Stolen Portrait Stolen Soul: A Shadow Slayers Story (Shadow Slayers Stories Book 2)

by Nellie H. Steele

  She slid down one wall to a seated position. Her thoughts turned to her sister. Celeste had a hand in her current predicament. For once, it was not her sister’s fault. Celine understood that. She harbored no anger or resentment toward Celeste. She sighed, her eyes returning to the moon in the sky.

  She wrapped her arms around her knees as she drew them into her chest. Her head sunk to her forearms. A tear fell from her eye. She wiped it away. She would not give in to panic. She would remain strong; she would survive this. She resolved that she would escape this place and see her family again.

  Chapter 20

  1791, Bucksville

  Damien and Michael stepped out of the time portal’s blackness. This time they arrived in darkness. Celine had sent them to a clearing of trees on the estate, far enough from the house that they would likely find it deserted. Their eyes adjusted to their surroundings. It was a familiar setting. Their previous trip through time had sent them to the island of Martinique in 1786. On this trip, they not only had the familiarity of their surroundings on their side, but also experience.

  “We made it!” Damien exclaimed after a moment.

  “Looks like it. At least, I think we did. Hard to tell this time, huh?” Michael answered.

  “Yeah. Well, one way to find out! I guess we head to the house, introduce ourselves.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Michael agreed.

  They took the path leading to the main house. A few minutes into their walk, Damien stopped. “I’d say we’re in the right place… or time,” he said, motioning in the opposite direction of the main house.

  “Wow!” Michael exclaimed. The two men gazed to their right. “Is that…”

  “Alexander’s house. It’s just being built!”

  “It will be kind of weird to see the main house new,” Michael said as they continued toward the house.

  “Yeah, it will be!” Damien agreed.

  The pair continued until the house was visible. They paused for a moment before continuing their journey. A nervous energy filled them both as they approached the house. Michael fidgeted with his collar while Damien babbled a few details he had received from Celine before departing.

  They reached the door. Michael cleared his throat, then knocked.

  “Here we go,” he said.

  “Yep. Oh, don’t forget, she’s going by Mina in this time, don’t call her Celine.”

  “Geez, I hope I can keep all these names straight,” Michael said, wiping a bead of sweat that had formed on his brow. They waited another moment. “Hey, man…” Michael started as the door opened.

  “Yes?” a man wearing a black uniform queried.

  “Michael and Damien Carlyle to see the master of the house,” Michael said. “We are distant cousins of Mina Laurent.”

  “Please come in,” the man stated, standing aside. “Please wait in the drawing room.” He motioned to the room. Michael and Damien filed into the room while the presumed butler closed the doors behind them.

  “Wow, so weird,” Damien said. “It’s so different yet the same.”

  “Yeah,” Michael nodded. “It is weird. Hey, there’s something I wanted to say to you,” Michael began again.

  Again, they were interrupted. The doors opened and another man entered the sitting room. This one was no servant. “Good evening,” he greeted them. “I am Amos Buckley. Welcome to my home. My man tells me you are relatives of Mina, my newest daughter-in-law.”

  “Yes,” Michael answered him. “Distant cousins. We are traveling on business and hoped to visit with Mina. I have a letter of introduction here, sir.”

  Amos took the letter, holding up a pair of spectacles to read it. “Ah, Lord Blackburn is an acquaintance. Well, you realize this country doesn’t hold to titles anymore, but still his character is above reproach. Well, I’m sure you’d like to visit with your cousin. I’m afraid she might be abed at this late hour though. Shall I have her awakened?”

  “No, no, sir, that won’t be necessary, and we apologize for disturbing your home at this hour, but we wanted to introduce ourselves as soon as we arrived.”

  “Not at all, sir! The long journey has surely tired you. I imagine you hoped we might offer you a room and a warm bed! Perhaps I might offer you a brandy while your rooms are prepared.”

  “Please don’t trouble yourself, sir. We can stay at the inn.”

  “Nonsense! I’m sure Mina will be pleased to have relatives as she settles in to her new home. I have already ordered rooms to be made up. If it’s acceptable, we’ll send for your trunks in the morning.”

  “Most acceptable and we are grateful for your hospitality, sir.”

  “You are most welcome. Now, about that brandy,” he said, pouring three glasses and passing them out. “Tell me, do you quite enjoy Boston?”

  “We do, sir, although, your town seems charming, a pleasant change from city life.”

  “It will grow on you, sir. I, myself, found Boston polluted with people, most irritating.” Damien held back a chuckle, as did Michael. Michael began to answer when a man entered the room, heading for the drink cart. “Oh, gentleman, I’d like you to make the acquaintance of my son, Mina’s husband, Grayson Buckley. Grayson, please meet Michael and Damien Carlyle, distant cousins of Mina’s.”

  Michael and Damien smiled at him. Even having been through this experience once before, it was still unnerving meeting someone you already know from the future. “A pleasure. Mina will be so pleased to have family visiting.” Gray smiled, extending his hand to each of them.

  “The pleasure is ours. We are eager to see Mina again, it’s been so long,” Michael lied.

  The butler entered the room again, announcing himself with a light knock at the door. “Yes, Ramsey?” Amos asked.

  “I have had the rooms prepared as requested.”

  “Excellent, Ramsey, excellent.”

  “If you gentlemen aren’t too tired, perhaps you’d join me in a second brandy. It would give us a chance to learn more about each other. I’ll show them to their rooms afterwards, father, assuming they are agreeable,” Gray offered.

  “We’d be happy to,” Michael agreed.

  “I have put them in your wing, Mr. Buckley, down the hall from your suite.”

  “Thank you, Ramsey,” Gray said.

  “Well, I’ll leave you gentleman to your brandy,” Amos said, finishing his and setting his glass down. “Good night.”

  “Good night, father,” Gray said.

  “Good night, sir,” Michael said, with Damien echoing the sentiment.

  Gray walked his father to the door, closing it behind him. Damien almost choked on his sip of brandy as Gray turned around. He held a small gun in his hands. It was trained on Michael.

  “Whoa!” Damien coughed, raising his arms in the air.

  “Now, you will tell me exactly who you are or I will shoot you,” Gray threatened.

  “We told you,” Michael stated again, “we are distant cousins of Mina.”

  “That’s a lie,” Gray countered.

  “It’s not,” Michael disputed.

  “Are you with him? Do you work for the Duke?”

  “No!” Damien exclaimed with Michael following suit. “No way! We do not work for him!”

  Gray offered a quizzical glance to Damien. “So, you know of him? How would you know him?”

  “Okay, okay, it’s true,” Michael explained, “we’re not cousins of Mina’s. Because Mina isn’t a real person, is she? That’s not her real name. We’re friends… not of Mina’s but of Celine’s.”

  Gray pushed the gun forward, inching closer to them. “I don’t believe you,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “This entire thing could be cleared up very easily by Celine,” Damien said, jumping into the conversation. “She will vouch for us.”

  Gray’s eyes narrowed as he considered the prospect. “And she’d recognize your names?”

  “Yes,” Damien said, hoping she remembered. “She’d recognize our names.”
/>   Gray considered the prospect a moment longer. “Fine. Stay here, I’ll check with my wife and we’ll determine if she does, indeed, know you.”

  “We’ll be right here,” Michael assured him.

  Gray exited the room, locking the door behind him. “Wow, it didn’t take us long to get in trouble,” Michael said to Damien.

  “Yeah, Gray’s even less kind now than he is in the future. Boy, I hope Celine remembers our names.”

  “Me too. Do you think she does?”

  “No idea, but I sure hope so. It’s been, what? Five years?”

  “About that, yeah. Maybe we shouldn’t take the chance? Perhaps we should try to get out of here, leave a note instead?”

  “That’s an idea,” Damien said, pondering it.

  Before they could discuss it any further, the doors burst open. They both turned toward the doorway, hoping it wasn’t Gray returning with his gun raised. Instead, they spotted Celine. In a dressing gown, curls falling down around her shoulders, she rushed into the room. Spotting them, she raced to them both, pulling them both into an embrace. “Michael! Damien!” she shouted. “I never imagined I’d meet you again!” Her thick, French accent was already beginning to wane, Damien noted.

  “Celine!” Damien said. “We’re so glad to see you. I’m so glad you are all right!”

  “Me too,” Michael said.

  “Do you have the book?” she asked, releasing them from her embrace.

  “No,” Michael said. “No, we don’t have the book. We…”

  Damien cleared his throat. “No, we took the book to where we were instructed.”

  “Which was?” Celine questioned.

  “Sorry, Celine. We can’t say,” Michael stated.

  Gray, who had watched the scene unfold from just inside the doorway, joined the conversation. “So, they are the ones who helped you, Celine?”

  “Yes, Gray. It was these men who helped me that fateful night.” She turned back to Michael and Damien. “You should know, I’m going by Mina now. Not that it’s done me a lot of good. Duke Northcott has tracked me here. He arrived last week in Boston. Alexander, Gray’s cousin has sent word that Marcus is preparing to make the journey to Bucksville. You must leave before he arrives. It is too dangerous for you here.”

  “We can’t, Celine, eh, Mina,” Damien said.

  “He’s right. We need something first,” Michael said.

  “What?” Celine asked.

  “Your portrait, Mina. We need your portrait.”

  “My portrait?”

  “Yes, the one being painted by Benjamin Abbott. We need it,” Damien answered.

  “Out of the question,” Gray said, joining the conversation.

  “But…” Damien began.

  “I said no,” Gray reiterated. “I commissioned that painting for a reason, it is to remain in this house.”

  “That’s just it, Gray. It will not remain in this house,” Michael said.

  “Yeah, the Duke… he takes it,” Damien explained further.

  “And how are you aware of this?” Gray questioned.

  “They are not of this time, Gray,” Celine informed him.

  Gray raised his eyebrows. “Really? That’s convenient.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael asked.

  “It means I don’t trust you. At all. And you’ll take that painting over my dead body,” Gray said, then stormed out of the room.

  “My apologies,” Celine said. “Gray can be overzealous when protecting me. The beginning of our marriage has not been easy. The Duke has seen to that.”

  “I can’t imagine how difficult the last few years have been for you,” Damien lamented. “It’s okay. But we do need that painting.”

  Celine shook her head. “Gray is right,” she said. “He commissioned that painting for a reason. It cannot leave this house, ever.”

  “That’s what we’re trying to tell you,” Damien said. “The Duke takes it, it doesn’t stay in this house, it doesn’t protect this family as you intended.”

  Celine cocked her head to the side. “You are aware of the mystical properties of the painting?”

  “Yes, we are,” Damien informed her.

  Celine considered the information for a moment. Then she shook her head. “Then you realize the reason it has been commissioned and the reason it cannot leave this house.”

  “But…” Damien began.

  “Yes, I understand what you’ve said, but now we are aware. We can take steps to prevent it.”

  “What if you can’t prevent it?” Damien asked.

  Celine stared up at him. “We must try our best. You must have some details you can make us aware of to help us.”

  “We don’t have many,” Damien said.

  “Then how do you know the Duke steals it?” Celine questioned.

  “It’s a long story, most of which we can’t share, and we’re only going on a hunch,” Damien said.

  “Hmm.” Celine paced the room as she pondered the conversation. Turning to face them, she said, “It’s late. We should discuss this at another time. Let me show you to your rooms. If I know Ramsey, he’s put you in our wing.”

  Damien and Michael nodded in agreement. “Yes, I think he has,” Michael added.

  Celine smiled at them, motioning to them to follow her to their rooms. “Despite the news you bring, it is good to see you both.”

  “It’s good to see you too, Celine,” Damien said. “I worried about you the night we left you on the beach. I hated to leave you.”

  “I’ve survived,” Celine assured them. “And you should be careful, I’m using the name Wilhelmina now. Mina for short.”

  “Yes, we know,” Michael assured her. “Hopefully we won’t slip up and call you Celine.”

  “Thank you. Well, here we are,” Celine said, stopping outside a pair of rooms, side-by-side. “Sleep well. I shall see you in the morning.” She left them outside of the doors, making her way further down the hall to the double doors that led to her suite of rooms.

  “Well, this is weird,” Damien said as they entered Michael’s room. “They put us in the same rooms we’re in during our time.”

  “Yeah,” Michael agreed. “Wait.” He paused. “Something is different. Is this room bigger or something?”

  “There’s no door to the bathroom,” Damien said, pointing to the empty wall that contained the bathroom door in their time period.

  Michael grimaced as realization dawned on him. “You’re right. Because there is no bathroom.”

  “No, there isn’t. We’re before the time of indoor plumbing. Indoor plumbing doesn’t become popular with the wealthy until the 1840s,” Damien rambled, as was his tendency.

  “Thanks for the history lesson. I still cannot understand how you enjoy this so much. There are so many inconveniences! The missing bathroom at the top of the list!” Michael exclaimed.

  “It’s fascinating,” Damien argued. “I mean, we get to immerse ourselves in another culture! Experience how life was lived in a bygone era, a simpler time.”

  “A time without bathrooms.”

  “A time where people stood on principle and ceremony,” Damien countered.

  “A time where people died of typhoid,” Michael responded. Damien rolled his eyes. “What? They did! People died of the common cold when they were thirty!”

  “I’m just saying if you take it in the right spirit, this is kind of like a gift. We truly get to experience something.”

  “I’ll be happy when we’ve experienced it, past tense,” Michael said. “So far, we’re not getting very far. Gray distrusts us more than he does in the future. Celine seems unsure of trusting us and the infamous Duke that we worked so hard to be rid of in our time is on his way here.” He sunk onto the bed, resting his head in his hands.

  “Yeah, it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped,” Damien admitted. “We’ve got to convince her somehow.”

  “But how?” Michael asked. “We can’t give her many details, not that we
have many to share to begin with. And besides, she has a point.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If we take the painting now, it doesn’t protect anyone as it was intended. What’s the difference if we take it or Marcus Northcott takes it?”

  Damien paced the room. “At least we’d have it back in our time, I guess. I don’t know, we’ll figure something out. Perhaps a good night’s sleep will help.”

  Michael nodded, hoping Damien was correct. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then,” Damien said.

  “Hey,” Michael said, stopping him, “before you go…”

  “Yeah?” Damien asked.

  Michael stood. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior the last few weeks. I… " He paused, searching for the words. “I wasn’t myself.”

  Damien offered him a smile. “I understand. And it’s not your fault.”

  “I didn’t realize what an ass I’ve been until we came here. I guess being away from Celeste has cleared my mind of the fog it was under. It’s like…” He paused again. “Night and day.”

  “She no longer has any draw on you.”

  “I didn’t realize how much of a draw she had. And how do you know?”

  “Celine explained it to me, about how vampires interact with their victims.”

  “Vampires,” Michael shuddered. “What kind of world have we gotten ourselves into?”

  “I was pretty blown away, too. But I’m glad you’re okay and back to your normal self. Apology accepted.”

  “Me too! And I’m glad you accept my apology. Now I need to apologize to Celine. We had quite the argument. I knocked her down again.” Michael rolled his eyes. “That’s becoming quite a habit of mine.”

  “I’m sure Celine, of all people, understands. Besides, she’s like indestructible. You couldn’t hurt her this time!”