Chapter Thirteen
ELIZABETH WOKE TO the stroke of cool fingers along her cheek, followed by a soft, sweet kiss.
“Wake up, Lizzy-mine. It’s time to go.”
She rose groggily, and dressed, Lukas helping her. He was already fully clothed and wide-awake. Then again, by his own admission, he never slept.
“Will it take long to get there?” she asked, putting on her shoes.
“No. Not usually.” But his tone held a grim note she didn’t like.
“What aren’t you saying?”
His jaw tensed, but he met her gaze. “There are dangers in Vamp City. As you’ve seen.”
“And the place we’re going is dangerous?”
“Every place is potentially dangerous. Less so nearest the outer boundary of the city, but in recent weeks, wolves have been spotted even there.”
“Wolves? I thought there were no animals in Vamp City that you didn’t bring in.”
He grimaced. “Werewolves.”
Her jaw dropped. “Oh, that doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.”
When she was fully dressed, he ushered her downstairs and out the back door. Cyn was nowhere to be seen, but given that it was midnight, she was probably in bed.
Lukas lifted Elizabeth onto the horse, swung up behind her, then headed out across the open ground to the trees beyond. The night was dark, but the moon was bright and illuminated the landscape nicely, turning the dead trees white.
They rode in silence for a time, the knowledge that they were about to part again thick between them.
“Lizzy, I have money,” Lukas said out of the blue.
“That’s nice.”
He snorted. “That wasn’t a random comment, woman. I’m telling you I can support you since you can’t return to your school. And with extra money, you can afford to leave. Fly to Hawaii or something. Get out of D.C., sweetheart, please? Just get away.”
“My parents moved to Florida a few years ago. I can go visit them.”
“That’s good. Then later, if I don’t get out . . .”
“You will.”
But he continued. “Over the centuries, I’ve accumulated far more wealth than I could spend in a dozen human lifetimes. And if I can’t use it, it’s yours, sweetheart. Micah can access it and give you all you need. All you will ever need.”
Money, more than she could ever spend. The thought offered her a measure of comfort but little more. Because without Lukas, she would have nothing that mattered.
“If I need money, I’ll let Micah know.”
Lukas released a less-than-happy breath. “Fair enough.”
They continued in silence, Lukas’s arm tight around her waist, his breath teasing her hair. Finally, he said, “The Boundary Circle is just ahead.”
Oddly, the moonlight only extended another thirty or forty yards, then darkness enveloped the land.
“The shadows? Is that where the world ends? This world?”
“Yes. They’re not shadows. It’s a wall of magic. Until two years ago, I could walk right through it and find myself in the real world.”
“You had to be careful to do that only at night.”
“You’d be right about that.” His arm tightened across her middle, his body turning suddenly rigid.
“What’s the matter?” she breathed.
“We have company. And I don’t mean Micah.”
She looked right and saw nothing, but when she glanced left, she saw them. Three massive, hulking beasts stalking them like prey. Wolves.
Werewolves.