Page 114 of Enchant the Dawn

She loved married life, loved Dominic more with every passing day. He took such good care of her, soothed her fears when she thought about actually delivering the baby, went out in the middle of the night when she had a sudden craving for watermelon, rubbed her back when it ached.

Sometimes she sat in the rocking chair in the nursery, imagining what it would be like to hold her son in her arms. She had little experience with babies and couldn’t wait to hold him close, to suckle him and bathe him and change his diapers. To watch him take his first steps, hear his first word, accompany him to school on his first day at kindergarten.

Lily and Ava came to visit two or three times a week, and she welcomed their company. Ava often brought gifts for the baby—a little brown-and-white-stuffed teddy bear, a cloth book of nursery rhymes, a windup car, a musical mobile for over his crib. Lily, too, brought gifts—a pillow in the shape of a unicorn, a pair of cowboy boots, shirts and socks and shoes. Maddy grinned, thinking she had enough onesies and booties for a dozen babies.

Her parents had come by several times since getting home. She had been nervous at the thought of introducing them to Dominic, but he had turned on the charm, and by the time her mom and dad went home that night, whatever qualms they might have entertained were gone. Both were thrilled at the prospect of having another grandchild. And life was good.

Humming a lullaby, she dressed, grabbed a hat and a book, and stepped outside to read while she waited for Dominic to wake up. It was a lovely day, the sky a bright blue. She moved one of the chairs into the sun, thinking she could read and work on her tan at the same time.

She was halfway through the book when she heard footsteps behind her. She smiled, thinking it was Dominic, let out a yelp when something stabbed her in the arm. Before she could turn around, the world began to spin. She cried Dominic’s name before darkness swept her away.

* * *

Dominic woke with a start. Certain he had heard Maddy call his name, he glanced around the room, but she wasn’t there. Thinking he must have imagined it, he stretched out on the bed, intending to rest for a few more minutes. But first he opened his senses to see what his bride was up to.

Sitting up, he expanded his senses, searching for the link that bound them, but there was nothing there, only emptiness.

Rising, he pulled on a pair of jeans and searched the house, then stepped out into the backyard. The book she’d been reading lay on the grass beside her chair. He sensed she had been there only moments ago. Where was she now?

He lifted his head, nostrils flared. And cursed when he caught a familiar scent.

Jasper! What the hell? The warlock had been a toad the last time he’d seen him. Had someone released him from the spell? he wondered. And then he frowned. Of course, the Elder Knight’s curse would have been broken with his death.

Dammit! Why hadn’t he thought of that sooner? Why hadn’t Ava?

And what the hell was he going to do now?

Chapter 47

Maddy regained consciousness slowly. Her head felt stuffed with cotton, and when she tried to sit up, she couldn’t. A single candle flickered across the room. The dim light hurt her eyes.

Fear spiked through her when a man stepped out of the shadows in the corner. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”

“Don’t you recognize me? Perhaps if I hopped around the room?”

Jasper! She fought the wave of panic that swept through her when she saw the malevolent expression on his face. She tried to speak but couldn’t form the words.

“This is how it’s going to be,” he said, his voice as cold as the grave. “I’m going to allow you to call the vampire. You’re to say exactly what I tell you and nothing more. Do you understand?”

Maddy nodded.

“Don’t try any tricks. He won’t be able to locate you, so trying to keep him on the phone won’t do any good.” He grinned wolfishly. “I learned a lot from the Elder Knight. Neither the witch nor the vampire will be able to set you free.”

She cringed when his hands grasped her shoulders and pulled her into a sitting position. He muttered some words in a language she didn’t understand, and breathed a sigh of relief as part of whatever spell he had put her under dissolved.

“Call the vampire,” he said, thrusting his cell phone into her hand. “I’ll tell you what to say.”

* * *

Dominic grabbed his phone on the first ring, hoping it was Maddy, but he didn’t recognize the number. He was about to ignore the call when something prompted him to answer it. “Hello?”

“Dominic, I’m with Jasper.”

“Maddy! Are you all right?”

“He’s going to kill me unless you bring Ava to him,” she said, her voice wooden.

She was under some sort of spell. The thought angered him almost as much as it worried him.

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