Rhona turned to face Sean’s back and curled herself against him. He slept the sleep of the angels, undisturbed by her sudden warm presence. She imagined that was what he was, in waking or sleeping . . . undisturbed by her presence.
She rose, leaving him there in his slumber.
Her own sleep had been short. After they’d made love, brought on by the instinct for survival, Rhona had dozed fitfully. Sean, on the other hand, had rejoiced in Freya’s survival, and celebrated it through sex then deep sleep.
Rhona envied him his ability to do that.
Now in the kitchen, she set the coffee machine up and switched it on. Tom didn’t even open an eye at her early arrival in his domain.
Would you stand and howl at my grave like Leila’s cat did? I think not.
Rhona walked to the window. Not yet dawn, the light on the statue of the Virgin was still distinguishable in its rosy glow. Warm, but not the flash of red fire.
The terrible memory of what had happened only hours before suddenly engulfed her. A blur of noise and soaring flames, McNab like a man possessed, diving up that stairwell. Being pulled away herself by a burly firefighter and ordered to stand as far away as possible and let them do their job.
She’d shouted at him that three people were in there, not knowing if she’d been heard through the frantic bustle and noise. Then the terrible wait, the seconds as long as hours until the firefighter had finally reappeared with Freya in his arms. Her joy when she saw them, and then the swift despair when no one else followed him out of that door.
‘He’s dead,’ she’d heard herself say, knowing she’d been in this place before, when McNab had died in front of her.
She’d spotted Danny first, the glow of the fire setting his own auburn head ablaze, his face a mass of blood. Then she realized that he was supported by a stumbling McNab.
Rhona had stood back as all three were loaded into an ambulance and the screaming siren had taken them from her and the burning tower.
Freya had survived, but it seemed the Book of Shadows had not, although no one – forensic expert or otherwise – was to be allowed inside the tower room to check that was the case until it was deemed safe.
All three survivors were currently in hospital, smoke inhalation being the main reason, although Danny had also been badly cut about the face and McNab had had to endure the agony of having his right shoulder put back in. Despite his obvious discomfort, McNab had opted to sit with Freya, his blistered hands forgotten in his desire to be with her when she opened her eyes.
Rhona hoped she would open them soon.