Unwept (23 page)

Worse, a dark paisley mark ran from around its eye and across its forehead.

Ely bolted for the door, but it was too late. The demonic jackal head struck with incredible speed down through the opening, its jaws clamping down mercilessly around the young man's body. Ely shrieked as the monster dragged him up through the hole in the ceiling, crushing his body with its powerful jaws. The monstrous head rose up high above the shattered church, then shook with such violent force that Ely's body tore between its teeth, snapping in two.

The body of Ely at once became a mass of moths. In moments his form had dissolved into a dissipating cloud of the insects, flitting off into the night.

Walker lunged for the door. “Come on, woman! Run!”

Ellis tried to get to her feet, but the monstrous jackal was already rushing down.

The ceiling collapsed down on top of her.

20

PREY

“Ellis! Wake up!”

Ellis took in a gasping breath; her eyes flew open. She had the panicked feeling she was falling. Her fingers curled around the bedcovers in a vise-like grip.

The common sight of her room was as much of a shock to her as the nightmare she had been living. She took in the cream-colored ceiling, the plaster ornamentation in the corners. Her chest of drawers stood in the corner. Evening light was dim through the French doors that led out to the small balcony. A gentle rain fell against the glass as the beam of Curtis Lighthouse swept past the glass doors. She struggled to sit up.

“Don't rouse yourself, dearie,” Finny Disir said, pushing her back down into the comfortable folds of the sheets, blankets and coverlets. Finny was wearing her nurse's uniform again. Her eyes were cold as ice. “You've been through a terrible ordeal, but the fever broke and the worst is over now.”

“What are you talking about?” Ellis shivered despite the layers of blanket pressing down on her. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm your nurse, Miss Harkington,” Finny sniffed as she straightened up by the side of the bed. She obviously considered Ellis's question to be impertinent. “Just relax. There's no sense in making yourself upset. You've been delirious for several days now. You've given us quite a scare, young woman.”

“I've given
you
a scare?” Ellis asked.

A tall man inexplicably dressed in a gray morning suit and cloak threw open the door to her bedroom and stepped purposefully toward the startled Ellis. Rainwater dripped to the floor from his coat, his hair wet.

“Mr. Bacchus!” Ellis exclaimed, dragging the bedclothes up to her chin.

Merrick took no notice of her discomfiture but spoke briskly to the nurse and he removed his cloak, tossing it over the chair in the corner of the room. “Miss Disir, you will go at once and prepare some tea. I need to speak with Miss Harkington for a moment.”

Finny sputtered, “But Mr. Bacchus sir—”

“At once, Nurse Disir,” Merrick insisted. “I've not the time or the patience for questions at the moment.”

Finny lifted her pinched face in disapproval but stepped from the room, leaving them entirely alone.

Merrick turned and sat on the edge of Ellis's bed. The young woman withdrew from him as best she could, uncomfortably aware of how narrow the bed now seemed and how close this man was to her. It was a gesture of intimacy for which she was not prepared: a return to the nightmare.

Merrick cocked his head, listening for Finny's steps on the stairs to fade away before he turned back to Ellis. His eyes were filled with sadness and concern. “I got word that you had emerged from your fevered delirium this morning and came as quickly as I could. I've been worried to distraction for you ever since this whole thing happened. How are you feeling this morning?”

“I … I'm not certain,” Ellis answered. “Tired, I think, and confused.”

“I understand from Dr. Carmichael that it is not unusual in cases like yours.” Merrick nodded. He reached out from where he sat, gently resting his hand on the coverlet over her leg. Ellis jerked both her legs abruptly back toward her chin, glaring a fearful warning at Merrick. He sighed, pulling his hand back reluctantly. “He also said it would take some time before you would be back to your old self. Nurse Disir is here to help you, Ellis, but I'm afraid I have to ask you a few questions.”

“Questions?” Ellis glared at Merrick. “What questions?”

“Well, they are not
my
questions,” Merrick pressed on. “The constable needs some information if we're to find the monster that did this to you, Ellis. I know it may be hard for you, but you have to be brave.”

“I've a few questions of my own,” Ellis insisted. “What
did
happen to me?”

“You witnessed a murder, Ellis,” Merrick said. He turned to look out over the bay toward the lighthouse. “A horrific, terrible murder perpetrated by a monster. There have been a series of them that have followed you all the way down the coast from Halifax—”

“I came from Halifax?” Ellis asked suddenly. It was the first time she could recall anyone volunteering some truth they knew about her.

“Yes,” Merrick said through a soft smile. “That's where you came from, Ellis—your other home. You arrived here last Sunday with your friend, Miss Cochrane.”

“No, that's not true,” Ellis said, her lip quivering. “I don't know anyone by the name of Cochrane. I've been here for weeks now—”

“You've been here for five days,” Merrick asserted.

Ellis swallowed this news mutely, trying to believe him, wanting to scream that he was wrong. She asked her next question hoping for an answer she could believe.

“Why was I sent here?”

“You were sent here to get away from this creature,” Merrick said, looking away. “This monster appears to be masquerading as a man—an outsider. He may be someone you knew in Halifax and it appears that he has been leaving a trail of horror as he has stalked you here to Gamin. His latest victim was Miss Cochrane … that artist you had invited to stay with you here. Three days ago we discovered what remained of her out by the point. Dr. Carmichael believes you were there, saw the gruesome attack and somehow escaped the fiend who had grimly assaulted your friend. He also believes you may have witnessed the other attacks before that as well. We found you that same day wandering along the beach below Summersend, your clothing shredded. You were raving madness—”

“What do you mean?” Ellis insisted.

“Something about arriving on a train … a baby … something called a ‘Nightbird,'” Merrick said, shaking his head. “Nurse Disir took most of it down at the insistence of the doctor. “But part of your delirium was a dark figure of a man who came to you here in your room. Do you remember him?”

A male form became clearly outlined, darkness against the moonlight now streaming through the window at his back. His silhouette was tall, with broad shoulders and slender hips. The ribbons upon his chest glistened in the moonlight, head bent low, face hidden in the shadows.

“A soldier,” Ellis said quietly.

“Ah!” Merrick urged as he nodded. “That's helpful. Did you know him?”

“Dear Ellis,” he sighed. “Do you know me?” She could see the set of his jawline was earnest in the darkness. Almost imperceptibly she shook her head no.

“He thought I did,” Ellis replied, licking her lips.

“Did he have a name?” Merrick pressed her. “Do you remember if he gave you his name?”

The waltz started playing on the Victrola.

Transfixed, Ellis spun with him into the small world of their dance.

“Do you know me?” he asked with hope.

Passion. Heat. Pain. Desire. Giving. Taking. Holding. Fear.
His voice called up thoughts and impressions unbidden. Terrible. Familiar.

“Who are you?” Ellis gasped as all of Gamin whirled around them.

“I am Jonas,” he said.

Ecstasy. Trembling. Anger. Betrayal. Tears.

“I don't know you.” She knew it was a lie even as she spoke the words.

“He did,” Ellis sighed. “He said his name was Jonas.”

“That's excellent, Ellis.” Merrick nodded. “Did he ever call himself by any other name or—”

Ellis shook her head. “No more, Merrick. I'm tired. I've got to rest.”

“Of course, Ellie,” Merrick said. He hesitated, looking away from her again through the French doors to the failing light beyond. He winced every time the beam of the lighthouse crossed his face. “I don't know what happened to us, Ellis. We were happy here, you and I—as happy as two souls might be here in Gamin. You loved this place. You used to say that you came here just because I asked. It was enough for you—enough for us. I could not understand it when you left. I would have come after you if I could have. Then you came back and I was sure that we could fix whatever had gone wrong between us and we could continue on as though nothing had changed.”

“I don't remember any of that,” Ellis said. She could see the pain in his eyes, the defiance against his own emotions in the jutting of his jaw. “I wish I could.”

“So do I,” Merrick said through a sad smile, and then rose from the edge of the bed. He leaned forward carefully, hesitantly, and then kissed her gently on her forehead. He lingered there close to her for a moment, murmuring quietly, “We were always good together … and we will be again.”

“You should go,” Ellis answered back.

“Quite right,” Merrick said, straightening upright at once and stepping away from the bed. “The constable is awaiting my report and then I have a number of other important things which demand my immediate attention.”

Merrick snatched up his cloak from the chair, swinging it onto his shoulders. “We'll have this fiend cornered and caged by morning. You've come back to us and are safely home at last. That's all that matters. The nightmare is nearly over, Janelle.”

Ellis glanced up sharply. “What did you call me?”

“Ellie, of course,” Merrick replied with concern. “Are you feeling unwell again?”

“Thank you for your concern, but—”

Merrick opened the door, calling down the spiral staircase, “Nurse Disir!”

“Yes, sir?” came the distant voice from below.

“Attend to Miss Harkington at once,” Merrick demanded, then turned back to face Ellis from the doorway as he fastened his cloak. “Just stay here in your rooms until I return and you'll be safe.”

“Yes, Merrick,” Ellis replied.

He smiled. “That's the first time you've called me by that name. Thank you, Ellie.”

Bacchus pushed past Finny on the landing. His footfalls vanished down the curved staircase into the rotunda below as Finny regained control of the precariously balanced tea tray in her hands.

“That Mr. Bacchus is always in too much of a hurry!” Finny exclaimed as she came into the room, her face as sour as the lemon slices on the tray. “Haste is blind and improvident, that is what I always say. I've brought you up the tea, miss.”

“Thank you, Finny,” Ellis said, pushing her feet back down the length of the bed under the covers. She helped Finny position the bed tray over her lap. “Where's Jenny? I would have thought she would have been asking after me by now.”

“Jenny, miss?” Finny asked evenly as she picked up the teapot.

“Yes, Jenny.” Ellis asked, “Where is she?”

“I don't know any Jenny, miss,” Finny answered as she carefully poured out the tea into its cup. Would you care for any cream?”

“Yes, thank you. Of course you know Jenny. She's the young woman who lives here,” Ellis insisted. “The one who owns Summersend.”

“Oh, I think you're still feeling a bit confused,” Finny said as the cream began to cloud the surface of the clear tea. “You're the only mistress of Summersend and have been these last six years since your parents passed on.”

Ellis stared at Finny for a moment. She drew in a deep, considering breath before she spoke. “Oh, of course, how silly of me. I must be confusing my nightmares with my waking hours.”

“Yes, miss.” Finny nodded with a tight smile. “Sugar?”

“Yes, thank you,” Ellis said, her voice as cool as the rain splattering the window. The beam of the lighthouse passed again, somehow brighter in the deepening evening. She fixed her eyes on the nurse fumbling with the spoon over the sugar bowl. “I had a rather fanciful dream about a sea captain … a Captain Walker. Have you ever heard of such a man?”

“Oh no, miss,” Finny said, her hand shaking as she sifted the sugar into the cup.

“There were also a young man and a young woman in this dream,” Ellis continued. “His name was Ely Rossini. I called the woman Alicia.”

“I'm not in the habit of dealing with fictitious individuals,” Finny said, straightening up.

“So, you've never known someone named Alicia?” Ellis asked as she picked up the cup.

“Stuff and nonsense!” Finny sniffed in disgust. “I'm a serious-minded woman, miss, and I've no interest in being introduced to your imaginary friends called into existence by a fevered mind!”

“No, of course not.” Ellis nodded, her eyes fixed on Finny over the edge of the cup as she sipped her tea. “I guess I'm still on the mend.”

“Of course, miss.” Finny nodded, her arms folded across her chest, fingers drumming in her impatience. “Will there be anything else? The weather is getting worse and I'd like to be home before the light fails entirely.”

“No, that will be all—”

Finny nodded and was already turning.

“No, wait,” Ellis added. “There is one last thing you can do for me before you go.”

Finny turned, casting a baleful eye on Ellis as she asked, “And what would that be, miss?”