Blood in the Marsh Read online

  Chelsey grinned and bounced up and down in her seat as he left. “Have you ever seen anything so fine in all your life? God, I could just gobble him up! Is my makeup okay? What about my hair?”

  “You look fine,” Lyra assured her, thinking that the last thing she wanted to do was spend the rest of the night watching Chelsey make her move on Nick. But then she didn’t really relish the idea of going home to Lexi’s party either.

  “I need to go to the restroom. Do you know where it is?”

  “In the bar on the left,” Chelsey answered absently, looking at herself in her compact and taking out her lipstick.

  Lyra was just coming out of the ladies room when Nick walked out of an adjacent door marked ‘Employees Only’. He saw her and walked over. “Well, I’m ready. Where are we going?”

  “I have no idea. But if I know Chelsey, it’ll be somewhere crowded and noisy.”

  “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”

  She looked away for a moment. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just not much of a party person. In fact, I’m sure you two would have a much better time without me. I think I’ll just go on home and let you and Chelsey get acquainted. It was really nice meeting you and I did enjoy your show.”

  She started to walk away but Nick stepped around in front of her. “Please wait.”

  Lyra stopped and looked up at him and he smiled. “To tell you the truth, I’m not really in the mood for a lot of noise either, and I do have to work tomorrow, so maybe I’ll take a rain check as well. Would that be all right?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. I’m sure Chelsey will understand.”

  “I wasn’t talking about Chelsey. I was hoping maybe you and I could get together again. If you want to, that is.”

  For a moment she was speechless. Why in the world would he ask her out? And why did she hear words coming out of her mouth? “I’d like that.”

  “Great! So how about tomorrow night? Do you have plans?”

  Okay, here was her chance to back out. That’s what she should do. Not only because it would make Chelsey mad but also something inside was telling her it would be a mistake, that Nick was dangerous.

  How unfortunate that was for her. She might be shy and inexperienced but danger was a powerful attractant.

  “No. I don’t have any plans.”

  “Cool. I get off at four. Maybe we could do something after that.”

  “Sure, that’d be nice.”

  “Okay. Hold on a second.”

  He went over to the bar and returned with a pen and order pad. “How do you spell your name? Lira with an i?”

  “No Lyra with a ‘y’.”

  “I don’t think you ever told me your last name.”

  Lyra groaned inwardly. All her life she had hated telling people her last name. The moment anyone heard the name they immediately began asking if she was related to the famous actress Alexandra Seville who lived on the island.

  “It’s Seville.” She steeled herself for the usual battery of questions, but Nick seemed as if he had never heard the name. That made her curiously happy. She gave him her address and phone number. He wrote down the information and tore off the page, folding it and putting it in his pocket.

  “Let me put this back.”

  He returned the bartender’s pen and pad. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow around five?”

  “Yes. See you then.”

  She started to turn but Nick touched her arm. “Lyra?”

  As she turned back to him, she saw him smile and raise his right hand. She looked down at his empty palm and a puzzled expression crossed her face. He smiled, closed his hand, and raised it to his lips to blow on it. When he extended it, again he reached beside her left ear and produced a single white daisy.

  She smiled as he offered her the flower. When she took it, he touched her hand lightly. “Thank you. It’s beautiful and you’re a marvelous magician.”

  Nick grinned at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow Lyra with a ‘y’.”

  “Bye,” she whispered, holding the flower up in front of her face.

  He smiled once more and left through the bar entrance. For a few moments, Lyra stared at the door, still mesmerized. Then a frown creased her face. “Damn! What am I going to tell Chelsey?”

  Chapter Two

  Saturday —Sea Island

  Lexi and Leopold were sitting on the terrace beside the pool having a drink when Lyra got home. Lexi looked over at her as she walked by them without a word, heading for the house.

  “Where have you been?”

  “The gym.”

  “This early?” Lexi turned in her chair to regard Lyra.

  Lyra dropped her gym bag by the door and turned, going to the poolside bar for a bottle of water. “Four o’clock in the afternoon isn’t exactly early.”

  “Well it’s the crack of dawn as far as I’m concerned.”

  Sipping her water, Lyra took a seat across from Lexi. “I guess most people aren’t used to staying up all night and sleeping all day.”

  Lexi yawned and stretched. “Then I guess most people just don’t know how to have a good time.”

  Lyra made no comment but Leopold chuckled. “Most people do not have your energy and passion, my darling.”

  “Including some people right here we won’t mention.” Lexi cut Lyra a look. “Which reminds me, you could have been a little more sociable when you got home last night. Everyone was asking what was wrong with you. You barely said two words before you tore up the stairs and hid away in your room.”

  “I need to take a shower.” Lyra stood, wanting to avoid another argument.

  “Are you going out?”

  “Yes.”

  “With Chelsey?”

  “I have a date.”

  “You what?”

  “I said I have a date,” Lyra said as she walked to the door and picked up her gym bag. “Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I want to take a shower.”

  Without waiting for a response, she went in the house. Once she was showered, she wrapped a towel around herself and went into her bedroom.

  Maybe Chelsey’s right, she thought as she opened the closet door and looked through her clothes. All of my stuff is kind of drab and frumpy compared to hers.

  Turning her back on the selection in the closet, she took a pair of worn jeans from her dresser and put them on, sliding a baggy sleeveless T-shirt on over her head. She brushed her hair out then pulled it back in a ponytail and looked at her reflection in the mirror. An expression of distaste crossed her face and she turned away.

  Lexi and Leopold had moved into the den when Lyra returned downstairs. “So, tell me about this date,” Lexi said as Lyra walked in. “Who are you going out with? Do I know him? What time will he be here? Where are you going?”

  “No, you don’t know him, he’ll be here around five, and I don’t know where we’re going.” Lyra answered all the questions at once as she sat down on the other sofa.

  “Well shouldn’t you get ready?”

  “I am ready.”

  Lexi stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Honestly, Lyra! You finally get a date and you don’t even bother to make yourself look presentable. What is it with you? Do you purposely try to drive away anyone who shows any interest in you?”

  Lyra counted to ten silently before replying. “Lexi, I’d really appreciate it if we didn’t have to get into this again.” She cut a look over at Leopold, seeing him watching her intently. “Especially in front of your guest.”

  “Well, I’m sure Leo will back me up on this!” Lexi flopped down on the couch beside him. “Leo, honey, maybe you can talk some sense into her. Tell her that men don’t like women who look like they just came in out of the field or something!”

  Leopold smiled intimately at Lexi then rose to cross the room and sit down beside Lyra. He tried to take her hand but she moved away. “Darling, your mother is only thinking of you. Do not be so hard on her because she cares for you. However, in this instance I disagree with Lexi. Anyon
e who cares for you should accept you for the person you are, not your appearance. And there is a certain charm in the natural look.”

  Lyra’s eyes widened in surprise as Lexi sputtered, “Leo! For goodness sake, I wanted your help in convincing her to fix herself up at little, not agreeing with her ‘plain Jane’ attitude!”

  Leo smiled at Lyra then turned to Lexi. “Alexandra, your daughter is a grown woman and has every right to choose her own manner of style. Besides, my darling, not every woman is suited to the flamboyant and glamorous style you favor.”

  Lexi preened at his compliment and stretched lazily. “Perhaps you’re right, my love.”

  Lyra was immensely relieved and even found her attitude about Leopold changing a little. She had never expected him to come to her defense and it surprised her that he had openly disagreed with Lexi.

  He turned to Lyra and patted her on the knee. “So, tell us something about this fellow, dear.”

  Lyra stood and looked from him to Lexi. She didn’t want them to know that she had been both infatuated with and terrified of Nick the first moment she set eyes on him. She had spent every moment since he had asked her, trying to analyze her feelings, but kept coming full circle to being in the dark. The only explanation she could come up with was that his air of mystery was what made her anxious. She wasn’t going to let that stand in her way.

  She reminded herself not to get her hopes up. More than likely this date would be like all her others. She would go out with him and he would either be completely bored with her or he would try to get sexual and she would freeze up and that would be the end of it.

  Lyra didn’t have a successful track record with men. She’d talked with several therapists and all agreed that her difficulties probably stemmed from her childhood. When she was thirteen one of Lexi’s men friends had gotten drunk and tried to take advantage of her. Had it not been for a ceramic cat Lucius had given her, she might have ended up being raped. Luckily for her the cat was within reach and so it ended with the man having to be taken to the hospital to get stitches in his head and Lexi slapping Lyra and calling her a vicious troublemaker who was bent on making sure that she ran off anyone Lexi cared about.

  While it might have made perfect sense to the therapists, it didn’t ring true for Lyra. She remembered the event. It hadn’t been pleasant but it hadn’t terrified her, either. She remembered being more disgusted and mad than afraid.

  She suspected it was something else, something she’d never confided in anyone, not even Lucius. The dreams that had plagued her for so long were not all the stuff of nightmares. There were also dreams of passion. Lyra had seen the face of love in her dreams, knew his touch, the sound of his voice and the safely she felt in his arms.

  She also knew the touch of another’s hands. A man whose face she could never describe. His hands brought passion and pain, the two mixing so well that it was impossible to distinguish between the two. His brand of passion terrified her for it was the allure of something dark and deadly.

  Something a lot like Nick. That thought gave her an uncomfortable start. Why would she think such a thing? Passing it off as a product of her overactive imagination and anxiety at meeting someone new and feeling insecure about herself, she brought her thoughts back to the present.

  “I don’t know much about him except that his name is Nick Zampella—I mean Austin, and he’s a magician.”

  Leopold’s eyes darkened for a moment. “A magician, you say?”

  “Yes. Chelsey and I saw him perform last night and he’s really good.”

  “Zampella?” Lexi frowned.

  “That’s his stage name. His real name is Austin.”

  “Austin? Hmmm, that name isn’t familiar. Where’s he from?”

  Lyra was saved from answering by the ring of the doorbell. Excusing herself, she opened the door. Nick was standing outside, dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt that fit snugly to his body.

  “Hi,” she smiled nervously. “Would you like to come in?”

  He smiled and stepped inside. “I had no idea you lived in a place like this.”

  “It’s not my house,” Lyra explained as she led him into the den. “It’s my stepmother.”

  Leopold stood up and regarded Nick seriously, as Lyra led him into the den. “Nick, I’d like you to meet my stepmother, Alexandra Seville and this is her…friend, Leopold Desyatov. Lexi, Leopold, this is Nick Austin.”

  Lexi rose and slithered seductively over to Nick, extending her well-manicured hand. “Nick, how delightful to meet you. Lyra neglected to mention how extraordinarily handsome you are. Please, have a seat. Can I get you a drink?”

  Nick gave her a hard look then smiled quickly. “It’s nice to meet you.” He turned to Leopold and extended his hand. “And you, Count Desyatov.”

  Leopold smiled somewhat coldly. “A pleasure, Mr. Austin.”

  “So what are you having to drink, darling?” Lexi took Nick’s arm and pressed against his side.

  Lyra stepped forward. “We don’t have time for a drink, Lexi. I’ll see you later.”

  Nick pulled away from Lexi. “It was nice to meet you both.”

  He and Lyra started for the door but stopped as Lexi called out, “Oh, Lyra, darling. Leo and I will be out for the evening and I’m not sure what time we’ll be back.”

  “Okay.” Lyra nodded and opened the door.

  She and Nick stepped outside and he looked at her. “That was your mother?”

  “Adoptive mother.” She could not help but chuckle at the expression on his face. “Yes, but don’t spread it around. Lexi doesn’t like anyone to know she’s old enough to be my mother. In fact, she keeps reducing the age she was when I was born every year. In another couple of years she will have been only seven or eight when she adopted me.”

  “You were adopted?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you mind me asking about it?”

  “No. My real parents died when I was only a year old, in a plane crash. Lexi is—was—my mother’s sister.”

  “Oh, so you don’t have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No, it’s just me and Lexi.” Lyra didn’t want to delve deeper into her family history.

  Nick seemed to sense her feelings and changed the subject. “Where would you like to go? I’m not really all that familiar with the island so if there’s something in particular you’d like to do, we can go wherever you like.”

  “It doesn’t really matter to me. How about you?”

  He shrugged as he started the Jeep. “I don’t know. Maybe you can show me around. I haven’t had much time to explore yet.”

  “Okay. Why don’t we head over to the old church? That’s as good a place as any to start.”

  “Which way?”

  Lyra gave him directions and they pulled off. Both of them were quiet for a few moments then Nick looked over at her. “Why is your stepmother so concerned with her age?”

  “I guess she’s still trying to cling to her image, and having a grown daughter interferes.”

  “Image?”

  She looked at him in surprise. She was so accustomed to everyone knowing who Lexi was, it hadn’t occurred to her that Nick wouldn’t recognize her.

  “She was an actress during the Seventies and Eighties.”

  “Oh yeah, now I remember. I’ve seen her in some old movies. She was really beautiful.”

  “And she fully intends on maintaining that image, no matter what the cost or what she has to do.”

  “You’re not much like her.”

  Lyra looked away, thinking that once again she was not able to live up to Lexi’s model. “No, I guess not.”

  She thought that he must have a talent for detecting her discomfort because he changed the subject. “Just out of curiosity, how old are you?”

  “Almost twenty-four. And you?”

  “Over the hill,” he said with a smile. “Have you lived here long or did you move here when your mother retired?”

  “All
my life.” She finally turned to look at him. “Lexi was gone most of the time, but there were housekeepers and staff here. I didn’t leave the island until I went away to college.”

  “How about other family, like aunts or uncles?”

  “There aren’t any. My father was an only child and Lexi is the only remaining member of her family alive.”

  “I see. Would you mind if I asked another nosey question.”

  She would have preferred that he didn’t, but was hesitant to admit it. “What?”

  “Lyra is an unusual name. Is it a nickname?”

  “No. Just Lyra. It’s my middle name. Lyra.”

  “A very unusual name.”

  “My father’s name was Randall Lawrence Scott. I was named after him – Randall Lyra Scott.”

  “You don’t go by the name Scott?”

  “No, it was changed when Lexi adopted me. Seville is her maiden name.”

  “And why Lyra as opposed to Randall?”

  “Lexi thought Randall was too masculine and refused to call me anything but Lyra.”

  “Lyra Seville—it’s a beautiful name, for a beautiful lady. Is this where I turn?”

  “Yes, you can park across the street from the church if you like and we can take a walk around.”

  Nick parked the Jeep and got out to open her door for her. “So tell me, what’s the story with this church?”

  They crossed the street and stood at the sidewalk, looking at the church. “Well, it’s quite old. The old church was founded by Charles and John Wesley, who were Anglican missionaries. They came to Georgia in 1736 with General James Edward Oglethorpe. The first church was built in 1820 but it was destroyed by Union troops during the Civil War. This sanctuary was built in 1886 by Reverend Anson G.P. Dodge, Jr. He built it as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. She died while they were on their honeymoon. Would you like to walk around?”

  “Sure.”

  “There are a lot of myths and legends about these islands,” Lyra said as they approached the graveyard. “Like one about this cemetery. Legend has it that there was a young woman who lived here a long time ago who was deathly afraid of the dark. She died and was buried in this cemetery, right over there. Her husband was so heartbroken and couldn’t stand the idea of her being alone and afraid. Every night as long as he lived he would come to her grave and light a candle so that she wouldn’t have to be afraid. When he died, he was buried beside her and no more candles were lit. But soon after his death, people began to see a soft glow, like the light of a candle, shining between their graves at night. They say his spirit continues to light the darkness so his beloved won’t have to be afraid.”