Dominic's Nemesis (28 page)

Dominic shook his head, “That cat is
over-indulged.”

“Gabriel denies her nothing.” He cradled the
anxious feline in the crook of his elbow and stroked the
silver-grey mane, all the while cooing reassurance and soft
endearments.

“Just Gabriel?” Dominic quipped, even as he
flipped back the covers and hoisted his brother
’
s inert body off the bed. Though the twins
had a good two inches on him, Dominic
’
s frame was the studier and boasted greater muscle
mass. It took a bit of maneuvering, but he achieved a serviceable
grasp to support the dead weight. A moment later, he shimmered.

The essence intermingled with his was all
shakes and shudders, with jagged edges that flashed blinding lights
and shades. Emotions magnified to nightmarish intensity. The
anomaly Dominic had noticed before was no longer visible…in
Gabriel
’
s essence. But
an identical anomaly now existed in Gideon
’
s. The shock of seeing the appendage-like
glitch transferred from one twin to the other distracted him.
He
’
d meant to flash in
and out on the same breath. But his loss of focus stayed him an
extra second or two.

He stepped off into the physical world with
his burden, more shaken than his brother
’
s essence. Gideon immediately relinquished
Muse to help him reposition his clammy twin in the bed.

“What the devil happened? His pallor is worse
than before.”

“I stayed a few moments longer than intended.
He
’
s pale, but at least
his eyes are closed.”

Dominic pulled the covers over him as far as
Muse
’
s renewed position
on his chest would allow. “Gideon, is there something
you
’
re not telling
me.”

Sharp slate eyes napped to his face. “Explain
yourself.”

He didn
’
t quite know how. No logical explanation existed.
Souls simply did not change, beyond intensity of color and
sharpened edges during heightened emotion or distress. In the case
of women, a pregnancy yielded an overflow of essence easily
identifiable as fusion and eventual fission of two souls.

“His essence is different. Or rather
was
different yesterday when I first located the two of you.
Today, just now when I shimmered, his essence was normal and yours
held an identical anomaly. Souls do not change Gideon. For yours
and Gabriel
’
s to be
transferring the same aberration back and forth is…peculiar. I need
to know if you
’
ve left
out something. Anything.”

His gaze, anguished apparent, lingered on his
twin. “No. I told you everything.”

“Did anything happen just now when I
shimmered?”

“No.” He looked up then. “I stood here and
didn
’
t move until you
reappeared.”

“What about yesterday when I shimmered in,
had anything unusual happened just then?”

Slate-grey eyes glassed over momentarily, in
thought. “No.”

“And you have no idea what he could be
dreaming about?” He pressed, desperate for even a scrap of a
clue.

“Outside of the theory I already shared, no.
Since he began having this particular dream, he hasn
’
t been lucid enough to speak about
it.”

“This is strange.” Dom frowned. “I
’
ve never seen it before. How do
you feel?”

“Fine. I assume my death will result from
either an accident or a murder since I am not ill nor do I plan to
commit suicide.”

Too bemused by the paradox to be alarmed by
his casual talk of death, Dominic only nodded and continued to
shift through the short list of possibilities. Looking down at
Gabriel, a radical thought flashed in his mind.

“Gideon, wait here. Don
’
t move or do anything. Just stand
there.”

“Where are you going?”

“Astraling. Something
’
s occurred to me and I dare not air it
until I
’m sure.
” He did
not give his brother the chance to argue or question him further,
but shimmered out. The anomaly was again attached to
Gabriel
’
s essence. In
the mere minutes since his last shimmer, Gabriel
’
s essence had relaxed some, appeared less
distressed. Dominic exited to an anxious Gideon waiting in the
exact same spot as when he
’
d left.

“
Well?
”

“The anomaly is not an anomaly…at least not
one that belongs to either of you.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

Dominic found his brother observing him with
frayed patience. “Muse. How did Gabriel acquire her?”

“Dom if you don
’
t tell me what the hell is wrong with—”

“It isn
’
t him or you, it
’
s Muse. When I arrived yesterday and noticed the
change in Gabriel
’
s
essence, Muse lay against his side. When I shimmered and noticed
the change in your essence, you held Muse in your arms. Just now
when I shimmered and again saw the change, Muse lay on
Gabriel
’
s chest.
”

“So what you
’
re telling me is Muse has an essence?”

“Yes and no. I
’
ve shimmered in her presence a dozen times and
never seen her on the astral so she couldn
’
t have a separate essence of her own. She
only pops up as an appendage of you or Gabriel. That, in itself, is
strange. Animals cannot inhabit the astral for the simple reason
that they do not possess a soul. Unless I were shielding it, any
normal cat I tried to shimmer with would not survive the trip.”

“
And
Muse?
”

He sighed. “
I don’
t know. Maybe. I
’
m loath to try. If I
’
m wrong…”

The taller man shook his head. “The last
thing we need is to kill Gabriel
’
s cat. He
’
d never forgive me…and certainly not if I have to
tell him that we experimented with her.”

“Is she unusual in any other way?”

“She
’
s polydactyl, but it does not appear to impede her
agility.”

* * *

Stephan stood facing her, halfway across the
drawing room, one arm held out in front of him. But he
wasn
’
t looking at her.
He
’
d divested himself of
the coat and rolled up the sleeve of his outstretched arm. He
twisted and rotated his elbow so that his fisted palm faced down
and then up, all the while eyeing his arm as if it were a snake
about to bite him. Eden waited by the window, a pail of water sat
close at hand as he
’
d
instructed. She watched poised on the edge of her chair, afraid to
blink not because of his warning but because she did not want to
miss even the tiniest glimpse.

She saw it then. A crawling plume of scarlet
gold poof-ed into being and darted along his forearm towards the
fisted palm. When it reached his wrist he unfurled his hand and let
the hypnotic flame collect in his palm, a cauldron of sorts. She
sat, riveted, as the caged inferno writhed and spit behind the
restraining bars of his fingers.

“Is it safe to come closer now?”

At his nod, Eden abandoned the shawl and
crossed the room. She shuffled around to stand beside him so she
wouldn
’
t be
in-the-line-of-fire, so to speak. Warmth emanated from not just his
hand but his entire body. But no charred smell or smoke rose from
the bristled sprigs of hair dotting his arm.

Tentative, not wishing to break his obvious
concentration on keeping the blaze contained, she reached to skim
her fingertips along the taunt sinewy length where the flame had
traveled. His tan-gold skin threatened to singe the pads of her
fingers but was itself neither scorched nor burned. She snatched
her hand back and blew cool air on it.

Stephan tracked the movement with his sphinx
eyes, and did the oddest thing. He smiled down at her. It was the
crooked smile of a naughty two-year old.

“Sorry.”

Fascinated, she asked, “What would happen if
I were not here?”

The smile died and he returned his gaze to
the ball of fire licking upward his palm. “The whole room would be
ablaze. Bring the pail, please.”

She returned just in time to see him slowly
close his fingers around the flame to snuff it out. Then he pivoted
and dove his fisted arm into the proffered bucket. The water
sizzled and hissed against his skin, tossing up billows of
steam.

“What a remarkable gift. I wish I were
blessed with some noteworthy talent.”

“No, you don
’
t.” He pulled free of the bucket, and loosed the
snowy cotton down over his arm.

Eden noticed that no moisture dampened his
shirt
’
s sleeve. Also
noting the negligible weight of the bucket, she peered over the rim
to find it as dry as a desert.

“Stephan—” She tracked him back to the
window.

“I believe it
’
s my turn to ask a question.”

“Yes of course.” She conceded and took up her
previous seat.

“The bruises at your throat the other night,
how did you come by them?”

Eden
’
s shoulders slumped. He would have to ask her
that
. Obviously, he
’
d noticed them at some point during their
‘reading
’
or the sight
of her smooth unblemished neck wouldn
’
t have drawn such interest earlier. Did she dare
tell him that an unseen entity had attacked her in the bath? The
explanation sounded ludicrous enough in her head, heaven knew what
his reaction would be if she aired it.

“
An
accident.
” She heard herself saying.

He was immediately stiff and alert. Her
half-truth only begged more questions. “When? Under what
circumstances?”

“In the bath, and I don
’
t think we should discuss it.”

Suspicion darkened his brow. “After what I
have
shared, you owe me
the truth Eden.”

She inhaled a fortifying breath.
“Alright.”

To her amazement, he cracked neither a smile
nor a frown, merely listened with his usual silent intensity.
Speaking only when she
’
d
finished.

“Have there been similar incidents
before?”

She found herself unleashing all her horrors
upon him, the incident at the Hen party, and her peculiar visions,
even her ‘dip
’
in the
pond. His mien showed no revulsion, pity or disbelief. Instead he
seemed absorbed, soaking up the information in an almost scholarly
manner.

“Nothing you
’
ve told me suggests that you are a madwoman.”

“I
am
not sure Dominic would agree.” She scoffed.

“He is not an impartial party, Eden.” He
informed her in a cautionary tone. “Our mother was a raving lunatic
who died in an insane asylum. The stigma affects Dom much more so
than the rest of us. Remember that.”

Before she could ask him another question, he
stood and bowed. “Forgive me, but I must excuse myself.

“We
’
ll speak again?” She wished it very much. Confiding
in the Sphinx had quite lightened her worries.

“Of course.” Enigmatic amber sparkled, and
Eden could have sworn she saw flames flicker in their depths. Then,
he turned and exited the room.

Stephan did not appear at the dinner table
that evening. Disappointment mingled with worry. But, since neither
doctor seemed concerned by his absence Eden soon relaxed and
slipped into easy conversation with them and Kathleen. Afterward,
she retired to the library hoping to come across the prodigal
brother. No such luck.

Not willing to give up, she shuffled along
the third floor hallway. Perhaps he
’
d closeted himself off in the portrait gallery.
When she passed under a familiar stretch of hallway, she began
trolling along patterned wainscoting in search of the knob. It did
not take long to find.

The gallery was more looming than she
remembered. A multitude of unsmiling faces, and flat lifeless eyes
followed her. Silence as loud as death put haste in her steps as
she made a quick sweep of the L-shaped room. Finding it empty, she
pivoted with every intention of escaping, but a glimpse of one
portrait in particular stilled her. It drew her until she stood
enthralled before the last two of Dominic
’
s brothers she
’
d yet to meet.

She wondered how the one called Gabriel
fared. When would his condition, whatever it was, improve enough so
that Dominic could return to her? How many endless days
and
nights
would she be forced to endure without him? Five? Ten?
Twenty? Perhaps his brother
’
s suffering had worsened and that was why he
hadn
’
t come to visit her
as he
’
d promised.

Bored and restless without Stephan or
Kathleen to distract her, Eden quit the gallery and went in pursuit
of a new pastime. The nasty weather had slackened some, but did not
permit her to take the must-needed stroll on the outdoors. So she
took it indoors instead. Her aimless wandering led her to the
sub-floor below the first, housing the kitchens and
servant
’
s work areas.
She passed the pressing room, butler
’
s pantry, and food preparation room, startling two
scullery maids, and a very harassed-looking footman. It was as many
servants as she
’
d seen
the whole of her stay on the estate.

She came to a massive door, re-enforced with
sheets of dull bronze nailed over hardwood. Curious what the sentry
door could be protecting, she slid back the bar holding the locking
mechanism in place. It took all her weight thrown backward to budge
the three-inch thick metal monstrosity.