Vision in Faith (Legends of the North Book 3) (2 page)

It was quiet once she left the village behind, and dark. Her gaze lifted to the few stars she could see before the image of a fireplace and sparks danced before her eyes. Leaning against the wall of her flat, she let out a sigh as the rest of the images flickered through her mind. She would have dismissed it as nothing if it hadn't been for the soot. But had anyone else seen it? Had she imagined that as well as everything else?

 
The excited whimpering of Teazle and the scratching of her nails against the door behind her banished the questions from Vicky's mind for the moment. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, she let herself in, flicking the lights on as she did. The dog launched itself at her, and she stumbled, managing to close the door at the same time.
 

Leaning down, she picked Teazle up, who promptly licked her face, and her whole body wriggled in excitement as Vicky ran her hand over the short, wiry fur. Vicky smiled when Teazle let out a little whimper, remembering why she had chosen the dog in the first place. Tan and black with little ears, she reminded Vicky of the cute gremlin Gizmo from one of her favourite films when she'd been younger.
 

Pushing herself away from the door, she leaned over to drop Teazle back to the floor and almost screamed when the doorbell rang. Pressing a hand against her chest, she straightened, keeping the tiny dog in her arms.
Calm the hell down
. Checking through the peephole, she let out a gasp when she saw James standing at her door, seemingly staring straight at her. Holding Teazle closer, she considered not answering, but the thought that something might have happened after she'd left Jess's made her change her mind.

 
Turning the handle, she pulled the door open slightly and leaned her hip against the doorjamb as Teazle stuck her head out of the small gap. She started wriggling in Vicky's arms as James reached a hand out to scratch behind the dog's ear.
Traitor
. Looking up at James, she waited for him to say something as she tried not to drop the excited Teazle.

He cleared his throat, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. Which unfortunately drew Vicky's gaze to the material stretching tighter across his crotch. When he cleared his throat again, her gaze flew back to his face.

"I came to check that you're okay," James said, trying to hide a grin.
 

Jerk.
He probably thought she would throw herself at him now, just like all the other women in the village. Yeah, she'd heard the rumours.

"As you can see, I'm fine."

She went to shut the door, but he wedged his foot between it and the frame. She stepped back in surprise. "What are you doing?"

The door swung open and James stepped inside, taking Teazle from her arms. Quietly, he shut the door and leaned back against it. "I wanted to make sure you were okay… after the vision."

Taking another step back, she rubbed her finger across her bracelet, spinning the charm on it. How had he known? What did he know? Stalking away from him, she made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a whiskey. When she glanced up, he was staring at her. She waved the bottle in his direction and he nodded. "Neat?"

"Definitely," he replied, and took the glass she offered him. Her fingers brushed over his as he wrapped them around the glass. The aftershock of his touch travelled all the way up her arm and straight to her chest, and she quickly withdrew her hand with a shudder.

"Why don't you go take a seat while I let Teazle out into the backyard."

He stared at her for a beat then turned and headed for the living room.

Opening the back door, she let Teazle out and turned to see his dark head drop as he leaned over, elbows propped on his knees. Okay, so she could admit he was attractive—her body was determined to remind her of that—but she'd do well to remember he was still an Altenbury. He was still the reason she'd be working for Margaret for the foreseeable future.

***

James dropped onto the sofa, suddenly feeling every year of his thirty-five years and then some. He didn't want to argue with Vicky. He was tired of whatever was going on, frustrated that he couldn't end it, and annoyed that someone else was involved. He wasn't pleased about it being Vicky either because she seemed hell-bent on hating him. But he'd seen her face when their fingers had touched—she'd felt something. He watched her as she took a seat and glared at him.

"Look, I don't know what your issue is with me, but can you just put it aside for one night?"

"My issue with you is that you're an Altenbury. It's hard to put that aside."

"You seem to manage with Jess and Matt," he said, as he drained his glass and placed it heavily on the table beside him.

"They're different."

He couldn't help the snort at that comment. "Different how? Last time I checked, they both had the name Altenbury. And if I'm not mistaken, Emma will too soon enough."

Vicky frowned at his comment because he was right. Abruptly, she stood, staring down at him. "Yeah, well, neither of them has tried to stop me achieving my dreams for no apparent reason, apart from the fact they could. You've had your drink and, as you can see, I'm fine. You can go now." She punctuated her words by pointing towards the door, her arm outstretched.
 

What the hell is she talking about?
This woman confounded him. He leaned back against the sofa, crossed an ankle over his knee, and then had to fight not to smile when she put her hands on her hips like a petulant teenager. "Honey, I don't even know what your dreams are, so how could I stop you from achieving them?"

She cocked her head and squinted at him. "So, what? Your mother just made it up?"

Shaking his head, he let out a groan. That woman was the bane of his life. "What's my mother done now?"

Vicky sat back down and twisted her bracelet around her arm over and over.

He was tempted to do something to stop her from fidgeting, but he let it go as they finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

"I wanted to rent Spinner's Cottage."

James didn't understand why that had anything to do with his mother. "What? The old shop on Main Street?"

"Yes."

"But what does that have to do with my mother?"

"She told me that you wouldn't rent the shop—" She paused and made air quotes with her fingers. "—to someone like you, dear." Vicky dropped her gaze to her bracelet as she finished speaking.
 

James's eyebrows shot up at her words. He could see his mother sneering those words down her nose at Vicky.
Dear God.
He stood and walked over to her, dropping to a squat in front of her. He placed a hand on each of her knees and she stiffened in response. He ignored her reaction and lifted one hand to tilt her chin up so she had to meet his gaze. "I have no idea what my mother meant by that, but she had no right to say it. Least of all because who I rent Altenbury property to has absolutely nothing to do with her."

"It doesn't?"

He shook his head. "I don't know about the rent on Spinner's Cottage, but I can take a look at it tomorrow for you."

"Really?"

Nodding, he smiled at her, "Really."

She eyed him dubiously. "So, if it's available, you can rent it out? To me?"

"Of course I would. What would you do with it?"

At his question, her face lit up. "I want to open a hairdresser's. My own place."

Understanding flashed through him, and he thought he might know why his mother had interfered.

"So, now that we've agreed to look at the rental agreement tomorrow, can we put the Altenbury thing aside while you tell me about the vision?"
 

***

Damn.
Vicky had hoped he'd forgotten about that. "Erm, I just need to let Teazle in," she said, standing so he had to step back.
 

Should I lie to him?
Not a great idea if he was the one who could lease her the shop. What if he snatched the opportunity back as quickly as he had offered it? Teazle ran straight past her and leaped onto the sofa, licking at James's face.
Clearly, he gets the Teazle stamp of approval.
Had she been wrong about him? Too early for her to tell; he might just be telling her what she wanted to hear so he could find out what had happened at Jess's.
 

He looked up at her when she sat back down. "Would it help if I told you that Jess and Emma had them too?"

"What? No. They would've told me." She couldn't believe Emma wouldn't have told her at least.

"The fewer people involved, the less who could be hurt, Vicky. We—Emma—was trying to protect you. "

She couldn't believe it. "So, Matt and Rob know about them too?"
 

He nodded.
 

Great, so I was the only person not to know. So why have they started now? And how does James know?

 
As if reading her mind, James said, "We think it's all related to our family somehow. Well, that and the Romans."

Vicky raised an eyebrow in response. Of course, it was to do with the Altenburys. Everything in the bloody village was to do with the Altenburys. "Romans?"
 

James proceeded to tell her about everything that had happened, starting with when he'd been attacked and had gone missing, presumed dead. Emma's visions, which had started when she moved to Altenchester and how she and Matt were attacked. Right up to the visions Jess had and the attacks on Rob.
 

"That's where you were? You weren't off finding a wife in Europe?"

"What?" he said with a chortle. "Why on earth would you think that?"

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "That was the rumour around the village. Well, that or you were hiding in the closet."

His lips twisted at that comment. "I can assure you I'm not gay, but if I was I certainly wouldn't be hiding in the closet. Now, stop trying to sidetrack me and tell me about your vision earlier."

Glancing down at her bracelet, she spun the bead around with her thumb. He already thought she had a vision; did it really matter if she told him? Reluctantly, she described it, told him about the fireplace and the mystery woman. Finally, she mentioned the soot.
 

At least he hadn't laughed. He sat watching her long after she finished talking with one finger pressed against his lips, his chin resting on the rest of his linked fingers. Just as she was beginning to think he wasn't going to say anything, he spoke.

"Interesting."

Seriously? That's it? That's all he has to say?
"I guess that's one way of describing it," she said, not caring if he did pick up on her sarcasm. If he had, he ignored it.

"Did you recognise the room or where it was?"

He stood and paced between the sofa and where she sat. Teazle yapped at him as she ran across the sofa and back, following him. "Teazle! No, I didn't recognise the room. But not many houses have a fireplace big enough to stand in, especially not ones I visit. I only saw the one room, so I don't know what the rest of the house looked like or where it was."

"Hmm. That's a shame." Stopping his pacing, he looked down at her. "You should come to mine on Sunday."

Okay. Nothing like a random conversation change. Is he asking me out?
"Why?"

"The others will be there. You have a lot to catch up on if we're going to figure out what's going on. Come to my office on the estate tomorrow and we can discuss the rent. You know where it is, don't you?"

When Vicky nodded, he gave her a brief nod and then headed for the door.

"See you tomorrow," he said over his shoulder and then, just like that, he was gone. Vicky sank back in her chair and let out a long exhale. Dropping her head against the cushion, she closed her eyes. It seemed she couldn't stay away from the Altenburys, even if she tried.

Chapter 3

James had already been in the office for hours, and it was only eight a.m. He had found the rental agreement for Spinner's Cottage; it had ended nearly a year ago and had just sat empty after the last tenant had left. He would speak to his mother about it, but not yet. It was business, but definitely none of her business. There was no point in letting a shop sit empty, for the Altenbury estate as the landlord, nor for the village.

Throwing the spreadsheet he had just re-read for the third time across his desk, he clasped his hands behind his head, swung his chair around, and stared across the fields that he could see out of his office window.

He let his thoughts wander where they wanted to. He knew Matt believed the dreams meant something, but James was sceptical. Until the night before. Although, he was still more than ready to accept it was just a coincidence, and his dreams did, in fact, have nothing to do with Vicky. But Matt was adamant that was what they meant because his own dreams had led him to find Emma.
 

Leaning his head back against his chair, he closed his eyes, only to see the dark-haired woman of his dreams. His eyes flew open, and he swung his chair around at the sound of steps crunching over the gravel outside his door.

"Come in," he shouted in answer to the knock. When the door opened to reveal Vicky, he couldn't stop his eyes from widening in surprise; he hadn't thought he'd see her so early on a Saturday morning. When she closed the door behind her, he stood.

"I didn't expect to see you until later."

She laced her fingers together in front of her, and a look of uncertainty crossed her face. "I'm not interrupting, am I? It's just I have to be at work at nine so I thought I would come around before I headed there on the chance you'd be in."

James shook his head and moved out from behind his desk. "No. No, it's fine." Unlocking the cabinet, he grabbed the keys for Spinner's Cottage. Shaking them at Vicky, he smiled. "Want to go take a look at the shop?"

Her gaze darted to the bunch of keys then back to him as she sank her teeth into her bottom lip. An image of her doing the same thing to his lip flashed through his mind, but then disappeared just as quickly when she asked, "Why?"

 
Huh, she really didn't trust him. She needed to have a little more faith. He shook his head slowly, knowing he could work on that. "I thought you might want to take a look at it before you sign this." He picked up the agreement off his desk and handed it to her.