A Kiss at Midnight

Chapter Thirty-Five

The blanket of numbness to swaddle Ilona after her lullaby of helplessness and sorrow was soon snatched away by the realisation that Carrick was gone. The week they spent together suddenly felt like a dream and one with each passing moment was slipping through her fingers. The thought of him once more being out of her reach, a blow to send her heart shattering.

Zane refused to let the walls be her only audience to her tears, cradling his daughter in his arms. He reached up, smoothing back a stray curl from her face, a brush been set to sweep a further trail of sadness across her cheek. One side of his face to rest against the top of her curls as he waited for the final note to play out, a sniffle.

The symphony of the night's events had not yet reached its conclusion.
Instruments to accompany this piece.
The soft tap of a heel against the wooden floorboards.
The kind voice of Mina Van Helsing.
A gentle whicker of a horse.
Each turn of the carriage's wheels.

All to quieten as the carriage stopped outside the Bennett household. The crunch of gravel beneath a booted foot as Carys opened the carriage door. Zane disembarked, carrying Ilona, her head to rest on the crook of one arm. The household key all too happy to assist them in crossing that final hurdle of distance. An ache of familiarity bloomed in Ilona's chest at the sight of those walls that held such warmth and memories, her home after being gone for what felt like a lifetime away.

"Annalise," Zane said. His voice soft as he stepped into the drawing room.

Anna's hair, a heavy braid perched on one ledge of her shoulders. She was sitting on the sofa. One elbow propped up on a knee, her hand to cradle her chin while the other hand had fallen against the sofa's cushion. While her body held aloft the fragile weight of her heart. Her expression drawn with concern and memory.
The rays of vermillion and orange from the hearth, a faint amber glow in her mind's eye. Suddenly it was no longer the velvety upholstery of lapis blue her fingers were making light decompressions in but instead she felt the cold ensnare of mud upon her wrists. Her gaze becoming glass-like. A slight shake of her head to escape the waves of denial as the past and present began to blur into one unbearable, unthinkable moment.

At the sound of her husband's voice, she slowly almost with reluctance raised her head.
For a moment, dread its icy grip to tighten around her throat.
In the next, Zane was placing their daughter in her arms.
A shaky hand reaching out. Ilona's skin was warm to the touch and little could stop the tears from falling or the sob that tore from her throat.

"Mama." The word wobbled on Ilona's lips, one hand grasping at her mother's wrist.

Zane knelt down next to his wife, his fingers closing over her hand. Knuckles to one palm was a brief induction before her hand turned, her own fingers bowing to greet his touch.
Then he and Ilona turned to see Leo standing in the doorway, his cane clutched in one hand. The late hour leaving its mark upon his features. Strands of beige blond spun with grey threads refused to remain in their original place. After hearing what happened to Ilona, Leo had offered to stay with Anna. Seeing the young Bennett safely back in her mother's arms, Leo smiled.

"I was going to make another spot of tea but it seems the greatest comfort of all is having Ilona home," Mr Van Helsing said. Warmth infusing each of his words. His gaze then flickered to the door. "If Carys is waiting outside then I shall take my leave for this evening."

"Goodbye Leo," Ilona said.

"I'll walk you to the door," Zane said, rising to his feet. His lips brushed his wife's forehead, a soft sigh leaving her own.

As the sound her husband's footsteps grew faint, Anna enveloped Ilona into a hug. "I missed you, my darling. So very much."

"I missed you too..." Ilona's voice trailing off as Barrymore's words echoed in her ears like the toils of a bell.