She shrugged helplessly. “I have no idea. I was rushing in the dark and saw a glimmer of light. I went toward it and ended up there. I can’t explain it.” She shook her head in frustration. “It’s not the first time something strange has happened there. I was there one night after Lady Erica had retired. Someone tapped on the glass. I thought someone was there, but I was alone.”
His nostrils flared as he took a step forward and stood directly in front of her. “I have to wonder why, if you are without fault, such strange occurrences have been happening ever since you arrived.”
Marlene had hoped to never have to reveal her sordid past, but the words flew out of her mouth. “Things have happened to me ever since I was a child.”
He stilled. “What do you mean?”
She leaned back against the wall, needing something to support her as she was transported back to one of the darkest times of her life. At least—until the day her parents had been killed and she’d been evicted from her home. “I was nine years old when I came down with a chill. My father called the physician, and I was treated with everything from leeches to bloodletting. He gave them little hope that I would survive and told them to prepare for the worst. For weeks, I was incoherent with a high fever, balancing on the line between life and death. After a month, by some miracle, I began to improve. I can’t abide the cold now, because I think about that time.” She shivered. “When I started to become aware of my surroundings, it was as if time had stood still. I remembered nothing during the time I was ill.” Her focus wavered. “But I can vividly recall other things after I awoke.”
There was a brief pause as she collected herself.
Such as?” he prompted.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on the changes she had experienced. “At first, it was little things, like footsteps, or noticing movements out of the corner of my eye. But then—” She opened her eyes, and her voice turned raspy, the sensations pouring through her almost too much to bear. “I started to see things, like shadows…” She shook her head. “Please, can we speak of something other than this? It’s not a particular memory I wish to revisit.”
“Did these visions ever cease?” he prodded gently.
“They seemed to do so. Or else they just faded into subconscious dreams. Once I started to mature, it was as if I was able to regain control over my thoughts and found a way to push it all out of my mind.”
“And now these oddities have returned.”
She glanced at him, but her dark eyes quickly shifted away. “Yes. Although I can’t say why.”
“Perhaps the reason is that you have the gift.”
She snorted. “I’m not sure I would call such things a gift. Either way, I think I would know if I harbored some sort of celestial awareness.”
His eyes glimmered. “Not if you have been asleep to your abilities all this time.”
Marlene was feeling very awkward with this conversation. Not only was she finding her host too intense, too… hypnotic while she was feeling so vulnerable, she needed some time alone to process everything. “I’m feeling rather tired. I should like to rest now.” She headed for the door, but a gust of air moved past her and shut it firmly before she could leave.
She stood motionless, in absolute silence, hardly daring to breathe, her mind unwilling to comprehend what had just happened.
“I appreciate your candor until this point, Miss St. Clair, but I need you to tell me everything that has happened to you since you’ve arrived at Rosedale Heights, even if you think it to be inconsequential.” His deep baritone was smooth upon the back of her neck. “I cannot allow you to depart this room until you do.”
“You would hold me against my will?” she whispered.
“For your own good,” he returned. “And mine. I believe that you may be an unwitting victim in a feud as old as time itself.” He allowed a brief silence to pass between them. “Or a vessel to bring about evil.”
Chapter 7
Alaric didn’t want to frighten her any more than she already was, but just as she had answered his questions, he knew it was only fair to offer her some insight into his past as well. Either way, the pentacle in his room had started to glow, warning him of impending danger. He was certain that Hector would make an appearance soon. Alaric might have believed that Marlene was connected to his nemesis, if her tale of woe didn’t ring so true.
She slowly turned to him, her gaze still riveted on the door. “How did you do that?” she asked in a nearly inaudible tone.
“The how is of no concern to you at the moment,” he returned evenly. “Just know that there is no need to be scared of me. My intention is not to harm you. I wish to protect you, but in order to do that, I have to know what else has happened.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth, and then returned to those dark, fathomless eyes. He could sense uncertainty, but there was also a strength in those depths that he admired. It would take courage to live the life she’d led. Or be connected to his.
“Do you know what’s happening here?”
“I have my suspicions.”
She looked at him expectantly.
He lifted a brow. If there was one thing he admired, it was her tenacity. “It’s not the house that calls out to you. It’s those who wish to harm me.” He stepped back. “My enemies will stop at nothing to see my end, even if it means using another to do so. There is one who would rejoice in my demise.”
“Who?”
