My Soul to Take Read online

  His cousin put her hand on her hip and shot him a glare. She waved a newspaper in front of him.

  "We're researching the Hatfield family's deaths," Hannah told him.

  "Edith Myer's family?" He peered down at the paper. "What have you discovered?"

  "Not terribly much," I said. "The deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Hatfield occurred a mere two months before Edith married Myer. They died from poison, which they drank directly from bottles clearly marked 'poison.'"

  "Suicide."

  "That's the conclusion everyone drew."

  "I don't necessarily agree," Sylvia said.

  "Nor do I."

  She seemed surprised and pleased that she'd jumped to a reasonable conclusion that the newspapers, and perhaps the police, seemed to have missed.

  "Two of the maids died too!" Hannah gasped as she read to the end of the article with Jack. "So…murder and suicide?"

  Jack glanced over the other two articles. "It's not entirely unreasonable that all four committed suicide. A lovers' pact, perhaps, or…" He waved his hand in the air then shrugged. "No, I can't think of any reason why the maids would kill themselves."

  "I'm not sure your lovers' pact holds water either," Hannah said. "I know I've lived a sheltered life, but four?"

  Sylvia nodded. "I agree with Hannah. Even three seems somewhat…complicated."

  Jack's eyes danced with mischief, and I suspect he held back a retort for my sake, the only female in the room that he wasn't related to.

  "So we're back to either murder-suicide, or four murders." Hannah chewed on her lip. "Perhaps the maids hated their employers, killed them, then killed themselves because they knew they'd be discovered and it would distress their families too much to think of them as murderesses."

  "Or perhaps the maids were the lovers and Mr. and Mrs. Hatfield discovered their tryst then dismissed them from their positions." Sylvia nodded emphatically. "I do like that theory."

  Jack eyed her cautiously. "Your theory is interesting, if somewhat macabre."

  Hannah and I exchanged worried glances. Sylvia's doomed lovers theories were most unlike her. We'd best keep our eye on her over the coming days and weeks.

  "There is, of course, the most obvious theory," I said. "That Myer himself somehow killed them all."

  "But why kill the maids as well as the parents?" Hannah asked.

  "Perhaps they saw him direct the Hatfields to drink the poison."

  "Hypnosis." Sylvia pressed her fingers to her lips. "Oh my. Yes, of course. He hypnotized them and forced them to kill themselves. That is diabolical."

  "And yet plausible," Jack muttered. "You're probably right about the maids. They realized what he was doing and had to die too."

  Sylvia plopped down on a chair covered by a dusty sheet. Her dress would get filthy, but she didn't seem to care, or notice. "What should we do with this information? Go to the police?"

  Jack snorted. "They won't believe our theory. Besides, too much time has passed. As far as they're concerned, the matter was laid to rest years ago. They're too busy to reopen old cases."

  "But he cannot be allowed to get away with this," Hannah said. "It doesn't seem fair somehow."

  "We could tell his wife what we suspect."

  We stared at him in silence as we thought through his idea. I was the first to speak. "Surely she has considered it already. She possibly even confronted him over it. She knows he's quite capable of the hypnosis side of things."

  Hannah nodded. "Perhaps that's why she hates him now."

  "So why not divorce him?" Sylvia asked. "Or just leave him?"

  I shrugged. "Fear?"

  "But she doesn't seem all that afraid of him," Hannah said.

  "True. In fact, it's he who avoids her. Perhaps he has suggested through hypnosis that she must never leave him. Is that even possible?"

  "I don't know," Jack said. "We could ask Gladstone."

  I leaned my hip against the table and scanned the newspapers again. What we needed to do was speak to Myer. He wouldn't admit to anything, of course, but we might know if he was guilty or innocent from his eyes or his mannerisms. While he was secretive, whenever we confronted him over his secrets, he often divulged more information than we hoped for.

  The problem was Myer had disappeared through the portal, according to the ghost who'd seen him enter it. He was free. Perhaps that was his intention all along—escape his crimes by traveling to another realm. Except he hadn't been found guilty on this realm yet; he hadn’t even been a suspect until now.

  "Cara, you're right." Jack's dark voice had us all looking at him.

  "But I haven't said anything."

  "I know what you're thinking."

  Hannah's jaw dropped and she stared at me. "Cara, is that wise?"

  "I haven't spoken!"

  Sylvia glanced between us all. "What? Why am I always the last to know?"

  "Cara thinks we ought to open the portal and find him," Hannah said, turning a hard glare onto me.

  I thought it rather unfair to be condemned for thinking something.

  "And I agree with her," Jack said.

  "What?" Hannah and Sylvia both exploded.

  "That is the most foolish thing I've ever heard you say," Hannah told her husband.

  "Sweetheart." He reached for her hands but she jerked them away and thrust them on her hips.

  "Do not 'sweetheart' me. Promise me you won't open the portal, Jack."

  He appealed to me, but I held up my hands. I wasn't going to get involved. What I was going to do was find a quiet place to think things through.

  I left the three of them arguing in the attic, both women against Jack. He watched me go with a resigned twist of his mouth.

  I headed up to the tower room and sat in the window embrasure. The summer sun bathed the countryside in muted light, softening the green of the grass and the blue of the sky. Usually I avoided these quiet, contemplative moments during the day because my thoughts always headed in the one direction—Quin. But this time I allowed myself to wallow in the peace and let my mind wander.

  I could summon him and ask him to find Myer for us. Would the administrators let him do that upon our request? Surely if Myer was a threat in another realm they would have sent Quin to fetch him already. Perhaps. I wasn't entirely sure how the rules worked or the degree of interference the administrators had.

  We didn't actually need Quin to open the portal. Myer had the book of spells but we possessed a page with the spell to open the portal. But even if we opened it and climbed through, how could we be certain we'd end up in the same realm Myer traveled to? I sifted through the pros and cons in my head but it really only boiled down to one on each side.

  Cons: It was dangerous.

  Pros: It would give me something to do—and I might see Quin again.

  That settled, I went to find the others. Sylvia was nowhere to be seen, but I found Jack and Hannah still in the attic, their backs to one another. Hannah looked close to tears. I went to her and she gave me an arched look that lasted only a moment before her lip wobbled.

  Her sniff had Jack spinning round. "Hannah," he murmured, gathering her in his arms. He tucked her head beneath his chin. "Don't cry."

  "It's too dangerous," she said. "I don't want you to do it, but I know you. You'll go anyway because you think you must."

  "He won't," I said before he could respond. They both looked at me. "Hannah is right," I told him. "She needs you here. You have a life to build together. Samuel and Charity too," I said when he opened his mouth to speak. "And Tommy is not yet fully recovered from his injuries and may never be. I'll go."

  "You will not!" Hannah said, pulling away from Jack.

  "Agreed." His face darkened and I could see the steel of the man I would have to convince to stay behind while I went through the portal.

  "I want to," I told them. "I'd like to see the other realms, for one thing. And secondly…" I sighed. "Moping about here is not doing me any good. I need…activity."

  "Ta
ke up croquet," he snapped. "Or horse riding."

  Hannah's face softened. "It doesn't mean you'll get to see him, you know. Wherever he is."

  "I know. But…" I shrugged. "I want to go regardless."

  "No," Jack said. "It's too dangerous for a woman."

  Hannah dug her elbow into his ribs. "It's too dangerous for a man, too."

  "I'll leave you two to think about it." I turned away. "But you can't stop me."

  My exit was blocked by a very stern looking Sylvia. I'd never seen her mouth set in such a determined line, not even when she was haggling over the price of a new gown with the seamstress. "I knew you'd do this," she said, not letting me past.

  "I'm glad you overheard," I told her. "It saves me explaining my reasons again. I am going through, Sylvia. Please fetch the parchment with the spell on it."

  She didn't move. "You are so stubborn, Cara, and Jack is little better." Her eyes flashed at her cousin beyond my shoulder.

  "I've decided Jack isn't coming. The parchment, please, Sylvia."

  "And if I don't give it to you?"

  "I'll search your room until I find it."

  She made a huffing noise. "Well, for once, I am ahead of you."

  Damnation! "Have you hidden it elsewhere?"

  She gave a defiant tilt of her chin. "Better. I'm going to stop you from entering the portal altogether."

  "How?"

  "I've summoned a secret weapon." She stepped aside, not to let me to pass, but to allow someone else through the doorway.

  "Quin!"

  CHAPTER 2

  Quin gave a deep bow, hiding his initial reaction at seeing me. Of course, he had warning. I had none. I would have given Sylvia my sharpest glare if I hadn't been so intent on Quin. I consumed the sight of him, searching his bare shoulders for any new scars or signs of change. There were none. He was the same.

  My heart did a giant flip as my stomach dove. I was glad I hadn't eaten since breakfast, some three hours earlier. It would have been humiliating to throw up on his boots.

  He straightened, and I steeled myself for the longing in his eyes, an echo of my own. But there was nothing like that in their blue-green depths. His gaze skimmed over me, brisk and ice-cool, revealing none of his thoughts. It did not settle my stomach, or my heart.

  "Good day, Cara." That was it. Those three words were the entirety of his greeting. It was difficult to hide my disappointment, but I didn't have to. He'd already turned to the others.

  "Hannah," he said, bowing once more. "Langley."

  Jack stretched out his hand. Quin didn't hesitate to grasp it in greeting. They exchanged grim smiles.

  Hannah moved past us and kissed Quin's cheek. He looked startled to receive such a sweet gesture, but pleased nonetheless. I envied her ability to approach him. I was rooted to the spot and he did not come any closer to me.

  "It's good to see you again," Hannah said. "Sylvia, did you summon him?"

  "I did." She waved the rolled up parchment with the spells on it then marched into the attic to the table where the newspapers were spread out. She picked them up and handed them to Quin. "I knew Jack and Cara would insist on going through the portal unless a better option presented itself. I decided to take matters into my own hands and present the better option to them."

  Quin finally focused on me. His gaze turned colder, and if I hadn't shared a kiss with him and known that he loved me, I would have stepped back beneath its ferocity. There had to be a reason for him to act so distant toward me. Later, when we were alone, I would discover what it was. If we ever got to be alone.

  "That would have been foolish," he said. "And very dangerous."

  Jack bristled. "I'm not exactly a weakling when it comes to defending myself."

  Quin pinned Jack with his glare, but it softened somewhat. "I know, and I understand your need to learn more of where your mother came from. I was referring to Cara."

  I bit back a retort. My plan had been foolish and dangerous. That was why I'd been prepared to do it. I didn't think Quin would like that explanation, and I wasn't yet prepared to tell him I'd decided to go through the portal in the hope of meeting him on the other side. Or, at the very least, distracting myself from thoughts of him.

  "Come downstairs to the dining room for luncheon," Sylvia said, turning her back to us. "I sent word to the kitchen for food to be sent up before I summoned you. I know how hungry you always are upon arriving here. Oh, and your shirt will be ready by now too. I was much more prepared this time." She sounded pleased with herself as she headed toward the stairs.

  My heart sank even further. It was my job to see that Quin had everything he needed. He was my warrior. My disappointment was completely irrational and yet I couldn't shake it off; not even when Quin hesitated before following the others out of the attic. It was only a brief hesitation but it was long enough to give me hope that he did want to talk to me in private at some point. Just not yet. Hopefully by the time we were alone some of his frostiness would have melted.

  And I would have found my tongue. I hadn't spoken a word since announcing his name upon seeing him.

  ***

  If I could cook beyond the simple basics, I would have enjoyed cooking for Quin and watching him eat. Even though Cook hadn't prepared a feast by her standards, she'd sent up cold game and ham by the platter full, warm loaves of bread, mashed potatoes, patés and steamed beans. He piled his plate high and ate with enthusiasm. As such, luncheon was a mostly silent affair.

  He'd dressed in a simple white shirt, sadly covering all that brawny muscle. Perhaps it was for the best, since I was wont to ogle and he seemed in a humorless mood. When we all reverted to the sitting room after our meal, I decided I'd had enough of his coolness. Getting him alone to talk, however, proved difficult.

  "Now that you've had time to think about what I told you," Sylvia said in this new, schoolmarm manner of hers, "will you find Myer for us and bring him back to face justice?"

  "Wait a moment," I said, palms up to slow her down. "Quin's job isn't to fetch people from other realms for our sake. You shouldn't have summoned him, Sylvia."

  I felt Quin's gaze on me before I glanced in his direction. It was no longer flinty, but it was still unreadable. "You don't want me here." His tone was flat. He did not pose it as a question.

  "That's not what I meant! Of course I—" I cut myself off before making a complete fool of myself in front of everyone. I clenched my hands into fists then after a deep breath, fanned them out across my lap. I hazarded a look in his direction, but he was no longer watching me. His attention was on the fireplace near where he stood.

  I drew in a deep breath. "What I meant was, we can't ask Quin to do something that might get him into trouble with the administrators of…of his realm." My friends didn't know that Quin originated from Purgatory. If Sylvia had, perhaps she wouldn't have called him.

  "I was given permission to come," he said quietly.

  "Oh. I see. So…you asked them and they just…said yes?"

  "The administrators are not asked. They simply know and grant release."

  "Does that mean Myer is causing a problem somewhere and you're expected to bring him back here?" Jack asked.

  "I don't know what the administrators know. They do not confide in me."

  Jack cleared his throat and frowned at me. What's wrong with him? he mouthed.

  I shrugged. I twisted my fingers in my lap, warring with myself. Should I ask him? Or should I assume it was related to Purgatory business and I was better off not knowing? In the end, my curiosity won out.

  But Sylvia got in first. "No time like the present. Let's go down to the ruins and Quin can go through the portal immediately." She picked up the parchment of spells.

  "Agreed." Quin pushed off from them mantel and strode to the doors leading directly out to the garden. He couldn't wait to get away from me.

  Tears stung my eyes as I watched him open the French doors. I hadn't expected him to recover from his love for me so quickly, or a
t all. Time had no meaning for him in Purgatory, so perhaps our last meeting had been relegated to a distant memory. Perhaps he no longer felt for me what he'd once felt.

  "Is there anything you need before you enter the portal?" Sylvia called after him.

  "I have my sword." He strode across the paved terrace and over the lawn. The sun glinted off the hilt of his sword and the white of his shirt dazzled. It made my eyes water. At least that's what I muttered to Hannah when she closed her hand over mine.

  "Sylvia," she said. "Stay here."

  Sylvia narrowed her eyes at me. "Are you sure that's wise?"

  "Yes," Hannah responded without hesitation.

  I slipped my hand from hers, gave her a nod of thanks, and took the parchment from Sylvia. I tucked it into my skirt pocket as best as I could, leaving the end poking out of the fabric folds. Quin's strides were long and he was already halfway across the lawn by the time I left the house behind. Dignity be damned. I picked up my skirts and ran after him.

  His pace didn't change. "Go back to the house, Cara. I don't need your assistance."

  "I'm not here to assist you."

  He said nothing, just forged ahead, his focus on the abbey ruins nestled on the edge of the lake like a peaceful folly. Yet they were no folly, nor were they peaceful.

  "I want to talk to you before you leave again." I grabbed his arm.

  He jerked away and kept walking, like he needed to get away from me. Well. It would seem I needed to slow him down somehow.

  I ran to catch up and when I drew alongside him, I promptly tripped over my own feet. His quick reflexes meant I didn't even land on my hands and knees. It also meant he stopped.

  With my elbows firmly in his grip, he helped me regain my balance. His gaze warmed and softened, but only a little. He let me go but did not stride off.

  "You do not play fair," he said, crossing his arms.

  "If I played fair, there would be no contest. You would win. I can't let you win this time, Quin. It's too important. Don't leave like this. Don't let me think you've forgotten me."