Page 29 of A Duke's Christmas Carol
Adrian tried to kick out, to get his fist to connect with his father’s vile face, but the nightmare had twisted the past, tangling timelines together. He had the stature of a boy, but if his face was scarred, then he was older. Just after he returned from war.
But Mother would not have been here… She was gone by then.
His eyes searched desperately for her as his father continued to shake him, but she had vanished, drifting away like those flakes of snow. And in the corner of the room, as always, a dark shadow crouched and watched. A faceless, shapeless thing that forever haunted his nightmares. A ghoul among ghosts of the past.
“Hell spatyouout,” his father snarled, a hand tightening around Adrian’s throat. “A devil. That is what you are—a devil.”
Just as Adrian felt like the life was about to be squeezed from him, his head pulsing with the pressure of blood that had nowhere to go, eyes bulging, that wretched bedchamber disappeared.
In its place, Adrian’s own room, the familiar brocade canopy above him. He was in his bed, the linens damp with the sweat of his fear, his breath coming in ragged pants that plumed in the air above him. The fire must have gone out, the winter cold creeping in… or the ghosts were still lurking, their presence dropping the temperature of the bedchamber.
“Ridiculous,” he hissed, his voice anchoring him, orienting him back in reality.
Therewereno ghosts in Blackwall Castle. There were only ghosts inside his head, but even they could not haunt him while he was awake.
Throwing back the coverlets despite the chill, and his preference for wearing nothing to bed, he padded across the cold floor to the fireplace. A few prods stirred up the embers again, and headded a couple of logs and some coal to get it burning to the point where it would make a dent in the chill.
What is the use? I will not sleep again tonight.
With that in mind, he pulled on trousers and a shirt and walked out. The library called to him, for that was where he kept his best port, and a night like this called for the warming, spiced, heady liquor.
A few steps down the hallway and he halted. An echo of footsteps, not his own, pricked his ears.
A moment later, a figure careened around the corner, hurrying along with her nightdress and housecoat hitched up in her hand. Someone who should not have been in this part of the castle.
Valerie gasped as she saw him. “Are you well?” she asked, still running. “I heard screams.”
She heard me?Adrian bristled with embarrassment, putting on a scowl to hide it. He had no control over what his physical body did while his unconscious being was wandering in the horrors of the past. He had occasionally asked if Jarvis had heard anything, on nights when the terrible dreams came, but the butler had sworn firmly that he had not.
“You should not be here,” he said.
“Yes, yes, I know; I am not supposed to be near you, I am not supposed to cross paths with you, I am not supposed to be where I might bump into you.” She sighed, shaking her head. “But when someone screams so painfully in the night, it overrules the rest.”
He squinted in faint confusion. “But how could you possibly have heard anything if you were where you were supposed to be?”
Valerie went to the nearest window and moved her hand in a sweeping gesture. “My chambers are just over there.” She pointed. “At first, I thought it was a fox. When I realized it was not, I sought to find the sound.”
He approached the window and frowned across to where other windows winked from the opposite wing of the castle. A courtyard existed between the two, far below, which was meant to keep the east and west wing separate, but he had not thought about how noise might travel.
How loud was I?He dreaded to think. What troubled him more, however, was how often the rest of the castle had heard him and said nothing.
“I apologize for disturbing you,” he said coolly. “You may return to your chambers.”
Valerie waved a dismissive hand. “I cannot sleep anyway. I have too much to think about. Indeed, I was quite awake, worrying over what food to bring for the party, when I heard you.” Shehesitated. “If neither of us can sleep, perhaps we can discuss the party for a while? I have so many ideas, I would quite like someone to rein me in.”
“Is it the silence again?” he asked, recalling her struggles.
Her throat bobbed. “Not this time, no.” She paused. “So, what do you say?”
He never had company after one of his nightmares, content to deal with the aftermath himself. But if she could not sleep, and he could not sleep, what could be the harm in discussing the matter of the orphanage party together? Maybe, it would be just distracting enough to make him tired again.
“I mean to have a drink in the library,” he replied. “I cannot stop you if you want to follow.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Adrian poured a measure of ruby port into two crystal glasses, the color vibrant in the glow of the firelight. The heady aroma relaxed him, though Valerie’s presence was not exactly conducive to a calm mind.
He was keenly aware of her: the way she sat on the edge of the chaise-longue, one leg crossed over the other; the little sounds she made that betrayed her nerves; the watchfulness of her gaze, the anxious smile upon her lips, the way she folded and unfolded her hands on her lap as if she did not know what to do with them.
