Dark Celebration

«I've got her now.» That was Riordan. She recognized the safety of his arms, the warmth of his body, the shape and contour of every part of him. His long hair brushed her face as he bent over her, the sensual touch so familiar to her. She smelled his blood, felt him wince when she snuggled closer.

You're a mess. I need to take care of your wounds. She whispered the invitation to him, turning her head in an effort to inspect his chest.

The healer is here, my love. He will do for me what is necessary. Right now, you stay merged with me. Riordan could feel her spirit sliding away. She'd lost so much blood, but Rafael had packed the wound and they were preparing for the ritual healing ceremony. It wasn't happening fast enough to suit him.

She was too pale, her mind confused. She didn't even seem to realize her very essence was moving away from him, growing weaker with each passing minute.

«Hurry, we don't have much time.»

Gregori arrived, a tall, wide-shouldered man with long flowing hair and a man's face. There were no soft edges to him anywhere. He bent over Juliette without preamble and glanced back at the tall, slender woman who entered the cave after him. «Francesca. Hurry. She is far gone from us.»

Riordan wanted to protest the assessment, but he knew it was true. He was holding Juliette in a ruthless grip, caging her spirit when it wanted to drift away along with the tremendous blood loss.

A wave of the healer's hand and aromatic candles sprang to life all around them. Riordan sat between the two healers, Juliette cradled in his lap, watching as the male simply shed his body and became a white light. The energy was strong, Riordan had to turn his head away. Almost immediately, Francesca did the same. He felt them enter Juliette's body, moving quickly to her neck and throat, examining the great tears in the veins located there.

You have lost too much blood, Riordan, and need healing yourself. Have your brother give her his. He is ancient and strong and his blood will help speed the process, Gregori dictated.

Rafael immediately stepped forward and offered his wrist. Riordan had no choice but to force Juliette. She was too weak to feed on her own, and he doubted if she would willingly take from another-even his brother.

Raven, Mikhail's lifemate, began to chant softly and all around him, Carpathians filled the cave of healing and those not present, joined in from afar to aid Juliette. The ancient words were beautiful as the voices rose in a melodious throat chant. Riordan knew the healers were deeply concerned because they were using the Great Healing Chant, one designed to bring back a lost soul already moving to the next world. He felt tears in his eyes, feeling the power of the unified people, all working toward one purpose-bringing his lifemate back to him-bringing their sister back to them. His voice rose with the others, so many now, like in the old days, using their ancient language, a language secret with rituals almost as old as time.

Ot sis arm ainajanak hany, jama.

Me, ot sisarm kuntajanak, piradak sisarm, gond es irgalom ture.

Opus wakenkek, ot oma sarnank, es ot pus funk, alnak ekam ainajanak, pitanak sisarm ainajanak elava.

Ot sisarm sielanak pala. Ot omboce palaja juta alatt ojuti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak.

Ot en mekem ?ama?: kulkedak otti ot sisarm omboce palajanak.

Rekature, saradak, tappadak, odam, ka?a o numa waram, es avaa owe o lewl mahoz.

Ntak o numa waram, es mozdulak, jomadak.

Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvinak, ecidak alatt o juti, kinta, es szelemek lamtijaknak.

Fazak, fazak no o saro.

Juttadak ot sisarm o akarataban, o'sivaban, es o sielaban.

Ot sisarm sielanak ka?a engem.

Kuledak es piwtadak ot sisarm.

Sayedak es tuledak ot sisarm kulyanak.

Nenam coro; o kuly torodak.

0 kuly pel engem.

Lejkkadak o ka?ka salamaval.

Molodak ot ainaja komakamal.

Toja es molana.

Han ca?a.

Manedak ot sisarm sielanak.

Al?dak ot sisarm sielanak o komamban.

Al?dam ot sisarm numa waramra.

Piwtadak ot En Puwe tyvijanak es sayedak jalleen ot elava ainak majaknak.

Ot sisarm ela jalleen.

Ot sisarm wenca jalleen.

My sisters body is a lump of earth close to death.

We, the clan of my sister, circle her with care and compassion.

Our healing energies, ancient words of magic and healing herbs bless my sister's body, keep it alive.

But my sister's soul is only half. Her other half wanders in the nether world.

My great deed is this. I travel to find my sister's other half.

We dance, we chant, we dream ecstatically, to call my spirit bird and to open the door to the other world.

I mount my spirit bird, we begin to move, we are under way.

Following the trunk of the great Tree, we fall into the nether world.

It is cold, very cold.

My sister and I are linked in mind, heart and soul.

My sisters soul calls to me.

I hear and follow her track.

Encounter I the demon who is devouring my sister's soul.

In anger, I fight the demon.

He is afraid of me.

I strike his throat with a lightning bolt.

I break his body with my bare hands.

He is bent over and falls apart.

He runs away.

I rescue my sister's soul.

I lift my sister's soul in the hollow of my hand.

I lift her onto my spirit bird.

Following up the Great Tree, we return to the land of the living.

My sister lives again.

She is complete again.

Francesca worked to repair the large cuts to arteries and veins while Gregori went after Juliette's spirit. Riordan was reluctant to turn her over to him, afraid she would go the opposite way and be out of his reach forever.

She fears other males. She hides it well, but her past has taught her men are not to be trusted.

Do you trust me? Gregori asked.

Riordan drew back. Gregori. The Dark One. Second in command to the prince. He was a straight-up killer, but then, weren't they all? The De La Cruz brothers had always questioned authority, always fought restrictions, and were powerful, dominating men. They expected-and received-deference from all those around them, and they were always just a little bit harder on their women. Riordan felt it took extraordinary women to stand up to his-and his brothers'-personalities, and it took extraordinary men to get the De La Cruz brothers to follow their lead. Gregori was such a man.

I have complete faith in you.

Do not allow her any chance at resistance.

Riordan had no problems being ruthless. He should have forced obedience earlier when he knew Juliette would go after what she thought was a male jaguar. If he had done so, she would not be at death's door right now.

Juliette's spirit flinched from Gregori's strong personality; the terrible white-hot light that shone on her drew her upward, back toward pain and suffering. She retreated, but Riordan was there, blocking her path to the other world, forcing her back toward the healer. She tried to struggle against Riordan, somewhat hurt that he had sided with a stranger, but she was weak and it was easy to force compliance.

Pain hit her-him-a raw, fiery burn that tore through her body. She screamed and screamed, pleading with Riordan to make it stop. She fought him, her spirit fought him, but he grimly held on, blood-red tears tracking down his face while Gregori and Francesca did their best to work fast in her resisting, struggling body.

This vampire's blood not only carried acid, but also parasites, and he had licked her wounds and punctured her throat with his teeth, depositing the hideous creatures into her bloodstream. They immediately moved to invade every cell-every organ, an army bent on destroying her.

Gregori. Francesca's normally calm voice was filled with alarm. Look where the concentrated attack is.

Riordan couldn't see, the light was too bright. Gregori swore softly in their language. Tell me what is wrong, Riordan demanded.

Our enemies are becoming more sophisticated in their attacks. The parasites are after her eggs. Gregori delivered the news on the Carpathian common path of communication.

The chanters faltered as the enormity of the news struck them. The men looked at one another, and several put their arms around their lifemates.

«Can you save her children?» Mikhail asked.

Raven slipped her hand into Mikhail's waiting for the answer.

We are trying.

Gregori left Francesca to work on broken ribs and the lacerations and burns while he attacked the parasites, driving them away from their prize. It was daunting to see the damage they left in their wake. He could tell Rafael's blood made a difference, giving her starving cells a chance, flooding tissue and organs with strength to help combat the vampire's poison. He worked fast, destroying the parasites where he found them, chasing them when they fled.

When Gregori was certain he had killed the last one, he began to work on the damage, first repairing the ovaries, ensuring no egg had been penetrated. The parasite would attach itself, replicate and feed off the internal organs. They had voracious appetites. It seemed hours, when in reality it was far less with both healers working together, before Gregori was able to regain his own body. Francesca swayed beside him, pale and exhausted. They had worked a miracle in record time.

«She needs more blood and good rich soil,» Gregori said, «but she'll be fine.» He inspected Riordan. «You, however, need a little help.»

«The soil will aid me,» Riordan said. «I can't thank you enough for saving her life. She was far gone from us.»

Mikhail held up his hand for silence. «There is one among you able to heal the earth. Would you step forward?»

The Carpathians looked at one another. Over in the corner where the Dark Troubadours had gathered, Barack took Syndil's hand and led her to the front. «Syndil is capable of healing the earth.»

Mikhail let his breath out slowly. The woman was one of the children Darius had saved, her Carpathian lineage strong and true. She looked nervous, but stood quietly waiting. He smiled at her. «So you are our miracle worker. I saw the land after you worked on it.»

She spread her hands out in front of her. «It is my calling. A small talent, but strong.»

The prince shook his head. «I do not believe it is a small talent. We would give this couple to Mother Earth to heal. If you could choose, where would you put them?»

«Here,» Syndil pointed to a spot without hesitation.

«The soil is rich there, no toxins?»

She frowned, holding her hands over the spot. «It is the best in the caverns, but I can make it better.» She glanced at Riordan. «If you don't mind waiting.»

«Not at all,» Riordan replied. Gregori was healing him even as Mikhail was watching the woman prepare the soil. «I am grateful to you.»

Syndil knelt and closed her eyes, palms down toward the earth. She sang softly, calling to the soil, encouraging the wealth of minerals to double.

Mikhail tightened his fingers around Raven's. My God, Raven. She's the real thing. She can do this, enrich our soil for us.

It takes its toll on her. Look at her.

Syndil swayed, pale, much like Francesca and Gregori, when she stood. Barack reached for her, circling her waist to steady her. Mikhail nodded. We will all aid her as best we can.

Syndil stepped back and smiled at Mikhail. «There. The soil should really help both of them.»

Riordan, holding Juliette to him, floated down into the bed of rich loam. Around them,

the dirt filled in to cover them. Rafael stepped forward and began to weave safeguards while the Carpathians drifted back to their homes.

Mikhail bowed to Syndil. «If I asked you, would you consider choosing the birthing place for Shea? I could take you around and have you look at various sites we're considering. I would greatly value your opinion.»

«I know nothing of birthing.»

«But you know much about soil.»

Syndil glanced at Barack, who nodded. «Of course, although I doubt I'll have time to make anything for the dinner tonight.»

«Believe me, this is far more important,» Mikhail assured.

Raven agreed. «I have the dinner well in hand. Shea's birth is the most important thing we have going and our biggest reason to celebrate.»

I think this very humble woman is our greatest reason to celebrate, Mikhail declared.

Chapter 12

«We're in for it now, Ginny,» Colby De La Cruz said with a small sigh as she braided her younger sister's hair. «Rafael is going to be crazy now. He hardly lets me out of his sight as it is. And I was just making progress too.» She cast a quick glance at Rafael, her lifemate, pacing furiously the length of the room, every now and then casting her a smoldering, warning look.

«Why is he so upset?» Ginny asked.

«Your Aunt Juliette was injured.»

Rafael spun around, his dark eyes flashing with anger. «Your Aunt Juliette disobeyed a direct order from her lifemate. She ignored her own safety and nearly got both of them killed.»

Ginny gasped, one hand flying to her mouth. «Are they all right, Rafael?»

«They're both fine,» Colby answered, glaring at her lifemate. «There's no need to try to scare her to death.»

«There's every need,» Rafael declared, reaching out a hand to tangle it in the mass of red-gold hair surrounding Colby's face. «And just who are these kids-that boy over here? What do we know about him?»

«You mean Josef?» Ginny asked. «He's nice.»

Rafael's scowl deepened. She does not need to be thinking that boy is nice. I do not want her around boys at all.

Colby sighed. Ginny is not yet in her teens and she's human. I hardly think Josef is going to look at her that way.

I looked at you that way.

I'm a grown woman and in any case, Paul is with Josef. You know her brother would never allow anything improper.

I'm going to go show my teeth to that young man. If he knows what's good for him, he'll go home. Rafael stalked from the room, his face set in harsh lines, his jaw stubborn. «And wear your hair down tonight for this thing. I like it that way.»

Colby rolled her eyes at Ginny. «That man has way too much testosterone. He's going to scare Josef.»

«Why?»

«Because Josef might look at you wrong. Lord help you when you get old enough to date, Ginny. I think he'll have ten bodyguards-all female-surrounding you.»

«All my friends are afraid of him,» Ginny conceded, «but he's always sweet to me. And Paul spends most of his time with Rafael.»

«I know, baby, he's really great, but he does love to order us all around.»

«Not like his brothers. Well, except for Uncle Riordan. He's nice, but the rest of them are scary.»

The half smile faded from Colby's face. «Scary how? None of them are mean to you, are they? They are sworn to protect you and Paul. Rafael promised me.» It was difficult to integrate her human family with her Carpathian one, but Colby thought they were working things out fairly well. Unfortunately, Rafael had four brothers and only Riordan had found his lifemate. And that meant the other three brothers were extremely dangerous. Manolito was close by. Zacharias and Nicholas were in Brazil overseeing the ranch near the rainforest. Colby was certain neither trusted themselves around so many others. They were too close to turning.

«They aren't mean to me,» Ginny denied hastily. «I just don't like to be around them very much. They're just scary. It was kind of nice coming here because they didn't come with us. They're always watching me.»

Colby sank into a chair at the kitchen table. «Baby, you know if you're unhappy, all you have to do is say the word and we go home to our ranch in the United States.»

«No! I love living in Brazil. I can even speak the language-a little. Paul's helping me and so are my uncles. I love the ranch and the rainforest and all the animals. I don't want to go back-really.»

«Hey chick-a-dee.» Paul strode in and pulled his sister's braid. «Why are you hiding in here with Colby? Everyone came over so we could all get to know each other.»

«Are they having a good time?» Colby asked.

Paul grinned at her. «Well, we are now that Rafael came in to scare the heck out of Josef. He's sharpening a knife, but Josef isn't paying attention and all the kids think it's funny.»

«Oh, dear.»

«I'm going to go see,» Ginny said cheerfully, and skipped out of the room.

Paul sat opposite Colby. She studied his face. Some of the lines that shouldn't have been there were smooth again, but he still looked too old for his seventeen years. «What is it, hon?»

«You know how Mom was always so smart? I mean really smart. Not ranch smart, but book smart? Chemistry, physics, that kind of smart?»

«Which you have clearly inherited.»

«What do you know about her family? There's a man here with the same last name as our mother and he looks like her. Well, she's prettier, but they really do look alike and they say he's really smart. He's human, Colby, like me.»

«Does it bother you that I'm Carpathian and you're not? Rafael allowed you to keep all your memories because that's what you wanted, but if it makes you feel too different…» She trailed off. There was no way for Paul to become Carpathian. As far as she knew, he had no psychic ability whatsoever. Ginny hadn't displayed any either. Colby had a different father and one who had come from a direct line to the Carpathians.

Razvan. She didn't want to think about him, didn't want to ever admit that he had been her birth father. Razvan was grandson of the dark mage Xavier, mortal enemy to all Carpathians. Long ago, Xavier, the most powerful mage, had taken on a gifted Carpathian student, Rhiannon. He murdered her lifemate, kidnapped and impregnated her, igniting a terrible war. Triplets were born, Soren, and his two sisters now lost. Razvan and Natalya were Soren's children. Razvan had betrayed his Carpathian blood, blood of the famed Dragonseekers no less, betrayed his twin sister, succumbed to the lure of black magic, joined with the vampires and led them in a plot to assassinate the prince. It shamed her to think she carried Razvan's genetics, especially now that she had come to the Carpathian mountains and met so many of Rafael's people.

«No, I like that you re Carpathian, Colby, it's kind of cool.» Paul raked a hand through

his hair. «And I love where we live and Dad's brothers, but if this man, Gary Jansen, is related in any way to mom, I want to know him. And I want to know why we were never in his life.»

«Have you asked around about him?»

Paul nodded. «Rafael told me his name and said that he's friends with Gregori. Apparently, he does a lot of research. You're older than me. Do you remember Mom ever talking about her family? Did you meet any of them?»

Colby shoved both hands through her thick mass of hair in agitation. «I remember a little bit, Paul, and none of it was good.» It was painful to remember the past, and even though Colby had thought those days of feeling inadequate were gone forever, finding out that Razvan was her father had made them all come back.

«In what way?» Paul persisted.

Rafael appeared beside Colby, tall and strong; his face could have been carved from a statue, finely chiseled with great care around his sensual mouth. Every evening when she woke, when she saw him like this-a warrior, her lover-she always felt such a rush of emotion, almost overwhelming. Rafael looked at the world with ice-cold eyes and at her with hunger and love. For a woman who never quite fit in anywhere, it seemed a miracle. His arms now circled her, pulling her right up out of the chair, his larger frame nearly completely engulfing hers as he tucked her into the shelter of his body.

I do not like these thoughts. You did nothing wrong as a child. It is best not to think of these things when it brings you so much pain.

Paul has a right to know certain things.

About her. About her father. About their mother. She laid her head against Rafael's chest. It was all so complicated, and her background was rather humiliating. She didn't want Paul to be ashamed.

She had been the one to insist on coming to the Carpathian Mountains for the big celebration. She thought it was important to get to know other Carpathians and be just a little more social. The ranch in South America was isolated, enormous, and the De La Cruz brothers were treated like royalty-feared, but still given far too much deference. Colby thought it would be good to remind them they weren't the only ones in the world with gifts and duties. Now old wounds were being torn open on the very night when she had hoped to solidify their place in a community. She had to delve into the past and tell Paul the truth about their mother's family.

Rafael hissed his displeasure in her ear. «You do not need to prove to anyone that you are worthy of belonging. You belong with me.»

«I know.» She rubbed her face against his chest. «I just want Paul and Ginny to feel they

belong.»

Rafael caught her chin and lifted her face to his. «They have always had a sense of belonging. With you. You provided for them when no one else would, gave them a home and love and security. Few could have done what you did at such a young age.»

Paul came around the table and put his arms around both of them. «Colby, did I upset you with my questions? I'm not looking for another family. I love the one I have. I don't understand what's wrong with you, but you've been acting upset and restless for the last hour. I've been afraid to leave you alone for too long.» He looked at Rafael for confirmation.

Colby took a deep breath and pressed her hands against her churning stomach. «Everyone has secrets, Paul. I never wanted you to feel different. I've watched you and Ginny for any signs of being unusual-especially you-but you both seem to be very normal, without psychic gifts and without any ability to shapeshift.» Her fingers clung to Rafael's shirt.

He brought up one hand to the nape of her neck, strong fingers easing the tension out of her. «I always thought shapeshifting was normal,» he said.

«Well, it's not for us,» Colby said. She was near tears. Paul had so much to contend with. He was a young teenage boy, yet he had worked a ranch nearly all of his life, hard, backbreaking work. They'd lost their mother and eventually Paul and Ginny's father to an accident, and the three alone had kept the ranch going.

«I started showing signs of psychic ability very early. I could sense dangerous things, especially if I was upset,» Colby confessed in a little rush. «Mom admitted to me that my father was 'different.' That's all she said at first. But then later, when I was about thirteen, she told me she was 'different' too. And that we had to be very careful. We could never let anyone see the things we could do and that I always had to watch you, Paul, to make certain that you didn't behave irresponsibly.»

«What does that mean?» Paul demanded with a small frown.

Colby took a deep breath. «It means we carry jaguar blood. Our family, hundreds of years ago, were shapeshifters. The men didn't stay with the women and eventually the species began to die out. There are very few who can actually shift into their cat form now, but many people carry the genetics. Some of the men still able to shift have been hunting for women to keep the line as pure as possible. They aren't very nice men.»

«And Mom thought I might be one of these guys?» Paul was clearly offended. «I respect women. I'm always respectful.»

«I didn't mean it like that. I'm not saying this very well. Mom wasn't married to my father when she had me. Your father's family didn't want anything to do with her-or me– because of that.» She broke off abruptly.

Rafael took over. «Colby has never felt accepted in any world, Paul, and she didn't want that for you. Neither did your mother. Your mother hid her differences, and Colby did the same.» He gestured around him. «Here, being atypical is normal.»

«Do you really think anyone feels normal?» Paul asked. «I didn't know all this-that I have jaguar blood-although that could be cool especially now, but look at Josef. He's a Carpathian, can shapeshift and do all sorts of neat things. He's brilliant. You should see the things he can do on a computer, and he's a math whiz. He just is kind of nerdy around people. He doesn't feel good about himself at all. He knows the adults don't like him and he feels uncomfortable around all of us teenagers. Skyler is beautiful, but she's uncomfortable too. Ginny and I are the only 'normal' ones and we should be the outsiders.»

«Sometimes you're brilliant, Paul,» Colby exclaimed.

«I think it doesn't matter much about what we are or where we came from, Colby,» Paul replied. «I think we all feel uncomfortable when we're young.»

«I didn't,» Rafael said.

Colby smacked his chest. «You're so arrogant.»

«I don't think he was actually ever young,» Paul said. «I'm not even sure anyone gave birth to him. They found him under a rock.»

Rafael caught Paul around the neck and pretended to strangle him. Colby watched the two of them laughing together and found the tension ebbing away.

You did a great job raising this boy, Rafael told her.

She nodded. He's wonderful.

«So do you think most of the psychics are descendents of shapeshifters?» Paul asked. «I could do some research on that. I'll bet Josef would help me.»

Rafael shrugged. «It is possible-even probable-but any time you do research, you leave a trail for someone else to follow. We are most careful of tracks leading to the discovery of our species. And you're making me feel guilty over this Josef boy.»

Paul flashed a grin at his brother-in-law. «Don't worry, he didn't notice you were sharpening your knife for his benefit. I told you, in social situations he doesn't have a clue.» He burst out laughing when Rafael looked disappointed. «I noticed, and so did Skyler and Josh. We all thought it was very scary.»

«You don't sound convincing,» Rafael grumbled.

Colby laughed softly. «You should be happy you didn't scare the boy.»

«I want to meet him,» Paul said abruptly, as if he'd just managed to screw up his courage. «If Gary Jansen is my uncle, I want to meet him.»

«We don't know that he is. Lots of people have the same last name,» Colby pointed out, the smile fading from her face. Instinctively, she moved closer to Rafael, her body brushing up against his.

«But it's likely, Colby. This is a small community of people. He's part of it. Quite a few of the women here seem to have jaguar blood. Maybe he does too and that's what drew him in the first place.»

Rafael rubbed her arm in a comforting gesture. «Maybe. All right. Give me a little time to finish things here first,» Colby said.

Suddenly, her kitchen was too small. She needed the open range and a good horse to ride. Her mother had always feared jaguar blood, feared producing a male child. Jaguar males weren't always the nicest of men, and Colby didn't want Paul exposed to any more danger-or rejection. And she certainly didn't want anyone influencing him in the wrong direction. Raising children was definitely not easy.

Paul leaned over to kiss her cheek, then sauntered out of the room, calling for Josef and Ginny.

«You can't protect him forever,» Rafael said gently. He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling the top of her head with his chin.

«You say that, but you try to protect me-and Ginny. I just don't want him hurt anymore. I see it in his eyes sometimes. He wouldn't let you or Nicolas take his memories, and he remembers how the vampire took him over and used him to try to kill me. I know he still has nightmares about it. I just want him to be happy, Rafael. He's such a great kid.»

He tipped her face up to his. «He is a great kid and he's going to be fine. We'll look after him together.»

Her gaze slid away from his. «I couldn't bear to tell him the truth about me, about Razvan. I thought this would be such a good idea, coming here, meeting everyone, but now, I'm not so sure. Someone is bound to tell him who my birth father was.»

«Do you think your brother would care about that?» Rafael scowled at her. «Paul loves you for who you are, not who your father was.»

«You don't understand. He's asking about his past for a reason, and once he starts delving into it, he'll find out about me. I couldn't take it if he rejected me too. And how could I ever blame him? He's had so much to contend with because of me. If Mom hadn't had me, Paul and Ginny would have been accepted by the Chevez family and raised on the ranch in South America. He would never have been exposed to a vampire. Now he knows about the jaguar blood and once he finds out it isn't always so cool, he won't be happy about that

either. And someone is going to tell him about Razvan.» She shuddered, looked around and lowered her voice when she said the name. «I can hardly face any of these people, let alone have Paul and Ginny find out that such a terrible man is my father.»

Rafael's hand came up to burrow his fingers in her hair. «You are his victim just as his sister was. Do not be ashamed of who your father was. You bear the mark of the Dragonseeker, and that is an unbelievable boon. The Dragonseeker clan is one of the most revered of all Carpathian lineages and it is your line. I hope that each of our children bears that mark. You should be proud of it, not ashamed.»

«My father came from the same lineage and he tried to assassinate the prince,"' she pointed out. «He betrayed Natalya, his twin sister. He has children-like me-scattered across the world, and he intended to use us like blood banks. I have family I've never met, all victims of this man. His blood runs in my veins. Do you really think I want Paul-or anyone else-to know I'm related to him?»

Rafael gathered her closer to him. «I know you're related to him. Carpathian males perhaps have more understanding than most for those who become wholly evil. It is a path we all go down, and some touch a little closer than others. Before you came into my life, Colby, I could not always tell the difference between good and evil.»

«Razvan nearly killed the prince,» she repeated. «He took blood from little girls. It was why he got my mother pregnant in the first place-in order to use my blood to sustain his life.»

Rafael could hear the horror in her voice. Colby still had trouble accepting the evil in their world, and he loved her all the more for her innocence. He took her hand and tugged, pulling her from the openness of the kitchen to the stairs leading to the privacy of their chamber belowground.

«We can't leave the children,» Colby protested.

«You're always so responsible. I've directed Paul to be a good host. You need a few minutes without all the noise.»

«I need our ranch. Wouldn't you love to go horseback riding in all this snow?»

«Is that what you'd like to do?»

She shook her head. «We don't have time. The dinner is in just a little while. And we're supposed to be entertaining the kids.»

He reversed direction. «If you want to go riding…»

«It's snowing, silly.» There was a wealth of love in her voice. Rafael, for all his domineering ways, always tried to give her whatever would make her happy. «And horses don't see that well at night.»

He laughed softly and leaned down to place his lips against her ear. «I am Carpathian, pequena, and I can provide whatever you want. Come with me.»

Colby went because she could never resist Rafael or the way his black eyes burned with such hunger for her. As she stepped outside, he wrapped her in a fur-lined full-length hooded coat and boots. Just outside the walkway, standing by the porch, a horse sidestepped, tossing its head, eager to be running. The animal was at least seventeen hands, with hooves made to run in the snow. Rafael swung onto its bare back and reached his arm down to her.

«This is a night rider, Colby, and he loves to run.»

She took his arm, allowing him to swing her up in front of him. «Go fast, Rafael, I want to fly across the ground tonight.»

His arms caged her in and he bent his body protectively over hers, whispering a command to the snorting animal. The horse took off, powerful muscles bunching as he leapt forward. After the first explosive burst of speed, the horse's gait settled into a rhythmic gallop and they raced flat out across the open meadow. Snow hit their faces and the wind whistled past them. Clouds spun overhead and it should have been dark, but the snow made the world a bright, sparkling dream of a place.

«This land is breathtaking,» Colby said. «Do you miss it?»

«At first, all of us did, but we've been so long where we are that the rain forest and the heat and humidity are our home. This is beautiful and wonderful to visit, but it no longer feels like home to me.»

Colby turned her face up to the night sky. Rafael loved the rain forest, but he would have given it up-given up living with his brothers on their ranch-had she wanted to stay in the United States. Though she hadn't believed it when Rafael first claimed her, now, knowing his every thought, she realized just how much power she wielded when it came to her lifemate.

He gave her total acceptance and unconditional love. She pressed back against him allowing the rhythm of the horse to soothe her.

The animal knew his way, and twice leapt effortlessly over fallen logs and splashed through a small creek bed. He slowed when they were near the woods and hills, where she could see the ferns and shrubbery poking through several drifts of snow.

The world was silent here. Only their breathing could be heard in the night. There was only the feel of Rafael's arms around her and the crystal world with gently drifting snow– almost surreal.

«It doesn't seem possible that danger could be lurking so close, does it?» she whispered, afraid if she spoke too loud it would break the spell.

«There is only the two of us, Colby.» He kissed the back of her neck. «Just us, alone in this world. Nothing evil and no shame, only a man who loves you above all else.» His arms tightened around her as if he could keep her safe from anything-even her own feelings of inadequacy.

Colby fit her body more closely to his. Why did she feel inadequate? Was it what Paul had said? That most people just did? Or was it the fact that she'd never had a childhood? She suddenly sat up a little straighter. «Rafael. I'm like Josef.»

He snorted, began to choke, sputter and cough all at the same time.

Colby swung around to look at him over her shoulder. «No, I am. I never developed social skills at all. I worked all the time and I had to hide who and what I was. Don't you see? I'm still doing it. I don't want anyone to know about Razvan, so I hide away, feeling ashamed. I don't have to go out and meet all these people-people you know and grew up with. People I'm afraid might wonder why someone as talented and gifted as you would choose to be with someone like me. I'm a teenager, struggling to find myself. That is just plain pitiful.»

«I think this is all a conspiracy to make me feel more guilt because I tried to scare that boy. I'm not apologizing to him. He shouldn't have been ogling Ginny.»

«I'm sure he didn't ogle her. He wants to be friends.»

«Men never want to be friends, Colby.» His hands slid under the coat to cup her breasts, his thumbs brushing her nipples as the horse circled back toward the house. «Our minds are too preoccupied with other much more pleasant things than friendship.»

«You mean your mind is,» Colby answered. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of his hands caressing her body. Both of them were highly sexual, and Rafael rarely went too long without sliding his hands possessively over her body. He couldn't walk past her without his palm cupping her bottom, or brushing her breast. Sometimes, she leaned against him and rubbed enticingly like a cat, loving the feeling of his body growing rock hard and knowing it was all for her. Like now.

The motion of the horse created a wonderful friction with her wedged between his open legs. Her gaze met his, and instantly she felt a thrill run down her spine. He was looking at her with that urgent hunger, so intense, so in need, everything in her body reached out in response. She tilted her head so she could nibble at his chin, further provoking him.

For a woman who had done nothing her entire life but be responsible, it was wonderful to have no inhibitions, to be able to just be whatever she wanted when she was with Rafael. She reached behind her and deliberately stroked the hard bulge forming in the front of his trousers.

Maybe she wasn't so sure of herself with others, but that wasn't the case when she was in

her own home. Rafael was an extremely dominant man, yet she could stand up to him and knew always that he loved and desired her. She had Ginny and Paul and they both loved her for who she was. Maybe it was time to stop hiding from herself. She was no longer afraid of her own power. She knew what she wanted and she knew she was strong enough and determined enough to go after it. Razvan may have fallen a long way from grace, but he had passed on a legacy of gifts she couldn't deny. And so had her mother. She had to give Paul and Ginny the opportunity to embrace those gifts-not run from them.

«You'll do the right thing,» Rafael murmured against her ear. «You always find the right answer for them. Jaguar traits are not all bad, and you want them to love that part of themselves. They may have great gifts and we can help them develop them, and if there are things that are difficult to deal with-well-we both know about them too. We can guide them together, Colby.»

«Thank you,» she said softly.

«I haven't done anything.»

«Of course you have. You knew I needed to work this out to do the right thing for the kids and in order to do that, I had to believe in myself.»

«I took you for a ride on a horse.»

«You gave me a dream.»

He was silent for a moment, urging the horse back toward the house, listening to the sounds of the hooves crunching the snow. «So this other boy. This Josef. Tell me about him.»

Colby hid her smile. Rafael liked to be such a tough guy, but deep inside he was a marshmallow.

He leaned forward. I caught that thought. I am going to make you pay for that.

Excitement zinged through her body and heated her bloodstream. I always so enjoy your little punishments. She turned her head to lift her mouth to his. It was more than awkward kissing on a horse, but they managed it, and as always, liquid fire poured through her veins and love seemed to flood her mind to the point of spilling over.

«Josef is Byron's nephew. He seems young for his age. I think he's barely out of his teens.»

«That is a babe by our standards,» Rafael pointed out, his fingers anchoring in her hair. «Where did Paul and Ginny meet him?»

«Online. They all correspond. Skyler, Paul, Ginny, Josh and Josef. Some of the adults play video games online with them. But they've all become great friends. They were very

much looking forward to meeting in person. I think Josef has a difficult time because he is a little older in age, but not maturity, yet everyone expects it of him.»

Rafael sighed. «I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try to get to know the boy.»

«You really are a marshmallow,» she teased, knowing he would retaliate. Wanting him to. Anticipating it. Her body was suddenly pulsing with energy-with need. Rafael exuded sex, his mouth sinfully sensual, his good looks wickedly masculine. She loved the way he wore his clothes, his hard stomach flat and his hips and the columns of his thighs encased in denim. His eyes were heavy-lidded and black as night, holding a seduction all their own.

Immediately, she felt overheated and sensitive, her body flooding with urgent need. His hand cupped her neck, drew her head back so his mouth could claim hers. She sat in the cradle of his hips, his erection pressed tightly against her buttocks, his arm over her breasts and his mouth rough, his tongue a velvet rasp of excitement, stroking and teasing, licking at her skin, teeth nibbling gently.

Just like that her body responded, heat spreading like liquid gold through her veins. She wanted him so bad she could taste it.

I want you too. But you deserve to suffer a little bit.

Beneath the fur-lined coat, her clothes were gone, leaving her body exposed and vulnerable to his wandering hands. He slipped his hands inside the coat, guiding the horse with his legs. His palm slid along her thigh, and her breath hitched in her throat.

«What are you doing?»

«Whatever I want.» His voice had turned husky, almost hoarse, and the heat from his fingers was in direct contrast to the chill in the air.

Her blood heated instantly, her core pulsing with excitement. His fingers began a slow, almost lazy circle, occasionally brushing her most sensitive spot. A low moan escaped. The fur slid along her skin, sensitizing her nerve endings even more. He kissed her again, lifted his head, but held her face toward his with one hand while the other moved over her damp curls.

«Look at me, querida. Keep looking at me,» he commanded.

She always loved that about him. He wanted her to know who possessed her-who loved her-who drove her out of her mind with pleasure. And she loved to look at him, to see his fierce hunger, his stark desire for her, the lines of lust etched deep, the burn in his eyes as he took her.

His finger sank deep, drew out creamy honey. «I love how you get so wet for me. You're always so tight and hot and wet.» He licked his finger with a slow seductive stroke of his tongue, never taking his gaze from hers, and returned to burrow his fingers deeper in her

feminine channel.

The horse stopped moving, simply remaining still while Rafael pushed his fingers deeper, filling her so that she gasped with pleasure. He stroked her over and over, teasing the tight folds, caressing the inner knot of nerve endings until she was gasping, crying out for release, but then the wicked fingers retreated. He caught her in his arms and slid off the horse. Setting her feet on the ground, his arm locking her to him, he talked softly to the animal and then sent it on its way. They watched the horse gallop back up toward the hills.

Colby blinked and looked around her, still dazed and still pulsing with a terrible hunger. She wanted him so much, she was afraid she couldn't take a step. Rafael simply swept her into his arms and moved with the blurring speed of his kind through the house to their underground chamber.

Heart pounding when he set her free, Colby looked around at the room designed not only for sleeping, but for playing. She stood in the middle of the room dressed only in the coat, the edges gaping open to reveal her full breasts and the red curls at the junction of her legs. She was so damp, so hot. So in need. She could barely breathe with her need.

«Come here, pequena. I have waited too long for your body.» He held out his hand to her.

She always felt so mesmerized by him, so willing to do whatever he asked of her. She loved the feel of his hands on her far too much. «I think I'm obsessed with you.» She put her hand in his and he jerked her to him, spinning her around, pushing her back against the wall and trapping her between his body and the hard surface.

«It is good for you to be obsessed.» His fingers trailed down her face, across her neck to her throat. The pads of his fingers teased her bare skin, sending little flames dancing through her body. Without warning, he yanked the coat from her body, exposing the soft creamy flesh beneath. «You always wear too many clothes.»

Her heart began to pound in response to his intensity. He could always do that to her, take away her balance when it came to their sexual encounters. «Would you like me to go naked in front of all of our company?»

He growled low in his throat, bared his teeth, then leaned forward and gently bit down on her nipple, dragging his teeth back and forth until she moaned. «If I had my way, I would choose a time in history when I could simply lock you up, keep you safe and to myself, never share you.» He pinned her wrists together above her head. «I would keep you in shackles, chained to my bed, completely naked waiting for me, always wanting me.»

His hands cupped her breasts and lifted them as he bent his head to feast. His mouth was already hot, his tongue lapping wickedly, his teeth scraping and teasing, his mouth suckling strongly. Most of the time, he took great care to pay attention to every nuance of her mind, ensuring everything he did was exactly the way she liked, but sometimes, when his demons and petty jealousies were riding him just a little too hard, he allowed himself the freedom of

taking her body the way he wanted. Fast and hard and rough.

Excitement always coursed through her mind-and maybe a little fear. He would never hurt her, but he always demanded submission-he always pushed her sexually. He was greedy for her. He wanted to know she would love him no matter what, that she would give him everything, that she would hold nothing back. But in the end, nothing mattered to him so much as her pleasure and he always-always-gave that to her tenfold.

Rafael dropped to his knees, hands pushing her thighs apart and dragging her hips forward so his mouth could devour her. His tongue stabbed deep, drew out cream, and he began licking and sucking while her hips bucked against his mouth and her hands tangled in his hair. She screamed as the first wave rushed over her. The almost desperate sounds he made drove her right over the edge. Spasm after spasm rocked her.

He tumbled her to the bed, following her down, skin to skin, thrusting his knee between her thighs to keep her open to him. He surged forward with one hard stroke, burying himself deep, driving through the soft velvet folds until he hit her womb. He tilted her hips, pushing deeper, forcing her to take all of him. He swore softly as her body, so tight and hot, grasped his, squeezing and milking and sending fire racing down his spine. Lightning sizzled in his bloodstream and whipped through his body. He began to piston, driving with his hips, sinking deep into the refuge of her body, reveling in the way her muscles tightened like a fist, holding him to her.

He thrust hard, over and over, ignoring her helpless pleas as he took her higher and higher, building the pleasure until she was whimpering for release, pleading with him to take her over the edge. She began to throw her head back and forth, struggling against the terrible sexual tension, but he held her still, plunging his body into hers, taking them both to a fever pitch of need. Then she was screaming, as her body shattered around his, as jet after jet of heat filled her and her womb convulsed with shocking pleasure. It spread through her like a tornado, taking her body by surprise, ripping through her vaginal walls, down her thighs and up into her stomach.

She lay gasping for breath, staring up at the man she loved above all else in the world– the man who loved and accepted her for who she was. Bloodlines or not, Rafael loved her and that was enough for her. She could feel confident in herself no matter what because he loved her unconditionally.

Chapter 13

The wind began to pick up in strength, blowing snow around even as more began to fall in earnest. Mikhail hesitated just outside the large house. Traian Trigovise had designed and built the house for, not only his lifemate Joie, but to share with her brother Jubal and sister Gabrielle. Now that the vampire who had taken Traian's blood was dead, Traian felt he could once more live in the company of other Carpathians without endangering them all.

You re being such a chicken, Raven teased.

Traian's in-laws are visiting. And Gabrielle has risen. There are going to be questions I would rather not have to answer at this time.

Because she is in love with Gary Jansen.

Not exactly. Mikhail knew he was hedging. He didn't want Gabrielle and Gary to be in love. As humans it was perfectly fine, but now that Gabrielle had been converted, he knew there would be tremendous problems. And with Gabrielle's parents there to celebrate Christmas, there would be more questions than normal. I think I will skip this visit.

Mikhail Dubrinsky! You knock on that door. As the prince, it is your duty to welcome Joie's parents. And Gabrielle needs your support as well.

My duties as prince seem to be getting larger and more complicated as time goes on. Maybe I should pass this duty along to my second in command.

Raven laughed softly. Don't you dare.

Mikhail heaved a tortured sigh and knocked on the door. It swung open immediately and a woman with bright eyes and a ready smile greeted him.

«Please come in. I'm Marissa Sanders, Joie, Jubal and Gabrielle's mother.»

«Mikhail Dubrinsky.» He identified himself, and sent Raven the image of him throttling her. I'd rather face a vampire than a mother-in-law. Her answering laughter wasn't in the least sympathetic. I am going to have to explain to you the finer points of lifemates. You seem to be missing them.

«Oh! The prince.» Mrs. Sanders stepped back to wave him inside. «Lovely to meet you. I have so many questions.»

He bowed slightly. «I will try to answer what I can for you.»

She stopped in the hall so abruptly he nearly ran into her. «Prince of what? Are you in exile? Everyone just refers to you as the prince, but they never say of which country. I imagine there are quite a few princes thrown out on their royal…» She brought herself up short, and swung back to continue walking down the hall.

Mikhail nearly groaned out loud, but managed to suppress it. Traian! He issued the summons sharply, and in that moment he didn't give a damn whether the entire population of Carpathians heard the panic in his voice or not. He was not answering this woman's questions.

She showed him into the large living room, and immediately took the chair opposite his and leaned forward eagerly. «I've just come from Sara's. You'll be happy to know the seamstresses are on track.»

«Seamstresses?» he echoed faintly. What seamstresses, Raven?

I have no idea. Ask her.

Mikhail nodded, trying to look wise. «That is good, Mrs. Sanders. Uh-er-which seamstresses would that be?»

Her eyebrow shot up. «You obviously dropped the ball on that one. Good thing I was here to pick it up. The children needed costumes for the pageant.»

«Costumes?» He seemed to be repeating her words, but he couldn't help it. He ran a finger around the neckline of his shirt. Traian, get in here before I do something like send an earthquake rippling through this house.

«Did you expect to simply produce the outfits out of thin air?»

«I suppose I was, yes.»

Mikhail! Raven's voice reprimanded him sharply before he could speak. Don't you dare say another word and I mean it. That poor woman has two daughters who are now Carpathian. She deserves a little respect.

Mikhail closed his eyes briefly. Of course she deserved respect, but he shouldn't have to deal with her. Where is my second in command? It's your job to protect me at all times and distance me from these unpleasant tasks.

Gregori gave a derisive snort. I think you are capable of handling one little woman. I have my hands full at the moment with your daughter.

Mikhail struggled between self-preservation and prank, and the prank won. He was not going to pull out his son-in-law card. He could handle this woman no matter what she threw at him. It would be well worth it to see Gregori prancing around in a Santa Claus outfit.

«Just like a man. You order a huge celebration and then expect it all to get done on its own.» Mrs. Sanders crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him with a stern eye. «Just what has been going on with my daughter Gabrielle? Joie and Traian said she was with you. I certainly hope you aren't the kind of prince who believes in harems because, and let's get this straight…» She leaned forward to look him in the eye, bent on intimidating him. «I'm not the mother to stand for it.»

Mikhail choked. Coughed. Traian! I'm commanding you to get into this room immediately.

Sorry, Mikhail. I am on the way. Joie and I were just a little bit occupied.

Mikhail heard Raven's soft laughter at the admission. They don't need to be enjoying themselves while I'm stuck with this woman.

Maybe they re making a baby. Do you really want to disturb them? Raven breathed in his ear, teasing his senses and stirring his body.

Yes! And stop that. I need my brain to actually function around this woman.

We are occupied with Gabrielle, Joie hastily added, clearly embarrassed.

Mikhail sighed. Forgive me. I should have known you would be with your sister. It wouldn't be easy for Gabrielle to rise and know she needed blood to survive. Newly converted Carpathians always seemed to have difficulty with the concept. He could never understand the big deal. Carpathians weren't flesh eaters like humans and they didn't kill like the vampire, yet they were reviled for their need of blood.

«I won't have my daughter regulated to the status of a-a-concubine. I won't allow it. I know you're married, so don't bother to deny it. You don't even have a country that I can see.»

Mikhail let his breath out and reached for the woman's mind, uncaring if it was impolite. He could make her forget all this nonsense and simply go into the kitchen.

Her mind collided with his, as if she were reaching for him at the exact same time. Thunder rolled. Lightning sizzled in the sky and the clouds roiled impressively. The two minds impacted, slamming against one another, hitting hastily erected barriers. Mrs. Sanders jumped to her feet, her face pale, both hands clutching her head in pain.

Puzzled, Mikhail rose as well. He bowed slightly. «Forgive me, Mrs. Sanders.» It took a moment to recognize the unfamiliar brain patterns. It was no wonder her children were so gifted and such phenomenal psychics-all three of them. «You have the undiluted blood of the jaguar.»

«And you are Carpathian.» She looked around the house, took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. «Of course. That explains a lot. Traian is Carpathian, isn't he?»

Mikhail felt the flicker of another's presence. Her husband stood silently in the doorway, his mind trying to assimilate what was being said. It was obvious that Mrs. Sanders was capable of telepathic communication. Her psychic abilities were very strong, and she had called her husband to her in her distress. Mikhail continued the conversation as if there were only the two of them present. «It is essential for Carpathians to pass as humans at all times.»

She sank into a chair. «I have never heard that a human can become Carpathian, but Joie is, isn't she? That's why she looks different-a subtle difference, but it is there. And you really were going to make the costumes out of thin air.»

To Mikhail's alarm, she looked as if she might cry. «I am very sorry, Mrs. Sanders. You can understand why Traian couldn't simply give you this information. It is necessary to protect our species at all times.» He studied her averted face. «You haven't revealed your

lineage to your children. They have no idea, do they?»

She shook her head. «I didn't want them to know. I was afraid for them. My husband knows, but he's very protective of me. When I need to let the cat out, he goes with me and I run in the hills. He stands by to make certain no accidents happen.»

«Can any of them shapeshift?»

She shook her head. «I never taught them. I've seen them all grow restless and moody at times, but I didn't want them to carry that burden. I don't know if I did the right thing or not. But having a son and trying to raise him right is a big responsibility when he is jaguar. His instincts…»

«Jubal is a fine man. He's very protective of his sisters.» Mikhail reached out a hand and touched her.

Immediately she calmed, blinking the tears back, regaining the control she thought lost. «Jaguar males are very dangerous.»

«I am centuries old, Mrs. Sanders. I will admit I did not have a lot of contact with your species as we resided in separate parts of the world, but I remember many of the males were wonderful people. Need and fear often cause people to do things they would not ordinarily do. Jubal was born a good man, and will remain so throughout his lifetime. Should he be forced into extreme circumstances, I believe he will rise to the occasion with his mind and strength and the gifts given to him, not fall back on primitive means.»

She took a deep breath. «Thank you for that. It's my worst fear.»

He had glimpsed that small piece of information clearly, as it had been in the forefront of her mind before she had slammed the barrier down. «You have remarkable children, Mrs. Sanders. Joie is a treasure we all seek to protect. Jubal has been helping with vital research –as has Gabrielle.»

«Gabrielle met a young man, Gary Jansen. She says she has been working with him on a huge research project. Is he Carpathian too?»

The half smile faded from Mikhail's face. «Gary is human-a friend and protected by all Carpathians. Always.» If there was one human in the world the Carpathians would go to war for-it was Gary Jansen. But now…

«What is wrong with Gabrielle?» Mrs. Sanders asked. «I know there is something, but even Joie and Jubal have refused to discuss it with me.» She shook her head. «My family has too many secrets, yet you seem to know them all. Gabrielle is alive, isn't she?»

Mikhail rubbed his hand over his face, hating to be put in such a position. This woman deserved answers-deserved the truth about her daughters. «Just as Joie was converted to our species because unless she was she would have died, so was Gabrielle converted.»

Mrs. Sanders made a small sound of despair and turned her head to meet her husband's gaze. He stood in the doorway, tall and straight, his face an expressionless mask. «Rory. Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. This is my fault. All my fault.»

He hurried to her side, dropping down on one knee to take both of her hands in his. «Don't do that to yourself. You've done nothing wrong.»

«Is it so difficult for you to know your children are Carpathian?» Mikhail asked. «They will always be treasured. Always be protected.»

«Joie, yes, but what of Gabrielle? She's different, not adventurous in the same way Joie is. She has a love of research and home. This life isn't for her.»

«It is life, Mrs. Sanders. She would have died and we gave her the choice. It is what she wanted. Our healers are with her now and they will assist her in her new life. She is tied to a lifemated Carpathian, Vikirnoff Von Shrieder, and to me. We will always see to her happiness and safety.»

Mrs. Sanders took a deep breath and gripped her husband's hand. «At least I do not have to worry that a jaguar male will get their hands on either of my daughters. That has been a huge worry, especially with Joie traveling so much.» She attempted a small smile for her husband. «I don't mind Carpathian or human, but no jaguar blood.»

«I thought there were very few,» Mikhail said.

«Purebloods, but of course, there are many descendents and I don't want either of my daughters near a male jaguar.»

Mikhail didn't point out that Jubal was a male jaguar, or that he didn't tolerate prejudice toward any race or species. The woman feared the male jaguars and with good cause. He had impressions of a past she kept locked away. Mikhail held out his hand to her husband and introduced himself just as Traian and Joie rushed in. Mikhail had relayed the conversation to the couple, urging them to come quickly to ease Mrs. Sanders's tears.

«Mom!» Joie said. «I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about Gabrielle. I wanted to. I didn't know how.»

Mrs. Sanders hugged her daughter tightly. «Have you seen her? Is she all right?»

Joie bit her lip and sent a quick glance to Traian. «She is apprehensive. And it isn't as easy for her. I had Traian to guide me. And when I need to feed, he provides for me and it isn't so horrible. But Gabrielle is in love with someone who isn't Carpathian and he can't give her the things she needs.»

Mrs. Sanders's hands fluttered helplessly to her throat. «Who provides for her?»

«The man who saved her is named Vikirnoff Von Shrieder. He and his lifemate, Natalya,

have been with Gabrielle often, talking to her and working with her to accept her new life. She won't take blood from Traian or me, but she has from both of them. They're good with her, Mom. And she's trying.»

«I want to see her.»

«We both do,» Mr. Sanders said firmly.

Joie hesitated. «Mom, she's very emotional. Her entire life has changed. Fortunately, there is a woman visiting here with us. Her name is MaryAnn Delaney. She's a counselor for battered and abused women, and she's dealt a lot with trauma victims as well. Gary has her with him and they're talking to Gabrielle right now. I really think it best to let them work with her. You know Gabby, she's a fighter. It's just the initial shock of waking up so different.»

«I'm her mother. I should be with her.»

«She's promised to come here as soon as possible.» Joie looked up at Traian and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The trauma of her sister nearly dying had taken its toll on Joie. She adored Gabrielle, and had brought her into this life, exposing her to vampires and Carpathians, and it weighed heavily on her that Gabrielle had been converted.

«This man, Gary, is he the one she's so crazy about? The one she stayed here in the mountains to be close to?» Mr. Sanders asked.

Joie nodded. «She doesn't talk much about their relationship, but they're obviously drawn to one another. Gary has been beside himself over this and has gone to her rest… Gone to be close to her daily since this happened.»

Mikhail reached for the comfort of his lifemate. Tied to Gabrielle the way he was, he could feel her unrelenting sorrow. None of them had considered the larger picture. Gabrielle was now fully a Carpathian female. The other males would be desperate for her to be a lifemate to one of them.

Gary's attentions to her would not be welcomed by any of them. It was possible for Gabrielle to be a lifemate to one of the men without being in love with him. Affection often came later, after the raw sexual need and the intimacy of being lifemates. Conceivably, Gabrielle could love Gary and still be a lifemate to a Carpathian male. The potential for explosive trouble was building inside the already complicated world of Carpathians.

She is in love with him. Raven's voice was gentle. He deserves happiness after all he has done for us. You know he has earned his place in our world.

Mikhail sighed heavily. I know this, but logic does not dictate to a male near the end of his time. If she is a lifemate, she must give up whatever affection she feels for Gary and embrace her new life fully.

There was a small silence. You would force her to choose a man she does not love? That is wrong.

There is only one lifemate. Her love for Gary will fade with time and if she truly gives her new life a chance, she will find happiness with her true mate.

Raven sniffed in exasperation. You have no idea what you re going to do about this situation, do you?

Mikhail raked a hand through his hair. He loves her so much. Whenever I am with him I feel it. And he has spoken to Gregori often of his feelings for her. Since her near death, he has rarely left her side, holding vigil until she awakened. None of us could get him to eat. This is going to be bad, Raven.

Raven sent him comfort, camaraderie, a soothing touch of her fingers trailing down his face. He wanted to leave this house with all its complications and go to where there was joy. In the midst of all the problems, with the enemies coming at them from every side, there was Raven and her ready smile, her warmth and ability to bring happiness and laughter to those around her.

«They're here!» Joie announced. «Mom, be gentle with her,» she added, clinging tightly to Traian's hand.

«You don't have to tell me that,» Mrs. Sanders said with a small frown.

Mikhail rose intending to excuse himself. Jubal came in, flicking a warning glance at his mother and father, then stepped aside to allow Gabrielle into the room. She looked beautiful, tall and dark-haired with gray eyes and a full mouth. Her skin was pale and she trembled visibly, but the man at her side slipped his arm around her for support.

«Mom. Dad. It's wonderful to see you.» Tears swam in Gabrielle's large eyes, turning them charcoal.

Her parents rose, taking several steps toward their daughter. Mrs. Sanders stopped abruptly, the color draining from her face. She lifted her face and sniffed several times, testing the air. One hand went up defensively and she screamed, backing away from the couple.

Gabrielle's skin went dead white and she turned her face into Gary's shoulder at her mother's rejection. Joie and Jubal sprang in front of their sister, blocking her from her parents' view. Mikhail moved with blurring speed, putting his body between the hysterical mother and her daughter. Gary swept Gabrielle into his arms, holding her close, and Traian stepped between Joie's parents and his sister-in-law, shielding them with his larger frame.

Mrs. Sanders dropped to her knees, her keening wail rising, filling the house. Mr. Sanders tried to bring her to her feet, but she struggled against him, shaking her head from side to side, wailing the entire time. «Mom! Get control,» Jubal snapped. «It's Gabrielle and

she needs you to be strong, not turn away from her.»

Traian and Mikhail exchanged an apprehensive glance.

Joie raised her chin. «She is what I am. If you can't deal with Gabrielle as a Carpathian, you'd better know that I'm one and so is Traian. We stand with Gabrielle.»

Mrs. Sander's entire demeanor changed. She rose slowly to her feet, her eyes going opaque, her body suddenly fluid and catlike. Her head went down in a classic stalking manner. «Get away from my daughter.» She enunciated each word.

«Marissa,» Mr. Sanders reprimanded sharply.

She growled at him, a deadly hiss accompanying the warning. Her fingers began to curl and her body stretched, muzzle elongating. Bones cracked and her spine bent.

«Mom!» Joie sounded horrified. «Mom, stop!»

Traian stepped in front of his lifemate, his heavier body shoving her back. At the same time he swept her brother behind him with one powerful arm.

«Mom.» Jubal added his plea. «What are you doing?»

Mikhail stepped up to Traian's side. The two Carpathians stood shoulder to shoulder facing the threat. «Mrs. Sanders.» Mikhail was calm, trying to reach the mind of Gabrielle's mother.

He found a red haze of anger, a cauldron of fear. Seams burst. Material ripped. Fur burst across skin and she was on the floor, teeth filling her muzzle. Mr. Sanders tried to put a calming hand on her, but she ripped at him with razor-sharp claws.

Traian sprang forward, using preternatural speed, a blur of motion, scooping up Joie's father and shoving him toward his daughter. Mr. Sander's arm bled from the long, deep scratches, and Joie sobbed as she hastily reached for her father.

«Dad, what's wrong with her? You obviously know. Tell us.»

«What is she?» Jubal demanded.

«Jaguar,» Traian supplied. «She is from a pure jaguar bloodline.»

The cat crouched, tail switching in agitation, eyes on the two Carpathian males blocking her path to her goal.

Mikhail, step back, Traian warned. She is about to attack.

She is Joie's mother, Mikhail reminded him. We cannot hurt her.

There is no we. Get back. Traian edged forward in an effort to protect Mikhail as well as his lifemate and the others.

«She never did that when we were in school and she was really upset with our teachers,» Jubal said. «What the hell, Dad? Did you know?»

«Shut up, Jubal,» Mr. Sanders snapped. «Now is not the time for levity. She is very dangerous.»

«You think? You've got blood dripping all over the floor.»

«What triggered this?» Mikhail asked calmly.

Mr. Sanders shook his head. «I have no idea. She seemed to accept everything you told her.»

«All of you back out of the room. Let Traian, Mr. Sanders and me handle this,» Mikhail ordered.

I am on my way, Mikhail. Wait for me. Gregori, as always, was perfectly calm.

Oh, now you want to help. I think I can take care of one jungle cat.

If you got so much as a scratch on you, your daughter would have my head on a platter. Besides-you are getting old and slow.

As Joie, Jubal, Gabrielle and Gary began to slowly inch their way out of the room, the cat became more agitated, leaping to its feet, running at the two Carpathian males, a roar of rage shaking the house. Her children stopped.

The jaguar exploded into action, leaping over furniture to hit Traian squarely in the chest. Her weight and the suddenness of the attack pushed him over backward. She went for his throat, trying to sink her teeth deep. He caught her between strong hands, holding the snarling cat off.

Gabrielle screamed. «Don't hurt her!»

That's my mother! Joie cried.

Traian hesitated, and the cat raked his chest with her hind legs, tearing great lacerations, all the while driving its teeth toward his throat. It suddenly switched tactics, claws raking his chest, digging in for traction as she gathered power, pushing off with her hind legs to leap at Gary. She struck hard and fast, going in for the kill.

Powerful hands wrapped around her neck, holding her off, and she stared into the black eyes of the prince. He had moved with blurring speed, inserting his body between the jaguar and its prey.

«Mom! Stop!» There was panic in Joie's voice. «What are you doing?»

Traian had no choice. He was sworn, as all Carpathians, to protect their prince. He circled the strong neck in a half nelson, prepared to break the neck should she persist in her attack on Mikhail.

The jaguar fought, using its flexible spine, but neither male yielded.

«Please, Traian, don't. You can't kill her,» Joie pleaded, rushing forward to grab his arm.

It was enough distraction that the jaguar twisted, nearly getting away from Traian, the claws tearing at Mikhail.

«Enough!» The command thundered through the room as a tall, broad-shouldered man strode in. His silver eyes gleamed with lethal intent. Ignoring Joie and Jubal's pleas, Gregori reached past Traian and yanked the jaguar's head around to stare into its eyes. «I said enough. If you persist in this action I will slay you immediately. You are human enough to understand me. Go into the other room and regain control now.» There was no give, no compassion. He didn't even glance at the others in the room. He simply picked up the jaguar and flung it toward the door.

The cat landed hard against the wall, slid down and lay for a moment, sides heaving. There was a small silence broken only by the jaguar's heavy breathing. Then it turned its head and snarled.

Gregori let out a long slow hiss, eyes glittering. He took one threatening step toward the cat. «I will not tell you again. You attacked my prince and the penalty is death. There are three Carpathians in this room and by all rights you should be dead. Go before I lose what little patience I have.»

The jaguar slunk off, and Gregori reached down and helped Mikhail to his feet. «Next time, if you do not protect your prince, you will answer to me. I do not care who attacks him, or for what reason. It is your duty to see to his safety whether he likes it or not.» His eyes touched on first Traian, then Joie and Gabrielle. «Do I make myself perfectly clear? Because if I do not, I will go in there and break her neck and show you what one does to keep their prince from harm.»

Traian nodded and reached for Joie. Gabrielle kept her face buried against Gary's shoulder. Mr. Sanders rushed into the other room to attend to his wife.

«I was safe, Gregori,» Mikhail said quietly.

Gregori whipped around to glare at the prince. «Do not tell me you were safe. She was going straight for your throat. Do you think I couldn't read her mind? She intended to rip it out.»

This is fine way to begin our first Christmas celebration. Raven is not going to be

pleased.

Raven would not be pleased if that woman had ripped out your throat. This is not finished, Mikhail, and do not make light of it. Traian and Joie have a lot to answer for. I can excuse Gabrielle, but not the others.

«Traian was watching out for me, Gregori,» Joie said. «She's my mother.»

«Traian does not need to hide behind your skirts, Joie. He is an ancient. Born and bred Carpathian and as such subject to the laws of our people. Above all else, we protect our prince. Without him, our species dies. We are extinct. Our first duty always-always-is to protect the living vessel of our people. Mikhail would not have killed your mother to save himself because he is bound to hold our people together. He would have tried diplomacy and she would have ripped out his throat. It was the duty of the three Carpathians in this room to protect him-even from himself.» Gregori turned his head, pinning Traian with his cold, peculiar-colored eyes. «Is that not so?»

«That is so. It was bad judgment on my part and I will not fail our prince again.»

«And you will not fail our people again,» Gregori persisted. He looked to the women. «You must make up your mind whether or not you live as Carpathian. If you do not, I will see to it that you do not live at all.»

Gregori. Mikhail's intervention was calm in the eye of the storm. Enough.

It is not enough. They will protect you or they will answer to me.

«Why did she do it?» Gary asked, pushing his glasses up and rubbing the bridge of his nose. «I swear she was coming for me, not Mikhail. Gregori, I'm certain she tried to kill me. Mikhail moved so fast I didn't see him, and I don't think she did either.»

«Traian needs attention,» Gregori ordered Joie. «See to your lifemate's wounds.»

Traian's snarl rumbled through the room. «I deserve your reprimand, Gregori, but do not extend your orders to my lifemate. I will not allow it.»

Mikhail held up his hand to forestall any further confrontation. «We all forget what is at stake here. Mrs. Sanders is here to celebrate with us and she had accepted Gabrielle and Joie as Carpathians. What we need to find out is what triggered the jaguar into attacking.» He gave his second in command a hard look. «And then we're all going to make peace because nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to ruin this night for Raven.»

Gregori bowed slightly. «Of course.» He exchanged a ghost of a grin with Traian. He is afraid of her.

She has him wrapped around her finger.

And both of you can go to hell.

Gabrielle sank down onto the couch with Gary on one side of her and Jubal on the other. Joie and Traian shared a chair. Mikhail stood in the corner nearest the door and Gregori stood, arms folded across his broad chest, his body between Mikhail's and the rest of the room.

Mr. and Mrs. Sanders came out together holding hands. She had been crying and was obviously reluctant to face them all. When she saw the marks on Traian's chest, a fresh flood of tears began.

«Mom, it's okay,» Joie said. «Please don't cry anymore. Let's just figure out what's wrong and fix it.»

«Is it me?» Gabrielle asked. «I don't want to upset you anymore. This is Christmas night and we're supposed to be together as a family. I don't want you upset by what happened to me.»

Mrs. Sanders shook her head. «Not you. Never you, baby.» Her gaze touched on Gary, and slid away. She gripped her husband's hand tighter. «It's him.» She nodded toward Gary. «He's not what you think he is.»

«Gary?» Gabrielle looked shocked. Everyone stared at Gary.

«What do you mean, Mrs. Sanders?» Mikhail asked.

«He's jaguar. I can smell his blood. The stench is all over him. He is a jaguar male. They are deceptive and capable of great cruelty. I don't want him anywhere near my daughters. Either of them.» She raised her chin, suddenly looking regal. «What I did was wrong, I should have controlled the cat better, but it was such a shock. I haven't encountered a jaguar male in years. I thought that door was long closed. It took me by surprise and brought back painful memories, but I'm under control now. He cannot stay anywhere near them.»

Gabrielle gripped Gary's shirt hard. «You're mistaken, Mom. Gary is the sweetest man I know. Kind and good and brilliant. He isn't a shape-shifter. He's human.»

«He is jaguar,» Mrs. Sanders said harshly. «And he is deceiving you if he has said differently. I am pure jaguar and none can escape my detection.»

«Gary?» Mikhail asked, already probing the man's mind.

Gregori had exchanged blood with Gary and could read his thoughts, and did so often. He had never found any evidence of shapeshifting. He looked at Mikhail and shook his head.

«Mrs. Sanders, it is possible Gary shares a bloodline. Many of the women here do, including your daughters and son. But he cannot shift and, in fact, does not know of his

lineage. Gregori has shared blood with him and can easily read his thoughts, and many times Gary has volunteered to allow me to do the same. He cannot deceive a Carpathian who has taken his blood.»

«He is a jaguar,» Mrs. Sanders persisted. «He is not welcome here nor can he be near my daughters.»

«Your son is jaguar. Should he be banished as well?» Mikhail asked.

«Mom! What's gotten into you,» Jubal demanded. «Dad, stop her.»

«You have no idea what your mother has suffered at the hands of a jaguar male,» Mr. Sanders retorted. «Don't you dare judge her.»

«Not all jaguar males are the same,» Mikhail said. «Any more than Carpathian males are. Many of our males turn vampire and many jaguar males turn on their women, but not all. I've known many honorable jaguars-your own son among them, and his blood is far more pure than Gary's. Give Gary a fair chance. He has been with my people for some time now and is committed to helping us. Gabrielle has worked with him and knows his dedication. Use this time to get to know him as an individual.»

Before she could protest, Gregori stirred, drawing all eyes to him. «This is a small thing the prince has requested, Mrs. Sanders. You have attacked him, as well as intentionally harming your own son-in-law. Your intention was to kill one of ours. Gary is under my protection and is my friend. I will be responsible for his behavior. All the prince has asked is that you give him a chance and given your own behavior, I think it is a reasonable request.»

Mrs. Sanders took a deep breath. «You're right, of course. I was so scared when I scented him. I do apologize for my behavior.»

Gary squeezed Gabrielle's hand to forestall any comments. «Thank you, Mrs. Sanders. I honestly don't know if what you say is true, but I'll do my best to find out. As far as I know, I have no psychic abilities whatsoever, and I certainly can't shapeshift. However, I have always been interested in legends and myths, and did at one time try to prove there were such creatures as vampires and shapeshifters. Maybe I was drawn to those things because, as you say, it is my heritage.»

«Perhaps,» Mrs. Sanders agreed noncommittally.

Mikhail let his breath out slowly. «Our celebration will begin in a couple of hours. I trust you will do your best to work things out so we can present a united front to our guests. And Traian, you will make absolutely certain that our secrets remain safe at all times.» That meant taking the blood of Joie's parents, an unpleasant, but necessary task.

«Yes, of course.»

Gregori turned deliberately to Gary in front of the others. «If you have need of me, you have only to call out in your mind and I will hear you. Take every precaution. I will not suffer a second attack on you without retaliation. My justice is swift and brutal as you well know.» He looked at the others in the room. «Nothing will sway me from my set task should harm come to my friend.» He gave a small half bow and followed Mikhail out into the drifting snow.

«You always did know how to leave with a flair,» Mikhail remarked.

«I swear, old friend, if you put yourself in harm's way again, I'm going to kill you myself and be done with it.»

«I like to keep you on your toes. I'll be by later to see my daughter. I'm heading over to see Destiny. I'd like to hear what her friend MaryAnn has to say about Gabrielle. And if she really is as good as everyone tells me, I want to find a way to get her together with young Skyler. The child is amazing, courageous and smart and way too mature for her age, but so fragile, Gregori. We cannot afford to lose her and Dimitri is very close. Too close.»

«I am keeping my eye on him.» Gregori said. «You will like Destiny and her Nicolae. She is an amazing woman and a very skilled hunter. Francesca and I are keeping a close eye on her to make certain we removed all the parasites from her blood. We have kept some just in case we find a use for it. An astonishing young woman.»

«I am looking forward to meeting her.»

Gregori began to shimmer into transparency. «You know there will be trouble over Gabrielle and Gary now that she has been converted.»

Mikhail sighed. «Even now, when we are supposed to be gathering for Christmas, there always seems to be trouble.»

Chapter 14

The inn was beginning to fill up with people. Manolito De La Cruz stood in the corner watching the strange scene unfold before his eyes. Chaos. Stupidity. Why would so many people gather indoors and feel safe?

Hunger was sharp and terrible, clawing at his gut, riding him hard, and the sound of so many heartbeats, blood ebbing and flowing in veins, only added to his discomfort. Shadows rose in him, the demon crying for blood, for some small spark of feeling, a momentary rush that would give him back life. Just once. He could almost imagine prey beneath him, heart beating wildly, the rush of adrenaline spiking the blood and giving him a high when he consumed it.

There in the shadows he chose his prey. The man, fit and strong and thinking he was such a big man, telling everyone what to do. Manolito would let him see it coming, death in his eyes, in his heart and soul, and he would sink his teeth deep, feel the struggle for life-

always life. A life he no longer had and could never get back.

All around him were Carpathian males who had managed to claim a woman-even two of his brothers. He heard their laughter, felt emotion through them, but it wasn't enough. Too many centuries had gone by. Too many battles. Too many kills. He felt his will slipping into that dark abyss he couldn't seem to drag himself out of. He had stood with the Carpathians against the vampires, had been wounded and had been healed, but rising, had felt the darkness coiled in him, whispering continually every moment until he thought he might go mad-until he thought he would welcome madness.

His gaze shifted to a woman in heels. Women always welcomed his attentions. He could draw them easily with his dark, seductive looks. He knew what women saw when they looked at him: a handsome man, mysterious, wealthy and very, very sexual. He looked the epitome of the predatory male and women followed him, begging to be taken to bed. He used them ruthlessly, leaving behind the impression of sexual prowess, marking them with his teeth, disgusted by their willingness to throw their bodies at him. If they only knew what he really wanted was to drain every drop of blood from their bodies, to leave them a withered shell just so he could feel the momentary rush of life.

Temptation was overpowering, triggering a response, so that his incisors lengthened and grew, filling his mouth even as his body craved the power of the kill. Just once. The whispers grew louder, drowning out his thoughts of calling to his brothers for aid. One time only. A taste of life that would have to last him a long while. Just once. Who would know?

The heartbeats grew louder until they thundered in his ears. He heard his own heart beating and waited for the sheep around him to follow-and they did, slowly, one by one, picking up his rhythm.

He craved hot blood pouring into his system. He craved the feel of a woman's skin, the thrill of her body submitting to his. Only he couldn't feel it-not for real. His brothers fed him emotions like they would spoon-feed a child. It wasn't enough. Darkness called and he needed to answer. He could almost taste the power in his mouth.

Abruptly, he turned and strode from the inn, out into the night, where he could calm his heart and try to think with more clarity. Hunger beat at him relentlessly, a dark driving obsession he couldn't shake. The night wasn't dark enough to hide in. The snow lit up the ground and kept the shadows from prevailing. He needed the shelter of the woods. Manolito switched directions and headed for deeper forest.

«Nicolae, warrior, brother, it is good to have you home.» Mikhail clasped the forearms of the tall, ancient dark-haired hunter, greeting him with the timeless Carpathian tradition for welcoming beloved warriors home.

Nicolae Von Shrieder stood arm to arm, staring into the eyes of his prince, emotion

nearly choking him. It was unexpected and shocking to feel the lump in his throat at the admiration and genuine welcome in Mikhail's greeting. He was home and he had served his people with honor and dignity for centuries. «It is good to be home, Mikhail. I serve at the will of my prince, who is the living vessel of our people, and pledge loyalty to him.» He paid the ancient homage to his prince.

Mikhail's smile was genuine. «It has been long since I heard those words and felt the meaning behind them. It is truly good to have you home.» He turned to the woman standing beside Nicolae. She looked very apprehensive, somewhere between wanting to run-and fight. She had been through so much, her courage and strength honed in the very fires of hell.

He clasped her forearms, looking straight into her startled aquamarine eyes, and repeated the ancient greeting, affording her the highest respect he could give her. «Destiny. Warrior. Sister. It is good to have you home.»

She swallowed hard, glanced at her lifemate and nodded, her hands tightening on his forearms. «It is good to be home. I too serve at the will of my prince and pledge loyalty to him.»

«You do not have to pledge your loyalty to me,» Mikhail said. «The service you have already done is more than any people could ask of you.»

«I stand with my lifemate and wish to serve,» she replied.

«Then I accept your offer on behalf of the Carpathian people.» He let her go, stepping away, his smile welcoming. «I have long wanted to meet the woman who has given and suffered so much for our people. Thank you for coming.»

«I had forgotten the feel of our soil,» Nicolae murmured. «I cannot get enough of it. Destiny says all I do is roll around in bed, but it is a miracle to me to have the luxury of such richness.» He led the way through his family home. As always, the other Carpathians had kept the home clean and in good shape. The moment he had returned he had modernized it, and was proud to show off the changes.

They sat near the fireplace, the one Destiny especially loved, and Mikhail imparted to them all the news he could think of, including his most important find, Syndil. «Do you remember anything of the ancient practices, Nicolae? A woman who could heal the earth?»

«Of course. They were very rare and most honored. She attended all births and healings. The line was old and only the women from that line had the gift. Syndil must be a descendant.»

«And the only one we have.»

«There were several earth healers I ran across when I was a young man. There could be more. Rhiannon was such a healer. The gift was passed through her mother. Her father was

Dragonseeker. She was an incredible talent even as a child. It was a great loss to our people when she was killed.»

«Syndil is not Dragonseeker; at least I have not heard she bears the mark of the dragon. She is one of the Dark Troubadours, the lost children Darius managed to save. But we do have Rhiannon's granddaughter, Natalya, whom your brother claimed as a lifemate.»

Nicolae smiled. «And Vikirnoff certainly has his hands full with her.»

«The two of you have found extraordinary women.» A brief smile flirted with Mikhail's mouth. «Although Natalya did not inherit her mother's gift for healing the earth, she is a talented warrior. I believe you will enjoy her company very much, Destiny. Have you met her yet? She taught herself to be a warrior.»

Destiny's tongue touched her lips as if they were dry. Once more her gaze flicked to her lifemate before she spoke. «She's a lot of fun. I find myself laughing around her all the time.»

Mikhail had the feeling Destiny didn't laugh all that much. He glanced at Nicolae. The ancient's fingers were massaging the nape of her neck, a subtle show of support Mikhail often employed when Raven was in an unfamiliar situation and feeling apprehensive. He flashed another open smile at the woman. «She does love to quote old movies. I told Raven we were going to have to start watching them so I can keep up.»

Destiny managed a small, nervous smile. «She loves old movies. Poor Vikirnoff doesn't know what she's saying half the time, but it's good for him.» She let out her breath slowly. «I've never been around a prince before. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do.»

«Most of the time, I'm just an ordinary man, Destiny,» Mikhail confided. He looked around and leaned forward, lowering his voice in a conspiratorial manner, although he sent his comments along to his second in command. «Unless Gregori's around, and then I suppose everyone should genuflect to make him happy.»

Gregori's retaliation was swift. A clap of thunder shook the house, rattling the windows, and the chair Mikhail was sitting in shifted and bucked, nearly throwing him to the floor.

Nicolae roared with laughter. «That was definitely a Daratrazanoff growling.»

«It is not any way for a son-in-law to treat his father-in-law,» Mikhail said. A slow grin lit his eyes. «But he will find I have the last word this night.»

«You have planned something,» Nicolae guessed.

«We need a Santa Claus and I think Gregori Daratrazanoff will fill that role nicely.»

Destiny looked from one laughing man to the other. «Gregori is not going to be happy. In all the time he spent trying to heal me, I only saw him smile at Savannah. Well, once he

tried to smile at me and it was more a baring of his teeth. The thought of him entertaining a roomful of children is beyond my imagination.»

«And everyone else's as well it seems,» Mikhail said with evident satisfaction. «How are you feeling? I know you experienced great pain on rising each day with vampire blood in your veins. Was Gregori able to fully heal you both?»

Destiny nodded. «It seems a miracle every rising, to open my eyes and not feel as if razor blades are cutting through my skin. Gregori kept the blood, and mentioned it might be used to infect a warrior to infiltrate the ranks of the undead.» Her gaze met Mikhail's. «Don't let them do that. It's the worst thing you can imagine to have that blood in your veins every moment of your existence. It's agony, both physically and mentally. I cannot imagine what it would do to a warrior already close to the edge of madness.»

«Nothing has been decided,» Mikhail assured. «When we are back to normal, we will all meet together. Your input is very valuable to us and we are hoping you will attend.»

Destiny looked relieved. «Yes, of course.»

Nicolae slid his arm along the back of her seat. «Destiny has not celebrated Christmas in years. We are going out to get a tree. Would you like to join us?»

Mikhail shook his head regretfully. «I have a few more stops to make before we all gather at the inn. I was hoping I would have a chance to speak with MaryAnn Delaney. I understand she's staying here.»

«Yes, she's with a young teenage girl at the moment. Francesca brought her over a few minutes ago and asked that MaryAnn speak with her. We're to take her home shortly.»

«Young Skyler. Most of the time, a girl her age would not trigger a response in her lifemate, but she is mature beyond her years and we now have an unrequited male running loose and demanding his rights.» Mikhail sighed softly. «Skyler needs protection at all times. If we fail again, her lifemate will bind her to him and I am not certain what Gabriel will do, but it will not be pleasant.»

«Francesca warned us,» Nicolae said. «Skyler indicated she would like to join us when we get the tree, so we'll leave as soon as MaryAnn has had some time with her. I don't anticipate any problems, but we will be careful. Destiny is a skilled hunter, so young Skyler will be doubly protected.»

«Do not let her out of your sight,» Mikhail warned. «She has a tendency to wander off. I sometimes wonder why I press Raven to have another child. I have forgotten the trouble they can be.»

«See!» Destiny made a face at Nicolae. «I told you they were trouble.»

Mikhail rose. «I am off to see your brother. Is there anything you would like me to tell

him?»

«Just pass on that you're going to ask Gregori to play Santa Claus. Vikirnoff will definitely enjoy that news.» Nicolae stood as well to see the prince out.

«I do not intend to ask Gregori, Nicolae. I will give him my first order as his father-in-law.»

Nicolae swept Destiny under his shoulder. «I so want to be there when you announce to Gregori that he will play Santa Claus tonight.»

«I wish I was there to see Savannah's face. She has such a wonderful sense of humor. I never thought I would become friends with the daughter of a prince. Although, honestly, I think she's just happy she got to fight a vampire so she can have something to hold over Gregorys head.»

Mikhail's face darkened and all humor left his face. «The moment something happens to my people-in particular my daughter-I am to be informed. But somehow, this small detail seems to have been omitted. Nicolae, perhaps you would be so kind as to explain, as my son-in-law failed to do so.» Gregori, did my daughter fight a vampire? And why wasn't I informed immediately? He sent a hiss of displeasure and the image of bared teeth.

Color receded from Destiny's face, leaving her very pale. She turned to Nicolae for reassurance. Did I say something wrong?

No, of course not, Nicolae said comfortingly.

Mikhail immediately regained control, forcing a small smile. The last thing he wanted to do was make Destiny uncomfortable. Fighting vampires to her was as natural as breathing. She would have a difficult time understanding why he was considering throttling Gregori.

I had every intention of telling you, but I came home to a battle. I didn't think in the midst of getting my hand cut off that it would be a good time to say, «Oh, and by the way, Savannah was out slaying vampires.»

I am considering chopping off your head. You will tell me every detail when we are alone. And don't whine about your hand, it is perfectly fine now.

I take no responsibility for the way you raised your headstrong daughter. I do my best to minimize the damage you and Raven did with your liberal and far too lenient raising.

Mikhail nearly choked. «That son-in-law is going to get taught a lesson he won't forget tonight. Liberal and lenient? I was firm with my daughter.» Mikhail waved to Destiny and left with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Destiny frowned, trying to follow the conversation. «Did you understand any of that?»

«I think he was arguing with Gregori over whether or not Savannah was raised properly.» Nicolae turned as MaryAnn Delaney and Skyler came into the room. Skyler was dressed in her furred parka, and MaryAnn reached for her own coat. MaryAnn was tall and slender with coffee-cream skin and spiraling curls all over her head. Even dressed in her jeans, she looked far too sophisticated for the woods. Small diamonds sparkled on her earlobes and a thin gold chain circled her neck.

«We're really going to do this?» MaryAnn asked, following the others outside. «Go chop down a tree in the middle of the forest?»

«Are you going to be a big baby? It's not that cold,» Nicolae teased. «Didn't you ever have a Christmas tree back in Seattle?»

«Of course I have, but I buy my trees in a civilized manner, you heathen,» MaryAnn said. «At the corner right down from my house. And in fact, they deliver them for me each year because my car is too small to get them home.»

«Are they always like this?» Skyler asked Destiny.

«They get worse,» she answered, drawing the door closed behind them.

«And you don't mind? I thought lifemates were jealous all the time.»

Destiny frowned as she made her way across the snow-covered ground. «Is Francesca jealous of Gabriel's friendships?»

«He isn't really all that friendly. Just with Lucian and Jaxon, and he treats Jaxon like his sister. Well, he's good to the housekeeper, but not like Francesca, and he doesn't really like very many men around her.» She shrugged. «Earlier, I was with Dimitri and he was being nice to me, but then Josef came along and he changed completely. I was afraid for Josef.»

«Jealousy isn't a good trait,» MaryAnn said, pulling her hood over her curls. «It shows insecurity.»

«Ah but sometimes, when other men look at my woman the wrong way,» Nicolae said, leering at Destiny, «they deserve to be scared off.»

MaryAnn threw a snowball at him. «You would say that because you haven't joined the modern world.»

«And I don't want to either. I like being king of my castle.»

Destiny snorted and added her snowball to MaryAnn's. «You wish.»

Manolito moved in absolute silence through the trees. The heartbeats were louder now, thunder in his ears. He could hear blood running, coursing through arteries straight to hearts. His mouth watered and his teeth lengthened. His pulse throbbed as it tuned itself to his prey. Lightning seemed to sizzle in his veins. He tried to reach for Rafael and Riordan, a last effort to remember honor and sanity, but he could not make the effort.

The heartbeats pounded and a single sound broke the rhythm. Laughter. It tinkled in the air, a melodious note that sank into his pores-called to the most basic part of him. Deep within, his demon roared, fighting for release, raking and clawing, demanding he give in. That sound came again, carried on the slight wind, drifting past the snowflakes to reach out to him, to beckon-no-summon him. He turned toward that note and moved with more stealth. He caught the scent now. Three women and a man-not just any man-a hunter. A warrior. He should walk away, get out while he could, but his demon thundered orders, shaking him, demanding he find prey.

A slow hiss escaped. His body was graceful, the body of an ancient hunter who had long battled the vampire and was highly skilled in combat. He moved with the drift of snow, part of nature itself, transparent and fluid, as silent as the flakes falling from the clouds.

Skyler pulled her parka closer around her and looked out toward the deeper forest. The world was white and sparkling, snow weighing down the branches of the trees in all directions. Off in the distance she could see the smoke coming from the direction of the inn. She shivered for no reason at all.

«It's beautiful out here, don't you think?» MaryAnn remarked.

Skyler nodded. «Very beautiful-but dangerous.»

«And cold,» MaryAnn added. «I'm not like the others. I can't regulate my body temperature like they can. Even you do better than I do. And I'm not a particularly adventurous person.»

«I love the forest and even the cold. There's something about knowing wild animals are close and everything around me is in its natural state.» Even as she admitted it, Skyler's gaze was searching out the darker interior of the woods.

MaryAnn shuddered. «I can see you love this, child, but I'm a city girl. And I'm totally out of my element here. I have to tell you, if any of these men were my man, I'd be bashing him upside the head-and I'm a woman who doesn't condone violence.»

Skyler swung her full attention back to MaryAnn, laughing. «I think that's a good idea. I'm going to tell Francesca that's what she needs to do whenever Gabriel gets bossy.»

«It's definitely what Destiny needs to do with that bossy man she's hooked up with,» MaryAnn said decisively.

«I heard that,» Nicolae said. He pitched a snowball at MaryAnn with deadly accuracy.

She laughed as it splattered against her shoulder. «You're so mean, Nicolae. You know I can't retaliate because my hands are frozen.»

«You are such a little hothouse flower,» Nicolae taunted. «And you couldn't hit me anyway. Your one try hit the tree three feet to my left.»

«Just call me Orchid. I thrive best in the warmth of the indoors. As for aim, I never could hit anything, not even a softball and I tried when I was a kid. What about you, Skyler, do you play sports?»

Skyler shook her head. «No. I'm not too good with other kids. Francesca homeschools me.»

«I could hit a rock with my eyes closed by the time I was fourteen,» Nicolae boasted. «That's what we played with in the old days.»

«Did you really?» Skyler was intrigued.

«Yes. We spent a great deal of time seeing who could feel a small attack coming and divert it before it hit. I was darn good at it too. I won't mention my brother, who excelled at it and slipped one or two past me to give me the occasional black eye.»

«All this manly beating on the chest is making me weak. I need to fly home soon to my beautiful Seattle,» MaryAnn said half-jokingly.

Destiny made a single sound of distress and reached for MaryAnn's hand. «You can't leave me.»

«You'll do fine, girlfriend. You know you will. You're strong and whole…»

«That's taking it a little too far,» Destiny said. «I'm never going to be like everyone else.»

«And no one wants you to be. You're Destiny and you're unique. Right, Skyler?» MaryAnn drew the girl into the conversation. «We wouldn't want Destiny to be any other way.»

«I like you just the way you are,» Skyler admitted shyly.

«I don't know what way I am,» Destiny whispered, gripping MaryAnn harder, as if she might be able to keep her in the Carpathian Mountains.

«You accept people the way they are,» Skyler said, her gaze too old, memories swirling

to the surface before she could stop them. «You just accept people.»

MaryAnn put her hand on Skyler's shoulder. «That's right, Destiny. She's right about you. You never ask anything of anyone and you don't expect them to be anything they're not. You're a very accepting person.»

«I'm not any different than the two of you,» Destiny objected.

MaryAnn blew out a trail of white vapor and watched it float away. «Yes, you are,» she said without meeting her friend's gaze. «I could never do what you've done. You have the courage to take on a man like Nicolae. I can't do that. I'll never do that. I intend to remain alone all of my life rather than chance being with someone who is dominating and possibly destructive.» She spread her hands out. «I don't want a man in my life and I always judge them too harshly.»

«If some handsome hottie came out of the forest and claimed you, you wouldn't accept him?» Skyler asked. «No matter how hot he was?»

MaryAnn shook her head. «Absolutely not. I would catch the first plane back to Seattle.»

«Lifemates don't always let you do the things you want,» Skyler murmured.

«Ha! Gregori promised his protection, and I'd hide in his house until I could get safely home. I would never, under any circumstances, live with a Carpathian male.»

«I feel the same way,» Skyler said, and looked out toward the forest, blinking back tears that were suddenly close.

The smile faded from MaryAnn's face as she looked at the other girl and really backtracked in their conversation. Skyler was fighting the pull of her lifemate, and with all the things MaryAnn now knew about their species, she knew it was difficult, if not impossible. «I was being humorous, Skyler,» she said softly. «Things we think are forever are often just a short space of time. I have no idea what I'd really do if a Carpathian man came out of the forest and claimed me. How could I really know?»

Skyler shook her head, tears swimming in her eyes in spite of her efforts to keep them at bay.

«Sweetheart,» MaryAnn's voice was infinitely gentle. «You feel that way now only because you haven't worked out all of your problems. You need to find out who you really are and what strengths you have. No one can get ahead of themselves and make decisions when they haven't given themselves time to grow. Have patience. Give yourself time to grow up. There's no hurry at all.»

Skyler ducked her head. If there was no hurry, why did she feel such a sense of urgency? Why did the woods beckon her every time she looked at them? The pull was strong to go find Dimitri. She hoped it was to tell him she couldn't be what he wanted, but she feared he

had already tied them in some way. She couldn't stop thinking about him, and worse, her body reacted when she did-and she detested her reaction. Heat spread through her veins, her breasts ached, and lower still, she felt damp and uncomfortable, tension building. She felt his hunger. His need. She felt his silent call to her, even though he tried to suppress his needs and keep a barrier between them. His blood called to her. She knew it was Dimitri. And she didn't want anything to do with a man or what that would entail.

«There's a likely candidate,» Nicolae said, pointing toward a particularly full tree. «We could do a lot with that.»

The tree was deeper in the woods, and Skyler hesitated to follow as the three adults raced each other across the snow, occasionally throwing a snowball at each other. She was filled with dread when she looked into the shadows. Something lurked there. Something dangerous. It watched them with hungry eyes. Watched and waited for one wrong move. She could feel the waves of menace, and didn't understand how Nicolae or Destiny couldn't feel it as well.

Skyler wanted to run back to the safety of the house, but that meant telling the others or going by herself. If she told the others and it was Dimitri, there would be problems between Gabriel and him again and she couldn't bear that. She'd already caused far too much trouble for both of them. And going back to the house alone was out of the question. She hurried after Destiny and MaryAnn, casting anxious glances toward the thick stand of trees.

For one horrible moment she thought she saw the fiery glow of eyes staring at her, tracking her every move. She blinked and the illusion was gone, but something was there. She was certain of it. And it was watching them with hungry eyes.

«Absolutely not. I would catch the first plane back to Seattle. Gregori promised his protection, and I'd hide in his house until I could get safely home. I would never, under any circumstances, live with a Carpathian male.» The feminine voice came to him quite clearly, each word distinct, carried on the night itself.

He was blinded. Dazzled by the brilliant white of the snow on the ground. His eyes failed him and he had to cover them, dropping to his knees to keep from crying out at the unexpected pain of such glaring brightness. Color blazed into life, like a living flame, so that he had to squeeze his eyelids shut, yet it still was there, absorbed by his mind. Vivid. Astonishing. Beautiful.

His breath left his lungs in a rush. He tried to look again, his fingers helping to shield against the brightness so he wouldn't be completely blind. There was color in the trees, not a dull gray, but green peeking beneath the coat of sparkling white. He was seeing in color. Elation swept through him. It was no wonder his demon was roaring to follow that

heartbeat, that melodious laughter.

The woman belonged to him. At last. After centuries of waiting. She was created for him, would be bound to him. He stood, swaying with the strength of the emotions pouring into him. It was overpowering to feel so much, every sense vividly alive. Every cell vividly alive. It was all there, every single emotion he could ever want. From lust to hunger, filling his mind, creating erotic images and testing the years of lost dreams and fantasies. His mouth watered as he thought of the taste of her, the texture of her skin. He had dreamed of her, needed her, and at long last, she was within his grasp.

Even as he moved quickly to catch her, her words sank in. Protected by Gregori. A soft growl escaped. She meant to elude him. To deny his claim on her. She was his by right, by law, by everything their world decreed, and he had held out for centuries-centuries– waiting for her. No one would keep her from him. No one. He would take her if necessary and damn the consequences. There were few hunters equal to him-or to his brothers, and they would stand with him. The De La Cruz brothers always-always-stood together.

His lips drew back in a snarl and he began to work his way with even more care toward the small group gathered around a tree. The young girl turned several times toward him, a faint frown on her face, and once the ancient male lifted his head to examine the area around him. He felt the mind probe and kept his barriers up, determined not to be discovered. The ancient was good, but Manolito had centuries of experience in hiding his presence to fall back on, and he kept from being discovered by simply becoming the tree nearest to him.

He crept closer until he could see her. She took his breath away. She was everything he had ever imagined a lifemate could be-and more. Tall, slender, with full breasts meant for suckling, curvy hips for cradling his body, and her skin-he could almost feel it even from the distance he was. She had the kind of skin that looked so soft, a man could spend his life just touching her. Coffee-colored, inviting, warm like satin. The hood had fallen back on her jacket and he could see the shoulder-length curls, thick and wild, long spirals and whorls begging for his fingers. Her eyes were large, a dark chocolate, and her mouth was frankly sinful. He was definitely going to be fantasizing over her mouth and the things she would be doing to his body.

His. He still couldn't grasp the reality of it, not even with her standing right there, laughing, her face flushed, her eyes dancing. He sank down and let himself breathe, his brain working quickly to sort out the choices he had. If he took her, as he wanted to, he would bring down most of Carpathian society on him. He had a right to her, but she could ask for protection and from what he'd overheard, she would do just that. He needed a plan. And he needed it fast. He couldn't even reveal to his brothers that he had found his lifemate. They would help him-but if their lifemates got wind of his intentions, they would be angry. He wasn't willing to risk that one of them might betray him.

First, before all else, he had to find out everything he could about his lifemate, without allowing anyone to know he was doing so. And then he had to devise a plan to get her to

South America where she would be cut off from all help.

He watched the tree come down and Nicolae drag it across the snow. The young girl took another suspicious look around, and almost immediately one of the women scanned the area for enemies. He did his tree act again, melting into the trunk, becoming part of the growth, until the small group walked back toward the house.

He followed, staying invisible, keeping upwind and out of sight of the youngest girl. She had vision beyond the normal, the ability to sense even the shadow of darkness. Manolito was about to undertake a dangerous entry into the home of an ancient, and the shadow of darkness within him grew enough that it would call to the girl.

He waited until they opened the door to the house, an invitation if he ever saw one. The ancient struggled with the tree. It was awkward and covered with snow, a difficult fit for the open door.

«Is that as wide as you can hold it open, MaryAnn?» Nicolae demanded. «Because there's a lot of tree here. Maybe I should just make it skinny for a second or two. Just enough to get it inside.»

«Don't you dare. You promised me we'd do this the old-fashioned way. No cheating. I'll help you,» Destiny said.

MaryAnn bowed low as she pushed the door as wide open as possible. «Please do come in.»

Beside her, Skyler gasped as a cold breeze blew into the house. Snow-flakes from the tree and porch whirled around in a small eddy, and then slowly subsided.

Nicolae and Destiny took several tries to get the very full tree into the house. Snow cascaded everywhere and they both collapsed laughing. «Skyler! Help,» Destiny called as the top of the tree hit the couch.

Skyler leapt to lift it over the furniture. Once MaryAnn closed the door and latched it, Skyler thought she would feel so much safer, but she didn't. Nicolae waved one hand and a fire sprang up in the fireplace, almost instantly warming the room. Skyler turned away from them to stare out the window into the forest. Nothing had happened. Was her overactive imagination at work? Why didn't she ever feel safe anymore?

«There's water all over the floor,» MaryAnn said. «I'll go get a towel.»

«Great idea. Skyler and I will have Nicolae find the best spot for the tree.»

«What do you mean, find the best spot for the tree?» Nicolae demanded. «I'm only moving it once if you're making me do this the human way.»

«You re taking all the fun out of it,» Destiny protested. «Half the fun is seeing that look

of total exasperation on your face.»

MaryAnn laughed at their antics. It was so good to see Destiny happy. It was worth leaving Seattle and traveling so far from home. The mountains were remote, and she knew she was far out of her depth here, but just to see Destiny settling in, happy with Nicolae and confident in herself, was worth every moment away from home.

She stepped into the bathroom and turned in a slow circle to admire all the tile work. For a room that was never used, Nicolae had paid a lot of attention to detail and it was beautiful. She pulled two of the thickest towels from the rack and turned to the door. It swung shut, the lock snicking in place.

As she reached for the door, Manolito materialized, his mouth at her ear, whispering a command, taking over quickly, wrapping her up in his enthrallment. When she'd held the door open for the other male carrying the Christmas tree and said, «Please come in» under his gentle push of compulsion, she had invited Manolito into her home as well.

MaryAnn, you are my lifemate and therefore subject to my wishes. You will take my blood so that I may call to you whenever I have need of you or I can hear you when you have need of me.

His fingers trailed down the perfect skin of her face. He closed his eyes, savoring how utterly soft she was. He slid his fingers into the collar of her shirt, tracing her collarbone and sliding the buttons open. Her breasts swelled above her lacy bra, an invitation in itself.

He bent his head and kissed the corner of her mouth, his body already tightening. But this wasn't about sex. He would never take something from his lifemate she was not ready to offer him. He kissed his way across her throat and the frantically beating pulse there. Pulling her into his arms, he cradled her body to his and sank his teeth over her breast, allowing the erotic ecstasy of his first taste of her to take him over.

Need slammed him hard, his body swelling in reaction, a hard, painful ache of promise. Her taste was exquisite. He'd never known anything like it, and he took his fill and then some, wanting a true exchange. Their first. He didn't pretend she knew her lifemate was claiming her. He simply took, greedy for what was his, and he damned himself for doing so. But this would bind them together enough for him to get through the dark days ahead, keep him from turning vampire. He would ride the high of lust and need until he could safely take her to his lair.

When he could force himself under control, he closed the pinpricks, leaving behind his mark, his brand, one she couldn't easily remove. He opened his own shirt and slashed his chest, forcing her head to him, commanding her to drink. The moment her mouth moved over his skin and her tongue swirled against him, he nearly shamed himself. His erection thickened, jumped in response, and throbbed with the need to bury itself deep inside her.

«MaryAnn?» It was Nicolae, and there was suspicion in his voice. Manolito felt the quick

scan, a hard thrust of a mind probe and then movement in MaryAnn's mind. The ancient had taken her blood at some time, tying them together. Manolito hissed his displeasure, kept her brain patterns the same, a woman using the restroom.

Still, the ancient paced outside the door.

With a sigh of regret, when he was certain she had taken enough for a true exchange, Manolito closed the wound, tidied her and placed memories of using the bathroom. It easy enough to disappear, scattering his molecules throughout the room so that when MaryAnn opened the door and Nicolae peered in, there was nothing to see-no way to detect him.

«Are you all right?» Nicolae asked.

MaryAnn pressed her hand against her aching breast. Strangely, she felt flushed-more than that, in a heightened sexual state. She took a slow, deep breath and let it out. «I'm fine, Nicolae. Here are the towels.» Had she been daydreaming? For a moment, she couldn't remember going into the bathroom. She thought only of a man touching her skin, sliding his mouth down her throat to her breast. She wanted to open her blouse and look at her skin, touch her body, feel hands on her. But Nicolae was already striding down the hall, casting small suspicious glances over his shoulder, and remembering he could read her thoughts, she hastily followed him forcing inane chatter about Christmas trees.

Chapter 15

«Natalya, just what are you doing with that hairspray and lighter?» Vikirnoff Von Shrieder demanded. He peered out the kitchen window to the silent sparkling white world surrounding them. «There aren't any vampires around, are there?»

«Don't be silly. I've learned to call down the lightning when I'm fighting a vampire. I needed a flame thingie for the creme brulee. See, it says so right here on the recipe.» Natalya bent forward to reread the card she had on the low-tiled counter.

«Give it up. The silly recipe isn't worth the amount of time you have put into it.» Vikirnoff came up behind her and circled her waist with his arms, drawing her back up against him.

«I thought you always wanted June Cleaver cooking in the kitchen with her little apron on,» Natalya teased.

«It was you who mentioned June Cleaver, but I do like the apron,» he admitted, kissing his way down the side of her face. His hands burrowed under the thin material stretching to cover her breasts. «If you wore this all the time, I might consider trying out one of these strange concoctions you seem to be attempting to whip up.»

He nibbled on the back of her neck and let his hands slide down her flat stomach to the junction of her legs beneath the short apron. His palm caressed the short curls, and moved up to cover the birthmark in the shape of a dragon. The pads of his fingers traced the

familiar shape, and then moved on around her hips to her firm bare buttocks. «Ainaak enyem, you do not have a single stitch on beneath this apron.»

She leaned forward just a little more to peer at the recipe and frown at her concoction. The action brought her enticing derriere brushing the front of his body, sending a small electrical charge right through his groin. «I don't think anyone who cooks actually wears clothes. It's too messy. I changed three times and gave it up.»

His hands continued their journey, shaping her hips and running over her bottom to slide over her thighs. He felt her shiver of awareness-of answering excitement. «So humans stand in the kitchen stark naked and cook.» Once more his hands moved, widening her stance, caressing the inside of her thighs, going higher so his knuckles could brush back and forth across her sensitive core.

«I'm certain of it,» Natalya said. «I've discovered their secret.» She closed her eyes to absorb the feel of his hands on her bare skin.

His mouth nuzzled her neck, tongue stroking caresses over her pulse, teeth teasing and nipping. «I will ask Slavica's husband if that is why he spends so much time in the kitchen with her. I wondered what they did together in that big room with so many counters.»

His teeth sank deep, locking them together, his larger body bending hers forward, pinning her against the low counter and his body. His clothes were gone and his body already hard and aggressive, his fingers pushing slowly, seductively into her body so that she gasped and pushed back against him, already wet and welcoming for him. Already hot. He loved her ready response and the way her body began to ride his hand eagerly.

His hands went to her hips, holding her still, preventing all movement, so she waited for his attentions, unable to bring any pleasure to herself.

«You started this,» Natalya complained.

He didn't answer, savoring the spicy taste of her, the way her smaller body waited for his, open and ready, so vulnerable and so willing. It was a heady feeling to be able to take a woman warrior, to wrap his body around hers when she was every bit as lethal as she was beautiful. He held her down with one hand on her back, heightening her pleasure, forcing her to wait for him, breathless, her hips trying to entice him, her body wet and needy. He loved especially when she grew anxious and demanding, yet submitted to his domination– like now.

Vikirnoff swept his tongue across the pinpricks, waited again, waiting for the telltale beat of her heart to accelerate, and he thrust hard, driving deep into her, burying himself all the way. She cried out, a low keen of joy as they joined together. She was so tight, a fist clamping around his shaft, hot and velvet soft, slick with welcoming cream. He took her hard and fast, driving her over the edge without preamble so that her body clamped down and her orgasm rushed over her, rocking her legs, rippling through her belly and crashing

through her womb.

He kept the pounding rhythm, moving like a piston, dragging her back with every forward surge so they came together in heat and aggression. He could feel the streaks of lightning racing through her bloodstream, gathering-building, always building, the pressure relentless so that after the first rush to bring more sensitivity to the bundle of nerve endings, he kept her poised on the edge, pushing her higher and higher until she was nearly sobbing for relief.

Vikirnoff could stay there all day, his body buried deep in silk and fire, her tight muscles squeezing and grasping, her body subject to the rule of his. Her hair spilled around her, banded with color, her skin soft and inviting and every square inch of her, every hollow and shadow, his to do with as he pleased.

Right now he felt her tigress close, clawing toward the surface, wild and abandoned, adding fuel to the fire, wanting him rough, wanting him to match the cat rising with heat in her. He threw back his head, nearly coming up on his toes, surging deep over and over, so that the friction was nearly intolerable, a pleasure bordering on pain that went on and on because he dictated it so. Because her body was his body when they came together like this. She gave herself to him unconditionally, trusting him to bring her absolute ecstasy, and it was his privilege to accommodate her. Because they needed this sometimes more than anything else, this coming together almost in violence after they had both been alone for so very long.

He murmured softly to her in his own language. «Te avio palafertulam. Ainaak sivamet jutta.» You are my lifemate. Forever to my heart connected-forever mine.

She answered with one of the few words of the ancient language she knew, her heart in her voice. «Sivamet.» My love. And she meant it.

Vikirnoff plunged into her until her breath was coming in gasping sobs and his body burned with a kind of fury, until their hunger for each other was so sharp and terrible there was no holding back. Her body tightened around his, clamping down with hard spasms that sent fire racing down his spine straight to his balls. His entire body shuddered as he thrust one more time, hard steel penetrating hot silk, as he emptied himself into her deepest core, further uniting them.

He lay over her, holding her close, kissing her back, nuzzling her neck, all the while trying to struggle for air. Their hearts beat the same rhythm, but the gnawing hunger, so insatiable, was still there. He could feel it in her, stirring and clawing like the greedy cat inside her, and also deep in him, where his demon roared for its mate.

Very slowly, very reluctantly, he separated their bodies and allowed her to straighten up. He crowded close, not giving her space, establishing his intentions with his wandering mouth and hands.

«I always knew you liked the June Cleaver thing. You have a secret food fetish,» she told him with a small smile.

«I will admit to a fetish, but I think it's for you.» He bent his dark head as he dragged her even closer, forcing her to bend backward so she offered her breasts to him. He lapped at the sensitized nipples, drew her breast into his mouth, sucking with strong pulls, teeth teasing, causing aftershocks to ripple through her body. «Ainaak enyem, forever mine,» he whispered. «You know you are my heart and soul. My very life.»

Natalya loved the way his hair brushed over her skin, the way his mouth was so eager for her. She could lose herself in his body all night, never think of anything-or anyone else. He looked at her and wanted her. One brush of her hand set him on fire. Once he had taken her right in the village, shielding them from prying eyes, but it felt so decadent. She had deliberately tempted him, allowing her fingers to trail over the front of his trousers, rubbing against him, her blouse gaping open to show her breasts-and he had responded in just the way she loved. He shoved her against a wall and took her right there, unable to wait one more second. She loved teasing him, seeing the heat building in his eyes and that stern mask disappear only for her.

He always told her how much he loved her-how much she meant to him. She found it difficult to put her emotions into words, afraid if she tried to voice the depth of her emotion, that would somehow take it away from her. She had never loved the way she loved him. She hadn't even known it was possible.

Vikirnoff reluctantly released her breasts, skimming her mouth with feather-light kisses before straightening. «Did you hear something?»

«Someone is in the woods near our house.» She wrapped her arm around his head and drew him back down, her mouth melting provocatively with his. Heat flared instantly. Her tongue dueled with his, teasing and stroking while her hands slid over his body. Her fingers danced over the hard length of him, satisfaction making her purr as he grew thicker and harder. She wrapped her hand around him and bent down to breathe warm air over him.

His shaft jumped. She licked him much like a cat licking cream. The moist heat of her mouth engulfed him, spreading fire through his belly. He forgot visitors and caught two fistfuls of tawny hair, dragging her closer as he thrust with his hips, surging deep into her mouth. She went to her knees, wrapping her arms around his hips and taking him down her throat, squeezing and nibbling and licking until he thought he might go insane from sheer pleasure.

Natalya never did anything halfway, abandoning herself to the joy of serving him, of taking all power through her joy of sex. She loved touching him and tasting him and drawing out every drop of his seed just to see how fast she could bring him back to a fever pitch.

She made a small little purring noise deep in her throat that sent a vibration right through

his shaft, and spread out to his entire body. His balls drew tight and hard, and every nerve in his body seemed centered in his groin. Lust was sharp and hungry and raking at his insides as he watched her lips slide over his shaft and he felt the white hot curl of her tongue, the heart-stopping edge of her teeth.

«Harder,» he bit out through clenched teeth. She was close to swallowing him, doing something fantastic with her tongue and throat muscles.

She looked up at him and there was so much joy in her eyes. For him. For her ability to give him this gift. If it was possible, she tightened her throat and flicked with her tongue, pushing him over edge just as fast and hard as he had pushed her. Fire streaked through his bloodstream, tore though his body. She milked him with her tight hot mouth, with his fists twisted almost violently in her hair holding her still while he thrust helplessly, going as deep as he could. His body shattered, from his toes to his head, burst into flames as jet after jet of seed was drawn from him.

Woman, you are killing me. And it felt like it, a beautiful death. He dragged her to her feet, not relinquishing his hold on her hair, his mouth finding her breasts, feeling her heightened desire. He flicked her nipples, felt the ripple of response rush through her body. He bit down gently, felt her jump, her womb clench and spasm.

«I love doing that to you,» she whispered. «It always makes me so hot to see you like that, and you always give me what I want. And I want more, Vikirnoff. I want much, much more.»

«I am always ready to accommodate you.»

Natalya wrapped one bare leg around him, rubbing against his thigh. «Keeping me happy is a full-time job.»

He reached down and lifted her with casual strength, turning her so he could rest her bare bottom on the counter. «You have nowhere to run, sivamet.»

Secretly, it was one of her favorite things when he spoke his ancient language and called her his love. His accent was sexy and intriguing and his words seemed a secret world no one else could share. «Was I running? Being in the kitchen, surrounded by all this food, I was hoping you'd be hungry.»

Vikirnoff laughed softly, his eyes going midnight dark. «I am always hungry for you.» He simply pushed her thighs wide, lifting her legs over his shoulder, and bent his head to the sweet scent of her hot core. He licked her in much the same manner as she had him, a cat lapping at cream. He knew every spot intimately, every secret hollow and what it could do to her. He made slow lazy circles around her sensitive bud, torturing her until she wanted to scream with pleasure. Her thighs jumped helplessly, hips arching toward him, as his fingers slipped into her heated channel adding to the pressure so his tongue could lap at her, suckle and stab with wicked expertise.

He did just what she asked for, but in a manner she could never conceive of. He ate her –devoured her, using his tongue as effectively as he used his shaft. His fingers only added to her slow torment, pushing her far beyond her limits into another realm.

Natalya bucked against his mouth, her body raging for release as he worked his magic. Her head thrashed wildly back and forth. Her body built up pressure fast, needing release, the tension winding tighter and tighter until she thought she might implode. Vikirnoff always held her off, pushing her further than she thought she could ever go, until she was pleading with him, sobbing, almost insane with arousal.

A sensation somewhere between pleasure and bordering on pain gripped her stomach fiercely, tightening her womb, and spread through her body. Her breath slammed out of her lungs and she swore her insides nearly convulsed. She shuddered as the spasms continued and wave after wave of sheer ecstasy washed over her.

Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Vikirnoff brought her hips down, holding her legs apart, and slammed deep into her slick hot folds. She screamed. There was no stopping the cries of pleasure as her body orgasmed again and again.

He pressed down against her small bud, as he slammed deeper and deeper, needing to hear those soft cries, to see her throat working convulsively and feel her body rippling with so much pleasure. He thrust hard, building the friction until her face was flushed and her mouth was open and her eyes wide with shock and lust. Only then did he take her over the edge a second time.

Natalya lay under him, clutching his shoulders, desperate to regain control. Only Vikirnoff could shatter her like that, and it was the only time she felt total release, relaxed and free of all the responsibility she had carried for so long. She turned up her face for his kiss. She loved his mouth and what it did to her. She loved everything about him. «Someone is at the door,» she said softly as she kissed the corners of his mouth and ran her lips down his throat to his chest.

«It's just my brother and he can wait,» Vikirnoff said, his hands cupping her breasts again, thumbs stroking, sending vibrations through her entire body. «I have far more important things to do.»

Back off Nicolae. I am just a little busy here. He sent the impression of bared teeth for good measure, but his brother only sent back amusement.

Her tongue swirled over his pulse. Her teeth scraped and his entire body contracted in anticipation.

The knock at the door persisted. Vikirnoff swore. «I'm killing him.» Abruptly he left her, striding across the room.

«Put some clothes on,» she reminded him with a little mischievous grin. «You just might

need them.»

Vikirnoff just managed to don a shirt and jeans as he jerked open the door. «Did you not hear my…» He broke off, recognizing his visitor. One hand raked through his hair. He glanced back at the kitchen. You knew. «Mikhail.»

Of course. I was looking out for you. Her laughter tightened his body all over again. She even managed to blow in his ear.

I'm thinking of spanking you.

The last time I rather liked it. You were rather wild that night.

His body jumped again, swelling beneath the thin material of his jeans. Her voice was seductive, suggestive, almost purring. He tried to manage a smile of greeting, grateful his shirt wasn't tucked in.

Mikhail's dark eyes slid over him, taking in far too much. «You failed to scan. You should have known it was me and not Nicolae.»

«My woman is far too distracting,» Vikirnoff admitted. «I think of little else.» He stepped back to allow Mikhail entry. I'm killing my brother. He's probably laughing like a hyena right now. He must have known and could have warned me.

«Welcome to the club,» Mikhail said, but shook his head. «It takes a great deal of discipline to learn to satisfy their needs as well as see to their protection.»

Their needs? Natalya sniffed. You cannot go two hours without sex.

I take no responsibility for that. You are an addiction.

Natalya's soft laughter brushed through Vikirnoff's mind teasing his senses.

«I just dropped by to make certain you had everything you needed for tonight,» said Mikhail. «I have a couple more stops to make before I can go home, and Raven is waiting.»

«We're fine. Natalya is making some strange thing.» He glanced nervously toward the kitchen. «Unfortunately, it calls for a flame of some sort, and you know how she is so inventive. We could have a fire any minute.»

«I heard that!» Natalya called. «For your information, it is working. Well, I did set the curtain on fire and there's a scorch mark or two on the wall.»

«She isn't joking, is she?» Mikhail said as the smell of smoke drifted toward them.

Vikirnoff heaved a sigh. «Regrettably, no.»

«I will leave you to it then. Let Natalya know Gregori will be playing the role of Santa Claus tonight. She was concerned that no one would be doing it and she volunteered you.»

«She what?» Vikirnoff scowled toward the kitchen.

«And she said if they needed an elf for the pageant, that you look rather elvish in tights.» Mikhail's features were completely expressionless.

«She said all that?» I am so spanking your bare little ass.

Promises, promises.

«I am not certain we have need of an elf, but I'm going to check with Sara and Corrine. They're the ones putting the pageant together, and I'll let them know you offered.»

Vikirnoff rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. «Mikhail, I am fully aware that you are the prince and as such should be protected at all times, but should you deliver that particular message to those women, I will be forced to cut off your head and stuff it somewhere unpleasant.»

Mikhail nodded, still without expression. «I think that is a fair reaction and one I myself might have. Suffice to say we understand each other perfectly.»

«On the other hand, should you really command Gregori to perform as Santa Claus, I would ask for a front row seat.»

Mikhail held out his hand. «Done.»

Vikirnoff, I have need of you and Natalya. Nicolae's troubled voice filled his mind as Vikirnoff shook the prince's hand.

He waited for Mikhail to dissolve into vapor and trail through the scattered trees toward Corrine and Dayan's home before responding to his brother. We are on the way. «Natalya. Nicolae needs us immediately.»

«I was just putting the finishing touches on this thing. It smells funny.»

«That's probably the lighter fluid-or the hair spray. I imagine it tastes as funny as it smells.»

Do not let on to my lifemate that anything could be wrong, Nicolae warned. If Destiny thinks for one moment that someone-or something-has tried to harm MaryAnn, she will go ballistic on me. She does not trust many people yet, and MaryAnn is family to her.

Vikirnoff whirled around, his lazy, casual demeanor gone at once. And to me. Tell me what you believe. He shared the information with Natalya.

I have a blood bond with Mary Ann and I can feel something is not right. I thought a vampire had come into my home and taken her blood, but I cannot get a feel for it. Perhaps Natalya's birthmark will roar for us and let me know for certain. MaryAnn remembers nothing, but she seems disturbed, restless, definitely different. And I feel uneasy in my home.

Vikirnoff reached for Natalya's hand as she hurried to join him. Have you examined her memories? They both dissolved, shimmering into droplets of vapor and streaming outdoors toward Nicolae's home.

Of course I have. Over and over. Something happened to her right here, in our home. If a vampire has penetrated our defenses, I need to know. There was a moment's hesitation. And if a Carpathian has used her to feed when she is under my protection and also Gregori's, that is a killing offense. This is a very dangerous situation.

Vikirnoff could not imagine that Nicolae could be mistaken. If he said something was off, then no doubt it was. What Carpathian would dare risk the wrath of two ancient warriors as well as that of the «Dark One»? Everyone knew Gregori was an executioner. One did not take chances with such a man. The attacker had to be a vampire, but how could a vampire slip past an ancient into his very home?

Vikirnoff and Natalya settled into their normal forms just outside Nicolae's home. They made a circle of the house, looking for tracks, for some sign that an enemy was near. Natalya put her hand over her birthmark and shook her head.

«The dragon is silent, Vikirnoff. There isn't a vampire nearby, nor any evidence that one has been in the vicinity recently.»

«But something is off.»

«I agree, but I can't figure out exactly what it is.»

She inhaled sharply, her eyes going from brilliant green to sea blue and finally opaque. Stripes banded across her hair, orange and black and even white. She dropped to all fours, fur rippled and the majestic tigress paced around the house, using her cat senses to try to find an enemy.

Vikirnoff followed the tiger back into the woods. It padded patiently through the brush and snowdrifts, following an elusive scent he couldn't quite catch. Natalya regained her natural form a few yards from the house.

«Someone watched them from over there.» She indicated a thick tree. «I cannot catch his scent. He's very clever. He uses what is natural around him, mimicking whatever he chooses so that only that is seen or smelled. He watched them drag the tree into their home and must have entered at that same time. They were distracted by the Christmas tree and not paying any attention to the something like a wind or small snow flurry. I'm betting he used

both. There would have been snow flying from the tree.»

«He's smart this one. An ancient with very sophisticated ways. Why would he choose to go after MaryAnn when she is doubly protected?»

«The challenge of it? A dare maybe. Beating Gregori and the ancients protecting MaryAnn?» she guessed.

«And the penalty, if caught, might be death? Certainly, Destiny would kill him. She's extremely protective of MaryAnn. Nor can I see Nicolae allowing such an insult to his house. And if he didn't kill the attacker-I would. MaryAnn saved both my brother and Destiny. She gave Destiny back her life, and in doing so, gave Nicolae life. I will not allow her to be used in this manner.»

«Be careful of what you say,» Natalya reminded him, taking his hand. «Destiny is very edgy when it comes to MaryAnn.»

Both made a long, slow perusal of the area. Were eyes watching? It felt that way, yet for all of their skills, they couldn't ferret out the enemy.

MaryAnn greeted them at the door, her smile genuine. «Vikirnoff. Natalya. It's so good to see you. We've just been putting up the Christmas tree. Skyler is visiting us. Have you met her?» She indicated the young teenager, who stood staring transfixed at Natalya.

Vikirnoff took MaryAnn's hand and bowed low, startling her, his lips touching her skin. He inhaled deeply and allowed her hand to drop away. «You look wonderful.»

Natalya stepped close and hugged her, kissing both cheeks. «You do look radiant. Are you looking forward to tonight?»

She does look radiant. She's always been beautiful, but now she has a dangerous allure about her. And a male has definitely been close to her. Very close. His scent is eluding me; not even my tigress can pick it up. I wont be able to track him. But he isn't vampire. He's Carpathian.

MaryAnn smiled at them both. «Yes, of course. Everyone's been so good to me. We were just about to walk Skyler home. Would you like to come with us?»

Natalya crossed the room to the teenager. The girl stepped back avoiding physical contact. Natalya smiled at her. «It's nice to finally meet you. You must have difficult psychic gifts. Can you read people when you touch them?»

Skyler nodded. «I don't like it.»

«I don't like it either.» She glanced over her shoulder and Vikirnoff took the hint, taking MaryAnn by the elbow and walking with her into the kitchen, leaving Natalya with the younger girl. «You seem a little nervous. Are you really sensitive as well? I often have this

dread that swamps me when something dangerous is near.»

Skyler nodded. «I hate that too. You never know if you're crazy or if something really is out there stalking you.» She glanced uneasily out the window.

Natalya nodded. «It does feel like that. If you tell, people think you're weird, especially if they can't see or find anything wrong. And if you don't tell and something bad happens, you feel like an idiot for not telling.»

«That's happened to you too?» Skyler asked. «It's difficult being here because there's so much energy being used all the time and sometimes I can't tell the difference.»

«Did you feel something earlier, when you were with Nicolae and Destiny getting the tree?» Deliberately she avoided using MaryAnn's name.

Skyler nodded slowly. «Usually I can tell if something is evil, but it just felt dark and like someone was watching us. It didn't feel good.»

«Why didn't you tell Nicolae?»

Skyler looked away. «I didn't want to feel stupid. And none of them felt anything. They're Carpathians-ancients like Gabriel. Shouldn't they know if something is out there stalking us?»

Natalya remained silent for a long moment allowing the teenager to squirm. «That isn't the real reason. Why didn't you tell them?»

Skyler blinked, looked as if she might cry. She turned away, shoving her hands into her pockets. «I thought it might be Dimitri,» she admitted in a low voice. «I didn't want to get him into any more trouble on my account.»

Natalya gentled her voice, knowing the recent problems through the Carpathians' common path. «I know what that feels like too. Wanting to protect someone and feeling like you're the one causing all the trouble for them.» She sighed. «I still don't know how I managed to get together with Vikirnoff. I'm not at all what he wanted.» She waited until Skyler turned back to look at her. «Did it feel like him?»

«It just felt like someone was watching us.» Skyler frowned.

«Do you feel it now? This minute?»

«That's what's crazy. On and off. Like he's here, but then he's gone. Could someone do that? Could someone be watching me even here in the house?» She shivered. «I just want to go home.»

«Well take care of you, honey. Vikirnoff, Nicolae, Destiny and I are all very capable when it comes to vampire attacks. None of us would let anything hurt you.»

«What if it's Dimitri?» Skyler whispered. «He tries to block me out, but I can feel his pain. I caused that. It hurts him so much, but I can't stop it. I can't be what he needs me to be.»

«He's a Carpathian male, Skyler. He'll do whatever it takes for you to be happy.»

«I don't want to be responsible for him.»

«I know.» And God help her, she did. Natalya fought Vikirnoff every inch of the way, not trusting who or what he was. «You don't need to think about it yet. You're a child. Let yourself be one. From everything I've heard of Francesca, she will get you through this, and time has a way of working things out.»

The others came in, drawing on jackets. «Are you ready, Skyler?»

The girl nodded, casting one more nervous look around the house. Destiny and MaryAnn went out with Skyler between them. Nicolae followed with Natalya, but Vikirnoff slammed the door closed and stood just inside the house, his senses flaring out in an effort to find the intruder. Like his brother, he felt something, but he couldn't find it. Whatever, whoever, remained in the house was an ancient and very powerful and skilled.

He turned abruptly and left, slamming the door hard enough to make the windows rattle. Nicolae. I doubt that it is vampire. It has to be a male using her for blood. Is there any sign whatsoever of any kind of other attack on her?

The thought that a male Carpathian would use a protected woman-a potential lifemate –and she would not be aware was distasteful to him.

Nicolae sighed. Many of our unattached males are in the vicinity. There is no telling who it is. I couldn't get a scent.

We have to be dealing with a very skilled ancient.

Vikirnoff moved up closer to Natalya, scanning, not liking the way the clouds overhead began to swirl and darken. The wind rushed at them, kicking up the snow as they moved in a tight group toward the house where Gabriel was staying. Skyler kept shooting anxious little glances toward the deeper woods.

«Have you ever flown with Gabriel?» Nicolae asked her.

«Or run with the wolves?» Vikirnoff added.

«Or a tigress?» Natalya volunteered.

Skyler's gaze jumped to her face. «I love animals. Wolves especially. But I always wanted to be close to a tiger. Is it dangerous?»

«Whoa!» MaryAnn held up her hand. «I know you re not going to do something crazy right in front of me. I'll go back to the house. My heart can only take so much.»

«You wouldn't really like to fly, MaryAnn?» Destiny coaxed. «Or pet a wolf or a tiger? Just once, to say you did it?»

MaryAnn looked at Skyler's hopeful face. She sighed. «Okay, here's the thing. I'm really not adventurous at all. I'm a real city girl, you know, boutiques and girlfriends shopping in a mall, not petting wolves. But if you really want to do this, child, I'll climb one of those trees over there and watch you do it.»

Nicolae slung one arm around Skyler and the other around MaryAnn. «We were thinking more of you riding on the back of one of the wolves.»

Lightning edged the sky, turned the darker clouds to a fiery orange. A whip lashed out and slammed to the ground, rocking the earth and scorching a long streak in the snow. Thunder clapped directly overhead. In the deafening roar, a beast growled a distinct warning, sending the hair on the back of their necks up.

Skyler stepped away from Nicolae looking anxious. «Was that Dimitri? He doesn't like it if anyone touches me.»

Vikirnoff and Nicolae exchanged a long look. «I don't know, honey. We'll talk to him later about it. I can't see him angry over one of us being affectionate. We have lifemates.»

«He knows it bothers me to be touched,» she admitted.

«Well, if it was him, then he's within his rights to protect you. He would want to keep you safe and happy and if it was bothering you that one of us made you uncomfortable, then he would send a reminder.»

MaryAnn moved closer to Destiny, one hand going to a spot just over her breast where it throbbed and burned. She pressed hard with her palm, holding the ache to her. She hated being afraid all the time, and here, in these mountains, she seemed to have lost her usual confidence. In a city she would walk into the worst parts of town and feel in complete control, but here, in this world, nothing was as it seemed. And she wanted no part of wild animals or men who could reprimand others with violent storms.

«Let's just get Skyler to her house and get back home,» she said.

Chapter 16

The sound of music filled the small house Dayan, of the Dark Troubadours, occupied with his family. Two guitars played softly as Dayan's voice rose in a lullaby. Abruptly, Corinne put down her guitar, leaned over the crib and shook her head. «She's not going to sleep, Dayan, not even with that beautiful song you wrote for her. She knows we re having Christmas tonight and she wants to go.»

Dayan put his own guitar aside and tried to look stern as he stood beside his lifemate over their infant daughter. She was tiny, barely fifteen pounds now, yet she looked back at them with far too much intelligence, and he was very much afraid she ruled their lives. She was just such a miracle to them both, and they had fought so hard for her-were still fighting. Her little body was fragile, although her will was strong.

«Young lady, you are supposed to be taking a nap.»

One small hand waved toward his face. His heart lurched in his chest the way it always did when he looked at his child. She didn't look in the least bit sleepy as she cooed at him, coaxing him with her wide open eyes to pick her up. «She takes after you,» he murmured. «With that little stubborn streak. Too beautiful for words, and wanting her own way, even when it isn't good for her.»

Corinne nudged him with her hip, but it was too late; the smile had slipped out and the baby saw it. She smiled back at Dayan and he was lost. He reached down and picked her up, cuddling her close.

«Little Miss Jen, you are so naughty,» Corinne said. «I was just about to go for a run too, before all the madness starts. Now what am I going to do with you?»

«She likes to go. We can put her in the pack,» Dayan said.

«It's too cold.»

Dayan leaned down to nuzzle his daughter's face. «She's getting good at regulating her body temperature and we can dress her warm. Were taking her to the inn later, and that's not much different. She wants to go, Corinne. She loves it when you run with her.»

Corinne loved to run. She'd had a bad heart all of her life, preventing her from doing anything physical, and now that she was Carpathian, she couldn't run enough. It made her feel free and whole and so very happy. Back home in the States, she ran with a stroller, so Baby Jennifer could feel the same happiness flowing through her, but here, in the mountains of Romania, the trails were too rough for the stroller and she was afraid of jarring the baby if she used the front-pack.

«I need to run and I do love taking her with me. Running clears my mind and after all this cooking and helping Sara with the children, sewing costumes and rehearsals, I definitely could use some exercise,» Corinne explained.

«Baby,» he said, one hand curling around the nape of her neck to bring her head to his. He kissed her, a slow gentle declaration of his love. «You don't ever have to make excuses to me. If you want to go out for a run, then we will. It isn't safe to go by yourself, but we don't mind going with you, do we, Jen?»

The baby smiled up at them both, happy to have her way.

«I wouldn't be alone,» Corinne tried one last time, reluctant to take the infant out in the cold. «I scanned and Nicolae and Destiny with several others are quite close to the house. I'd be safe with them. You can stay here and keep warm.»

«We're going with you, but you have to carry the baby,» Dayan said decisively. «It will just take us a minute to get ready.» He was already changing the baby's clothes, wrapping her snugly in warm clothes and donning his own outdoor gear. «You know you won't be able to run in the snow like normal. You'll have to use your abilities, to skim lightly over the surface. It takes a little bit of concentration, but you'll get the hang of it. While you're doing it, you'll still have to keep the baby's motion to a minimum.»

«You're certain you want to do this with me?»

«Yes.» He wasn't about to let her go out alone, and he needed his hands free in order to defend them both should there be need.

Corinne adjusted the front-pack and waited until Dayan had put the baby down into it, securing her and wrapping her up with a tiny hooded jacket. «With all the Carpathians in the area, don't you think it would be suicide for a vampire to attack one of us? Look what happened to the one who went after Juliette De La Cruz. I think he must have had a death wish. The De La Cruz brothers are just plain scary.»

«The De La Cruz family was always very powerful, according to Darius. He says they are ancients, somewhat secretive, and have very incredible skills. He has a great deal of respect for their power, and coming from Darius, that's saying a lot.»

«So why would a vampire target a De La Cruz woman? I'm telling you, none of this makes sense. Most of the women here are probably descendents of the jaguar line. Juliette definitely has stronger blood ties to that lineage than most, but still, the vampire drew her out. Didn't he? Wasn't he specific to her fears?»

«I don't really know. There's been some talk about it, but no one really knows what's going on. But that was the second attack, Corinne,» Dayan reminded. «Lesser vampires are often used by much more powerful ones. I'm not willing to take any chances. I think we've got one hanging around waiting for an opportunity and it isn't going to be with my family.»

«I still say they'd be utterly stupid to hang around here with so many Carpathian hunters gathered in one spot. Why would they do that?»

Dayan shrugged. «It's an old battle tactic. Harassing the lines continually eventually weakens them. And they are definitely striking at our women now.» He glanced at the baby. And our children.

Maybe we shouldn't go then. I can do without running this evening. I just was cooped up for so long with all those children. I don't know how Sara does it. One is enough for me.

Ours is a handful. Dayan bent to brush a kiss across the back of the baby's head. «We

take precautions, Corinne. We don't change our lives. You want to go running, we'll go. And like you said, it's good practice for you. The more you practice using Carpathian methods, the better you'll be at them. We'll be safe enough with all the others in the area as well. We'll head toward them.»

«Falcon dropped by to take most of the food to the inn already, so nearly everything is done,» Corinne said, as she opened the door. «He and Sara were going over the last minute rehearsals with the kids. The children are so excited. Even for Falcon, they wouldn't calm down, and they adore him.»

«I noticed Jen really responds to him as well,» Dayan said, turning back to add safeguards around the house. He didn't want any surprises when they returned. Corinne had embraced the Carpathian life, his way of life, and she'd never looked back, seemingly had no regrets, but it was important to him that she never did. He had come so close to losing her-losing both mother and child-and he wanted her life to be smooth and happy-to give her anything he could.

Corinne put her hand on his arm and smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. «Falcon's gentle like you and the children respond to that. You're such a poet, Dayan.»

He groaned softly, tucking away the fact that he was secretly pleased she saw him that way. «Don't let Darius hear you say that. I'll never hear the end of it.»

She laughed as she began a slow jog, skimming over the snow, trying to get the feel of how to place her feet to stay on the surface. «You're all so afraid of Darius. Have you even watched him with Tempest? He's a total pushover. He just can't be that scary.»

«You even say that about Gregori,» Dayan pointed out, keeping pace with her.

«He was wonderful to me and to the baby. The man is a teddy bear.»

Dayan snorted. «I've heard him called a lot of things, but teddy bear is not one of them.»

She shot him a small loving smile. Dayan felt his heart melt. She did it so easily. A look. A touch. And his world was right. All those years on the stage with so many women throwing themselves at him, not seeing him, not caring who he was. And then Corinne. She'd given him life.

«You gave it to me,» she said softly, showing him she was becoming adept at being a shadow in his mind. «You gave me life.» For a moment she reached out to take his hand, connecting all three of them. Baby, mother and father.

Dayan's heart swelled. He loved having a family. He would always love it.

Corinne shot him a mischievous smile. «Keep up, music man.» She bolted, running like a machine, smooth and fluid, her body moving easily, heart and lungs in perfect synchronization. Dayan ran behind her because he loved to watch her run. It was something

she had wanted more than anything, something that had been denied her all of her life. Others took it for granted, but Corinne enjoyed every single step she took. He could always feel her enjoyment, and he knew the baby felt it too. Jennifer always loved to go running with her mother, and Dayan knew it was the waves of happiness rolling off Corinne that both he and his daughter wanted to bask in.

Corinne was impervious to the cold, but not to the sparkling beauty around her. The trees were transformed, branches laden with white crystals, so that they glittered with millions of gems. She felt like she was running in a fairy-tale world with her handsome prince. Her daughter snuggled tightly against her chest, rocking gently, as if in a cradle, adding to the surreal effect.

Corinne flung out her arms. «I love my life!» She shouted it to the sky, happiness bursting through her until she couldn't contain it.

Dayan smiled, even while he was scanned the area around them for enemies. They were closing the distance to Nicolae and Destiny and the small group of people with them. He could tell the couple and their friends were walking in the general direction of Francesca and Gabriel's home, so the young girl had to be Skyler. He was beginning to know individual scents now and it helped ease his mind. He was used to living in the much smaller family of the Dark Troubadours. Even that had grown recently as each had found a lifemate. He was the only one of the Troubadours with a child, but he hoped that would change soon so Jennifer would grow up with other children around her.

Corinne listened to the steady beat of her heart. It always amazed her to hear that rhythmic beat, to feel strength in her arms and legs and be able to breathe easily even while she was running. She took a step, blew air out and her heart skipped. Missed a beat. She heard it clearly, felt the invasive weakness slide into her body. The breath left her lungs in a rush and she faltered, stumbling. Her heart missed another beat. She stopped running, wrapping her arms around the baby, holding her close, her mind racing, terror gripping her.

Was it possible her heart had been so damaged that even conversion to a Carpathian couldn't keep it going? She heard it distinctly, the beat, a skip, two beats, another skip. Fast. Slow. She turned to Dayan, eyes wide with shock.

«What is it?» He stepped back away from her, turning in a circle, searching the area around them for any enemies.

«Can't you hear it?» Her voice shook.

Dayan listened to the night, sorting the sounds muffled by the snow. He could hear voices in the distance, knew Nicolae and his brother were close. Something is wrong. He sent them the message on the common telepathic path.

There was a moment of silence. We're coming to you from the south. Nicolae responded. We have MaryAnn and Skyler to protect.

We have the baby.

Dayan felt edgy, troubled, but he couldn't find a blank spot that might indicate a vampire. They weren't alone, someone or something was watching, but he couldn't find a location. It didn't appear a vampire was the threat. He swore under his breath, startling Corinne.

«Can you hear it?»

He didn't want to hear it. The baby had a regular heart rate, faster than an adult, but Corinne's heartbeat was irregular. Even when he put his hand over her heart and tried to regulate the beat, it was all over the place. He forced calm when he really felt panic. He would not lose her. Not to anything or anybody.

«Do you think my heart is failing?»

«I want to wait for the others to get to us before I check. If I go into your body and we are attacked, the vampire would have the advantage.»

«Do you think we'll be attacked?» Corinne tightened her hold on the baby, her arms wrapping around the infant protectively. She looked carefully around the area, up into the trees and along the snow-covered ground. «Why can't I feel a vampire if there's one close? And how would a vampire affect my heart? It must be failing. The healing was only able to last a couple of months, Dayan.»

He kept his palm over Corinne's heart, in order to keep her heart beating in rhythm with his. «That isn't true, Corinne. I don't know what's going on, but when the conversion was completed, Gregori made certain your heart was whole and healthy.»

Nicolae and Destiny came striding through the trees, MaryAnn and Skyler in between them. Destiny was to the young teen's right, several feet between them, her restless eyes searching the ground while Nicolae searched the terrain. Above them flew two owls, circling the warriors, working their way through the canopy to try to spot an enemy from above.

Nicolae reached Corinne and Dayan, his gaze jumping to the protective way Dayan had his hand placed over Corinne's heart. In the muffled silence of the snow, they could hear the irregular heartbeat overly loud. «Vikirnoff and Natalya search from above. What is it?»

«I don't know,» Dayan said. «I feel something out here, Nicolae, but I cannot find it. And whatever it is, Corinne's heart is responding.»

Vikirnoff and Natalya spiraled down to earth, taking their natural forms, Natalya in leather, weapons everywhere. The warriors spread out, keeping MaryAnn, Skyler and Corinne with her baby in the center. Corinne's heart faltered and her legs went out from under her.

MaryAnn caught her before she could fall to the ground. She helped her to sit and knelt

beside her, screening the baby from anything that could be close and intend harm. «We need Gregori,» she said. «Someone call him.»

Skyler lifted her face to the sky and spun around, an alarmed look on her face. MaryAnn flung out a restraining arm when she went to move outside the circle, but Skyler avoided contact and stepped outside the circle to face toward the inn. «It's here again. I feel it. A steady current of energy.» She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her stomach, distaste flickering across her face. Her palm crossed over her wrist and she rubbed as if it was aching.

Vikirnoff frowned, watching her, as the others tried to identify what the younger girl was feeling. «Let me see,» he said, and reached for her wrist.

Skyler screamed and backed away from her, sheer terror on her face. She put her arm behind her back, turned and ran. Natalya signaled the men off and she went after the girl, moving with blurring speed, catching her before Skyler could get away from the protection of the warriors.

«What is it? What did you think Vikirnoff would do?» she asked gently.

Skyler stilled in her arms, her heart thundering, her mouth dry. She shook her head. «I don't know. I don't know what happened.»

Natalya touched her mind very lightly, a soft probe, and found blankness, an impenetrable wall hiding memories.

«Do you feel it?» Skyler asked, her eyes pleading with Natalya. «I'm not crazy. I can feel it disturbing the air. It's so subtle.»

Natalya inhaled sharply, opened her mind, utilizing more than her Carpathian senses. She dug down, reached for her lineage, the part of her that was mage. Her cat roared, bared teeth and lunged for the surface.

«Oh, yeah, honey, I feel it,» Natalya assured her. She hissed out a long slow breath of displeasure, turning in a wide circle, palms up in the air. «I definitely feel it.»

Is it vampire? Vikirnoff asked.

Natalya shook her head, her face paling. She turned to look at Vikirnoff, despair on her face. She stepped back away from the Carpathians as if she suddenly couldn't bear to be in their presence.

Tell me now! It was a clear command from her lifemate.

Natalya bared her teeth at him, snarled and turned away. Vikirnoff looked from her to the teenager, who was once more rubbing her wrist as if in pain.

Vikirnoff stalked Natalya with long, purposeful strides, one hand coming down hard on her shoulder, spinning her around, the other up defensively to prevent the rake of her claws. «Tell us now.»

Natalya looked up at him in utter desolation. «Mage.» She whispered the word. «I think Razvan is alive. This is a mage spell. It is why Carpathians are finding it difficult to detect. A mage is working a destruction spell. It is subtle, but I can feel it. Whoever is wielding the magick is very skilled.»

Vikirnoff felt the sorrow, the devastation in her. Razvan was not only her brother, but her twin. She had been the one to throw the sword to end his life. They had not recovered his body and no one knew for certain if he had died. Razvan was a terrible enemy. Part Carpathian, part mage and now vampire as well, he was able to do what no other had done. He had formed an alliance with the vampires and he had fathered children when it was thought impossible.

Vikirnoff brought his hand up to the nape of Natalya's neck, joining them together. We do not know if it is Razvan. It could be Xavier, our mortal enemy, or any of his trained followers. And if it is Razvan, how would Skyler feel him? How would she ever detect a mage spell? She was the one earlier in the woods recognizing the flow of power. Only then was Alexandria able to feel it. Mikhail sent the word to all of us.

Natalya took a deep breath and turned to the teenager. She knelt down in front of her, taking both hands. «I know it is hard to touch others, and to remember much about your past, Skyler, but sometimes it is necessary.»

Skyler shook her head and tried to back away. «I can't. I don't want to.»

Ask her about her wrist. Why it is aching when she is feeling the weaves of the dark mage.

Natalya held Skyler firmly, preventing her from moving. «Just answer a couple of questions. Why does your wrist ache?»

«My wrist?» Skyler looked confused.

«Yes, you're rubbing it whenever you talk about the feeling of power in the air. Does your wrist hurt?»

Skyler frowned. «It burns and throbs as if…» She trailed off and cradled her wrist close to her body, glancing uneasily at Vikirnoff.

«As if someone had torn it open and used you for feeding?» Natalya persisted.

Skyler shook her head. «I want to go home. Right now.» Gabriel! Lucian! She struggled against Natalya's hold on her, tears forming in her eyes.

«Okay, honey. We're going to take you home, but something is wrong with Corinne's heart. You don't want her to die, do you?» Natalya persisted. «Not if we can help her.»

Dayan swore aloud. «I've called the healer. Corinne can't maintain her heart alone. I'm doing it for her. Someone take the baby.»

Skyler choked back her tears. «I don't know how to help her.»

«Do you have a birthmark?»

Skyler drew in her breath sharply and shook her head again.

«Any mark at all? Like a tattoo? Of a dragon maybe?»

Skyler burst into tears, shame on her face. «How did you know? Nobody knows. I've never told anyone, not even Francesca. It's faded most of the time. My father said he branded me because I was his property to rent out and everyone would know to give me back.» Her voice was so low it was barely audible.

Natalya sank back on her heels, the tiger in her struggling for supremacy as her anger rose. Her hair banded with color and her eyes began to change color. «That man was not your birth father, Skyler, and he didn't brand you. The rotten bastard.»

«He was. He was always with me.» Skyler nearly shouted it, this time, shaking off Natalya's restraining hands. «He was my father.»

Gabriel and Lucian materialized on either side of the girl, and she flung herself into Gabriel's arms. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. «Would someone like to explain?»

Vikirnoff did so. What could have traumatized her even more than the brutality of the father she had that she dare not remember it, Gabriel?

You think Razvan fathered her?

We know he was alive that entire time and that he fathered Colby Jansen. We know he had other children, that he wanted them for their blood. If she carries the mark of the dragon, she is Dragonseeker. It would explain so many things about her.

But why would we not know, Vikirnoff? Francesca and I have often been in her mind, distancing her from the brutality of her childhood.

«Gabriel,» Skyler looked up at him. «I know you're talking to them about me. What is it? What do they think about me?»

He stroked back her hair. «They think you are from a very special lineage among our people. That is why you are so rare a talent.»

Natalya stood up, glancing over to where Gregori had materialized beside Corinne. The young woman lay in the snow, her face pale, beads of sweat dotting her brow while she struggled for every breath.

«Her heart appears to be normal,» Gregori said. «Yet it is not functioning as if it is. I can breathe for her, but it is impossible to reverse what is not wrong.»

Natalya moved away from the others. «Take Skyler and go. She should be guarded at all times. Send word to Rafael to guard Colby. Just in case. I will do battle with this mage and see which of us is the stronger.» There was determination on her face. She put more distance between them.

She lifted her hands and sketched a sign in the air. At once they could see a grid of arcing light pulsing in the snow-filled sky. It was faint but there, a trace of brightness with veins everywhere, scattered across the sky like a giant net.

Skyler shook her head. «Don't let her do it. Stop!» She wrenched herself out of Gabriel's arms and ran to Natalya. «He's aware of us. If he knows who you are, where you are, he'll find you. He can always find you.»

«I'm aware of him,» Natalya said. «And I can find him. It's no good living your life afraid, Skyler. Whatever he's done to you, whatever anyone has, you have to take your life back. You're strong enough and you have Gabriel and Francesca to guide you. Go with Gabriel and trust me to do this.»

Skyler hesitated, then shook her head. «If you do it, then I will too.»

Natalya smiled at her. «I am the granddaughter of the dark mage. I have Dragonseeker blood in my veins and I am well versed in the magick of the old ways. Even if it is Xavier, my grandfather, I am a match for him. Don't be afraid for me.» She avoided her lifemate's gaze. Both knew if it was her twin brother, she might hesitate at the wrong time. She felt Vikirnoff moving in her, coiling to strike should there be need.

«Get it done,» Gregori ordered. «Dayan and I cannot hold this failing heart forever.»

Natalya turned back to the sky and examined the flickering veins of light stretching across the sky. Each was faint, but she could follow the threads, all leading back to one source. One primary source.

«They're different weaves,» Skyler pointed out.

«Gabriel,» Natalya called. «If it is either Xavier or Razvan, I could be in trouble and so could Skyler. Don't allow this.»

«I have to do this,» Skyler pleaded. «I've been afraid every minute of my existence. I don't even know why some of the time, but it's tied to this.» She rubbed her wrist where it burned and throb. «I try to remember why I'm afraid, but then my head hurts and I can't.»

Natalya spun around. «Vikirnoff!» His name was a cry for help. «It was Razvan. That is what Xavier did to us, hid our memories of him behind a wall of pain. Razvan took Skyler's blood. He fed off his own child. And somehow her mother ran, got them both away from him and that's how she ended up with that brute of a man, another monster she couldn't get away from.»

Vikirnoff circled her waist, drawing her back against him in an effort to comfort her, but she stepped away, furious with her twin, so furious her tiger leapt to the surface, all claws and teeth, banding her hair and turning her eyes blue and then opaque.

Natalya didn't wait for the others to get clear. She didn't wait for Gabriel to give permission for his adopted daughter to participate; she simply looked to the sky, wove a response and sent it slamming through the veins of light, crashing each and every vein, destroying the entire network.

Sparks of light lit the sky and rained down. Lightning edged the clouds and whips scorched the ground. The earth trembled beneath their feet. Somewhere, far off, they heard a scream of agony. At once there was silence as shock registered.

«Get back,» Natalya ordered her lifemate. She actually shoved him with one arm, trying to put distance between them. She sprinted to her left and ducked, just as lightning struck where she'd been standing. The sound was deafening. Ice arrows rained down, slamming to the ground with a terrible rhythm.

The men rushed toward her, but Vikirnoff waved them back. «See to the others. She is mage, and she can defeat our enemy. We will only get in her way.»

Natalya kept running, drawing fire away from the others, her hands weaving a complicated pattern in the sky. At once the arrows melted. Droplets of water fell harmlessly. She drew clouds from the sky, blew warm air and spun it between her palms, all the while whispering to Mother Nature. Clapping her hands suddenly together, she sent it skyward. At once a thundercloud burst into the air, climbing high, shooting upward rapidly, building speed until it became a whirling vortex, spinning rapidly and spawning vicious destructive winds.

Natalya continued to weave her spell, drawing the bitter cold from the snow, the ice from the trees, spinning it together into a long solid spear of ice. She sent it upward, straight into the middle of the raging thundercloud.

Skyler's gasp was audible as Natalya sent the tornadoes slamming to earth, aiming them precisely, using the flow of energy from their enemy. «She hit him,» she whispered. «I felt it. She hit him hard. The ice spear was in the tornado and he didn't see or expect it. She hit him dead center. His influence is gone. Is Corinne all right?»

«He's not finished,» Natalya warned, already moving from her position. «Never think its over, Skyler.» Vikirnoff, cover the others, he'll retaliate there.

The men hastily wove a shield as fire rained from the sky, hot embers that sizzled and hissed as they hit the trees and landed in the snow.

Natalya knew the enemy was on the move. She'd wounded him and he was simply trying to gain time. She took to the air, Vikirnoff with her, wings beating strongly to try to find him before he crawled back into whatever hole he'd come out of.

«I want to be able to do that,» Skyler said in awe. «Can I do that, Gabriel? Am I capable?»

«If you are what Natalya suspects, then there's a good chance you have a natural ability.»

«She wasn't afraid of him. I could see it on her face. And I could feel his fear. He was afraid of her?»

«Yes, he was,» Gabriel agreed. «And with good reason.» He didn't point out that as strong and as powerful as Natalya was, so was their greatest enemy. Instead, he wrapped his arm around his daughter. «I think you're going to stay with me every second until we make it to the inn for our celebration.»

«I think he's staying at the inn,» Skyler said.

Gabriel exchanged a long look with Lucian. «We checked it out once, honey, but we will again. Lucian will go. Now that Natalya has scored a hit on him, maybe he will be easier to identify.»

Lucian immediately shimmered into transparency, became mist and streaked in the direction of the inn.

Gregori helped Corinne to her feet. «I have examined you and your heart is perfect. There is no further need to fear anything could go wrong with it.»

«Was it really an illusion? The mage trading on my worst fears?» Corinne asked. «How could he know?»

«He is already gone and left behind nothing to identify him.» Vikirnoff and Natalya returned, hand in hand, striding to Corinne's side.

«He doesn't actually know your worst fear,» Natalya explained. «The spell works on each person it touches differently. Whatever your particular fear is, that is what takes hold of you. In your case, you fear something will happen to your heart, so it did. In Alexandria's case, she relived the attack on her and thought that the vampire was still alive and stalking her. Each person will see what they fear and yes, it can become real enough to kill.»

«What should we do in the future if something like that happens?» Corinne asked.

«Mage spells, especially if they know what they are doing, are difficult. Half of the

safeguards used are mage spells-more than half,» Natalya explained. «Fortunately, over the years, since the war with Xavier, they have been changed enough and personalized enough that most mages couldn't figure them out without you knowing, but so many of the other spells are quite lethal. You're all going to have to take that into consideration now, when you feel an attack. I'll start working on simple reverse spells that will have to do until I can see what we're up against. But it's obvious the mages are working with the vampires.»

«Do you really think I'm like you?» Skyler asked.

«Let Francesca examine you. Show her the mark, Skyler, and don't be afraid of it. If the dragon is a birthmark, it is a good symbol, not a bad one. Razvan was once a great man. Anything he did as a vampire, was not the true man.»

«Why are there so many monsters in the world?» Skyler burst out. «Why can't everyone just get along?»

«I don't have the answer to that,» Natalya said, brushing back the girl's hair. «You've been through a lot and most of it was not good, but you have the opportunity to become whatever it is you would like. Don't let fear stop you. Let Gabriel and Francesca find out what's behind that wall in your mind. Once you know, it can't hurt you anymore. Isn't that right, MaryAnn? Isn't it better to have the knowledge and just deal with it than lock it away and not understand why we're afraid?»

MaryAnn kissed the baby's brow and carefully put her back in the front-pack so she could snuggle against her mother's chest. «I believe it's better. I'm a great believer that the more knowledge one has, the more empowered they are. You think you don't have courage, Skyler, but you found a way to survive when few others could have.»

«And you aren't alone,» Destiny said. «There are millions of survivors. We refuse to be victims. We rebuild our lives, and maybe we aren't ever what is considered normal, but we're strong and we lead happy lives. Don't let your past take that away from you.»

«Don't ever think you don't belong,» Corinne added. «All of us»-she gestured to encompass everyone there-«we all stand together. And you belong here with us.»

Gabriel hugged her again. «Francesca is anxious to see you.» He lifted her into his arms and took off into the night with her.

«Are we going to pull this party off tonight?» Dayan asked.

«We'd better,» Corinne said. «After all the work that went into it. And the children are really anxious. We can't let them down. Fighting off vampires and now, mage attacks, is just part of our lives, just like you told me earlier. Now that we know what is happening, we can find a way to prevent it. I don't want them to stop us from living our lives, any more than we want Skyler not to be living hers.»

Dayan slung his arm around Corinne and pulled her close to him. Now that her heart was

beating just fine, his was accelerating overtime. «I'm thinking, just for a while, I might wrap the two of you up in that bubble wrap and keep you safe on a shelf. Thank you, Gregori. I'm sorry to have interrupted your evening.»

«It was an interesting puzzle,» Gregori said. «I want to get together later with you, Natalya, so we can begin working together to keep such things from happening.»

Natalya nodded. «Of course. Right now I'm heading over to the inn to see if I can help Lucian spot any likely candidates. Skyler was very certain he had come from there. We want to make certain that this party will be safe for all the children.»

«I think I'll go back to the house and hide under the covers,» MaryAnn declared. «All this excitement is just a little too much for me.»

«You never think of yourself as brave, MaryAnn,» Gregori admonished. «But you always manage to find the courage to go to a fellow woman in need, no matter what the cost to you.»

She gave him a small smile. «Anything for my sisters.»

Gregori suddenly swung his head around, looking toward the trees, his silver eyes narrowed as he carefully examined the area around them. MaryAnn shivered and pressed her hand over the small spot right above her breast that seemed to be aching from the cold.

«Are you all right?» Destiny asked.

«Just a little tired,» MaryAnn confided. «Your late night hours are a little hard on the human here.»

Chapter 17

Manolito De La Cruz filtered through the trees in a slow, steady stream, careful not to disturb the air around him. There was something exhilarating about being so close to so many hunters, his prey in the middle of their tight circle, and none of them even saw him. He couldn't leave her until he was certain she was safe. He wanted her out of the woods and back in the shelter of Nicolae's house until the party. The ancients were suspicious, doubling back several times trying to figure out where he was-who he was.

Euphoria could be as dangerous as feeling nothing at all. He felt alive, giddy with it, staring in awe at the colors, absorbing emotion that seemed to bombard his entire system. He had waited in vain for so long, living only with his memories, only with honor, and now this woman had given him life. They would not keep her from him, no matter the cost. He had lived centuries risking his life-his very soul-asking nothing in return. Until now. MaryAnn was his, and he would not give her up.

Manolito? Have you a need of me?

His brother's voice stilled the wild chaos in his mind. He needed to be cold and deliberate, planning out his campaign each step of the way. Even as Rafael reached out to him, he felt Nicolae probing, thrusting hard in an effort to catch the unwary's mind open for invasion. It had been centuries since he was able to enjoy himself, to actually feel anything, and playing hide-and-seek, as dangerous as it was, was giving him a rush of adrenaline, a powerful high. He used his hunting skills, playing cat and mouse with them all, not leaving so much as a scent or a hair to tip them off. As a Carpathian male without a lifemate, he would naturally fall under suspicion, but there were several gathering with the couples to attend the celebration. He had to appear indifferent, not so much as brush up against her, not even noticing that she was near.

Manolito. Where are you? Have you need of me? Rafael called out to him again, this time much more insistent, alarm in his voice. His brothers knew how close he was, how the beast crouched and roared and the darkness spread covering his soul.

I checked the inn for our enemies and have scanned the forests. I will be returning as soon as I ensure Juliette and Riordan are safe. I want to double their safeguards. Manolito made certain he sounded matter-of-fact, expressionless, simply a man going about his duty. His brothers, Rafael and Riordan, would definitely help him carry out his plan, but enlisting them would put them in a terrible position with their lifemates-and he didn't altogether trust the women to stay silent. None of them seemed to understand it was a saving of the soul-far more important than a life.

Rafael heaved a small sigh. That is a good idea. Juliette was so upset over her sister and cousin refusing to join us for this holiday. They never come to any of the family functions. Colby says Juliette is so unhappy, Riordan is considering leaving the ranch and going into the jungle where Jasmine and Solange live so she can be closer to them.

Manolito was silent for a moment, weighing whether or not to use this opportunity to plant a seed. He took it. It is too bad we do not have a counselor such as this woman visiting with Nicolae and Destiny. Nicolae mentioned she had helped both Destiny and the young teenager, Skyler. Perhaps Riordan should try to find someone similar near the ranch. He kept his voice as always, flat and uncaring, merely a suggestion to solve a problem. He didn't betray that his heart was accelerating or his eyes nearly blinded by the vivid brightness of the world around him.