Slowly, she swiveled around to face him. He looked much the same as always, though his complexion seemed a little more flushed, his eyes darker and more vibrant.
He gestured at her computer screen. "Any luck?" he asked quietly.
She blew out a sigh, and then she smiled, dissolving the tension between them. He hadn't changed. He was the same Rourke who had captivated her from the beginning.
"I was just about to check." She opened her mailbox, scrolled down until she found the e-mail she was looking for.
Leaning forward, Rourke read the message aloud: "I am acquainted with Vilnius. However, I am not in the habit of giving out personal information to unknown third parties. If you will give me your name, I shall tell Vilnius you are looking for him. Blessed be. Esme."
Kari glanced over her shoulder. "I guess it's too late to worry about it now," she muttered, "but I'm not sure I like the idea of a practicing witch having my e-mail address. I mean, what if she hexes my computer or something?" She drummed her fingertips on the desktop. "So, what should I say?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" She shook her head. "I don't understand. Why were you so anxious for a reply if you're not interested in talking to her?"
"I just wanted to know if Vilnius is still alive. I do not want him to know I am looking for him."
"Then how are you going to find him?"
"How, indeed. I shall have to think on that for a while." He watched her curiously for a few moments before asking, "What are you doing?"
"Backing my files up on my flash drive."
"Backing up?"
"Saving the letters and pictures on my computer that I want to keep." She shrugged. "I do it periodically anyway." She had lost everything once--her personal photos, files, music, and graphics--when her hard drive crashed. Since then, she backed up her important files every night, and everything else at least once a week.
It seemed even more important now, she thought, just in case some malevolent witch decided to send a nasty virus her way. And as soon as she finished backing up her files, she was going to delete her old screen name and come up with a new one. Maybe she was overreacting, but what the heck, better safe now than sorry later.
Rourke watched her for a moment, fascinated by the workings of the computer. It was a kind of magic far beyond his comprehension, as was the automobile and the other equally amazing machines that Karinna took for granted. Of course, he had some incredible, seemingly magical powers of his own.
But computers and cars weren't on the same level as the kind of magic Vilnius was capable of. They were just inventions made by ordinary men. Vilnius, on the other hand, was far from ordinary.
And he was still alive.
Rourke clenched his fists. Revenge, and his father's sword, were within reach at last. But before he sought out Vilnius, he had to find Ana Luisa and free her, if necessary. He had no lasting love for the wizard's daughter. She had been nothing but a passing fancy, a bit of sweetness he had been too hungry and too foolish to resist, but she was no more deserving of the punishment her father had inflicted on her than he himself had been.
Going to the window, he stared out into the darkness. He had a vast new world to explore city by city, country by country. A new beginning in what appeared to be an exciting new century. He glanced over his shoulder. A new woman. The thought of exploring Karinna Adams from north to south made him smile with anticipation. She looked to be a tasty morsel from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.
She would make a pleasant diversion while he searched for the wizard's daughter. Now that he was freed, his conscience wouldn't let him leave Ana Luisa trapped inside the painting. And after he had liberated the wizard's daughter, he would avenge himself on Vilnius and recover his father's sword.
A ripple in the fabric of time drew his gaze to the yard. There was a shimmer in the air and then he saw a woman standing on the grass, swathed in a long, dark traveling cloak.
He recognized her at once.
It was Melina, the vampire who had brought him across so many years ago.
Chapter 11
Rourke glanced at Karinna again. Still engrossed in backing up her computer files, she seemed to have forgotten he was in the room. It was just as well.
A thought took him outside.
Melina turned gracefully to meet him, a smile of welcome curving her lips.
"Jason," she murmured.
"Melina."
"I thought you had been destroyed."
"Not yet."
Rourke's gaze moved over her. Though he hadn't seen her in centuries, Melina was as vibrant and beautiful as he remembered. She had come to him every year since the night she had brought him across until Vilnius had cursed him. No matter where Rourke had been, Melina had found him and they had spent a night together from dusk until dawn. They had hunted together, and later, while making love, she had tasted him, and he had tasted her. Only a small taste, since vampires did not feed off each other, but a taste was as good as a feast. Vampire blood produced a high like no other.
"I have not felt you in three hundred years, and now, suddenly, you are here." She looked up at him through incredibly thick lashes, patiently waiting for an explanation.
"'Tis a long story."
Moving like a wisp of silvered moonlight, she flowed toward him. "'Tis a long night," she replied with a saucy grin.
"So it is."
She pressed herself against him, her slender body molding itself to his. "I have missed you these many years. It saddened me to think that you had been destroyed, that I might never see you again." She looked up at him, a faint smile teasing her lips, and he saw the gleam of her fangs. "We have many years to make up for. We can start tonight."
Before he could reply, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him, long and hard.
"Have you missed me, Jason?" she purred. "Have you missed me as much as I have missed you?"
Rourke considered the truth, and opted for a lie. "Of course." Saying the words, he realized it wasn't a lie after all. He had missed her. She was a law unto herself, a truly unique creature, beautiful, selfish, totally without guilt or guile. She said what she wanted, did as she pleased, and the devil take the hindmost.
"So," she said, linking her arm with his, "where have you been these past three hundred years?"
While they walked down the street, Rourke told her of Vilnius and his wicked curse and how, at long last, a mortal woman had freed him from his prison.
"Vilnius!" Melina spat the name from her mouth. "A vile man. But you are free now, and this is our night."
Drawing him into the shadows, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again only to draw back, her brows rushing together in a frown when he didn't return the kiss. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
Rourke hesitated. There had been a time when he had looked forward to the one night each year that he spent with Melina. She had satisfied all his hungers, but now...Why did holding Melina suddenly seem wrong, as if he were betraying Karinna's trust?
"Jason?"
He looked into Melina's eyes, beautiful green eyes filled with desire, and thought of Karinna's eyes, as blue and clear as the sky he had not seen in 736 years.
Slowly, he removed Melina's arms from around his waist. "Yes, of course."
"Come then, let us go." She trailed her fingertips down his cheek. "Shall we hunt first or..."
He glanced down the street toward Karinna's house. "Not tonight."
"You are refusing me?" she asked in disbelief. "You dare to refuse me?" She followed his gaze, her eyes narrowing ominously. "Who is the woman? What has she done to you?"
Rourke shook his head. "She has done nothing but free me from that accursed painting."
"You care for her." It was not a question but a statement of fact.
"Of course I do. Did you not hear what I said? But for her, I would still be imprisoned."
"I see."
"I doubt it."
Melina glanced down the street again, her expression filled with disdain. "It sounds to me as though you have exchanged one prison for another."
"Maybe so," Rourke allowed, thinking that his sweet Karinna was a far more pleasant jailer than Vilnius had ever been.
"I could compel you to do my bidding," Melina warned. "I could bend your will to mine and make you fulfill my every wish."
"You could try."
"Impudent pup! Do you doubt my power?"
Rourke grinned at her. "Not for a minute."
"Maybe next year you'll be more willing."
"Perhaps."
It wasn't the answer she wanted. Eyes narrowed, she glared at him.
Rourke waited, wondering if it might have been wiser to humor her for one night. Her anger was a palpable thing. He was the first fledgling Melina had made; as such, he had always held a special place in her heart. Or so she had said. True or not, it was never wise to offend a woman, especially a jealous woman with unlimited supernatural powers.
"Melina..."
"If you've changed your mind, I don't want to know. And if you haven't, I don't want to know that, either," she said imperiously, and with a wave of one delicate hand, she vanished from his sight.
Rourke swore softly. He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
Kari stood at the window, wishing she knew who Rourke was talking to outside, wishing she could hear what was being said.
Thanks to a nearby streetlight and a full moon, she could see that his companion was a woman clad in a long black cloak. Her skin was almost luminous in the moonlight; her hair fell to her waist in shimmering red waves.
Curiosity turned to jealousy when the woman drew Rourke into his arms and kissed her.
Kari shook her head. She couldn't be jealous. That was absurd. She hardly knew Jason Rourke. She had nothing to be jealous of. For all she knew, the woman could be his girlfriend.