She was blinking back tears when the doorbell rang. With her heart in her throat, she put the cup on the table and hurried to answer the door. Please, she thought, please let it be him.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the lock. A breath of cold air assailed her when she opened the door, but it was nothing compared to the disappointment that swept through her when she saw it wasn't Rourke standing on the porch, but a frail-looking man with papery-looking skin, long gray hair, and the blackest eyes she had ever seen.

For a moment, she couldn't speak, couldn't seem to catch her breath. Finally, she managed a weak, "May I help you?"

"I am looking for Jason Rourke. I was told I could find him here."

"I'm sorry, he's not here." Nor likely to be anytime soon, she thought glumly.

"When will he return?"

"I don't expect him back."

A muscle worked in the stranger's jaw. His black eyes narrowed.

Kari took a step backward, chilled by the stark expression in his eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Who are you?"

The stranger didn't move, yet he seemed to become more than he was. "I am Josef Vilnius."

She stared at him thinking that, on some deep, subconscious level, she had known it all along.

"And you..." His gaze bored into her. "You are Karinna."

"Yes." The word was drawn from her throat as if he had reached inside and forced it out.

"You care for him?"

"Yes."

"Does he care for you?"

She tried to deny it, but again, she found herself saying, "Yes," remembering, as she did so, that the last woman who had cared for Rourke had ended up trapped inside a painting for three hundred years.

The wizard nodded, and the night seemed to grow darker, colder.

Kari shivered. Unable to draw her gaze from his, unable to retreat into the house, she wrapped her arms around her middle and waited.

Vilnius studied her for several minutes the way a scientist might study a newly discovered species.

She studied him in return. He wore a pair of expensive-looking dark gray slacks, and a light gray jacket over a crisp white shirt. A tiny diamond stud winked in his right ear; his left hand sported a ring set with a blood opal.

Something froze deep inside her when he nodded. "Yes," he said, his voice sounding the way she imagined a snake would sound if it could talk. "Yes, I think you might be useful. For a while."

She didn't like the sound of that at all, and liked it less when she tried to shut the door in his face and discovered that she couldn't move a muscle, couldn't even blink.

A slow smile spread over the wizard's face. "Useful, yes," he repeated.

And then everything went black.

Chapter 29

Rourke stood on the sidewalk in front of Karinna's house. He hadn't intended to return to America until he had settled his score with Vilnius, but he had spent two weeks at the wizard's home waiting for him to return, but to no avail. As much as Rourke yearned for revenge, his need to see Karinna again had been stronger, and so he had abandoned his quest for revenge, for the time being, and come home.

Rourke grinned faintly. Home, he thought. For him, it wasn't a place, but a woman. He hadn't seen Karinna for a fortnight and he had missed her more than he would have thought possible. He hadn't found a secure lair before he'd gone in search of Vilnius, so he had spent the day before resting in the ground, and while Mother Earth offered a refuge from the sun, he preferred to take his rest in a bed on a firm mattress. He had considered spending the day in Karinna's shed, but, for some reason he couldn't quite fathom, it hadn't seemed right.

Using his preternatural powers, he had obtained a hotel room the night before, which had provided him with access to a shower and a place to change his clothes, though he hadn't dared to take his rest there. It might have been safe, but he felt too exposed in the room. There were too many windows, too many unknown people coming and going at all hours of the day and night. It had, however, provided him with a new hunting ground.

His hunger stirred, and with it, his desire for Karinna. Ah, Karinna. Not only had he missed the woman herself, but he had missed the creature comforts of her house, the sense of homecoming he had felt whenever he entered her abode, the friendly warmth of a fire in the hearth, the casual evenings they had spent watching the television together, or playing cards.

He glanced at the windows downstairs, wondering if she was home. No lights shone from inside. He knew she had to go to work tomorrow, but surely she hadn't gone to bed so early. Had she gone out for the evening?

He was stalling, and he knew it. He was a vampire with remarkable powers, yet the thought of facing one mortal female filled him with trepidation. Would she be angry with him for leaving so abruptly? Would her eyes be filled with silent reproach? He could withstand her anger, he thought, but not her tears.

Angry or not, he had to see her. If he had learned one thing in the past two weeks, it was that his existence wasn't worth living if he couldn't share it with her.

Muttering an oath, he walked quickly to the front door. He was about to knock when his preternatural senses told him the house was empty. He was trying to decide whether to wait inside or come back later when he caught a familiar scent on the freshening wind, a scent that raised the short hairs along his nape and filled him with a quiet sense of dread.

Vilnius.

Rourke opened the front door with a wave of his hand. Stepping over the threshold, his gaze swept the darkness, coming to rest on a folded sheet of paper propped on the mantel.

He read it quickly, then read it a second time.

Rourke, I have the woman. Call me when you read this if you hope to see her alive one last time....

There was no signature, no date, just a phone number under a boldly scrawled V. When had Vilnius been here? How many days had Karinna been at his mercy?

Rourke moved unerringly through the darkness toward Karinna's office. Each breath carried her scent to his nostrils, reminding him of the nights they had spent together, the fervent kisses they had shared. If anything happened to her, it would be all his fault. He swore softly. He should have realized that the wizard would know when the curse was broken, should have known that Vilnius would come after him. Had the wizard also found his daughter?

Picking up the telephone, Rourke listened for the dial tone the way Karinna had showed him, then punched in the wizard's number.

Vilnius answered on the first ring.

"Where is she?" Rourke asked curtly.

"Ah, Mr. Rourke. She is here, with me."

"If you hurt her..."

"Spare me your empty threats."

"Where are you?"

"There is a house for sale on the corner of Willow and Wade streets. I will be waiting for you there."

Rourke swore softly as Vilnius broke the connection. A thought took him to the corner of Willow and Wade. Standing in the shadows across the street from the house, Rourke closed his eyes, his preternatural senses reaching out, searching for her. He caught a hint of the wizard's presence, but nothing to indicate that Karinna was inside.

Muttering an oath, Rourke dissolved into mist, crossed the street, floated down the chimney, then hovered near the ceiling.

Below him, Vilnius paced the living room floor, his long gray robe flowing behind him like the breath of Satan.

But Rourke had little interest in the wizard. He had come to make sure Karinna was safe, but where was she? Rourke drifted from room to room. He checked the closets, the walk-in pantry in the kitchen, but there was no sign of her, no sense of her presence in the house. Save for a tall, three-legged stool in one corner of the front room, the interior of the house was empty. The drapes were drawn across all the windows.

He returned to the living room wondering what game Vilnius was playing. He had been certain Vilnius would keep Karinna close by. Had he been mistaken? And then he saw that the house wasn't empty, after all. A large painting of a still, blue lake set in the midst of a deep green forest hung on the wall just inside the front door. A small cottage bathed in early morning sunlight stood off to one side of the lake. A blue sailboat, with its white sails unfurled, floated on the placid surface of the water.

Rourke was about to turn away from the painting when he saw Karinna. Clad in an emerald green gown, she was seated in the bow of the boat, a look of horror etched on her countenance.

If he could have spoken, he would have uttered every curse word he had ever known. If he had been in his own form, he would have smashed something, preferably the wizard's arrogant face.

Instead, he hovered near the ceiling unable to look away from Karinna. He had brought her to this, he thought. He had insinuated himself into her life and now she was in the wizard's power, caught in the same kind of hell that he himself had endured for so long.

Was she aware of what had happened to her? How would an ordinary mortal react to being imprisoned in such a fashion? If he could free her, would she be the same woman he had known, the woman he loved more than his very existence, or would being entrapped in such a way forever shatter her hold on reality?

He had to get her out of there, but how?

In his present condition, he was helpless. He had intended to destroy Vilnius. He knew there was a possibility that Vilnius would defeat him, but it was a chance he had been willing to take. But now...Dammit, now it wasn't only his own existence that was at risk, but Karinna's life, as well.

He was still trying to decide what action to take when Vilnius suddenly stopped pacing. Head cocked, his eyes narrowed, he glanced around the room.

Fearing that the wizard had sensed his presence, Rourke made a hasty exit. Resuming his own form outside, he paced the darkness, his mind in turmoil. He was tempted to charge in and confront Vilnius and to devil with the consequences, but his concern for Karinna's welfare, his love for her, demanded caution. Assuming he won the battle with the wizard, there was always a chance that Vilnius had worked a different enchantment on this painting and that calling Karinna to his side wouldn't work. He couldn't kill the wizard until he knew how to remove the spell and free Karinna.