“We might have found Justin,” Cole admitted, and for a moment, I was shocked.
But really, what better way to get the boy out of Anima’s clutches than with a police escort?
Verra asked only one other question. “Where?”
As soon as Cole told her, she said, “Well, all right, then. Follow me. I’ll radio for backup along the way.” She returned to her sedan and, with her lights still blazing, darted in front of us. We tailed her all the way to the building.
Only, it had already been emptied out.
Papers and test tubes were burning in an incinerator, and cages were open and vacant.
“I don’t know what you guys are into, exactly,” Detective Verra said, running a fingertip over a debris-ridden worktable, “but I can tell you I’ve been watching you, and I’ve seen things I can’t explain. Things I don’t want explained. So take what you need and go home.”
What had she seen?
Was she part slayer?
I was too tired to care.
We salvaged as many papers as we could and headed home. Mr. Ankh was awake and stressed to the max. The security system had been giving him fits, and while he suspected Anima was responsible, he couldn’t figure out how they were doing what they were doing. He was giving himself until dark to fix it, then moving us all to one of the new safe houses.
Kat came flying down the stairs and threw herself into Frosty’s arms.
Reeve wasn’t far behind, and she did the same with Bronx.
Juliana, also not far behind, ran to Cole, only to stop midway and glare at me.
I wondered why—
The next thing I knew, I was yelping as Cole swept me off my feet.
“Easy, Ali-gator.”
I rested my head on his shoulder.
Veronica grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her away as Cole carried me up the stairs, to my room. He set me on the bed.
“You awake enough to try for a vision?” he asked.
No, but that wasn’t going to stop me. “Let’s do it.”
“How should we start?”
“Last time, we thought about having a vision and looked at each other.”
“Easy enough.” He peered into my eyes.
I peered into his, getting lost in the violet. Several minutes passed.
He smiled. “This isn’t working.”
“What do we want to see?”
“Each other naked?”
For sure. “Besides that.”
“How about our next battle with Anima?”
“Perfect. Let’s think about that and nothing else.”
He nodded, and we once again peered into each other’s eyes. A moment passed...and nothing happened...but before disappointment could settle in, the world began to fade.
It was working—
—and then we were in the forest. Cole was on his knees, soaked in blood. I walked past him, my gaze vacant. Smoke was thick in the air. So thick I nearly choked on it. I could hear sobbing behind me. Masculine sobbing. The kind that didn’t happen often. When a big alpha male had just lost something precious.
The sound of it made me increase my speed, leaving Cole farther and farther behind.
All around me, fires raged. White and black ash mixed, floating through the air, dancing in the light cast by the flames. Cars were crashed into trees. Odd. Human bodies littered the ground, lifeless, skin bubbling black from zombie toxin. Sad.
But I kept walking, unfazed by all of it.
And yet, in the present, the scene faded...faded...until the forest vanished and I was back inside the bedroom.
Why had it faded?
I must have asked the question out loud because Cole said, “Could be a turning point. A moment when you will have to make a decision.”
“So the future isn’t set.” But what about the rest of it?
“The good news is, we finally have control of the visions. We can decide when, where.”
“Bad news is, that’s next,” I said, fighting a tide of fear. “How do we get there?”
“I don’t know.”
Could we use the visions to find out?
“Think about how we get to that point.” I yawned, even as I locked my fingers behind his nape, peering at him...peering so intently...but all I saw was a flash of Juliana’s face, which I didn’t understand.
Unless she wasn’t part of the vision, and I was just remembering our trek to the room?
Or she had her own decision to make?
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal,” he said, “just like we’ve dealt with everything else.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’ve won you back. I can deal with anything. Now go to sleep.” He gave me a gentle nudge, and I offered no resistance.
“What about you?” I asked after my jaw nearly cracked with another yawn. My eyes were already closing.
“I’m going to help Ankh, and then I’ll be up.”
“We’ll snuggle,” I think I said.
He chuckled warmly. “There’s nothing I’d like more.”
I had. I’d said it. Though I would have been mortified if I’d been more alert, I drifted into a deep sleep, smiling with anticipation.