“I’ve been called worse.” He shrugged and turned away.
“I came here to apologize.”
He chuckled, the sound humorless and tinny. “Apology accepted.”
Dull fury smothered her embarrassment. She jerked open the door and stormed downstairs. None of this mattered. Not Reece. Not her serial killer sister. Not her horrible father. She was leaving. By the end of the day, she would either be on a plane or at the very least in a hotel room near the airport, and these people nothing more than an unpleasant memory.
For whatever reason her mother gave her to her grandparents and her grandparents kept Stonecliff from her, she didn’t care. In fact, she should probably be grateful.
Still fuming, Brynn marched into Stonecliff and straight to the study where she’d seen a computer the day before. A visit to the airline’s website and she’d reschedule her flight home, and if she couldn’t get a flight out today, she’d find a hotel for tonight.
She sat in the thronelike leather chair behind the ornately carved desk. The position offered a clear view of the courtyard and line of trees behind the coach house. Reece pushed a wheelbarrow from the garage along the path and disappeared into the woods.
“Jerk,” she muttered, leaning down to switch on the CPU under the desk. A fresh wave of embarrassment washed over her.
She gave herself a mental shake. Focus. She opened the web browser, but rather than the airline, she searched Matthew Langley and Cragera Bay.
What are you doing? a small voice in the back of her head demanded, but Brynn ignored it. She was…curious.
A couple of articles popped up with the man’s name, but aside from stating that he’d been found dead and foul play suspected, there were few details.
Nipping her lip, she typed Eleri’s name next and Stonecliff. More than a dozen articles appeared on the screen.
“Holy crap,” she muttered, scrolling through the list. She really should have done this before she’d left Chicago and she wouldn’t be in this mess now.
She opened one article randomly and read, then another and another. With each one, a sick feeling settled over her and intensified. God, the things written about her sister. These articles weren’t merely reports about a woman suspected in a man’s disappearance; they were a smear campaign.
Most were from about two years ago, around the time a man named Daniel Forbes had vanished, and most were written by the same reporter. But the content was so over the top. How could anyone have taken the stories seriously? They ranged from claiming Eleri was the leader of some pagan coven sacrificing the men who vanished to portraying her as a seductress luring men to their demise through sex.
Somehow, Brynn didn’t see her sister as the femme fatale type. The magazine’s website didn’t strike her as the most credible. Besides “The Witch of Stonecliff,” the other articles revolved around unsubstantiated celebrity gossip and unexplained lights in rural skies.
Movement at her peripheral jerked her attention from the computer screen. Through the window, Eleri followed the same path Reece had taken earlier, head bent against the wind, stride purposeful. The forest swallowed her, blocking her from view.
Unease scurried up Brynn’s back like a frigid spider. She stood, snatched her coat off the chair and slipped outside through the French doors. Surely, Eleri using the same trail as Reece was just a coincidence. But Dylis’s stories mingled with the articles she’d just read, and Brynn had to be sure he was all right—even if he was an ass.
She followed the gravel track into the woods. It curved aimlessly through the trees, the stones growing sparse and soon disappearing into little more than a worn footpath in the dirt. Hard sunlight cast long shadows over the forest floor and the woodsy scent of moss and wet leaves filled her nose. The relentless hush of the surf faded, replaced by the creak and rattle of the bare tree branches in the wind, and the intermittent caw of a crow.
An unnerving sense of isolation settled over her. Goose bumps prickled her skin. What the hell had ever possessed her to follow her sister into the woods? If she didn’t make it back, who would look for her?
With her grandparents gone and Zack out of her life, who would notice if she just disappeared?
She had friends, sure. And they’d no doubt find it strange if she never came back from her vacation. Hell, Tabitha, her closest friend, might even report her missing. But Tab, like her other friends, had her own life and she’d go on living it. Eventually, Brynn would wind up a mere blip in conversation.
“Remember Brynn James? Whatever happened to her?”
“She went on a trip to Wales and never came back.”
“That’s odd.”
“It sure is. I love those shoes, by the way.”
“Oh, do you? I found them on sale.”
Pretty damn depressing, really.
Brynn stopped walking. Two stone posts with a rusted gate hanging drunkenly from one hinge between them blocked her path. There was no fence on either side of the posts, making it useless; she could easily go around. Instead she drew closer, her gaze falling on a round face carved into the stone on the right post. The eyes, nose and mouth flowed into a cluster of leaves surrounding the bulbous head like a lion’s mane. A flash of déjà vu swept through her, then vanished nearly as quickly as it arrived.
She traced a finger over the cold, damp stone, following the swirling line from leaf to mouth.
“It’s a green man.” Eleri’s voice from out of nowhere made her start. Her heart lodged in her chest and she whirled around to face her sister.
“Holy crap, you scared me.”
“Sorry,” Eleri said, but her voice lacked contrition. Her dark gaze was intent on Brynn’s hand on the stone.
“What does it mean?” Brynn asked.
Eleri shrugged. “Lots of things, but mostly rebirth.”
An image popped into her head. The same stone face, but surrounded by lush, dark green. Insects hummed by her ear. A sweet floral scent tickled her nose and a thin line of sweat dribbled down her back over her already sticky skin.
Brynn jerked her hand back and blinked. Was that… Had she actually remembered something? Her heart beat fast against the inside of her ribs. A strange thrill mixed with faint dread.
“What is it?” Eleri’s eyes were oddly bright in the low light.
“Nothing,” she said. “What are you doing out here?”
A rueful smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Out for a walk, working up the courage to face you and figuring out what I was going to say to you when I did. Reece told me you were pretty angry last night.”
“I don’t understand why you brought me here.”
“I haven’t been fair to you.” Eleri swallowed hard. “I know how all of this must sound, but it’s not true what they say about me.”
“You’re being investigated for murder, and not for the first time.”
“I didn’t kill anyone. People in the village blame me for everything that goes wrong because of Meris.”
Brynn’s temper shot up a notch. “My mother, Meris? Who’s been dead for fifteen years? You think she’s responsible for police questioning you in a murder that occurred weeks ago? Do I have that right?”
Eleri’s eyes flashed. “Your mother was not a kind woman. Before she died, she destroyed any chance I had for a normal life.”
“Is that why you killed her?”
Eleri’s hands fisted at her sides. “She fell. I was nowhere near her when it happened.”
“Then why does everyone think you did?”
“She told people I was dangerous. She’d point to bite marks and scratches to prove it. Of course, she neglected to mention that I gave her those marks while she was trying to shut me down the cellar. There were no lights. I was a child, terrified.”
Eleri had to be lying. The woman who had written those letters wouldn’t do that to a child, any child. Meris had been afraid of this place. She’d sent Brynn away to protect her. Was Eleri the darkness her mother had written abo
ut? The evil?
“This is the reason for everything,” Eleri said, closing the distance between them.
Brynn took two quick steps back. Her sister’s mouth thinned, but she didn’t comment, turning her attention to lifting the gate’s latch and pushing it open. The hinge creaked loudly, ominous in the quiet.
Foreboding swept through Brynn, colder than the wind whipping at her hair. Her pulse fluttered in her throat. She did not want to go through that gate.
“Come with me, and I’ll show you why I brought you here.”
No thanks. “I’m going back to the house.”
“Don’t,” Eleri said. “I promise you, everything will make sense once you see this.”
There’s something waiting… “What are you going to show me?”
“The reason for everything.” Eleri turned and held her gaze, expression inscrutable. “You’ve come all this way. Do you really want to come this close to understanding what happened when you were a child only to walk away now?”
She knew which buttons to press. Still, Brynn hesitated. She slipped her hand into her coat pocket, wrapped her fingers around her rental car key. He sister was smaller than her. If Eleri tried something, Brynn could hold her own. Of course, there were four men who probably thought the same thing. But the bottom line was she couldn’t come this far and go back. She would always wonder what had been past the gate.
“Fine,” Brynn said, and gestured to the opening. “After you.”
Once through the gate, the trees at the edge of the path closed tighter. Gray branches snagged on Brynn’s coat and hair like bony fingers. A sour stink thickened the air and she wrinkled her nose. “What’s that smell?”
For all she knew, Eleri was leading her to a pile of corpses. Her collection of missing men.
Eleri shrugged. “The bog.”
“You’re taking me to a swamp?” What for? To toss her in? She tightened her grip on her keys.
“Your mother used to spend hours here,” Eleri said, without looking back.
“My mother liked to spend time at a bog?”
Eleri smirked over her shoulder. “I know it’s not much of a tourist attraction, but Meris felt a connection to it, to the history. It’s the reason your mother wanted to marry our father. Even the stories about me stem from this place. According to legend, druid priests used the bog in their rituals. There are groves and standing stones all over the island claiming the same distinction. Anglesey used to be theirs, you know, before the Romans.”
Brynn did know, actually, but only on a very superficial level. She’d read something about it in a travel brochure when she’d booked her trip. The Isle of Anglesey in North Wales had been a Druid stronghold. In truth, she hadn’t paid much attention to the history of the island or the village of Cragera Bay.
“The bog gives off energy, power. Didn’t you feel it the minute we passed through the gate?”
Maybe. A deep foreboding, humming along her skin. Cold dread, curdling her innards. The hair at the back of her neck prickled, and an invisible pressure bore between her shoulder blades as if unseen eyes peered at them from the trees.
Of course, that same sense of unease didn’t need a supernatural explanation. The mere fact that she was traipsing through the woods with a possible serial killer was more than enough reason to inspire a certain amount of apprehension.
“When the Romans invaded,” Eleri continued, “they slaughtered the druids worshipping at the bog. The brutality and spilled blood twisted that power, soured the grounds.”
Was that the reason for the shadows Brynn had seen in the house? The strange noises? She shivered, slipped her hands into her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders. “So this place is haunted?”
Eleri shook her head. “Cursed.”
Considering the things she’d seen and heard over the past two nights, she almost wished the house was haunted. After all, the only other explanation was she was losing her mind.
“Whatever energy made the bog sacred remains,” Eleri continued. “Your mother was as fascinated by it as I was repelled. Meris claimed to be related to the family who owned the property before Arthur’s great-uncle bought the land.”
“Another family lived here before ours?”
“The Worthings. Their house was destroyed in a fire. Apparently, one of Jonas Worthing’s daughters was mad and burned the family in their beds while they slept.”
“Lovely.” Goose bumps stippled Brynn’s skin. She glanced at the woods. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching them.
Eleri pointed down the path. “The ruin of the original house is just past The Eye. The tragedy only solidified the idea of a curse in people’s minds, and our own family’s tragedies fuelled the fire.”
“What tragedies?”
“Our great-uncle, who purchased the land and built Stonecliff, murdered his infant son and wife before hanging himself in the coach house. Our grandfather, who unfortunately inherited the property, died from a fall off the cliffs after our grandmother left him. Two years later, she died in a car accident.” Eleri glanced over her shoulder. “That’s our family legacy. Death. Insanity. Murder.”
“Wonderful. And it all stems from the bog?” A bog where her mother enjoyed spending her time—according to Eleri. For all Brynn knew, this whole story was bullshit.
Something dark moved at the edge of her vision. Brynn jerked her head sideways and scanned the forest. Everything remained still, silent except for the hiss of wind scattering dead leaves over the ground. No squirrels scurried from tree to tree. No birds flitted between the branches or chirped from above.
Another flash of movement at her peripheral, but this time when she turned, a dark figure—tall, at least six feet—wove between the trees.
Brynn’s heart jumped, lodging in her throat.
“Holy shit,” she squeaked. “Did you see that?”
“No.” Eleri kept her attention fixed straight ahead.
Well, maybe if you looked…
What if Eleri had been able to overpower men much bigger than her because she wasn’t working alone?
Brynn froze, pulse thudding so fast she could taste it. “Forget it. I’m going back.”
“It’s too late. We’re already here.” Eleri pointed to the opening through the trees, and the wide marsh stretched out black before them. “The Devil’s Eye.”
Brynn’s skin turned cold and hot all at once. Blood drained from her head in a whoosh, leaving her dizzy.
She knew this place. She’d seen it before. Not something like it. She’d been here before. Trees, dark and gnarled, encircled the bog about ten feet back from the shore. Long yellow grass at the water’s edge bowed under the weight of last night’s rain.
Yes, she’d seen it all before—in summer greens, gloomy despite the sun casting dappled shadows over the forest floor. With insects buzzing past her, skin itchy and damp with sweat. She’d felt the water sluicing over her skin like icy oil as she sank beneath the surface. The frigid burn in her nose and lungs. Sediment filtering between her teeth. Cold iron in her mouth.
This was where she’d drowned.
Chapter Ten
Reece stood before the rusted gate, dull panic gnawing at his insides. Of all the places Eleri could have taken Brynn, why The Devil’s Eye?
He’d been on his way back to the house, fading daylight leaving the woods dark and shadowy, when he’d spotted Brynn through the trees trailing her sister. He’d watched the women pass through the gate and opened his mouth to call out to Brynn, but snapped it shut again.
What should he have said? Don’t go down there. If your sister does anything, I can’t follow to help you.
It sounded crazy even to him. Besides, after the way he’d behaved in his flat he doubted she’d put much stock in anything he had to say. Not that he’d blame her. He still felt like the world’s biggest prat.
He stepped closer to the gate. Just like always, the faint hum in his ears intensified—growing louder and hig
her pitched. Out of sheer habit he strengthened the blocks in his head until the sound faded. Though, it didn’t disappear completely. It never did here. He was fairly certain The Devil’s Eye was at the heart of whatever was messing with his senses.
She’ll die and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. The ghost boy’s words whispered through his head, and an icy chill wrapped around him. Was this what he’d meant?
What if Brynn was already dead?
“Brynn!” he yelled.
No answer. Just birds flitting in the trees and the low drone inside his skull. He forced his feet forward. The whirring intensified to a piercing crescendo screaming in his ears. He fortified his blocks again, concentrating as hard as he could. Jaw knotted. Hands squeezed to fists at his sides. His pace slowed, feet growing heavy as if trudging hip-deep through water, but he pushed on.
White, blinding pain seared his forehead from temple to temple, slicing his skull. His knees buckled and he collapsed inches from the threshold.
He couldn’t do it, couldn’t go through. The pain was too intense. What was that place?
“Shit,” he managed, in a thready whisper. Panting, he crawled from the opening until the agony receded and the ringing in his ears faded.
Something warm and wet dribbled over his upper lip. He wiped away the moisture and looked down at his blood-smeared fingertips.
What was he meant to do now? He couldn’t follow them—at least not without his skull splitting open.
Footfalls thudded hard on the forest floor, and moving his way fast, cut through the quiet. He tensed. Images of a knife-wielding Eleri popped into his head. Instead, Brynn shoved through the gate, running like the devil himself was after her.
“Brynn,” he called. At the sound of her name, she swung around to face him. Her sudden shift in momentum and muddy trainers slipping on the gravel path sent her sprawling forward. He made a grab for her, but missed. She hit the ground hard on all fours, hands sliding through the layers of dead leaves and damp earth.
He squatted beside her. “Are you all right?”
She scrambled back onto her knees, pressing one hand to her chest while she gasped for breath.
Shivers Box Set: Darkening Around MeLegacy of DarknessThe Devil's EyeBlack Rose (Shivers (Harlequin E)) Page 36