Immortal Sins

Going into the linen closet in the hallway, Rourke grabbed a couple of thick blankets. After returning to the living room, he hung one of the blankets over the painting, then draped the other one over the curtains on the front window, lest the rising sun find Karinna and destroy her.

Her mortal body would die with the dawn. He only hoped the wizard's evil curse would die with her.

Rourke glanced at the sky as he hurried toward the shed in the backyard. He could feel the sun's rising like shards of glass pricking his skin.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief as blessed darkness engulfed him. Sinking down onto the bed, he closed his eyes, waiting for oblivion.

He would rise with the setting of the sun, and Karinna would rise with him, a newborn vampire, blood of his blood.

Chapter 33

Rourke woke with the setting of the sun. As always, his first conscious thought was for Karinna. Leaving the shed, he hurried into the house. For the first time in three hundred years, he was afraid of what the night might bring.

He came to an abrupt halt in front of the fireplace. He stood there a moment, filled with uncertainty, before he pulled the blanket off the frame.

The painting remained unchanged; Karinna sat in the boat, unmoving.

He swore softly. Had he failed? Was she now one of the Undead, trapped inside a painting with a vampire's needs, a vampire's hunger? Would it have been kinder to do as she had asked and destroy the painting?

He paced the floor in front of the hearth, torn by his need for the woman and his desire to end her pain.

Dammit! What had he done?

He was about to enter the painting when there was a sharp crack. The glass shattered as the frame split in half. The canvas slid down the wall, over the mantel, and onto the floor, and Karinna stood before him, her face as pale as death, her eyes wide and unfocused. And empty.

"Karinna?" Fear like nothing he had ever known engulfed him. Merciful heavens, what had he done?

She stared at him unblinking, her eyes vacant, devoid of recognition.

"Karinna!" Grabbing her by the shoulders, he shook her. "Dammit, woman, answer me!"

She blinked once, twice, her expression turning to one of confusion. Color returned to her cheeks. She glanced past him, taking in her surroundings as if she had never seen them before. And then her gaze settled on his face. "Rourke?"

He nodded once, and waited. Would she sense the change immediately? Would she truly hate him for what he had done? Just then, he didn't care. Nothing mattered except that the curse had been broken and she was back in the real world, where she belonged.

Her eyes narrowed as she glanced around the room a second time. When she looked at him again, he knew that she remembered everything that had happened, and that she despised him for what he had done. Her hatred struck him like a physical blow.

"Why?" she demanded. She fisted her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing. "Why did you do it? I asked you to destroy the painting."

She stabbed a finger at his chest, driving Rourke backward.

Had she been mortal, her touch would have had no effect on him. But she was a vampire now, with a vampire's strength.

"I begged you to destroy me," she went on. "I told you I didn't want to be a vampire!"

Rourke shook his head, amused by her anger, delighted that she was free of the wizard's curse. She could hate him all she liked, but she was in the world again. With any luck, she might forgive him for what he had done in a hundred years or so. And if it took longer, well, he had all the time in the world to wait.

She glared at him, and then her expression turned thoughtful. "The wizard...is he dead?"

"Yes. He will never hurt anyone again."

"And his daughter? Where is she?"

"Ana Luisa is with Vega."

With a curt nod, Karinna brushed past him. She walked through the house as if seeing it for the first time, marveling at how big everything seemed. She ran her hands over her belongings, as if to reassure herself that they were real, that she was really there. She had spent only a few days trapped inside a world of canvas and paint, yet it had seemed ever so much longer. How had Rourke and Ana Luisa endured such torture without going insane?

She came to an abrupt halt in front of the mirror in her bedroom. She could see the wall behind her, the bed, the windows, but she cast no reflection in the glass. Feeling suddenly queasy, she ran her hands over her face and arms. She was flesh and bone, yet she didn't show up in the mirror. It made her feel as if she didn't exist.

Choking back the hot bitter bile that rose in her throat, she turned away from the mirror. She was a vampire. She ran her tongue over her teeth, but she didn't feel any fangs. Shouldn't she have fangs? Maybe they came later, she thought, and wondered how she would explain them to her dentist. Did vampires go to the dentist?

Shaking off her silly thoughts, she went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror over the sink. Her image wasn't there, either. How did female vampires put on their make-up and arrange their hair without being able to see their reflection?

She snorted softly. A minor inconvenience compared to everything else! How was she going to support herself when she couldn't go to work anymore? How was she going to explain this to her parents, to Tricia, and to the rest of her friends and acquaintances? This was all Jason Rourke's fault! She never should have bought that accursed painting, never should have brought it home with her, never should have helped him rescue Ana Luisa....

She blew out a sigh of exasperation. There was no point in dwelling on the past. It couldn't be changed. So, she would find a new job, one where she could work nights, and when the time was right, she would tell her parents that she had come down with some sort of allergy to the sun, and...

She blinked rapidly as tears burned her eyes. She didn't want to make lemonade out of the lemon her life had become. She just wanted to be plain old boring Karinna Adams again. She wanted to be able to lie in the sun on a warm day and get a tan, and drink malts, and eat chocolate, and...

At the thought of food, her stomach knotted painfully. Of course, it was natural to be hungry; she hadn't eaten for days.

Leaving the bathroom, she went downstairs. She swept past Rourke without a glance as she made her way into the kitchen.

He hadn't followed her into the bathroom, but he followed her now, pausing inside the doorway while she opened the refrigerator and withdrew a bright red apple.

"Karinna..."

Ignoring the warning in his voice, she took a bite. The minute she swallowed it, she knew it had been a mistake. Pain speared through her stomach. Hurrying to the sink, she threw it up, then stood there gasping.