Blood and Kisses(25)

Reeling with fatigue, she smiled and nodded, unable to reconcile the sudden change in her fate. The stranger turned to go.

“Wait.” Neferet couldn’t stop herself from calling out. He paused and inclined his head toward her. “When will I see you again?”

“You won’t. I will not pass this way again.”

She didn’t want to hurt Siamun and Ankhmutes, but she felt a strange and powerful connection to this man. The thought of him leaving was suddenly unbearable. “Take me with you.”

His glorious voice was gentle, but unyielding. “I’m sorry. I walk a path no one can follow.” And with that, he left her.



Gideon woke Thalia with a gentle shake. “What is it?” She rubbed eyes that were oddly damp. “What’s going on?”

“The police are here to arrest me.”

“Arrest you?” She threw back the comforter, revealing a short nightgown made of some sort of silky lavender material. He took a deep breath as she slid out of bed. The hem rode up, exposing her smooth legs. Spaghetti straps highlighted the creamy skin of her bare shoulders. He swallowed and marshaled his thoughts.

“They think I attacked Cole and Poole.”

She gasped.

He turned, giving her privacy to dress.

“Can’t you convince them otherwise?” He heard the distinctive sound of denim as she pulled up a pair of jeans.

He shook his head. “There’s too many. At night I’d take the chance. But during the day I can’t risk it. They might somehow force me into the sun. For now, it’s better if we run.”

Downstairs, he heard the police lining up on the front step. It would be only a matter of seconds before they forced open the door. Finally, he heard her slip on her shoes.

“Come on.” He grabbed her small hand and dragged her back through his room and into the large walk-in-closet. He pressed a piece of quarter-round molding with the toe of his shoe and a small panel opened in the back. He glanced over his shoulder at her pale, tense face. “It locks when you bar the hall door.” He answered her unspoken question.

He ducked inside, turning sideways to squeeze his broad frame into the passage without scraping his skin. He could feel the heat from Thalia’s body as she followed close behind. The door clicked shut. He peered back at her. She was watching her feet, and he realized the tunnel must be almost pitch-black to her mortal eyes.

Suddenly her head came up and her eyes widened. “Spirit!”

“He’ll be fine. They’re not after a dog.” He guided her down the tiny secret stairs and into a hidden chamber he’d had built after the initial construction of the house was completed.



“We can’t stay here.” Thalia could hear people moving up above, but the underground room was as dark as a tomb. Cool damp air moved around her, and she got the impression the chamber stretched ten to fifteen feet beyond where the stood.

“Don’t worry. This room was built during the time of the underground railroad. It’s withstood searches before.”

Which meant he’d been a stationmaster. Thalia glanced at where she thought he was.

“Don’t be too impressed,” he said, obviously able to see her, his tone dry. “Having people indebted to me was purely for self-preservation.”

“Right,” she said.

“Shhhh.” There was a long pause as if he were listening. “Shit! They found the door in my closet. It’s reinforced, but I don’t know how long we have until they find the mechanism.”

“Is there another way out of here?”

“Come on.” His warm hand folded around hers, strong and solid.

He towed her to another door and up another staircase. The sound of people through the wall grew louder. Cracks in the lathe wall allowed her to see in the narrow passageway. Dust hung heavy in the air. A burgeoning sneeze tickled Thalia’s nose and her heart slammed into overtime. She scrubbed her nose with her hand, holding her breath, trying to dispel the looming sneeze. She would survive being taken to the police department, Gideon wouldn’t. The feeling ebbed and she closed her eyes for a second. Thank you, God.

Gideon guided her down another staircase into a dark stone tunnel. The footsteps and shuffling above faded.

“Where does this let out?” Afraid her voice might travel, she spoke so softly, she almost couldn’t hear herself.

“The garage.”

“They may already be searching there, too.”

He nodded. “I heard them trigger the automatic door earlier. Probably checking for more cars, but there’s not much to see out there. So I’m sure they’re already done.”

When they got to the top of another cramped set of stairs, Thalia could hear Gideon reaching for something, but she grabbed at his hand. “If there’s a shaft of sunlight on the other side of this door, you’re toast. You’d better let me go first.”

He sighed. “Very well.”

A quick smile tugged her lips at the reluctant tone of his words, but it never really formed. Even if the sunlight didn’t smoke him, the cops had no doubt left a cop car to guard the gate.

Thalia opened the wooden panel a crack and peeked out. They were in luck, there was no one left in the garage and the overhead door was still open, but as she’d suspected, she could she the shape of a man in the squad car nearest the open gate, and it slanted at an angle to block any escape.

Worse, sunlight flooded the garage like icy arctic water filling the Titanic.

“Shit.” Gideon swore behind her, but since he couldn’t see the burning sunlight spilling between them and freedom, her already drumming pulse jolted sky high.

“They’ve broken through the door, haven’t they?” she asked, twisting to study his face, though her light-dazzled eyes saw only an echo of the bright pattern outside, overlaying shadows as thick as tar.

“Got it in one. They’ll be here shortly. I take it we’re pinned down? Illusion spell?”

A puff of air rushed from her. She shook her head. Damnit, she had to think! “Maybe if we had time to get back to the underground chamber, but when they come through this tunnel, chances are they’ll exit here and brush by us. Touching us would break the logic of the spell.”

Gideon swore again. “And I can’t teleport us outside because of the sun and inside we could end up materializing in someone.”

Thalia grimaced at the thought and gnawed her lip. Think. Think! She ran through her arsenal of spells, then glanced outside. “What if I could make it very cloudy?”

“It might help a little, but the burning rays will still penetrate.”

‘What about rain?”

She could feel movement behind her and thought he nodded. “Yes, the liquid might shield me to some extent. Enough that I could still heal, if I fed soon.”

Thalia pulled a ton of air into her lungs, closed her eyes and focused her intentions outward into the elements. She muttered the words of the spell under her breath, afraid the police in the tunnels might hear her and move faster through the network.

Blue light sparked around her. For Gideon, please! Let there be rain.

A gust of cool wind pushed through the open panel and within seconds, the sunlight dimmed as black clouds scudded in to block the sun.

Gideon braved a look past her shoulder. “It’s working.”

Thalia concentrated harder, her whole being consumed with one thought and one thought only. Save Gideon. Bring the rain.

A flash of lightning struck nearby with a clap of thunder so loud she jumped.

A few fat juicy drops pattered down onto the driveway and hammered like nails into the wooden shingles on the garage roof. Then rain fell in earnest, coming down in heavy sheets, making it hard to see outside the open garage door.

“Gods.” Gideon shook his head. “This isn’t rain, it’s a typhoon. Maybe I can teleport us now.”

“No.” Thalia bit her lip. “There’s no way to know how far the downpour goes. We’ll have to make a run for it.”

The sound of voices made her grab his hand. “Do you have your keys?”

He nodded and they took off into the wall of water just in time to see two men emerge from the tunnel.





Chapter 15



“Cole.”

The light was too bright. Cole squinted against the razor sharp shards of pain. She tried to sit up and realized her eyes weren’t the only thing that hurt. It felt like her brain was bouncing around in her skull. She groaned and put a hand to her aching head. The surface beneath her was soft. A bed?

“Cole.”

She recognized Poole’s familiar voice, though he sounded strangely hoarse, but still fought to open her eyes. “The lights.”

“Oh.” Seconds later, there was a swoosh, and the light dimmed. She opened her eyes.

Poole leaned over her. He wore a flimsy hospital gown and robe. She was in a hospital. Nearby, a row of cheap woven curtains on a transverse rod were backlit by the sun. “What happened?”