Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-eight

The faint click of a key in a lock followed by a small draft of air brought Gideon out of a nightmare-free sleep, the third he had enjoyed since the messy ending of the Colony case. Make that since meeting Amelia. Coincidence? I think not.

He opened his eyes but he did not move. Something felt different. Yes, the intruder had just entered room ten via the parking lot door, but this was another sort of different.

It hit him with a disorienting rush. He was in the wrong bed.

He had promised himself that as soon as Amelia fell asleep he would move to the other bed. Instead, he had drifted into a heavy sleep—in her bed. Even more astonishing was the fact that Amelia was also asleep. She had not awakened in a screaming nightmare.

Fascinating. But he would ponder it later. First he had to deal with the uninvited guest in room ten.

Reluctantly he eased himself away from Amelia’s soft curves and sat up with care, trying not to make any noise. There was a faint squeak from the bedsprings but the intruder did not pause. The shadows shifted on the floor when a figure moved past the partially open connecting door.

He reached for his cane and got to his feet, profoundly grateful that he had put on his briefs before getting back into bed with Amelia. He did not consider himself to be unduly modest, but the thought of confronting the intruder while nude was unsettling, especially since he was pretty sure he knew who was in the other room.

He crossed to the connecting door and pulled it open. The light that he had left on in the bathroom in room ten glinted on the large knife the intruder gripped in both hands.

“Good morning, Ms. Shipley,” he said. “A little early to be up trying to kill me, isn’t it?”

At the sound of his voice, Katy Shipley turned toward him. In the dim light her eyes had a vacant expression. She was no longer the friendly tourist trying to shake off a bad divorce. She looked like a woman who was under a spell.

“You murdered Merlin,” she said. Her voice was flat, utterly devoid of emotion. “I am his bride. He chose me above all others. Now I must avenge him. Then I will follow him into death.”

She moved forward, the knife poised to strike. Gideon went into his talent, trying for a pulse of energy, not a killing blow.

“Gideon, wait,” Amelia said from the bed.

It was too late.

Katy stiffened as the fierce gale of nightmares swept over her. Without a word she crumpled to the floor.