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still haunted her. Samantha couldn’t be dead. If she was, it was all Rory’s fault.

The Matriarch had let her bathe and sleep. Then, The Matriarch had given her some food

and told her that they would be meeting Leon. How would he react when he saw her? Rory

didn’t even want to think about it, let alone live it.

She followed The Matriarch down the long seemingly endless corridor. Rory glanced

down at the sundress The Matriarch had given her to wear. The Matriarch had even tied her long

red hair back with a ruby red ribbon. The corkscrew platform sandals Rory wore, were making

her feet ache. If she weren’t careful, she’d twist her ankle.

“Leon will accept you with open arms, Aurora. Why, you look like a breath of fresh air in

that dress. Leon would be crazy not to like you. Mark my words, it will be love at first sight and

you will have one legendary love story to tell your grandchildren.”

“Grandchildren?” Suddenly, the world tipped beneath Rory. The Matriarch caught her by

the elbow before she could fall flat on her face.

“Watch your step, Aurora. You mustn’t hurt yourself before I present you to Leon.”

“Yes, Matriarch.” Rory had learned to not argue with The Matriarch. It made life much

easier. Even though she’d only been in the company of The Matriarch for a few hours, Rory was

bright enough to realize that The Matriarch was one woman that you didn’t cross.

“Ah, here we are. These are Leon’s quarters until he fully recuperates from his little

incident.”

Incident? Had it suddenly slipped The Matriarch’s mind that Rory had shot Leon in the

gut? Rory shook her head and waited while The Matriarch’s personal handmaiden opened the

door for them. Rory closed her eyes and allowed The Matriarch to guide her into the room.

Silence. Cold silence.

Rory could feel the tension rippling through the air. She cracked one eye open and then

the other. Leon was lying on a med bed and there was a scary looking man standing beside the

med bed.

“Rick, Leon, allow me to present, Aurora.” Rory forced out a weak smile. Then, she

curtsied. The Matriarch had run over the whole procedure with Rory before they had left the

Jade Flower.
She knew her part well, and she knew if she didn’t pull off a grand performance,

The Matriarch would be displeased. And Rory was smart enough to know that she didn’t want to

tick off The Matriarch.

“Grandmother, you have chosen well. Aurora is the picture of perfection.” The man

standing next to Leon gave her a syrupy fake smile. Rory shivered and crossed her arms over her

chest. The Matriarch pulled her toward her and shoved her toward the chair next to Leon’s bed.

“Aurora, I will leave you to talk and bond with Leon. Frederick, come with me, we have

matters of great importance to discuss.” The Matriarch moved over and grabbed a hold of Rick’s

arm. To Rick’s credit, he also knew that The Matriarch always got her own way. The door

whooshed shut softly behind them.

Rory felt as if she were having a heart attack. She sat down in the chair and clenched her

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hands tightly in her lap. Then, she began to bite on her lips. She looked everywhere but at Leon.

What did you say to a guy you just shot not twenty-four hours earlier?

“We will be married tomorrow. Did you know that?” His soft voice made her jump. She

sat back down on the chair and looked at him.

“NO.”

He stared at her. In fact, he hadn’t stopped staring at her since she entered the room.

“You will have to be a model wife to me.”

She looked down at her hands. “Whatever,” she muttered beneath her breath.

“Look at me!”

She stared up at him, with her heart jumping up in her throat. “What do you want me

for?”

“I never asked for you. My grandmother thinks she’s giving you to me as a gift. And my

grandmother always gets what she wants. It would be in your best interest to go along with it. I

will not force myself on you. Even I’m bright enough to realize that you are a mere child. But the

day will come when you will be my wife in every sense of the word. Aurora, you will bear me

many children.”

“No.”

“Don’t talk back to me. Rule one. My grandmother will not appreciate that behavior in

you.”

“My family will rescue me.”

“Your family is nothing. No one has ever gone up against The Anasazi Triad and lived to

see another day.”

“You’ve never met my family. My aunt is the greatest bounty hunter in the known

worlds. She will kill your father.”

Fury shone in Leon’s eyes. He sat up and reached for her wrist. Pulling her roughly

toward him, he caught her gaze and held it. Damn, he was awfully strong for just being shot. She

grimaced.

“Don’t you dare speak of my father in that manner! Your aunt is not worthy to lick his

boots. You will hold your tongue, unless you can think of other things to discuss. You do not

even deserve my forgiveness, and yet....” His voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry that I shot you. I didn’t think the gun was loaded with real bullets.”

“That much was apparent when you actually discharged the bullets into my gut. I know

you did not hurt me on purpose. And to that end, we might be able to have a harmonious married

life. But you must know one thing.”

“What?”

“Your loyalty will be to me. Not to my grandmother, but to me. In the end I will be the

only one that will care whether you live or die. My father told me I could kill you once my

grandmother passes away…and she will, she’s over one hundred years old. The time is ticking

away for her. But I don’t want to kill you. You have fire within you. Fire that I can use to fan the

flame of The Triad. You will be the mother of my children. Do you understand?”

“Never.”

“You may be defiant for awhile, but I assure you, you will bend to my way, eventually.”

Rory tried swallowing past the lump in her throat. She coughed. “You have no heart.”

“I forgave you. If I had no heart, I would want you dead.”

She couldn’t stand listening to him one more minute. She pulled away from him and

stood up. Folding her hands in front of her, she began pacing. “Why did they take me? What do I

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have that The Triad wants?”

“I don’t know. My grandmother must have seen some form of talent in you. You are

beautiful…more beautiful than any woman I have ever seen. But grandmother would not have

had you taken from your father for your looks alone. She must know that you have good genes.

There has to be something unique about your family line.”

Rory searched her mind for the special quality. No. It couldn’t be. Of course, she knew

her Aunt Charlotte was a powerful telepath among other things, but Rory only had strange

prophetic visions by way of her dreams. Rory hadn’t told anyone about her visions, except for

her father. She gasped, and doubled over. Why would her father tell The Triad that she was

gifted? Why? Hot tears stung her eyes. If only she’d seen her own future.

“What’s the matter?” Leon’s color was improving. “You look like you were poisoned.

Should I call for the doctor?”

Rory let out a sound that strangely resembled a whimper. The tears she was holding back

trickled down her face.

“Aurora, I order you to sit down!”

She looked over at Leon. The walls felt as if they were closing in on her. “I can’t....” She

shook her head and walked back to the chair. Why was she trying to fight Leon? There was no

sense in fighting. She couldn’t escape.

“Drink that water in the glass, you look like you’re going to pass out.”

Her hands shook as she reached for the glass. She didn’t know how she managed it, but

she drank the water down in one giant slurp.

“Why do you care? You should have let me pass out.”

“No. My grandmother would view that as a weakness. Whatever happens, Aurora, you

can’t be viewed as a weakling by my grandmother. If you dissatisfy her, she will kill you. She

has killed many people. You will only be another dart on her game board.”

“No, you didn’t answer my question. Why do YOU care?”

“My grandmother was right in one thing. You are exactly what I would have chosen in a

wife. You’re a bit young, but the years will pass. I can wait.”

Rory’s heart stalled in her chest. She looked at him with her breath coming in ragged

gasps. “You’re just as much of a monster as The Matriarch.”

“But I am a monster that you will want on your side. There are many more horrible things

I can do to you. It is better for me to love you than to hate you. Wouldn’t you agree, Aurora?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why? I can’t very well call you girl or wife, as my father pointed out to me.”

She looked away from him. “You should call me Miss Mallory. You don’t deserve to

have such a familiar tone with me.”

“No?” he laughed. “I think I will find married life with you quite entertaining. We are

going to be MARRIED!” He raised his voice as he accentuated the last word. “If that doesn’t

entail me to some form of familiarity, I don’t know what does.”

She hated him. But she was relieved that he didn’t hate her for almost killing him. She’d

never killed anyone in her life before and the thought of what she’d done had sickened her.

“Now what?” She pinned him with her gaze.

“Are your eyes the color of violets?”

She jerked her face away out of his gaze. “Yes.” Why had he been so interested in the

color of her eyes? If he really was beginning to like her, she could be in more trouble than she’d

originally thought. “They are a family trait.” A trait shared by those that were the highly gifted

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ones. But she couldn’t tell him that. The less he knew, the better.

“Take my hand.”

“The hell I will.”

“You should have your mouth washed out with soap. You have a very foul mouth for a

girl of your tender age.”

“I’ve been abducted in the middle of the night. I’ve watched my father fall helplessly

down in front of me and I’ve gone through even more hell than that while your grandmother put

me through her bloody mind games! Forgive me if I don’t behave like a proper young lady.”

“Watch your tongue. I hate foul mouthed sluts.”

“Slut? Keep calling me that, and I’ll be glad that I shot you!”

Leon smiled. “Let’s not tell lies to hurt each other. Like I said before, I want to be on

your side. Just bend with me and all will be well. And trust me, I know you aren’t a slut. First of

all you’re too young, and secondly, my grandmother would only give me a virgin for my wife.”

Rory wanted to vomit. She unclenched her hands, and smoothed the wrinkles out of her

dress. “You must hold my hand so that my grandmother will believe you are the light of my life.

She wants us to get along. Why disappoint her? Besides, I will ask her to leave you here with me.

You’re safer with me, than you are with her. So why not be a good girl?”

“Fine.” She reached for his hand. It was unusually warm beneath hers.

“Your hands are SO small.”

“And yours are rather big,” she remarked.

“I’m only twenty, so really there isn’t a big age difference between us. Give it three or

five years and it will seem like nothing at all.”

“Three or five] years?” She couldn’t help but screech the last bit.

“Well, maybe two. You’ll be well and old enough to share my bed when you’re sixteen.”

Rory couldn’t breathe. She didn’t want to even think about what he was talking about.

The horror of it made her want to puke. Didn’t Leon realize that she didn’t love him?

“I’ll never love you.”

“That’s fine. You’ll want me to love you, though if you want to live an untroubled life.”

“I already told you, my family is coming for me. They won’t give up on me.”

“Oh, yes, they will. If they don’t, The Triad will kill them all. I’m not giving you up. I

want you, now that I see how beautiful you are. I won’t ever let you go. So resign yourself to

your fate, Aurora.”

A chill ran up and down her spine. Leon’s tumultuous dark blue eyes stared almost right

though her. “Stop looking at me.”

“Never. I could stare at you for hours. Just be thankful I’m not a sick and twisted cookie,

or I’d be doing much, much more than just staring.”

Her skin crawled. She was just about to tell him off when the sound of the door

whooshing back open caught her attention. She turned her head and met the happy gaze of The

Matriarch.

“Ah. Leon, you look much better. I can see that your bride to be is bringing the color

back into your cheeks. Splendid. Simply splendid. The sight of you two together warms my

heart.”

Rory couldn’t help but wonder how it could warm The Matriarch’s frozen shriveled

prune like heart.

“Where is my father?” Leon asked.

“He had other matters to attend to. Come, Aurora. We must go now.”

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“No. Grandmother, I want Aurora to stay here with me.” At Leon’s announcement,

delight shone in The Matriarch’s coal black eyes.

“Well, if that is your wish, how could I possibly deny you in your condition? I suppose