Vision in Faith (Legends of the North Book 3) (9 page)

Did he want to leave? Maybe he thought she wanted him to leave, that he was in the way. She had a feeling he was used to relying on himself. Well, tough. She'd been looking after him for the last three weeks, and she wasn't about to let him leave now. "Try it."

His eyes flicked up, his gaze meeting hers, and she could see the next question. "You're not going anywhere, James. You've just woken up after being attacked by some… some… thing. You really think I'm going to let you go home alone? Who's going to look after you there, huh? You can barely move without being in pain, so no, you're not leaving in the morning."

 
She watched as a small smile spread across his lips. "Wow. Bossy much? Who do you think you are, me?"

She laughed but then turned serious as she took his hand. "James, you had everyone scared to death. Jess thought she was going to lose you again, and she was devastated. Matt was going crazy, scanning through books, trying to find a way to stop whatever did this." Her voice tapered off at the end, trying not to let the fear out.

"And what about you, Vicky?"

His hand tightened around hers, and she glanced up at him from where she'd been staring at their hands in her lap. "What about me?" she asked quietly.

"Were you worried about me?"

She lifted her head again and gazed at him, wondering how he didn't know the answer to that question. "Of course, I was. I thought you might die. I wanted to call a doctor, but Matt wouldn't let me. He just kept saying you'd be fine. And…" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. He tugged on her hand, pulling her against his chest. "Of course, I was worried," she said as she sat back up.

She was overwhelmed, her emotions all over the place, which wasn't a feeling she was used to. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze then stood. "Try to get some rest. I'm just next door, so if you need anything just shout, okay?"

He stared at her for a beat then said, "Okay. Good night, Vicky. Sweet dreams."

Sweet dreams
. She couldn't help the smile that tugged at one corner of her mouth, those words making the swirl of emotions inside her calm a little.

 
"Good night, James."

***

Heading for her own bedroom, she got ready for bed, pulled the covers back, and climbed in. Her thoughts turned to earlier that night, the way his family had shown up without question. She wished she had that too. Sometimes it was lonely being an only child. The idea of having a brother or sister, someone to look out for her, for each other. It would be nice.

Maybe the Altenburys weren't as bad as she'd thought they were, at least not the younger generation. They clearly cared about one another.
 

She let her head sink into the pillow, pulling the covers up to her neck, and closing her eyes. She was exhausted from the last three weeks and quickly fell asleep.
 

Shivering, she glanced around, up at the big house. Why was she standing outside the old house in the dead of night?
 

She heard a muffled noise and whirled around. Running forward, she dropped to her knees, one arm outstretched. James! He was laid out on the floor, one leg twisted at an odd angle. A white mist hovered over him, but he didn't move or notice her.
 

She leaned closer and the mist moved. It gathered together and slid towards her, coiling itself around her arm, tighter and tighter. It smelled musty as it clung to her skin, reminding her of that old book smell.

 
Only when she looked again, it wasn't the mist coiled around her arm. No, it was a snake, its body wrapped around her arm, head lifted. Its black, unblinking eyes stared straight at her. She screamed and shook her arm uselessly, trying to free herself from its grasp.

She screamed again, sitting up, clawing at her arm. Blinking rapidly, she realised she was pulling at the sheet that had become wrapped around her arm. The bedroom door flung open, and she jumped as it hit the wall with a loud thud.
 

James stood in the doorway, a lamp held above his head, and she couldn't help the hysterical laugh she let out. Was he planning on attacking someone by blinding them with light?

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She shifted up the bed, pulling her arm free from the sheet. As she did, something fluttered to the floor. "I'm fine." She leaned over the side of the bed and switched on her lamp. As she did, she let out a gasp. "What's that?" she whispered, as James slowly made his way towards her.

Crouching beside her, he nudged it with his foot then looked up at her. "It looks like skin… a snakeskin?"
 

Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and shivered. "It was… There was a snake in my dream. You were… I found you lying on the floor, like when you were attacked. Except this time, there was this white mist surrounding you. But it wasn't really a mist. It coiled around me, twisted around my arm and stared at me. It spoke to me."

Her gaze flicked to James to watch for his reaction, but he just plucked her hand from around her legs and held it in his. "What did it say?"

"It said, ‘I am the reincarnation. You can no longer bind me with these…' shackles? ‘With your shackles,' something like that." She shuddered as the image of the snake wrapped around her arm popped into her head.

James climbed into the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She curled against his side, his warmth and strength reassuring. Looking up at him, she asked, "What do you think it means?"

He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before looking back at her. "Honestly? I have no idea. But I swear I will find out."
 

If it's the last thing I do, I will find out.

Chapter 10

After her dream, James had spent the rest of that night in her bed, her head against his shoulder. She felt safe with his arm tight around her waist, like maybe he could keep the dreams at bay.

She'd left him asleep in her bed that morning when she left for work, and as she let herself in that evening, she wasn't sure what to expect. Finding him in her kitchen, Teazle at his feet, surrounded with the aroma of tomatoes and basil certainly hadn't crossed her mind.
He's cooking my dinner?

Vicky could count on one hand the people who had cooked her tea—just one, her mum. Her chest tightened and she forced a smile to her lips.

"Hey. Before you say I should be resting, it's just a bung-in-the-oven lasagne, but I thought it'd save you doing it when you got home."

The smile spreading across her face was no longer forced. She'd never had someone to come home to since she'd stopped living with her parents. It was nice. "Thank you."

She placed a hand on his chest and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. A cheek that reddened in response.
 

And isn't that sweet.

It had been almost a week since that evening, and when Vicky let herself into her flat, that night it felt different. Teazle greeted her in her usual enthusiastic manner, but the flat felt quiet.

 
James had told her he would be going back home, but she had expected him to be there still when she got home from work. She thought she'd help him back to his cottage. As she wandered into the spare bedroom, it was like he'd never been there.

The bed was tidily made, and not a single thing of James's had been left behind. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she ran her hand across the top of the covers. She wasn't sure why she felt like this. He had told her he was going, and she had known it was only temporary.

Annoyed with herself, she made her way to her bedroom and got changed. Heading back downstairs, she grabbed a box from the hall and assembled it. Putting some music on, she started to pack up the kitchen. She didn't have time to be mooning around—she was moving in less than a week.

The next morning, she was woken by a knocking on the front door. She stumbled downstairs half asleep and opened the door to be greeted by Jess and Emma.

"We bring coffee and pastries." Emma held a cup and a bag out to Vicky. "We're going to help with the packing."

Jess flexed her arm then laughed. "We might not have much muscle, but we have plenty of enthusiasm."

Vicky laughed with her because she really didn't have much muscle. "Thanks, guys," she said as she took the take-out coffee and bag from Emma.

Teazle made her way around the open door and jumped up at Emma, who bent to pick her up. "Come on, munchkin. Let's get your stuff packed up too. You've got a new home to move into." She laughed when Teazle licked her face in response. "Guess that means you're excited, huh?"

Vicky ate her breakfast then left the girls to it as she went to get dressed. When she came back down, she found Jess alone in the kitchen. "Where's Emma? Has she bailed already?"

Jess tilted her head to the back door. "She had to call someone."

Vicky grabbed another box and started to wrap plates in newspaper before stacking them inside. When she glanced back up, Jess was watching her. "What?"

"Nothing. Just wondering how things are with you and James?"

"Erm, fine."

"Just fine?" Jess raised one eyebrow at her, and Vicky suddenly felt defensive.
 

"Yes, fine. He went back home as soon as he could."

Jess laughed and walked over to stand in front of her. "Vicky, if James had wanted to go home, he would have the day he woke up. Trust me, if he stayed here, it was because he wanted to."

"I…" Vicky stopped speaking as Jess patted her arm.

"It's okay. James is used to getting what he wants and trust me, he wants you. I've seen the way he looks at you. The way he looks at other guys who seem to be taking too much interest in you. He's probably just giving you some time and space to accept he's an Altenbury. You know, what with how much you dislike them."

Vicky swallowed hard and opened her mouth to say something. She wasn't sure what, but she thought that she should disagree.
 

The back door opened, and Emma walked back into the kitchen. "I leave you two alone for five minutes, and you stop work to start gossiping. So, what are we gossiping about?"

"Nothing," Vicky blurted loudly before picking up a sheet of newspaper. "Nothing," she said again, but much quieter that time as she wrapped another plate, missing the knowing look that passed between Jess and Emma.

***

James sat behind the desk in his office, absently staring at the pile of papers that needed his attention. Since the attack, things had slid, even though Matt had tried to take up some of the slack.
 

Spinning his chair around, he stared out the window. Watched the branches swaying softly with the wind, clouds lazily rolling across the azure blue sky. Followed the path of the heron as it came in to land. Funny how it was always alone when he saw it.
 

Spinning back around, he faced his desk because staring out the window wasn't helping his pile of paperwork. Picking up the top paper on the pile, he scanned over the first page. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care about the building inspection report, even though he knew he should.
 

His mobile ringing distracted him from having to think about that too hard. Matt's name flashed across the screen and he answered.

"Hi, James. Are you busy?"
 

James dropped the report back on top of the pile. "Depends. What did you have in mind?"

Ten minutes later, he was knocking on Matt's front door.
 

"Hey. You sure you're up for this?" James stared at him and Matt laughed, holding his hands up in defence. "Just asking. Come on. Rob said he would meet us there."

They climbed into James's four-wheel drive and headed out of the village. Minutes later, he pulled over on the side of the road, outside Vicky's flat.

"She never said she was moving today."

Matt looked over at James and stopped with his hand on the door handle. "Why would she?"

"Yeah, you're right. Why would she?" James tossed the comment over his shoulder as he jumped down from the car.

Matt stared at him, a smug smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
 

Emma let them into Vicky's flat and Teazle leaped up at James, who bent over to pick her up. She wriggled in his arms, letting out little yaps.
At least I know one of them missed me.

"Guys, I think most of the stuff upstairs is—" Vicky stopped halfway down the stairs when she saw him and Matt. "What are you doing here?"

"Emma called in the muscle," Jess replied. The others carried on and Emma handed Matt a box.
 

James stood and stared until Vicky finally made her way down the rest of the stairs and over to him. He smiled down at her and fought the urge to pull her into his arms. He didn't think she'd appreciate that, especially not in front of everyone else. "Hi."

She looked up at him and quietly replied, "Hi." He waited for her to say something more, and finally, she asked, "Should you be here?"

Folding his arms across his chest, he glared at her through narrowed eyes. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

"Because… Shouldn't you be resting?"

His shoulders relaxed as he understood what she was getting at. "I'm fine. I'm yours to command. What do you want me to do?" He watched as the blush spread across her cheeks, and his lips rose on one side as he tried not to smirk at her. Tried to stop the thoughts of
him
commanding her, to get naked, to get on her knees… He shook his head like that might make the thoughts go away.

"The boxes." She let out a breath, blowing her hair from her cheek. "The boxes need to go to the salon."

That time, he did smile. "Yes, ma'am." He gave her a salute and sauntered off.

It was early afternoon by the time they all finished, but as Vicky looked around her new living room, she was happy. Exhausted, but happy. It looked like home, and she could start on the salon the following day.

Casting her gaze around the room, it was a little surreal. Not one but three Altenburys surrounded her, all helping her move. Rob wrapped his arms around Jess and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. Vicky couldn't help but recall the conversation she'd had with Emma and Jess about relationships only a few months before. It seemed Jess had changed her mind about wanting to be loved up.