No, I thought. No.
A sob tore up my throat and the dream shattered. I dropped the cup, scrambled to the backpack, and grabbed my phone.
Aiden answered on the second ring. “Liz—”
“Where are you?” I said.
“Still at the house—why?”
“And Monty?”
“Also here.” The concern in his tone grew. “Again, why?”
“Because I just had a vision, and I saw the soucouyant attacking you both.”
Saw you die....
I swallowed heavily against the tears that rose. Just because I saw it doesn’t mean it was meant to be.
“Did she attack us here?” he asked quickly. “Because we’ll evacuate immediately—”
“No, it didn’t happen there.” I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “It just scared me enough that I had to ring and make sure you were both okay.”
His grunt sounded rather relieved. “Thankfully, we’re almost finished.”
“Good.” I hesitated. “If Monty’s near, can I speak to him?”
“Sure.” The sound of footsteps echoed down the line, and then Monty said, his tone surprised, “Liz? What can I do for you?”
“I just had one hell of a vision about you and the soucouyant.” I quickly told him what I’d seen and then said, “It might be best if you come here tonight rather than to your own place. You can sleep on the sofa—”
“Liz, the mere fact it was dusk when the attack happened suggests it’ll be safe enough to go home tonight.”
“Yes, but—”
“I’ll boost the protections around the townhouse and weave the fire net through it,” he continued evenly. “It should hold her off long enough for me to get somewhere safe.”
“I’m not worried about her fire,” I bit back. “I’m worried about her. About what she plans to do with you.”
“Given she hasn’t an actual body, she can’t do much more than throw firebombs at me. I doubt she’d actually risk coming into town in her true form—especially at sunset, when there’s so much traffic and people moving about.”
“You’re wrong.” So wrong.
“I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’ll pack a bag and head over to your place tomorrow evening. If I’m not at my house, the vision can’t come true, right?”
“Prophetic dreams deal in possibilities not absolutes—”
“Yes, but that doesn’t alter the fact that if I’m not there she can’t get me.”
I took a deep breath and hoped with all I had that he was right. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
“Yes you will,” he said, and hung up.
I looked at the screen for a second, then swore and rang Aiden back. There was nothing more I could do when it ca
me to Monty. I’d warned him, and if he chose not to take it seriously, then on his head be it.
Aiden was an entirely different matter.