Realm of Darkness Read online

  REALM OF DARKNESS

  “An ancient secret and an eternal love are intelligently woven through this addictive series. C. F. Dunn is a beautiful writer who rewards the attentive reader with far more than a simple genre mystery or romance.”

  Fiona Veitch Smith, author of The Jazz Files

  “Captivating and compelling – weaving modern day with history… leaving you desperate to get your hands on the next book in the series.”

  Liz Fenwick, author of The Cornish House

  BY THE SAME AUTHOR

  Mortal Fire

  Death Be Not Proud

  Rope of Sand

  Realm of Darkness

  Fearful Symmetry (coming September 2016)

  REALM OF DARKNESS

  C. F. Dunn

  Text copyright © 2016 C. F. Dunn

  This edition copyright © 2016 Lion Hudson

  The right of C. F. Dunn to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  All the characters in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Published by Lion Fiction

  an imprint of

  Lion Hudson plc

  Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road

  Oxford OX2 8DR, England

  www.lionhudson.com/fiction

  ISBN 978 1 78264 196 4

  e-ISBN 978 1 78264 197 1

  First edition 2016

  Acknowledgements

  Cover image: Man © Chris Schmidt/iStock;

  Woman © Peter Zelei/iStock

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Characters

  The Lynes Coat of Arms

  The Lynes Family Tree

  The Story So Far

  Chapter

  Little Blood

  1. Threshold

  2. Eternal

  3. In Plain Sight

  4. Moon and Stars

  5. Hors de Combat

  6. New York

  7. Waiting Room

  8. Happenstance

  9. In the Dog House

  10. Going Home

  11. Dining Out

  12. Entente Cordiale

  13. Party Beast

  14. Security of Tenure

  15. Rogues and Vagabonds

  16. Power of Knowledge

  17. Making Amends

  18. Wedding Day

  19. Point of Fire

  20. Marking Time

  21. Roadkill

  22. Surprise

  23. Secret Smile

  24. Cat and Mouse

  25. Love Makes Fools

  26. Entrenched

  27. Heart of Steel

  28. Between the Lines

  29. Mad Dog

  30. A Matter of Time

  31. Epitaph

  For my friends, past and present.

  Acknowledgments

  This is my opportunity to thank all those involved in helping breathe life into Emma and Matthew by bringing Realm of Darkness out of my imagination and onto the shelves. So, to start with, I owe grateful thanks to the Lion Fiction team, who always responded cheerfully to my author queries: editor Jessica Tinker; Jess Scott, who saw it through to production; Jonathan Roberts (design), and Kylie Ord (production). A special thank you to copy editor, Julie Frederick, who kept Realm on the straight and narrow, and to Sarah Krueger of Kregel Publishing in the USA.

  Much appreciation and thanks goes to peerless authors, Liz Fenwick (The Cornish House) and Fiona Veitch Smith (The Jazz Files) who sacrificed their precious writing time to generously offer endorsements for Realm Of Darkness.

  No acknowledgments would be complete without thanking my former publisher and editor in the UK, Tony Collins, who looked beyond my novice blunders and saw the potential in my debut novel, Mortal Fire.

  I am indebted to the many people who, in their professional capacity, have generously given their time and advice, especially Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Kiki O’Neill-Byrne MB, BCH, BAO, Dip Clin Psych, MRCPsych, for her insight into psychological conditions.

  Thanks also to author Sue Russell, and friends and colleagues Dee Prewer and Lisa Lewin for their feedback and support, to North Kent Writers’ Group for putting up with me, and to Michelle Jimerson Morris, of Seamlyne Reproductions, and Norm Forgey of Maine Day Trip, who once again provided regional information.

  My everlasting gratitude to my husband and daughters, my mother and father, my brother and his family, whose love and tireless encouragement keep me going, step by step, along the road. Finally, to Stig, who although now treads an eternal path, kept me company on many a long walk as I untangled plots and conjured new ones.

  Characters

  ACADEMIC & RESEARCH STAFF AT HOWARD’S LAKE COLLEGE, MAINE

  Emma D’Eresby, Department of History (Medieval & Early Modern)

  Elena Smalova, Department of History (Post-Revolutionary Soviet Society)

  Matias Lidström, Faculty of Bio-medicine (Genetics)

  Matthew Lynes, surgeon, Faculty of Bio-medicine (Mutagenesis)

  Sam Wiesner, Department of Mathematics (Metamathematics)

  Madge Makepeace, Faculty of Social Sciences (Anthropology)

  Siggie Gerhard, Faculty of Social Sciences (Psychology)

  Saul Abrahms, Faculty of Social Sciences (Psychology of Functional Governance)

  Colin Eckhart, Department of History (Renaissance & Reformation Art)

  Kort Staahl, Department of English (Early Modern Literature)

  Megan, research assistant, Bio-medicine

  Sung, research assistant, Bio-medicine

  The Dean, Stephen Shotter

  MA STUDENTS

  Holly Stanhope; Josh Feitel; Hannah Graham; Aydin Yilmaz; Leo Hamell

  IN CAMBRIDGE

  Guy Hilliard, Emma’s former tutor

  Tom Falconer, Emma’s friend

  EMMA’S FAMILY

  Hugh D’Eresby, her father

  Penny D’Eresby, her mother

  Beth Marshall, her sister

  Rob Marshall, her brother-in-law

  Alex & Flora, her twin nephew and niece

  Archie, her baby nephew

  Nanna, her grandmother

  Mike Taylor, friend of the family

  Joan Seaton, friend of the family

  MATTHEW’S FAMILY

  Henry Lynes, his son

  Patricia Lynes (Pat), Henry’s wife

  Margaret Lynes (Maggie), his granddaughter

  Daniel Lynes (Dan), his grandson

  Jeanette (Jeannie) Rathbone, Dan’s wife, and their children: Ellie Lynes

  Joel Lynes

  Harry Lynes

  THE LYNES COAT OF ARMS

  THE LYNES FAMILY TREE

  The Story So Far

  Independent and self-contained British historian Emma D’Eresby has taken up a year-long research post in an exclusive American university in Maine, fulfilling her ambition (and that of her grandfather) to study the Richardson Journal – the diary of a seventeenth-century Englishman – housed in the library there.

  Single-minded and determined, Emma is war y of relationships, but she quickly attracts the unwelcome attention of seductive colleague Sam Wiesner, and the disturbing Professor of English, Kort Staahl. Despite her best intentions to remain focused on her work, and encouraged by her vivacious Russian friend, Elena Smalova, Emma becomes incre
asingly attracted to medical research scientist and surgeon Matthew Lynes, whose old fashioned courtesy she finds both disarming and curious.

  Widowed and living quietly with his family, Matthew is reluctant to let her into his life, despite his clear interest in her, and Emma suspects there is more to his past than the little he tells her. His English-sounding name and the distinctive colour of his hair intrigues her, and Emma believes there is a link between Matthew and the very journal she came to the United States to study. Against her nature, she smuggles the historic document from the library to investigate further.

  Events take a sinister turn as a series of savage assaults on women sends ripples of fear through the campus. Emma is convinced she is being followed, and during the prestigious All Saints’ dinner at Halloween, is viciously attacked by psychotic Professor Staahl, leaving her on the edge of death. Only Matthew’s timely intervention saves her and, as he cares for her in his college rooms, their relationship deepens and Emma finds herself battling between her growing love and her need to learn more about him.

  A near-fatal encounter with a bear raises questions about Matthew she can no longer ignore.

  Frustrated by the mystery surrounding his past and his refusal to tell her who he really is, Emma reluctantly flees Maine to her claustrophobic family home in England. Hidden from sight, but not her conscience, she has also taken the journal.

  Years of acrimony with her family and a bruising affair a decade before with her tutor, Guy Hilliard – a married man – have left their scars. Now broken both physically and emotionally, and facing an emotional crisis, Emma drifts, until a chance meeting refocuses her attention on the unanswered questions she had left behind. Using her historical training to trace Matthew’s family to an almost extinct hamlet in the tiny county of Rutland, she makes a startling discovery. Her instinct had been right: Matthew is a relic of the past.

  Born in the early years of the seventeenth century, Matthew had been betrayed during the English Civil War, when a clash with his uncle left him fighting for his life. He not only lived, but persisted, growing steadily in strength and surviving events that would have killed any other man. Diary entries by the family steward in the same journal now in Emma’s possession reveal that in the overheated atmosphere of seventeenth-century England – where rumours were rife and accusations of witchcraft frequent – Matthew faced persecution because of his differences, and he fled to the American colonies.

  Coming to terms with Matthew’s past, Emma is all too aware that she possesses knowledge that could destroy his future and, when she learns he has disappeared from the college, sinks further into desolation. But as winter descends on the old stone walls of her family home, Matthew, unable to remain separated from her, comes to find Emma and takes her back to America.

  Looking forward to the future, Emma believes she has all the answers, but Matthew has one more revelation that could end their relationship once and for all. In a fraught confrontation in a remote snowbound cabin high in the mountains, Matthew tells her that he is still married. Over a harrowing few days, with their relationship hanging in the balance, Matthew recounts his story, and Emma learns that his wife, Ellen, is a ninety-six-year-old paraplegic, and the man she thought was his father is, in fact, his son. Emma is faced with a stark choice: cut all ties with Matthew as she once did with Guy or face an uncertain future with the only man she has ever really loved. Emma believes that her life is inextricably linked with Matthew’s and makes the decision to stay with him with all the complications it will entail.

  As she prepares to meet Matthew’s family at Christmas, the last thing on Emma’s mind is college professor Sam Wiesner, but it becomes apparent that she has been very much on his. After a brief, but unpleasant, encounter in which Sam acquires a broken jaw, Emma is forced to warn Sam off. But, despite her best efforts to protect Matthew’s identity, wheels have been set in motion that one day could expose him to the world.

  In the third book of The Secret of the Journal series – Rope of Sand – Emma meets Matthew’s family for the first time when she goes to stay with him for Christmas. Here she is introduced to his son, Henry, and learns how unique the family really is. As Christmas approaches, it is clear that Emma is not welcomed by all members of the Lynes family: what does Matthew’s great-granddaughter Ellie have against her, and what might his sinister clinical psychiatrist granddaughter Maggie be prepared to do to prevent Matthew and Emma being together?

  When one evening, out of spite, Ellie gives Emma coffee instead of her usual tea, Emma suffers an extreme reaction and her heart stops for a few seconds. In those moments Emma discovers that coffee heightens all her senses, and she can detect the emotions of others around her in colour, revealing their deepest feelings – a form of synesthesia.

  As questions of mortality and faith interweave, the bond between Emma and Matthew grows even stronger, but they accept that they must wait until his wife dies before they can have a life together.

  After Christmas, and very reluctantly, Emma goes to meet Matthew’s wife, Ellen – a frail and disabled elderly woman with a core of steel – and learns how a lifetime spent with Matthew will be one that demands the sacrifice of normality, and be full of obfuscation, concealment, and lies.

  Blaming Emma for coming between Matthew and his wife, and destabilized by her presence over Christmas, Maggie reveals – in a threatening and vitriolic confrontation – that she has been in charge of assessing Kort Staahl’s mental state since his vicious attack in October, and is determined to get rid of Emma. It is only a matter of time before ticking resentment explodes.

  Just as Emma settles down to the new term’s teaching at Howard’s Lake College, and looking forward to the history conference in the summer, she receives, without warning, a writ of prosecution issued on behalf of Kort Staahl. Emma is accused of defamation per se – a serious offence – and goes to trial worried that the spotlight will fall on Matthew as a key witness, and is shocked to find that Maggie is involved as a witness for the prosecution. But there is more to the trial than it seems. Partway through, Matthew’s wife dies, and, as he buries her a few days later, Henry’s first wife, Monica, appears at the graveside, revealing that she instigated the trial in revenge against Matthew. Her sudden appearance after an absence of forty years drives her daughter, Maggie, ever closer to the borders of madness.

  The following day the trial resumes, with Maggie teetering on the edge of sanity while under fierce cross-examination on the witness stand. Emma fears she will reveal who Matthew is and, in one last desperate effort to protect his secret, she doses herself with coffee in an attempt to connect with Maggie emotionally using her newly discovered ability. She succeeds but suffers a near-fatal heart attack. The trial is cancelled and, as winter turns a corner and Emma recovers in hospital, Matthew puts aside his past. Together he and Emma look forward to the future with renewed hope.

  Little Blood

  Before the present there is always the past.

  There was never any doubt in my mind the career I would follow and I defended my position with all the tenacity of a zealot. The more my father battled to change my mind, the more resolute I became, until – had there been another choice – I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, so determined had I become to thwart him.

  My father approached boiling point, his face beetroot, his eyebrows knotted in an angry “V” as I confronted him.

  “I won’t change my mind.”

  “History is not a proper career, Emma. You can’t expect to make a decent living as a historian.”

  “Grandpa didn’t do too badly.”

  “Don’t be infantile. Your grandfather was a Cambridge professor; you couldn’t possibly emulate his success in this day and age. No, your mother and I think you need a profession you can rely on – law, medicine…”

  “I’m not interested in anything else.”

  “… the Armed Forces, dentistry, accountancy…”

  “Dad, dentists scare me and I can ha
rdly add up. I want to study history; it’s the only thing I want to do.” We faced each other across the length of his study, he as pugnacious as ever, I staunch and unyielding. We were father and daughter bound by blood and so far removed from each other that we could have been inhabiting parallel worlds.

  “We only have your welfare in mind; you can do much better than being an academic. Now, I’ve spoken to your headmaster, and in his opinion…”

  Blah, blah, blah, on and on for what seemed like a decade but proved to be less than half that by the time I won. I took my A levels early to escape, driven by the twin desires of achieving my goal and proving him wrong. I’d just had my seventeenth birthday when I went to Cambridge – only seventeen when I left home. It was more than I expected, everything I hoped for, and I fell into the life of an undergraduate as if born to it.

  I was seventeen when I left home, eighteen when I met Guy Hilliard, and nineteen when I slept with him for the first time.

  I knew about him long before I met him. He epitomized everything I wanted to be, and I devoured his books with an appetite I never showed food. His insight, his attention to detail, his wit – as caustic and apposite as slaked lime – had me hunger for more, driving me on in search of greater understanding. So, when I met him for the first time, it was a trap already baited and waiting to be sprung.