Part 31 (1/2)
She didn't answer right away, but stared back at the dying embers. ”Bruce, is this place supposed to be haunted?”
He laughed, then sobered when she stared at him.
Still, he couldn't quite help the smile. ”It's a castle. Centuries old. What do you think?”
She flushed. ”Well, it is haunted, you know.”
He sighed. ”Toni, I let the place go to h.e.l.l. Aye, that I did. But from the time I was a wee lad, I knew the place was mine. I have spent a great deal of time here. Not a single ghost has ever darkened my door.”
”I see your ancestor a bit too frequently,” she told him.
He groaned. ”Toni, I know the dreams are plaguing you, la.s.s.” He shook his head. ”Is the castle supposed to be haunted? Aye, definitely. Bruce MacNiall supposedly rides the forest and wanders these old halls. There are other tales, as well, and we do have one b.l.o.o.d.y history. But that's just it. Somewhere in the past, you heard the stories. I believe with my whole heart that you came here thinking you made up the past. But there are all kinds of books out about Scottish ghosts. They're as prevalent as Scottish sheep. And someone may not have gotten the names or the place right, but the story has probably been written up. You simply heard about it.”
She bit her lower lip lightly. ”Haven't you ever.. .felt something? Had a sense of deja vu, a premonition?”
A premonition ? Aye, and it was you in the water, facedown so I couldn't see your face, just the trail of your hair, and my heart was in my throat. And worse. Once, when I was a cop with the Edinburgh Police Department, working a sad case indeed, I was able to crack it because I could put myself in a fellow's shoes.
”Toni....”
She pulled her fingers from his light touch and gripped both his hands.
”Bruce, I need you to take me to the crypts.”
”What?”
”Please!”
”Toni, I think it might be better if I don't take you to the crypts.”
She shook her head. Her eyes were a true sapphire, touching his. Earnest, sincere and alarmingly desperate.
”Look,” she said. ”We haven't known one another long, but I admire you, and I've come to respect you tremendously. I've come to care about you, too, and I believe that you feel something for me. So I'm begging you...please, please, just humor me on this. I know it sounds crazy. But you have shown me a great deal more than simple tolerance regarding my strange dreams. You've helped me, been with me, made me feel sane. Help me with this, now.. .I'm begging you!”
”Take you to the crypts...now?”
She nodded. ”I've been there at night.”
”Toni, I keep that door locked--”
”I've been there,” she insisted. ”Bruce, I can describe it to you! There's a winding stone stairway almost immediately after the door opens. Then there are arched hallways, like in the catacombs of a medieval church. And there's a tomb and monument to Bruce MacNiall, the king's loyal Cavalier, at the end of one of the hallways. I'm a.s.suming it was designed sometime years after his death.”
Bruce stared at her with certain astonishment. It wasn't impossible that the group might have gotten in to the vaults, but...
”I don't particularly want a circus made out of the family crypts,” he said.
”Surely even Thayer has let those girls leave by now!” she said, smiling. ”I'm afraid he's been the odd man out here,” she added. ”We both used to be a bit on the loose, but since you returned to the castle...well, Gina and Ryan are as close and old hat as Ma and Pa Kettle, David and Kevin have one another, and once you arrived...”
He noted that she didn't say And I have you. But Toni wouldn't. She would never be so presumptuous. And yet...
He reached out and smoothed a tendril of sun blond hair.
”All right.”
She smiled, her appreciation evident, and he thought he actually heard a thump in her heartbeat.
”Thank you,” she said.
”Think we've given them enough time to clear out?” he asked.
”We can see.”
He nodded. ”I'll need the key.” The great skeleton key was kept in a drawer in the wardrobe. The thing was ancient, as old as the door and the metal bolt.
He joined her, grimacing, and took her hand as they left the room and started out. They moved silently along the hallway to the top landing, then paused.
”Hear anyone?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. ”They could still be in the kitchen,” she said.
”We'll check it out. However,” he reminded her, ”they are my crypts.” She smiled at that.
They walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. It was spotless--and empty.
”Want a brandy first?” he asked her.
”I'm all right, really,” she said.
”I'm not.”
”Okay, then I'll have a brandy.”
He poured them each a small snifter, watching her as she sipped the fiery liquid. ”There's something more you want,” he said.
”I'll tell you when we get down there,” she said, sipping the brandy. Again her eyes touched his, searchingly. She cast her head slightly at an angle. ”You don't dress up like an ancient laird and run around in the middle of the night, right?”
He arched a brow. ”Nae, la.s.s, I really don't.”
She swallowed the last of her brandy, then waited patiently for him.
”You really want to go down to the crypts in the middle of the night?” he asked.
”I really don't. But...I don't suppose I could make you understand. I can't make myself understand.”
”All right, then.” He set the gla.s.ses in the sink. ”Shall we?”
He offered her a hand again and they went back into the secondary hall, to the door that led downward to the crypts. She winced as the old metal sc.r.a.ped and groaned. He pushed the door inward. ”It is a winding stairway, with very old stone. I'll lead. Be careful.”
”You still don't believe me, but I've been here,” she whispered. Though there was really no need for a voice so soft, the night, the circ.u.mstances, seemed to demand it.
Bruce started down, hitting the light switch on the side of the wall. They moved down carefully. But at the foot of the stairs, Toni paused.