As much as I enjoyed hearing him sing my praises, the thought of Jack was enough to drag me back to the real world.
“I think I must go home, Harker. I’m worried about the way Jack has been behaving. He won’t know I was enchanted and brought here by an ancient blood-drinking forest spirit, and wouldn’t believe it if I told him. I don’t want to see either of you hurt.”
Harker’s expression dimmed. “Of course. But how are we to keep you safe after what happened today?”
His anxiety for me lodged like a dart in my heart. “I suppose I must truly keep inside the cottage now. But I wish to continue helping you. Maybe you can send Mr. Carew to me, so we may exchange messages.”
Nodding, he said, “I’ll also ask him to keep an eye on your cottage.” He rose from the table and picked up my shawl from the chairback. “I’ll walk you home.”
Much as I wished to delay our leave-taking, I said, “I don’t think we should take the risk. Jack has been coming home at odd hours lately—remember, he believes you attacked me.”
The lines of his mouth tightened. “And so I did, Mina.”
Our gazes held, and I said softly, “But it wasn’t like he imagines.”
Harker came to me, and instead of handing me the shawl, he reached around and settled it over my shoulders. My heart pulsed as the herb-and-brandy scent of him washed over me. His fingers still held the shawl’s edges, and I fought my body’s wish to lean into him.
When at last he let go, one hand came slowly to the side of my face, stopping an inch away from my skin. “I’ll see you to the edge of the estate, at least.”
Unsteady from the sudden rush of my heart, I could only nod.
After the comfort of the chapel—and the unexpected moment of ...tenderness?—stepping outside was like crossing from a meadow of spring wildflowers into the deep gloom of winter. The rain drummed steadily down, and I draped my shawl over my head.
“Let me go ahead,” he said. “The stairs will be slippery.”
We were nearly down safely when a loud voice startled us both. “I warned you, Tregarrick.”
Raindrops stung my eyes as my gaze swept quickly over the ground at the bottom of the stairs. A lone oak tree, separated from its brethren in the woods to the north, pressed up against the outcrop maybe twenty feet from where we stood, and I made out a figure beneath it.
His light face and hands stood out against the dark trunk, but I knew who it was without them.
He had apistolaimed at us.
“Jack!” I cried. “For God’s sake—”
The pistol fired, and I let out a scream.
Harker tumbled down the last few steps, splaying on the ground. Even through the wine-colored waistcoat, I could see the bloom of dark blood.
Death
I hurried down to him, then slipped and landed hard on my backside at the bottom of the steps. Pain shot up my tailbone as I crawled to his side.
“Harker,” I said, breathless and shaking. The circle of dark blood widened. I pressed a hand to his cold face. His eyes were softly closed, raindrops glistening in his fine, dark lashes. I bent my cheek to his lips. Was there a whisper of breath?
“Mina!” called Jack. I shut out his voice, unbuttoning first the waistcoat, then the shirt. As if I had any idea what must be done! I knew Harker had wound potions in his laboratory, but there was no time for me to search for them. And could they be of any use against a bullet through his chest?
Oh God.His thick blood welled from the hole in time with the slow—and slowing—throb of his heart. It seeped over the smooth flesh of his chest and abdomen. Stifling a sob, I pushed the heel of my hand against the wound, trying to stop the blood.
“Mina!” Jack shouted again. This time he sounded panicked.
“Go for the surgeon!” I shouted back, voice ragged. “If he dies, it will be you that’s murdered him!”
Raising my eyes, I saw that Jack had crossed half the distance between us and stopped, his pistol—who was fool enough to give him that?—aimed away from the chapel.
Following the line of the barrel, I sawGoosevar—crawling slowly from a cluster of jutting rocks. Fangs bared, fog seeped from his peeled-back lips as he straightened to his full height, watching my twin with glittering eyes.
“Jack!” I cried. “Run!”
