The Legend (53 page)

The two women turned their
attention to the massive structure. "What kind of darkness, Jubil?"

When their aunt did not answer,
they turned to her with concern. Jubil was riveted to the bastion; suddenly,
she shuddered involuntarily and turned away.

"You have got to leave,
Peyton," she whispered sharply. "You must demand Alec to return you
to St. Cloven. 'Tis not safe for you here."

Peyton and Ivy passed curious
glances. "Why?" Peyton demanded softly, feeling herself being
unwilling pulled into her aunt's anxiety.

Jubil inhaled deeply, her eyes
closed as she attempted to regain some of her composure. But the talons of
uneasiness refused to release her. Since the very moment they set foot inside
the keep, she had been buffeted by the turbulent grasp of terror.

"Beware of the threat from
within," she suddenly whispered, sounding very much like the crazed woman they
had come to expect. However, the insanity was not drug-induced this time. It
was real. "The threat, Peyton, the threat! You must leave!"

Peyton went to her aunt, wrapping
a comforting arm about her shoulders. "There is no threat, Jubil. Alec
will protect me."

Underneath her grasp, Jubil was
shaking. She suddenly grabbed her niece by the arms, pushing her toward the
gates. "Go, Peyton. Run home. Run home, sweetheart!"

Peyton tried to pull herself free
of the insistent grasp.

"Stop pushing, Jubil. I am
not going anywhere."

Ali, in the midst of
disassembling Alec's elite guard, saw what was transpiring and left the duties
to a senior sergeant. He came upon the two women quickly.

"What's amiss, ladies?"
he asked.

Peyton was having difficulty dislodging
her aunt's hand from her arm until Ali broke the grasp. "Jubil's
exhausted. Can we retire now, Ali?"

He opened his mouth to reply when
Jubil suddenly turned on him, sinking her nails into his mahogany flesh.
"She must leave, Ali. 'Tis not safe for her here!"

She had drawn blood, but he did
not flinch as he disengaged her claws. "She is safer with Alec than with
God himself, Jubil. Come, let's get you inside."

Jubil was quivering terribly.
Peyton and Ivy passed concerned glances, wondering if their aunt wasn't having
a mental breakdown as a result of years of imbibing potions. With Ali firmly on
one side and Ivy on the other, they began to move Jubil toward the castle.

Jubil did everything but drag her
heels. She pleaded, she coaxed, and she threatened. Still, they refused to
listen to her. Peyton's life was depending upon what she was able to sense and
distress overwhelmed her when she realized they were not taking her seriously.
The only person who ever remotely listened to her was nowhere to be found, and
she began to beg to speak to Alec.

Still, they refused to listen.
Peyton's life was in serious jeopardy and no one believed her.

No one.

Her sense of desperation consumed
her.

By the time they reached the cool
innards of Blackstone, Jubil had worked herself into such a state that the
moment she smelled the damp must, she fainted dead away in Ali's arms.

Alec had preceded his mother and
the king into Blackstone by several minutes, ample time to locate his father.
Although his mother hadn't mentioned his father's mental state, a suspicion
nagged at him, so much so that he had to find his father personally to quell
his own apprehension.

His first destination was his
father's solar. As he passed through the servant’s corridor and into the grand
hall, several familiar faces greeted him. The servants looked shocked and
pleased to see Alec, but he brushed past them without acknowledgement. By the
time he hit the foyer, he heard a familiar voice calling to him and paused in
his serious quest. Toby was moving toward him from the kitchens.

"Where's my father?"
Alec demanded. "Edward's here, for Christ's sake."

Toby appeared fatigued.
"Upstairs, in his private sitting room," in his hand he carried a
tray with bread and watered berry juice. "I was bringing this to
him."

"What's the matter? Why did
not he greet us?"

Toby sighed wearily. "Lord
Brian has been drunk since Paul's body was discovered yesterday. Mother is
beside herself dealing with your father's sorrow and Lady Rachel's grief."

Alec relaxed slightly, closing
his eyes briefly in a sorrowful gesture. "Where are the Warringtons?"

"In your father's
solar," Toby said quietly, passing a glance in the general direction.
"Nigel acts as if he owns the damn place."

Alec expression turned menacing.
"No longer," he growled. "I have had enough of this. Put down
that tray and come with me. I may require your strength."

Toby followed his larger,
stronger brother across the foyer. The two of them burst into the solar with
the force of a gale storm, rattling the castle to its very foundation as they
threw open the heavy oaken door.

Nigel was seated behind Brian's
desk, leisurely sampling a fine bottle of wine. Near the lancet windows, Colin
slanted the two intruders an intolerant glance.

"Do you not know how to
knock, Summerlin?" he demanded.

Alec was closer to losing his
temper than he had come in a long time. He moved into the room, his handsome
face tight with fury and his gaze hot enough to burn. An unfortunate chair
happened to be in his way; he destroyed the furniture with a kick, tossing the
shattered remains aside and nearly taking off Toby's head in the process. His
fury, his disgust, was palpable.

Nigel leapt to his feet. Even
Colin's arrogant expression faded; he knew firsthand that Alec's strength could
be devastating and had no desire to experience another round.

"What do you do, Alec?"
Nigel demanded, giving the man a wide berth. "How dare you burst in here
and...!"

"This is my father's solar,
to be mine when I inherit the barony, and I shall do anything I damn well
please," his voice was like thunder. "I have had enough of your
presence at Blackstone. You have all but destroyed my family and I shall not
stand for it any longer. Whether you leave this place by casket or by horse,
'tis all the same to me. But I want you out."

Nigel stared at him. His face was
pale, but his expression held. "Your father is the only one who can order
us to leave. And He shall not to that, not until your sister weds my son."

A second chair met with Alec's
furious fists in an obvious display of displeasure, sending both Colin and
Nigel ducking for cover. "Your son will not wed my sister, foremostly
because I refuse to allow her to marry a murderer. Tell me, Colin; what did
Paul see or hear that caused you to take his life?"

Near the lancet windows of the
small room, Colin's eyes widened at Alec's presumption. "You are mad,
Summerlin!"

Alec clenched and unclenched his
fists. "Not at all. You see, I know for a fact that Paul was terrified of
horses. Never once have I seen him near the stables and considering you found
the body, it would lead me to believe that perhaps you lured him there. Or
placed him there after you killed him. What did he happen upon, Warrington? My
patience wears thin."

"I did not kill him,"
Colin denied staunchly. "I was going for a ride when I happened to
discover his body. I have no idea why he was in the stables."

"You are lying," Alec
advanced on the man. "Shall I wring it from you?"

"You will not touch
him!" Nigel threw himself in front of his son. "How dare you make
threats!"

Alec raised a well-defined blond
eyebrow. "I never threaten. As you can see, I fully intend to carry out a
promise. Your son killed my brother and I will know why."

"Alec!" came a great
booming voice.

The occupants of the room turned
abruptly to see Brian standing in the solar's elaborate archway, his face pale
and his body unkempt. Alec turned his full attention to his father, shocked at
his appearance.

"Da?" he whispered.
"You look terrible!"

Brian was beyond drunk; he was a
living, breathing cask of liquor. He staggered in through the door, nearly
tripping over his feet as he moved. Alec reached out to steady him, his face
glazed with horror at his father's demeanor. Brian clutched his son, his drunken
face washing with a desperate expression.

"My only living son,"
he murmured, touching Alec's cheek. "My heir. Alec, my beloved boy, you
have returned. I did not think you would."

Alec was mortified, his carefully
controlled facade crumbling. He managed a quivering smile as he attempted to guide
his father to an unbroken chair. He knelt before Brian, his entire body awash
with sorrow and remorse. All of the anger and confusion he had felt towards the
man within the past several weeks was suddenly gone, the deep love he had
always felt filling him tenfold.

"I am here, Da," he
said softly, his throat tight with emotion. "I shall not leave you again.
I swear it."

Brian stroked his son's face as
if rememorizing the features, never wanting to let him go. Tears were in the
great brown eyes.

"Paul is dead, Alec. Peter
is dead. There is only you. You are all I have."

Alec swallowed hard, feeling as
if his heart was being shredded by the force of his father's sorrow. He grabbed
the man's hands, enfolding them within his own. It occurred to him that he'd
never seen his father drunk. The man before him was not the same man he had
known for thirty-two years. The change began to take place shortly after the
arrival of the Warringtons, as he had always suspected. He realized that if any
more changes were to take place within his father's troubled soul, it would
kill him. The Warringtons would murder yet another Summerlin.

Refocused on his fury, he rose to
his feet, still clutching his father's hands. The expression he turned on Nigel
and Colin was deadly.

"What in the hell have you
done to him?" he hissed.

Nigel gazed at Brian impassively.
"He has done it to himself."

"Like hell!" Alec
roared. Brian's hands fell from his grip and the man nearly tumbled from the
chair with the sudden movement. In two long strides, Alec was upon the father
and son Warrington. With one man in each massive hand, he slammed them both
against the wall in macabre unison. Toby moved into to support his brother, but
he could see quite clearly that Alec did not need his assistance. He could hold
two grown men at bay easily.

"What have you done to
him?" Alec repeated through clenched teeth. "You are killing
him!"

Soft, indistinguishable voices
suddenly came from the foyer and Toby bolted into action. Moving quickly for
the open solar door, he slammed it shut just as Celine and Edward entered the
keep. Alec waited until the voices faded before returning his attention to the
men within his grasp. Nigel was struggling; Colin was not.

"Now," Alec growled,
forcing himself to calm with the king in such close proximity; he did not want
Edward to hear him lose control. "I will demand two answers from you.
Colin, you will tell me why you killed my brother. And Nigel, you will tell me
what it is that has my father acting like a gutless fool. I am waiting."

Colin was the first to speak.
"Release us, Summerlin. We cannot supply you with answers we do not
have."

Alec's grip on Colin's neck
tightened and he fixed him with a pointed look. "You hold quite a few
answers, my friend."

Colin opened his mouth to refute,
but Alec slammed him against the wall so hard that he bit his tongue. Nigel
yelped, genuine fear clutching at him. Alec was apparently intent on doing them
great bodily harm while Brian sat like a simpleton. Nigel knew their only
chance lay in the drunken baron.

"Tell your son to release
us, Brian," Nigel said loudly, firmly. "Do you comprehend my
meaning?"

Brian remained slumped like a
dullard for several moments. Then, slowly, as Alec dealt Colin another heavy
slam, Brian grasped what Nigel had inferred. It was enough to bring him to his
feet.

"Release them, Alec,"
he said hoarsely.

Alec ignored his father,
disregarding the blood that trickled from Colin's mouth as he reaffirmed his
stance. "Well, Colin? Spill your guts before I do it for you."

"Alec!" Brian demanded,
more forcefully. "I said release them!"

Alec remained focused on Colin.
Then, slowly, he turned to his father. "Why?"

Brian looked confused. He put his
hand against his desk to steady himself, all the while searching for a
reasonable answer in his alcohol-soaked mind. Why?

"Because.... because I
demand it," he said weakly. "I shall not allow you to bully our
guests."

"Guests?" Alec repeated
with disbelief. "They're goddamn vultures! If you weren't so drunk or so
frightened, you'd be able to see that."

"Do not speak to me in that
manner!" Brian boomed unsteadily. "You are still son, Alec, and you
will do as I say!"