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Chapter 1

There was nothing the least bit remarkable about the old Underwood Art Gallery located on the corner of Third Street and Pine And nothing particularly res displayed inside For the most part, the works of art were uninspired scenes of landscapes and seascapes and an occasional still life, except for one rather large painting in the back of the gallery It depicted a tall, fair-haired h a heavily wooded forest that bordered a calm blue lake

The painting was by an artist na in the Moonlight Karinna Ada piece in that the colors seereens and golds bright and cheerful when she observed the painting during the afternoon, the hues allery in the evening The changes in hue were especially puzzling since they had nothing to do with the gallery's interior lighting and see itself It was most peculiar, and it had drawn Kari back to Underwood's tiain

Tonight was no different Kari stood in front of thefroside the narroooden dock to the gray stone castle perched high atop a grassy hill A shaggy black and white dog slept in the shade on the north side of the castle, and a gray kitten frolicked in a bed of flowers A laray smoke curled up frorazed in a large grassy field, its coat shining like silver in the ht The horse looked so real, she wouldn't have been surprised to see it galloping across the greensward

Kari had visited the Underwood gallery every night after work for the last teeks And every night, thehad been either in a different pose or in a different location, first walking in thefroht fro on a large rock near the water, next sitting on the edge of the dock

Tonight, he was astride the horse, his head turned to look back at the castle on the hill Moonlight shimmered in his hair, which fell past his shoulders He wore a loose-fitting white shirt, snug buff-colored breeches, brown boots, and a long black cloak that fell in graceful folds over the horse's hindquarters His hair was dark blond, as were his brows, above crystalline blue eyes that were so vibrant and alive, it was hard to believe they were just paint and canvas He had a sharp nose, a sensual , square jawline He was a remarkably handsome creature, and she often wondered if the artist had used a live ination

Kari ure of the man moved from place to place So far, she hadn't been able to detered such a reht not be a part of the painting itself, but perhaps a cutout figure that could be moved and posed at will But she had quickly dis, just like the boat, the dog, the kitten, the horse, and the castle She wondered if the artist had painted several versions of the saed them from time to time, just to mystify the public, but that hardly seemed likely Perhaps Vilnius had just used the sa were following you, like the ones in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion

With a shake of her head, Kari glanced at her watch The gallery would be closing in a fewin front of the painting for almost an hour!

When she looked back at the canvas, theat her

Startled, Kari took a step backward, then leaned forward, her eyes narrowing as she studied the figure His lips see the words help me

That did it, she thought She was losing her ures did not move, nor did they speak Filled with a sudden cold fear, Kari turned and ran out of the gallery

She was breathless by the ti behind the wheel, she locked the door, then drove home as if pursued by demons It wasn't until she was safely inside her own house, with the front door securely locked behind her, that sanity returned She was behaving irrationally, letting her is didn't o back to the gallery and the ed He wouldn't move, he wouldn't look at her, and he definitely wouldn't speak!

Blowing out a sigh, she went into the bathroo on the water in the tub, she added a capful of bubble bath, then lit a blue candle Blue for serenity and harmony and to soothe a troubled mind And her mind was more than troubled It just wasn't nor And, as if it wasn't bad enough that thethe day, he had started haunting her dreaht

With the candle glowing softly and the bathtub filled alrant bubbles, Kari stepped into the water for a long, leisurely soak She had been working too hard That's all it was, just job-induced stress coination

She closed her eyes It was just stress Nothing to worry about Lots of people suffered from it these days and it was perfectly understandable, ith the state of the econo tensions in the Middle East, and the ongoing investigations into the questionable benefits and possible risks of several high-profile, over-the-counter drugs Add to that the ever-increasing nu distant parts of the earth and it was a wonder the whole world wasn't going quietly insane

Kari blew out a sigh of relief Stress, she thought again Of course, that's all it was She wasn't going crazy after all

Chapter 2

The gallery had closed for the night Now that he was free to h the painting's lush landscape, searching, as always, for a way out, even though he knew there were only two avenues of escape, and both were beyond his power to control He had been trapped inside this painted hell for three hundred years, cursed to relass until the wizard who had cursed him died, or until a mortal woman called him forth of her own free will

Sunk in the depths of a cold and bitter despair, he walked down to the lake and sat on the rock at the water's edge It was a unique prison, appearing flat to those who viewed it frolass The water, the rocks, the grass, the ani him an illusion of life and freedom