Lily opened her mouth to object since the wood shouldn’t get wet, but no sound came out. The coffee table was of little importance compared to what she was beginning to believe was happening. “I keep having dreams that I should kill Janie Kayrs.” There. She’d said it—finally confessed to somebody.
“Damn it.” Caleb stretched long legs out, his feet on the towel. “Me, too. Scary, over-the-top, bizarre dreams saying that the only way to save humanity is to kill Janie.”
Lily covered her eyes with her hands. She had always followed her duty. Always believed in the paths created by faith and destiny. “This can’t be happening.”
“Have you ever had visions like this before?” Caleb gently drew her hands from her face.
“Sometimes,” she whispered. His one hand completely enclosed hers in warmth and strength. “I’ve had visions throughout the centuries of people I need to seek out and help, or even conversations I need to attend to avoid war. I’ve always followed the visions.”
Caleb blinked. “Have you ever had a vision telling you to kill somebody?”
“No.” In fact, she’d never had one inciting violence. “This doesn’t make sense. None of it makes sense.”
“This is the first time I’ve had vision-type dreams.” Caleb’s thumb rubbed circles across the pulse in her wrist.
The pulse increased.
She drew in air, trying to calm herself. Broad and dangerous, Caleb drew her in ways that were anything but proper. “I can’t help but think that dreams haunted Prophet Milner. We could’ve helped him instead of letting the king kill him.”
Caleb shrugged. “Dage didn’t have a choice. Milner was going to kill the queen, so Dage killed him. Making me a damn prophet, I might add. We need to concentrate on right here and right now. Why are we having these dreams, and what do they mean?”
“Well, if you believe in Fate, then Fate is giving us instructions.” Lily couldn’t believe any Fate would want Janie wiped from the earth. But life often took odd turns, and Lily was ever mindful of duty. Even if duty hurt and ultimately ended in her death. But the death of a friend? Was she strong enough to make that happen?
“I don’t believe in Fate.” Caleb rubbed his scruffy jaw with his free hand. “I’m more concerned about anybody else getting these nightmare instructions. I figured if it was just me, then this whole prophecy thing was getting to me. But if two of us are being haunted, then there may be more people.”
“I think Prophet Guiles is having nightmares, too, but I didn’t ask for details,” Lily said.
“We’ll need to talk to him.” Caleb nodded. “I’d like to say we should notify the king, but we can’t.”
Lily gulped. Would Caleb agree to kill Janie if the Fates demanded it? “Why not?” she whispered.
“Because he’ll demand we bow out of the peace talks—if he doesn’t have us both sent into exile somewhere. He’ll do anything to protect his niece.”
“I don’t blame him,” Lily said.
“Me, either. But we need to figure out what’s going on in order to stop it, and I’m needed at the peace talks. While you and the king have decided you should be there, I’d like to figure out a way for you to attend via teleconference.”
The man was trying to protect her, so she should stop thinking about punching him in the head. “I’m attending the talks. Get over the big-man-protecting-the-little-prophet attitude before I have you banned.” There. That was a decent threat.
He didn’t seem fazed, if the twinkle in his eye said anything. “We’ll talk about it later. For now, tell me about your dream. All of it.”
She sucked in air, grateful Caleb still held her hand. “I keep walking in a dark forest, then it gets darker, and then some weird voice tells me that Janet Isabella Kayrs must die, or we all die. The entire world will die. Then I try to wake up, and I can’t breathe.”
Caleb nodded. “Mine is underwater, but the same concept. In the past, when you’ve had visions, have they been similar?”
“No. They’ve been more intuition, or a realization I’ve had once in a dream. Never a dictate or an order.” Lily tried to keep her gaze off the light sprinkling of hair across his chest. So masculine, so vital.
Her husband had been centuries old and more interested in her mind than her body. He’d been a great friend, and she’d grieved his loss.
But she’d never felt on fire for a man. Until now.
Caleb nodded. “This is different and new for us both. Our first step is to pin down Prophet Guiles and make sure he’s not getting the same visions. Although you talked to him, I’d like to probe a bit deeper. Then we’ll decide our next move.”
“What if there isn’t a next move? I mean, what if the vision is true . . . that Janie will bring down the world?” Lily hated even saying the words, and something in her chest twisted.
His jaw tightened. “They’re not true. I don’t understand what’s going on, but we’ll fix it. I promise.”
That was what Lily had wanted when she’d knocked on Caleb’s door after the nightmare. A sense of purpose and a way to deal with the fear. The ball of dread in her stomach finally started to dissipate. They had a plan, and they’d figure out a way to save both Janie and the world. Lily allowed herself a moment to feel safe.
His thumb caught the earring on her earlobe. “I like seeing these on you.”
“I haven’t taken them off,” she whispered. She felt closer to him every time she saw the diamond earrings in the mirror. He’d chosen them. Just for her.
A clock ticked quietly on the mantle as the late hour pressed in. Intimacy slid through the room. They were both nearly unclothed, and propriety demanded she take her leave from Caleb’s quarters. Yet she remained on the sofa. Sometimes the loneliness of her position chilled her until she shivered. She was so tired of being alone.
The scent of soap and male swirled through the air along with power. Lily finally allowed Caleb’s warmth to relax her shoulders. “Do you like being called the Realm Rebel?” she asked softly.
His upper lip curved. “I don’t have an opinion either way, but to be honest, I’ve been called worse.”
She smiled. “I’m sure of that.”
He leaned toward her, his hold strengthening. “Do you regret your choices so long ago?”
Her gaze dropped to his full lips. “Regret us? I mean, marrying Sotheby?”
“Yes.”
She traced the hard line of Caleb’s jaw with her gaze. She and Caleb had only courted for a couple of weeks and shared one kiss before her father had betrothed her to Prophet Miles Sotheby. Caleb had been furious and had asked her to run away with him. She’d chosen duty. “I don’t have any regrets.”
“I see.” His voice roughened.
“But I have wondered. About you, about us, about what we could’ve had. Who we could’ve been.” She didn’t know how to lie, and he deserved the truth. Even if it made her vulnerable.
He reached out and cupped her cheek, running his long fingers through her hair. “I’ve wondered, too.”
“Do you understand why I chose duty?” She’d always wanted him to understand, to forgive her.
His multicolored gaze met hers. “I’ve always understood who you are, Lily Sotheby. Duty called you, and you stepped up. You were destined to be a prophet, and you’ve fulfilled your destiny admirably.”
What if destiny required her to kill a friend? Could she do that? She swallowed. “I’ve always hoped you would find happiness.”
“I’m a soldier—made for war. Happiness was a fleeting wish when I was young and foolish.”
She leaned into the heated strength of his palm. “What if we find peace?”
His grin held both amusement and regret. “Peace is always temporary, now, isn’t it?”