Immortal Sins

She browsed a few more gift shops, then ate lunch at a quaint sidewalk cafe, where she spent an hour sipping coffee and people watching. And all the while, she wondered where Rourke was spending the day.

She took a long walk, went to a movie with English subtitles, enjoyed a leisurely dinner, and then drove back to her apartment, her tension mounting with each passing moment.

Where was he? How long would he wait before he freed Ana Luisa from the painting? Was he there, even now? What would the girl’s reaction be when she realized that she had been imprisoned for three hundred years? Kari frowned. What if, after all the trouble they had gone to, Ana Luisa didn’t want to leave Romania? Would Rourke agree to let her stay here, alone, or would he stay to look after her?

Kari sighed. If he stayed here, her life would quickly go back to normal, as in incredibly boring and mundane, she thought ruefully. Still, it might be for the best.

Sitting by the window, Kari tried to read one of the paperbacks she had brought with her, but she couldn’t concentrate on the words, could only sit there, waiting and wondering when Rourke and the wizard’s daughter would arrive.

She stretched her arms and back, moved her head from side to side, then settled back in the chair again. She had never known the hours and minutes to pass so slowly. Time and again she glanced at her watch, willing the hands to move faster. She hated waiting. Why hadn’t she insisted that Rourke take her with him? At least then she would know what was going on instead of sitting here waiting and wondering.

What would she do if something happened to Rourke? In spite of the complications he had brought into her life, she could no longer imagine her life without him. Yet she had no idea if he intended to stay with her once he freed Ana Luisa. For all she knew, he had plans of his own that he hadn’t seen fit to share with her.

Thrusting the thought aside, she tried to concentrate on the book in her hands. She even tried reading it aloud, but it didn’t help. She couldn’t think of anything but Rourke and the wizard’s daughter.

Rourke paced the shadows listening to the footsteps of the night watchman as he made his way from one end of the museum to the other. He had no trouble tracking the man’s whereabouts.

Pausing near the back entrance, he wondered idly what it was like to be an old man, to endure the aches and pains of age, to have one’s health and vigor slowly slip away. He could no longer remember what it had been like to be mortal, to be subject to physical ailments, or to endure injuries that didn’t heal almost immediately.

At midnight, the old man went down into the basement to have a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee. Moments later, Rourke slipped into the museum. He could have entered the building earlier. He could have hypnotized the watchman and sent him away. Now, making his way toward the wing where Ana Luisa’s painting was displayed, he wondered why he hadn’t done so. Was it because he was in no hurry to shoulder the responsibility for Ana, or because he didn’t want to divide his time between Karinna and Ana? Or because, deep down, he knew that, in freeing the wizard’s daughter, he would have to face the wizard again?

Muttering an oath, he turned a corner and entered the wing where Ana waited. He stared at the painting for a moment, thinking how lovely she was, remembering how a few drops of her blood had scorched his tongue. He moved closer to the painting. Was she aware of his presence, or was she deaf and blind to the world around her?

Taking a deep breath, he called her by name.

"Ana Luisa, come to me."

There was a sharp crack as the glass broke in two. Rourke stared in wonder as Ana fell to the floor at his feet, a lovely young woman clad in a flowing white gown.

He knew a sharp stab of fear as she lay there, unmoving, and then, with a shake of her head, she sat up.

She stared up at him for several seconds, her expression blank, and then she frowned. "Jason?" Her voice sounded dry, rusty with disuse. "Jason, is it really you?" she asked in Romanian. "Is the nightmare finally over?"

"Aye. Come, Ana," he said, answering in her native tongue, and taking her by the hand, he lifted her to her feet. "We must go, quickly."

She didn’t argue, but when she tried to follow him, her legs gave way. With a little cry, she stumbled and fell.

Muttering an oath, he swept her into his arms and transported the two of them to the apartment where Karinna waited.

She was free.

The wizard’s head snapped up as he felt the curse he had placed on his daughter’s painting unravel.

Vilnius felt the glass that had encased the painting split in half as if it were his own soul, knew the moment his daughter took her first true breath in three hundred years, just as he knew that it was Rourke who had summoned Ana Luisa from her prison.

Vilnius swore a vile oath, cursing the vampire for meddling in his affairs even as he vowed to avenge himself anew on the creature who had defiled his daughter. There would be no escape from his vengeance this time, not for his daughter, not for the vampire, and not for the puny mortal female who had called Rourke forth from his prison. The vampire was a creature to be reckoned with, Vilnius mused, and more powerful than he had suspected, else he would not have been able to move about within the painting. In so doing, he had given life to the other creatures, as well.

Vilnius shook his head ruefully. He had placed the same curse on both paintings, had done so to give Ana a little taste of freedom within her prison, thinking she would use her witchcraft to bring her world to life. Instead, it had been the vampire who had gathered the strength to move.

He would not make such a foolish mistake again. He would not underestimate the vampire’s power this time, or be swayed by his daughter’s tears.

This time his punishment would be swift and irrevocable.

Kari couldn’t seem to stop staring at the wizard’s daughter. Ana Luisa was, in a word, stunning. She had luminous green eyes, the longest eyelashes Kari had ever seen, and hair that fell over her creamy shoulders in waves of honey-gold silk. She wore a long white gown reminiscent of the kind women had worn in medieval times. The material clung to every voluptuous curve of her slender figure. She looked like some fairy-tale princess come to life.

When Rourke introduced them, Ana Luisa surprised them both by speaking to Kari in English.

"Where did you learn my language?" Kari asked.

"The guard in the museum. His son married an American woman. Every night, he listened to English-language tapes so he could learn his daughter-in-law’s native tongue. I practiced, too," she said with a note of pride. "It gave me something to do."

Kari nodded, glad that the girl spoke English. It would make everything much easier, especially since Rourke wouldn’t be around to translate during the day. Kari was less enthusiastic about the way the girl looked at Rourke, her eyes filled with affection. Although Kari had no idea what Rourke’s feelings for Ana Luisa were, it was obvious that the wizard’s daughter was hopelessly smitten with the vampire. She looked at him, touched him, and spoke his name at every opportunity. Once, meeting Kari’s gaze, Rourke smiled and shrugged, obviously amused by Ana Luisa’s infatuation.