was a testament to how closely he watched her that he could see the tension in her body. Her gestures had lost their elegance and her smile its brilliance, and James contemplated retracting his accusations. He had hurt her, and that to his mind was unforgivable. Yet something stopped him.

  “Have you given Dorrie and Somer their dolls, Samantha?”

  “No! Oh why did I not remember we had purchased them, James?”

  “Don't do this to us.”

  He heard Eden's words as Samantha ran to a cupboard.

  “Do what?” He looked into her lovely gray eyes. “Tell me something that will make me understand.”

  She shook her head and looked away, and James wondered if he had just achieved what he had once believed he wanted: to distance himself from this woman indefinitely.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Dear Lord, she felt sick. The tea Eden had swallowed was trying to make a reappearance, and her hands felt clammy. How would they deal with this situation? What would Dev say when he heard what the Duke suspected? Her eyes followed Samantha as she ran to a cupboard. Flinging the door open, she pulled two boxes from inside.

  “James and I brought you these, Dorrie and Somer!”

  Why had he done this to her? Surely she could not have been wrong about him, wrong about his character? She wanted to believe in her heart that James did not truly think them capable of the deeds he was accusing them of, but if not then why was he pursuing this? It was terrifying; the risk of exposure would have them run out of London and into hiding if their secrets got out. How could this have happened after what they had shared? How could he have kissed and caressed her as if she were precious and then turned on her? It was everything she had always feared. Everything her father had told her would one day come true. Did he really believe they were capable of murder?

  “We can't allow you to purchase our sisters such extravagant gifts, Raven. We will of course reimburse you,” Cam said in a quiet voice as the three little girls began to laugh and jump around the room in excitement.

  “This is from Samantha, Cambridge, not me. I merely supplied the funds,” James said in the same tone. “Your sisters are her first friends and she wished to celebrate the moment with matching dolls, as she also has one.”

  Eden knew it would be churlish for Cam to refuse, yet for her also, the gesture did now not sit easily, as it would not with Dev. Especially considering the accusations the Duke had just thrown at them.

  “After what you have just accused us of, I think you would understand our reluctance,” Essie said, her tone cold.

  “That does not concern them,” the Duke said, looking at the little girls. “And I merely—”

  “I disagree.” Eden cut off his words. “It affects all of us.”

  With a curt nod Cam then rose, and Eden knew only relief. She could not keep up this pleasant pretense for a second longer.

  “Well, sisters, if you are ready, we will return as our aunt and uncle will have missed us. Please thank the Duke for his kind gifts, girls.”

  Somer and Dorrie were used to expressing themselves with gestures, having been raised in a loud boisterous family who cuddled and kissed regularly. Eden watched as Somer grabbed James's hand and pulled his head down to her level. She then planted a loud smacking kiss on one cheek while Dorrie did the same on the other.

  Eden would have laughed at his expression had she not been sick to her stomach. His cheeks heightened with color as he straightened, clearly uncomfortable. However, he thanked the twins politely and told them to return soon.

  Farewells were said, Somer securing a promise from James that he would take them to Astley's next week. Cam did not shake James's hand and Eden and Essie walked away from him without a backward glance.

  As she was walking down the stairs to the front entrance with her family, she heard Samantha talking to her brother.

  “I am not sure I would like quite as many siblings as the Sinclairs, James.”

  “Indeed, peace and privacy would be rare, I think.”

  “But there is something about the Sinclairs, they sort of—”

  “Encompass you,” the Duke said.

  “Yes,” Samantha agreed. “I like it.”

  From the Duke there was no reply.

  The silence hung heavily over them as they walked from the Duke's house. Eden sent Dorrie and Somer to run ahead of them, as she knew they had much to discuss. Dev would be angry when they told him, but what would he suggest they do?

  “I do not want him to know about our gifts.”

  “None of us want that, Eden, but I can see no way out of this. The man is persistent and knows something is not right. We cannot chance that he will accuse us of attempted murder,” Essie said.

  “I don't believe it would come to that,” Cam added. His hands were thrust in his pockets and his eyes were on the path before him. “The man I have come to know is fair, and he would not accuse us without solid evidence. Plus there is the small matter of what lies between us, and the fact you have already saved his life.”

  “Solid evidence,” Eden said. “He either believes we are freaks or that we are murderers, there is no other option. For him to believe one we must lie about the other, and neither option is appealing, brother.”

  As they were at the Wynburg residence moments later, no one spoke again, and Eden knew the next few hours would pass on leaden feet until they had a chance to speak with Dev in private.

  ...

  “Can we trust him with the truth, Dev?”

  “I fear we have little choice, Essie,” the eldest S
inclair said, looking out the carriage window.

  Eden and her siblings had told Devon every word of their encounter with the Duke of Raven, tumbling over each other in their anxiety to get the story straight. He had calmed them and told them it would be all right, as the Duke, for all his stuffiness, was a fair man. But Eden had seen the worry in his eyes.

  The four siblings had decided to drive around the streets while they worked through what they would tell the Duke.

  They had no wish for their aunt, uncle, or younger siblings to overhear the conversation, so after the evening meal they had put the children to bed and told their aunt they were visiting the Duke to view his library. Lord and Lady Wynburg hadn't questioned them, although the Earl had lifted one bushy eyebrow, as his own library was fairly extensive and they had not yet exhausted that. Cam had muttered something about treasure maps and the Sinclairs had said their good-byes and fled the room.

  “He could have us locked up or deported, couldn't he?”

  “He is an honorable man, Essie,” Devon said, and Eden hoped he was right. “If I know nothing else about him I know that his men would have followed him to the ends of the earth, and that makes me trust him,” Dev added. “And let us not forget the fact that we have saved his life; that must surely count for a great deal.”

  “But our secret, Dev. It is such a terrifying thought that someone other than us know of it. What if he chose to use it against us, after all our parents did to make sure that never happened?” Essie said, the anguish in her voice felt by them all.

  Father used it against me, Eden wanted to say, yet she remained silent.

  “We have no other choice; if he pursues the matter of the poison then he must be told the truth,” Dev said, the strain showing on his face. “We are agreed then?”

  “Aye.”

  “Aye.”

  “Aye,” Eden whispered last.

  “I will keep us safe,” Dev vowed, but Eden was not sure anyone could do so once their secret was out.

  The rest of the journey was completed in silence as each of the siblings came to terms that the night may bring an end to their secrets.

  Eden felt unsteady when she stepped from the carriage and walked up to the front door. The door she had walked through with her giggling sisters not many hours before. The butler opened it to Cam's hard knock. Discarding their outer clothing, they followed him to where the Duke awaited them in his study.

  James watched the small somber procession file into the room, eldest to youngest.

  “Raven,” Devonshire Sinclair said, speaking first, the others remained silent. Eden did not glance his way, instead moving to the sofa farthest from where he stood. Gone was the passionate woman he had kissed earlier. This one was coiled in on herself, her arms wrapped round her waist as she huddled in the seat. It was as if someone had extinguished the light inside her.

  “Sinclair,” James said in the same cool clipped tones. There had always been reserve between he and Lord Sinclair; it had now intensified.

  Three of the siblings sat and Devonshire remained standing. James elected to stand also.

  “My sisters and brother have told me what happened today and of your accusations. First let me say I am deeply offended that you would believe this of my family when weeks ago my sister saved you from certain death, as did I two years ago, and it appears Cambridge did this very day.”

  James did not flinch. He knew the words were just, yet this had been a means to an end, and now that end was about to declare its hand. Nodding, he remained silent.

  “I would like to ask you before I continue if there is any way you will let the matter drop and take it no further, thus letting my family leave here this night with their secrets still their own.”

  James watched a muscle in Sinclair's jaw tick as he clamped his teeth together. The silence in the room became stifling as everyone waited for him to speak, and cad that he was, he simply held the eldest Sinclair's gaze for several seconds before silently shaking his head.

  “It seems my original belief that you were a man of honor was well short of the mark, Raven.”

  “I understand your need to protect your family, Sinclair, but be warned that I will not tolerate another slur upon my honor,” James said, feeling his temper tweak, even if it appeared to be just in the eyes of the man before him.

  “If you were honorable you would not be forcing my family to reveal something that shakes the very foundation they live upon.”

  He didn't speak, just held Devon's gaze.

  “So be it,” Sinclair muttered, running a hand through his already ruffled hair. “But before I continue I must have your word that what is spoken in here tonight can never leave this room. If it did it would cause me and my siblings great and unimaginable harm. In this I am resolute, Raven. And I must trust that you will hold true to your word once given.”

  What the hell were they about to tell him?

  “You have my word, which I assure you is my bond.”

  Nodding, Devon then looked to where his siblings sat. They in turn nodded.

  “It will be hard for you to understand or believe, Raven, but I would ask you to wait until I finish before questioning what you see or hear.”

  James nodded, his eyes focused on Devonshire Sinclair. He could feel the tension in the room, taste it and touch it, so palpable it nearly choked him.

  Devon began in an even tone, almost as if he read aloud from the newspaper.

  “You are aware of the pact between our families, and that we were chosen to protect the Ravens, your ancestors, by King Edward III?”

  “I am.”

  “What you don't know is that we discovered at a young age that we have heightened senses. Mine is sight, Eden's is hearing, Cam's is smell, and Essie's is taste.”

  James had thought of many scenarios—this, however, was not one of them. Did they honestly expect him to believe this tale?

  “I can see the skepticism in your face, Raven, and frankly whether you believe us or not is of no great concern to me. Yet you have accused my family of a serious crime, therefore I must show you that I speak the truth, as I have no wish for any of us to end our days in a jail cell.”

  “I would not send you to jail, Sinclair.”

  “Your earlier words led my siblings to believe otherwise.”

  James remained silent, as he had threatened them and the guilt settled heavily on his shoulders.

  “Eden, love, go outside the room.”

  James watched Eden rise and approach her brother.

  “I have promised to keep you safe, Eden. Have faith in your big brother.”

  She nodded solemnly and then took the plugs out of her ears and handed them to Devon. Without looking his way, she walked to the door opened it, passed through, and closed it behind her.

  “I would ask you to walk to the end of the room, Raven. Once there, face the wall and say something that only you will hear, but sound must leave your lips.”

  Every hair on James's body rose as he looked into the solemn eyes of the remaining Sinclairs. Could they be speaking the truth? Suddenly everything that had niggled at him filtered through his head. The ability of the siblings to hear those men intent on robbing their carriages on the journey to London. Eden hearing things James had not. Cam sniffing the poison and Essie tasting it.

  “If you wish answers, then you must do as I ask,” Sinclair said when James didn't react to his order.

  Moving to the rear of the room as requested, he softly spoke. He then returned to Devon, who called Eden back into the room. Once again she did not look at him, her body tense, face fearful.

  “Recite the words, Eden.”

  James watched her hesitate.

  “’Tis all right, love, say the words,” Devon said, bending to brush a kiss on her forehead. “I will keep you safe.”

  James wanted to tell her to stop; her obvious distress was making his stomach ache. She was so unlike the woman who had stormed into his library earlier this day. The spirit h
ad left her eyes and they appeared subdued, beaten.

  “Eden, I—”

  “When forty winters shall besiege thy brow, / And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, / Thy youth's proud livery so gazed on now, / Will be a tattered weed of small worth held.”

  Eden recited the Shakespeare poem word perfect yet her voice held no inflection. Emotionless and precise, she finished then once again fell silent.

  “Go and sit beside Cam now, love,” Dev said, handing Eden her earplugs.

  His head still reeling, James watched her push them back into her ears, then reclaim her seat. Cam wrapped her in his arms and hugged her hard.

  Was it true, could she have heard him? Yet surely the facts spoke for themselves. She would have had no idea that he would quote Shakespeare. God, he couldn't take it in, was it possible?

  “Cam, what can you smell?”

  “Whoever does the laundry uses lavender in the wash and the Duke uses a scent combined with lemon and sandalwood. Before we arrived, he had coffee with honey tarts followed by a brandy. In the kitchens the cook has mutton cooking and is baking a fruitcake.”

  James fell into the seat opposite the sofa the three Sinclairs occupied. He wanted to clap his hands over his ears as Devonshire Sinclair cleared his throat and began to speak.

  “The spine on that book on the highest shelf closest to the wall reads, The Pilgrim's Progress From This World, To That Which Is To Come, First Edition 1678.”

  James knew that book was at least thirty feet away and on the top shelf, which he needed a ladder to reach. He also knew it was The Pilgrim's Progress, just as he knew every book on his shelves and where it was located.

  “Call for tea and biscuits or cakes, Raven, and Essie will tell you what the ingredient in everything is,” Devon said.

  “Enough.” No one moved as James spoke quietly. “I knew there was something about you all, yet never did I see this coming. It must be both a burden and a pleasure to have such talents.”

  Eden finally looked at him, and he couldn't be sure, but thought there was relief in her eyes. Had she believed he would expose her, that he was the kind of man to do such a thing to people who had saved his life? The answer was yes, she had, and the thought was not a pleasing one, but no less than he deserved.