Page 31 of Shiver

Hot fire ran like molten lava through her veins. She twined her arms around his neck pulling him down. “Oh, Riley,” she whispered.

He stiffened.

She opened her eyes, but it wasn’t Riley staring back at her, it was Tommy.

She gasped.

His eyes rolled into the back of his head. She felt something wet and sticky and looked down. Blood. So much blood.

She tried to scream, but it caught in her throat, choking her. He fell forward onto her, his heavy weight pushing her down. Cold water rushed over her face and ran into her mouth, filling her lungs.

She couldn’t breathe.

A strange peacefulness seeped through her. She no longer felt the cold, she just felt tired. She looked up through the rushing water at the tall figure coming toward her.

Devra gasped and awoke.

She stared at the ceiling, her pulse racing, her breath coming in quick gasps. Oh, Lord. She’d been dreaming! She sat straight up and shuddered. Her subconscious was trying to tell her something. But what?

When would Tommy stop haunting her? When could she ever have a normal life, with normal reactions? When would she ever be able to meet a man without wondering if he was an enemy? Would he hurt her?

Would he die?

She stood under the hot spray of the shower, trying unsuccessfully not to think about this dream that was unlike any she’d had before. While it had the lifelike clarity and same physical stimuli that her “visions” had, this was no vision.

There was no victim.Except for her?

But she wasn’t seeing herself being killed. There was only her…and Riley.And so much blood.

Hers? Tommy’s? Riley’s?

A sliver of dread bore into her as she dressed. Were her visions changing? Was she seeing what could happen, instead of what was happening? She shook her head. Her vision of the intruder last night had been real. Her monster had been right here in this house, in this room.

She was certain.

How had he found her again? Riley would have been killed, if she hadn’t woken. She had to get away from here, but where could she go? The killer found her so quickly this time. She was running out of options. And worse, she was running out of hope.

She walked into the kitchen.

“Good, you’re up.” Riley pulled a mug out of the cabinet. “Sit down and have a cup of coffee. We need to talk.”

She agreed.

“I think you were right,” he said. “I think someone could have been in the house last night.”

She took a deep gulp off her cup.Was he starting to believe her?

“When I came home your door had been shut, but later after you woke from your dream, I realized your door was open. Had you gotten up for any reason and left your door open?”

“No.”

His dark eyes narrowed.

She fidgeted under the scrutiny.

“Then your nightmare might have saved my life.”

Surprise caught in her throat. “Then you believe me?”

---