Zeke exchanged a glance with Jacob. His brother looked as though he hadn’t a clue what to say and was going to leave that up to him.
Suppressing a sigh, Zeke regarded Liz. Contentment registered on her features, her color was rich, her breathing relaxed not exhausted. She looked about as hearty as a person could. For how long? He didn’t want to think about it.
“I can’t be sure,” he said. “We’ll have to keep doing this until I’m certain.”
“That’s right,” Jacob said, cupping her breast.
Amusement and skepticism played across her face. “When do you think that might be?”
The memory of her slumped over in the Jeep returned to plague Zeke. “I don’t know. Let me take this slow, all right?”
“But what if—”
“Shhh.” He rested his forefinger against her lips. “Relax. Go back to sleep.”
Liz wrapped her hand around his finger and pulled it away gently. “And then what?”
“More of this,” Jacob answered. He snuggled his face against her neck and kissed it.
She sighed happily.
Zeke watched for a moment and then surrendered to weariness, thankful for it. He wanted only to sleep for a little while longer. To forget the bad that always seemed to be awaiting them.
He breathed deeply and held it, forgetting to release the air. His vision was that quick and ruthless. His body stiffened at the image his mind revealed.
That same female hand wrapped around a knife, the blade wet with blood.
He tried to see details, but couldn’t. A silk scarf had floated into the scene, its fabric black. The same as the nails on that woman’s—
The scarf was around a female’s throat. The woman with the knife? A man’s hands tugged on the ends, using it as a garrote to strangle her. Her mouth opened in a soundless scream. She’d already clawed the man’s hands in an attempt to get him to stop. He tightened his grip.
Zeke struggled to see more.
His vision showed only her mouth and throat, her futile struggle to survive. Her skin turned the same shade as a bruise while her thickened tongue pushed out between her lips.
Falling. Zeke watched her body drop to the floor, the movement so fast she was no more than a blur, her individual characteristics unidentifiable. Without warning, the scene changed, morphing from her into Carreon’s face.
He regarded the strangled woman, his light eyes empty of sorrow or regret. His mouth formed one word over and over…
She backed away from Zeke in his vision. Grief flooded her features. Tears dampened her cheeks.
Zeke’s thoughts screamed for her. He lunged at Carreon, needing to kill him. The bastard disappeared with Liz, leaving Zeke alone with another horror. He gaped at a woman’s legs sprawled on a carpet. She wore jeans that looked all too familiar. The ones Liz wore?
The moccasin on her left foot was partially off, still hiding her toes. The area beneath her legs was damp. With what?
Zeke flinched at a burst of light, the whoosh that accompanied it. Fire? Yes. The flames licked the moccasin, the foot. Where? How? Not Liz. Couldn’t be—
“Zeke?”
Liz’s voice, her touch, wrenched him from the vision. Shuddering at what he’d seen, afraid to know what it meant, he pulled her close.
She held him as tightly. “What is it?”
Zeke looked at his brother. Worry pinched Jacob’s features. He pushed to his elbows. “Another vision?”
Zeke managed a swallow and nodded.
Liz eased back so they’d be face to face. “What did you see?”
“I don’t know,” he blurted, then growled, “I don’t fucking know.”
“Tell us,” Jacob said. “Maybe we can figure it out.”
“How?” Zeke tensed even more. “This so-called gift is a goddamn curse. How am I supposed to make sense of what I see?”
“Just tell us,” Jacob repeated, “and maybe we can—”
“I saw a woman’s hand holding a knife with blood on the blade. I have no idea whose blood it was. Then a man was using a scarf to strangle a woman. I don’t know who they are; I couldn’t see their faces. As Carreon watched, he kept repeating ‘Liz, Liz, Liz’.
“You were backing away from me,” Zeke said to her, speaking even faster. “Your cheeks were wet as though you’d been crying. Carreon wouldn’t let you go. Then I saw fire.”
Jacob frowned. “What kind of a fire?”
“The kind that destroys a body,” Zeke said. “I saw a woman’s legs. The flames touched her foot. She didn’t move.”
Jacob’s face lost too much color. He glanced at Liz. “Where did this happen—where’s it supposed to happen?”
“I don’t know,” Zeke said through his teeth.
Liz touched his arm. “Did you recognize anything in your vision from this stronghold?”
He thought back as well as he could and shook his head.
“From Carreon’s estate?” she prodded.
“I have no idea. The images flash by so quickly, I can’t concentrate on details.”
“Were the woman’s legs mine?”
“No.” He pulled her back into his arms, his breathing ragged with worry. “You’re not leaving here. You’re never leaving my side. I won’t allow—”
The pounding on the door stopped him.
“Zeke,” Ike called out. “Are you in there?”
“Oh shit, what now?” Jacob muttered.
“Yeah,” Zeke shouted to Ike. “Give me a minute.” He left the bed and pulled on his jeans. Jacob did the same. Once Liz was decent, Zeke opened the door.
Ike shifted from foot to foot, clearly agitated.
“What’s happened?” Zeke asked.
“We’re getting a transmission from Carreon.”
“What?” Liz blurted. “How could he send a transmission here? He doesn’t know where this place is.”
“He had someone hack into our systems,” Zeke said, then spoke to Ike. “Has he breached anything else?”
“No. He can only transmit to us. The rest of our systems are secure.”
Zeke touched Liz’s arm. “Stay here while Jacob and I—”
“I want to go with you. Please. I have a right to know what’s happening.”
“Dammit, I don’t want you to.”
“I know that.” She spoke far more softly than he had. “But how can I protect myself or my father if neither of us knows what’s going on? If something happens to you or Jacob am I supposed to simply guess what’s coming?”
“Nothing’s going to happen to any of us,” he argued. “You don’t have to protect me or Jacob. We’re supposed to do that for you.”
“Zeke, please, don’t do this to me.” She rested her fingertips on his cheek. “I need to be there. You need
