Page 79 of Killing Time

“Only Lana,” he replied. “But we’re in this together — she’s the reason I knew anything about Jasper’s plans in the first place. He told her what he wanted to do, that once the curse was broken, she could look forward to being his consort.”

And how did Lana feel about that? True, it sounded as though she’d had feelings for theprimus,but could she really allow herself to continue to care for him when he’d just shown he was capable of cold-blooded murder?

Ruby’s full mouth twisted in distaste, and Seth couldn’t really blame her for the reaction. He still couldn’t make himselfunderstand why any woman — even a Wilcox witch — would think that being theprimus;sconsort was a remotely good idea.

“And as soon as she left Jasper’s house, Lana came and told me what he had planned,” Adam continued. “She put every spell of protection and secrecy and stealth she could think of on me and my car so I could drive down here and tell you what was happening.”

Well, if Lana had done that, then maybe she wasn’t quite as keen on being theprimus’snext wife as she used to be.

“That explains why I didn’t sense you until you were much closer than you should have gotten before the wards went crazy,” Ruby said. If she was at all disconcerted that a Wilcox — even one strengthened by a variety of protective enchantments — had driven past all the barriers she and the elders had put up, she didn’t show it. “So…how much time do we have?”

Adam replied right away, “Utter dark of the moon is at twenty minutes past one.”

A glance at his watch told Seth the hour was now a little before nine in the evening. “That’s not so bad,” he said. “Even with having to drive back up to Flagstaff, we should still get there a few hours early.”

“We’re going to need all that time,” Adam said grimly. “Lana told me she’ll need to put as many protective spells on you as possible so you’ll have even a chance of getting into Jasper’s house without being detected.”

Although this sounded like a good idea, Seth couldn’t help hesitating.

“And you’re sure she’s really on our side, that this isn’t some sort of trap?”

Surprisingly, Adam only grinned. “Remember, I know when people are lying to me. She’s sincere in wanting to help. I think her feelings about Jasper suffered a sea change once she learnedwhat he was planning, what he’s capable of. Now she only wants to get Devynn out of there.”

A glance over at Ruby told Seth that she seemed to believe what Adam Wilcox was saying, because she inclined her head ever so slightly, as if to show that she didn’t harbor any doubts as to the truth of his words. Even though she didn’t have Adam’s exact gift, her instincts were still probably heightened by the burgeoningprimapower she carried within her, and therefore she would have a better read on someone’s character than most people.

All right, then.

Now or never.

Seth’s jaw clenched. “Let’s get Devynn away from that son of a bitch.”

19

BLACK MOON RISING

I was goingto die in Jasper Wilcox’s basement…and there wasn’t a single damn thing I could do about it.

Right after he’d delivered that hideous revelation about me being his dark moon sacrifice, he must have put some kind of sleep spell on me, because I couldn’t remember a single thing about what happened next, only that the entire world had gone black.

But then I awoke in darkness and realized I couldn’t move. Sometime during those intervening hours, he’d moved me down to the basement and laid me on top of the long table Seth and I had noticed earlier, the one draped all in black.

Well, I supposed the dark fabric would hide a lot of bloodstains.

It seemed Jasper wasn’t content to rely on only his magic to hold me in place, since my ankles were bound together and more ropes encircled my wrists, ensuring that I wasn’t going anywhere. Already my arms were tired from being held down in such an unnatural position, flung as wide as they could go with my hands almost off the edge of the tabletop, but I had a feeling that aching muscles would soon be the least of my problems.

Utter silence down here. In my dreams, I’d seen figures in hooded robes, but it seemed the partygoers hadn’t yet shown up, because as far as I could tell, no one else currently occupied the basement.

Maybe they were all upstairs having cocktails and canapés before they headed down here to watch Jasper Wilcox sacrifice me to whatever gods he thought might be listening.

I swallowed and realized how dry my throat was. Somehow I doubted that whenever Jasper and his flock appeared, they’d worry too much about giving me something to drink.

After all, why would they care if their victim was thirsty when she was about to be very, very dead?

My entire body was chilled, although I didn’t know for sure whether the icy sensations in my limbs and my core were because of dread over my approaching doom, or simply that the basement was freezing.

I remembered that it had snowed earlier. Not a heavy snow, nothing to cause massive drifts or even leave much accumulation on the sidewalks and the roads, but it still would have been enough to make the temperature outside positively icy.

But again, it didn’t matter if I was cold, did it? Soon I’d be dead, and then I’d have a lot more to worry about.

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