Dominic's Nemesis (20 page)

“
Check his eyes.” She directed.

Lillian always kept a safe distance away,
preferring to observe from the shadows of the room
’
s many archways that
spilled into the underground torture chamber.

‘
The doctor was tall and reed thin, with a
whip of a mustache and a hallow face with skin stretched tight over
the skulk. He pried Dominic
’
s lids back with jabbing fingers and
shined a candle at him. Mind-shackled to the pewter stone, all he
could manage was to squirm against the invasion.

“
Still he stares out with the
devil
’
s gaze.” The doctor
’
s voice was the last
judgment.

“
Purify him.” His mother
’
s dulcet tone echoed
across the wet, musty chamber, mocking her condemning words.
“I
’
ll
have my son back. My flesh and blood, not this atrocity hiding
behind sweet little Dominic
’
s face.”

“
Come, let us prepare.”

Lillian’s coven of spiritualists filed out
through various archways: the druid, the witch, the priest, and
finally the doctor, leaving him isolated on the island dais
surrounded by chill and misery. The mingled sound of dripping water
and scurrying rodents punctuated the nightmarish darkness.

He often wondered why none of them had ever
thought to simply gouge out his eyes. Attack the demon at its
source. Dominic weighed the alternative: the broken bones,
bleedings, stench of scorched hair and flesh. His throat still
screamed from retching up the foul concoctions the witch routinely
forced into him. All that would cease, if they simply plucked out
the mismatched orbs dirtying the windows to his mind. Blindness. It
was acceptable to have the ceremonies stop, and the horror of
knowing his soul damned to hell fade. His mother might even love
him again.

He couldn
’
t do it himself. He was always
restrained either by his mother
’
s mind or the grated pit. Suggesting
the solution to his tormentors was also out of the question.
Lillian and her spiritualist cronies were a keen and radical bunch,
but he doubted even they would allow the possessed to direct the
manner of his own exorcism.

A faint scrambling shattered the silence.
His dread spiked, thinking they
’
d returned sooner than usual to begin
the next effort to drive the demon out.

“
Dominic?” The thin shaky squeak
alleviated his fear. “Dominic, please, I can
’
t see! Tell me where
I
’
m
going.”

He couldn
’
t shout because his voice just
barely worked. “
Shhh, don’
t let them hear you.”

The scrambling grew louder and more
confident.

“
Dominic?” His brother
’
s murmur wafted from
a few feet away.

“
Here, Ethan.”

“
What
’
s wrong with your voice?” He asked, as
he climbed atop the stone platform.

“
Nothing, just the chill.” He lied. Though
Dominic was younger by a couple of years, his brother Ethan had
only recently fallen into the care of their mother. He felt
obligated to shield Ethan as much as possible, lest Lillian take it
in her mind that he too needed ‘curing
’
. “You shouldn
’
t be here.”

Dominic closed his eyes when his
brother
’
s warm gentle fingers closed around his neck.
The rawness and the ache faded like liquid through a sieve. “How
did you do that?” His voice carried strong and deep.

“
I don’
t know.” He shrugged. “I
’
ve always been able
to.”

“
Can you fix my wrist? I think one of
em
’
s
broken.
”

“
I
’
ll try.” Warm, nervous fingers trailed
down both his arms until they found the useless flopping
hand.

“
Don
’
t worry about hurting me.
They
’
re both numb.” As with his throat, the feeling
and strength flowed back into his hands in a matter of moments.
“Never let her know, ever, what you can do. Ever! Promise
me.”

“
I promise.” The small voice
agreed.

“
Where are Gideon and Gabriel?”

“
Confined in the cellar most of the time.
Are they my brothers too?”

“
Yeah.” If she
’
d started in on the twins,
she
’
d
eventually turn on Ethan as well. He
’
d been foolish to hope. “She
lets you see them?”

“
Sure, whenever I ask. Dominic, how come mama
does this to you?”

He stiffened. “It
’
s mostly the
others.”

“
Only because she allows it. I know.
Gabriel told me. He dreams things, things about you and our mother.
He
’
s
how I knew where to come.”

Ahhh, Gabriel. Dominic had wondered about
that.

“
He wanted me to find out if you
were…alive. I did not know what he meant at first. I called him a
liar.”

“
Ethan.” A plan formed in his mind.

“
Yes.”

“
Would you do me a favor?” If he could get
Ethan to comply, maybe he could trick her.

“
Sure.”

“
It will be hard. And painful. I would rather
not have you involved, but there is no one else.” Once he convinced
his mother he was cured, they could devise a plan. His blindness
would be a handicap, but it could work. As long as Ethan knew where
the twins were and still had access to them.

“
What is it?”

Dominic took a deep breath. “The next time
you come, bring a metal rod, sharpened to a point and hot. The
poker from one of the fireplaces, that
’
ll do.”

“
Do for what?” His brother
’
s voice shook,
seeming to not want the answer to his own question.

“
You will gouge out my eyes.” Dominic spoke
as commanding as he could. “Then use your fingers to heal up the
empty sockets. Make it look like a miracle from Heaven.”

The answering wobble was not encouraging.
“But you
’
ll be blind.”

“
Once my eyes are gone,
she
’
ll think I
’
m normal again and let me out of
here.”

“
No, Dominic. I…can
’
t.”

“
Yes, you can. It
’
s the only way. We have to
save Gideon and Gabriel before they end up like me.”

“
She doesn
’
t hurt them.”

“
She didn
’
t hurt me at first
either.”

“
We can find another way.”

“
In the meantime they
’
ll torture me. Do you want
that?”

“
What if I just keep coming back to heal what
they do.”

“
That
’
s not a good plan, Ethan.
They
’
ll notice if I heal too quickly. Or worse, what
if mama catches you? And do you want Gabriel to dream about what
they do to me? I bet he hasn
’
t admitted the worse of it.”

“
I…I have to go.”

“
No, Ethan, wait. Please. Ethan?” But he
could already hear the retreating scramble.

“
I
’
ll think of something else.” He called
back.

“
Ethan!” He strained against the invisible
hold.

“Dom.” Cael’s quiet, rational voice answered
instead.

“ETHAN!” He snapped back in the chair and
shot up to his feet, upending the desk in the process. It flipped
over onto its side in a deafening crash with fly-away papers,
fallen books, and much scattering of knickknacks.

“Dominic?”

“I want to see him!” Wild-eyed, he raked over
the room, but saw nothing but reflections of his own blurred panic.
“Where is he? I have to make him understand.”

“Dom, calm down. Whatever was happening to
you a moment ago is over now. Ethan is fine; he
’
s upstairs with Kathleen and Stephan.”

Sweaty and panting, his first sane thought
was that he
’
d crushed
the letter. He held its crumpled remains to his forehead, sopping
the wetness there. “Oh, Gawd.”

“Are you alright?” He heard Cael’s concerned
voice from somewhere close.

“No, I
’
m not.” He felt the tears coming, but
couldn
’
t stop them. He
blinked furiously, trying to bring Cael
’
s face into focus.

“I
’
m not alright, Cael. She
’
ll start in on Gideon next.” Gentle,
guiding hands propelled him around the cedar titan and he followed,
grateful for their support. “He’s different, too. I
couldn
’
t stop her
…I begged Ethan to help
me stop her but he wouldn
’
t…Gideon, Gabriel, then Ethan. Now Stephan.
I
’
m going to kill
her!”

“Dom, you
’
re not making any sense. Come from behind the desk.
Come on, come over here and sit down. That
’
s right, step over the mess.”

“Its my fault.” He should have been able to
stop her before she’d gotten to Stephan.

“Dom?” She stepped forward.

His ears perked up at the small female voice.
“Eden.”

“Yes.” Her stomach did summersaults when his
naked eyes clapped on her face for the first time. They
were…haunting. She
’
d
never forget the sight even if this were the only time she had the
privilege. His left eye was a striking shade of blue, bright,
almost luminescent sky blue. The right one was slate gray, with a
lighter pewter variation towards the center. The anguish she saw in
their depths was a palpable thing. She wanted to go to him
immediately, but Cael stayed her just inside the door with a firm
gesture.

“Miss Prescott, I think it would be best if
you left us alone.”

Eden frowned at Atherton
’
s suggestion, but her eyes never left
Dominic
’
s frayed
expression. “Dom?”

He seemed confused, caught somewhere between
past and present. Atherton led his docile bulk over to the sofa
facing the hearth. Still, he did not speak to her, merely shifted
his gaze from her face to his brother
’
s hovering concern. Perhaps the mind doctor was
right. Dominic would not want her to see him thus and even though
it went against her instincts to leave, she believed Atherton would
treat him with care.

“You
’
ll call me if he asks-”

“I promise.”

Eden ought to be rejoicing. She
wasn
’
t a lunatic.
Atherton had proclaimed it so and he was a head doctor. His opinion
held weight. But happiness wasn
’
t on the menu as long as Dominic suffered. She
wished that she were the one with him right now. She wanted him to
trust and accept comfort from her. She yearned to be the woman he
confided in, leaned on, loved.
Loved
? Where had that word
come from? No, he didn
’
t
love her. Desired, sure…but loved? Not likely.

She wandered down the hallway, no particular
destination in mine. Her footsteps were muted by the narrow paisley
rug that ran across the cherrywood. End tables lurked in alcoves,
primed to launch out at her as she ambled past them. The afternoon
sun shone through bay windows that resembled giant eyes peering
through curtained lashes. She hitched up her shawl, turned right at
the familiar fork that led to Dominic’s domain. Despite her host’s
warning, Eden spit in the eye of the Goliath door writhing with
bas-relief satyrs and winged dragons. She bypassed the sun-bathed
pianoforte and crossed into the cozy seclusion of the library.
Only, today, she found it wasn’t so secluded.

She did not notice him at first, but suffered
a twinge of unease and surveyed her surroundings for the source.
When her eyes fell upon the Sphinx, poised in the action of
extracting a book from the shelf, she walked out of her shoe.

Sunlight played over his wine-red hair
teasing out mahogany highlights. Eden couldn
’
t be sure. His expression did not emote
any specific sentiment, but he seemed just as surprised to find her
rattling about Dom
’
s
lair, as she was to find him.

She slipped her stocking clad foot back where
it belonged. “I did not expect anyone would be in here.”

Seconds ticked by. Still, warm amber eyes
melted over her without a word. His presence was a silent roar in
her ears. For a moment she tensed. Was he really there?

She stepped forward. “Mr. Atherton?”

“Stephan.” He corrected.

Eden exhaled. He was real, at least. “And you
may call me, Eden.”

Silence reigned again as he pulled the book
from the shelf, and took up a seat on the brocaded sofa. She
strained to identify the leather-bound volume in his lap. When she
again met his face, she found him reading her instead of the book
he
’
d chosen. Eden
shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Was he waiting for
her to leave or to sit down?