The priest darted his steely gaze to the coffin beside him.
Rising to my feet, I followed his line of sight.
The second I saw the body in the coffin, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“Layla.” A faint and raspy voice cut through the sounds of cries and wails. “Baby doll, wake up.”
Someone shook me as the coffin began to vanish, and my scream trailed off.
“Layla.” Sam’s voice was louder now and panicked.
I jolted upright, shivering, sweating, and disoriented.
My husband’s handsome features slowly took shape. Lush green eyes—the color of a forest after a hard rain. Hair as dark as a moonless sky. Lips that would tempt a saint. And his woodsy scent that drifted into my nostrils and eased the memory of the nightmare.
He tapped my face. “Hey, was someone trying to kill you in your sleep again?”
I rubbed the chills from my arms. “No, I was already dead.”
One thick eyebrow lifted. “Come again?”
I swung my legs over the bed in a room tucked within an unused wing of the medical facility. It had all the standard furniture and accessories along with four cribs, a bathroom, and a window with a view of a building across the street.
“I’ll tell you about it in a minute.” I needed a second to digest what I’d dreamt. “First, have you seen Jo? She offered to watch the kids while I took a quick nap.”
Sam handed me the piece of paper in his hand. “The note on the dresser says she’s with Dr. Vieira in the lab. The babies and Agnes are with them. I just came from Jordyn’s room, and Wendy told me where you were.”
I slumped against my husband. “There’s a possibility Jordyn might be paralyzed.”
He traced circles on my arm. “Let’s not go there.”
It was hard not to think the worst. “Can we find a place on this planet free of pain, enemies, and suffering?” I knew that was an impossible feat. I also knew our happily ever after might not be that house on the beach and a life where we didn’t have to hide our children or run. But a girl could hope.
“Baby doll, if I could give you everything you wish for, you know I would.”
“I know.” My tone was low and sad. “It doesn’t help my psyche when I see myself lying in a coffin with my neck mangled and an ear missing. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice about my dreams, but mine now have some truth to them.” My fingertips skated over Roman’s bite marks, and I could feel the rough scabs and ridges. “I pray Roman’s ashes are blowing in the wind.”
Sam growled, his muscles snapping taut.
I pursed my lips. “What is it? He’s not dead, is he?”
A muscle ticked in Sam’s unshaven jaw as a pensive look washed over him. “We don’t think so.”
I placed a gentle hand on his face and guided him to look at me. “What else happened in your meeting with your dad?”
He went over to the window. “Ross’s head showed up, as did Victor Costner’s.”
The news punched air from my lungs, pangs of sorrow stabbing my chest. I crossed the room, feeling chilled and heartbroken. “Where’s Dane now?” I untangled his curled fingers and held his hand.
He tipped his head at the window. “Out there somewhere. He shifted.”
Taxicabs lined one side of the street. Cars slowed down at traffic lights. Pedestrians held umbrellas, waiting to cross streets, and delivery trucks were double-parked.
For the longest time, we stared out at a bustling city of four million people, who were going about their days and none the wiser to the problems in the supernatural world. Then again, they knew vampires existed, though not shifters or witches.
The door opened, and Jo and Abbey breezed in.
Sam wiped the despair off his face, replacing it with a huge grin as Abbey ran toward us. Her blue eyes were rimmed in red, as were Jo’s.
