Immortal Sins

She turned over onto her side, thinking how nice and soft the bed was. The sheets smelled of springtime, the blankets were warm, the pillow was downy soft.

Unable to sleep, she got out of bed and tiptoed into the kitchen. She opened the cold box, pulled out a carton of milk, then poured herself a glass. She had never tasted milk like this, nor any that was so cold. She drank it all and wondered if she dared have any more, and then she frowned. Where did the milk come from? And the meat? She hadn’t seen any pigs or chickens or cattle or goats.

With a sigh, she put the glass into the sink and went back to bed, marveling at the plush carpet beneath her bare feet. Snuggled under the covers once again, she thought of Jason, remembered the few nights they had shared, the way he had made her feel, as if she were the most beautiful, intelligent woman in the whole world when, in truth, she had been nothing but a foolish child who had never ventured out of the village where she had been born. In Jason’s arms, she had been unafraid of the future and of her father. In Jason’s arms, anything had been possible until her father found them. She would never forgive Vilnius for the way he had treated her, for what he had done. He had claimed he loved her, but what kind of father magicked his daughter into a painting and left her there for three hundred years? No, she would never understand him or forgive him.

She huddled deeper into the covers. Her father would already know that the spell had been broken. Would he come looking for her? Her magick could not stand against his. Her anger and indignation, even when fueled by three hundred years of captivity, would be no match for his wrath. There was no one to stand between her and her father’s fury save for Jason. He hadn’t been able to protect her last time, yet he was her only hope of salvation. She had no one else to turn to.

The thought hit her with stunning force as, for the first time, it occurred to her that everyone she had ever known save for Rourke and her father had turned to dust long ago. A wave of loneliness washed over her with the realization that her childhood friends, the sweet lady who had raised her after her mother passed away, the young boy who had delivered wood to their home, the village seamstress, the town crier, the men and women who had peddled their wares in the town square were all gone.

There was no one to help her but Jason. Where was he now? Karinna had said he would be back soon, but he had not yet returned. Was he avoiding her? A single tear slid down her cheek. He was the only constant left in her life, all that was familiar in this strange new world. Without him, she would be utterly lost.

And what of her father? Where was he now? Thinking of him made her shiver. If she had to face her father’s wrath again, she wanted Jason Rourke to be there beside her.

Chapter 16

Kari slept until late afternoon. Rising, she padded barefoot into the bathroom, and took a long hot shower. Then, wrapped in a fluffy white robe, she went downstairs and put on a pot of coffee. When it was done, she sat at the table and sipped it slowly, grateful, for the moment, to have nothing to worry about.

After a time, she went into her office and booted up her computer. She went through her e-mail, replying to some, deleting others. Even with a spam filter, it was amazing how much junk she received. When she finished reading her e-mail, she began searching for a coven. She didn’t think it was a good idea to contact the witch she had e-mailed before since neither Rourke nor Ana Luisa wanted Vilnius to know where his daughter was staying, and Kari heartily agreed with their decision. If there was one thing she definitely didn’t want, it was an angry wizard showing up on her doorstep. She had no desire to find herself trapped in a canvas prison for three hundred years!

It took only a few minutes to find a coven located in Oak Bluff, which was about twenty miles away. Kari sent an e-mail to the contact address, informing them that she knew of a young witch who needed a place to stay, as well as instruction about life in the twenty-first century. Taking a deep breath, she hit SEND. All they could do now was wait.

After signing off the Internet, she played several hands of Scorpion. If there was a trick to winning the card game, she hadn’t found it yet. Out of 386 games played, she had won only thirty-six. Not a very good record. After quickly losing four games in a row, she went into the kitchen for another cup of coffee.

Standing at the sink, Kari glanced upward wondering if Ana Luisa was awake yet, and what she was going to do with the girl come Monday morning. Leaving her home alone didn’t seem like a very smart thing to do.

When she finished her coffee, Kari rinsed the cup and put it in the dishwasher and then went upstairs to get dressed. After combing her hair and brushing her teeth, she went to look in on the wizard’s daughter, who was sitting up in bed, looking lovely and lost.

Kari went into her own bedroom, then returned a few minutes later with one of her dresses and a pair of panties. The dress she had bought for Ana Luisa to wear on the plane had been too large. She wasn’t sure her own dress would fit the girl, she was such a tiny thing.

"Here," Kari said, dropping the clothing on the foot of the bed. "Why don’t you get dressed while I fix us something to eat?"

Ana Luisa nodded. "Thank you. I am most grateful for your kindness."

Kari waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "I’m glad to be able to help," she said, though taking care of Rourke and the wizard’s daughter was turning out to be more of an expense than she had anticipated. After breakfast, she would have to take Ana Luisa to the mall and buy the girl some more clothes, underwear, and shoes. And then she needed to return the hearse, go to the market and stock up on groceries, pick up her dry cleaning, and fill her car with gas.

"Where is Rourke?" Ana Luisa asked. "You said he would meet us here."

Kari folded her arms across her chest. "I’m sure he’ll be along later."

"Are you?"

"I can almost guarantee it," Kari said reassuringly.

The girl nodded but she didn’t look convinced.

After a late breakfast, they went to the mall. Ana Luisa proved to have very expensive taste in both clothing and shoes, but the girl took such delight in her new attire that Kari didn’t have the heart to ask her to pick out items that were less expensive. Besides, the girl had spent three hundred years wearing the same dress. It wouldn’t hurt to let Ana Luisa splurge a little.

When they left the mall, Ana was wearing a black ankle-length skirt, a black short-sleeved sweater over a white tank top, and a pair of white sandals.

They stopped for lunch at Kari’s favorite restaurant, where Kari introduced Ana to a triple-decker ham and cheese sandwich and a chocolate malt, both of which the girl polished off in record time.