Page 33 (1/2)

Marisa poured herself a cup of coffee and carried it to the table She had kept Grigori&039;s hours for so long, it seeh in the sky She s on the table Edward and Kelly were getting ether

Though she wasn&039;t in the o out and buy theori, and if Khira would allow hiet excited about anything these days No , all she could think of was Grigori Grigori living in Khira&039;s house, hunting with her Grigori had told him that Khira was a sensual creature, one who didn&039;t like being told no They had once been lovers, Grigori and Khira The thought of the two of theer in her heart

She slammed her hand on the table She couldn&039;t think of it any , she left the house A day of shopping was just what she needed It had been a long ti Grigori was iift frohts before the wedding, he had brought her a gift every day: white roses by the dozen, yellow ones, pink ones, a single, perfect, bloodred rose, chocolates and perfume, a diamond necklace that was so beautiful it took her breath away Her car was the ht he had given it to her

He had given her a sht, handed it to her with a wink

When she had asked him what it was, he had told her to open it and see Sto with excitement, she had lifted the lid A key rested on a bed of blue velvet She had looked up at hihed softly and told her it was the key to her new car She had thought he was kidding until he told her it was parked out front When she had gone to theto look, she had seen two Corvettes parked at the curb, a sleek black one and a red convertible When she had asked him which one, he told her to take her pick She had scolded hi it must have cost a fortune to buy two such expensive cars "I have a fortune, cara mia," he had replied "Let ree heart at her throat It, too, had been a gift froiven her so ift of all

She wandered through the ood to be out and about, to be in the cos She passed young women in business attire ere obviously on a lunch break fro on benches, watching the world go by She felt a pang of regret as she stails If she accepted the Dark Gift froori, she would never have a child of her own She thrust the thought froori and what hewith his ancient lover She turned back to the task at hand What kind of wedding gift did one buy for a valassware, or silverware, had no need for crock pots or toasters or popcorn poppers New bedding was a possibility, but she didn&039;t know if they rested in beds or - she shuddered - in coffins Finally, she settled on a crystal vase and a pair ofcandelabra

Pleased with her purchases, she stopped at Mrs Field&039;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 thethat she was being watched She glanced over her shoulder, re theout of the ordinary Could Khira be trusted to keep her word and leave her alone while Grigori ith her?

She had just convinced herself she was is when athrough the parking lot He positioned himself squarely in her path She stopped abruptly, heart pounding

He raised a placating hand "I didn&039;tto fear from me"

"Who are you? What do you want?"

"I&039;m Tom Duncan"

Tom Duncan The vampire hunter Her heart see me?"

He fell into step beside her "A friend of yours asked me to keep an eye on you"

"Oh?"

"Ed Raht "Well, thank you"

Duncan blew out a breath "Hell of a mess," he muttered

Marisa nodded "This is rinned at her "I&039;ll follow you hoht"