All Alex heard was a dreadful, guttural choking noise and then a thud. ‘Daph?’ She sounded like she was having some kind of fit. ‘Daphne!’
The line went dead.
Shit. She didn’t know what to do. Something had happened to Daphne and she was stuck on an island an ocean away. She held the phone so tightly she thought she might crush it.
Gabe lived closest to Daphne. Minutes away. Alex dialled his number and was rewarded by a wall of noise which indicated he was in a bar somewhere.
‘Darling,’ he drawled. ‘How are your ghosts?’
Oh, she didn’t have time for this.
‘Shut up and listen. Daphne’s in trouble. You need to get to her now.’
That sobered him. Instantly. ‘Trouble? What kind of?—’
‘We were on the phone. Gabe, she collapsed. I think she was at home. You have a key, don’t you? Please, go find her.’
For once, he didn’t argue. He was already moving. The background noise changed from bar to street and then he was in his car. ‘Possession?’
‘I don’t know.’ She wasn’t lying. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. ‘It sounded bad. Really bad. She just collapsed while we were talking and the line went dead.’
‘It’s okay, Alex. I’m on the way. There in minutes. I’m going to hang up and I’ll ring you back, okay?’
And then he was gone as well.
A laugh rippled through the air around her. It was nasty and cruel.
‘Alexandra, my love. See what you do just by being here, the power you give me…’
No. No this was not happening and it was not her fault. And she was not listening to the voice.
That voice from the past, from her nightmares.
From the night that Dad died.
Tears burned her eyes as she stared at the phone screen, willing it to ring again.
This was stupid. She had to do something. She sent messages to Arnold and Eduardo and waited again, staring at her phone. Willing it to ring. Praying for it to ring.
‘Alex?’
She twisted around so fast she almost sent the mug of cold tea flying, ready to run or to fight. Ready for anything.
Nick stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the boot room, the outer door still open and the gardens dark behind him. He was bare-chested, his hair falling to his shoulders and a pair of pyjama pants hanging low on his hips. Had he been outside like that? In the woods? What had he been doing?
She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
‘Are you okay?’ She flinched as he took another step into the room and he stopped as if he saw something in her which alarmed him. He raised his hands, as if to show he wasn’t a threat. He was barefoot, grass stains on his skin. There were leaves tangled in his hair. ‘Alex? What happened?’
The phone rang behind her and she snatched it up. ‘Gabe?’
Please, oh dear God, please…
‘I’m here. She’s okay. She’s coming back to herself. I’m going to get her to an urgent care clinic as soon as I can but she’s okay. It’s okay. The guys are on the way. What did she say to you? She’s not making a lot of sense right now. She doesn’t remember what happened.’
Alex was aware of Nick still standing there, listening bemused to their conversation. He’d be able to hear Gabe. He wasn’t being quiet.
‘That we…that we were in danger here. Something about a guardian and…’ She looked up, met Nick’s steady gaze, and tried not to flinch. The walker in the woods, Daphne had said. He couldn’t protect her. Did she mean Nick? ‘She said she reached out, to help protect me and…something attacked her, Gabe. It sounded like something was trying to choke her.’
