Over the next couple days, Lenora was haunted by Valerie’s visit. If she hadn’t been convinced before that something was dreadfully amiss with Valerie, she certainly was now. Valerie had never been one to fall asleep in her chair. She was always lively, energetic, and funny. During the visit, she was the exact opposite. Plus, she seemed dazed and confused, and Lenora could have sworn Valerie looked like she was on something. Valerie was being secretive about something, which worried Lenora.

Lenora was a skilled psychic and empath but never liked to use her talents to pry into people’s lives. She considered it exceedingly rude and impolite. Even so, many times, visions and intuitions came to Lenora without her having to exert extra energy to call them forth. She didn’t actively try to get a reading on Valerie, but nothing came to her either. It was probably just as well; it would be better for Valerie to ask for help instead of her family pushing her into it before she was ready.

Aside from her concern for Valerie, Lenora was uneasy and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong. Her mind drifted back to the awful premonition she’d had during her pregnancy with the quads. She’d called to Tyrone, who had held and comforted her as best he could. Afterward, Tyrone had alerted the family to Lenora’s premonition and asked them to be more vigilant than usual. Nothing had come of it, but now, Lenora couldn’t erase it from her mind or dismiss the feeling it had given her.

“Lenora, darling, what’s wrong?” Tyrone asked her one afternoon as she sat on the sofa trying to read. “You’ve been reading that same page over and over for the last ten minutes.”

She closed the book with a snap and dropped it onto the coffee table with more force than was necessary. “I don’t know, love. Something just feels so off balance, and I can’t shake the feeling that something awful is going to happen.”

“Do you think it’s your worry over Valerie that’s feeding the feeling?” Tyrone asked.

“I won’t deny that could be part of it, but honestly, it’s more than that. Remember that premonition I had years ago? I can’t seem to omit it from my thoughts for some reason. I have a terrible feeling and don’t know why. It’s so frightening.” Lenora shuddered and hugged herself tightly. “Will you hold me, please? Just…hold me.”

Lenora was in his arms even before she completed the request. She took comfort in the slow, methodical way Tyrone’s hands stroked the long length of her hair. His deep, masculine scent surrounded her. His breath was warm on her ear as he whispered soothing words and endearments to her. Some of the fear lessened as his hard body supported her weight. Tyrone was her rock and always would be. As long as she had him, how could she be afraid?

A few days later, Lenora awoke with a blinding headache with nausea also coursing its way through her. Knowing she’d never make it to the bathroom in time, she leaned over the side of the bed and retched. With every heave, kaleidoscopes of pain burst through her skull. Every part of her body ached, and she felt as weak as a newborn kitten.

After the assault, Lenora groaned and crawled back under the covers. “Och, merciful heaven, I feel like hell.”

“That’s obvious,” Tyrone said, coming to her side and brushing damp tendrils of hair from her sweaty brow. “It isn’t like you to get so sick.” Because of the magical bond they shared, he never had to ask if she was all right or how she was feeling. He just knew and was able to anticipate her needs at just the right moment.

“Yeah,” she croaked. “I guess it was bound to catch up with me sooner or later.”

Tyrone kissed her forehead and arranged the covers around her more comfortably. “Well, you’re going to stay right here in this bed and get better. I’ll take care of everything and get the kids off to school.”

“Okay.”

Tyrone’s brow furrowed with worry. As ill as she was, he still expected an argument from his wife, even if it was only a halfhearted one. Her weak acquiescence and the wretched sickly feeling he felt along the strands of their bond concerned him. Lenora was the picture of health, so seeing her this way greatly unnerved him.

Lenora was asleep before Tyrone left the room. He supposed she’d contracted some kind of flu bug, so the best thing to do was to keep her as hydrated as possible and let her sleep for as long as she needed. Still, something in the way she looked and the messages he received from their bond put Tyrone’s guard up. Once the kids were gone to school, he would ask Mathilda or Cian to have a look at her. Lenora would probably make a big fuss about it, but Tyrone would definitely feel better.

What Tyrone didn’t realize was that he had very good reason to worry and that there was more to worry about than he realized.

Author’s Note: This is a short chapter, I know, and I’m sorry for that. Things are about to get really intense, which means the next few chapters or so will be longer than usual. There will be a lot of hankie warnings coming up, so be prepared.

Also, I’m sorry for the delay in updates for my stories, including this one. My game has been acting temperamental in terms of the store content. For some reason, not all the content was installing, which would give me the dreaded and annoying missing objects warning. I had no choice but to redo it and reinstall my content, which took me about a day and a half. It wasn’t fun, but I (hopefully) think I’m good to go now. Between that and a lot happening in my personal life, it kept me away from my stories.

As always, thank you for reading, subscribing, liking, commenting, and lurking.