A Darker Shade of Grey

He stalled on the fringes, undecided. Flee this toxic haunted town and never return or follow events to their inevitable conclusion? He had a very bad feeling staying would not end well. Perhaps he’d finally lost it: all the pressure and woeful family history doing his head in. It all sounded genuinely idiotic.

  But he just couldn’t let it lie. What happened here, where phantasms roamed in broad sunshine, went beyond the mortal. He bet his life witching hour at the Manor occurred when Lady Grey stirred from slumber. Jace checked his watch. Ten. He still had plenty of time. At least a stint in the nut farm might relieve him of responsibility for the twins. Until then, preventing his brothers entering that house topped the list.

  Shame spiked on recalling he’d almost done so himself. They’d be distracted now, hacking and mowing. He shoved branches from his path, rounding the back corner of Laini’s home, resolved to gain insight whatever the cost. The length of the building formed a long glassed-in conservatory, which offered an outlook across lawn bordered by lush firs. Three stairs lead up to the back entrance protected by a security grill he’d never breach without permission. The squeal of a lorikeet made him jump.

  Withholding a curse, Jace knocked. A small stooped woman with tight grey curls and a keen bird-like manner blocked access. She wore a uniform of some description.

  “May I help you?”

  “I’d like to visit Laini. Please. We met yesterday.” He should have picked the patient some wildflowers to replace the dying ones.

  “Oh!” she clapped her hands together. “How wonderful! A visitor for our special girl. Do come in.” She rattled keys and made a show of granting ingress. Her voice dropped conspirationally, “Just talk to her like you would normally.”

  “Err,” Jace frowned as she herded him in. Her words were a code that made him uneasy. And before he could stop her, she called, “Noel. Noel! Laini has company. A lovely young man.”

  Noel materialised, sharing buttered scone with a custard-coloured parrot on his shoulder. Even from across the room Jace could see he’d aged overnight, jowls sagged and unshaven, grey hollows beneath his eyes.

  “What are you going on about, woman?” He sighted Jace, dropping the cake and moving so rapidly the bird took flight with an indignant shriek. “YOU!”

  A fist shot out, colliding to split Jace’s lip. He spun, cognitive gears unable to connect the hostility with a motive, confusion making his reactions sluggish and doubly hampered by bandaged hands. Noel was far shorter than Jace, but nuggetty and possessive of an iron grip that ringed his throat. He scrambled to prise throttling fingers apart. The brawling pair stumbled over a lounge chair, coming up hard against a window frame. Jace endeavoured to detangle himself without hurting his attacker.

  “I oughta’ kill you!” Spittle flew from the old guy’s mouth. He sure was a tenacious bastard, clinging obstinately.

  “Noel!” The woman cried. “What’s gotten into you? Silly old goat!” She flailed around at his rear. “Let the boy be! No-one’s to blame.”

  “Blame for what?” Jace rasped. He finally got hold of Noel and wrenched him off, holding him at arm’s length by his bunched shirt. “I do not want to hurt you. For the record, I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “See, you fool!”

  Noel deflated, saying half-heartedly, “Shut up, Myra. Of course he’d deny it. Boys like him always do.”

  “I’ll do no such thing. What a way to treat a guest! And look at his hands. The poor lad’s already an invalid,” she huffed. “Behave!” She waved a gnarled finger at Noel. “Come along with me... I’m Myra, Laini’s nurse.”

  “I’m Jace.”

  “He’s not to go near her!” Noel slumped into an armchair, grumbling, “I warned he was trouble. Another hotshot to turn life inside out.”

  Jace knew precisely who the first hotshot was, but the puzzle pieces didn’t yet quite fit. Myra tutted and dragged him in her wake towards the furthest corner of the large space. It was characterised by ancient floral carpet, a winged settee of beige suede with lace doilies for headrests crowding a TV. She guided him around a screen that partitioned one length. For the second time, Jace halted as if hitting a wall.

  “Oh no,” he breathed. “What happened to her?”

  Laini stretched comatose on a high bed, white sheets tucked across her waist, arms resting atop. Her curls fanned the pillow, face relaxed and free of disfigurement.

  “Took a fit last night,” Myra sniffed briskly, straightening bed-linen without cause. “Been out ever since.”

  “She’s so,” Jace wanted to say beautiful, but didn’t think Noel could cope. “Peaceful.”

  “Stress does that,” he said from behind. “You show up and next thing...”

  “Rubbish!” Myra hooked an arm in Noel’s and tugged. “Don’t mind him, Jace. He’s just over-protective of his sixteen-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter.”

  Sixteen? Jace gaped. “She’s so young-looking.”

  “Been frozen in her body for seven years.” Seven years! A perfect coincidence. Too perfect. What went on here? “Seen all the specialists. Can’t find the problem. I think it was the trauma of losing her sister. Laini’s heart-broken.”

  “Aren’t we all,” Myra sighed.

  “Losing?” Jace turned to face the elderly pair, hovering at the end of the screen.

  Noel glared back. “Missing seven years now.”

  Myra cleared her throat uncomfortably and yanked harder. “He doesn’t need to hear the conspiracies, Noel. It’s not good to obsess. Serves no purpose. Let’s go have a nice cup of tea.”

  Jace definitely needed to hear those conspiracies, but not as much as he wanted a moment alone with Laini. Not that she could tell him anything. He didn’t quite understand the impulse. Myra patted Noel’s arm and hustled him away. Jace pulled up a chair, chewing his lip and wondering if touching her breached protocol. He peeled the bandage and hesitantly took her fragile hand in his.

  “Hello, Laini,” he murmured, lugging the chair as near as he could. “Tell me what you know. I can’t help otherwise. Tell me, please.” She was so warm. He gently squeezed her fingers. “Laini.”

  “Find her.”

  Had she spoken? Her eyes snapped open and she seized his wrist. “It’s too late. They’re inside! She’ll wake soon. Intruders never escape.”

  “Wha --” Her body quivered violently, free hand clawing at her throat. Find Sienna? She threw her head back, tendons bulging, neck contorted. Jace leaped up and battled to keep her on the bed as she spasmed and writhed. He lay his chest across hers, pulling her nails from her cheeks. It looked to him like a war raged within, another entity fighting to steal control. Or maybe an engorged boa tightening coils about prey. Her teeth ground together and blood smeared her lips.

  “Hold on, Laini! Noel!” he yelled. “Myra!”

  With a brutal shudder, Laini went still. He looked down and found her gazing intently at him, calm and lucid. “You must go now.” Their faces almost touched, so close her breath ruffled his hair and he experienced the odd urge to kiss her. Laini touched his cut lip, an eerie mirror of her own. “Burn Grey Manor to the ground. Hurry!”

  And then her fingers slid away and her eyes fluttered shut. Noel raced to the bedside, heaving Jace from his beloved granddaughter. He could only imagine how bad it appeared.

  “What are you doing?” Noel shouted. “Get the hell away from her!” He bent low. “Laini? Laini!” He bawled, “What have you done? Get out! Get out of my house!”

  Myra trundled in, toting a doctor’s bag. She barged Jace, giving him an icy scowl. “You’d better leave.”

  He really didn’t need a second invitation, running from this surreal prison. There was a job to do and he was the only one left to do it.

  ***

  Chapter Nine