The shadow moved closer. Her breath caught as she realized it was her brother. Relief hurtled through her body with dizzying speed. Oh God, she’d been so terrified. But Caleb was here. He was with her and he wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt her.
He took one step closer, the shadows suddenly gone from around him. Her heart thumped hard against her chest and her mouth opened in a silent scream and she kept screaming as she stared in horror at the gruesome sight in front of her.
Caleb was drenched in blood. It covered his hands, was smeared on his chest and splattered across his abdomen. His eyes were empty and hollow, soulless pools of ice.
Tori screamed again and again, desperation seizing and twisting her insides in a panicked frenzy. She shut her eyes in a frantic attempt to block out the sight of Caleb soaked in blood, but it was as though his image were imprinted on the backs of her eyelids because it was as vivid with her eyes closed as it was with them open.
Her head wobbled back and forth and she became aware of someone shaking her and urgently calling her name.
“Tori! Tori, wake up, damn it!”
She pushed outward at the offending person, shoving so hard she tumbled backward. Her head cracked against the headboard of her bed and she saw a burst of colors. Pain yanked her from her seeming state of paralysis, and she didn’t waste any time scrambling from the bed on the other side, prepared to flee for her life.
No one would take her again. Never. She’d die first.
When strong hands grasped her arms again, she lashed out, swinging her fist. A muffled curse and cracking pain in her knuckles told her she’d connected with a very firm jaw.
“Damn it, Tori, wake the hell up. It’s Dane, for God’s sake.”
Her knees buckled and she sagged, hitting the floor with a resounding thump. Again she heard curses but the hands that touched her were gentle and nonthreatening.
Fingers carefully pushed her hair from her face and back behind her ears and then warm thumb pads smoothed away the tears silently tracking down her cheeks.
She flinched and made a guttural sound as she tried to slide backward on the wood floor. Much like an animal backed into a corner. She shoved the hair from her face so she could at least see to defend herself.
“D-don’t t-touch me.”
He immediately released her, holding his hands up where she could easily see them. She regarded him warily, the remnants of the horrible vision still lingering like a ghost in her mind. Her pulse roared in her ears and she blinked trying to bring her surroundings into focus.
“I’m just going to turn on the light, okay, Tori?”
The soothing pitch to his voice served to calm her. Gradually the red mist faded and Caleb’s bloodied body no longer confronted her when she opened her eyes.
“Dane?”
The quivery jitter to her voice made her sound like a terrified little girl. Not an adult woman who’d seen the harsh realities outside the privileged existence she’d lived for twenty-three years.
“Yes, Tori, it’s Dane. Are you okay now?”
Tears flooded her eyes and sobs welled from her throat as she slumped in relief.
“Oh God, Dane. You have to check on Caleb. I think he’s dead.”
Dane’s head jerked up and his gaze narrowed, causing the hard lines of his face to seem even scarier than he normally was.
“What are you talking about?” he asked sharply. “Talk to me, Tori. Did you have a vision?”
Her mouth fell open and she stared at Dane in absolute shock and dismay. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.
“I know,” he said. “So does Eliza. But no one else. Not even your brothers’ other security experts or hired muscle. Now tell me what happened, Tori. Is Caleb in danger?”
She scrubbed her face with her hands, her eyes burning like they had sand and grit blown into them.
“I don’t know,” she said in frustration. “Ever since?. . .??him?. . .??I don’t know what is a vision or simply a nightmare brought about by what happened to me. Oh God, I thought I was past this. I thought everything was going to be okay but I swear I think I’m losing my mind. The other night I dreamed that someone shot me. And now I dreamed of Caleb covered in blood.”
Carefully Dane pulled Tori into his arms, slowly easing her against him as if he were afraid she’d freak and bolt away.
“Shhh, Tori. You aren’t losing your mind. You’ve undergone a lot of trauma both physically and emotionally. That isn’t going to go away in a week, a month or even a year. It takes time but you’ll get there.”
“You believe in my abilities?” she blurted out, peering up at him from underneath her lashes.
Dane had always intimidated her and if she was completely honest he scared her to death. There was a harshness to his features that made him look extremely dangerous. And he never missed the slightest detail.