What? The spa was only three months.”
“The spa had a therapist,” Angus reminded him. “We figure if ye’re on yer own, ye’ll need more time. Of
course, ye could change yer mind about therapy—”
“No. Hell, no.”
“Then four months it is,” Angus said. “All expenses paid. Plus yer usual salary. Ye canna beat that, lad.”
Emma smiled. “We’ll see you at Christmas, and you’ll be so much better.”
Better, his arse. This wasn’t a vacation. It was a bloody exile. Imprisoned on an island like Napoleon. But
then, Napoleon escaped from his first island. Robby figured he could do the same. For a Vamp with
teleportation abilities, it would be easy. And no one would ever know.
teleportation abilities, it would be easy. And no one would ever know.
Chapter Two
Island of Patmos, three months later…
O livia Sotiris eased the back door shut. It had to be about one-thirty in the morning, she
guessed, but her inner clock was still on Central Standard Time.
Her ferry had arrived in the port of Skala that afternoon, and her grandmother was there, waiting with a young
taxi driver who just happened to be single. After driving them the short distance to the Sotiris home in Grikos, the
young Greek had stowed her luggage in the guest room, then taken them to a local taverna.
The whole village had gathered there to gawk at Eleni Sotiris’s American granddaughter. And according to
Eleni, every eligible bachelor on the island was in attendance.
Olivia endured several hours of gentle scolding in broken English from the older villagers. Her crime: not
visiting Yia Yia, her poor grandmother, for six long years. It didn’t matter that she saw her every Christmas in
Houston, where her family lived and her grandmother migrated for a few months every winter. Olivia was still
guilty of breaking her poor old widowed grandmother’s heart.
At the time, her grandmother was bouncing across the dance floor with a line of young men, happily yelling
“Opa!” and breaking plates, so Olivia decided this was one guilt trip she could decline. She drank more wine
than usual, hoping it would help her sleep, but here she was, two hours later, wide awake.
And once again she questioned her reason for coming. Her supervisor had insisted she take time off, but
part of her argued that running away from a problem never solved it. She should have faced the monster again.
She should have told him the game was over. No more sick manipulation. But what if running away just proved
he was still pulling the strings?
A chilly breeze swept off the sea and up the rocky bluff to the courtyard of her grandmother’s house. Olivia
snuggled her white blanket tighter around her green cotton pajamas. She wouldn’t think about him anymore.
He couldn’t find her here.
She breathed in crisp, salty air. It was wonderfully quiet, with just the sound of waves breaking on the beach
and the breeze ruffling the tamarisk trees. So peaceful. Except that her feet were freezing on the tile floor.
She padded across the courtyard. It was much the same as she remembered. On her last visit, the summer
after graduating from high school, her father had built the arbor that covered a small section on the left. The
grapevines had grown, their branches curling like snakes around the wooden frame. In the dark shade of the
arbor, she could barely see the familiar wooden table and four chairs.
The rest of the enclosed courtyard had been left open to the sky, and a half-moon shone down, reflecting off
the whitewashed walls of Yia Yia’s house and the waist-high walls enclosing the patio. Three large clay pots,
each one holding a small lemon tree, lined up along the right wall. Around the base of each tree, green clumps
of parsley and mint grew. In the far corner, a pot of red geraniums stood guard by the stone steps that wound to
the beach below.
Next to the geraniums, she recognized the telescope her father had given Yia Yia for Christmas last
“The spa had a therapist,” Angus reminded him. “We figure if ye’re on yer own, ye’ll need more time. Of
course, ye could change yer mind about therapy—”
“No. Hell, no.”
“Then four months it is,” Angus said. “All expenses paid. Plus yer usual salary. Ye canna beat that, lad.”
Emma smiled. “We’ll see you at Christmas, and you’ll be so much better.”
Better, his arse. This wasn’t a vacation. It was a bloody exile. Imprisoned on an island like Napoleon. But
then, Napoleon escaped from his first island. Robby figured he could do the same. For a Vamp with
teleportation abilities, it would be easy. And no one would ever know.
teleportation abilities, it would be easy. And no one would ever know.
Chapter Two
Island of Patmos, three months later…
O livia Sotiris eased the back door shut. It had to be about one-thirty in the morning, she
guessed, but her inner clock was still on Central Standard Time.
Her ferry had arrived in the port of Skala that afternoon, and her grandmother was there, waiting with a young
taxi driver who just happened to be single. After driving them the short distance to the Sotiris home in Grikos, the
young Greek had stowed her luggage in the guest room, then taken them to a local taverna.
The whole village had gathered there to gawk at Eleni Sotiris’s American granddaughter. And according to
Eleni, every eligible bachelor on the island was in attendance.
Olivia endured several hours of gentle scolding in broken English from the older villagers. Her crime: not
visiting Yia Yia, her poor grandmother, for six long years. It didn’t matter that she saw her every Christmas in
Houston, where her family lived and her grandmother migrated for a few months every winter. Olivia was still
guilty of breaking her poor old widowed grandmother’s heart.
At the time, her grandmother was bouncing across the dance floor with a line of young men, happily yelling
“Opa!” and breaking plates, so Olivia decided this was one guilt trip she could decline. She drank more wine
than usual, hoping it would help her sleep, but here she was, two hours later, wide awake.
And once again she questioned her reason for coming. Her supervisor had insisted she take time off, but
part of her argued that running away from a problem never solved it. She should have faced the monster again.
She should have told him the game was over. No more sick manipulation. But what if running away just proved
he was still pulling the strings?
A chilly breeze swept off the sea and up the rocky bluff to the courtyard of her grandmother’s house. Olivia
snuggled her white blanket tighter around her green cotton pajamas. She wouldn’t think about him anymore.
He couldn’t find her here.
She breathed in crisp, salty air. It was wonderfully quiet, with just the sound of waves breaking on the beach
and the breeze ruffling the tamarisk trees. So peaceful. Except that her feet were freezing on the tile floor.
She padded across the courtyard. It was much the same as she remembered. On her last visit, the summer
after graduating from high school, her father had built the arbor that covered a small section on the left. The
grapevines had grown, their branches curling like snakes around the wooden frame. In the dark shade of the
arbor, she could barely see the familiar wooden table and four chairs.
The rest of the enclosed courtyard had been left open to the sky, and a half-moon shone down, reflecting off
the whitewashed walls of Yia Yia’s house and the waist-high walls enclosing the patio. Three large clay pots,
each one holding a small lemon tree, lined up along the right wall. Around the base of each tree, green clumps
of parsley and mint grew. In the far corner, a pot of red geraniums stood guard by the stone steps that wound to
the beach below.
Next to the geraniums, she recognized the telescope her father had given Yia Yia for Christmas last
Similar Books
Kaldean Chronicles: Kaldean Sunset (Book I)
Maxwell Bond
The Firefighter and the Virgin Princess
Jemma Harte
Heretic
Bernard Cornwell
When Madeline Was Young
Jane Hamilton
Murder in the Smithsonian
Margaret Truman
Dark Inside
Jeyn Roberts
Men in Green Faces
Gene Wentz, B. Abell Jurus
Cops 02 - Love on the Run
Kori Roberts
