"Yes, but he won't hurt you."

"Why did he obey you?"

Vega shrugged. "Because he's my offspring."

Ana shook her head. The two men had looked to be about the same age. "That is not possible! You cannot be more than a year or two older than he is."

"Do you want me to call him back, chica?"

"No! What does chica mean?"

"It means girl or young woman. Come on," he said, offering her his hand once more. "Let me take you home."

Ana Luisa placed her hand in his, only then realizing she had no idea how to find her way back to Karinna's house.

"What's wrong?" Vega asked.

Blinking back useless tears, she said, "I fear I am lost."

Kari looked up from her computer when Rourke entered the room. "So, how'd it go?"

"I tried to explain, but..." He shrugged. "I thought she might want to be alone for a while, so I went out."

Kari nodded. She could easily imagine how it went. It was never easy to tell someone that their love was unrequited. "Where is she now?"

"I thought she might be in here, with you."

"No, I haven't seen her."

Frowning, Rourke left the room.

He returned moments later, his expression grim. "She is nowhere in the house."

"You don't think she'd go out alone, do you?" Kari asked. "I mean, she doesn't know her way around."

"Where else could she be?"

"I don't know," Kari said, rising. "But we'd better go look for her. It's not safe for her to be wandering the streets alone."

"I will go," Rourke said. "You should stay here in case she returns."

"All right."

Rourke pulled her into his arms. "I have complicated your life, haven't I?"

"Gee, you think?"

He frowned. "Did I not just say so?"

"I was being sarcastic," Kari said, grinning. He had complicated her life in ways she never would have thought possible, invaded her thoughts by day and her dreams by night. Her gaze lingered on his lips. It hadn't been all bad, she thought. "Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm getting used to having you around."

A slow smile spread over his face. "I am glad it was you who freed me."

"Me, too." She took a deep breath. "You'd better go."

With a nod, he kissed her quickly, then vanished from her sight.

Outside, Rourke took a deep breath, his vampire senses sifting through the myriad scents and smells that lingered in the air in front of Karinna's house until he detected a whiff of Ana Luisa's unique scent.

Moving quickly through the darkness, he reflected on the twists and turns his life had taken since Karinna had called him out of his prison. She had restored his freedom, given him a place to rest, renewed his faith in humanity. Reuniting with Ana Luisa had added a new complication to his existence. The reality of having her in the house was something he hadn't thought all the way through. He had not realized that she thought he loved her, or that she was in love with him. He had thought her infatuated with him, perhaps. After all, vampires were notorious for their supernatural allure. But love? He shook his head.

He slowed as he sensed Ana Luisa's presence. A snarl rose in his throat when Ramon Vega's scent also reached his nostrils.

Anger burned through him when he saw Ana Luisa with Vega. If the vampire had harmed her in any way, he would pay for it with his life.

Slowing, Rourke materialized in front of Vega and the wizard's daughter.

"Jason!" Ana Luisa exclaimed. "I am so glad to see you! I went for a walk, and I got lost. Ramon was helping me find my way home."

Rourke's gaze bored into Vega's. "Is that right?"

"Back off, man," Vega said. "I don't mean her any harm."

"Jason, what is wrong with you?" Ana Luisa asked, puzzled by his rude tone.

"I do not want you to have anything to do with this man."

"I will see whoever I wish," she retorted. "I do not need your approval or your permission."

"You need a keeper, is what you need," Rourke said. "Come, I will take you home."

Tears welled in her eyes. "I have no home."

Rourke swore under his breath. "Ana..."

"I want Ramon to come with me."

"No."

Ana Luisa lifted her chin defiantly. "Then I am not going."

Rourke took a deep, calming breath. "Stay away from him, Ana. He's no good for you."

"You do not even know him," she said defensively.

"I know he is a vampire."

Eyes wide, Ana Luisa looked up at Ramon. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, but what's the big deal?" Vega jerked his chin in Rourke's direction. "So's your friend."

"No." Ana Luisa looked at Rourke, her eyes wide with astonishment. "I do not believe it."

Rourke took a deep breath. He had always known this moment would come. "Ana..."

"Is it true, Jason? It is, isn't it?" When he remained silent, she demanded, "Answer me!"

Rourke glared at Vega, then looked back at Ana. "Yes, it is true," he said quietly.

Ana Luisa stared at him. How could she not have known? Had her father known? Was that why he had been so angry? She lifted a hand to her throat. "You bit me," she said. "When we made love, you bit me. I remember now."

"This is hardly the time or place to discuss such things," Rourke said curtly. "Let us go."

With a shake of her head, Ana Luisa backed away from him. "I am not going with you." Looking at Ramon, she added, "Or with you. Leave me alone, both of you."

"Stop acting like a child," Rourke said irritably.

"I shall do as I please!" she replied imperiously. "Be gone!" A hint of supernatural power whispered through the air, then faded away.

Rourke looked at the other vampire, his animosity toward Vega swallowed up in his exasperation over Ana Luisa's behavior. It was fortunate for both of them that she hadn't practiced her craft in hundreds of years, even more fortunate that she lacked her wand to give her focus.

Vega shrugged. "I'll leave you to it," he said with a laconic grin, then vanished from sight.

Striving for patience, Rourke dragged a hand over his jaw, then said, quietly, "Can we go now?"

"You let me love you," she accused, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "You let me think you were mortal, a man. How could you do that?"

"Dammit, I said I was sorry. What did you expect me to do? Or have you forgotten how you flirted with me that night, how you begged me to make love to you?" He felt a rush of shame for blaming her. Most of what had happened that night had been his fault.

"But I did not know that you were a vampire!"

The tone of her voice, the revulsion in her eyes, flayed him like a lash. It shouldn't have bothered him. He knew what he was, he knew that what he had done to her was wrong. Her actions did not excuse his; still, her words burned like holy water.

"I am sorry for what happened between us," he said again.

A single tear dripped down her cheek. "I spent three hundred years trapped in a painting because of you. Everything I knew, everyone I loved, is gone," she said, her voice growing softer and more plaintive. "Everyone but you."

The last three words were barely audible, but Rourke heard them clearly.

With a sigh, he drew her into his arms, one hand lightly stroking her back. "I am sorry," he said again. "It was wrong of your father to punish you for what I did."

She sniffed, her arms slipping around his waist as her anger drained out of her. "I, too, am sorry," she said. "It was not all your fault."

"Karinna found a coven not far from here," Rourke said. "She wrote to ask if they would take you in."

Ana Luisa looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You are sending me away?"

"Just for a little while. They can help you adjust to life in this place, teach you to use your magick. Protect you from your father."

"But I want to stay here, with you."

"I know, but it isn't possible, not now. I do not want you to be alone during the day."

"Karinna..."

"She has to go back to work soon. And I cannot protect you when the sun is up."

"What if they do not want me?" she asked tremulously.

"We will not worry about that now," Rourke said, and taking Ana Luisa by the hand, he started walking back toward Karinna's house.

The beauty of the night surrounded him. It was good to be free, he mused, to feel the breeze on his face and the ground beneath his feet, to be able to come and go as he pleased. There was much to see and learn in this new land, but he had to admit that life in his painted world had been far less complicated.

Chapter 18

Kari sat at the kitchen table, a cup of hot chocolate cradled in her hands as she wondered if her life would ever return to normal. It wasn't bad enough that she had a vampire sleeping in the shed out in the backyard, now she had a witch staying in the guest room. And she had to be back at work on Monday. Not that she minded having Rourke here, she admitted. She cared for him far more than she should, knew that, in spite of everything, she was falling in love with him.

Love...Could she really be in love with a vampire? Just thinking about it made her feel hot and achy all over. Heck, she thought with a grin, maybe she was just coming down with a bad case of the flu!

She sighed, thinking that her life had turned into some kind of bizarre fairy tale filled with witches and wizards and one unbelievably sexy Undead guy.

Rourke and Ana Luisa had come home late last night. It was obvious that Ana had been crying. The girl had gone straight to bed without a word to either one of them.

When Kari had asked Rourke what had happened, he had simply shrugged and said Ana Luisa was having a hard time adjusting to her new life. Kari would likely have asked him a few more questions if he hadn't taken her into his arms. One kiss and she had forgotten everything else. They had made out on the sofa until it was almost dawn, and then, with one last kiss that had left her breathless, he had gone to seek his rest out in the shed.