Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 01 - Dark Bayou by Nancy K. Duplechain Page A

prophecies—and I mentally snorted at the idea—how would I know what the geography of a place looked like if I had never been there before? After awhile, Lucas broke the silence.
     
    “So, you think you can answer my question from earlier?” He was polite, but adamant.
     
    I sighed and said, “I’m here for Lyla.” I hoped he’d let it go at that but knew he wouldn’t.
     
    “You’re taking her back to California with you, aren’t you?” He sounded worried. And I now understood why he wanted to know so badly. And I understood why he brought me out in the middle of a lake to talk about it. It was so I couldn’t run away. He was determined to get this over with.
     
    “Is that what you’re worried about?”
     
    He looked out at the lake and took a deep breath. “Jon and I would sure miss her. Clothilde, too, of course. I know you’re her godmother and her aunt, but I’m her godfather. Her family’s here. Her friends are here. I can’t stop you from taking her back with you, but I know she wouldn’t be happy there. I would be more than glad to take her.”
     
    I didn’t know whether to be offended or relieved. I couldn’t believe he would think I would take Lyla away from him, from Clothilde and Jonathan. But it was a relief to know how much he loved her and what he would do for her. I cleared my throat. “I’m not taking her to California,” I said, trying to hide a smile. He looked confused.
     
    “Then what are you doing here?” The smile I was trying to hide went away.
     
    I sighed and decided to get it over with. “I’ve been having these … dreams. About Lyla. Someone’s after her in these dreams. I just feel like … something bad’s going to happen to her if I’m not here to protect her.”
     
    Lucas was silent, and I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. The heat and humidity were becoming too much. If he didn’t say something soon, I felt I would jump into the water and swim back to my car. He leaned back in the boat and put his hands behind his head. He looked up at the white clouds high up in the blue sky.
     
    “What kind of dreams?”
     
    I really didn’t want to go into detail, but I could tell he wasn’t going to let me get away with being vague. “Nightmares. About a man. About … the Dark Man. You know. The one Jonathan told you about. In my dreams, he looks like this man I met at the cemetery the day of the funeral.” I swallowed hard in my throat and licked my dry lips. “He was a skinny old man with white hair.” Lucas’ eyes flickered to me as I echoed the words Roger had spoken almost an hour ago. He returned his gaze to the clouds and didn’t talk for a minute. The silence was killing me. As I was mentally judging the swimming distance between the boat and my car, Lucas spoke.
     
    “Does he have a bird?”
     
    My eyes popped. “Yes,” I whispered.
     
    He sat up and looked me in the eyes. “Is it a black bird?”
     
    “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s a white dove, though.”
     
    He breathed deeply through his nose. “Jonathan said the Dark Man has a big black bird for a pet.”
     
    “Can we go back to your truck?”
     
    “Why?”
     
    “Because we need to open that package.”

7
     
    Lineage
     
    W hen we got in Lucas’ truck, it was a virtual oven. The heat blasted us as soon as we opened the doors, and he quickly put on the AC. We both stared at the package still on the armrest. I wanted to tear it open, to get it over with. Lucas was more patient. He gently picked it up and pulled the packaging tape off the sides. He dug into a corner with his finger and ripped along the seam in the middle. He hesitated slightly before opening the flaps. Inside was a manila envelope. Lucas tossed the empty box onto the dash and slowly opened the envelope as I held my breath. Inside were dozens of pictures. We eyed each other, baffled. He put the envelope on the armrest, and we stared at the first picture. It was a white man in his forties, balding with a