her life loving, and she was no exception. She’d begun to fall in love with him, and the way he looked at her confirmed he cared for her too. Once they put this mess behind them, she intended to keep Ky in her life.
“You’ve thought of everything.” Lyn gazed up at him with love in her eyes.
He gave her a weak smile that did not quite reach his light blue eyes.
“I hope so.” He tilted his chin toward the aged patina statue of a shirtless male worker holding a shovel. “We’re here.”
Lyn sat on the concrete base of the statue. “So we are. This is it.”
Ky caught her chin in a gentle grip, tipping her face to take a kiss. “Remember, the second you see me, run down that boardwalk, jump into the car, and leave.” He placed his keys in her hand. “Do not go to your townhouse and do not tell me where you are going. I’ll call you when it is safe, and we’ll meet.”
Lyn nodded and pulled the phone from her purse after she dropped his keys inside. She punched her speed dial, and Ky’s phone vibrated.
Taking his phone from his pocket, he hit the “talk” button but spoke directly to Lyn. “Put your phone back into your purse. Be careful not to accidentally turn it off by bumping it.”
She worried her lower lip between her teeth, and he bent to give her a reassuring kiss on her brow. “I’ll be only seconds away, Lyn. Make sure you greet him in a loud voice, so I’ll know he is here. The minute I hear your voice, I’ll be here.”
“I trust you.”
Lyn wrung her hands in her lap as fear gripped her stomach in a tight hold. She could do this, she could. She had to.
If only she didn’t have to wait alone. Someone next to you always made it easier to have courage. But Ky was a cop, and catching bad guys was what he did, so if he thought this the best way to proceed than she’d trust in the plan like she trusted in him.
She glanced at her watch and her heart leapt into her throat. Sometimes time passed too quickly. “You better go before he sees you.”
Ky shook his phone. “Don’t forget, greet him the minute you see him. Loudly.”
He turned to leave, heading for a copse of Banyan trees. Their thick trunks and roots twisted around each other forming a thick gray mass which would conceal him nicely.
“Good luck,” she called after him, watching him go. “Remember your promise to me. You’re taking me to the Litha Festival. No excuses.”
Ky gave her a smile over his shoulder then disappeared from her view in the thick foliage. She squinted in his direction. Damn, I can’t see him at all.
Fear settled over her and her heart seemed to drop to her toes. The three-quarter moon hung in the sky, casting its unnerving light upon the trees to create ghoulish shadows over the area. A cool breeze blew over the land, bringing with it the musky smell of moss and earth. Tree branches and Spanish moss swayed, changing the shadows below. They seemed to come alive, like spectrally thin forms moving in the night. Daelyn shivered, more from the nightmarish images around her than the draft.
I wish he would just get here, she thought to herself.
Chapter Six
The vampire materialized into the park, and sent his senses out through the thick forest to find his prey. She was the only being in the park. Waiting for him—for death. His mouth watered at the thought.
She’d eluded him for the past week. He’d gone to her home several times, taken some of her clothes hoping to track her by her unique scent, but neither yielded any results. He’d given up on finding her but then his luck changed, and he received her email.
He started down the boardwalk, his pace purposely slow. The vampire let his senses flow over the marshy land, in search of anything unusual—any sign of a trap. This had been a little too easy. Her contacting him, offering to meet. It was almost as if she had a death wish, wanted him to find her. And that made his instincts scream in warning.
His eyes darted from side to side, keeping constant watch. He flowed with a grace of his kind on silent feet, careful not to give his location away as he made his way over the wooden boards.
Acute senses noted every detail of his