Lifting her hand, she reached out to touch him, but he’d already melted away. The car was gone, too. Instead she stood in someone’s living room, surrounded by dark, rich colors and heavy leather furniture.

  In the corner she spotted a desk littered with paperwork. So much paper, it even lay scattered on the floor underneath. She sat down in the chair and reached out to the keyboard in front of her, looking up as she did. An odd painting hung on the wall above. Tiny footprints, like those of a baby, trailed a pastel path across a large canvas. Stenciled across the top were the words FAERIE TRACKS.

  Even her dreams were now taunting her with Faeries.

  An arm brushed past her and her senses flooded with warmth and the clean scent of soap, heady and masculine.

  “You can check your email here.”

  Jesse pressed a button and the monitor came to life, its screen flickering with numbers and letters even as the edges of Destiny’s vision blurred in the growing glare of the gathering light.

  “Trust me,” he whispered, and she looked up at him. He was shirtless, holding a thick green towel he’d apparently used in trying to dry his tousled wet hair. Markings, a tattoo of some sort, on his arm drew her eyes from the infectious grin that melted her heart.

  She reached out, thinking to trace the markings on his muscled arm. Not for the sheer pleasure of running her finger across his bare skin. Not that at all, she tried to convince herself as she hesitated. She only wanted to study the tattoo, but she’d delayed too long. The light was so bright now, even Jesse’s face so close to hers became blurred.

  In the short time she had left, she wanted to apologize for having lost her temper in the real world. It was safe here in this place to confess the shortcomings she fought to hide. She understood that his only concern was to help her find Leah while keeping her safe, but there was so much fear in her heart. So much of the world spun out of her control.

  She opened her mouth to admit her feelings, but once again, her attention was drawn away.

  The brilliant glare that reduced Jesse to nothing more than a bright spot at her side highlighted a doorway behind him where a silhouetted figure stood. She had only a fleeting glance at the man before the light consumed everything, so his features were lost to her.

  What she did see was that he was a large man with long blond hair, very much like Psycho Blondie and his friend at the airport in Norfolk. Worse, he was headed directly for Jesse’s back with a shiny metal object in his hands.

  “Jesse! Look out!”

  When Destiny screamed, Jesse slammed his foot on the brake, sending the large Dakota skidding forward on the black rain-slicked highway.

  The rear end of the vehicle fishtailed and vibrated wildly as the big SUV eventually came to a stop on the deserted strip of road.

  Completely deserted.

  “What the fuck?” Jesse snapped, glaring at the woman next to him as he switched off the engine. His heart pounded in his chest. Just the thought of what could have happened if there had been other cars on the road left his mouth dry.

  Her face looked pale in the soft interior light of the vehicle, her fear evident. “I thought there was a man.…”

  “What? Were you fucking dreaming?” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, fighting for the emotional control he didn’t feel at the moment. He could have flipped the car. Could have killed her. Could have killed them both.

  “Yes!” she snapped back, anger replacing the earlier fright in her expression. “As a matter of fact, I was dreaming. But that doesn’t give you the right to use that disrespectful language when you’re speaking to me.”

  The rebuke drew him up short and he felt his temper spiking. Disrespectful language? Who the hell did she think she was, his grandmother or something?

  Rather than yell again, he took a deep breath and locked his jaw shut. In a matter of moments, as his adrenaline levels returned to near normal, logic kicked back in and he could think more clearly.

  No, she wasn’t his grandmother. She was his client. And everyone over the age of thirteen knew you didn’t drop the F-bomb on a client. Not even when they deserved it.

  Rain pounded on the roof, a driving background to the tense silence inside the vehicle.

  “Sorry.” He managed the clipped word as he fumbled with the keys. Apologies weren’t something he handed out casually, but then he rarely dealt with an emotion like the one he’d just experienced. He was never frightened, never lost his cool with a client, and why he did now was beyond him. No matter how it felt, this wasn’t personal. It was business, and he needed to remember that.

  He restarted the engine and pressed gently on the gas as their speed gradually increased, keeping his eyes focused ahead of him.

  “Thank you for the apology,” she responded at length, her words barely loud enough to be heard over the pelting rain. “But I don’t have any claim to moral high ground in being angry with you. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I was just scared. You were right. I was having a dream… another vision of what’s to come.”

  Jesse took a deep breath and expelled the last of his unwelcome emotions. Time to get back to business. “And?”

  “And… someone was getting ready to attack you. Psycho Blondie, I think. I was only trying to warn you.”

  “Well, babe, I do appreciate your having my back, but next time, why don’t you try to figure out whether it’s real or not before you sound the alarm, okay?”

  “Easier said than done,” she muttered, turning to stare out into the dark whipping past her window.

  “This attack, was it happening someplace specific? In Arizona, maybe?” It would certainly be nice to have a destination in mind a little less general than just Phoenix.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” She turned in her seat to stare at him. “I saw a sign that had the word Flagstaff written on it, and then everything changed and we were in someone’s home, maybe a living room. There was dark leather furniture and I was sitting at a computer, trying to check my email. I don’t know where that room is. All I do know for a fact is that it’s where I have to go next.”

  “Can you remember any other details? Anything at all that could help us find this place?”

  “Not really. Oh! A painting of some sort hanging above the computer. I can’t imagine that would help us at all. In fact, it’s probably nothing more than my subconscious trying to offload unimportant information.”

  “Yeah? Why don’t you describe it for me.” They couldn’t afford to overlook any possible clues, even things that, as she said, might not have any bearing at all.

  “Okay. It was maybe six feet long, two feet high. Not much to it. Just a canvas full of little footprints. But nothing else, really.”

  I’ll be damned.

  “Was there maybe a title on the painting? Faerie Tracks by any chance?”

  “How do you know that?” She stared at him, her pouty lips invitingly ajar.

  How? Because he’d been there the day Cate had dipped Rosie’s pudgy little feet in paint and let her take those first giggling steps across the long strip of butcher paper. He’d taken it to the framer himself, adding the title he’d thought so clever at the time.

  Instead of answering, he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial.

  “Peter Hale,” a sleepy voice answered on the fourth ring. “Do you have any idea what time it is here?”

  “Sure do. That’s why I called you at home. Looks like we have a slight change in our flight plan.”

  Chapter 11

  “You’ll want to fasten your seat belt now, Ms. Noble. We’ve got thunderstorms all around Denver this afternoon, so it could get a little bumpy before we land.” The young woman who’d introduced herself as the copilot when they’d boarded this small plane in Nashville smiled at Destiny as she strode toward the cockpit. “Now all I have to do is kick Jesse out of my seat so we can get you guys safely on the ground.”

  Destiny returned the woman’s smile and took one last moment to study her new identification card, a Colorado driver’s license showing her with an address on Adams Street in Denver.

  Pretty neat trick considering she’d never even been to Colorado before, or anywhere west of the Mississippi for that matter.

  She slipped the card into the purse Jesse had insisted on buying for her on their shopping trip, and then snapped her seat belt on before leaning her head back against the buttery soft leather of her seat.

  What a crazy morning it had been. Thank goodness she’d actually slept last night with nothing more going through her head than regular people dreams. Because as exhausted as she felt at the moment, she was willing to bet she’d be out cold if she’d had to deal with the dream-visions all night long.

  They’d arrived in Nashville late yesterday evening. Jesse and the people he worked with had thought it best to get away from Virginia and the people who were hunting for her.

  People, she emphasized to herself, not some bizarre evil Faeries.

  They’d gone straight to an information desk at the airport this morning and picked up an envelope waiting for Jesse. Inside had been the photo ID that allowed Destiny access to the boarding area and this private jet sent for them by Coryell Enterprises.

  It had seemed an inopportune time to tell him she’d never flown before. Thankfully the pantry of the plane stocked Dramamine or she would have humiliated herself shortly after takeoff. Who knew she was prone to motion sickness?

  They all did.

  Now.

  “You okay?”

  Jesse dropped into the seat next to her and fastened his seat belt just as a loud thump sounded below her feet.

  She grabbed his arm and he took her hand in his, his thumb massaging her palm. “Don’t worry, babe. That’s just the wheels extending for landing. It’s supposed to feel like that. It’ll feel a little like running over a cow when we touch down and then that’s it. You’ll be on the ground, safe and sound, in no time flat.”

  Destiny tightened her grip on his hand and tried to relax. People did this flying stuff all the time. She could do it, too.

  In short order, they were on the ground and in the concourse, making their way to an underground train that whisked them to the terminal.

  “They all look the same, don’t they?” Destiny felt like something of an airport expert, having been inside three different terminals in the last three days. “Everybody rushing somewhere.”

  “Pretty much,” Jesse agreed, leading her forward through the big glass doors and out into the bright sun, directly to the open door of a waiting car.

  “I thought the copilot said it was storming here,” she commented as he assisted her into the backseat.

  “Destiny, this is Peter Hale. Peter, Destiny Noble.” Jesse’s introduction of the vehicle’s driver was hurried as he folded his large frame in next to her. He scooted into the center of the seat, forcing her to move to the far window, then reached across her to grab her seat belt and latch it over her body before taking a file folder Peter handed him.

  “The weather rolls in funny around here, Ms. Noble.” Peter caught her eye in the rearview mirror. “It can creep up on you awful fast. Have a look over there.”

  She followed the direction of his head nod as the car gathered speed leaving the terminal.

  In the distance, clouds hung heavy and dark over a small circle of skyscrapers. Occasional streaks of lightning threaded from sky to ground, their brilliant light standing out against the darker backdrop of the majestic Rockies.

  The city looked so far away, she wanted to ask the distance, but both men were quietly discussing whatever paperwork Jesse had taken from the man named Peter. She leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, comforted by Jesse’s nearness.

  Surely he’d move back over to his side of the car soon.

  “She okay?” Peter asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Yeah, just tired. She popped a motion sickness pill when we got on the plane.”

  Did they think it was okay to just talk about her like that? Like she couldn’t hear or something? Destiny had every intention of opening her eyes and speaking for herself, but Jesse put an arm around her, pulling her closer. Instead of complaining, she found herself snuggling into the solid warmth of his body, completely relaxed for the first time all day.

  “Not a goddamned word out of you, Pete.”

  Though Jesse’s words of warning were quiet, they rumbled under Destiny’s ear and she fought the sleep trying to overtake her long enough to open her eyes.

  “Didn’t say a thing, boss man. Didn’t even think it.”

  Peter Hale’s wide grin reflected in the rearview mirror was the last thing she saw before she gave in to the need to doze.

  Booming thunder rattled the car, so close Destiny was sure it must be directly overhead, jerking her wide awake.

  “It’s okay.” Jesse momentarily tightened his arm around her in a gentle squeeze before withdrawing and allowing her to sit up on her own. “We’re only a couple blocks from home now.”

  Destiny rubbed her hands over her face, willing the last dregs of sleep away. With a surge of embarrassment, she realized her cheek was damp where she’d lain against Jesse’s chest.

  Life just kept getting better and better. She’d started the morning threatening to hurl on the guy and now she was finishing up by drooling on him. What other ways could she find to humiliate herself?

  Hastily she pushed the thought away. No sense tempting fate. After all, fate seemed to have it in for her lately as it was.

  Rain pelted the windows in torrents, making it almost impossible for her to read the street signs until the car slowed at a four-way stop.

  ADAMS.

  Wasn’t that the same street name as on her new driver’s license?

  She didn’t have time to think about it as they pulled to a stop on the street in front of a two-story brick house with a huge black Hummer parked in the small driveway.

  “Sorry about the walk. This is as close as I can get. Drive’s full.” Peter leaned away to rustle around in the glove box for a moment before handing back a small blue umbrella. “This might help a little.”

  “Very little,” Jesse snorted as he exited the car, stepping out into the downpour.

  In the short time it took him to get around to Destiny’s door, he was already drenched, but holding the umbrella up for her to walk under. He smiled down at her and held out his hand to help her out of the car.

  At least he wouldn’t notice the small wet spot she’d left on his chest now. Maybe her luck was changing.

  The front door, itself a rich emerald green, opened as they reached the covered stoop. The man holding it open was every bit as handsome as Jesse, but even bigger, with shoulder-length brown hair.

  “About time you got here. Interesting trip you had, or so I hear.” He backed away, allowing them room to enter a tiled foyer.

  Jesse nodded as he closed the dripping umbrella and propped it against the wall. “You could say that. Why the hell didn’t you move that beast of yours into the street if you knew we were coming?”

  The man laughed, his eyes twinkling. “Yer neighbors are no too fond of my wee toy blocking a lane of traffic. The elderly gent across the street was quick to point that out the day after you left.”

  Jesse wiped a hand across his face. “I’m sure he was. I need to grab a towel. Destiny, this is Robert. Don’t believe half of what this big Scot says before I get back in here. Robbie, this is Destiny Noble. Why don’t you show her into the living room. She needs to use the computer.”

  Robert walked a few steps away, pausing at a large double-door archway. Destiny took one last look at Jesse as he hurried down the hallway and disappeared behind a door, more than a little sorry he was going to dry off.

  There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind that the only thing she’d ever see that looked better than Jesse in the T-shirts she’d seen him wear was Jesse in the wet T-shirt he had on right now. It seemed to cling in all the right places and clearly accentuated just how many right places the man had.

  At the sound of Robert’s pointed throat clearing, she snapped her head around in his direction, a dull warmth flooding her face. It was just damned sloppy to have allowed herself to get caught staring like that.

  Ducking her head to avoid the big Scot’s grin, she hurried past him into the large room and froze, a gasp on her lips.

  Lit only by one small lamp, the room was cast in shadows, but even that couldn’t mask its already familiar furnishings.

  This was the room from her vision, right down to the painting that hung on the wall over the computer desk.

  Almost like being back in the dream, she felt herself drawn to the desk, her feet carrying her there as if they did so in spite of any effort she might make to stop. She pulled out the big office chair and sat, scooting forward to the computer and reaching for the power button.

  She hesitated, moving her hand instead to the keyboard, her fingers hovering over the instrument.

  This was it, her opportunity to push beyond the vision, but something stayed her hand.

  She jumped as an arm brushed past her and her senses flooded with warmth and the clean scent of soap, heady and masculine.

  “You can check your email here.”

  Exactly as in the vision, Jesse pressed a button and the monitor was alive, its screen flickering with numbers and letters, only this time, in the real world, each of them was crisp and sharp.

  “It’ll be okay. Trust me,” he said quietly, his serious eyes softened by a reassuring smile.

  He was shirtless, as he had been in the dream-vision, carrying a thick green towel he’d apparently used in drying his tousled wet hair. He’d obviously been in a hurry to get back since a dry T-shirt was slung carelessly over one shoulder.

  This close to him, she knew within seconds she’d been wrong earlier.