her hand to the gold filigree heart at her throat. It, too, had been a gift from Grigori. He had given her so much, but his love was the best gift of all.
She wandered through the mall. It felt good to be out and about, to be in the company of ordinary people doing ordinary things. She passed young women in business attire who were obviously on a lunch break from work, mothers with small children, and elderly women sitting on benches, watching the world go by. She felt a pang of regret as she smiled at a little girl with long blond pigtails. If she accepted the Dark Gift from Grigori, she would never have a child of her own. She thrust the thought from her mind. She had come here to keep from thinking of Grigori and what he might be doing with his ancient lover. She turned back to the task at hand. What kind of wedding gift did one buy for a vampire couple, anyway? They didn't need dishes, glassware, or silverware, had no need for crock pots or toasters or popcorn poppers. New bedding was a possibility, but she didn't know if they rested in beds or - she shuddered - in coffins. Finally, she settled on a crystal vase and a pair of matching candelabra.
Pleased with her purchases, she stopped at Mrs. Field's and bought a dozen dark-chocolate-chip cookies. Another simple human pleasure that would be denied her if she accepted the Dark Gift.
She was leaving the mall when she had the sudden, unshakable feeling that she was being watched. She glanced over her shoulder, remembering the monster who had kidnapped her, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Could Khira be trusted to keep her word and leave her alone while Grigori was with her?
She had just convinced herself she was imagining things when a man seemed to materialize out of the crush of people walking through the parking lot. He positioned himself squarely in her path. She stopped abruptly, heart pounding.
He raised a placating hand. "I didn't mean to frighten you. You have nothing to fear from me."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"I'm Tom Duncan."
Tom Duncan. The vampire hunter. Her heart seemed to drop to her feet. "Why are you following me?"
He fell into step beside her. "A friend of yours asked me to keep an eye on you."
"Oh?"
"Ed Ramsey."
"I see." Bless you, Edward, she thought. "Well, thank you."
Duncan blew out a breath. "Hell of a mess," he muttered.
Marisa nodded. "This is my car," she said. "Oh, I guess you know that."
He grinned at her. "I'll follow you home, make sure you get there all right."
"Thank you."
"You won't have to worry much longer."
"What do you mean?"
"We're working on a plan to dispose of Khira permanently."
Marisa's eyes widened. "Are you crazy?"
"It's gotta be done. There's no telling how many she's killed," Duncan said flatly. "We rarely find a body when a master vampire makes a kill. But there's been a sharp increase in missing persons in the last few weeks. I'm not talking runaways. I'm talking men with good, steady jobs. Women with kids at home. People who have no reason to suddenly disappear."
Marisa felt suddenly faint. It was Khira. She knew it was. She braced her hand against the car door. What if Grigori was also responsible? She knew he was capable of violence. She had seen it firsthand. She knew he had killed when he'd first been made vampire, but he had assured her he hadn't killed anyone in over a hundred years, and she had believed him. Had it all been a lie?
She felt suddenly faint. "What about Edward? And Grigori? You aren't..."
"No. Just Khira."
"Everything all right here?"
Marisa glanced past Duncan to see a security guard in a green cart. "Yes, fine," she said. "Thank you." Unlocking her car, she opened the door and put her package on the seat.
Duncan waited until the guard had driven away before saying, "She's ruthless. A female Kristov."
"I know. Edward and Grigori are both afraid of her."
"Yeah, well, I can understand that."
"Grigori wasn't sure that they..." Her words trailed off as a young mother with two children approached. The woman looked at Marisa and Duncan curiously a moment before unlocking her car and settling her children inside. She glanced at them again before sliding into the driver's seat and pulling out of the parking lot.
"Go on," Duncan said.
"I was saying that Grigori wasn't sure they could destroy her, even with their combined