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lightning. I’d seen the future, but I had no answers.
    Taking a small breath, sipping at the air so as not to aggravate my head further, I searched for the voice, that coil of presence living inside me, but it was silent. I would have to force it to speak.
    Raising my head, I willed my eyes to open. “I need alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.” So much for running. On this one, it looked like I was going to be all in. The thought terrified me, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I turned my back on Malcolm.
    Alec nodded to Gavin who took off down the stairs. “What are you going to do?” Alec’s hazel eyes had gold flames in them now.
    “I need to get drunk.”
    Niall started to protest, but I cut him off.
    “You don’t understand. I didn’t see enough. He’s alive. I can tell you that much, but I don’t know where or when.”
    “What will the alcohol do for you?” Alec remained still while Niall began to pace back and forth.
    I gestured to my head, miming an explosion. “It blows things wide open.” I reached for Alec, grasping his warm hand in my cold one. I couldn’t say why, but I chose him. Maybe it was that destiny bullshit or maybe it was simply that we’d kissed and it had been special enough for me to feel safe with him. “You have to watch me. I might go a little nuts.”
    “Define nuts.” Niall paused in his pacing and peered at me.
    “I might try to leave. I might…,” I closed my eyes again and remembered how the knife had slipped into my stomach. “Try to hurt myself. Someone needs to spot me.”
    “I’ll do it, donna fash yourself, lass.” Alec squeezed my hand.
    “And we need a safe space. A small room without too much furniture.” I pulled on Alec’s hand, trying to stand up, but my strength had evaporated with the vision. The throbbing in my head swelled until I felt like a balloon with too much air. The pressure of the pulsing inside my skull threatened to blow me apart. I sank back to the floor just as Gavin arrived, a metal flask in his hand.
    “Here.” He handed it to me and then produced a second. “I filled two. If you need more I’ll go back down.”
    I unscrewed the flask’s lid, my fingers fumbling so much that Alec made to swoop in and help me. I pushed him away and finished opening the dratted thing, which, apparently, had been made so long ago it no longer remembered it was supposed to open and close.  Tilting my head, I let the alcohol sear my throat until the flask was empty. Shoving it back toward Gavin, I said, “Give me the other one.”
    This time he opened the flask for me before handing it over. I drained it faster than the first. “Do you need more?” Gavin asked, poised at the top step, ready to bolt down if I said yes.
    “No.” I turned my head until Alec was in my field of vision. The world swam around me and I knew soon I would be gone, lost to the power that had decided my body was a good place to call home. “Take me somewhere safe.”
    He didn’t hesitate and quickly scooped me up in his strong arms. His gait sturdy despite my added weight, he descended the staircase. His brothers trailed after us, and peeking over Alec’s broad shoulder, I noted their expressions were a mix of confusion and concern.
    Well, join the club , I thought.
    The world went black around the edges. I didn’t have much time. “Hurry,” I slurred to Alec, urging him on with a pat to his shoulder.
    “We’re almost there, lass. Hang on.” He rounded a corner and ran down a hallway until he reached the end. Then through a door and we were in a small room with only a bed, a chair and a small table to occupy it. Alec set me on the bed and went to shut the door, saying to his brothers, “I will stay with her. You two keep watch in case they decide to come after her again.”
    What Niall and Gavin thought of this plan, I didn’t know. I was gone.
    Chapter Four
    First there was darkness. A sleek blackness that ate light and pressed close against my