The Firstborn

His description was a little too close for comfort. “I didn’t blow out the candles! You did.”

“No. I didn’t.”

“I suppose they blew themselves out,” she scoffed. “Who were you talking to?”

She sensed his sudden caution. If only she could see his expression…

“I wasn’t talking to anyone, Hayley. You must have been dreaming. I went down the hall to use the bathroom.”

“Don’t tell me that. I heard you!”

“I don’t know what you thought you heard, but it wasn’t me.”

Goose bumps rose along her arms. Her teeth began to chatter because she realized she believed him.

“Then we aren’t alone in here. I distinctly heard two people whispering together. And I didn’t blow out the candles.”

Bram muttered something that sounded like a curse. “Let’s go. I need my flashlight.”

“Why don’t you have it with you?”

“Because it fell off the coffee table when I reached for it earlier, and I didn’t want to wake you looking for it. I didn’t figure I needed it just to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t know we were going to be roaming around in the dark like this. Come on, you can help me find it.”

Bram reached for her hand. His fingers closed over hers, making her intensely aware of his much larger, warmer hand. He seemed to have cat’s eyes as he led her back inside the library without a single misstep. No wonder he hadn’t needed the flashlight in the dark hall.

His touch was strangely reassuring. She was almost sorry when he released her again.

“I think it rolled under the table,” he told her.

She dropped to the carpeting beside the table while he did the same on the other side. Her hands swept over empty air. A second later, she heard his sound of satisfaction.

“Got it.”

A decidedly weaker beam bounced around the room, causing ominous shadows to sway against the walls.

“I don’t suppose you have fresh batteries anywhere?” he asked.

“There might be some in the kitchen.”

Bram set the flashlight on the table and relit the candles. “Wait here while I have a look around.”

“No! There’s someone else in here. What if they’re armed?”

“I don’t think that’s likely.”

His skeptical tone struck a nerve. “You don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You’re thinking it. I can tell from your tone.”

“Hayley—”

“There were two voices,” she said firmly. “You were one of them, weren’t you? You must have been. Why are you lying to me? Who else is in here?”

“Calm down.”

Furious, Hayley came around the couch to ram a finger against his chest. “Don’t tell me to calm down! I want to know what’s going on.”

Bram lifted her hand from the rock-hard wall of his chest and reached for his shirt, which he’d draped across the back of the other couch.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find out.”

He didn’t raise his voice, but there was a reassuring core of steel in his tone. She watched him slip the shirt over his head.

“I’d offer to leave,” he said quietly, “but I can’t walk away under the circumstances.”

“I did hear voices,” she insisted.

Bram scraped a hand over the dark stubble on his jaw. “Hayley, have you ever had a dream where you knew you were dreaming, but couldn’t wake up? Then, when you did, the dream stayed with you like a fog, making you feel disoriented?”

“I was not dreaming!” She couldn’t have been. “If I was dreaming, how do you explain the candles going out? Do you think I blew them out in my dreams?”

Bram regarded her solemnly. “They were lit when I went down the hall. When I came out of the bathroom, I had to keep my hand on the wall to find my way back here. I heard you moving in the other room so I went to investigate.”

Hayley shivered. He sounded so sincere. Could she have dreamed the whispers?

A muffled sound from the hall stopped his words and her heart. Bram spun around. In a flow of motion almost too fast to follow, he glided into the foyer. The sounds of a struggle came almost immediately. Hayley snatched up the flashlight and tore after him. The weak beam trapped two figures locked together near the front door.

“Jacob?”

Bram had the younger man pinned against the wall. The dragon on Bram’s arm looked ready to breathe fire as it pressed against Jacob’s throat, holding him in place.

“You know him, Hayley?” Bram demanded softly.

“That’s Eden’s son, Jacob. Let him go, Bram.”

Bram gave the man a hard stare before stepping back. He looked perfectly ready to resume his attack at the least provocation. Jacob rubbed his throat, swallowing hard.

“Hayley?” he croaked, peering into the light.

She lowered the beam so it wasn’t shining directly in his eyes.

“What’s going on? Who is this guy?”

“Jacob Voxx, meet Bram Myers. Marcus hired him.”

“As what? An attack dog?” He gave Bram a resentful glare.