Page 85 of Shadows of Eternity

Leia paced the floor of her old bedroom, her irritation rising with every step. What right did her father have to interfere in her life? She was a grown woman, for goodness sakes, not a child. She didn’t need her father to make decisions for her.

She glanced at the big old oak tree outside her window. She had often used it to sneak out of the house when she was a teenager. Why not now? She eased the window open and slipped out. It was an easy climb to the ground. Once she was away from the house, she would call Rohan to come and get her.

She had just reached the edge of the side yard when Josiah materialized in front of her.

“Well, well, well,” he drawled as his hand closed firmly over her forearm. “I was wondering how to get you outside and here you are.”

“Let me go!” she shrieked.

“I don’t think so.”

Heart pounding with fear, Leia opened her mouth to scream. And the world went black.

Rohan muttered an oath as the link between himself and Leia was abruptly cut-off. He froze in mid-stride. Both his sire and ahunter had been on her trail. Either one could have knocked her unconscious. Or killed her. Those were the only two things that could keep him from contacting her.

For a moment, fear held him immobile. And then he followed the blood link that bound them together, until it, too, disappeared. What the hell? How was that even possible?

Rohan glanced at the large white house where she should have been, but she wasn’t inside. He was about to knock on the front door when Trent Frumusanu pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the car.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Rohan growled.

“Looking for Leia. I’ve been following her. I was at her house earlier and just missed the best chance I’ve had yet to take Josiah’s head. She drove away in a blue Subaru with a man I guessed is her father. I figured she’d be here.”

“She isn’t. Josiah’s got her.”

“The hell you say!”

“That’s not the worst of it. I can’t connect with her.” Rohan didn’t want to think about what that might mean. He tried to connect with Josiah but to no avail. The link between them had been closed.

Rohan glanced at the house as the front door opened and Brian Winchester stepped out on the verandah, a revolver in his hand.

“Get the hell off my property, Stillwater, or whoever you are. My daughter’s not marrying you.”

“Your daughter’s gone,” Rohan growled.

Winchester snorted. “She’s in her room.”

Rohan shook his head. “Not anymore.”

With a frown, Winchester went back into the house. He returned mere moments later, his brow furrowed. “Where did you take her?”

“I didn’t take her anywhere.” Damn, he was wasting time standing here, yet he was at a loss to know what to do next. He was helpless if he couldn’t connect with her. She could be scared, in pain, and he’d never know it. She had to be with Josiah, he thought. That was the only answer that made sense. It filled him with a cold sense of dread.

Winchester stared at the man standing beside Rohan. “Who the hell are you?”

Trent glanced at Rohan. “Should I tell him the truth?”

“Not if you want to see tomorrow.”

“I’m Trent Frumusanu. My wife is a friend of Leia’s.”

Winchester looked at Rohan again. “Dammit, where’s my daughter?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be here.”

Winchester’s eyes narrowed ominously as his finger curled around the trigger. “I’ll give you just three seconds to tell me where she is.”

Rohan sucked in a breath. The man wasn’t bluffing.

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