Page 35 of Mistress of Darkness

“It doesn’t matter now,” Robert said to them. “We must find an escape so that we don’t meet a similar end.” Regina quickly nodded her agreement. “Good. Let us proceed then.”

Another few yards led them through one turn after another, until finally they reached another revolving door, even though the passageway continued on.

“Where are we?” Gwen whispered.

Robert shook his head and glanced at Regina who did the same. After the turns in the dark, there was no way to know where they were. He put his fingers to his mouth to signal silence and handed the candle to Gwen. Turning back to the door, he pushed at its edge and heard the customary scrape. A shaft of light from the opening spilled across the passage and Robert chanced a quick look. He recognized it immediately. It was Gwen’s room. He angled his gaze as far left and right as he could and listened for any sound. It seemed the room was empty. Finally he pushed the door open enough to squeeze through and checked in every direction. Silently he motioned for them to follow.

The sheets were still rumpled from the last time he and Gwen had slept there. Her trunks were waiting where she’d left them. Somehow they had to make it down the stairs and get out of the house and over to the stable—all without coming across his insane and lethally armed brother.

But even as the plan formed in his mind, he heard something in the hallway beyond the open door. Though he dared to hope that it was Parks, recovered from the blow to his head, prudence dictated a different course. He took the pen knife from his pocket and waved the women back. This time, no matter who was out there, Robert had the advantage of surprise. If it was Parks, he could apologize later.

As he silently crept forward, he hid the knife hand behind his back. At the doorway, he took a breath, and charged into the hallway.

But Christopher must have heard him, for his pistols were raised and pointed squarely at Robert’s chest. Only steps from where his brother stood at the top of the stairs, Robert came to a stop.

“Oh, Robert,” his brother sighed theatrically. “Somehow I knew I had better check. You prove annoyingly resilient.” Christopher glanced over Robert’s shoulder and for a moment foreboding sank in Robert’s stomach. Had Gwen followed him? “Did you leave the ladies to burn?” Christopher asked, grinning. “Now you begin to see that we’re not so different.”

Apparently Gwen and her sister were still hidden. He forced a smile to his lips. “Exactly, brother,” Robert said, in his most reasonable tone. “Now that it’s just us two, let’s be sensible.”

A wild glint lit Christopher’s eye. “Oh I am.” He raised one of the pistols to take aim, pointed it at Robert’s chest, and cocked the hammer.

Robert whipped his arm from behind his back and let the pen knife fly. Twin pistol shots resounded in the air. Ducking low, Robert heard a lead ball smash into the ceiling behind him. Without a weapon now, he would have to charge his brother bare-handed. But when he looked at Christopher, his brother’s ashen face was looking down. At the front of his shin a gaping hole had appeared, with blood spurting from it.

“The second pistol,” Robert breathed.

Christopher stumbled backward, perhaps attempting to escape, but his leg wouldn’t support him. As Robert watched in horror, his brother dropped the pistols and plunged backward. Even as Robert raced to the edge of the stairs, he knew it was too late. His brother landed on his back halfway down the steps, but his momentum sent him further, flipping over and tumbling, until he rolled limply onto the floor, his neck at an impossible angle. Robert raced down the stairs reaching him only moments later, but he watched as the light faded from Christopher’s staring eyes.

“Christopher!” Regina shrieked from the top of the stairs. She collapsed into her sister’s arms, sobbing as Gwen pulled her back from the edge, and the two of them sat down hard on the floor. His eyes met Gwen’s, hers full of sympathy and sorrow, before he looked down at his brother.

Finally, it was over.