Yes. She could. She wasn’t walking away. She wasn’t letting him go. Now was the time to hold on tighter and show James what it meant to be loved.
She scrubbed her hands through her hair and winced. Her curls were tangled into rough knots, no doubt the perfect complement to her red eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and three-day-old T-shirt. But it didn’t matter. James wouldn’t care; she knew he wouldn’t.
How long did he still have left of his shift watching over the wards? She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and tapped it to check the time. And then froze. What the hell?
She had twenty-eight missed calls and another fifteen text messages. All in the two hours since she’d turned her phone to do not disturb.
She clicked on her messages, all from her mother, with a trembling finger, nausea rising as she read the same warning again and again. The green man. The green man. The green man was coming.
She hit the Call Back button as she stood, bumped against the low table with a crash, and then stumbled into the kitchen.
Her mother answered as the door slammed into the wall. “Riley, thank God—”
Elizabeth stared up at her, wide-eyed, but James immediately launched himself off his chair and strode around toward her before stopping just outside of reach. “What is it? Are you okay?”
Riley held up a hand, pointing at the phone. “Mam, what is it?”
“I had a dream. Such a terrible dream. It felt…. I know I’m not a Seer, but it felt so real. Where are you, Riley? You need to come home.”
“I’m putting you on speaker, okay? I’m here with members of the London Circle.”
“Why?” Her mother’s voice rose another octave. “I thought you were coming home. You said—”
She didn’t have time for that. “I said I’dthinkabout coming home.” James lurched back as if she’d burned him, but she couldn’t deal with that now. If she was in danger, they all were. “There’s no time. Please. What was your dream?”
Her mother grumbled for a second, but then she explained, “I saw a green man, his face covered in leaves and branches. He was looking for you. In my dream, he was reflected in the window in your room, and when you ran into the next room, he was there again, embedded into the wall. In the bathroom mirror and the pots in the kitchen. Every time you moved, he followed. He could see you. And he wanted you. When he caught you, he pulled out a knife and he….” Her mother swallowed heavily. “I don’t know exactly what he did. There was too much blood.”
“Fuck.” James spun out of the room, and she could hear him banging on doors in the distance.
Her mother let out a wobbly breath. “Riley, are you in danger?”
“Of course she is,” her father muttered in the background.
“I’m fine—” Riley started.
“Do you need us to come down there?” her mother asked at the same time as her dad started talking about packing a bag and being in London within seven hours.
God. For so many years, she’d felt alone. Felt that her parents had abandoned her needs to mitigate their own fears. But now, when the danger was very real, they didn’t hesitate. They would face their worst nightmares without even a question. For her.
James pushed back into the room with Kay and the others stumbling tiredly behind him, and a shaft of empathy stabbed her. James’s parents had walked away without a thought. All the times she’d felt alone—all the times she’d hidden away out of fear—James had actually been alone.
She swiped her palm against her burning eyes. “Thanks, Mam. So much. But I think it’s better if we figure this out here.”
Her parents were Healers. They’d chosen to live their lives far away from the battlefield, and they didn’t understand just how treacherous Gordon was. If they rushed here and involved themselves, all they’d achieve would be throwing themselves into danger. They—
Her eyes flew to James with sudden brutal understanding. She was trying to keep her parents away from Gordon because she loved them. God.
Somehow, she managed to keep speaking and reassure her mother. “Stay there, please. Talk to your Circle, see what they’re saying.”
“Our Custodian has already called a meeting for the entire Circle in the morning,” her mother replied. “Apparently there’s a message from the Council.”
Damn. That could not be good.
“Okay, you go to that, and we can talk afterward. It will help us to know what they’re saying.”
“I’m not sure,” her mother muttered. “I really think we should be there with you.”
James moved to the far side of the room, studiously avoiding looking at her. But she couldn’t help watching him, wishing she could close that gap, as she replied. “It would be better if you stayed out of this, I promise.”
