Darkness Bound

by Stella Cameron

  She held her breath.

  Gabriel didn’t notice what she’d said. His mind had wandered. He watched Molly get up from a stool at the bar and shrug into a furry parka. The hood was huge and looked good framing her face.

  It didn’t take second sight to figure out Molly was deliberately ignoring Gabriel. She smoothed her tight jeans over her thighs and turned the fur cuffs at the tops of her boots over her knees.

  Out she walked, twinkling her fingernails in the air—Leigh presumed that was her good-bye to Gabriel, since she obviously knew he was looking at her.

  “I’d better get back to it,” Leigh said and slipped away to her office.

  Jazzy sat up in his bed, a depressed expression turning his mouth down. She picked him up and sat down, settling the dog on her lap.

  Get back to it? Gabriel would assume that’s what she was doing but Leigh couldn’t concentrate. The day was clicking by and she would have to make a decision about Niles. She wanted him, but it was so soon to make the kind of commitment he asked for.

  She couldn’t stay at Gabriel’s, not right now, not when she needed to be alone somewhere to think.

  On her way out of the office again she bumped into Sally.

  “I was going to make a suggestion,” Sally said. “I was going to call someone else, but didn’t you say your sister had too much time on her hands?”

  Jan did. “I guess.” But Leigh didn’t recall mentioning Jan to Sally at all.

  “The drive around from Camano isn’t so long and the road is never that busy. Maybe she could do a couple of days for Phoebe during the week. At the bookstore. That’s when Jan’s husband goes in to Seattle, isn’t it—during the week?”

  Niles must have told Sally about Jan and Gib. Sally had a sympathetic ear and trying to work out a solution was just her style. “I don’t know if Jan would want to do it,” Leigh said.

  “You look as if you could use some time away from here,” Sally said. “Why not head out early? Stop in at Gulliver Lane and take a look at the shop. See what you think. If you like it, Jan’s bound to, isn’t she?”

  “We like a lot of the same things.” Jazzy strained in her arms, trying to fly free. “You’re staying with me now, boy” she told him. “I need your company.”

  Jazzy rolled his eyes and Sally laughed, unnerving Leigh. No one ever noticed Jazzy did that.

  “Take the second turn to the right after the gas station,” Sally said. I’ll call Phoebe and tell her you’re coming.”

  “Well—”

  “What have you got to lose? She serves great hot chocolate and the bookshop’s a blast. Look for Read It Again next to Wear It Again. It’s a bit run down but the stained-glass windows are great—Phoebe made them herself.”

  “Well, I guess—”

  “Bless my socks, I forgot to give you this.” Sally produced a much-folded piece of paper. “A man called John Valley left it for you. Wouldn’t wait. He said for you to get in touch with him and all the information’s there. He’s got a shiner of a black eye. I didn’t figure he liked showing it off.”

  Sally walked away and Leigh unfolded the paper. Valley’s name and number were on the top. The brief note underneath said, “You are never going to get another offer like this. The guy wants your place so bad we could maybe push him even higher. Call me.” His number was under his name.

  The sum of money written there crossed Leigh’s eyes. No one would pay that much for a little cottage, even on a really big piece of land—not in a down market. Although she supposed a developer might see big potential. Leigh shook her head—her property wasn’t for sale.

  She crumpled the paper into a ball and scrunched it into the bottom of her pocket.

  Defeated by a puzzling day and tied in knots over Niles, Leigh let Gabriel know she was setting off early and eventually managed to get her car door open while Jazzy leaped around whining about his cold feet.

  She swept enough snow off the windshield, front and back, to let her see and crawled inside the car where she sat while trying to let it warm up. Not that it did much good. The heater seemed to be running on cool.

  Jazzy kept jumping on her lap and Leigh repeatedly pushed him to the backseat where he at least had a blanket to curl up in.

  The little Honda handled surprisingly well in snow. At least, it did with chains on the tires. She made it steadily out of the road in front of Gabriel’s to the secondary highway. Snow piled high on either side.

  “Damn,” she muttered. Fat flakes hit the windshield again, all but obliterating the view ahead. She turned on the wipers and leaned forward, looking for the gas station.

  When she saw it, she was relieved. Any sign of civilization was welcome in this weather. And lights inside showed they were available for what business came their way. Snow didn’t stop people around here. Remembering that made her feel brave all over again.

  The first turn she came to was little more than a lane but she supposed it counted. Another two miles and she reached an unmarked road. Unmarked and unplowed.

  She steered carefully around the corner then slowed to a stop. This visit to Phoebe should wait for another day.

  The sooner she got home, the sooner she would be alone to think about the shock Niles had given her that morning.

  What did partnership mean to him?

  He’d talked about really caring for her—more than caring. Her skin prickled and she felt too jumpy to think straight.

  What did she feel for him?

  She felt something, a lot. But was she thinking straight or simply reacting to a very attractive man who made her feel wanted and important? What was it about him that acted like a magnet? Maybe it was his having the chutzpah to come right out and say he wanted her. The expression on his face hadn’t suggested chutzpah, rather that laying it all out to her was costing everything he had in emotional reserve.

  He had talked about love. Leigh swallowed hard.

  The headlights of another car turned onto the narrow street behind her and she had to move. The chains weren’t gripping as well as they should here. There must have been time for a good freeze and a layer of ice before the freshest snow fell.

  Shimmying slightly, she crawled on.

  Those headlights were shining in her rear window, reflecting on the fine layer of snow that had drifted down from the top of the car. The rear-window heater was working, but slowly.

  The slightest bump against the back of the Honda startled her. Whoever was back there wasn’t experienced and had gotten too close.

  The next bump was harder.

  Leigh tapped her horn but the lights didn’t back off.

  An avalanche of snow fell from the tall firs all around. There didn’t seem to be any wind but something had dislodged things.

  Another bump.

  This one jarred Leigh’s neck and when she checked on Jazzy he had been thrown forward onto the floor.

  That made her mad, but what could she do about it out here? Someone was having his jollies at her expense.

  Her stomach turned. When Jazzy climbed shakily between the front seats, she let him sit on her lap—something she never encouraged while she was driving.

  The road curved to the left. Leigh didn’t see a building anywhere and anything with stained-glass windows and a name like Read It Again ought to be noticeable. She should turn around, but the thought of actually seeing the clown behind her was scary.

  He nudged her again and she tried to speed up. The result was several nasty slips, one way and the other.

  And the light was failing. It was too early for that. She realized the trees were becoming so dense they almost met overhead and closed out any light that might have filtered down.

  Another curve turned to the left sharply enough for her to be surprised when she actually saw lights ahead. Far ahead, it’s true, but lights nevertheless.

  Dark multicolored lights, as if they were shining through that stained glass Sally had talked about.

  Sheesh, what would be the point of
trying to run a business back here? No one would ever find it, or at least not by accident.

  She hadn’t noticed the other car starting to overtake her. It drew level, a big, maroon sedan, although she couldn’t tell the make. Windows tinted black gave her the creeps.

  The car stayed level, matching her speed exactly. She slowed a little more. He slowed a little more.

  Leigh sweated. Her eyes stung and her throat was so tight it hurt.

  He’s going to sideswipe me.

  Who could she call for help out here—wherever out here was? Niles, of course. He’d said he would keep her safe—he wouldn’t be happy if she had accidentally slipped his net, but she wasn’t about to become a sniveling, wilting flower who leaned on him day after day. Especially not now.

  From nowhere, gravel sprayed the windshield. There was a pop and the whole thing was crazed with cracks.

  Deciding what to do next wasn’t an option. A big branch crashed down, finishing the job the gravel had started, shattering the window and sending sharp twigs and pebbles of glass into Leigh.

  She screamed, tried to cover her face, and managed to get a foot on the brake.

  For a sickening instant she was back in that other car, careening down an embankment with a boulder crashing on a collision course with Chris’s side of the car.

  She took several deep breaths and blinked sweat out of her eyes.

  The branch that had penetrated the car pinned her to the seat. A few inches closer and it might well have killed her.

  Jazzy’s pathetic bark was a relief. At least he wasn’t dead. But Leigh knew that pray as she might, the other car might not just carry on and leave her, as she wished it would. She didn’t want to deal with people who got their kicks from bumping cars in this sort of weather.

  “You okay?” A man’s voice called out, and she heard another car’s door slam shut. “I’m really sorry I hit you. I got caught without my chains and I’m slipping all over the place.”

  “I’ll be okay,” she called back. “Someone will come with a tow truck.” She couldn’t see who she was talking to, but the guy sounded okay and at least he was apologizing.

  “You won’t get cell reception out here. No one ever does. Doc’s house is up the end of here. I reckon you ought to let him have a look at you.”

  Leigh didn’t answer. She felt completely trapped. And she couldn’t locate her bag, to say nothing of her cell phone.

  “Does anything hurt?” the voice asked. “Your face is bleeding.”

  She peered, trying but failing to see anyone. Tentatively she felt her way to her face with her fingertips and felt sticky blood at her temple.

  “I’ll be okay,” she said. Relying on strangers was not a pleasing idea right now. If Niles knew about this, he would be furious.

  “Could need stitches, though. And it’s pretty cold out here. It wouldn’t be a good thing if you went into shock.

  “Let’s get you out of there.” He yanked on the door handle. “I think you’ve still got it locked,” he said.

  Her heart beat in time with her very shallow breathing. Jazzy growled and she jumped. Jazzy wasn’t the type of dog to growl at much unless he was scared or mad.

  “You should be able to reach the lock,” the guy said. “Release it and I’ll take you to Doc Saul.”

  If she pretended to lose consciousness, would he go for help or just pound away at her car to get in?

  She could push the door release but still she hesitated.

  “Can you get it? Or shall I go for help? Could get dangerously cold out here, though. Window broken and all.”

  Leigh clicked the lock and the door opened almost at once. A man bundled up in snow gear with a stocking cap pulled down to his eyes held the branch away from her with one arm and peered at her closely. “Can you move? If anything hurts, you stay still.”

  “I can move.” But she ached, and sliding sideways out into the snow was horrible. She reached back for Jazzy and pushed him inside her coat as best she could. The coat wasn’t big enough.

  She couldn’t tell how old the guy was. Maybe thirties, maybe forties, and with a pointed nose all his other features looked like they wanted to get cozy with. She’d heard of push faces on dogs, but this was a pull face with small, pale eyes set very close together.

  When he put an arm around her shoulder it took willpower not to shrug him away. But he had not said anything threatening, and he had admitted he was responsible for the accident.

  “You’re probably fine,” he said. “But you can lean if you need to. I’m Bill, by the way.”

  “I’m Leigh,” she said. “What’s your other name?” She might well want to trace this one about her car no matter how honest he seemed.

  “Bill Stravinsky,” he said with a chuckle. “No relation to the great Stravinsky.”

  Her temptation was to tell him she would prefer not to talk at all.

  Leigh did feel a little woozy. Bill took her by the arm and held tighter than she thought necessary, but he got her up the street okay, steadying her each time her legs got weak enough for her to start slipping.

  “You’re okay,” he said. “Doc Saul’s a miracle worker.”

  “I’ll have to get someone out to help with my car.”

  “Time for that when you’re cleaned up. A hot drink will feel good, too.”

  In the driveway that led from tall, double wrought-iron gates to the front of the house, Bill Stravinsky hesitated.

  Leigh looked at him, at his puzzled expression.

  “What is it?”

  He shrugged. “I could have the wrong house.”

  Leigh shuddered. Was she concussed? The branch must have hit her head harder than she had thought.

  The front door, its black paint curling off in long strips, flew open before they could knock or ring the bell. A huge lamp shaped like an upside-down umbrella and suspended from the roof of the porch was made of colored glass, and that accounted for the spray of colored light.

  “Come on in,” a short, plump man in a purple tunic and skullcap said. “You can freeze out there in no time, and if you let much more of that air in, we’ll all freeze in here. Come along now. Need your head looked at, do you? Well, don’t we all.” He laughed like a braying donkey and slapped a foot up and down on the floor. “In we go.”

  The room she entered behind him had steps leading up to a platform along one side. A carved railing at the back of the platform stood as an apparent barrier between an open space below and the room where Leigh stood. She couldn’t see anything but white walls beyond the railing.

  “Sit, sit, sit,” the man in purple said, waving her to a carved wooden chair. “All our honored visitors sit in that. You can call me Percy. That’s my name.”

  “Nice to meet you, Percy.” Reluctantly, Leigh sat. “Is Dr. Saul in?” she said.

  “Do you want to look at a book while you wait or will you make up your own story?” was all the response she got.

  She rubbed her eyes, so scared every breath jammed in her throat. If she was unconscious, this could all be imaginary.

  “Where’s Bill?” she said suddenly, wanting to see a familiar face, any familiar face.

  “Do you want a—”

  “Where is Bill?” She stood up, ready to walk out.

  “Bill Stravinsky went to find the doctor. This is the wrong street for his house. We’ll look after you till Bill gets back. He doesn’t know us very well; I expect that’s why he took the wrong turn.”

  Leigh tried to figure out how she could get away from here.

  “I told you to sit down,” Percy said, his jovial expression never changing. “Do it or you’ll get me in trouble.”

  She remained on her feet and fought down panic. Was she in a coma?

  Through the door came the most beautiful man Leigh had ever seen. Percy backed out of the room, bowing repeatedly and leaving her alone with this unreal-looking male.

  The man inclined his head at Leigh, allowing silken blond hair that reached hi
s waist to swing to one side. His black and silver body suit fitted every dip, rise, and muscle without as much as a tiny wrinkle—as far as Leigh could see.

  The view was pretty amazing. She moved her stare to his face and kept it there.

  This creature—“man” was not an adequate word—studied her with unwavering black eyes that winged up at the same angle as his cheekbones and dark brown brows. His upper lip was narrower than the lower one and his mouth parted in the slightest smile.

  He held a hand toward her, inviting her to touch him.

  Leigh put both of her own hands behind her back.

  “I am Colin,” he said, the little smile gone. “This is my house. Welcome.” And to Leigh’s horror he moved closer, much closer, and rested his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t need your coat,” he said and unzipped her long parka—slowly. Jazzy jumped down and pressed close to her legs.

  Leigh couldn’t have said anything even had she wanted to.

  Colin slid the coat down her arms and tossed it over one of several pieces of plush antique furniture she hadn’t noticed until now. He swept up Jazzy and tossed him after the coat.

  With one finger he traced the shape of her face to the point of her chin, slid down her throat and continued on over her silk turtleneck all the way to her waist.

  “Nice,” he said. “I thought it was too much to hope for that I would get you. You must know how rare your kind are now. We shall take great care of you.”

  Petrified, Leigh felt as if her mind had frozen. She didn’t know what he meant and couldn’t as much as start an idea to get away from him.

  His next move was so fast she didn’t see it until his mouth brushed her cheek and he nipped the lobe of her ear.

  The blond stream of his hair slid over her face and across her shoulders. “No response?” he said, not sounding angry. Blowing softly, he rested his mouth on her ear and caressed her neck until he settled his head there, lips and teeth barely touching her, the backs of his fingers slipping back and forth beneath her hair.

  “Mmm.” He straightened, so much taller than she. “More to come later.”

  Carefully, he passed his fingertips over the cuts on her temple and jaw. He smiled again as he slowly licked specks of her dried blood from his fingers.