Dominic's Nemesis (10 page)

“Aye, a brood of six, there is. My Ethan is
tha oldest. You
’
ll
likely meet Cael and Stephan before long.”

“Are they all…like Dominic? I mean, your
husband seems well-adjusted.”

Kathleen laughed on a sigh. “My Ethan, bless
him, was ‘no tha man he is today when we first met. He was ‘no tha
same as Dominic, but just as much a victim is many ways. Dom, he
bore tha brunt, but none escaped unscathed. Now then, enough of dis
talk.”

* * *

Dominic stood with his back to his
brother.

“Dom?” Cael repeated, softer tone, exuding
genuine concern. “How
is
Gabriel coping?
”

“Badly. He dreams constantly now. Gideon is
beside himself.” Dominic silently cursed Cael
’
s uncanny ability to read people and the
situations around him, particular himself. “How did you know?”

“Ah, you look tired. Been spending a lot of
time in the astral realm lately, monitoring his lifeforce, I
gather.”

Dom conceded with a nod. “Patients must find
that all-knowing thing you do infuriating.”

“Actually many of them profess to find it
comforting…not being forced to string together words to express
their misery. In this case—”

“Is that how…you think of me?” Dom spoke,
hesitant, whispering as if he were afraid or ashamed to voice the
thought. A shaky hand hovered over his face and finally stripped
his eyes of the specs. He turned. “Of us? Gideon, Gabriel and I.
Are we as so many head-cases…a mass of problems to be…worked
through and solved…or abandoned as hopeless and left to
self-destruct.”

“No, Dominic. Never that.” Cael stared at his
brother, humbled.

Dom forced himself to hold his brother’s
gaze, seeing a virtual torment of emotion darken his familiar amber
eyes. Eyes that he rarely saw unhindered by shaded glass.

“I think of you as reflections of myself,
whom I will never allow to self-destruct.” He admitted. “Dominic,
I’ve never told you this, but I often wonder what sort of man I
would have become if I’d had…an indifferent up-bringing. I see a
lot of myself in you.”

Dom nodded his understanding and donned his
spectacles once more. He ducked his head momentarily, gathered his
strength, tucking the little boy back into that tiny crawlspace in
his mind where he
’d be
safe from the scrutiny of a harsh outside world. “Ahem.
Gabriel
’
s ability is
more a curse than any of us have had to endure.”

“
We
don’
t yet know the extent or context of Stephan
’
s ability.” Cael reminded.
“Forgive me for asking, Dom, but why haven
’
t you gone to Italy? If not for Lucca than
surely for Gabriel
’
s
sake.”

“I…can
’
t.” Too many ghosts lurked there to haunt him.
“Gideon will alert me if my presence there becomes…imperative.”

He nodded. “Gabriel aside, it is absolutely
necessary that Stephan master his ability. English society is not
so forgiving of those with mental illness.”

Dom exhaled when he didn
’
t push. For once, Cael seemed to accept
that there were certain things he just wasn
’
t ready to voice.

“Paranormal asylums have begun to emerge,
born of fear and ignorance, the likes of which are run by cruel
opportunistic charlatans like Matthias Montgomery. That abomination
of his—”

A sharp rap stilled the conversation. Both
brothers’ attention swiveled to the door.

Dom arched a brow above the shaded lens. “A
client?”

“No one this late. I was about to close up
for the evening when you arrived.” Nevertheless, Cael started for
the door. “Dom, if you would make yourself scarce.” Over his
shoulder, he gestured for him to astral away.

“I’m not leaving.” Dominic threw a suspicious
frown at the shadow lurking in the bottom of the doorframe.

“
Dom
.”

“I said
no
, Cael.” A warning note
threaded his tone.

“I
’
m a doctor.” Cael insisted.

“Yes, I know,” He snapped, “For people
touched in the head. Any one of whom could be dangerously
unstable-”

“Dominic
please
. My clients are not
dangerous, but they are highly sensitive. I have cultivated an air
of reassurance and anonymity.
You
of all people should
understand that. They will not speak with a witness present. Why
else would I have my office so far removed from polite
society?”

“Fine.” He conceded, with a chaser. “But I
will know if something is off.”

His brother fingered the knob just as Dominic
flickered into his astral self.

Wind blown and oddly content, Eden strolled
along side a woman she grew to like more and more with each passing
day. Waning light and a nippy breeze quickened her steps. She did
not wish Kathleen to catch a chill, especially in her delicate
state. The surrounding trees leveled thick shadows upon the
twosome. The end or rather beginning of the path, spilled into a
grandiose clearing back of the main house with the dormitory-like
servant
’
s quarters set
off from the west side a hundred yards or so. Twilight loomed
large, playing tricks on the eyes. But Eden could have sworn she
glimpsed a figure dart to the right side of the house…where the
first floor study opened out onto an enclosed veranda walled with
fog-grey cobblestone.

“
Kathleen
—” Eden could scarcely make out the older
woman
’
s frown.

“Aye, I saw.” She halted mid-ways the
clearing.

“
A
servant?
”
Eden fell
still beside her.

Kathleen was quick to despoil the theory.
“They enter and exit through tha west wing, lass. From tha
kitchens, leads directly ta tha boarding house there on tha left.
Tha grounds-men have likely retired for tha night, and t’would be
no need for any maid or footman ta be lurking thereabouts.”

“Who then?”

“I fear ‘tis some sticky-fingered bandit
aiming ta snatch a few trinkets. So rarely Dominic is in town.
Could ‘
no resist.
”

“Renfred.” Alarmed, Eden looked to the
servant
’
s quarters, a
hand tightening instinctively around the knapsack over her
shoulder. “He will know what to do.”

“Aye.”
Kathleen gave a sharp nod.
“You fetch Renfred ta do
tha talking…and I’ll fetch dat brawny groom ta put some steel
behind tha words.”

Eden struck out for the west wing of the
house, thinking to circle back to the front facade, enter and warn
the butler. Kathleen followed, and pivoted off to the stables
located above the boarding house on the west side.

* * *

This supposedly eccentric nephew, though
reclusive, had not been particularly difficult to locate…his estate
anyway Matthias thought. Information, on the other hand, was
proving difficult to come by. His first approach, pay a
loose-lipped local to spill any juicy tidbits, but he
’
d come up against a conspiracy of
silence. The scant smear of servants who weren
’
t sequestered on the estate proper had
clamped tighter than a deaf mute. And not a soul in the village and
the surrounding area knew heads nor tails of the
blind
conte,
who used a falcon as his eyes. No pictures. No
portraits. Not even a descent description of the man. He
’
d had no choice but to sneak onto
the grounds and ferret out a stray gardener or disgruntled maid to
bribe.

Also…Fausto hadn
’
t mentioned anything about his nephew being blind.
Why? Not that he suffered any attack of conscious about falsely
committing a blind man…might make his job a touch less troublesome,
actually. Blind or naught, the lucky bastard would get no sympathy
from him. To his thinking, what good was a weakness if one
couldn
’t exploit it?

“Country gent must be flush wit the
Queen
’
s own coffers.”
Matthias cursed the fates beneath his breath as he shuffled along
the palatial country estate.

The woman stumbled into him as he ambled out
of the darkness just as she rounded the side of the house. Even in
the meager light, Matthias realized his good fortune. Greedy eyes
traveled down her person, taking stock of the prey. A live one.
Comely enough and fragile to boot. Perfect.

“
Pardon
me, good woman.
” A voice gravel deep and razor sharp greeted
her. “You be the lady of the house?”

* * *

Face to face with the intruder, Eden tasted
panic. Mouth dry, throat poised to scream, she eased away from his
person. His outward politeness unnerved her.

She considered her options. If she ran and he
decided to give chase, he
’
d over take her for sure. But if she gathered her
wits about her, she could stall the intruder until Kathleen or
Renfred came searching for her. Giving him a good once over for the
first time, she noted that he hadn
’
t moved to pursue her, nor did he appeared to have
a weapon. Of course, should the barrel-chested man attack,
she
’
d be no match for
his strength or thickness.

“Eh…sir. I—”

At that moment Kathleen
’
s buxom frame came bounding around the
side of the house. She stopped short at the scene and then
immediately took up a protective stance beside her. Eden sighed
relief. “Sir, ‘tis a private estate and tha owner will ‘no be
pleased at dis intrusion.”

“You be da lady of the house, then?”

“Aye, at tha moment.” She replied, indignant,
her chin nudged upward. Doing her damnedest to trade on
intimidation alone Eden realized. “Who are ya?”

“Matthias Montgomery, Ma
’
am. Formerly of Bow Street, and I runs the
Asylum, St. Ciaran Isis. Been gettin’ reports of certain goings-on.
Queer sort of ‘appenings, strange folks about the place, maybe wot
need me services. I come to investigate.”

Eden bucked at the mention of madness,
helpless to contain the tremor of terror his words induced. Was
this why Dominic had departed so abruptly? To summon the
handlers
to come take her away.

“
Is dat
so?
” Kathleen huffed, hands on amble hips. Her flame hair
paled in comparison to the venom she spewed. “Is dis how ya
investigate then? Lurking about tha bushes, scaring tha blazes out
of tha women folk? A pox on ya, sir.”

“Loonies lurking about are a public nuisance,
Mylady. Danger to themselves and those around ‘em.” He cast a
leering smile over Kathleen
’
s heaving busoms, before shooting a derisive scoff
at Eden
’
s softer assets.
“They must be
dealt wit…one way or another.”

“Bah!” She dismissed him. “Get out of ‘ere
before I summon a footman ta learn ya better manners.”

* * *

Eden! Her name was a scream in his mind.
Something, some
one
most like, caused her distress. Her
suffering pained him like a festering wound or a hungry beast
gnawing at his flesh with an insatiable appetite. He
hadn
’
t needed to track
her. Gossamer violet tinsel still saturated him from being
intermingled with her earlier.

Dominic hovered in the timeless black void,
infinity
’
s abyss,
populated by disembodied souls more numerous than grains of sand on
the beach. Mystical, evocative, deceptively alluring, the astral
realm was a drug for the mind. While the normal human senses dulled
to the point of non-existence, thoughts and emotions were
conversely intensified. As if the enhancement of one compensated
for the loss of the other. Whatever sentiment a person happened to
be experiencing, one
’
s
essence experienced a hundredfold.

Dom struggled against a tiny fear exaggerated
to nightmarish proportions. His urge to go to her, to protect
her…shield her, bodily if necessary, nagged at him. But he would
not leave Cael at the mercy of some unrealized threat. Torn, nearly
in two, he willed himself calm and steady.

At such a dangerous level of emotional
overload, Dominic knew he wouldn
’
t be able to restrain himself for long. He would be
forced to either exit the astral and abandon Eden altogether or
stay and track both hers and Cael
’
s essence at once. Parallel tracking was draining.
He could only take on two people at once and for very short periods
of time.

If it were possible to sweat on the astral,
his essence would be slick. The first burst of motion alleviated
the sensation; giving way to the impression of walking against gale
force wind. The twofold effort he extended made astral traveling
that much slower. Pausing, he concentrated on Cael
’
s essence alone to give his mind a
break. All appeared well with him and the other one. He re-assumed
his burden and tracked closer to her. In the eternity of emptiness
that seemed to separate him from her, he sensed her anxiety lessen
a degree. The apprehension gripping him eased off a little.

Dom paced closer, he could see another
nearby. Kathleen. Good, for once she was on her post.
Eden
’
s lilac warmth
beckoned him, feeding his…attraction? Addiction? Obsession? He knew
not what to term the strange emotion that had seized him and
continued to intensify. He ached to be with her, near her, touch
her, know her.

In his haste to reach her, Dom did not
consider what he would do once he had heaven within his grasp. He
shied away from disembarking in front of Kathleen. Not because she
would be shocked or scared. Dominic knew full well that Ethan had
spilled the family secret to his wife. He
was
mortified at first. The idea of someone
he barely knew and trusted even less knowing something so damning
about him flung him back in time…to Italy. The threat of being
labeled a scourge and cast back in the path of torture and misery
up-surged every time he laid eyes on his brother
’
s wife.