Immortal Sins

"Oh, Lord," she murmured. "I can't do this."

"Karinna, what is wrong?"

Startled by the sound of Rourke's voice, she looked up, expecting to see him standing beside her, but there was no one there. The man across the aisle looked at her and smiled.

"Karinna?"

Lowering her head, she whispered, "I've always been afraid to fly. I've never done it."

Again, his voice whispered in her mind. "There is nothing to fear."

"Easy for you to say," she thought. "You're already dead."

His laugh filled her mind. "I will protect you."

"You will, huh? Don't tell me you can fly, too."

"In a manner of speaking. If the plane should fall, I will catch you before we hit the ground."

"I'd like to know how you plan to manage that, seeing as how you're in the hold and I'm here."

"Trust me."

Kari blew out a breath. Maybe vampires were immune to sarcasm.

She swallowed hard as the captain's voice came over the PA. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have been cleared for takeoff. Flight attendants, please take your seats."

Kari grabbed the armrests and hung on for dear life as the engines revved up. She shuddered when the plane did, her knuckles going white as the plane picked up speed. Eyes squeezed tightly shut, she sent a hurried prayer to heaven that the plane wouldn't explode, that the pilot wouldn't make a mistake, that there were no crazed terrorists on board.

Startled to feel a hand squeezing hers, she opened her eyes. She was going mad, she thought. That was the only explanation for the sound of Rourke's voice in her head, the feel of his hand holding hers.

And suddenly she wasn't frightened anymore.

She glanced out the window as the plane gathered speed and lifted into the air, leaving her stomach somewhere on the ground. The plane made a long, slow curve, away from the airport. The ground seemed to be tilted sideways until the plane gradually leveled out.

Sometime later, the senior flight attendant's voice came over the PA. "Ladies and gentlemen," she said brightly, "the captain has now turned off the FASTEN SEAT BELT sign and you are free to move about the cabin. We do ask that while in your seats, you keep your seat belt loosely fastened. Thank you, and enjoy your flight."

Drinks were served again, and dinner menus were passed out. Kari ordered lasagna and a glass of soda.

After dinner, the lights were dimmed. Kari was too keyed up to sleep and opted to watch a movie. It was hard to concentrate, though. She wondered what it was like for Rourke, riding in a coffin in the cargo hold. It was dark outside. Was he still awake? She wondered if he was having second thoughts about rescuing Ana Luisa, and if he would tell her he was a vampire. How would Ana Luisa react after he freed her from the painting, and how would he convince the girl to climb into his coffin?

She shook her head. With Rourke's preternatural powers, convincing the girl to do his bidding should be a cinch.

Yawning, Kari closed her eyes. She would just rest her eyes for a moment....

In the cargo hold, Rourke knew the moment when she drifted off to sleep. Lifting the lid on the coffin, he sat up and stared into the darkness. In his day, he had been a simple man, accustomed to simple pleasures. This new world continued to astound him. Mankind had progressed in the most amazing ways. He supposed people had always dreamed of flying, but he had never expected that it would become a reality, or that he himself would actually take to the skies. He wondered how Ana Luisa would handle the changes the centuries had wrought in the world.

Only time would tell. Time, he thought, the stuff that human life and dreams were made of.

Kari felt like a seasoned, world-weary traveler by the time she reached Bucharest. She collected her luggage and made sure the coffin was loaded onto the hearse she had arranged for in advance. Rourke had told her to have the coffin delivered to the cemetery and he would take care of the rest.

Her rental car was waiting for her, and after getting detailed directions, she drove to the apartment she had rented. Thanks to a wrong turn, she had to stop and ask for directions again. By the time she checked in and unpacked, she was exhausted. Her internal clock told her it was still early, but it was almost nine-thirty P.M. Bucharest time.

She wondered where Rourke was, and if he intended to try to free Ana Luisa that night. In spite of his supernatural abilities, she couldn't help worrying that something might go wrong. What if he was caught stealing the painting? What if he couldn't free Ana Luisa? What if he freed her only to find that, after being frozen in a painting for three hundred years, the girl had gone stark raving mad?

She put the worrisome thoughts from her mind. Whatever happened now was out of her hands. Worrying wouldn't help.

She wandered around the apartment. It was small but comfortable, with a living room, tiny kitchen, tinier bathroom, and two bedrooms. The furnishings were quaint. She had booked the room for three days. She would have liked to stay longer, would have liked to see the sights while she was here, but it just didn't seem like a good idea to spend too much time in a foreign country with a vampire and a young woman whom she might or might not be able to communicate with.

Returning to the living room, she curled up on the sofa, wondering if she dared go into the city alone at night. Back at home, she had searched the Web for information on Bucharest and learned that it was a cosmopolitan city with an active cafe society, elegant restaurants, historic churches and palaces, opera houses, antique shops and boutiques and shopping malls. As eager as she was to see all that, she remembered another Web site that had warned tourists to be careful and noted that Romania was one of the most corrupt nations in the world, with public, municipal, and political life supported by bribes. Of course, she had no way of knowing if that was true or not.

The same article also said that Romania's cities were among the safest in the world, with very little violent crime, as long as one avoided the "bad" areas and questionable clubs. The article went on to say that drugs were not tolerated and that users could expect to spend seven years in prison, while distributors could face life behind bars.

The article also warned visitors to be sure to take a cab from a reputable company. It went on to say that a common scam was for a cab to pick up a fare and then, a short time later, stop to help two men, one of whom would appear to be injured. After pulling over to pick up the two men, the cabby would assure the first passenger that he would take the injured man to the hospital only after delivering his paid fare to his destination first. Instead, it often turned out that it was the paid fare who would wind up in the hospital after the two men had robbed them. A further warning was for women to keep an eye on their handbags, and to avoid shoulder bags and backpacks, as there were those who made a habit of cutting the straps with razor blades and making off with the rest.