She plucked a vial filled with dark red blood from a glass-fronted cabinet and poured it into a delicate crystal goblet.
She stared at the liquid with mixed anticipation and revulsion. After taking a deep breath, she lifted the goblet to her lips. Warm or cold, the taste was incredibly vile, but the results made the horrible taste worthwhile.
Shuddering, she drained the glass in a single swallow, then threw it into the fireplace.
Only one vial of the vampire’s blood remained. She would have to use it soon, or it would lose its effectiveness.
Time was of the essence.
* * *
Chapter 16
Leaving Kay to get dressed and pack, Gideon made a quick trip to a car rental agency where he rented a late-model black Lexus. His next stop was a shopping mall where he bought two large suitcases for Kay and a smaller one for himself. He also picked up a case of bottled water, a family-sized bag of chips, and three dozen assorted granola bars.
Kay was still folding their clothes when he returned.
“Where are we going?” she asked as she began placing her clothes in one of the suitcases. It wasn’t easy, cramming everything Gideon had bought her into two suitcases, but she couldn’t bear to leave anything behind, and who knew when they might be here again?
“Beats the hell out of me.” He threw several changes of clothes and underwear into the remaining suitcase and closed the lid. “You about done there?”
“Yes.” She tossed in the last pair of jeans. “Are you sure we should stay together?”
Gideon picked up the three suitcases and headed for the door. “Would you rather be alone?” he called over his shoulder.
“No,” she said, hurrying after him, “but …”
“Hush, then. She has no power over me, and you can be damn sure I won’t fall for her tricks a second time.”
Outside, he stowed their luggage in the trunk, then held the passenger door open for Kay. “Anyplace in particular you’d like to go?”
Kay shook her head. “Do you think it matters?”
“Probably not.” Gideon slid into the driver’s seat, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. As long as Verah was able to locate Kay, it didn’t really matter where they went.
Pulling out of the driveway, he headed for the open road.
Kay stared out the window. She didn’t know where Gideon was headed, but what was the point in running? Weren’t they just prolonging the inevitable? She frowned. That kind of negative thinking wasn’t going to get them anywhere. She was a werewolf, not a wimp. No way was she going to give up without a fight, or let Gideon fight her battles for her.
Gideon. She glanced at him, admiring his profile. Why was he putting his life in danger by staying with her?
He turned his head, his gaze meeting hers. “I think I’m falling in love with you, Kiya. That’s why.”
Kay looked at him in astonishment. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“But … we’ve only known each other a few weeks.”
He shrugged. “I’m just as surprised as you are. Maybe more so.”
Unable to think of anything to say, she continued to stare at him. He was falling in love with her? She shook her head. Considering all they’d been through, when had he found the time?
“I think it started that first night,” he said, returning his attention to the road. “I knew you were scared out of your mind and yet, even though you didn’t have a chance in hell of stopping me, and there was nowhere to run, you tried to fight me off.” He grinned with the memory. “Out of all the women the witch brought me, you were the only one who didn’t give up without a fight. I had to admire that. Of course, the fact that you’re a knockout didn’t hurt.”
“Thanks,” she muttered dryly.
“Don’t write us off yet,” he said. “We might get out of this just fine. Nothing is impossible.”
“Except keeping you out of my head.”
He flashed her a shameless grin. “Except that.”
Kay settled back in her seat, her mind replaying Gideon’s words. I think I’m falling in love with you. His confession had surprised her. More than that, it pleased her, because even though she couldn’t admit it—didn’t want to admit it, even to herself—she was falling in love with him, too. And that was wrong on so many levels. He was a vampire. She was a werewolf. He slept days. She slept nights. He hunted people. She hunted animals. But the biggest impediment of all was her father, not to mention the fact that she was about to be engaged to another man.
She was staring out the window again when satellite radio filled the car with the latest love song.
“You’re not playing fair,” Kay muttered.
“Should I change the station?”
“No.” Even though a lasting relationship between them was impossible, there was no reason not to enjoy what little time they had left.
The soft music and the darkness soon made Kay drowsy.
Gideon heard the change in her breathing, knew the exact moment she fell asleep. He shook his head, wondering what had possessed him to tell her that he was falling in love with her. He drummed his fist on the steering wheel. Who was he kidding? He was already in love with her.
He glanced at her again, noting her sweet feminine curves. He never should have made love to her, but what man past puberty, dead or Undead, could resist her? She was warm and vibrant, so easy to love with her gentle laughter and sparkling eyes.
Staring at the road ahead, his thoughts turned to Verah. The only way to stop the witch once and for all was to kill her. True, she had her magic, and that was formidable, but she was still human. He was confident that his preternatural powers were stronger than her witchcraft. All he had to do was get close to her.
But first he had to ensure Kay’s safety. And try as he might, he could think of only one place where she would be safe. And that was in Wyoming, with her father’s pack.
When Kay woke an hour later, he told her what he had decided. She was less than enthusiastic at the idea.
“I don’t want to go home.” She loved her mother and her father, but she wasn’t ready to surrender her freedom, not yet. Once she returned to the compound, she would be absorbed into the pack again, no longer truly an individual but a part of the whole, subject to her father’s will and the law of the pack.
She couldn’t help but envy Gideon. His life was his own. He had no one telling him what he could or couldn’t do, no one deciding who or when he would marry. He enjoyed the kind of freedom she would never have once she returned home.