Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,29

hair away from her face.

“You didn’t do it,” he whispered.

“But she’s dead.”

“We don’t know that.”

Tears welled again. “Are you sure?” she asked, desperate to believe. She held on to him, grateful for his steadiness.

“You never left the room, not for one second,” he assured her.

“What if I’ve somehow manifested my dreams into reality?” It’d been a thought that had crossed her mind more than once, but she’d always been too frightened to vocalize the concern.

“It’s not you,” he insisted softly. He reached up and brushed another stray lock away from her eyes.

“You don’t know that,” she whispered.

“If anyone in this house would be suspicious or doubt you, it would be me. And I don’t need Lucy’s ability to sense your intentions, or Lila’s ability to sense if you’re being truthful, or even my ability to read minds, to tell you that you didn’t do anything.

Selene took a deep breath, and for the first time felt slightly comforted. If Griffin was in her corner, maybe everything might work out.

She took another deep breath and nodded. A slow smile made its way over Griffin’s mouth, and Selene was stunned. It was the first time she’d ever seen him truly smile, and it was shocking what an amazing difference it made. Griffin had always been very handsome, but this made him mouth-wateringly hot.

“Although I did read your mind just a little,” he added. Selene couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not, but his eyes twinkled.

“And…?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.

“The dream didn’t originate from you, as far as I could tell. It was something you were pulled into.”

“Pulled into it?” The frown on her face depended. That had been how it’d felt… as if she wasn’t in control. Her gaze flashed back to his. “If you’re right – and that’s still a big if - then someone else is manipulating me and I’ve got a different problem to deal with.”

“We’ll deal with it,” Griffin corrected her. “And let’s wait until we know if anything actually happened tonight or if it was just a dream before we borrow trouble.”

Selene’s grimaced. “I don’t have to borrow trouble, Griffin. It finds me just fine on its own.”

“I know,” he chuckled.

And in the quiet moments that followed, both of them suddenly realized that they were lying in bed together, Griffin’s arms still wrapped around Selene. The tension was palpable, and so was the awkwardness.

Clearing his throat, Griffin released her and inched off the bed. Once he was safely seated in the chair, he smiled again.

“Get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll figure out what our next steps are.”

Like I’ll be able to sleep now, she thought. But a hundred and sixty years of forcing herself to sleep when she was emotionally drained, surrounded by danger and terrified of her future, kicked in. With a nod, she turned her back on Griffin. She closed her eyes, emptied her mind, and hoped for the thousandth time that she wouldn’t see any new horrors that night.

Chapter 19

Selene woke to the low tones of a muted conversation. She rolled over and saw Griffin standing in the doorway talking with Ellie. The urgency of their gestures broke through Selene’s sleep-clouded mind.

“What is it?” she asked in a groggy voice, propping herself up on her elbows.

The grim expression on Griffin’s face as he glanced at her told Selene all she needed to know. Her nightmare was real. The girl she’d seen – all that blood – she really was dead.

Ten minutes later, wrapped up in her comfy robe, Selene sat on the living room couch as Griffin and Ellie and their entire family debated the situation. She barely heard them as she sat there numb… silent. Her initial suggestion that she return to the Vyusher was one point of the deliberation. A point that Griffin had not vetoed but had not agreed to either.

“What about leaving the area?” Lucy suggested.

Hugh shook his head. “I don’t think that would make any difference, honey.”

“What is it that we know? You’re sure Selene didn’t kill the girl?” Alex asked Griffin.

Griffin nodded, his mouth set in a firm line. “Positive. She got pulled into the dream; she didn’t manifest it.”

“Then the only logical conclusion is that someone else is doing these killings and trying to make Selene – and maybe us - think she did it,” Alex said.

“Why do you say that?” Lila asked. “It could all just be a horrible coincidence. Or maybe Selene’s power is growing into some kind of precognition thing.”

“You’re right,” Griffin agreed.