Dominic's Nemesis (27 page)

“No.” Gideon came around to the opposite side
of the bed. “At night he sleeps in the normal way, except for the
nightmare. The same one repeats every night. Always, at dawn he
becomes like this. Trapped in a waking dream. Eyes open, but
sightless, lifeless. His chest moves, but that is the only proof
that he lives. Feeding him is a chore. I can manage to get him to
swallow only if I pinch off his nose.”

“Aww, Muse, I should have known I would find
you here.” Dominic spared the Himalayan feline a brief smile as he
bent to stroke the opulent silver-grey fur where it lay flush with
his brother
’
s corded
olive skin. Muse trilled, and then redirected soulful azures back
to nuzzle her head beneath her master
’
s limp hand. “How long?”

“A fortnight.” Gideon was the worse for wear.
Chaotic blue-black locks much like his own, shadowy jaw, and a suit
that looked more slept on than the over-plush bedcovers that lay
sprayed out over his comatose mirror image.

“Have you tried to arouse him?”

“With every technique I can think of. Buckets
of water, hot wax, smelling salts. I
’ve
even been at him with a needle. Nothing.”

“The dreams have always disturbed him, but
this…” Dom trailed off, lifting his eyes to catch the troubled
expression across the great divide of the bed. “Has
this
…happened before?”

“A few times, but it only lasted an hour or
so, and only after an especially vivid dream…most had to do with
violent events.”

“He is distressed for sure.” Dominic nodded.
“His essence practically vibrates. But what do you think
he
’
s seeing? What could
put him in such a state?”

“I have thought about it.” Gideon glanced
down at his twin
’
s
sightless stare. “The only event that comes to mind is…my
death.”

“No.” He recoiled from the idea, even as the
word shot from his mouth. When his brother looked back up at him,
Dominic backed away from what he saw. Gideon
’
s intense slate grey gaze held neither
fear nor defiance, no preference for life over death…only concern
for his twin. “No, Gideon.”

“That is the real reason I summoned you here.
If I am right, you
’
ll
need to take care of Gabriel…after.” Gideon followed him. “I
have
already begun to
put my affairs in order. We, by we I mean you, the true Conte
Ambrosi, must also be prepared to take your place as the head of
the family. I realize that it will be difficult and I would have
been more than willing to take on the burden instead, but—”

The sight of his brother’s expressionless
acceptance fueled an increasing panic in Dom. “
I don’
t want to hear this. I won’t have
it!” He shook his head, and pivoted to take full strides for the
window. Gideon followed. “Gabriel is wrong this time.”

“When has Gabriel ever been wrong? Was he
wrong about our mother?”

The rawness of the words chafed his
heart.

“Tell me, Dom, was he wrong about
Stephan?”

His head snapped around. “He saw…”

“Stephan
’
s ability is quite extraordinary. Would you like to
know the nature of it? By the by, you should talk to Cael. His
headaches are worsening and more frequent than he’s let on.” Gideon
continued, bearing down on him, driving a knife through his heart.
His eyes like cold marcasite crystals, glittering in the sunlight
that leached through the grand cathedral windows. He
didn
’
t walk, no, his
looming form glided across the floor with predatory elegance. “Oh,
congratulate Ethan for us. Tell him he can stop worrying, Kathleen
will make it through the birth just fine. Would you like to know
the gender of the child?”

For a moment, a split second, anxiety played
havoc with his mind. He saw Lillian stalking towards him,
relentless, remorseless…her dark beauty more frightening than death
itself. The twins resembled their mother the most. Particularly
Gideon when he bowed to fatalism and macabre tactics. His short,
coiffed locks morphed into Rapunzel-length vines. His grey orbs
darkened to soulless black holes. The angular planes of his face
softened to creamy cheeks, a serpentine smile slithered across her
lips…

“Stop it!”

Even his voice somehow lifted from bass to
contralto. “Your woman. She is exquisite, Dominic, if a bit reedy.
Both Gabriel and I were pleasantly surprised.”

“Gideon, please, no more…do you want me lying
on that bed beside Gabriel?”

At last he stopped, coming to stand behind
him, compassion melted he stony gaze to a warm smoky gray. “Forgive
me, but I do not fear it and neither should you. Death is a natural
part of life. Come, if talking about my passing makes you this
uncomfortable we can put it off a day or so, but I warn you,
we
’
ll have to discuss it
soon. Tell me about
her
. Surely it is she who has wrought
the changes I see in you. I had thought you would bring her
along.”

The vice around his throat loosened when
Gideon clapped him on the back and propelled him towards a matched
pair of throne-esque chairs separated by a claw-foot marble
table.

“Bring Eden here? And have Nonna and the
aunts rake her across the coals while the servants use her for
gossip fodder? Hell no.”

* * *

Hundreds of miles away, Eden gazed unseeing
out the drawing room window at a day so dreary it almost rivaled
the gloom hanging over her heart. Fat raindrops splattered like
tears against the glass. The menacing billows overhead emptied
their contents on the land in a mad rage, obscuring the landscape
but for the occasional dagger of lightening. After an hour, she
ceased to start at the crackles of thunder that preceded each flash
bolt.

“Do you intend to mope around for the whole
of his absence?”

She abandoned her vigil at the window to find
the Sphinx, awaiting an answer to his riddle. Her mood did not make
for good conversation but she didn’t have the heart to request to
be left alone. He
’
d come
looking for her. Perhaps wishing to continue with the book
they
’
d begun, though she
did not spy it in his hand.

“Maybe.” She shrugged, an edgy apathy to her
words. “I only recently gave up suicide, you know.”

Warm amber crinkled at the corners as they
would if he
’
d smile,
only his lips remained uncurved. “Death would not become you.”

She hardly needed reminding that her skin
shone pale as a corpse. With her natural thinness and white-blonde
hair, if she skipped even one meal she tended to resemble just
that. “Have you come to suggest a diverting occupation, then?”

“If you like.”

He came forward to sit across from her on a
silly-looking chaise, made even more ridiculous by the intense
gentleman adorning it. The carved wood feet seemed to shrink in
shame at being upstaged in both import and interest.

“What shall it be then…The pianoforte?
Reading in the library? Surely not brandy over a game of
whist?”

“In a mood, I see.” His expression said that
he could relate. She even detected a note of enjoyment in his
voice. “I am at your service.”

“I played twenty questions with your
brother.” She challenged, determined to provoke a glimpse beneath
the old world gentleman persona he choose to don.

“Dominic? Playing a game? Not likely.”

“Atherton.” She corrected. “You first.”

He leaned forward, an assessing look in his
eyes. “Why are you so phobic about my brother
’
s
absence?
”

She sighed at the question. Not surprising.
“I miss him.” She admitted, which was true enough.

“This melancholy of yours goes beyond
yearning for a lover.”

Eden
’
s eyes bucked. Her first thought was that Dominic
had told him, but she quickly discarded that notion. “Can you read
minds? Is that your gift?”

“Dominic is very forthcoming, I see.” No gasp
or owlish look of surprise from the Sphinx. He merely acknowledged
a fact. “Mine is a curse, not a gift.”

“But did you read my mind?” She
persisted.

“No. You did not
answer
my
question, Eden. Dominic’s absence,
why does it affect you so?”

She shrugged, allowing her eyes to wonder
around the room before they came to rest again on him. “I should
think it rather obvious. You
’
re his brother. Your place in his life and his
affection is secure. Me, I could be tossed out with the garbage at
the slightest provocation. What if this Gideon character does not
approve? Dominic holds him and the other one in great
esteem…certainly greater than whatever he feels for me.”

“You have nothing to fear.”

Her expression became incredulous. “You say
that with such finality. Dominic and Dr. Raine both think I am a
Bedlamite-in-the-making.”

“If Ethan gave you that impression it was
accidental, I’m sure. He favors you for a sister-in-law and he
would not be above matchmaking to accomplish it. A blind man could
see that Dominic wants you…and has clearly had you. He would not
take a madwoman to bed.”

“But how do you know.” She insisted,
desperate to believe him.

“Because before he left he charged me with
the duty of protecting his woman. He said nothing of his house, his
lands, his accounts; he merely wanted
you
to be safe. It was
not difficult to see that his attachment is profound. Dominic
wouldn’t have spilled the family secret unless he already
considered you to be part of the family. Trust me, there is nothing
to fear.”

Some of her anxiety abated. With its loss
came more curiosity about the man before her. She tilted her head
to the side, and studied him. “I want to see what haunts you.”

His eyes shuttered at the request, and he
leaned away from her. “
I
don’
t know if I can limit it to a small display, even with
you here.”

Confusion swelled. “What does my being here
have to do with anything?”

He was no longer an old world gentleman; the
enigmatic sphinx stared back at her. This time she did not flinch
or avoid the burning-amber scrutiny.

“Try not to blink your eyes.” He inclined his
head at her answering frown. “Go on, try.”

She took a deep breath and met his,
determined hazel focused and ready. Ten seconds later, she blinked.
But he never wavered, holding her in a blink-less trance for what
seemed like days. When graceful mahogany lashes at last swooped
elegantly downward, she exhaled a sigh she didn’t realize she
was
holding.

“Not as easy as it seems, is it? You have to
concentrate every second because the instant your mind wanders
impulse takes over. And you blink. Or suppose you don
’
t forget. Eventually the impulse
to blink becomes so strong that it overrides your willpower to
resist it.” He reached out, took her hand and deftly arranged her
fingers to resemble a revolver pointed at him.

“Now, imagine you have a pistol in your hand,
finger twitching at the trigger. And every time you forget or
succumb to the impulse to blink, it fires…hitting any luckless soul
who happens to be in your line of sight. Bam!”

She jumped when a particularly loud clap of
thunder punctuated his last word. The shawl slipped from her
shoulders, and she dropped the ‘pistol
’
in her hand. His eyes immediately focused on her
exposed throat and remained there a beat longer than she was
comfortable with. It took her a moment to regain her composure,
even after he spoke and broke the spell.

“That is what my gift is like. I
’
m not sure why, or even how, but
your presence has a dampening effect. Makes it less of an effort to
deaden the impulse.” He paused, amber glistening. “Still want to
witness my curse, Eden?”

“Yes.” The word came out a breathless murmur.
He
’
d meant to frighten
her she suspected, but his little demonstration intrigued her all
the more.

Dom exited from invisibility as soon as the
door closed behind the chambermaid who came to change the dingy
linens.

“How long are you staying?” Gideon
inquired.

“Had circumstances permitted, I would have
arrived
with all the necessary pomp and circumstance of a
carriage, rumpled traveling clothes, and miles of luggage to occupy
a multitude of fawning footman.”

“All acquired in the village after
you
’
d shimmered, no
doubt.”

He’d had to alter his original plans. Eden
could not endure a long absence and Dom found neither could he. “It
will be a strain, but my visit needs to be kept covert. I cannot
tarry long and I
’
ll need
to astral in and out. If Nonna and the aunts get a whiff,
I
’
ll be trapped in the
castle for a fortnight or more…and they
’
ll be no opportunity to astral.”

Gideon motioned toward the still figure on
the bed. “Gabriel is no different today than yesterday.”

“Yes.” He drawled out. “I
’
ve been thinking of…taking him into the
astral realm. The shock of having whatever he
’
s feeling intensified tenfold may jolt him
awake. It
’
s drastic, I
admit.”

“Could work.”

“You
’
ll have to restrain Muse.” Dom eyed the clingy
feline atop his brother
’
s chest. Her furry head rested on her paws as if
she too were holding a vigil.

“Of course.” Gideon bent to retrieve the cat.
Muse moaned her displeasure and attempted to burrow even closer. He
had to dislodge each claw from both the counterpane and the linen
nightshirt. She wailed an almost human cry at the separation, and
seemed to Dom to cling to Gideon as would a ship captain
’
s wife at the docks on the day of
her husband
’
s maiden
voyage.