Vision in Faith (Legends of the North Book 3) (8 page)

She ducked her head as though his words embarrassed her, so he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. He'd meant every word. She
should
be proud of herself.
 

Dragging her over to the sofa, he pulled her down next to him but kept hold of her hand.
 

"Tell me why you were so angry in the pub."

She leaned her head back against the cushion and stared at the ceiling. "I had another vision. You…" She huffed. "You were in it this time."

His eyebrows rose at her words because that was not what he'd been expecting her to say.
But why did that make her angry with me?
"Tell me about it. Please."

 
James listened as she described what sounded like his mother's ideal dinner, apart from the bone-throwing into the fire part, which was just bizarre. He wanted to laugh at what she told him but didn't want to upset her anymore. It wasn't real, and he was surprised she was so angry about it, angry with him.

"I'm sorry," he said as he wrapped an arm around her to pull her against his side. When she laid her head on his shoulder, he continued, "You know it's not real. It doesn't mean it will happen."

"Of course I do, it's just…" She let out a frustrated sigh. "If it's not real, then what is it? And why did I have ash on my hands?"

That was a very good question. He hugged her tighter. "I don't know. I had another dream in the old house."

She leaned back from him suddenly. "The same one?"

"No, it was different." As she settled back against him, he explained his dream to her.

"Sacrifice yourself to her flame? What is that supposed to even mean?"

James shrugged. "I have no idea."
 

She looked up at him, her emotions clear on her face, and it made his chest constrict with a need to protect her, protect all of them from this.
Shit, not good.
He was pretty sure she still hated him. Found him attractive, yes, but that didn't necessarily mean she liked him. Did it?

"Do you ever think…? I don't know. I feel like I'm going crazy sometimes."

James gave her a small smile. "Come to mine tomorrow. Everyone will be there. You can talk to Emma and Jess. They've both been where you are. Even Matt had a vision too."

"But not you?"

He shook his head. "No. But whatever it is, it tried to kill me the way it tried to kill Matt too."

***

Vicky shivered as she remembered them calmly discussing that James had gone missing when the reality had been much worse. Her thoughts turned to God and the devil. It was like James had come back from the dead. That thought scared her, and she could only imagine her mum's reaction to finding that out. She'd probably think he was much more suitable boyfriend material, unlike the last one.
Whoa, who mentioned boyfriend? So not going there.

Vicky couldn't stop the little grin at the thought of the look on James's mother's face if he did introduce her as that, but then she shook her head.

"Try to come to mine tomorrow. I think it'll help you."

She nodded, thinking it sounded like a good idea.

"I should probably get going."

"Okay." She stood at his words, debating whether to ask him to stay.
Not a good idea. Not a good idea.
She forced herself to walk towards the door. He followed her and she paused with her hand on the door handle.
 

Glancing up at him, he smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Just a gentle brush of his lips against hers before he pulled back. "Are we okay? Am I forgiven?"

She smiled back at him and nodded. "I'm sorry, again. All I ever seem to do is apologise to you at the moment."

Wrapping a hand around the back of her neck, he pulled her closer to him before closing his lips over hers once more. Releasing the door handle, she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt, not wanting to let him go just yet.

His other arm wrapped around her back, pulling her flush against his body as she let out a strangled moan. Seizing the opportunity, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, brushing over hers, flicking against the underneath of it in a move that had her stomach flipping.

She dug her fingers into his chest and his pecs tensed in response, and then he was pulling away from her. His breaths came fast as he stared at her for the longest moment before he brushed his lips against her cheek and smiled, showing her that chin dimple again.

"Good night, Vicky."

Opening the door, she grabbed Teazle's collar as she tried to run outside. She watched James walk down the street and gave him a little wave when he turned to look back in her direction. With a small smile, she closed the door.
Shit, I think I was wrong about him.

 
She liked him, she realised. Like,
really
liked him. But this was James Altenbury, heir to the Altenbury fortune and lands. This was not good.

Wandering towards the back door, she let Teazle out into the yard thinking about how she should stay away from him, keep her distance. The dog started growling, and Vicky flicked on the outside light, but she couldn't see anything. Her growl turned into a full-on bark and Vicky went outside. A light went on from one of the other flats and she hurried to where Teazle was. Before she could reach her, the dog leaped over the gate and ran off.

"Damn it!"

"Everything okay?"

Looking up, she saw her neighbour hanging out of his window. "Teazle's run off."

"Hang on while I put my shoes on and I'll help you look for her."

"Thanks," Vicky shouted back and went inside for her shoes and a torch.

***

He'd been hoping she'd ask him to stay. When she didn't, he walked away with his hands thrust in his pockets to stop him from doing something stupid, like pushing her against the door and doing more than just kiss her. He took one look back and saw her watching him leave. She gave him a wave and he smiled. This would be so much easier if all the other shit wasn't going on at the same time. Then he'd only have to deal with the fact she wasn't a fan of the Altenbury name.

Lost in thoughts of what could be, he didn't notice how foggy it had become until he looked up when he heard a dog barking in the distance. The road in front of him had disappeared behind a swirl of mist. Slowly, he turned, trying to see anything through the mask it created, but there was nothing but white.

Reaching out, he expected his hand to pass straight through it, but he could feel the mist. He jerked his hand back with a hiss from where it touched his skin. His skin was on fire, throbbing, and the feeling spread up his arm.
 

The mist started to close in on him. He tried to bat it away, but his fingers began to burn too. It swirled around his head, tendrils of it reaching out towards him. He was struggling to breathe, unable to drag in air through its thickness.

His throat burned as something coiled around it, wrapping tighter and tighter. Pulling at it with his fingers, he tried to pry it off, but each touch sent searing pain up his arm.

The smell of death, of rotting flesh, blew across his face as he heard a deathly wail start right beside his ear, sounding like an animal caught in a trap. His eyes drooped as blackness descended. He tried to fight it, but the smell overpowered him, and his lungs felt like they were on fire. The last thing he heard was the bark of a dog before he gave in to the nothingness.

Chapter 9

"You can't. Just trust me on this."

"He's your brother, Matt! Aren't you worried? It's been three weeks since we found him and nothing. He doesn't move, doesn't dream. It's like he's been frozen. Is this how he's going to be from now on? We just leave him in this… this state of nothing?"

Matt grabbed Vicky's shoulders and gave her a shake. "Stop it. He will be fine. I've been through it myself. But there's nothing we can do except wait. I'll be back tomorrow, but Jess will come round this evening, okay?"

Nodding, she stared at him as he walked out of her spare bedroom.
 

Just wait.
He makes it sound so easy.
 

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, she held James's hand between hers. She leaned forward and gently pressed a hand against his forehead. He didn't feel cold any longer but hot instead. She didn't know if that was a good thing or not. She thought about going after Matt, but she didn't want to leave James.

Brushing her fingertips over his cheek, she whispered a little prayer. She'd lost count of the number she'd sent up over the last few weeks. She had even asked her mum and dad to pray for him, which had earned her a few questions.

Her gaze skipped back to his face. She could have sworn his eyes opened. Leaning over him, she studied him. Yes, his eyes fluttered, lifting open slightly. "Hey. Can you hear me?" she asked gently.

He opened his eyes, blinked at her several times before a smile lifted his lips at the corners. His gaze left hers to take in the room before returning. "Where am I?" His voice came out as a croak, and when he started coughing to try to clear his throat, he groaned. Lifting a hand to his neck, he pressed his fingers to his skin there and winced. "What happened?"

She shifted on the bed, closer to him, and took his hand again. "Do you remember walking me home after the night of Matt and Emma's engagement party?"

Nodding, he winced once more. "It happened again, didn't it? Whatever attacked me last time tried again."

"Yes," she said, trying not to let out a sob. "Three weeks," she whispered.
 

Lifting his hand, he cradled her jaw, stroking his thumb across her cheek. "Hey, it's okay. I've survived worse."

"You could have died. Teazle found you."

His eyebrows rose at her statement then furrowed. "Yes, I heard. Well, I heard a dog barking, anyway. Remind me to buy her a bone or something."

Her lips twitched up on one side because he seemed to be okay. Maybe then she could stop worrying. Perhaps the guilt that this was her fault would ease. If she hadn't snuck out of the pub, if she'd just stayed, then none of this would've happened. He wouldn't have followed her home. He would've been safe.

She felt his gaze on her and carried on. "After you left, she started acting strange, barking and growling at nothing, before she escaped. Pat, my neighbour, helped me go after her, but instead, we found you. You were laid flat out on the street, this strange mist hanging around you. You were unconscious. Your neck—"

That time, she couldn't stop her sob. Her finger waved in front of her neck and she clapped her other hand over her mouth.

 
James pulled her down to his chest and wrapped an arm around her. "It's okay. I'm sure it looks worse than it is. It's not the first time it's happened. It'll just be a bit sore for a week or so. Nothing to worry about, honest."

She felt him press a kiss to her head and she wrapped an arm around his waist. They lay together in silence, happy that at least he seemed to be okay.

A little while later, she forced herself to sit up. "I should go call your brother, let him know you're okay, that you're awake. And Jess. I'll call her too."

"Just… In a minute. As soon as you call them, they'll come round. Let me have one more minute of peace," he said, tightening his arm around her.

***

James held Vicky in his arms and buried his nose in her hair, the scent of lemon overwhelming. It hurt like hell, but he wasn't about to tell her that. His neck stung like a bitch and every inch of him ached.

The last thing he'd heard had been a dog barking, but he wasn't sure if it was Teazle or not. He remembered the fog blocking out everything around him, but that was all. He had no idea what had done this to him.
 

Matt had told him he hadn't seen what had attacked him the first few times until finally seeing an animal that looked like a giant cat. Emma had been cornered by a creature masking itself as a sheep. And Jess and Rob had fought with probably the largest wolf on record. James didn't remember seeing anything.

But he knew the marks on his neck would be the same as the ones the others had ended up with. Vicky moved, and he reluctantly released his arms from around her.

"I'll go make those calls. Do you need anything?"

Just you.
He started at that thought. Where had that come from? Shaking his head, both at the thought and in answer to Vicky, he winced as the skin pulled around his neck, sending sparks of pain across his chest. She laid her hand on his chest, worry crinkling the corners of her eyes.

He forced a smile and said, "I'm fine. Go call them."
 

Of course, he was right. Within half an hour of Vicky's calls, Matt and Emma showed up, followed closely by Jess and Rob. The four of them crowded around his bed, while Vicky leaned against the far wall.

"It sounds similar to when Matt was attacked," Emma said, as she grasped her fiancé's hand.

"But you don't remember anything else? You didn't see what attacked you?"

"Matt!" Jess said with a swift elbow to his side. "Don't interrogate him. He's just woken up. Don't you remember how terrible you felt when you first woke up after you had been attacked?"

"Jess is right, Matt. Maybe we should all go and let you get some rest."

James nodded at Emma, thinking that sounded like a great idea. He watched them all leave, fussing around him before they did.

He smiled through the pain because his family was everything to him. Which was why this needed to be the last time an attack happened. He'd had enough. He would put a stop to this; he just didn't know how.

But he would.

***

Vicky locked up after they all finally left and headed back upstairs. Resting her hip against the doorjamb, she gazed at James. Propped against the headboard, he scrubbed a hand down his face. He looked tired. She turned to leave him to rest but stopped when he said her name.

"Come sit with me."

Strolling over to the bed, she sat on the edge, wondering what he wanted. He should've been resting.

"I know I've been here since it happened, so thank you. You probably want me out of your hair so, if you don't mind me staying the night, I'll leave in the morning."