She uttered an anguished cry and then toppled onto her side. Tremors wracked her from head to foot for several minutes, and then she went still.

Still clutching a handful of her skirt, Gideon leaned forward. Was she dead? But no, he could still hear the faint beat of her heart.

She let out an unholy shriek as her body began shriveling, shrinking, until she was as ugly on the outside as she had been on the inside. A last, desperate cry, and the life drained out of her.

Gideon stared at her a moment longer, his brow furrowing as her body disintegrated into dust.

Damn. He had never seen anything like that before. She really was old. Well, there was one good thing about it, he mused. He wouldn’t have to worry about disposing of the body. Dragging her skirt into the cell, he withdrew the silver key from the pocket, cursing as it scorched his palm, but it was a small price to pay for his freedom.

Moments later, the shackles lay on the floor.

Dissolving into mist, he left the basement. Resuming his own form, he went in search of Verah’s wand. He found it on a table in what he surmised was the room where she worked her magic. Her familiar was curled up on a high stool beside the table. The black cat sprang to its feet, back arched, teeth bared, when Gideon reached for the wand.

“You’re out of a job.” Gideon jerked his thumb toward the door. “Get lost.”

The cat stared at him, unblinking, then jumped off the stool and ran out of the room.

Gideon stared at the wand. It was just a piece of wood, perhaps sixteen inches long, yet he was reluctant to touch it. Still, a promise was a promise, and he had promised this wand to another witch.

He glanced around, looking for something to wrap it in. He settled on a scrap of toweling, felt a ripple of supernatural power when he picked up the wand. He quickly wrapped it in the towel and left the house.

A thought took him to his lair in New York. A tingling on his skin told him it was only minutes until sunrise.

Going into the bathroom, he stripped off his jeans. One good thing about being a vampire, his wounds healed quickly, even those made by silver. He took a hot shower, wishing all the while that Kay was with him. Closing his eyes, he imagined her hands moving over his shoulders and back, sliding lower, lower …

Shaking off his lustful thoughts, he stepped out of the shower, dried off, and stretched out on the bed. Lying there, his arms folded behind his head, he made a mental list of things to do when he rose on the morrow. First, he would call a florist and order five dozen roses for Kusuma Ila. Second, he would box up Verah’s wand and arrange to have it delivered to her, payment in full for services rendered. And third, he would get in touch with Kay.

Closing his eyes, he summoned her image to mind, focused on it while the darkness wrapped its arms around him and dragged him down into oblivion.

Kiya?

At the sound of Gideon’s voice, Kay glanced up from the book she was reading.

Gideon! How are you? Where are you? I haven’t heard from you in days. I’ve been so worried.

I’m fine. I’m in New York. Are you still at your father’s?

Yes. Kay looked over at her mother, who was asleep on the sofa.

Can you get out of the house?

I don’t know. I’ll try, but there’s always someone watching me. Where did you go?

I went to Verah’s. You can stop worrying about her. She won’t be coming after you again.

She’s dead?

Definitely dead.

You killed her. It wasn’t a question.

I had a little help. Remember that witch in Apache Junction? She concocted a poison cocktail.

How did you get Verah to drink it?

Gideon chuckled. I drank it, and when she drank from me …

It killed her. Kay shook her head. It was brilliant.

As soon as you get away, let me know, and I’ll be there.

I will. Gideon? I love you. If only she could invite Gideon into the compound, getting away would be so much easier. But her father had rescinded Gideon’s invitation, which superseded any invite Kay or anyone else might issue.

I love you, too, Wolfie.

Tears stung her eyes when he closed the connection between them. He was alive. Verah was dead. If she could get away, no one would be able to find her.

“Kiya, what is it?”

Kay glanced at her mother, hoping she hadn’t seen the tears in her eyes.

“You’re crying. Why?”

Kay shook her head, but the harder she tried to hold back her tears, the swifter they fell.

Rising, Dorothy went to sit on the footstool in front of Kay’s chair. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“No, I can’t.”

“It has something to do with Gideon, doesn’t it?”

“Mom …”

“I know you love him. And he loves you.”

Kay blinked back her tears. It was so tempting to pour out her heart to her mother, but she didn’t dare. How could she trust her to keep her secret now, when her father had broken her mother’s spirit?

Dorothy took Kay’s hand in hers. “You can trust me, Kiya. I won’t say anything to your father. I promise.”

“Gideon’s waiting for me, Mama. If I can get away from here, he’ll come for me and take me away.”

“Are you sure you want to go with him? He’s a vampire, Kiya.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kay sighed. “My father will never let me go. Even if I can convince him to end my marriage to Victor, he’ll just find someone else for me to marry. And Mama, I’m already married to Gideon. It doesn’t matter if my father says the marriage is no longer valid. I’m married to Gideon in my heart, in my soul. I always will be.”

“I see.”

“When Victor …” Kay shook her head. “Even though he forced me, I felt like I was being unfaithful to Gideon, like I was breaking my marriage vows.”

“Oh, Kiya, what have we done to you?”

“You didn’t do it, Mom,” Kay said, and in that moment, as tears spilled down her mother’s cheeks, Kay hated her father, not only for what he had done to her, but for what he had done to her mother.

“Your father’s gone to see Diego,” Dorothy said, squeezing Kay’s hand. “I don’t know why, but if you want to leave, you should go now.”

“How am I going to get past Tyler?” Tyler Red Elk was the werewolf who stood guard at her bedroom door. At the moment, he was standing in the hallway outside the living room.

“Leave that to me. When you hear me scream, leave the house as fast as you can.”

“Mom …”

“You’ll need a distraction to get out of the house,” Dorothy said. “Who knows when you’ll get another chance?”

“I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.” Leaning forward, Dorothy hugged Kay, then kissed her cheek.

“When you hear my signal, run as fast as you can. You’ll only have a few minutes.”

“I don’t know… .”

“It’ll be fine. Go to your room and wait.” Rising, Dorothy moved toward the door. She paused to look over her shoulder. “Be happy, Kiya, and always remember that I love you.”

Before Kay could say anything, her mother left the room.

Too keyed up to sit still, Kay paced her bedroom floor. What kind of distraction did her mother have in mind?

She glanced at her watch. It had been almost thirty minutes since her mother had left the living room.

Had her mother changed her mind? Or worse, had her father come home unexpectedly? She hated to think what would happen if her father learned of her mother’s plan to help Kay escape.

Going to the window, Kay stared into the darkness. She could see Joe, standing in the shadows beneath her window. Poor guy. She could almost feel sorry for him.

She was about to turn away from the window when she heard it, a scream of such agony, she almost thought it was real.

Hurrying to the door, she opened it a crack. Tyler was gone.

Murmuring, “Thank you, Mom,” Kay hurried down the stairs. Opening the front door, she glanced left, then right. There was no sign of anyone guarding the front entrance.

It took only moments to punch in the gate code and then she was running down the driveway. Veering left, she ran for the hills. Only when the house was out of sight did she slow down.

Breathless, she closed her eyes and concentrated on Gideon and connecting to the blood bond that bound them together.

Gideon! Gideon, come for me! Hurry!

* * *

Chapter 33

Gideon had just bent over his prey’s neck when Kay’s voice, loud and urgent, sounded in his mind.

In an instant, he released the girl in his arms from his power and willed himself to the Shadow Pack’s compound.

He found Kay in the Gros Ventre Wilderness area. Coming up behind her, he murmured her name as he swept her into his embrace.

“Gideon!” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she buried her face against his shoulder.

“What’s happened? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. We need to get away from here, now.”

“Just tell me where you want to go, and we’re there.”

“I really liked New York.”

She had barely spoken the words when she felt a rush of wind, followed by a familiar queasiness in the pit of her stomach. The next thing she knew, they were in Gideon’s apartment.

“So,” he said, still holding her in his arms, “how’d you manage to get away?”

“My mom helped me. She provided a distraction; I’m not exactly sure what she did, but it drew the guard away from my door and I ran like the devil was after me.”

“Where’s your old man?”

“He’s at the Rinaldi place.” Kay drew back a little so she could see his face. “Verah’s really dead?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s dead. Hell, she’s dust.”

Kay blinked at him. “Dust?”

“She was a lot older than I thought.”

“So, there’s no way for anyone to find us now, right?”