He remembered this. It was the dream he’d had the other night. Everything was exactly the same. Even knowing it was a dream, he couldn’t wake up or change the way it progressed, so Stefan decided to let it play out, see where it went.
The hardwood floors beneath his feet were solid, and when he took a closer look, appeared to be inlaid with a fleur-de-lis pattern of lighter and darker woods. The massive foyer opened to a grand staircase, though time hadn’t been kind.
In fact, the whole place had a musty, unused quality, as if it had been long abandoned. Large columns bracketed the entrance of the room to his right, and what furniture the room contained was covered with white cloths. It reminded him of the formal parlors of some of the southern antebellum mansions around New Orleans.
Was he in New Orleans?
A cold breeze sliced through him, nearly strong enough to rip the flashlight from his hand. It flickered off and on, and he slapped it against his palm a couple of times, until it stayed on.
Why did this place look so familiar? He’d seen it before, somewhere. It seemed important that he needed to remember where.
A soft moan echoed through the space, and he waved the flashlight around, trying to find the source. It sounded like a woman in pain, hauntingly familiar and he prayed he was wrong.
“Help me…” The words were a whisper inside his mind. He knew the voice, recognized it on a gut deep level. Savannah.
He wanted to yell out, ask where she was, but his vocal cords were frozen. No matter how hard he tried, no sound emerged.
Cobwebs lined the periphery of the room, highlighted in the flashlight’s glow like whispery threads, swaying in the darkness.
Wait—swaying? They shouldn’t be moving at all, unless there was air causing them to shift and sway. He walked around the large settee; its white covering coated with a thick layer of dust.
There it was again—faint and almost indistinguishable—yet definitely Savannah’s voice. She was here! Somewhere in this eerie blackness, he’d find her.
In the back of his thoughts, he remembered the last time he dreamed this, Ranger had popped into his dream. Was he here this time too? He stood silently, waiting for a sign, anything to lead him in the right direction.
Ranger didn’t show. And he couldn’t hear Savannah anymore. A knot of despair formed in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t lose her. Couldn’t let Stavros Aristides win.
“Help me…”
The voice was getting weaker, fainter, but he couldn’t see any doors or windows in the room. The only opening was the one he’d come through with the columns, and nobody was there.
“There’s something about finding the key. I remember Ranger saying that last time I had this dream. What key? I don’t see any key, or anything a key would open.” Pulling in a deep breath, he tried yelling Savannah’s name again. This time the word reverberated in the room, echoing like a ghostly wail.
“I’ll find you! I swear, I won’t give up until I find you, Savannah.” As he made the vow, everything lightened with a bright white light until he could see nothing—and the room disappeared.
Sitting up in bed, Stefan rubbed his hand across his face before dragging it through his hair. Why had he had the dream again? And why hadn’t Ranger shown up? He had the last time.
When his cell phone rang, he wasn’t surprised to see Ranger’s name. “Did you see it?”
“Yeah. Same place again. I haven’t found out anything so far, but damned if it doesn’t look familiar.”
“I heard her. Even if I can’t see him in the dream, I know Aristides is there, and he’s got Savannah.”
Ranger sighed. “I gotta agree, I think in the dream he’s got her, and it’s up to you to save her. Bro, I hate to say it, but this feels a helluva lot like one of my dreams—the prophetic ones.”
“Don’t say that. I can’t let her fall into Aristides hands again. He’ll kill her to keep her from testifying against him.” Stefan threw back the sheet and stretched, trying to dispel the eerie feeling he’d gotten from the dream. “What do I do to stop this?”
“You mean other than catch Aristides before he’s got a chance to grab Savannah? Don’t let her out of your sight. Carpenter’s loaning me the jet, so I’ll be there by morning.”
“Dude, you can’t leave Sarah.” Guilt assailed him at the thought of Ranger leaving his pregnant wife behind, especially since Sarah was Savannah’s sister. She was probably going out of her mind.
“Sarah insisted. Gunner, Nate, and Sebastian are all on guard duty, so she’s covered twenty-four seven, and she’s moving into C.S.S. headquarters until I get back.”
Though he hated to admit it, Stefan was glad Ranger was heading for California. Add in Bogey and the rest of the SEAL team, they’d be better able to concentrate on keeping Savannah safe while he and Ranger tracked Stavros Aristides.
He looked at the time on his phone, noting it was just past four in the morning. He stretched, feeling the ache of muscles that hadn’t been getting their usual gym workout. Since being in San Diego, he’d spent most of his time cooped up in the hotel room or over at Savannah’s house, and his body was starting to feel the lack of his usual routine.
Contemplating whether he should try to get a couple more hours sleep, or start another search for Aristides, his phone rang. His eyes widened when he saw Savannah’s name.
“Savannah, what’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure. I just woke up from the most awful dream.” She sounded out of breath and a little frightened.
“Wanna talk about it?” He kept his voice soothing and calm, wanting to help but not sure exactly how he could. He wasn’t like Ranger, able to dream-walk. He rarely dreamed, which made the one he’d had twice now memorable—and worrisome.
“This was different than my usual dreams. I couldn’t see anything. I remember darkness, total blackness all around me. And I couldn’t move. Like I was trapped in a box. Except I don’t think it was a box—it felt like a coffin.”
“Damn, that’s scary.”
Savannah gave a shaky laugh. “I’m not sure how I got there, but I remember hurting all over. And laughter from outside.” There was a long pause before she added, “Aristides. I know it was him, recognized the sound of pure evil in his tone.”
What could he say? “I’m so sorry, babe.”
“That’s not all, though. I remember crying out for help.”
Stefan’s gut clenched. Was it possible? In his dream, Savannah was calling out for help. Could their dreams have overlapped somehow?
“What else do you remember, baby? Anything?”
“Screaming until my throat was raw. Then, right before I was ready to give up, I thought I heard…you.”
He closed his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. What could he say to that? What were the odds the dreams were connected in some way? If he were a betting man, he would play those odds.
“You were screaming my name, and all I wanted was to come to you, but I was trapped. The last thing I remember was hearing what sounded like a gun shot, and then I woke up.”
A gun shot? He hadn’t heard that in his dream. “Everything’s going to be okay, Savannah. It was just a bad dream. I wish…”
“What do you wish?”
He’d be damned if he’d lie to her. “I wish you were in my arms right now. I want to hold you, comfort you, and scare away all the boogeymen that dare disrupt your sleep.”
“I wish that, too.” Her words were so soft he was afraid he’d imagined them.
“Savannah, once this is over, and Aristides is caught, maybe we can—”
“Yes! I mean, I’d like for us to try.”
His shoulders slumped with relief. Though he’d tried to read the signals, he’d thought maybe he’d misread things and she only wanted to be friends. If that had been all she could offer, he’d take it, even if it tore him apart. But—maybe they had a chance.
“Okay, great. Think you can get back to sleep now?”
She gave a watery-sounding chuckle. “I think so. Thank you…for listening. For being here when I need you.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Savannah. Always.” He clenched the phone tighter, resisting the urge to throw on some clothes and head over to her. “Goodnight, babe. Sweet dreams.”
“Goodnight, Stefan.”
Climbing back into bed, he pulled the sheet over him and thought about Savannah, and how to eliminate the threat to her once and for all.