“I’m a vampire,” he said, his voice faintly mocking. “I was only doing what comes naturally.”
She glared at him when she realized he was repeating what she had said earlier.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, then cocked his head to one side. “What are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your blood. It isn’t human.”
She didn’t deny it.
He rubbed a thoughtful hand across his jaw. “It isn’t vampire.”
“No.”
“I don’t believe in fairies or trolls and you’re too pretty to be a zombie. So, what are you?”
Kay stared at him, wondering what he would do, what he would say, if she told him the truth. She considered a lie, then shrugged. Maybe it would save her. If not, she would be no worse off than she was before. “I’m a werewolf.”
For the first time since he’d been imprisoned, Gideon laughed. The sound echoed off the walls and the ceiling, sounding totally out of place within the squalid confines of the cell.
Kay stared at him, perplexed. “You think that’s funny?”
He blew out a breath. “Don’t you?”
“There’s nothing funny about being a werewolf, or turning fanged and furry when the moon is full, or spending the night in the woods once a month so I don’t hurt anyone, or … stop laughing!”
“Don’t you see? You’re our way out.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Werewolves are supposed to be strong, aren’t they? The next time the moon is full, you can break down the door and get us the hell out of here.” It would have been easy for him to do just that if it wasn’t for the silver chains that rendered him almost powerless. “Can’t you?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried to do anything like that.”
“But you’re strong when you’ve changed? Stronger than normal, right?”
She nodded. It was a strength she had never fully tested, much to her father’s disgust and her aunt’s disappointment.
“Can you control when you change? Or is it involuntary?”
“Totally involuntary. It happens the first night of the full moon whether I want it to or not.” Why did she sound so defensive? She loved being in her wolf form.
“So, do you go totally wolf, or are you aware of what you’re doing? Do you remember it the next day?”
“Yes, I’m still me inside. I can understand what people are saying. And I remember everything that happens, everything I do.”
He dragged his hand across his jaw. “When’s the next full moon?”
“In three days.”
“Damn,” he muttered. “Locked up with a werewolf.” He shook his head, then grinned at her. “It’ll be interesting to see which one of us survives.”
* * *
Chapter 6
Kay studied the vampire sleeping beside her. The fact that he was asleep meant that the sun was up. How long until sundown? she wondered. How much longer could she go without food? Without water? Even now, her stomach was cramping painfully. She had never been this hungry, or this thirsty. How long did it take to starve to death? Would she survive long enough to find out? Could Gideon resist the urge to feed for another two days so they could put his escape plan into effect? Was she strong enough to break down an iron-barred door? She had to be, she thought glumly, because if she couldn’t do it, she was as good as dead.
Cheerful thoughts, she mused, but it was hard to remain upbeat in this morbid place. The smell of urine and fear and unwashed bodies hung heavy in the air. The endless gloom and lack of sunshine was disheartening. Add to that the disquieting knowledge that her cellmate was a vampire and a girl could get depressed mighty fast. How slowly the hours passed when one had nothing to do but contemplate one’s own death!
She ran her hand over her skirt. Like her shirt, it was badly wrinkled. She would have traded her brand-new Prada pumps for a change of underwear and five minutes in a hot shower with a bar of lavender soap and a bottle of shampoo.
“Stop wishing,” she muttered. “It ain’t gonna happen.”
Her father had warned her that leaving the pack would be dangerous, but Kay had insisted she wanted to live on her own for one year. She wished now she had listened to her father and stayed home where she belonged, even though it meant that she would now be engaged to Victor Rinaldi. Of course, all things considered, life with Victor was looking pretty good right about now.
In an effort to distract herself from her surroundings and her dismal future, she concentrated on Gideon again. No doubt about it, he was an extremely attractive man with his long black hair and deep gray eyes, not to mention his quirky sense of humor, which she found endearing.