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 It doesn’t matter if my father says the marriage is no longer valid.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?”
Gideon shrugged. “There’s always a way, if someone wants you badly enough. Your father could hire another witch to find you.”
Kay’s shoulders slumped. “So, we’re no better off than we were before.”
“I wouldn’t say that. Witches are pretty hard to find.”
“Yeah? You found one in the phone book.”
He chuckled softly as he set her on her feet. “She won’t betray us. The best tracking spells need blood to work. Clothing is ineffective. Hair is kind of iffy. So, unless your old man has some of your blood, I think we’re safe enough for now.”