Darkest Dreams (2 page)

My father's scowl deepened. “Well, I'm not carrying a bag of wine around Greece, Lavinia. The establishments we will be visiting have a supply from the world's best vineyards.”

“Thomas, might I have a word with you?” My mother caught my father's arm and tugged him to the side. “Remember last night…” The rest of her words died to a whisper. I watched as his eyes widened.

My father cleared his throat and picked up the heavy bag. “Since you feel this is necessary, Lavinia, I'll assure its safety during the trip.”

The ship's horn sounded, calling all last-minute passengers to board.

“Thomas!” Aunt Lavinia gasped. “I believe I can carry the bag now.”

He walked off toward the gangplank, a very odd smile on his face. “Nonsense, Lavinia. Phoebe and I will take care of it.”

My mother followed my father, smiling oddly as well. Realization dawned on me about what that smile meant as Aunt Lavinia went after them in a huff. I was just glad there weren't any last-minute hugs from my parents. Cassie's thoughts about Sean were bad enough. My parents and aunt boarded the ship safely and waved one last time before disappearing below. My mother could never stand to stay on deck and watch us slowly fade into the distance. She always wanted her last memory of us to be sharp and clear in her mind. I understood her desire, but wondered if it was possible. Over time, everyone faded.

“Whatever was that about?” Gemini asked as she turned from the ship.

“Nothing, Gemmi,” Cassie said firmly before I could respond. “You'd best adjust your bonnet or you'll get sunburned.”

Gemini gasped and squashed her bonnet around her face so that she could barely peep out.

I laughed at how quickly Cassie had distracted Gemini from being too curious over the situation with the spiced wine and its unusual properties. Gemini was currently trying to catch the attention of Sean Killdaren's friend, Lord Ashton, but thus far had had no luck. To have her complexion marred by the sun even for a day would have her swooning.

My voice caught in my throat as I was about to comment that Gemini's nose was already irrevocably red, even though it wasn't. The sound of horses' hooves on the shore along with the act of everyone turning and gasping with awe and fear told me that
he
had arrived at the docks. Lord Alexander Killdaren, Viscount Blackmoor.

Though the mystery surrounding Mary's death had been solved, the murder of Lady Helen Kennedy eight years ago had not been. Since Sean Killdaren and Lord Alexander Killdaren were the last ones to see her alive, and a witness had seen one of them leaving the scene of the murder, a dark cloud of suspicion hung over their lives. To this day the villagers gave the Killdaren twins a wide berth. Neither Cassie nor I believed the rumors. She was sure Sean was innocent, and I was convinced Lord Killdaren was too.

He leapt from the saddle and strode down the dock, a commanding figure to be reckoned with. Shockingly dressed in only snug black pants, a loose white shirt and knee-high boots, he could have easily been a swashbuckling pirate from a reckless age. His dark hair framed strong features and lay wildly windblown well over the collar of his shirt. Thick muscles strained against his clothes as he walked. His charismatic aura jarred the world around him like a stiff wind from the dark sea and blasted me as he neared.

He must have felt my regard, for he suddenly gazed right at me. I stared directly at him as if possessed by a need and will greater than any rule of propriety I'd ever learned. “Lord Alexander is great indeed,” I murmured.

“What?” Cassie asked, following my gaze with hers. She gasped and grabbed my hand. I heard the “Sean” that rang through her mind before her pulse steadied and she whispered, “Alexander.” All of that pent-up worry I'd felt in her earlier escaped in his name.

As we stared at him, he nodded his head politely then passed by without offering a cordial greeting before going to the ship where I'd seen the wild horse being gentled.

“What is it?” I asked Cassie, wanting to know about the angst inside her. “What is wrong?”

“Andrie. I don't know what I am going to do.”

I couldn't stop myself. At the note of despair in her voice, I tightened my grip on her hand and focused my whole gift on seeing into her.

“Oh dear,” I said, reeling beneath the revelation. “I mean what wonderful news, but oh, dear.”

“That doesn't half convey my sentiments. I don't know why I didn't foresee this fear. I never dreamed I would be afraid to tell Sean that we are going to have a child, but now that I am, I am worried. What if I'm pregnant with twins?”

“Surely
you
don't believe Sean and his brother are truly cursed, that one will kill the other.”

Cassie sighed. “It's hard to refute a thousand years of history that shows when twins are born into the Killdaren family, one has killed the other. It doesn't matter if I believe in the Dragon's Curse or not, though, Sean does. Alexander does. Somehow, if we are ever to be free of it, I have to find a way to break the curse in their minds, hopefully before I tell Sean of the baby. That way I'll know he really believes he is free from the past and not just pretending in order to make me happy. But how? As long as none of us ever see or speak to Alexander, there is no hope of things changing. They've spent eight years avoiding each other.”

“I've heard Bridget rail about how blind men are, and I'm beginning to believe her.” I drew an exasperated breath, feeling very much like saying a word ladies weren't supposed to use; a word Bridget, Cassie's friend who made an unforgettable lady's companion at Killdaren's Castle, frequently uttered. “Lord Alexander didn't kill Lady Helen, and he didn't try to kill Sean either. I know it as surely as I know my own name.”

Still, I felt strange making the declaration, for though I believed in Alexander's innocence with every fiber of my being, I'd not been able to read his thoughts and emotions to
know
it was true.

“Sean didn't kill Lady Helen either, nor did he want his brother to die during their fight. But I don't think Sean will let himself admit that. If he did, he'd have to forgive himself, and for some reason he can't. It's easier to blame the Dragon's Curse for what happened eight years ago.”

“The whole situation gives me a headache.” I sighed. “There has to be a way to manipulate both of them into admitting they are wrong.”

“Not as long as the viscount stays locked in his castle and Sean in his,” Gemini added, having overhead the last of our conversation. “Oh look, there's Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson at the market with the Earl of Dartraven and Sir Warwick. Why, they're nearly standing next to our carriage. I will wait for you two there,” she said, taking off before Cassie or I could say a word.

As the carriage was only a short distance away, and the Earl of Dartraven, Sean and Alexander's father, would be chaperone enough for Gemini, I turned my gaze back to Alexander. He stood surveying the wild horse on the deck of the ship, managing to look like an impregnable fortress.

“How can we get past Sean and his brother's defenses?” Cassie murmured.

“Trojan Horse,” I whispered softly as an utterly intriguing idea flared inside me. Weeks ago, long before Cassie and Sean announced their intention to marry, Alexander had mentioned that the generations of artifacts at his castle needed to be catalogued. We'd even spoken at length over dinner the last time I'd seen him about possibly hiring me to do cataloguing.

I was desperate to escape being in close quarters with Cassie and Sean. It wasn't that I resented the happy couple, but more that I felt as though I were intruding on their privacy. Too often, when I inadvertently touched Cassie, I felt her private emotions or thoughts. Cataloguing would provide me with a way to spend time on my own, to regain the inner peace I'd lost over the last few months.

The burden of being able to see so much from the minds of those around me grew larger despite my efforts to escape knowing.

“Trojan Horse? Andrie, you're not making sense.” Cassie peered at me as if I'd spoken Greek. “You've spent entirely too much time with antiquities.”

I squeezed her hand. “We need a Trojan Horse to get inside Lord Alexander's castle.”

Cassie paused, then slowly nodded as realization dawned. “I see. And wherever are we going to find one?”

I smiled. “You're looking at it. Me. It's time for the Killdaren family to catalogue their treasures, don't you think?”

“You're a genius.” Cassie laughed, and a ray of hope lit her troubled gaze. Then her smile faltered. “I'm not so sure that it's a good idea after all.”

“Why? Surely you still don't think he had anything to do with Lady Helen's death?”

“No. Not since you read Alexander's thoughts on the matter. I'm worried about you.”

I hadn't read Alexander's thoughts. Cassie had just assumed that I had when we'd argued about which brother could have been responsible for Lady Helen's death. I'd yet to tell Cassie that I couldn't read Alexander's thoughts. I didn't want her to doubt his innocence. “What do you mean?”

“You developed feelings for him when we were searching for the truth about Mary. Am I wrong?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Only to me. You usually go to great lengths to avoid contact with strangers. You didn't with him. That he's treated us like the plague since learning of my engagement and marriage to Sean has to have hurt your feelings. I know something has had you out of sorts lately.”

“With so much time on my hands, I've been restless,” I said, hoping she wouldn't press for more. “Cataloguing will be just the thing to set me back to rights. Come on.” I pulled her toward Alexander. “The viscount won't be able to refuse to speak to us. Not in so public a place.”

“I'm not so sure about that,” Cassie muttered.

I wasn't sure how Alexander would greet us, either. My nerves fluttered more than his dark hair did in the sea breeze. Seeing him coatless and daring in public made me readily believe many of the rumors about him. The Killdaren family was noted for flouting traditions and living well outside society's strictures, and the gossip I'd heard about Lord Alexander Killdaren indicated he was the boldest of the lot.

He stood at the end of the loading ramp with his back to us, apparently watching the spirited horse prancing on the deck of the ship. The magnificence of the beast had captured almost everyone's attention, and would have had mine as well were it not for the man before me and the way the cloth of his shirt stretched tautly across his broad shoulders, barely masking the supple grace and power of his body beneath. The tailored fit of his breeches followed the line of his body along his trim hips and down the sinewy length of his legs, leaving little to the imagination.

My cheeks flamed more hotly than the sun, a condition that worsened when Lord Alexander turned my way. His gaze slid slowly over me, and all thought left my mind.

“A beautiful day, my lord.” Cassie smiled brightly.

“Ladies.” He nodded his head at my sister, his manner cordial and respectful, if reserved. “I hear you're Mrs. Killdaren now.”

“Happily so, and please call me Cassie,” Cassie replied, notably relieved he didn't publicly ignore us. “After all, we are family now.”

“Yes, we are.” He frowned and fell silent, as if either at a loss over what to say, or perhaps hoping we'd continue on our way. After an awkward moment, he added. “The sea air appears to agree with you both. You're looking well since I last saw you.”

My voice was tangled up with my pounding heart, but I forced myself to speak, fearing this opportunity would be lost before any significant connection could be made. “Thank you, my lord. Oxford can get intolerably hot this time of the year, and we've found the climate here at Dartmoor's End refreshing.” The horse on the ship let out a shrill whinny, and I glanced at the commotion it caused as the beast reared up from those trying to gentle it. “Unfortunately the sea doesn't seem to have agreed with that one. Is she yours?”

“Yes, and very special. You're looking at my legacy. She's from the Netherlands and carries the seed of the last living Friesian stallion within her. They're a dying breed that I hope to save from extinction.” His voice deepened with a haunting emotion as he spoke, vibrating a chord within me so strongly that I almost missed that he'd said
my
legacy as opposed to
a
legacy. The nuance seemed significant to me, but his expression remained casual, revealing little. “I'm about to go on board to meet her.”

“She's so beautiful,” Cassie said.

“She's exquisite,” I murmured. I'd never seen a more beautiful horse, sleek and black with an impossibly long mane and tail. Tufts of glistening hair covered each of her hooves to give her a majestic appearance worthy of any legend. She appeared as if she were made of the greatest elements of earth imbued with the spirit of the heavens. It was also clear to me that Alexander was about to depart from our company. I motioned to the ship and boldly stepped past any rules of manners or propriety I'd been taught. “We'd love to go aboard to join you in welcoming her to her new home.”

I barely bit back my groan as Cassie shook her head. “I don't think I care to venture over the gangplank. But why don't you go with the viscount, Andrie, then meet Gemini and me at the shops near the carriage.”

Lord Alexander frowned. “The gangplank can be a bit unsteady with the wind as gusty as it is today.”

“I've remarkable balance, and would love to meet your legacy, my lord.”

“Enjoy yourself then,” Cassie said, with a smile and a wink, before she turned for the carriage where I could see Gemini in conversation with Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson, mutual friends of Sean and Lord Alexander.