Blood in the Marsh (27 page)

She didn’t respond and after a moment Michael withdrew his hands. Lyra put her hands in her lap and studied them for a few moments then looked up. “I think it’s time we found out about this Adoul. Lucius wrote that there are still people on the island who know about him and maybe even how to destroy him. I’ve gone over everything I have in the database on my computer and every book I have and I still don’t have enough information to even venture a guess. We have to find whoever those people are! We can’t just sit around here and wait to see what he’s going to do next.”

“Lyra, we’ve already covered that.” Nick’s voice was stern. “There’s no way I’m going to let you go running around the island asking questions. That’d be no different than painting a big bull’s eye on yourself. So let’s drop that particular topic, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay! To begin with, I happen to be a grown woman and I can do whatever I decide to do. I do understand the risks involved and I think I know a way to minimize them—if you’d just listen before you start saying no.”

“And just how do you propose to minimize the risks?”

“Simple.” She smiled for the first time. “You’ll disguise me.”

“I’ll what?” Nick looked at her as if she were crazy.

“You’ll disguise me. Come on, Nick. You do it all the time in your line of work…”

“I never said I—”

“I was talking about the photography studio. I’ve been there and I’ve seen the pictures. You make people look like something they’re not all the time. There’s no difference except this time we won’t be taking pictures.”

“You know, I think it might work,” Michael agreed with Lyra. “You could plump her up with some padding and put a dark wig and heavy makeup on her and no one would know it was her.”

“Yeah!” Lyra smiled gratefully at him. “And I thought of a way we can ask around without attraction any attention. I have a friend at school, a professor, and I’d be willing to bet if I asked he’d let me use his credentials to poke around. Since he’s a Professor of History we can say we’re researching a paper or book or something.”

Nick looked from her to Michael and ran his hands through his hair. “Okay, I’ll agree,” he said with a sigh. “Provisionally.”

“Provisionally?” Lyra raised her eyebrows. “And just what provisions are you talking about?”

“That unless your disguise is foolproof we won’t do it.”

“Okay, but you have to promise that you’ll do everything you can to ensure it is foolproof.”

Michael chuckled as he looked at Nick. “Sounds like she’s got you there.”

Nick grudgingly smiled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll bring home some things and we give it a try. If we can come up with an effective disguise we give it a go on Monday.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said as he stood. “I’m headed for the shower.”

Lyra sat at the table with Michael, thinking about their situation and how they could best get out of it. After a few minutes he got up to freshen his coffee.

“You’re awfully quiet,” he said. “Something on your mind?”

She looked at him as he sat down, and sighed. “I was just thinking about this whole mess.”

“I hope you not still blaming yourself.”

“It’s kind of hard not to. Michael, we all know that if I—well, if I weren’t still a virgin that we wouldn’t be in this position. I wouldn’t be any use to this Adoul and he’d leave us alone.”

Michael studied her face for a moment. “And so you want to change your…status so we’ll be safe.”

She nodded and looked down. “That’s pretty much it.”

“Have you talked to Nick about this?”

“You know better than to even ask that. I don’t want to have sex with Nick.”

“Good. I don’t want you to.”

“No?”

“I meant what I said Lyra.”

Their eyes met and for a long moment, neither of them spoke. Lyra thought in that moment that Michael was probably the most gentle wonderful man she had ever met and she thought once more how lucky she would be to have him in her life.

He smiled and looked away just as Nick walked in the room and leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “I’ve gotta go. Michael’s going to be here until four and I’ll be back by then. Is there anything you need?”

She looked up at him and nodded. “Yes. A very good disguise…and a pizza.”

“You got it. See you this afternoon.”

Lyra locked the door behind him then sat down at the table with Michael. “Michael, what did you think about that doctor that Nick had come over and check Chels out?”

“I don’t know. I guess he was okay. Why?”

“Because I heard him and Nick talking, and he said something about maybe moving her where they could keep an eye on her. Do you think there’s something wrong with her that he’s not saying? I mean, she does have family here and if there is something wrong, they really should know.”

“I think what the doctor was referring to was taking her some place where she’d be safe and looked after—where she’d be away from all this.”

Lyra frowned and looked away for a moment. “I can’t let them do that unless I let her mother know, Michael. Chels is really close to her mom and stepfather and they’re nice people. If she has to be taken somewhere then they have to be told.”

“Well, let’s not worry about that right now. The doctor’s coming back this evening to check her over so let’s not cross any bridges before we have to. I tell you what, why don’t we make a list of what kind of information we’re looking for and you can tell me where to go and look, and I’ll help you and Nick try to track these people down you think might know something.”

Lyra nodded and got up to go in the den and get a pad and pen. She opened the top drawer of the desk and reached for the pad of paper she knew was inside. As she looked down, her eyes widened. Lying on top of the paper was a golden pendant on a thin gold chain. She hesitantly picked it up and looked at it.

It was circular with the carved image of a man in its center and all along its edge there were symbols, what appeared to be a mixture of hieroglyphs and runes. Lyra frowned, puzzled by the markings. She couldn’t make sense of it but something about it seemed familiar. She’d seen this pendant before. But where?

What was more, she knew the necklace had not been there before and that unnerved her. How had it gotten there? Her nervousness vanished as she looked at the back of the pendant. Woven in a filigree pattern of gold inlaid on gold was a representation of the Celtic pentagram, the ‘endless knot’ And within the very heart of the knot was a smooth circle of gold inscribed with one letter—L.

She knew the pendant was intended for her and she believed that it was a gift from Lucius. Just a few short weeks ago, she would have laughed if someone had told her she would soon believe she was having lucid dreams in which she communicated with a dead man and even received presents from him. But several weeks ago, she had been far younger and more innocent. While she may not have changed outwardly, inside she was much older because of what she had been through.

She put the necklace on; the pendant lay against her chest just below the hollow of her throat. Absently she reached up and rubbed it between her thumb and index finger. An energy seemed to emanate from it, one that made her feel slightly warm and a bit drowsy.

But that wasn’t possible. She discounted the idea. It was just the stress. It had to be. She didn’t have the strength for another mystery.

Sunday

Michael and Nick were watching a ball game on television and Lyra was in Lucius’ study, going over the pictures Michael had taken and comparing the symbols to those she had found in her research. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she was beginning to see a pattern, and it seemed to be connected in an obscure way to Lucius’ diary. But she hadn’t said anything to anyone about it. They had all made a point of not discussing anything about what had been happening all weekend, after mutually agreeing that they all needed some time to try to relax and get their heads together.

Lyra was glad that no one wanted to talk. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone about her theory or about the pendant she’d found. She had worn high-necked T-shirts so that it wouldn’t show. She also did not want to let Nick know that she’d had several more dreams about Lucius.

Putting the letter she was reading from one of Lucius’ old friends aside, she leaned back and closed her eyes, remembering the dream she had last night.

She was in a room she had never seen before, one that seemed to belong in another time. The floors were of stone that had been polished to a smooth almost mirrored finish, as were the walls. Enormous pillars of the same type of stone supported the high, vaulted ceiling. There was a row of three windows along two intersecting walls, but there was no glass in the windows or shutters. The window openings were large, starting just a few feet off the floor and rising farther up than she could reach.

She walked around the room, looking at the low chaise lounge chairs and benches that were covered in gold embroidered cloth. Each piece of furniture was in itself a work of art. The wood appeared to have been leafed in gold with elaborate carvings.

A noise drew her attention and she turned, seeing a door appear in the wall. A tall handsome man dressed in a loose white robe walked into the room and smiled at her. “My darling, how delightful to see you.” He walked across the room and took her hand, lifting it to his lips.

A wave of intense feelings crashed over her that made her weak. The man’s touch both excited and frightened her and she didn’t understand why. She had never seen him before yet he seemed to know her.

He helped her to a bench to sit then sat beside her, idly stroking her arm and hand. “Soon the waiting will be over, my love, and we will be joined as one—for all time.”

His words made fear rise like a sickness inside her and she wanted to flee. But there was nowhere to run. The door had vanished, leaving only a blank wall. She pulled her hand away and scooted back on the bench to put distance between them. The man smiled and reached over to run his hand down her long hair. “Come, my love, there is no need to fear.”

“Oh but there is.” A voice sounded from one of the windows.

Lyra turned and gasped. Lucius floated outside the window, seated on a simple wooden chair. The man beside her jumped up and ran to the window. “You can’t stop me, you pathetic fool! How many lifetimes will it take to convince you? You’ll never beat me! You haven’t the strength. I am invincible. No one can stand against me—not them and certainly not you. I have the power and soon I will have her. Then nothing will ever stand against me. I’ll be eternal and you’ll be nothing more than a rotting corpse in a shallow grave.”

Lucius looked past the man to Lyra. “Pay very close attention now, dear. This is very important. Remember the words spoken here and what occurs, for soon it will begin.”

His shape began to vanish and the man laughed until Lucius was no longer there. He turned to Lyra with a smile, but it was a smile that made her flesh crawl. Now his beauty seemed to be deteriorating, the corruption and foulness bleeding through the facade. She stood up and backed away as the demonic form moved toward her.

“You will be mine,” it hissed. “I have waited far too long to let you go now, my dear. Soon you will be mine for all time and there is nothing that can stop me. I will have you, then I will crush all those who seek to supplant me. In the end I will be the only one.”

“No!” she whispered, completely horrified.

A shrieking wind blasted through the room. Within the howl was the sound of many voices. Lyra froze in fear as forms began to take shape all around her. Pale faces with glowing eyes looked out from the folds of the cloaks that covered the beings, and hissing whispers emerged from their blood red lips. Like a pack of wolves circling their prey, they moved in closer. Their robes whispered like the hissing of serpents as they glided forward.

The demon screamed in rage and challenge, lashing out with bolts of red flame that shot from his fingertips. “You miserable fools! You cannot defeat me. I will destroy you one by one, draining the eternal life from you as I have done with all the others. The woman is mine!”

The hissing grew louder and Lyra could hear words within the sound. “There will be only one,” the voices chanted.

The demon laughed. “Yes, only one and that one will be me. Flee while you can—hide yourselves away and cringe for soon I will come for you.”

The figures stopped their movement as if intimidated by the demon’s words. Lyra was seized by the fear and rage that emanated from them. Somehow, their fear became her own.

The demon walked up to her and smiled down at her. “See how they tremble before me, my darling. They know it is only a matter of time. Their existence hinges on my benevolence. But there will come a time when their lives will end. It was decreed in the beginning and so it shall be. In the end there will be only one.”

Lyra screamed as he reached for her and awoke, trembling and terrified.

She shook her head to dispel the images of the dream. Somehow, she knew the dream was important and she wanted to remember it so that she could find the hidden message, but it really scared her.

The door to the study opened and Chelsey walked in. Lyra looked up at her in surprise. “Chels! Are you okay? What are you doing up?”