Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising
Page 38
“David, this is not proper!” cried Roger, his eyes widening. He grew flustered and spoke to Jackie. “My dear, I’m sorry you have to be subjected to this family argument, but— But I’m sure you understand—you are much too young—”
Ignoring him, David led Jackie to the velvet settee where she sat hesitantly, now at the center of the family, and she looked from face to face with an expression of humility and hopefulness. At that moment, the light shifted, and Jackie was caught in a ray of sunshine. Elizabeth drew in her breath almost as though she was seeing her for the first time. Jackie’s dark hair fell about her scrubbed cheeks and her skin glowed. Her delicate features, her luminous eyes, were obvious to everyone. Even David was amazed.
“I knew you would say that, Father, but you must accept the fact that I— At some point, I will be in charge of the estate. I should be allowed some decisions, after all, as I will be the only Collins left.”
Roger looked from Jackie’s face to David’s, his irritation ebbing in her presence as he struggled with his doubts. “And you, young lady?”
She lifted her pale eyes to his and David thought he saw Roger tremble, but his father maintained his composure, his hands clasped in front of him as he looked down at her sternly.
She spoke in a soft voice. “Mr. Collins, I will respect your authority and I will do nothing without your permission.” She gazed at him steadily, and he seemed to vacillate.
“Then I can trust you?”
“Of course.” Her eyes were hypnotic.
“Oh, well, then I suppose it is decided,” said Roger abruptly. “And whatever will happen to the Old House? Shall we leave it to fall to rack and ruin once again?”
Barnabas spoke up. “I will be more than happy to remain there.”
“Barnabas, you would make that sacrifice?” asked Roger.
“As a matter of fact, I prefer it. The Old House feels more like home.”
Roger looked around in bewilderment and David realized his father was the only one still in the dark. Except perhaps for his Aunt Elizabeth. She looked to the corner of the room, where Quentin had been sitting silently the entire time.
The tall man rose to his feet and came forward, using his cane to prevent his knocking into the furniture. His smooth and chiseled face was partially hidden by dark glasses tucked over his sideburns, but he managed to find his way to the sideboard where the brandy was kept. The cut-glass decanter had seized the sunlight as well and it glowed with a ruby radiance. With habits long ago mastered, Quentin was able to pour himself a glass, which he lifted in homage to the family before toasting in Jackie’s direction. “Welcome, my dear, to the Great House. I understand—that is, David has informed me—that you are a rather talented painter.”
“Yes, that’s true,” she said, smiling. “Although … I am still a student.”
Quentin tossed the brandy down in one gulp and turned to pour himself another. “I may have a project for you,” he said grimly. “One that might give you great satisfaction. A portrait that needs restoring.”
“I’ll be happy to look at it,” she said, glancing at David.
Elizabeth rose and walked to where Quentin was standing near the window, and she put her palm tenderly on his arm. Roger left hurriedly, claiming business, and David and Carolyn went to prepare a room for their new guest. Jackie was left alone with Barnabas, and she looked up at him somewhat guiltily when he approached her.
“Well done, my dear,” he said. “You have made a coup.”
“Do you disapprove?” she asked.
“No, not at all, and now there is nothing to do but make the best of it. You know your mother is not coming back.”
She nodded, her eyes locked on his.
“You should be happy with your decision. The boy sincerely loves you.”
He looked at her for a long moment.
“After all,” he said, “there has always been a witch at Collinwood.” And he leaned over and kissed her hand.
Cast of Characters
Barnabas Collins: A two-hundred-year-old vampire cursed by the witch Angelique to spend eternity as one of the living dead. An experiment to cure him and make him human lasted for one year but ended in failure.
Dr. Julia Hoffman: Barnabas’s physician and faithful friend who found a cure for his vampirism but used her own blood for the elixir, infecting herself.
Quentin Collins: An immortal member of the family who has lived almost a hundred years of everlasting youth thanks to a portrait that ages in his stead. It also protects him from the werewolf curse.
David Collins: The heir to the Collins fortune, sixteen years old, and in love with Jacqueline.
Roger Collins: David’s father and the oldest living Collins patriarch, a shipbuilder and trader.
Elizabeth Stoddard: Roger’s sister and David’s aunt. A recluse who has not left Collinwood for more than twenty years.
Carolyn Stoddard: Elizabeth’s twenty-four-year-old daughter.
Josette du Prés: Beloved betrothed of Barnabas in 1795 who leapt to her death off Widow’s Hill after he became a vampire.
Angelique Bouchard: The witch who loved Barnabas in Martinique in 1795, and cursed him when he abandoned her, saying, “All who love you will die.” She became his first victim when he strangled her.
Antoinette Harpignies: A young woman who purchased and restored the Old House with her daughter and who looks exactly like Angelique, but is in love with Quentin.
Jacqueline Harpignies: Antoinette’s fifteen-year-old daughter and the reincarnation of Angelique, who lived in Martinique in 1795, and Miranda du Val, who lived in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials.
Dr. Nathanial Blair: An expert in the occult now writing a book on vampires. Brother to Nicholas Blair, who was a warlock.
Laura Collins: Roger’s wife and David’s mother who died in the fire when David was ten. She is a Phoenix.
Willie Loomis: Caretaker to the Collinwood estate and faithful servant to Barnabas.
Magda: A gypsy who resided for a time at Collinwood and laid the werewolf curse on Quentin when she thought he had killed her sister, Jenny.
Locations
The Great House at Collinwood: Patterned after a French château of the Renaissance period, the sixty-five-room mansion overlooking the ocean in Maine is where David, Roger, Elizabeth, Quentin, and Carolyn reside. Various outbuildings include the pool house, the stables, Rose Cottage, and the greenhouse.
The Old House: The columned manor half a mile to the east, where the family lived before 1795. It was burned down by Barnabas and restored by Antoinette and her daughter, Jacqueline, who live there now.
Collinsport: The town on the coast of Maine named after the Collins family where the shipyards and cannery are located, as are the local tavern, the Blue Whale, and the Collinsport Inn.
Tor Books by Lara Parker
Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Descent
Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch
Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising
About the Author
LARA PARKER played the role of Angelique on Dark Shadows. She grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, attended Vassar College, majored in drama at the University of Iowa, and received her M.F.A. in creative writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She lives in Topanga Canyon, California, with her husband and daughter. Visit her at www.laraparker.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
DARK SHADOWS: WOLF MOON RISING
Copyright © 2013 by Dan Curtis Productions, Inc.
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Cover art © Curtis Holdings LLC
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
The Library of Congr
ess has catalogued the print edition as follows:
Parker, Lara.
Dark shadows: wolf moon rising / Lara Parker.—First edition.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-3259-2 (trade paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4668-0089-2 (e-book)
1. Vampires—Fiction. I. Dark shadows (Television program: 1966–1971) II. Title.
PS3616.A74527W65 2013
813'.6—dc23
2013015152
e-ISBN 9781466800892
First Edition: August 2013