Dark Demon

«Okay.» She paced across the room. «Okay, hands down. You win this round. Now take it off. Undo it.»

Chapter 6

Vikirnoff couldn't pull his gaze away from the angry confusion on Natalya's face. With every step she took, her entire appearance underwent a change. Her skin began to glow and her tawny hair took on a strange banded quality, almost as if there were stripes he couldn't quite make out. Her hair moved with energy and light, even in the darkness. Her eyes were also peculiar, the color ever changing. One moment sea-green and vibrant, the next going opalescent and stormy. She actually looked feral, eyes focused on his face, her body all flowing muscles, her steps utterly silent.

«I would not do so, Natalya, even if I had the power.» He could feel very real power building and crackling in the room. She was furious, and maybe, he conceded, she had reason to be. He was not about to allow her to walk out on him, but he'd forgotten she had the nature of a tiger. She was wild and impossible to tame. He should have kept that knowledge close to him and acted more carefully. She was dangerous, he could see and even feel it in her. He waited, expecting anything, breathing away his own rising emotions in an effort to be calm for both of them.

She stalked him across the room. The tension rose between them until it was nearly electric. «I don't think you're in any position to say no to me. I could cut your throat right now and there isn't much you could do about. I've killed vampires. To me, you aren't much different.»

«If that is your wish.»

«You're such a bastard.» She swung away from him, angrier than she'd ever been in her life. Deep inside her, the tigress fought for freedom, demanding the freedom to rend and

tear and remove Natalya's enemy for all time. «Take it back.»

He sighed softly. «I cannot.»

«I should have left you in the forest to bleed to death or fry in the sun.»

«You could not. You did not want to take me with you, but you could not leave me. That is the truth.» He said it with a mild tone, yet she felt the lash of a reprimand.

«I owe you nothing. I didn't ask you to interfere and I would never have been injured in the first place if you hadn't been whining so loud the entire world could hear you.» Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid it would burst through her chest. She'd fought vampires, yet this man, tied and lying so still on the bed, terrified her in ways she couldn't hope to comprehend. Her lungs burned for air and her throat felt raw.

Understanding dawned. She wasn't afraid of him, she was afraid for him. She was terrified of the power and anger rising up together deep inside of her in a furious meld. The tiger unleashed could do things she could never undo. She would not be caged by this man. By anyone. If-if she ever chose a mate, it would be one of her choosing. She forced air through her lungs. Forced her heart rate back to normal. The dark mage blood in her ran deep and strong. She could undo what he'd wrought. In all her years of study, no other had accomplished the things she had. Still, she would not stoop to murdering a helpless man.

«What you did was wrong, Vikirnoff. Whatever reasons you have, they are not good enough to try to take away my freedom.» Looking at him, seeing his dark eyes so filled with pain, she realized the tremendous pull between them had allowed her emotions to become so intense she honestly couldn't tell his from hers. Almost as if they fed one another everything from anger to passion in one long chaotic roller-coaster ride. He seemed calm, yet when she touched his mind, he was feeling everything just as strongly as she was. And his confusion ran just as deep as hers.

She tilted her chin. «I am not going to discuss this any further with you right now. There is no point.» And there wasn't. She had faith in herself. He didn't know how strong she was, but she did. She was certain, with time, she could come up with a reversal spell, once she knew the exact words. He had given her a rough translation, but she would figure it out from what he had said.

«Natalya,» Vikirnoff began. He had no idea if he was attempting an apology, or even why he would want to say he was sorry. He'd upset her, but it was natural for him to stop her from leaving him. «I am not human, nor mage. My species has instincts that must be met.»

«You had a choice, Vikirnoff. Don't let yourself off the hook by claiming instincts. You're a thinking person. I was doing something you thought was wrong and you stopped me. That's imposing your will on me whether you want to think so or not.»

He frowned. «Tying me up and putting a binding spell on me was not imposing your will? I would not have bound you to me without your consent had you not decided you were leaving me.»

There was a sudden silence between them as they both felt the earth shudder. Natalya's eyes met Vikirnoff's in understanding. «The sun has set.»

«Yes, it has and the earth is protesting as the vampires rise. I feel the presence of more than one of them.» Wincing, Vikirnoff sat up gingerly.

As if there had never been a binding spell. «As if I spent ten minutes weaving air.» She watched the flex cuffs fall away to lie useless on the floor. She shook her head. What was the point in summoning up anger? She should have known he couldn't be trapped that easily. She was smarter than that. He was an ancient hunter and far more powerful than she'd given him credit for. Let him underestimate her. She wouldn't make the same mistake with him again. «Why didn't the binding spell work on you?» Better to find out. Knowledge was power and she could see, with Vikirnoff, she would need every edge she could get.

His eyebrow rose at her mild tone. «I was in your mind. As fast as you wove it, I unraveled it,» he admitted. Both hands went to the hole in his chest and pressed tightly. The blood drained out of his face, leaving him pale and sweating tiny beads of blood.

She put her hands on her hips. «Maybe you should lie back down. Do you have the least idea how truly irritating you can be when you're acting all heroic?»

«I'm beginning to. The vampires have risen and at least one is heading our way. We cannot allow them to come to the inn. You know I will draw them here, just as you will. I am much stronger than I was last evening.»

«Last evening you were near death so that's not saying much.» She gave a small sigh when she saw him swing his legs over the edge of the bed. He was going to get up and watching him suffer in silence was heartbreaking to her, despite her earlier anger with him. «Please tell me it isn't that jackass, Arturo, or worse, Henrik. He is dead and gone this time, isn't he?» She attempted to interject humor into the situation, hoping to distract him.

«Henrik can not rise again. His heart was incinerated.»

«Henrik was a true Freddie. I'll probably miss him.»

«You seem obsessed with this Freddie person.» Vikirnoff's gaze captured hers.

Natalya shot him a quick grin. «You sound jealous. Freddie Kruger is a lovely man, king of the late night movies.»

Something in her tone warned him he was being teased. It was an unfamiliar situation for him, but one he thought he'd better get used to. «He isn't real?» She was trying to get past their argument and he was grateful. His entire body was screaming in pain and he knew he

was more than likely headed for battle.

«No. He's a character in a string of horror movies. I can't believe you haven't watched him. What else is there to do at night when the rest of the world is asleep?» Natalya turned away from Vikirnoff's too-intense gaze. He could melt a woman at fifty paces and sharing a bedroom with him was just too intimate, especially with his shirt off. The man had a chest on him. Even with a hole in it.

Natalya was rather shocked she noticed his chest. And his eyes. And his mouth. He flashed a small grin at her. His smile made him look younger. She desperately wanted to see it again. The unexpected yearning was so strong she fell back on her cultivated flippant attitude and made herself remember she wasn't about to accept his claim on her. «Your mouth would be perfect if you kept it closed. And, just so you know, the moment the vampires are away from us, you will remove this binding spell, or I will, and you might not like how I do it.» She dragged fresh clothes from the drawers. «I take it we don't have much time.»

«I do not want Arturo to realize you are friends with Slavica and her family. Vampires take great delight in killing the families and friends of their enemies.» He did not want to start another argument with her over the ritual words. She had been furious, her righteous anger blazing with a dangerous fury. He wanted a chance to think things through before he broached the subject again.

She poked her head around the bathroom door as she wiggled into her jeans. «You sound like that's said from experience.»

«I have had many experiences with the undead, Natalya, and none of them have been good. This place is overrun with vampires.»

«That's because I'm here. They always follow me now. They have a for a while, which is strange, considering they left me strictly alone for years.»

«Which would explain why you didn't know you had to incinerate the heart.»

«It was rather annoying.»

«I can imagine. Do you have any idea why they are after you?»

Natalya pulled her close-fitting shirt over her head and came out to find him immaculately attired. She instantly felt disheveled in comparison. Even his hair was neat and tidy and there was no sign of blood or even a wrinkle on his shirt. He was hunched over, favoring one side, but his clothes were perfect. She shoved her feet into her thick socks and shoes and dragged on her shoulder harnesses for her guns and extra clips. «Arturo said he wanted me to perform a small task.» More than anything she wanted Vikirnoff to lie back down or find a resting place somewhere to heal. She knew it was futile to argue with him so she didn't bother to try.

Vikirnoff watched her slip a multitude of weapons into loops and compartments in her clothes. He couldn't help but admire the efficiency of her movements and the familiarity with the weapons. She knew what she was doing and was obviously skilled in the use of each weapon on her person. She was especially skilled with the sword. «You have no idea what the particular task is?»

She shook her head. «But a short while ago, I suddenly developed a compulsion to go to the mountains and find a particular cave.» She said it as matter-of-factly as she could, not with the heart-pounding terror she often felt.

His gaze narrowed on her. Dark. Intent. Speculative. «Compulsion is a very strong word.»

«It's a very strong compulsion.» She hadn't told anyone other than Razvan, and then, only in her dreams. From the moment she realized she was under compulsion, she had been terrified of who or what had managed to slip under her guard and take control of her. She studied Vikirnoff's face. He was in and out of her mind often, yet she was barely aware of him when he shared her mind-and that was disconcerting. She was powerful and she had barriers. What had happened to dull her psychic senses so that Vikirnoff could get past her shields into her mind? It was a question she intended to answer when vampires weren't hunting her.

He shook his head. «I did not do this thing to you. Allow me to search for the hidden threads. There is always a path back to the sender.»

She gasped and took a step back. «No. I've searched and found nothing. I don't want you running around in my head.»

His expression hardened. «I asked as a courtesy.»

She snapped her teeth together. «Do you do it on purpose?»

«What?»

She yanked her pack to her and added two water bottles. «Irritate the hell out of me?»

«Perhaps it is a gift.»

She shouldered the backpack and stood up, trying not to smile. His tone was teasing, a blend of smoke and sensuality that definitely had melting possibilities, but it was the fact that he tried to tease her that set her pulse pounding. «I'm heading for the mountains. They'll follow me and stay away from Slavica and her family.» She looked at him. «Are you coming?»

«Of course.»

«Are you strong enough to pack me out of here?» Her chin was up, but there was worry

in her eyes. More than worry. Anticipation. Hope.

At last. Something he could give her. He steeled himself for the torment, his answering grin slow in coming. «You want to fly.»

«If you plan on following me around, I may as well have fun and make use of you.» Natalya shrugged her shoulders, trying to look nonchalant, when she was so eager to fly through the sky she could barely contain herself. She had phenomenal athletic abilities, and she was able to shape-shift into one form, that of a tigress, a gift given as her birthright, but she had dreamt of soaring through the night sky most of her life.

Vikirnoff studied her averted face. It was a secret desire she was sharing with him, one she hugged to herself and felt silly for wanting. He stood up and held out his hand. «Well, let us do it then.»

She hesitated before taking his hand. His fingers closed around hers, solid and strong and incredibly warm. His thumb brushed across the back of her hand. She was acutely aware of him as they flung open the door to the balcony.

«Your injuries can't possibly be healed,» she said as they stepped up to the railing. «Can you do this? We can find another way to the mountain if we need to. The tiger can carry you.»

He pressed a palm over the hole near his heart as he let go of his physical self to inspect the damages to his body. Natalya had done a good job repairing the injuries. His body was trying to heal from the inside out. The wounds were still there, raw and painful, but tissue and muscle were knitting quickly. A few days in the ground or utilizing ancient blood and he would be as good as new. He came back to his body and nodded. «I am much better, thanks to you, Slavica and the richness of the soil. How are your ankles?»

She considered misleading him, but didn't want to risk the humiliation of being caught in a lie. In any case, it might be important. «It's strange, but I can still feel the creature gripping me. Sometimes I feel as if he's pulling on my legs.»

«I was afraid of that. I healed the wounds and I searched for poison and bacteria he may have injected into you, but he was more than the undead. I think he marked you.»

She was silent, staring out into the night. She loved nights in the mountains. The air was always crisp and clean and when the weather was clear, the stars sparkled endlessly. «You mean he can track me? Or draw me to him?»

«He may think that, but I don't. He prepared a trap for you and he must have been studying you for some time before he sprang it. I believe he thinks he can draw you to him with his mark, but I believe he is wrong. I think you're too strong-willed and would fight with your last breath.»

Although Vikirnoff sounded worried, Natalya couldn't help but be pleased with his

assessment of her personality.

Vikirnoff glanced at the sky. Dark clouds spun and boiled to the north. «I must let Arturo know he has a serious rival for your affections.» He jumped up onto the railing and crouched down. «Do you want to me to carry you, or do you want to ride?»

His choice of words made her stomach flutter. «Ride.» She liked control. She was no baby to be held in his arms while traveling across the starlit sky. She was going to have her eyes wide open and a smile on her face. She had been alive a long time and she believed in embracing each new adventure, each new opportunity to gain knowledge. And the threat of vampires hunting her was not going to diminish her joy in the novel experience one iota.

She climbed onto his back and circled his neck with her arms, laying her body down the length of his just as he had done when he rode the tiger. His muscles bunched, contracted. Warmth seeped into her body. Her breasts pressed into his back and ached with the need to be closer. She pushed aside the rising physical awareness of him. Nothing would mar this moment for her.

Vikirnoff let his breath out slowly. This was torture. Sheer torture. He could barely keep the beast in him leashed when her blood called to him, when every cell in his body demanded hers, when his lifemate was lying across him, her body imprinted into his skin, his flesh, his very bones.

The scent of her blood, the sound of the life moving through her veins called to him, tempted him when he was in such need. Hunger raged through his body and mind, but he forced control, called on a thousand years of discipline and emptied his mind of erotic images of her, filling it instead with the form of a giant bird.

A small sound escaped Natalya as his bones crackled and popped, stretching to accommodate his wings and the body of an owl large enough to race across the sky carrying a woman. Iridescent feathers covered his body and his hands curved into sharp talons to grip the balcony railing. Agony filled every cell in his body and flooded his mind so that he had to use every ounce of discipline he had learned over the centuries to hold the form of the owl. His body shuddered with the effort and for a moment his lungs burned for air as he came to grips with pain.

«This is fabulous!»

The uninhibited joy in her voice was worth the terrible agony in his body. It was worth every wrenching tear of his injured muscles and organs. He knew nothing of women and even less of lifemates. He was aware he was making every mistake he could possibly make, although he didn't understand why. He had lived far longer, his experiences far exceeded hers, his nature demanded he protect her, yet she seemed to be offended when he attempted to impart wisdom or protection to her. But this-this simple thing he gave her and she was overjoyed. Her joy took away the pain as nothing else could.

Laughter bubbled up in her, spilled out as he sprang into the air and gained height, flapping his tremendous wings and circling above the inn. He cloaked them, preventing the townspeople from seeing them, although he was certain they would hear her laughing as bird and rider gained the skies.

He flew over the rolling hills dotted with a half dozen farms. The sharp eyes of the owl spotted a group of men heading back to the farmhouse, glancing uneasily toward the north. We need blood.

Natalya held on while the large bird swooped low and hopped from a hay sheaf to the ground. She slid off and watched Vikirnoff shift, entranced by the ease with which he changed. For just one moment she glimpsed pain in his eyes and then he was striding away toward the farmers. She kept an eye on the skies. The darker clouds spun and boiled but stayed far to the north. She could feel the continual pull of the mountain peaks calling her, drawing her to them. She couldn't turn back, no matter the danger. It was rather like being one of the too-stupid-to-live teens in the late night movies, going to the very place where Freddie waited with his steel claws.

There you go thinking about Freddie again. How many times did you watch these movies? Vikirnoff's voice held a gentle teasing note.

Natalya looked up at him with a quick grin. «That was fast. Have you heard the concept of savoring your food?»

He bent toward her until they were a breath apart. «Only when it is you.»

Natalya gestured toward the mountains. «I have to get there, Vikirnoff.» She wasn't going to look into his eyes and get lost.

Maybe you are already lost and just do not know it yet.

«Dream on, buster.» She snapped her fingers. «Where's my ride?»

It was easier the second time, especially with his hunger abated. Once in the air, Vikirnoff flew over the meadows and hills in a low flying pattern to allow Natalya to see the countryside from the air. She was a natural, fearless, moving with him, her body so tuned to his that she would begin to shift her weight at the exact same moment he needed her to.

He picked the cave coordinates out of Natalya's mind. She was so preoccupied absorbing the sensations of flight, she didn't notice his intrusion, nor did she have any barriers up against him. And that bothered him. Why was she utterly vulnerable to him when she was obviously so strong? It made no sense and set off an alarm in him.

Vikirnoff took advantage of the situation to delve for the source of her compulsion, to find why she had no barriers and to try to find the meaning of the marks in her body the dark creature had left behind. The compulsion to go to the Carpathian Mountains and find a

particular cave was very strong, urgent, and had been planted years earlier. A recent event had triggered the compulsion to become active, to draw Natalya to the cave for some hidden reason. He tried to find the event that might have been the trigger, but if Natalya knew of it, he couldn't find evidence of it in her memories.

He found several places where it seemed her memories were wiped clean, as if she had suffered a terrible trauma and her brain had been damaged. He found threads of memories that led nowhere, suddenly ending abruptly in a dark void. He didn't dare stay too long and he was getting tired trying to maintain too many things at once so he pulled out reluctantly to concentrate on enjoying the flight with his lifemate.

Vikirnoff banked and plunged downward to give Natalya an additional thrill, pulling up at the last moment before hitting the surface of the water and skimming the canopy of trees. She laughed out loud. He could actually feel waves of happiness flowing out of her.

She leaned close to the bird's ear, but spoke telepathically. This is wonderful! Thank you so much, Vikirnoff This is one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life.

He was grateful he was the one giving her the experience. Deliberately, he flew above the lakes and treetops, giving her a bird's-eye view of the beauty of the country. The ice and snow sparkled, the mountains glittered. Sheep dotted the meadows and farms and churches and castles stretched out below them.

It is amazing is it not? Seeing it all through her eyes brought back forgotten memories of his childhood, his first flight over the exact same area he was taking Natalya. Of course, it looked a lot different then, much more wild and uninhabited. He had wobbled a bit, but he had soared nearly all night. The freedom had been intoxicating. I have you to thank for the memories. I have not thought of that in more centuries than I care to recall.

Do you call up dreams when you go to sleep?

No, we shut everything down. Do you?

Oh, yes. Everything I love about my childhood and my times with Razvan. All the things we did together, the things we learned. I had a relatively happy childhood. My mother died when I was about ten and a year later my father left us and we had to live with…

She trailed off, a frown replacing her smile. She fell silent. Vikirnoff waited, but Natalya didn't continue the conversation. He touched her mind, but it was as if a door had slammed shut-or one of the damaged threads of memory had ended abruptly. He could feel her bewilderment.

I feel your distress. Is the memory of the loss of your parents so painful still that you cannot talk about it? He dropped low to skim through a meadow of wildflowers before circling around to fly back up toward the higher peaks.

Natalya bit down on her lower lip. She didn't want to admit the truth. She forgot things.

Worrisome things. What could she tell him that would make sense?

Vikirnoff began quartering along the ridge of the mountain, searching for an entrance to the cave in Natalya's mind. It is difficult to lie to one another. You may as well not try. If you prefer not to tell me the truth, silence is better than a lie.

Natalya appreciated the sincerity in his voice. She didn't know what was wrong with her and she had no way to explain it. She resorted to teasing in an effort to bring back the fragile camaraderie between them. Oh, great, so if I take a few lovers, you'd know. That's what you're telling me.

If you decide to take lovers, ainaak enyem, be very certain they are men you consider enemies and wish destroyed. He sounded very calm, but she felt the bite of his teeth as they snapped together.

I'm going to have to really work at understanding the concept of lifemates and how you were able to bind us together. I really am very good at turning spells around. The ritual words have to be a type of binding spell. There must be a way to undo what you did. I'm fairly confident I'll be able to figure it out.

Vikirnoff winced inwardly. It was evident that Natalya intended to be rid of him as quickly as possible, anyway that she could. She regarded him as an enemy of her family. Most of all she didn't like him. And that hurt.

He turned that piece of information over and over in his mind. He couldn't remember anything hurting him emotionally. Not a single incident. There must have been moments in his childhood, in his youth as a fledgling, yet this moment, this realization hurt deeper than anything he remembered.

What is it?

So she was tuned to him whether she wanted to be or not. She wasn't touching his mind, yet she felt his sudden wrenching heartache.

I cannot lie to you either and I would prefer not to discuss it. He would prefer to do the things necessary for their survival. For Natalya's survival. He didn't need to turn into a pathetic romantic who expected his lifemate to be enamored of him. It didn't matter whether she was or not. They were joined, two halves of the same whole. That was all that mattered.

Natalya nibbled on her lower lip, trying to puzzle out what was wrong. In the short time she'd known him, she'd come to realize Vikirnoff rarely showed emotion. Not in his tone, not in his expression, not even in what he said. Only his eyes were alive, raw power, hunger, desire, an intensity that overwhelmed her. She was grateful she couldn't see them now. She didn't want to see hurt or sorrow. Her stomach was tied into knots at the thought of it.

Neither one of us is very good at talking things out, are we? she asked. Her hands

smoothed the feathers at the back of his neck.

I guess that is so. I never had much need to discuss feelings when I had none. I relied on my own judgment in battle, in every decision, in every way. Who was there to discuss things with and what would I discuss? If it was an apology, he knew it was a poor one. He honestly didn't know what people talked about or how they did it.

You've spent a long time alone, haven't you?

There was a small silence. Natalya feared he wouldn't answer. She found she was holding her breath waiting.

Centuries. I have been cut off from my homeland and my people, sent out long ago to battle the vampire. When the darkness crouched too close, I found my brother and remained with him to ensure he did not succumb before I made the choice to end my life. That wait was long and the darkness spread until I was no longer certain who I was.

It was the simple truth. She heard it in his voice. A lifetime of honor and service told in three sentences. It did not convey the stark isolation, the emptiness of emotion and color, yet she felt it as surely as if she'd been there and she found herself weeping for him.

Do not think of something that will cause you sorrow, ainaak enyem, look beneath us to the world below and enjoy this time.

Natalya lifted her chin, allowing the wind to carry her tears away. You'd better not be calling me a «little slip of a girl.»

His laughter was low and sensual. She felt it in the pit of her stomach, lower still, a curling heat that spread throughout her body and pooled into a throbbing ache. I will certainly never make that mistake again.

She looked beneath her to the wild countryside they were circling. There were deep gorges cut into the mountain and she could see several entrances to caves. The meadows were a vivid green even in the gathering darkness. Wildflowers bloomed everywhere, in the valleys, clinging to the sides of the rock and valiantly decorating the plateaus. As Vikirnoff swooped lower she could see in the deeper depressions where water filled the basins forming a peat bog. The beds of moss were a vivid green, enhanced by several shallow pools. The moss beds wound their way around stands of birch and pine.

It is so beautiful.

Yes, but I feel uneasy. Do you not feel the subtle warning in the air around us when I drop into the mist near the peak of the mountain?

Vikirnoff circled around once again, flying straight into the white mist hovering around

the mountaintop. Natalya stiffened as she felt the subtleties of magick weaving a web of fear through her. We must be close to the entrance.

Vikirnoff landed on the nearest outcropping, gripping hard with his talons and extending one wing politely.

She slid off of the extended wing, landing on her feet. The ground seemed to shake as she adjusted to land again. «This is definitely the place. The feeling of wanting to leave is much stronger here.»

Vikirnoff shifted shape a distance from her, knowing the wrenching of bones and muscle would be agony. He did it fast, not wanting to give himself time to think about it, clothing himself at the same time. Spots of blood dotted his white shirt and when he swiped his hand across his brow, his palm came away smeared with blood. Cursing softly, he breathed deep to ride above the pain and did another quick healing session to repair the damage the shifting back and forth caused. Once he was certain there was no trace of the blood on his body or clothes, he strode over to the boulder and paced around it, careful not to disturb anything should there be a trap.

Natalya watched him coming toward her. He staggered, his hand going to his chest in an involuntary gesture, but he recovered immediately, walking as if he were fit and strong. He carried an edge of danger without even being aware of it. Had she not known he was so severely injured, looking at him now, she would never have known.

She sighed. She had so many issues to settle with him. First and foremost, the ridiculous spell that bound them together, but she could set all that aside for later and work with him if she could trust him. Every instinct told her she could, yet her mind churned with turmoil, guilt ever present and the sound of her brother's voice continually admonished her.

«What is it, Natalya?»

His voice turned her heart over. That was the trouble. He had those eyes and that voice and she responded completely to him. «You looked into my mind to try to find who put me under compulsion, didn't you, Vikirnoff?»

«Yes.» He wasn't going to try to deceive her. He saw no need for it, and no need to apologize. If he was going to keep her safe, he needed to know who had put her under such a strong compulsion and why. «I did not have much time to find answers, but I have not yet finished.»

Natalya took a deep breath. What she was about to do might be worse than anything she'd ever done in her life. «Do I have memories of Xavier? My grandfather? Other than stories told to me by my father, I mean.»

Vikirnoff leaned against a boulder and studied her face. His gaze was focused, sharp, missed nothing at all. «That is a strange question, Natalya. Why would you ask such a

thing? How could you have memories if he is dead?»

«I don't know. I have disturbing dreams of him. He creeps into my dreams and when I try to remember my childhood with Razvan while I'm awake, I cannot. It's hazy and distant and pieces are missing. I have been afraid for some time that my memories of him are buried.» She forced herself to look at him when she feared he might think she was crazy.

Vikirnoff was silent. She was nervous with him, attempting to trust him with something important to her, but more than that, he recognized the significance to his people. Xavier was a mortal enemy of the Carpathian people. He had murdered and kidnapped and waged war for one purpose, one end. He sought immortality. Should Xavier be alive he would be planning another strike against the Carpathian people. It didn't seem possible, but it had always bothered Vikirnoff that no body had been found to substantiate the claims of Xavier's death. Vikirnoff needed to choose his words carefully and not alienate her. He knew he didn't have the necessary skills to sweet-talk his lifemate. He only had the truth.

«Are you afraid Xavier is alive? That he is the one who placed you under compulsion? And that perhaps he tampered with your memories as well?»

Natalya sighed. «I don't know. I can't remember anything about him other than the stories told to me by my father, but I have dreams and they aren't pleasant. Worse, my father disappeared when I was ten. Razvan and I couldn't have lived alone, but I can't recall those days, or who took care of us. I dream about them and Xavier creeps into every dream.»

«Do you suspect that he is alive?»

Natalya pressed her hand to her churning stomach. She did suspect Xavier lived, but that was crazy. She'd suspected it for some rime. And she worried that he wasn't the wonderful man her family had portrayed to her. Her dreams were often disturbing and Razvan and she suffered greatly at his hands. She had flashes of memories during waking hours that made no sense, memories of a shadowy figure that terrified her. She was afraid that man was Xavier.

«I don't know,» she admitted reluctantly. «I know he was a dark mage and capable of controlling memory, but if he is alive and he didn't want me to remember him and he was altering my memories, why didn't he completely wipe himself from my mind? And what would be the purpose?»

Vikirnoff's dark eyes moved over her face, drinking her in, devouring her. She was so beautiful to him with her strong will and her warrior ways. When she sounded so confused and forlorn, his heart turned over. «Maybe he could not. You have tremendous strength in you, Natalya. Could he have controlled your memory to some extent but perhaps found it impossible to wipe it clean?»

She looked so downcast, so vulnerable, he stepped forward and framed her face with his hands. «I think you are a surprise to everyone you meet. You have more strength of will in

you, more power coiled in you, than even you are aware. I see it in you. And I feel it when I am close to you. It would not matter how powerful a mage your grandfather is, I doubt he could wholly manipulate you should he attempt such a thing, because you have too much strength of character.»

Tears glittered in her eyes and tangled on her lashes. «That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.»

«It is simply the truth.» He bent forward, his breath warm against her cheek. «You break my heart when you cry, Natalya.»

Natalya's heart nearly stopped beating when she felt his lips, smooth, firm, velvet soft, brushing away her tears. She hadn't been touched in years and he was seducing her with tenderness. «I don't mean to.»

«I know. That is what makes it so appealing.»

He kissed the corners of her mouth. She knew she should stop him, but she didn't want to. She waited, lungs burning for air, her heart beating too fast. His mouth settled over hers with infinite gentleness. Warmth spread and erupted into flames, searing her from the inside out. His arms enfolded her close, brought her into the heat of his body. Against his heavily muscled chest, his wildly beating heart. His scent enveloped her and she opened her mouth to his, tongue stroking hers with sudden wanton abandon.

Vikirnoff's kiss went from gentle to rough the moment she responded, the moment she gave herself to him, deepening into a fiery tango of possession and hunger and sheer passion. His hands bunched in her hair to pull her closer still until their mouths fused together in heat and fire.

They devoured one another, Natalya seeking his skin through his clothes. It wasn't until she felt him wince that she lifted her head and looked into his black eyes. «You are one beautiful man.»

«Men are not beautiful.» He traced her mouth with his fingertip.

She bit at him, drew his finger into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it. «Maybe not to you, but you certainly are to me.» She could see how pale he was. Stark hunger burned in his eyes-both physical and sexual hunger. Her womb coiled tightly. «You need to feed again. The flight and shifting took too much energy.»

Her voice was sultry with invitation. His entire body clenched in reaction, every nerve ending coming alive.

«I need to be deep inside of you.» His lips skimmed down her neck, her throat, lower still, nudging aside the neckline of her shirt so he could flick his tongue over the swell of her breasts. So his teeth could tease sensitive skin. «You have no idea how much I want you.» His hands pushed at her shirt, moving it up to bare her stomach and her enticing

navel. «What is this?» He bent her back so that she rested against the slope of a boulder while he inspected the small belly button ring she was wearing. He nibbled at it, played with it with his tongue, flicking small velvet strokes much like a cat against her bare skin.

«I think you like it.» He was making her crazy with desire. Her body was hot and aching and heavy with the need for release. His fingertips rubbed over her skin, pushing her shirt up further until he was touching the undersides of her breasts. She thought she might go out of her mind. Just the simple brush of his fingers on her sensitized skin had her dizzy with need.

«It is the only thing you should wear.» He kissed the sparking gold band and tasted his way up her bare skin to her breast.

Natalya shivered in reaction, her hands tightening on him, pulling him closer to her, urging him on. She had never wanted anything more than she wanted the feel of his hands and mouth moving over bare skin. His teeth scraped erotically and her entire body tightened, heat building until she was nearly crying for relief. His mouth closed over her breast, hot and moist and so unbelievably seductive, she felt her body dissolve into liquid. «Vikirnoff.» She whispered his name, stroked his hair. «I'm not going to make it if you keep this up.» She didn't want him to stop. She wanted to strip the clothes from her body and wrap herself around him.

We could be in deadly peril here. The reminder was punctuated with flicks of his tongue.

She laughed aloud. «You can't say deadly peril. In all those late night movies the stupid teens know they are in danger and they take time to kiss and touch just like this…» She groaned when his tongue flicked her nipple and sent waves of desire shooting through her bloodstream. «And then Freddie comes and kills them and they deserve it.»

His mouth pulled strongly at her breast until her legs nearly gave out. There are no vampires near so I do not think your Freddie will bother us right now. But if you are worried, we can leave this place.

She groaned at the hopeful note in his voice, that deep husky aching note that tore her apart. Natalya smoothed his long hair. «I cannot leave.» She said it simply, her throat raw, her heart breaking. It was the truth. She couldn't break the compulsion and leave the cave without entering it. «I'm sorry.»

Vikirnoff nuzzled her breast once more and kissed his way higher until he found the pulse beating strongly right over the swelling curve. Never be sorry for what you cannot change. I have you in my arms and that is enough.

Natalya closed her eyes as his tongue swirled over her pulse. Her body throbbed and burned for him, but at the touch of his tongue, everything in her stilled. Waited, tense with need. His teeth sank deep and she cried out, clinging to him as the white-hot pain flashed through her and gave way to pure erotic pleasure. His hand cupped her breast, thumb

sliding gently over her nipple while he fed from her pounding pulse.

He was nearly starved for her. For the essence of life. It all mingled together, his need of both. Hot. Sexual. He fought to stay centered when he wanted to lose himself in the lust and hunger. He heard the warning growl rumbling in his throat as the beast rose, fighting for supremacy, fighting to insist on the right to his lifemate. His body felt hard and painful but gloriously alive. He felt, his emotions and his cravings intense, so strong it shook him. He swept his tongue across the pinpricks at the top of her breast and pressed his lips across the creamy flesh.

They were bound together. Already his mind dwelt within hers. Their soul was shared, a complete bonding. He didn't want to wait for the joining of her body. Waiting went against every instinct, but he sensed she was not emotionally tied to him. If he lost himself in her body, could she call him back? Would she even try?

What is it? Natalya straightened, not bothering to drag her shirt over her exposed breasts. She felt dreamy, wanton, hungry to touch his skin, to taste him. Centuries old drive took over and she used the palms of her hands to inch his shirt up to bare his chest to her. She ran the pads of her fingers over his chest, traced his muscles, leaned forward to taste his skin. He cupped the back of her head and pressed her closer, his hips moving against her body in a slow seductive rhythm.

«I don't actually like to take blood. I do it only when necessary,» she confided, her lips feathering against his chest. Her tongue stroked over his hammering pulse. Once. Twice. She heard him groan. «But I can't resist the way you taste.»

Her Carpathian legacy demanded she survive by occasionally taking blood, but for the most part, she was able to resist the lure. Right now it didn't matter. Nothing mattered but the feel and taste of him. The lure of his body heat, the touch of his hands. She groaned softly and gave into the terrible addiction that seemed to have overtaken her. She craved him. She craved the feel and scent of him. His touch. His kiss. His body. She really wanted his body.

Her teeth sank deep and she felt him shiver with rising hunger. She wanted him. She would have him. She pressed her breasts against his chest, moved in a restless, enticing way, deliberately adding to the painful ache in his body. She felt him thicken, heard his breath leave his body in a rush. He tasted like nothing she'd ever experienced and it wasn't enough. She wanted it all. She flicked her tongue over the small pinpricks and stepped back, reaching to remove her shirt.

Behind Vikirnoff, the ground rippled as something raced beneath the dirt toward them. At once her ankles burned and hurt, just as if the creature that had dragged her below the surface had a hold of her again.

Chapter 7

«Something moved under the ground.» Natalya jumped back and reached down to rub at her suddenly burning ankles. «Do you think it's that creature, the one that grabbed me?» She shuddered and backed up another step. «The ground did move, Vikirnoff, I saw it. Watch out. It might be after you. We so deserve this for acting like a couple of sex-starved teens in the late night movies.»

Vikirnoff picked her up and settled her on the outcropping that had a half-inch crack zigzagging down the face of it. «I will be fine. You are obsessed with your movies, Natalya. I do not think viewing them has been a good influence on you.»

«Well, I should have known better than to make out when deadly peril surrounded us. Please be careful. The Troll King could burst through the ground any minute now and take you to some disgusting lair. I'd have to rescue you again and…»

He shook his head, his faint intriguing smile capturing her attention and wiping out all coherent thought before she could finish. «Your imagination is running away with you. Tell me what you want to do.»

«I want to get the hell out of here, but I can't. I have to go into the cave and get rid of this compulsion.» She caught at his shirt. «I know you're thinking of taking me away from here, but I'd just have to come back and I'd search without you. Please don't do that, Vikirnoff.»

He studied the desperation in her eyes. «I know you have this to do, Natalya. I am with you all the way. If Freddie or Troll King try to bother you, I will keep them off your back until this is finished.»

Natalya let her breath out slowly, leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his lips. «Get up on this rock with me before that thing eats you alive.»

His eyebrow shot up. «One of us has to be on the ground to find the opening. I know it is here, somewhere around this rock. We will have to be wary of traps. The cave does not want us to enter it.»

«Good luck to you then.»

He laughed softly. «I thought you might say that.»

«Yes, well, I'm the practical type.»

Vikirnoff studied the niche and outcropping, pacing back and forth around the front and sides of the boulder several times. Natalya was right, not only was something moving beneath the ground, but it was mimicking his every stride. The ground swelled slightly as if something large searched in serpentine motion just inches below the surface parallel to him

each time he took a step. He also noticed, whenever he ceased to move, the creature raced to the boulder where Natalya was perched and remained still, melting back into the earth. The mist thickened around them, rolling in with cold blasts of air, but hovering to blanket the small peak, rather than continuing out in a path over the mountain as it should have. Voices howled and moaned and something dark and shadowy moved in the mist.

«Okay, this has gone way beyond spooky,» Natalya said. «And I am so not putting my feet on the ground if there's a chance that hairy-armed, ice-pick-for-fingernails creature is anywhere near here.» She looked around her, peered at the ground and rocks. «There has to be an entrance here. Why would it be so well-guarded if we aren't in the right spot?»

«The entrance is here,» Vikirnoff agreed, keeping his eye on the moving soil. Small plants wiggled like worms as the thing beneath the ground disturbed them in its passing. «Do you see those rocks right there? The small ones? Do they look right to you?»

Natalya almost fell off the boulder as she leaned over the side. Vikirnoff steadied her with one hand at her waist. «They're set in a pattern, but…» Her voice drifted off.

«It's not quite right,» he finished for her.

«Watch that thing,» she pointed towards the shifting ground. «I think the rocks need to be put in a different order. More like this…» She reached down, still balanced on the boulder and nudged a rock out of the lineup to exchange with another three spaces over. She frowned in frustration, shook her head and leapt off the boulder to crouch down beside the smaller rocks. «This is it, Vikirnoff, the way to the entrance. I just have to rearrange the rocks into the right order.»

Vikirnoff hunkered down beside her, close, where his body could shield hers, if necessary. He kept a wary eye on the churning, thickening mist, as well as continually scanning the ground.

«I've got it!» Natalya dropped the last rock in place with evident satisfaction.

The ground beside her hand erupted like a small geyser. A foul-smelling eel-like creature with spiked teeth bored straight at her fingers, emitting a high-pitched scream. Vikirnoff caught the serpent by the back of the neck, dragging the struggling body away from Natalya. The teeth snapped repeatedly, the body twisting frantically to get at her.

«Look out!» Vikirnoff warned as the ground around Natalya burst open in half a dozen places, the serpentine heads rocketing out of the holes straight at her from every direction. «Jump!» He flung the snake away from him and lifted his hands toward the sky. Lightning arced through the swirling mist, lighting the edges in fiery red tones.

Natalya didn't even care that his tone held both compulsion and command. She somersaulted onto the boulder and glared at the writhing creatures. «I detest snakes. Really, really detest them.»

Lightning sizzled and cracked, a great whip slamming to earth, scorching the ground in a small circle. At once a stench rose, the foul creatures turned to ash. The blackened spiked teeth wiggled, as if alive, then disintegrated.

Natalya pressed her hand to her mouth and choked back a cry of alarm. «That was just gross. Totally disgusting. Never let those things near me again.»

Vikirnoff studied her for a moment before realizing she was serious. He caught her in his arms and pulled her off the boulder. «You are shaking.» Holding her close to the warmth of his body, he tightened his arms around her in an effort to bring her comfort. «You were not really afraid of those creatures, were you?»

«I loathe snakes.» Natalya leaned in close, trying to get her knees to stiffen up. «I've always had an unreasonable fear of them.»

«You kill vampires and destroy shadow warriors. You never even flinched when you faced either adversary.» He caught her chin in his hand and bent his head to hers. «You are going to intrigue me for all time.»

She put a hand on his chest with the idea of pushing him away. «And drive you to drink. Don't let's forget I annoy you.» She couldn't afford to be distracted. And Vikirnoff was very distracting. «And we're in deadly peril. I refuse to be a too-stupid-to-live teenager necking while the snakes return.»

He hadn't budged an inch, his skin touching hers, body heat warming her. «I had forgotten.» His smile was slow and sexy and took her breath somewhere other than her lungs. «Completely.»

She looked up at him with a small frown. «We're in the middle of a siege here. Those things were going after me this time, not you.»

«I noticed. Why would that be, do you think?» He dropped his hands reluctantly and surveyed the crack in the boulder that was significantly wider. «We will have to do a little maneuvering to slip through.»

Natalya recovered her pack and checked her weapons, avoiding looking at the blackened remains of the serpents. «I'm the one under compulsion. Maybe someone brought me here to kill me.»

«Too much trouble, Natalya. Why not make it easy and kill you when you are asleep somewhere? Why lead you to the mountains, to this particular cave?» Vikirnoff stuck his head in the crack. «This is very narrow, but it widens a bit once past this section.» He thinned his body and crawled inside the jagged crack.

Natalya glanced at the sky as the wind rose in a shriek of rage, of protest. Clouds boiled angrily and inside their depths she could see dark figures moving. Smoky. Gray. Transparent. She closed her eyes briefly and sent up a silent prayer the clouds were not

spawning shadow warriors for her to fight again. She'd been very lucky in sending the warrior back to realm of the dead, but it didn't mean it would happen again. She knew in the realm of magick spells could be altered easily.

«Hand me your pack.» Vikirnoff reached back for it.

«I'll carry it. I prefer to have everything I need close.» Natalya followed him into the cave. It was so narrow, the sides scraped her back as she slipped through the opening and made her way into the slightly larger hall. Although the tunnel was wider, she had to stoop, then crawl, as she followed Vikirnoff deeper into the cavern.

Behind them the rocks rolled out of the pattern and scattered around the cave entrance. The jagged crack slammed closed with a grinding of rock, leaving them trapped inside the mountain. Natalya treated Vikirnoff to a litany of curses.

«Can you see?»

«I have excellent vision in the dark,» she replied. The ceiling dropped lower and lower until she had no choice but to move forward on her stomach. «Those snakes had just better stay outside.» She was so thankful he was there with her. Her nerve endings still prickled with awareness of the spiked teeth coming so close to her hand.

«We will be all right,» he assured.

«I didn't say anything,» she objected.

«Your heart is pounding. Listen to the rhythm of mine and match the beat.»

Natalya did so, allowing her heart to settle into a more natural rhythm. «You didn't tell me what you found in my memories. I dislike not being in control and I can't overcome the compulsion to come to this cave. Believe me, I've tried. I'm a firm believer in avoiding trouble if at all possible and this place is definitely trouble, but I couldn't stop myself from coming here. That really disturbs me.»

«I have to agree, I do not like it either, but I feel the need very strong in you. It is why I did not forbid you to do this.»

She ground her teeth together. «If I were you, I'd choose my words very carefully. I'm behind you with a knife in my hand. If you plan on spending any time at all around me, strike words like 'forbid' and 'allow' from your vocabulary.»

«Those words offend you in some way?»

«You know very well they do and you probably use them on purpose just to get a rise out of me.»

«It works very well.»

«Well, stop. I'm being serious. We're crawling through this mountain with mutant snakes with big teeth coming through the ground at us, so how about a truce.»

«I can feel cool air,» he reported. «It has to be coming from a subterranean chamber.»

«Is it cold enough to freeze snakes?»

«I will not allow a snake to attack you again. Should one try I will forbid it to do so.» There was laughter in his voice.

She felt a tug on her heart. She'd never heard him really laugh before. «Ha ha, you're suddenly a comedian, and not a very good one at that.» She could listen to his voice forever when he sounded like that. She cleared her throat. «Are you going to tell me what you found in my memories? Or was it too awful?»

Vikirnoff heard the small note of fear. «The memories of your grandfather are very confusing, Natalya. I cannot tell if they are dreams, or actual memories any more than you can. There is little doubt someone has tampered with your memories, but I cannot tell why or how. Any trail of Xavier is dull, veiled or ended abruptly in a dark void. I found little of your childhood with your brother. In fact all of your younger years are fragments of memories. I do not know what it means, but we will find out.» He projected confidence into his voice, knowing she had been disturbed by her lack of recollections for some time. «What happens when you try to remember things?»

«I feel upset, nervous, you know, and that's just not like me. I get an instant headache and my stomach hurts.» She knew it was a planted reaction, she had known all along, but it was good to be able to confirm it with someone. More than that, there was comfort in being able to discuss her fears with someone else.

Vikirnoff paused and glanced back at her. «You have obviously been suspicious that your grandfather has been alive for some time and you believe that he has something to do with your memory loss.» He chose his words carefully. «If he has deceived you and tampered with your memory, why do you persist in believing the Carpathian people are just as evil as the vampire?»

«I've been told all my life Carpathians would murder me just for bearing the symbol of the dragon.»

«Who told you?» Vikirnoff persisted. «You say all of your life, yet your memories are fragmented. Is it possible the warning is something that was planted in you as well?» He kept his voice as neutral as possible.

«I am certain my father is the one to tell me this first.»

«But you do not know, Natalya. The symbol on your body is of a very old and revered Carpathian lineage. No Carpathian would harm a Dragonseeker.» Vikirnoff ducked his head and made his body smaller and more compact. «This tunnel has sharp angles making it

difficult to maneuver,» he warned. «Watch your head.»

Natalya pulled her head out of the way of a low hanging rock. «They wouldn't? Then why would a hunter murder my brother?»

«It had to be a vampire posing as a hunter. No Carpathian would harm someone bearing the mark of the Dragonseeker,» he reiterated hoping if he said it enough times she would at least begin to entertain the idea that the warning could have been planted.

He whistled softly as the hall opened into a larger chamber. «This opens up into a much larger gallery. You'll be able to stand up straight.» He turned back to help her. The drip of water from every wall was constant. Almost with the rhythm of a heartbeat, as if the caverns were alive. Vikirnoff felt uneasy, feeling the weight of eyes on them, yet scanning, he could find no danger to them. Something guarded the caves, yet he could not ferret out the unseen sentinel with his increasingly powerful probing.

«My memories,» she said again as she studied the finger-like formations surrounding a large abyss that yawned open in the middle of the chamber. «That looks a long way down.» She lifted her gaze to his face with some dismay. «We're going down there, aren't we?»

«You are the leader of the expedition,» he pointed out. «What direction does your tuning fork indicate?»

She heaved a sigh. «Down. We have to go down. Into that.» She pointed to the black hole below them. It was icy cold and she shivered. «I need to know now, Vikirnoff, what else did you find?» If Vikirnoff had recovered valuable information that in some way was damaging to her family, she could always remove his memory of it.

«You believe you can erase my memories?»

The distaste in his voice was a severe chastisement. Natalya hadn't meant for him to catch that thought, and it really bothered her that she couldn't always feel him merged with her. «I don't mean it like that.»

«How else if not disrespect? You want my help. You are willing to use me, but you have every intention of tampering with my memories.»

«I shared my misgivings with you. I haven't shared that with anyone else.» Natalya sighed. «In all honesty, Vikirnoff, I don't know what to think anymore. I feel like someone has been running around messing with my head and now you're there, too. Why can't I block you out if I'm so powerful and strong? Why am I so vulnerable to invasion?»

There was real fear in her voice and he didn't blame her. She was powerful and she should have been totally protected, but something had left her mind open to attack. In spite of the fact that he was angry with her, his heart went out to her. «Have vampires ever been able to draw you to them?»

She shook her head. «No.» She frowned. «Wait. I've noticed I've had a much more difficult time with their voices, hearing their real voice and seeing past the illusion they wear recently.»

«About the same time the compulsion to find the caves began?»

She looked confused. «I don't know. My head is beginning to ache again and I'm freezing.» She rubbed her arms in an effort to get warm. «You don't even appear cold.»

«I am sorry. I should have been paying attention to your comfort.» Before she could protest, he gathered her into his arms, equipment and all, and breathed on her. At once warmth stole through her body, surrounded her like a great cocoon so that the shivering stopped and her teeth ceased chattering.

«Much better, thank you,» she said and circled his neck as he stepped off the cavern floor into the dark abyss below them.

Vikirnoff was acutely aware of her soft body pressed tightly against his, and her misery over their conversation. She was very distressed over her lack of memory and she'd been holding her fears in for years, unable to discuss them with anyone. He brushed a kiss on top of her head in a gesture meant to reassure her.

Vikirnoff settled them onto the floor of the chamber. They had descended close to two hundred feet. The sound of the dripping water was even louder, a pulsing heartbeat that felt more ominous than right. His gaze slid alertly around the ice-cold chamber, probing every possible place of concealment. He kept a cloak of heat around Natalya to help regulate her body temperature. «I do not like the feel of this place.»

«Me, neither, but it's beautiful, isn't it?» Natalya said. She dug a glow stick from her pack and held it up. «I swear there are veins of gold in here.» She turned in a circle holding the stick high to help illuminate the large gallery. «I've never seen such beautiful ice formations. All of these openings lead to halls and more galleries. This is amazing. Like a great crystal palace.»

Vikirnoff went still. He had heard those words long ago to describe the great cave of the dark mage. A great crystal palace with a burning flame in the center of one room, a palace of gemstones and gold. He stared at the ice formation rising up in the center of the room. Depending on the angle, the formation appeared polished diamond bright, or looked exactly like a brilliant red-orange flame. When Natalya played the light over it, scattered gems seem to glow from the very center of it.

«Natalya.» There was warning in his voice. He waited until she looked at him. «I think this is the cave of the dark mage. The one used for study and experiments. I think this is his place of power.» There would be guards. Powerful, deadly guards. He listened to the sound of the water again, the relentless pulse taking on new meaning.

She bit her lip hard. It wasn't hard to believe that he was right, and that meant the caves would be strewn with what would amount to landmines. «Even in death, Xavier would never leave his cave unguarded. It would hold too many of his secrets. So what you're saying is, we've stumbled into the lion's den.»

«That would be about it.» He moved to cover her, keeping his body between hers and the walls of the cavern. «If he is alive and he was the one to tamper with your memories, why would he lure you here? What would be his purpose?»

«That is the burning question, isn't it? The vampires want me, you want me, maybe my dead-or-alive grandfather wants me. I'm just a popular woman.» She shrugged and sent him a faint grin, using humor to keep her courage up.

His heart reacted, shifting and melting in his chest. He frowned. It was uncomfortable being so susceptible to her. He could not remember a time in his life when sentiment or emotion swayed his judgment. Right now, his every instinct screamed they were in danger and he needed to scoop her up and run for the surface. He could read fear in the depths of her eyes, but she had steel in her and she wasn't about to leave until she had a few answers.

He forced down his natural protective inclination and tried to find a way to aid her, one that might get them out of the trap as soon as possible. And he was very certain the cave was a giant trap. «What can you do aside from the obvious charms and skills you have, that might make you so valuable to the vampires? Or to your grandfather?»

«I have no idea. I'm good with spells. I can find things. I honestly don't know, Vik.» She sent him a quick look from under long lashes.

«Vik?» He winced visibly and his eyebrow shot up. «You are not going to call me Vik. I am considering using one of the words you have stricken from my vocabulary.»

Her eyes sparkled at him. She turned her body in the direction she could feel the strongest tug. «We have to go that way.» She indicated a hallway that was little more than a tunnel.

He groaned. «How did I know you were going to choose that one?»

She reached for his hand with obvious reluctance, but needing the contact. «I feel the subtle vibration of power. Do you feel it?» Her voice trembled.

«Yes,» he answered tersely. «Let us get this done.» He squeezed her fingers in reassurance. «Be careful, Natalya. I will follow you.» He didn't want to tell her he was certain there were a couple of vampires stalking them. The undead were still a distance away, but he feared she was somehow imprinted with something that drew vampires to her. «Have you been here before?»

«No, never.» She frowned, searching her memories. «It's so frustrating to remember bits and pieces. I've studied thousands of spells. I've read ancient text, and can remember all of

it, but I can't remember where I studied. In my dreams, Razvan would protect me from the teacher. He would be punished when I refused to go work. In my dreams I remember what my grandfather looked like, but I couldn't describe him to you now. How do I know what is real or not?»

Frustrated, Natalya turned back to the tunnel to keep him from seeing her expression. What did she know about her childhood? What if everything was a lie? Memories removed and others planted. The idea of it sickened her. «Great.» She couldn't help feeling humiliated and ashamed that Vikirnoff had seen the inside of her mind and the trauma of a blank void. «I'm a freakin' robot.»

«With a beautiful backside,» he pointed out when she dropped to her hands and knees, head disappearing into the ice hall.

She wiggled her bottom suggestively and grinned back at him, grateful to him for giving her something to laugh about.

His heart nearly stopped beating and the air left his lungs in a burning rush. She could have lit up the entire cavern with her high wattage smile. Thunder roared in his ears. Deep inside, his demon struggled for release and unexpectedly, desire shot through his body. Not the intense lust he experienced earlier, but something bright and passionate and deep that came, not from his groin, but from his heart.

«You don't have to come with me,» Natalya said, forcing the words out as she looked back at him. He had gone so still, his expression carved in stone. How could he want to be mixed up with whatever was happening? The fact was, she was terrified of the cave. Something she couldn't even remember from her childhood warned her she was in danger and the increasing volume of the dripping water was nearly driving her out of her mind. Every instinct told her to run, but her body and brain refused to obey the command.

She had longed for a partner, someone to share her life with, but for the first time she needed to be with someone. And not just anyone. Vikirnoff. Not just for his fighting skills, but for the sheer comfort of his presence. And that was almost as frightening as the situation she was in.

Vikirnoff exuded power and confidence. She couldn't imagine anyone defeating him, not when he was at full strength. But he wasn't at full strength. The thought came out of nowhere. She realized that not once had she worried about his physical condition since they'd been in the cave. He wasn't fully healed. She had seen the agony on his face on more than one occasion earlier, yet he carried himself as if nothing was wrong. Had he been subtly influencing her or was she really that selfish? She groaned softly.

«I am with you because I want to be. I am not under compulsion, Natalya. And I am fit enough to protect you should there be need.»

She turned away from him before he could see her reaction to his words-his voice.

There was just something about the man that called to her. She crawled through the twisting ice tube until it began to widen and opened into another series of galleries. The ice formations and columns were impressive. Following her instincts she chose one chamber and discovered streaks of old blood along the ice wall. Her own blood ran cold and she stood gaping at the thick, frozen clots dinging to the wall. «This doesn't look good, does it?»

Vikirnoff put a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't used to being touched and she trembled in response, but didn't shrug him off. «You can see where they put ice picks through him to hold him to the wall.» He touched the frozen blood. «There was a Carpathian being tortured in this chamber.» He examined the entire room. «It was not within the last week. Someone rescued him, human I think, and at least one vampire died here.» He sighed. «Why would a vampire risk coming into the cave of the dark mage?»

«Secrets? Power?»

«Maybe. But is it worth the risk? There have to be traps scattered everywhere. The vampires are looking for something. There is no other explanation.» He glanced around warily. «I can feel something watching us, can't you?»

She wanted to deny it, but the back of her neck prickled with alarm. «Yes. The vampires think I can help them find whatever they are looking for, don't they?» Natalya said. «That's why Arturo said he had a small task for me. He wants me to find something, probably something the dark mage left behind.»

«Anything Xavier had of power would be deadly to the entire world, not just our species, if a vampire wielded it.»

«Can you tell where the others got out? The ones that killed the vampire?» She pointed to a solid wall of ice. «Because I want to go there.»

Vikirnoff examined the wall. «A Carpathian closed a slide tube behind them. I still feel the power lingering.»

«Can you open the slide?»

He studied the bluish wall of ice. «Yes.» He knew he sounded grim. He felt the weight of the ice over them, the pressing of their enemies closing in and more than all of that, the certainty that they were going somewhere far worse than where they were. He hesitated, the need to get his lifemate to safety hammering at him. He actually settled his fingers around her wrist in protest.

Natalya shook her head. «I really have no choice, Vikirnoff.»

Swearing under his breath, he found the original opening, the tube slide that led to the lower caverns, and commanded the ice to bend to his will. Even within the cave of the dark mage, he wielded power over the things of the earth. The ice shifted, parting, to once again form the slide leading to the lower chambers.

«Thank you,» Natalya said. She didn't have words to express how grateful she was that he didn't fight her on the issue. She had the same warning bells shrieking at her and she sensed he was forced to fight age-old instincts. His protective nature simply did not allow him to see her in danger without shielding her. And without him, she had no idea how she would have made her way through the ice to the lower chambers.

«We go in together,» he decreed.

She sent him a black scowl, just to warn him to back off with the orders, but didn't mind in the least when he wrapped her in warm, safe arms and climbed into the cold of the ice chute. Vikirnoff pushed off and they slid deeper into the freezing world of blue and crystal ice, spiraling fast down the long, cold tube. His arms kept her from ice splinters and the thicker, jagged crystalline protrusions that hung above their heads. It was breathtakingly beautiful, yet utterly frightening in that she knew the formation was unnatural.

Natalya felt a little dizzy by the time they reached the bottom and she held onto Vikirnoff until she knew her legs would support her. In a narrow hall of ice they both were able to stand up straight without fear of hitting their heads on the ceiling.

«Are you all right?» Vikirnoff kept his arm around her until her legs stopped shaking.

She shook her head. «I feel strange. Afraid. I'm not usually afraid all the time. My heart is pounding so loud it's hurting my ears. And I feel sick to my stomach. Worse»-she looked up at him as she pressed her hand against her body, low, to the left, just below her stomach-«the dragon burns. A vampire is close.»

«Ahead or behind us?» He was already scanning, as he had been since they'd entered the ice caves and was dismayed to find he couldn't locate the vampire. And that meant it wasn't Arturo. Arturo couldn't hide his presence from the hunter. He sent up a silent prayer that he wouldn't be facing a master vampire when he was already wounded.

«I can't tell.» She began to jog, hurrying through the tunnel.

The hall ended abruptly, the floor dropping away to a great abyss. Vikirnoff caught her before she ran off the edge of the precipice. He held her against him. «That was close.»

Natalya stared at the ice bridge glittering so invitingly. The structure was made of ice and stone, very narrow and had several holes in it. The bridge appeared to be the only way across. She frowned, gesturing toward the gaping holes. «I'm not going to set one foot on that thing.» She grinned up at him. «I knew you were going to come in handy.»

«Are you expecting me to carry you?» He lifted an eyebrow.

«Without a doubt. We go to the other side.»

Vikirnoff reached for her, gathered her close. Natalya wished it felt impersonal, but his touch was electric, heat coursing through her body, making her acutely aware of him, aware

of the definition of every muscle in his body as she leaned into his strength. It seemed natural to be in his arms and his body was familiar. Perfect. She fit exactly. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of him being so close as they moved together through the air to the other side of the cave.

Vikirnoff was careful, holding her even as he settled onto the ice floor, looking cautiously around before allowing her feet to touch the ground. «I feel the level of danger elevating. Hurry, Natalya. Find what you must and let us leave this place.»

Natalya didn't need him to prompt her. She wanted out of the cave more than he could possibly know. She hurried through the chamber, past a small alcove and turned back abruptly. She held a glow stick high so that it shone on the wall of ice. Her breath caught in her throat. «Vikirnoff,» she whispered. «Look.»

Scales covered the body of an enormous creature. A long serpentine neck supported a wedge-shaped head. The extended tail ended in a spike and the wings were folded in close along the body. Sharp claws, made for rending and tearing, looked as if they had been digging in the ice as if trying to scrape free. One beautiful eye, a sparkling vivid emerald green stared at them hopelessly through the thick wall of ice.

«A dragon, Vikirnoff. How would a dragon be trapped in the wall like that?» She wanted to weep for the creature. She put her hand on the ice, fingers spread wide, right over the claw as if to hold it close to her. «Who would do this to a dragon?» She couldn't look away from that one, brilliant eye.

«Not one, but two.» His voice was grim. He peered closer. «There is a second one, side by side with the first. You can see the outline of the leg and claw.»

Natalya pressed against the wall, until her nose turned blue. Unconsciously, her fingernails dug at the ice, trying to get to the mythical creatures. «This isn't right, Vikirnoff.» She wanted to weep. Her chest burned and felt too tight. «Can we get them out?»

His hands were gentle as he pulled her away from the wall of ice. «Is this what you are after? More than one vampire are now seeking us. I feel the presence of Arturo and several others. Unfortunately, I worry more about the ones I cannot feel. I sense the presence of evil, but cannot tell where it is. We cannot take a chance of removing a wall of ice this thick without the entire mountain coming down on us and even if we could, we do not have the necessary time.»

«I wish I had come for the dragons. This is just not right. I had no idea dragons were real.»

«They are and they are not.» He turned her away from the ice tomb. «You are much too sensitive. Your grief is as strong as it is unexpected.» And her compassion only endeared her to him more. He tugged on her until she followed him. «Which way?»

Natalya took the lead again. The hall opened into a gallery. Tall columns of intricately carved, Gothic-style architecture rose to the high cathedral ceiling. Crystals and ice pillars formed two rows of columns down the room, each holding several round globes of various colors.

Natalya stopped abruptly. «This is the place. I'm supposed to come here, to this room. Don't touch anything, Vikirnoff. There are traps everywhere. I can feel them.» She paced a distance down the wide-open room and then returned to him. Mythical creatures rose up from the floor in life-size sculptures made of clear crystal. Blood red pyramids made of stone gleamed from chiseled archways in the walls. If she stared too long at one of the many spheres, it came alive, swirling and changing color, trying to draw an unwary victim to the intense beauty.

On the floor, beneath the ice were strange squares, pyramids and starburst patterns of stones. In the center of each shape were hieroglyphics, pictures carved deep into the rock. «This is the way out,» Natalya said. «They had to have an escape hole and the shapes have to be stepped on in a certain pattern to open the stone above the stairs.»

«You have really never been here before?»

Small lines appeared around her mouth and across her forehead as she tried to reach into her memories. «I may have dreamt of this place. My father told me of the cave and the ice stairs leading the way out. He warned me not to touch anything until I was certain…» she trailed off, her gaze suddenly meeting Vikirnoff's. «It was my father. He set up the compulsion for me to come here. He must have.»

«Why would he put you in such danger?» Vikirnoff watched her pace restlessly through the huge room, examining objects on display. A tall rack of weapons in a shallow alcove caught her eye, but after a moment she moved on, as if driven to find a single item.

«I don't know, but it must be important.» Distracted, she moved slowly up and down the room, trying to tune herself to the right direction. She didn't have a clue what she was looking for and her dragon birthmark was burning with alarm. She pressed her hand over it, trying to stop the warning. «I think the vampires are close.»

Vikirnoff scanned continually throughout the network of caves, looking for anything that would tell him where the vampire was. It was close. He had an instinct for the undead, and right now his warning system was blaring an alert. The sound of the water was even louder. Normally he could tone down the volume, but the continual dripping was a drumbeat, echoing throughout the network of caves. Calling to something. Awakening something. The deeper they had come into the caverns, the louder and more insistent the dripping water.

The sound of water swelled until it was a booming pulse, a constant irritating reminder they were trapped beneath hundreds of feet of ice. Vikirnoff glanced toward the small pool forming at the base of one of the columns. The pool should have been a clear liquid, but it was discolored, a faint rusty-brown. Like mud. Or old blood. Drops of water ran down the

column and fell into the puddle. With each drop the surface shook. The shock waves seemed to travel outward to encompass the chamber itself so that cavern shook slightly with each drop.

Something glittered in the depths of the puddle, something dark and lurking just below the murky surface. Peering down into the oily mess, Natalya thought something stared back at her with red, glowing eyes. A dark shadow slithered through the rusty-brown waters. She jumped back. «That can't be good.»

«Get away from there,» Vikirnoff warned. «Whoever or whatever the water is calling, we want no part of.»

Natalya moved closer to the collection of spheres. One glittering crystal globe, a full foot in diameter, rested on a tower of black obsidian. Natalya held out her hands, palms not touching the crystal, but shaping the curve of the globe. At once she felt the tremendous drawing as it leapt to life at her close proximity.

Can you feel that? The heat? She tried to pull back, but couldn't look away. Mists swirled inside, pulling her-drawing her-commanding her to take hold.

Natalya, no! But Vikirnoff's warning was too late. Even as he leapt forward to pull her away from the crystal ball, she grasped it in both hands.

Chapter 8

Natalya screamed, the sound of agony ripping through the long ice cavern. Her fingers welded to the crystal ball, burning until she thought her skin would peel back to the bone.

Vikirnoff leapt to pull her back, but her voice protested in his mind. No! You cannot touch me. It is consuming me. It cannot take you, too, or I have no way back.

Swearing aloud he dropped his hands to his sides. It took every ounce of discipline he possessed to keep from yanking her into his arms. Breathing deep, ignoring the constant sound of the water booming and echoing through the chamber, he concentrated on holding Natalya's essence to him.

I can't do this. It burns, Vikirnoff. I can't think because of the pain.

He felt agony sweeping through her body, the wrenching at her bones and flesh, as if the ball drew her out of the world she inhabited and into the turbulence of the crystal globe itself. Setting his teeth, he took the brunt of the pain from her. Immediately his skin beaded with blood and it dripped from his brow into his eyes. You are both Carpathian and mage. You command the earth and the air and you are unusually strong. Get what you came for

and get out.

Natalya took a deep breath as the pain lessened. It was the confidence in his voice, the respect he afforded her, that allowed her to go beyond her physical body and reach for her mage training. Her body was nothing, a shell, no more than that. Her spirit was stronger than the whirling winds tearing at her flesh. She rose above the pain, above the terror and found her strength.

Colors swirled around her, midnight blues, glittering stars, streaks of light like comets trailing across the sky. Galaxies and star systems shot by her at a dizzying speed, twined together briefly and arced apart with a shower of sparks falling like rain. She found herself staring in wonder, in awe, aware the future lay in that direction. She could find a thread, one that was hers and follow it and know what was waiting. The temptation was strong. It was dazzlingly beautiful, impressive and the idea of knowing what lay ahead was difficult to resist.

Throughout the midnight blue sky lightning forked repeatedly, flashing like a neon sign, drawing her attention. She realized she was being pulled in that direction, her spirit traveling along one of the zigzagging threads. She pulled back. At once the draw fought with her, tugging and tugging, beguiling her with glimpses of her future. She steadfastly refused to look, instinctively fearing once pulled into the realm of the future, she might not find her way back. And what she sought could not possibly lie in that direction.

Ropes of various colored pearls whirled around her, carried by the power of the winds. One in particular caught her attention because of the unusual color, the same cloudy hues that glittered in her eyes when the tigress in her was rising toward the surface. She watched them even as she fought the strength of the wind. Her father had often compared her eyes to sea pearls.

Natalya reached for the strand that resembled the color of her tiger eyes. A turbulent vortex gripped her, sucked her into the whirling mass. Clutching the rope of pearls tightly, Natalya clung to the merge she held with Vikirnoff. He was her anchor and wherever her spirit traveled, he traveled with her holding guard over her physical body.

Scenes of battles rushed past her. Dark, ugly visions of blood and death. She wept, overcome with the useless deaths as men fought for religion or power or land. Natalya fought to keep from sliding farther into the vacuum of the past. Small, black shadows tugged at the edges of her spirit in an attempt to consume her. The voices of mages whose souls had been trapped in the endless cycle of the past wailed at her in warning, in sorrow.

She might have lost herself in the terrible pain of reliving so many deaths, seeing the mistakes made over and over throughout history, but Vikirnoff was always there, murmuring encouragement, holding her tightly without physical form.

Soren. She'd nearly missed him in all the history swirling around her, but there he was. Her father, tall and handsome with his black hair and vivid green eyes. Her heart turned

over and she reached for him. She couldn't touch him. Natalya realized she was looking at him through a reflection. He turned and her heart nearly stopped. He was ravaged and worn with pain. Burned on one side, encased in ice on the other. He had been tortured, yet kept alive, his blood draining from his body in a long tube.

Father! She screamed it-tried frantically to reach him, but he shook his head and looked straight at her. His eyes clouded and she could see a knife reflected there. It was obviously ancient, ceremonial, the handle studded with gems, the blade slightly curved. The knife spun, pointed at her, turned again so that she could see it from every angle. You want me to find the knife. For a moment the vision held and then the knife wavered and was gone. His gaze dropped to his hands. She saw that he was holding a huge tome. An ancient spell book. It was closed, the cover etched in dark reddish brown stains. The book is important.

A shadowy figure, the man she recognized from her childhood nightmares loomed over Soren. Instinctively Natalya pulled back. Movement must have caught the eye of her father's tormenter, because she saw the dark shape turn toward her and heard a slow hiss of rage. She felt the icy breath of death on her and her spirit trembled.

Graphic images of her father being tortured overwhelmed her. Vivid details of her mother being devoured by vampires followed. Of her father finding her mother, his grief so deep he was nearly insane. Each explicit vignette was in horrifying detail, each worse than the one before until she was paralyzed with grief and horror. She felt the darker shadows tugging and pulling and drawing her to them, but she couldn't move, couldn't break away. Evil laughter echoed. Something clawed at her mind, raked at her.

Natalya! Come to me now! Vikirnoff issued the command with every bit of power he possessed. Her body had begun to fade. It started on her arms, as if something was taking bites of flesh from her, replacing her skin with a thin opaque shell. She was becoming translucent, a ghostly image rather than a flesh-and-blood body.

Fear nearly consuming him, Vikirnoff plunged his mind into hers. Ainaak enyem, I will not let you go. They cannot have you. You are ainaak'sivamet jutta, forever to my heart connected. Come to me now, Natalya, your lifemate commands this.

Guilt and fear warred with self-preservation, but the power of her lifemate was incredible, even there in the realm of past and present. In the midst of a living storm, with the fury of the wind tearing at her, Natalya turned to Vikirnoff. The reassuring warmth of his presence enveloped her, his memories, his character, the way he thought and acted. His integrity and strength of purpose. She focused on his steadfastness. For the first time she was happy that they were connected, that his strength of will could be added to her own.

I can't make myself leave my father.

She couldn't find her way back. She was too exhausted, too tired of being alone. Her father and mother and Razvan were all here, in this place. She could stay with them, be with

them. So many years had gone by with her moving from country to country with no one to talk to, no one to share with. What awaited her but endless loneliness if she returned?

It is another lure, Natalya, an attempt to cloud your thinking. You belong with me. Your father would not want you trapped here with him. You cannot save him. What was done cannot be undone. Come with me, ainaak enyem, merge and become one with me. Vikirnoff used every art he possessed. Beguiling her. Compulsion. Seduction. Commanding-all wrapped together in his softly spoken words, dragging her back up the strands of time through the sheer strength of character and will he had come to possess over so many centuries.

She heard a roar of fury as she moved away from her father and his tormenter, from the tearing claws of the smaller dark shadows, climbing ever higher. The shadows streaked after her, reaching with hands and claws in an attempt to stop her and as she approached her own time, dazzling white orbs spun and beckoned, attempting to lure her with glimpses of the future.

Natalya clung tighter to Vikirnoff, crawling deeper into his mind where she knew she would be safe. Vikirnoff would never abandon her. She closed her mind to the all too-vivid memory of her father's tortured death and embraced life in her own time, whatever that might be. She didn't need to stay in the past. She chose the here and now.

Natalya found herself back in her own body, so weak she would have collapsed onto the floor of the ice cave if Vikirnoff hadn't caught her to him. They clung to one another, Natalya shuddering violently and Vikirnoff trembling with the knowledge he'd nearly lost her.

Tears poured down her face. «My father.» She could barely get the words out, her throat was so raw with grief. «He was tortured.»

«I know, ainaak enyem.'» His voice was tender as he stroked her hair, seeking a way to comfort her. «I am so sorry.» She hadn't just seen her father's torture; she had experienced it. «I would give anything to prevent you having to go through that.» He framed her face with his hands and kissed her tears away.

Natalya looked up at his face, the smears of blood on his forehead, the tracks of blood-red tears on his face. He'd shared the same experience and he'd also shared her wild grief and outrage. She wiped his brow with gentle fingers, touched the tear tracks and leaned into him. «Thank you for being with me.»

«Always, Natalya.» All the while he was comforting her, he was aware that the boom of the water had grown frantic, so loud the ice chamber shook. He eyed the rusty pool that was growing with each drop, not deeper, but spreading out like a giant stain. «We have to leave this place now, Natalya.» Attacking the pool without knowing what he faced in a cavern full of magick could be suicide.

She took a breath, her fingers digging into his arm for support. «I have to find the knife. You saw it. You were in my mind. I have to get the knife.» She glanced around the ice chamber. «The alcove has a huge cache of weapons. It's the most likely place.»

«You have got to hurry. The vampires are nearly on us. We are going to have to fight our way out of here,» he cautioned.

He clamped down hard against his natural protective instincts to snatch her up and get her away from danger. He was beginning to realize having a lifemate was difficult. Living with her wasn't about what he wanted, or even needed. Being a lifemate was about supporting Natalya even when everything in him wanted something else. Her personality required a certain amount of freedom and it didn't always matter what he deemed best.

He knew she had to complete this task. And now, when it was apparent her father had been tortured and murdered, it was more important than ever. He guarded her back, moving with her across the floor of ice, eyes scanning the great chamber.

«My heart is beginning to beat with the same rhythm as the water dripping,» Natalya confided in a whisper. «And that's just freaky.» She kept her gaze fixed on the small alcove containing the cache of weapons. She knew the vampires were close. The dragon on her body seemed to be burning a hole through her skin.

«My heart is doing the same thing, Natalya,» Vikirnoff said. «And when I pulled you away from the shadows, the bubbling in that puddle took on an entire new meaning.»

Natalya glanced at the thick rusty puddle. «It looks like a witches brew.» Her gaze went right back to the weapons, drawn by something outside of herself. Her breath caught in her lungs and she stopped abruptly. «I see the knife.»

«Can you get to it?»

«Yes, but doubt I'll just be able to grab the thing.»

Vikirnoff shifted his attention to the west wall down near the floor where the ice was melting at an alarming rate. Insects poured into the chamber, a mass exodus of crickets and beetles and every cave-dwelling bug imaginable. «We are going to have company any minute, Natalya, do what you have to do and let us leave this place.» He positioned himself between his lifemate and the rapidly melting ice.

«Keep them off of me for a few minutes,» she replied. «I have to figure this out.» Unlocking the safeguards around the ceremonial knife required concentration, something difficult when the steady drip of the water was echoing through her brain and jangling every nerve. Even her blood seemed to jump as each drop fell into the ever-widening puddle. The insects would have been a terrible distraction, but they were rushing through the chamber to get away from something far worse following them.

Natalya moved her hands in a complicated pattern, murmuring a simple uncloaking spell

her father had taught her in her early childhood. Knowing her father had drawn her to the cave made it easier to solve the puzzles. He would use safeguards specific to her. And the uncloaking spell was one of the things she recalled from her earliest memory of him. The invisible barrier shimmered into view. She studied it from every angle.

Vikirnoff hissed a soft warning to Natalya as mud and water burst through the west wall, spilling onto the floor carrying a wiggling mass of spike-toothed serpentine creatures. Right behind them Arturo and a second vampire stepped into the ice chamber. As if sensing the presence of fellow evil, the rusty puddle on the floor of the cavern erupted into a boiling mass of noxious, thick bubbles.

Vikirnoff whirled into motion, calling on fire, fashioning a whip of flames to snap at the serpents racing toward Natalya. The fire whip whistled through the air, a dazzling orange-red messenger of death, lashing the creatures in a display of expertise. The smell of burning flesh added to the putrid brew of the puddle.

You don't believe in niceties, do you? Natalya asked.

Get it done. More are coming.

Natalya forced her attention back to the barrier. Vikirnoff had dealt with the snakes in a rather spectacular and efficient way. After sharing such a deep mind merge with him, she had absolute faith that he'd hold off the vampires until she had what she'd come for. There was no give in Vikirnoff. He'd fight for her with his last dying breath. As strong as the compulsion was for her to complete her task, his protective instincts were stronger. If necessary, he would get her to her safety.

Natalya took a deep, calming breath and let it out, focusing wholly on the box the uncloaking spell had revealed. The box seemed solid. A transparent rectangle surrounding the knife. Cautiously, she put her palm close to it. Heat and power blasted her skin and she hastily pulled her hand back.

Vikirnoff cracked the flaming whip at the vampire Arturo had thrust in front of him. The whip curled around the lesser vampire's neck and as Vikirnoff tugged hard, the whip dragged him closer.

The vampire screamed, the high-pitched sound shattering several stalactites so that they dropped like spears from the ceiling, straight at Vikirnoff. He dissolved, throwing up a hasty shield around Natalya as he streamed past the lesser vampire and went straight for Arturo, shifting back into his natural form immediately.

«Get the woman, Cezar!» Arturo ordered, stumbling backward at the sudden attack.

Natalya felt the protective cloak surround her on three sides and sent up a small prayer of thanks that Vikirnoff, in his haste, hadn't closed her off from the knife. She pressed her palms together tightly, raised them in ceremony, murmured a short, but powerful spell of

protection and pointed her fingers straight at the exact middle of the box. With her hands pressed tightly together, she pushed forward resolutely, straight into the center of the barricade, pulling her hands apart as she did so to part the obstruction and allow her access to the ceremonial knife. She felt the incredible heat close around her, but the protection spell held and she reached for the gem-studded handle.

Vikirnoff drove his fist straight through Arturo's chest, slamming hard, fingers going through the bony shield toward the shriveled heart. The vampire howled, bent his head and sank his teeth into Vikirnoff's neck, slicing through skin and tissue, artery and nerves. Vikirnoff grasped the blackened heart, ripping it from the vampire's chest just as Natalya gripped the ceremonial knife.

The moment Natalya's fingers settled around the handle, she felt the walls of time shape and curve. She knew at once she'd made a terrible mistake. She should never have touched the object without a barrier between it and her skin. Vikirnoff. Link with me now! Help me. Merge with me. She screamed for his help telepathically as she was sucked down-deep into the violent past of the knife.

Vikirnoff merged his mind deep into hers. His spirit ripped through the curving tunnels with her, his mind divided in both the past and the present. Having the presence of mind to keep a grip on the vampire's heart, he dragged his fist from the evil one's chest and flung it onto the floor. To his astonishment, the organ flopped, not toward Arturo, but toward the bubbling rusty puddle.

Arturo's scream was one of rage and pain. He leapt across the room toward the rolling heart, calling it back, his commands going unheeded. As Arturo fell to the ground and clawed his way across the ice in search of his heart, Vikirnoff slammed the flaming whip directly across the path leading to the puddle. The heart ran right into the dancing flames just as Arturo's hand slammed over the top of it.

You may kill me Xavier, but you will never destroy my people. My blood may run in the veins of my children, but it will not provide you with the immortality you seek.

Vikirnoff whirled around shocked to hear the voice of Rhiannon of the Dragonseekers. It was so clear, so real, he expected to see her standing behind him. It took a moment to realize he was sharing the past with Natalya.

Arturo took advantage, dragging his burned hand from the flames and gleefully restoring his heart to his chest. Blood was pouring down both the front of the vampire, and Vikirnoff's neck. Arturo reached out and smeared the ancient hunter's blood on his hand and licked at it. «You should have joined us. Your prince is injured, his hunter in the ground, nearly dead and now you and your woman will die.»

Vikirnoff was already in motion, whirling away from the attack as both vampires rushed him. Blood loss weakened him and it was disorienting to be in two places at one time. They needed help and other Carpathians in the vicinity should have felt the presence of evil. He

had wondered why Mikhail Dubrinksy, the prince of the Carpathians had not come to their aid in the earlier battle with the vampires. Vikirnoff could only think Mikhail must have been injured and in the ground not to have felt the battle in the forest.

Cezar slammed into the protective barrier shielding Natalya. He clawed at the shield with sharp talons, then crawled up the side of the ice cave, his body shifting into the form of a dark furred creature with talons and a spiked tail. He launched himself at Vikirnoff as Arturo's body contorted, his face elongating into the muzzle of a wolf.

Natalya. Drop the knife now.

Vikirnoff's voice was steady, but she caught the underlying sense of urgency. Natalya wanted to let go. She tried to open her fingers, but it was impossible. The aftermath of violence attached to objects always trapped her for a time. The more violence the object held, the more difficult it was to escape. The ceremonial knife had been used often. Xavier was trying to gain immortality by consuming Rhiannon's blood.

It was impossible to look away from the scene. Her grandmother was beautiful in spite of the bruises darkening her too-pale skin. She lay paralyzed, bound by not only powerful spells, but some type of poison Xavier had used to hold her prisoner. Tubes ran from Rhiannon's body, draining blood from her, just as Natalya's father had been drained. The same shadowy figure approached the bed, knife gripped in hand.

«I no longer need you, my dear. You have served your purpose and have given me a son and two females to take your place. Your blood runs in their veins. I will use the females' blood and allow my son to give me grandchildren that I might continue to live.» He laughed, the sound evil even as it traveled through time. «You will never know them and they will never know you. Go now, join your precious lifemate.»

Rhiannon smiled. «My children know me, even as babes, they know me.»

Xavier raised the knife high and plunged it deep into Rhiannon's heart.

Natalya screamed, both hands going to cover her heart as Xavier dug deep with the blade in Rhiannon's chest. She watched her grandmother's death in horror. Xavier collected the blood from the heart and put it in a small vial, carrying it over to a table where a large book lay open.

Xavier closed the book, satisfaction on his face as he glanced back at the dead woman. «I have what I need from you, Rhiannon. At last. You will be the instrument of destruction of your race. When I am done, there will be no Carpathians, no Jaguar, and only one dark mage ruling what always should have been mine.» He closed the book and ran his hand over the cover.

Natalya held her breath as she watched him set the vial of blood beside two others. He chose one and lifted it high. «Sealed with the blood of the dark mage.» He poured the

second. «Sealed with the blood of the jaguar.» He picked up the third. «Sealed with the blood of the Carpathian. Sealed with blood of the three, opened with blood of the three.»

A chill went down Natalya's spine. What was he doing? What did it mean? She tried to move into a better position to hear the spell he was using, but her attention shifted when she felt Vikirnoff falter.

Natalya. I have need of you now!

The urgency in the hunter's voice overrode the enthrallment of experiencing the past. Something was terribly wrong and she had to get to him. In the past, when she'd accessed violent scenes from objects, she had always relived the entire vignette, not breaking free until it played out, but Vikirnoff wouldn't ask for help unless he was in dire straits. Natalya concentrated on the knife. Her fingers around the knife, the feel of it in her palm. That was real. In the here and now. She was standing in an ice chamber with the ceremonial knife in her hand. All she had to do was open her fingers one by one to release it. She focused on her fingers and pried them loose, allowing the ceremonial knife to clatter to the floor.

At once she was back in the present, the walls shaping around her and the bitter cold stealing into her body. She knew the vignettes from the past often played out in seconds, even when she felt wrung out and exhausted as if she'd relived hours of time, but it was the intensity of the violence rather than time passage.

She had little time to orient herself to the present. Horrified by the blood on Vikirnoff's neck and the sight of the two vampires closing in on them, she flung several throwing stars at Arturo, racing toward him as she did so. The small missiles sank deep into the chest of the vampire as he attempted to shift into the form of a wolf.

You're losing too much blood, Vikirnoff. The sight of him nearly shook her confidence. If they didn't stop his bleeding their chances of escaping were down to zero. She somersaulted over Arturo, kicking him in the thick muzzle as she did so to keep his attention centered on her. As she landed behind him, she caught up her pack and dragged out a shirt. He whirled around to face her, snarling, showing a mouthful of teeth.

You'll have to cauterize the wound, Natalya. I cannot shut down my heart and lungs at this moment and there is little chance they will wait for me to heal myself. Vikirnoff caught the furred creature in midair as Cezar landed nearly on his head, claws raking, teeth and tail slashing. Vikirnoff staggered under the weight as the vampire struggled, using the agility of its animal form.

«Arturo, I'll just bet you missed me.» Natalya was already in motion, whirling in close, just out of his reach, her knife slicing across his chest as she moved past him to scoop up the ceremonial knife, using the shirt, and jamming it deep into her pack. I don't know if I can do it, Vikirnoff. The idea was so distasteful, she felt sick.

Vikirnoff threw Cezar off, whirling and slashing with his own talons, fighting past the

razor-sharp claws in an attempt to penetrate the vampire's chest. Cezar fell back to avoid Vikirnoff's attack, only to spring at him a second time, this time cloning himself so that three creatures sprung forward, all teeth and claws, instead of one.

Blood sprayed from Vikirnoff's neck now and he was far weaker. You are a strong woman, Natalya. You will do what needs to be done. He resorted to the fire whip to keep the creatures at bay. Watch Arturo. He is up to something.

Natalya stuck the blade of her knife into the orange and red flames of the fire whip until the blade glowed with heat, all the while watching Arturo. He stalked them across the ice chamber, still half-wolf and half-man. The knife is hot enough, Vikirnoff. Her stomach lurched. He was counting on her. He thought her strong, but the idea of pressing the hot blade of a knife against the terrible wound in his neck was barbaric.

Now, Natalya. I ant too weak to keep this up and the other is near. I cannot feel his presence, but Arturo and Cezar are both suddenly excited. Can you feel the difference in them?

The air vibrated with electric excitement. Whatever they are expecting can't be good for us. «Arturo, your fur is looking a bit moldy.» She inched closer to Vikirnoff, the blade of her knife glowing with heat.

Arturo's muzzle gaped wide, exposing the huge canines.

«What big teeth you have, grandma,» Natalya said, steeling herself to cauterize the wound on Vikirnoff's neck. She took a deep breath. I'm sorry. Natalya pressed the blade of her knife to Vikirnoff's neck before she could lose her nerve. She stayed firmly in his mind, even when he tried to throw her out, clinging tightly, wanting to shoulder the pain. He shuddered with agony, his body breaking out in a sweat. The smell of flesh burning was sickening. Natalya fought back bile. I'm so sorry, Vikirnoff. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.

You do what is necessary. Take Arturo, but stay out of his reach. He is strong.

«Arturo! Baby! Come dance with me.» She crooked her finger at him.

Arturo shifted fully into his human form. «I do not think it would be fair to do so when the hunter is recovering from his wounds. Cezar, what do you think? Perhaps a five minute truce to allow him to rest?»

Natalya forced a carefree laugh. «Sorry, big boy, five minutes is way too long to spend in your company.» She drew the guns from under her arms and shot him repeatedly, firing rapidly as she dove to his left away from Vikirnoff and toward the patterned stones on the floor of the ice cave. The sound of gunfire reverberated throughout the cavern. She aimed over the head of the vampires and shot at several stalactites so that they broke loose and crashed to the floor of the cave. She skidded to a halt directly over the patterned squares.

It was difficult to study the pattern and keep her eye on the vampire at the same time and she wanted an alternate escape route planned. Arturo was furious, his face contorted as he flew at her, slamming large ice blocks around her in an effort to cut her off from Vikirnoff.

She leapt on top of the ice wall as a third vampire emerged from the hole the first two had made. He was tall and thin, his hair long and his eyes red-rimmed. An eerie silence greeted his arrival. No one moved. She sensed Vikirnoff's sudden stillness and shifted her gaze to him instinctively for guidance.

Vikirnoff's features remained completely expressionless, but his heart sank as he recognized one of the Malinov brothers. Natalya. This one is nearly indestructible. He is a master and will be very hard to destroy. I helped to kill his brother not so long ago, and it was a difficult battle, one we nearly did not win and there were two experienced hunters. We must get out now.

They needed a miracle. Three vampires, one a master. Not just any master, but a Malinov. We are in trouble, Natalya, be prepared for anything.

«Vikirnoff, it is long since I have seen you,» the tall vampire greeted.

«Maxim, it has indeed been long.» Do not draw his attention. It is imperative we escape, Natalya.

Normally Natalya might have defied him, just because she disliked orders, but something about the newcomer was terrifying. She could see Arturo trembling. All three of the creatures that were Cezar cowered to make themselves smaller. She had a sudden desire to do the same when the vampire flicked his cold gaze in her direction.

«I met Kirja recently in the United States.» Vikirnoff deliberately brought the vampire's attention back to him.

Maxim's expression hardened. «You were there when my brother was murdered?»

«I do not recall a murder, Maxim. I believe Kirja was attempting to kill a hunter and his lifemate.» Find the way out, Natalya.

Natalya jerked her mesmerized gaze from the vampire and began to work on the pattern she knew had to be in the stones on the floor. The dark mage would have had an escape route known only to him, one easily accessible. He couldn't fly the way the Carpathians could, so he would have had a way to flee from the cavern.

«Have you seen your precious prince?»

Vikirnoff forced himself not to react when his gut rolled in protest and his heart wanted to accelerate. «I have not had the honor as of yet.»

«I fear he has been gravely injured, as was Falcon, the hunter guarding him. So sad, but

Mikhail's death will benefit so many.»

Vikirnoff's heart sank but his expression remained the same. An injury to the prince was the only reasonable explanation for the lack of aid to either of the battles. Still, Vikirnoff had held out hope only to have it dashed. «He will not die, Maxim. His people will not allow his death.»

«Oh, I say he will, Vikirnoff. He is surrounded, under siege, wounded and without protection. We outnumber him and he cannot escape us. When he falls, so will his line fall and the people will scatter and we will pick them off one by one.» Maxim tapped his long fingernails against his arm. The rhythm matched the water dripping steadily into the ever-widening puddle.

Vikirnoff risked a glance at the bubbling water. It had grown and was beginning to overflow onto the floor, the brownish liquid spreading like fingers out over the ice, running along unseen grooves, following several paths all leading toward Natalya. Vikirnoff's heart jumped when he realized it was within striking distance of her. He couldn't afford to wait much longer. Natalya had to find them a way out of the cave. If he took her and tried to escape using the route they'd entered, the vampires would kill them before they ever gained the entrance of the cave. He had been in desperate situations over the centuries, but never quite like this-and never with a lifemate to protect.

I think I can open the escape route, Vikirnoff. Say the word and I'll give it a try.

There was little point in stalling. Malinov intended to kill him and Vikirnoff didn't want to wait until the three vampires were in position to do so. Arturo was already inching his way closer. The two clones and Cezar growled and showed teeth. Malinov simply smiled, his eyes cold and alert.

Vikirnoff whirled into motion. Now, Natalya, open it and be ready. You cannot allow them to see what you do. He snapped the fire whip across the backs of the three creatures snarling at him. One howled and he lashed it mercilessly, driving it back, sending flames dancing over the dark fur. Cezar immediately shifted shape, dissolving into a greenish vapor and streaking toward the small alcove where the cache of weapons beckoned enticingly.

«No!» Natalya called out the warning, Vikirnoff's voice echoing her.

It was too late. Cezar caught up a heavy sword and turned to face Vikirnoff. Wind rushed through the chamber, rising to a howl of fury. The tall columns of ice trembled and within the spheres, clouds and mist swirled angrily. Something moved in the corner.

The floor cracked, a long jagged streak, several inches deep running the length of the room. Ice crackled overhead and along the walls surrounding them, shirting with creaks and groans so that cracks appeared overhead. Black and gray smoke poured from the cracks in the ice. Above their heads, a gray smoke swirled in the wind. More gathered near the

columns until the chamber was filled. The smoke separated into individual pillars, continually moving, red fiery eyes glittering dangerously. They caught glimpses of suits of armor and large menacing swords.

«What have you done?» Maxim Malinov demanded of Cezar, staring around the huge chamber at the tall, daunting looking figures taking shape around the chamber.

«He touched what did not belong to him,» Vikirnoff said.

«You fool,» Maxim snarled. «You have summoned the shadow warriors.»

«'She touched things.» Cezar defended himself. «She has something in her pack right now. I didn't bring them to us.»

I have the blood of the dark mage running in my veins. I can touch objects others cannot.

And you can command them, Vikirnoff pointed out.

Maybe.

Maxim gestured toward Natalya. «Kill the hunter and take the woman prisoner now before it is too late. And bring to me what she has in her pack.»

Cezar raced at Vikirnoff, sword raised for the kill. Arturo remained frozen in place. At once the shadow warriors went on the alert, glowing eyes trained on Cezar, converging on him from all directions to surround him.

Movement attracts their attention. Do not move if you can help it, Natalya. Can you send the warriors back to their resting places as you did the one at the inn?

I honestly don't know. There are so many of them. Hopefully he used the same spells to draw and bind them.

What else can go wrong? Vikirnoff remained locked in place, calculating the distance to Natalya and whether he dared chance taking the form of mist to reach her.

Hold on. The male voice came out of nowhere, shockingly on the common mental path used by most Carpathians. I am coming to your aid.

Mikhail Dubrinsky. Prince of the Carpathian people. Vikirnoff's heart jumped into his throat. Even injured, the prince had come for them. He knew Maxim had caught the message. The vampires, in spite of the shadow warriors, were excited.

«He comes! Kill him. Call the others. He is alone, without aid. Surround him and kill him,» Maxim demanded.

It is a trap, Mikhail. Get out. I have no need of you. Go now.

I will not leave a wounded hunter trapped. There was iron in the voice. Steel. Implacable resolve.

«Of course not,» Maxim sneered gleefully. «He is invincible.»

Chapter 9

As they had never exchanged blood, Vikirnoff had no way to get a private message to the prince. When he spoke telepathically he had to use the common path even the vampires could hear. It mattered little. He wanted help. He needed help. But… You cannot endanger your life, Mikhail. You are too important to our people and I cannot adequately protect you. It means much that you would come to our aid, but you cannot. He glanced at Natalya and there was sorrow in his eyes. He switched to their private, more intimate path so only she could hear. I must close the only other way in.

Do it. She injected complete confidence into her voice when she didn't feel it. She was still touching Vikirnoff's mind and she could feel how torn he was, between his need to protect his prince and the need to keep her safe. We don't need another burden down here. We can do this together.

He sent her warmth, an incredible flooding of every sense, as if he were touching her intimately. Maxim Manilov is the master vampire. As he spoke to Mikhail Vikirnoff inched his way in freeze-frame motion toward Natalya and the dark mage's secret escape route. He is part of a greater conspiracy. He has called other vampires to hunt you. Do not enter this place.

The nearest shadow warrior reached within striking distance of Cezar, swinging his sword in a classic attack. Cezar's sword parried the blow, sparks showering down across the ice floor as the blades met. He sliced at the warrior, but the shadow was already gone, stepping to the side to deliver a second blow meant to kill.

Several shadow warriors surrounded the vampire, swords at the ready. Cezar shrieked to Arturo for aid. Natalya waited for her moment to seize control of the warriors. It was a risky plan. There were several of them and it was possible the dark mage had used more than one binding spell. Often, if the caster made a mistake, especially in dealing with dead spirits, the repercussions were deadly.

You are injured. I will aid you. The prince spoke with grim finality.

Vikirnoff sensed Mikhail inside the cave, moving toward the great abyss in preparation for the descent to the lower chambers. If he sensed the presence of the prince, so did Maxim. He glanced at the master vampire, certain he was up to something.

Maxim remained still, watching dispassionately as Cezar fought for his life. A small smile hovered on his thin lips. It was that small smile that made up Vikirnoff's mind for him. Maxim cared little whether Cezar lived or died, but he would give anything to see Mikhail Dubrinsky dead. Vikirnoff was not willing to risk whatever plot was going through the mind of the undead.

Forgive me, Natalya. Vikirnoff spoke Natalya's name in a soft whisper in his mind and heart. He was risking her life as well as his own. Vikirnoff could feel the prince's wounds, every bit as raw and painful as his own. Mikhail Dubrinsky was far too important to his people to allow the risk. My prince, I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself. Your duty is to all of your people, not to a single pair. With every bit of power Vikirnoff possessed, with all of his ancient knowledge and strength, he slammed his command to earth, building a tower of ice that rose like a mountain, thick and impenetrable, wedging solidly in the sinkhole and blocking all ability to descend into the main chamber from the surface.

A warrior's luck to you and your lifemate. The prince murmured softly.

The cavern shook with the force of Vikirnoff's power. All around them ice cracked and groaned. More stalactites fell to the floor and shattered. There was a small silence. Even the shadow warriors ceased movement.

Maxim hissed his anger, his teeth snapping together, lips drawn back in a snarl. «That was foolish. You have succeeded in trapping us all in this place. And for what, Vikirnoff? The prince is already dead. He just does not know it yet. We have made certain of that. You cannot stop what is happening here. It was begun long ago and will come to pass whether you interfere or not.» His cold, dead gaze fell on Natalya. «He has traded you for his prince, my dear. You made a poor bargain when you chose this one.»

Vikirnoff winced. Natalya hadn't chosen him. He had forced the bonding.

Soft laughter brushed against his mind. If I have the choice between that cold-blooded reptile of a vampire and you, trust me, babe, you win hands-down.

That is no compliment.

I know. From her precarious position on the blocks of ice, Natalya blew him a kiss. In spite of himself, his heart grew warmer. Natalya's small gesture sent the shadow warriors into another frenzy of sword display. With each frantic movement of Cezar, the warriors grew in form and stature. They pressed the lesser vampire hard, slicing deep cuts into his skin as he tried to fight his way to Maxim.

If I can command the warriors to go after Mr. Reptilian big shot there, we'll have a chance to escape through the hidden passage.

Vikirnoff eyed the dark stains that had spread across the floor of the ice cave. The thick rusty colored liquid had taken on the appearance of a bony hand with long heavily knuckled

fingers stretching out toward Natalya. At the end of each finger appeared to be a sharp talon and as the liquid spread, the talon seemed to grow longer. How are your ankles feeling?

Natalya looked startled. How did you know? They burn and they feel weak, like I might not be able to trust them to hold me up.

Look at the floor.

Natalya glanced down. Her hand went to her throat. The Troll King has found me again. Great. Just great.

Arturo and Maxim, like Vikirnoff and Natalya, remained utterly still to keep the shadow warriors from turning on them. Natalya felt it was a standoff of sorts, all of them watching Cezar being hacked to pieces. It was a terrifying scene, the vampire desperate and the shadow warriors relentless.

Get us out of here, Natalya, before your Troll King reaches you. Vikirnoff was more worried about that hand inching across the ice floor than even Maxim. And Maxim hadn't yet begun to show his power.

Natalya waited until Cezar had ceased all movement and it was no longer possible to tell what the warriors were slicing with their great swords. She looked away from the mess and inched her arms into the air, careful to keep her movements slow and measured so that she wouldn't draw down the shadow warrior's attention.

«Hear me now, dark ones, great warriors torn from your resting places, I call on earth, wind, fire, water and spirit.» Natalya heard, or maybe just felt the master vampire's shock. She sketched him a small salute before continuing. «I call each to me and bind them to me and with each I invoke the right of the shadow law. The dark mage's blood runs deep in my own and I command thee.»

Wind swept through the ice chamber, clarifying each individual warrior. They straightened slowly, one by one, and turned to her, swords raised toward the ceiling, once again motionless awaiting her orders.

You did it.

If only it was that easy. Natalya racked her brain for the proper wording to countermand their long-buried commands, for a way to set them against the vampires when the undead knew not to move and draw the shadow warrior's attention.

On the floor of the cave, Cezar's mangled body began to wiggle. The head jerked, then rolled. Natalya's stomach lurched and she couldn't pull her horrified gaze from the sight.

Concentrate.

You concentrate. That is just gross.

Vikirnoff's fire whip snapped out again and again, reaching parts of the lesser vampire, raining fire, incinerating everything it touched. He searched out the heart with the flames, wanting to at least ensure Cezar could not rise against them again.

Natalya took a deep breath and let it out. She had the attention of not only the shadow warriors, but also the master vampire. She had to bind the warriors to her fast. «Hear me warriors of the ancient past, warriors of the ancient law. Whose blood was shed, who died with honor.» As she chanted, she studied the squares with symbols embedded in the ice on the floor, grateful it was hidden from the others. If she could figure out the pattern, she was certain she could unlock the hidden door.

They are paying attention. Keep going!

Her gaze shifted to Vikirnoff. This isn't exactly easy! She had to go through thousands of spells she had learned to pull out the right words, all the while trying to figure out how to escape. «Hear me warriors of old, whose souls are lost, this night I call you, this night I summon you to my aid. Hear me, warriors, a new cause has arisen, your body gone, now spirit be…»

Maxim struck without warning, thrusting his mind and will hard against Natalya's mind, pushing to break through any shields. She felt the thrust of his mind, ugly, oily, a filthy abomination touching her, oozing inside and spreading quickly like a cancer. Every evil thought and deed, the countless murders, the depravities, everything Maxim had been and was, poured into her mind.

Vikirnoff. She screamed his name in desperation. The sickness flooding her mind drove her to her knees. She gagged, clutched her heaving, protesting stomach. She was unclean. She would always be unclean. Nothing would take away the dark poisoned stain of evil.

I am here.

Vikirnoff was. Calm. Surrounding her with warmth when she was so utterly cold. Filling her mind with a radiant light, the sun bursting through her mind. How had she ever thought there was darkness in him? She saw darkness, evil of the worst kind and it was nothing like Vikirnoff. He entered her mind with confidence, his every thought, past and present, open to her. As he moved with purpose, he built a reflective light, a mirror turned onto the vampire, forcing him to see what he was. The dark shadows retreated before him, so that Maxim had no choice but to reluctantly flee. Inch by slow inch, Vikirnoff drove the master vampire from her mind. Behind him, Vikirnoff built high, thick shields, weaving them from the strongest safeguards he'd learned over the centuries.

Natalya didn't leave it at that. She wouldn't. She could protect herself. She knew things others didn't know and nobody was going to walk in her mind. «Shield of smoke, earth and fire, come to me, hear my desire. Mold to form, both front and back, protecting me from attack.» She had no idea why her shields weren't holding, but she wasn't going to let her guard down again around the vampire.

Maxim hissed his displeasure, the sound loud in the hush of the ice chamber. Throwing out both hands, he slammed his palms forward, toward Natalya. The chamber shook with the force of his blow, driving the bitter cold air straight at her, a fist to her solar plexus. The air left her lungs in a rush, doubling her over so that stars danced in front of her eyes, but he could not penetrate her mind.

Heat seeped through the terrible cold, warming her. A soft wind fluttered over her face, pushed into her lungs. Vikirnoff breathed for her. In and out. She felt him surrounding her, holding her up and it gave her the strength to straighten her body and face Maxim, her gaze cool and hard.

«By your spirit I summon you. Each of you I enlist. I call you, warriors lost, come to my aid.»

Maxim's face twisted with fury. He blasted Natalya a second time, raining sharpened stalactites down on her head. Vikirnoff answered with an umbrella of ice.

He does not want you dead. He is stalling. Anxiously he studied the hand stretching to the ice wall where Natalya stood. The rust colored fingers were already creeping up the side of the wall, reaching for her. He is waiting for whatever the puddle bides to reach you. I am coming over to you.

Wait! Don't move until I order the warriors. They will attack you. Natalya couldn't quite catch her breath, even with Vikirnoff's steady breathing, her lungs burned and felt squeezed of all air. She had to figure out the pattern. «Hear me, fight at my side. Protect me from harm. Come to my side, protect me from harm.»

The shadow warriors moved, tall and ethereal, cloaked in clouds of whirling gray smoke, ghosts really, insubstantial one moment and dressed in armor the next. They formed a lose circle around Natalya giving her a reprieve from Maxim's smoldering hatred. She kept her eyes on the patterns. I've got it, Vikirnoff. I can open the floor.

«Hold this circle, give no ground, battle that which is still, but cannot be bound.» Natalya couldn't help the triumphant smirk she flung at the master vampire. «Be it vapor or foggy mist, hold it fast though it turns and twists.»

Maxim roared with rage and raised his hands toward Natalya. The low ice wall Natalya stood on obeyed his shouted commands, shifting, sweeping through the circle of shadow warriors, brushing them aside as though they were feathers in the wind. Icicles spears hurtled toward Vikirnoff, the sharp ends spinning with flames straight toward his heart. Maxim leapt at Natalya so fast he was no more than a blur.

Already the shadow warriors were reforming their protective circle around Natalya and just feet from her, Maxim saw he had no chance to take possession of her. In midair he turned, choosing to kill Vikirnoff instead.

Vikirnoff picked an ice-spear from the air and used it to deflect the barrage coming at him. On the ground, Natalya! Before he could give any more warning to remind her of the creeping puddle of water, Maxim had landed behind him and reached for his throat with piercing talons. A sword slammed between them and the master vampire shrieked with rage, fingers falling to the floor of the ice cave. Even as Maxim turned to meet the attack, digits were already growing back. He caught the head of the shadow warrior and twisted sharply, flinging the warrior away from him and turning toward Vikirnoff.

Shadow warriors surrounded him. Maxim waved his hand and both he and Arturo were replicated over and over, a hundred clones whirling like madmen between the shadow warriors.

The rust-colored fingers reached Natalya, creeping up her boot in silence to circle her ankle. Vikirnoff sprang off the floor, using dizzying speed, vaulting over the ice floor crowded with fighting shadow warriors and vampires. For a moment bright, blinding light flashed in the cave as lightning forked, slamming into the wall just above his head, evidence that Maxim would not be defeated easily. Vikirnoff didn't hesitate or look back at his enemy. He caught Natalya in his arms and landed on the first squared pattern, the ice wall momentarily hiding them from the shadow warriors and the vampires.

«It burns,» Natalya said, trying to reach for her ankle.

Vikirnoff held her hand away from the spreading stain. «Leave it,» he said harshly. «Open the floor fast.»

«It's burning into my skin.» Natalya choked back another protest and concentrated on the pattern she had figured out already. She led the way, hopping from one square to the next, trying desperately to ignore what amounted to a bloody handprint wrapped around her ankle and burning through her clothes to her skin. «I can't leave my pack.» She clutched it with both hands to keep from reaching down to her ankle. It was difficult to think when it felt like something was branding her flesh.

The ice walls exploded all around them, showering down large blocks of ice along with sharpened ice spears. Vikirnoff covered Natalya's head with his arms as they stepped over the squares, following the pattern in her mind. He shielded her body with his as he retaliated, the fire whip unfurling to send flames dancing over the vampires, driving them back. It passed through the shadow warriors who ignored the fiery lash, still fighting clones of the undead.

The floor beneath Natalya trembled and a large square slid away to reveal a stairway leading further beneath the earth. She hesitated. We're going down not up. What if the Troll King is down there?

We have no choice. This is the only way out of the chamber that we have left to us. We must take it. He reached out to brush tears from her face with the pad of his thumb.

Natalya hadn't realized she was crying. The burning in her leg was bad, but it was more the idea that the unknown thing was attached to her. Just as Maxim had managed to slip inside her head. It was humiliating to think that the master vampire had gotten into her mind and Vikirnoff, not she, had driven him out. Now she had some parasite attaching itself to her body, boring into her flesh.

Turning back she gave her warriors a last command. «Hear my commands though I be gone. Continue to hold. Stand straight, stand strong.» She gave the shadow warriors a small salute, wishing she could give them peace and send them back to their resting places.

«We have to go now,» Vikirnoff urged.

She turned away from the chaotic scene and took the narrow stairs chiseled from ice leading below the chamber of the dark mage.

Vikirnoff followed her down, down deeper still, closing the hidden panel behind them and weaving safe-guards against the vampires in the event they found a way to escape the shadow warriors. Once the panel slammed shut an eerie light gleamed along the twisting stairway. It was carved with care, very narrow steps that seemed to go on forever.

They ran down the long staircase for several minutes. It was strangely silent as if they were the only two people in the world. «I don't think they can follow us using that escape route, do you?» Natalya asked, stopping abruptly.

«Not unless Maxim has hours to figure out the safeguards I used.»

«Then get this thing off of my leg,» Natalya said. «I can't stand knowing it's on me.»

Vikirnoff nearly smiled at the demand in her voice. She was totally confident that he could and would get it off. «Sit down and rest. Let me take a look at it.»

«Take your time, it's only burning a hole through my leg and grossing me out, but hey! Just look at it.» Natalya scowled at him.

His dark eyes ran over her face and made her shiver. She bit her lip. «I'm sorry. When I'm scared I tend to be a little flippant.»

«Do not apologize to me. I am well aware of your need to make light of the situation.» He crouched beside her and took her leg in his hands, pushing the material away from her skin so that his fingers brushed intimately against her calf. «I am attempting to develop a sense of humor where you are concerned.»

He bent his head to study the grotesque fingers circling her ankle. His dark hair spilled around his shoulders, wild and disheveled and far too appealing for her liking. His breath was warm on her skin. It was all Natalya could do not to reach out and touch his hair. His neck was a mess, the burn hideous and painful looking, yet he seemed detached from it as if the only importance to him was helping her.

«It's alive, isn't it?» She asked the question to distract herself. There would be no more kissing in the midst of deadly peril. She absolutely refused to be too stupid to live. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. He had a sinful mouth and that was the problem, not her. It was all Vikirnoff.

«Yes.» His voice was grim, «This leaves the same scent as the one you named Troll King. I think this is his work.»

She swallowed hard. «Xavier?» She would not call him grandfather. She didn't want to think he was related to her. She couldn't think about him without seeing him murdering her grandmother.

Vikirnoff frowned. «I do not think the dark mage. This one feels vampire yet not. I cannot tell yet what we are dealing with. I'll have to go inside to push the parasites out.»

«Parasites? Are you telling me I have freakin' parasites in my leg? Get them out of me now. Right now. Hurry, Vik, or I'm going to lose my freakin' mind.» Natalya shuddered, her skin suddenly feeling as if bugs were crawling all over her.

«I am uncertain just what freakin' is but it cannot be good.» He thought it best not to mention the Vik. She really was distressed, her lower lip trembling and giving his heart a small shake-up.

«No, it isn't good and my butt is going numb with cold sitting on this block of ice.» Oh, lord. She was complaining. Whining. Sitting there like a sissy when he was covered in blood and had his throat nearly torn out. The tigress had deserted her leaving her vulnerable and shaky. She covered her face with her hands too humiliated to face him. «Just please, please get them out of me.»

He murmured something soft to her in his ancient language. It sounded tender and gentle and made her want to cry. She sat very still watching as he separated himself from his body, his spirit moving through her with warmth and a far too intimate touch. He did is so easily, not at all like her clumsy attempts. There was no fighting for focus or concentration, just a brief closing of his eyes and she knew his body was an empty shell.

She felt his presence the moment he was in her, touching her mind with reassurance and much more. He made certain not one shadow of the master vampire lingered behind, hidden and waiting to spring from the corners of her mind. He added more safeguards to keep her shields strong before moving through her to her leg. She felt his quiet confidence and she leaned heavily on it. Too many things had gone wrong and Natalya was no longer certain she could handle alone the task given to her. Just the revelations about her grandparents were enough to shake her to the very core of her existence. She tried to stay still, to appear as confident as Vikirnoff when she was really very distressed.

Vikirnoff studied the tiny microorganisms clinging in clusters to the original puncture wound. They wiggled like little worms and around the wound, the area appeared inflamed

and swollen. He had seen such things before. His brother's lifemate, Destiny, had been infected with such microorganisms. The imprint of the hand itself was branded deep into Natalya's skin and blisters formed in small clusters around the bony-looking fingers.

The parasites tried to hide or run from the white light of his healing spirit, but he was relentless, ridding her body of every single one, taking more time than they comfortably had to ensure her bloodstream and her every cell were free of the microorganisms. Only when he was certain he had eradicated every one of the intruders did he turn his attention to the original wound. What kind of mark had been branded into her flesh and bone? He had thought he had healed the injuries earlier, but the puncture wounds had reopened deep in her ankle.

He was not a master healer but he should have been able to repair her body. She should have had extraordinary shields to keep out the vampire and, to some extent, him, but her mind was vulnerable. It didn't make sense. He was missing something important and it could cost them both their lives. Again, he repaired her ankle, paying particular attention to the tissue around the wound, inspecting it carefully to make certain he had closed and sealed the wound properly after removing all infection.

The brand seemed to be an entrance for more microorganisms, but he couldn't figure out how. This was very complex and alarms shrieked at him. Maxim or one of his brothers might have the brains to figure something like this out, but he doubted they'd have the patience. This took experimentation, time, endless time. Someone had worked in a laboratory and combined old magick with modern science.

Healing the brand on her skin required more time and energy than exterminating the parasites. The blisters and burn marks disappeared easily, but the brand itself was stubborn, refusing to give way before the white light. In the end, Vikirnoff managed to erase a small part of the palm only.

He pulled back into his own body swaying with weariness, worry on his face. Natalya studied his expression and looked down at her leg. «It's still there, isn't it? What exactly is it?»

«The original puncture wound is the host, I think. The brand allowed entrance for tiny parasites, very small, microorganisms. They are difficult to detect and there's something strange about them. Someone developed them, cultivated them in a lab and mutated them using some sort of chemical.»

Natalya stiffened. «Chemical? A chemical was attached to the parasite? As in a potentially explosive chemical?» She rubbed her temples and shook her head.

«What is it, Natalya?»

The gentleness in his voice warmed her. He looked so tired, lines etched into his face, his skin pale. She brushed his jaw with her fingertips. «One of my memories that doesn't quite

connect. I thought of that. In an experiment once, but I can't remember what I was doing.»

«And you are getting a headache.»

She smiled at him. «One more ache among many. Thank you. I know it wasn't easy trying to get those things out of me.»

«We will remove any that linger as soon as we can, Natalya. And we will find a way to get your memory back if at all possible. This practice of marking with parasites is something fairly recent the vampires seem to be using to identify one another.» His fist bunched in her hair, fingers rubbing silken strands. For a brief moment he rested his brow against hers. «We will make it out of here. You know that, right?»

Natalya stayed close to him, skin to skin, her hand on his face, his in her hair. They were both exhausted and hurting, physically and emotionally. «I'm glad you're with me, Vikirnoff.»

His smile was slow in coming, but it reached his eyes. «It has been a fun adventure, has it not?»

«Oh, you're funny. Now you think you're a comedian. Adventure my butt. Let's get out of this place.» Natalya stood up and looked around her. The stairs seemed endless, giving off a strange translucent glow that only made the effect creepier. «Do you think we're going to run into something worse?»

«Worse than the vampires or the shadow warriors?»

She shook her head. «Worse than whatever is tracking me beneath the ground.»

Their gazes locked. Vikirnoff had such compassion in his eyes, Natalya looked away, afraid she would cry. The idea of parasites clinging to her body or even just the hand branded on her skin, sickened her.

«We will get rid of it, ainaak enyem.»

The way he said the endearment turned her heart over. «What does that mean exactly?» She tried to interject suspicion into her voice, as if he was still calling her slip of a girl or something equally obnoxious, but she recognized the word ainaak as forever. More than that, it was the way he said it, the look in his eyes.

«Forever mine.» His fingers curled around hers. «Which you are.»

She gave an inelegant snort of what she hoped would sound like derision. She felt a little foolish walking down the stairs holding his hand, but it was comforting. «How was he able to get into my head, Vikirnoff?»

«Maxim?»

«He was able to crawl inside of me.» She shuddered and he felt the revulsion rippling through her mind as well.

«I am not certain,» he replied carefully.

«But you have an idea.»

«Shields are safeguards. Blocks. We weave them automatically and we expect that no one will come into our minds and tear them down.» A muted sound distracted him, divided his attention. It was hushed, stealthy, as if someone or something was nearby. Even with his extraordinary night vision he couldn't see beyond the ice pack of the walls bulging around them and overhead. The staircase wound downward, but now was leveling off and curving toward the south.

Natalya chewed at her lower lip, frowning, concentrating on what he was not saying. «Why would my safeguards be destroyed?»

«I do not know. How did the shadow warrior get into the room at the inn?» He sent his senses seeking around them for any hint of danger. Something was definitely moving in the darkness off to their left. The wall of ice was thick between them, but the unknown stalker kept pace with them. We are not alone. Keep talking, but do not say anything of importance.

Natalya let go of his hand and dropped back two stairs to give both of them room if they should have to fight. The feel of her knife was familiar and even comforting as she laid the blade up along her wrist to conceal it. «It's cold down here. You aren't even shivering.» She allowed the tigress to rise toward the surface just enough for her to utilize the superior senses of the cat. At once she scented something peculiar.

It smells like something wild. Not a vampire, but not human. Not Carpathian. I don't recognize the scent… yet I do.

She uttered a small shriek of frustration in her head. I detest having my memories so fragmented.

«I can regulate my body temperature,» Vikirnoff responded aloud. «You can, too.» Does it smell the same as the creature that caught your ankle and tried to drag you beneath the ground?

At once he heard her heart begin to accelerate wildly, but she was game enough, snorting derisively. «If I could regulate my temperature, Vik,» she smirked at him when he threw her a warning glance over his shoulder. «I'd be doing it.»

Keep an eye on the walls. He gave her the warning as he searched the wide expanse of ice.

Not the walls! She stared at the steps below her feet frantically. He's below us now.

Vikirnoff, we have to get off the steps.

No, he's pacing along beside us.

I'm telling you he's below us.

Vikirnoff simply turned and dragged her into his arms, taking to the air to get her feet off the stairs. He was certain he was right. The creature was not below them, but instead was stalking alongside them, obviously aware of some break in the wall they had no knowledge of. He moved fast, using preternatural speed, racing through the twisting, narrow hall, staying as far from the left wall as possible. Even using his supernatural speed, the creature kept pace with them and then suddenly it was ahead.

He is moving into position to strike.

My ankles are burning. Which side? She gripped the knife.

Left.

Natalya shifted closer to Vikirnoff's left shoulder, knowing her knee was digging into the wound on his chest and her elbow had to be hitting his neck. He didn't wince, but she felt his pain. Not in her mind, but in her body. I'm sorry.

Vikirnoff heard the soft whisper in his mind, felt her lips brush his temple. His gut clenched, a curious roll that was unfamiliar to him. She was combat ready. A part of him admired her, thought her extraordinary and another part of him was outraged that he was allowing her to be in harm's way.

She growled a warning. He had no idea whether it was meant for him, or for the creature stalking them, but the knife flashed as the opening yawned to their left and the narrow cavern erupted with a wild howl of pain and rage.

Blood splattered across Vikirnoff's face and Natalya's arm. It burned like acid. Natalya swore in his ear. I can't make it out, did you see it?

He glanced behind them, momentarily slowing down. Natalya gasped and jerked on his hair. Don't you dare! I mean it. We're getting the hell out of Dodge this time. I'm not tackling that thing when you're hurt and shadow warriors could be on us at any moment. Kick it up a gear, Speed Racer, and get us out of here.

He knew he was too badly injured to fight anything with the kind of speed and strength the creature displayed, but he wanted to get a look at it. We are not in Dodge nor am I Speed Racer. Is your Troll King a vampire?

Natalya had excellent night vision as well as olfactory senses. Even the tiny hairs on her body acted like radar, much like a cat's whiskers, yet she couldn't identify the creature through scent or sight. She had tried to look at it, but her impression was of something tall

and very muscular. Like a very blurry Godzilla. And it smells familiar yet not. I can't explain it. It's very frustrating. And she was getting dizzy as they hurtled around narrow corners, just barely missing crashing into the walls. He stopped following us and is throwing a bit of a tantrum, digging in the ice. I think I scored a really good hit on him, there was a lot of blood.

Vikirnoff had no idea what or who Godzilla was, but it didn't matter. She couldn't identify the creature as vampire and it was going to come after her again and again until he destroyed the threat to her. He wasn't at all certain the creature was that injured. It was very possible he was trying to bring tons of ice down on top of them. They needed to get out of the cavern immediately.

The hall encasing the stairs widened and Vikirnoff increased his speed, moving so fast he nearly missed the small tunnel that seemed to lead upward.

Wait! Natalya tugged at his hair again. That's it. The hidden entrance. I know it is. I feel it.

You are certain? He was already backtracking, feeling her certainty. She had mage blood in her and it had to be directing her.

Vikirnoff allowed her feet to touch the ice floor. At once she looked down, her eyes searching the floor around her. «I no longer feel his presence. Do you?»

Vikirnoff didn't believe she had felt his presence. Whatever was beneath them coming down the stairs had been no more than an illusion-and one she shouldn't have fallen for.

Natalya shook her head. «The entrance is here, Vikirnoff, we just have to find it.»

«What happened to Vik?»

She glanced up at his droll tone, a small grin hovering around her mouth. «I wouldn't want you to think it was endearing or anything like that.»

«I doubt there is reason to fear.» He stood directly behind her, his body shielding hers, his hands reaching around her, caging her in, as he pointed out faint marks in the ice. «What are those?»

«Ancient symbols.»

«Can you read them?» It had been long since he had seen such things and his memory wasn't to be trusted unless it was necessary.

«Of course.» She moved her hands with confidence, touching various symbols to arrange a pattern. «He loves patterns.»

Vikirnoff dropped his hands on her shoulders. «Who loves patterns?»

Natalya tilted her head back to look at him with a frown. «What?»

«You said he loves patterns. Who loves patterns, Natalya?»

She rubbed her pounding temples. «I don't know. I detest not being able to remember things. I hate it, Vikirnoff.»

His fingers massaged the nape of her neck, easing the tension out of her. «Do not worry about it now, think only of opening the entrance for us. We will work it all out.»

Chapter 10

Natalya hurried through the progression of symbols to open the exit. She wanted out of the cave more than anything else. Keeping her back to Vikirnoff, she glanced over her shoulder at him then looked quickly back at what she was doing. «I should never have considered the idea of removing your memories. Whether I could have or not is irrelevant. It's offensive. It's not right. The idea that someone tampered with my brain, deliberately removed my childhood and who knows what else, is so disturbing I can't even tell you. I have flashes of things I can't remember and it's maddening.»

The door creaked open and light spilled in nearly blinding both of them. Natalya covered her eyes with her hands. «Is it morning already?»

«No, but it is close to dawn and we have been underground for hours. Give your eyes a moment to adjust.» His arm curved around her shoulders and for a moment, she rested against his body.

«How are we going to get this thing completely off of my leg?» She ran her fingers over his arm, breathing in fresh air.

«In a day or two I will be at full strength. If I still cannot remove it, we will take you to a strong healer. In the meantime, you must be very careful.»

His fingers continued working at the nape of her neck, a small massage to ease the tension out of her. It felt amazing, a gift she couldn't remember having before. It was such a small thing, but she'd been alone for so long without someone to comfort her, to talk with her, laugh or argue.

She acknowledged the longing with wariness. She and Vikirnoff had shared too much too fast and Natalya didn't trust it-him-or herself. Emotionally she was battered and bruised with reliving the past and witnessing the murders of her father, mother and grandmother. She was too vulnerable and she wasn't about to give herself away on those terms. She needed distance from Vikirnoff to regain her perspective and strength.

Natalya forced her spine to stiffen and stepped out into the predawn open air. They were on the mountain, but nowhere near the peak and certainly nowhere near the entrance they'd used. The breeze ruffled her hair and touched her face as she drew the fresh air into her lungs. Mist hung heavy above them, but at the lower elevation, the air was free of any preternatural warnings. She glanced over her shoulder to Vikirnoff and her breath caught in her throat. Out in the open she could see the damage done by the vampires, the scores of cuts and claw marks, the streaks of acid burns, and the terrible chunk out of his neck that had been cauterized and was black with burned blood and flesh. His chest wound stained his shirt red and his skin was unbelievably pale.

«You look awful.»

«Let's get back to the inn before the sun rises,» he answered.

«Can you get us back there? The tiger could carry you, but we're a long way from home.»

Dawn would be breaking within minutes. Both of them were already exhausted and needed shelter as soon as possible. «I can get us to the inn. Come here.»

Natalya had put distance between them, pacing restlessly, her mind turning over and over, trying to remember the shadowy figure that was so elusive. The one that liked patterns and who must have tampered with her brain so she couldn't remember most of her childhood. Xavier.

A thought came unbidden. Had the dark mage disguised himself as a hunter and murdered her brother? Again her gaze flicked to Vikirnoff. She had walked in his mind– saw the darkness crouching close, the bleak endless years of serving his people, saw, too, his joy in finding her. His puzzlement in who and what she was. Nothing like he thought. That hurt. Really hurt. And she didn't like that she'd allowed him into her mind and soul enough to hurt her.

Vikirnoff gathered her unresisting body into his arms and took to the air. He wanted to get them away from the mountain, away from the unknown creature that was using the mark on her ankle to track them. What is it? You are suddenly quiet and that is very unlike you.

She was so close to him, so close to his body. He was shielding them from eyes, not aggravating his injuries further by taking a different form. Heat poured off his body and into hers. His chest was hard and his thighs gripped her tightly. She became aware of her own body softening and fitting even closer to his. Desire shot through her, unexpected and piercing and totally out of place. She was being drawn, in spite of herself, into his world and she was terribly confused.

He whispered something in his language, something low and sexy, breathing it against her throat. She was vulnerable to his voice, to his accent, to the feel of his mouth moving against her skin.

What is it? Tell me?

Natalya shifted just a little to circle his neck with her arms, to weave her fingers into his hair while she told him the truth.

I looked into your mind, Vikirnoff. All this lifemate stuff you keep preaching is a bunch of crap. Part of her, some treacherous, lonely, feminine part of her desperately wanted it to be true. You want June Cleaver. Or Donna Reed. That's who you want. Some little yes woman with her apron on cooking you meals and saying «Yes, dear.» Instead you're stuck with… She pulled her head back to look into his eyes. She knew she was showing him she was hurt. It didn't matter right then. She needed to belong somewhere. If only for a moment. He wanted a lifemate, but he didn't want her. She kept her gaze locked with his. You're stuck with Xena, warrior woman, who you don't want, can't conceive of and don't understand.

She felt his confusion. Puzzlement. His eyes changed color, deepened, darkened with such intense emotion he robbed her of breath. I do not know these women, Natalya. I do not hear jealousy as much as hurt and it is unacceptable to me that I would cause you sorrow. I do not desire them nor would I ever. I prefer not to eat food so I do not expect nor want cooked meals. And I have no other lifemate, only you. I have never met this Xena you speak of.

Part of her wanted to laugh and the other half wanted to cry. I'm Xena warrior woman, you dope. You don't know anything, do you? She rested her forehead against his. This lifemate thing wasn't your choice any more than it was mine. You didn't want me. I want to be wanted for who I am.

There was such sadness in her voice, in her mind, it echoed through Vikirnoff's heart. How can you think I do not want you? You are a miracle to me.

Natalya turned her head away. She'd been in his mind and she knew his thoughts. He wanted a submissive woman who would hang on his every word, not someone with a smart mouth and an attitude. For one moment she thought about trying to change, living to be what he wanted, but she could never mold her personality or drive the tigress out of her. She was passionate and fiery and entirely too impulsive. She didn't wait for someone to lead her, she took her own path and she couldn't imagine being any different.

She watched the ground below them, inexplicably sad, the vivid shades of green, the riot of colors from the meadows of flowers and the stacks of hay dotting the rolling hills, all blurring together until she blinked away the tears swimming in her eyes. There were people down there, people with lives far shorter than her life, but so happy. People with families and children and someone to talk to. She had Vikirnoff. She knew he wasn't going to leave her, he believed he was tied to her for eternity, but he didn't want Natalya Shonski, with the blood of the dark mage running in her veins and a tigress crouching deep within her soul. He didn't want the woman who fought vampires and watched really bad movies on late night television.

Vikirnoff pressed his body tightly against hers so that she could feel what she did to him, the tight, painful ache that never seemed to entirely disappear, not even in the midst of danger. How could she think he didn't want her? There was no other woman for him, there could be no other woman. I have much to learn about women, Natalya, it is true, but do not doubt that I want you. His hands shifted on her body, a subtle difference, but she felt it all the way to her toes.

She wanted to smack him one. It just welled up, a tight hot ball of temper that raced through her bloodstream and came spilling out in a low warning growl that vibrated through both of them.

There was a small silence. His body rippled, muscles flexing and his knee pushed between her legs, forcing her into contact with his hard thick erection. Did you just warn me off?

If there was a suspicion of laughter in his voice, she couldn't catch it, but she felt it, as if the idea was amusing to him. His tone was pitched so low she shivered. It had gone from soft to black velvet, dark and mesmerizing and oh-so-confident. He knew she was drawn to him, that her body ached for his. He was in her mind and he could glimpse her fantasies. As much as she tried to keep sexual thoughts out of her head, they persisted, crowding in when she least expected it and the tigress in her reacted, rising with heat and need and hunger. Yes, I did. There was a challenge in her voice. What could he do, after all? She was safe and she knew it.

Because you think you are safe.

She tilted her chin. I know that I am. She let her gaze move insolently over his body. You aren't exactly in shape to win wars. Was she challenging him? Deliberately provoking him? She wanted to feel his mouth crushing hers again, his hands on her body. She wanted to belong, just once, to lose herself in another person when her whole world had come crashing down.

You should never underestimate your lifemate.

Her feet touched the balcony just outside of her room at the inn, but he didn't release her. His arms held her close and his knee was still wedged between her thighs. Natalya found herself caged between his body and the wall. His eyes glittered dangerously, and she recognized the predator. She felt the rash of heat spreading fast, the quickening of her pulse in answer to his sudden aggression. He'd been so gentle with her, she'd almost forgotten how dangerous he could be. He had the same animal instincts, the same possessive nature, the drive to be dominant.

Her heart pounded and her body pulsed with sudden hunger. He could drive away every demon she had, replace it with pleasure. There was no give in Vikirnoff and by challenging him, she brought out his every predatory instinct. She wanted to be mindless, to forget everything, only to feel.

Vikirnoff framed her face with his hands, the pads of his thumbs sliding over her soft skin. He studied her upturned face, the tears so close, the weariness. A small sigh escaped and his features softened. «You have gone through trauma witnessing the events of the past. In effect, you lived those events. There is sorrow and rage in you and your emotions are all mixed together so you cannot separate one from the other. I will accept your challenge another day, when you are not so confused and I know that any decision made is real and not because you are vulnerable. I took away your choice when I bound us together, I will not do so twice.»

Natalya stared up at him shocked that she was so close to tears. She had never felt so raw in her life. He pulled her into his arms, enfolded her against him, his palms at the back of her head, this time without even a small hint of aggression. There was comfort in his strength as he stroked caresses down her hair.

«I am sorry about your parents, Natalya. It is a terrible thing to have family betray us. There were times I thought hunters needed the loss of emotion in order to hunt friends and family who became the undead.»

Vikirnoff hadn't needed to share the deaths of her parents with her, but he had chosen to do so. He had stayed in her mind through it all, reliving those dark moments with her, sharing the emotional outrage and grief right along with her. He had fought beside her, healed her, teased her and shared his mind when she needed an anchor. Now, grievously wounded, his eyes and skin burning in the morning light, he still offered her comfort.

She pressed her lips to his chest and straightened her spine. «We need to get inside where you can lie down.» She felt his hesitation and a dark dread began to take hold of her. She looked up at him. «What is it, Vikirnoff?»

«My injuries are very severe, Natalya. You still have to access the scenes from the past and complete your task, whatever that task may be. The prince and Falcon are both wounded. I need to be at full strength with a master vampire in the area. I have no choice but to go to ground this rising to heal.» His voice was grim.

There was a small silence. Her fingers curled tighter in his hair. She couldn't breathe, couldn't find enough air to drag into her lungs. The thought of being separated from him was terrifying. Her emotions swirled up violent and chaotic and totally without sense, so unexpected she couldn't hide it from him. «Why can't you stay here? I can watch over you while you sleep. You know I will.» Was that really Natalya Shonski? Pleading with a man to stay with her? Not just any man, but a hunter who had bound her to him by reciting an ancient spell? It didn't bear thinking about.

A part of her wanted to take back the plea, to say something flip and make them both laugh, but the dread was too close and too overwhelming. He was going to leave her and she was going to be alone again.

«Only Mother Earth can heal these wounds, Natalya,» he said, regret in his voice.

«Well, let's not forget good old Mother Earth also gives the Troll King a nice little hideaway. What if he decides to come burrowing up under the ground to your resting place and I'm not there to save your butt again?» Her nails dug into his arm. She was pathetic, trying to hold him to her.

«I do not want to leave you, ainaak enyem, but you cannot yet come with me and sleep our rejuvenating sleep.»

«How can I be forever yours if the Troll King is going to drag you into his lair while you're sleeping?» She would not beg him to stay. She wouldn't. «I'll go with you and just sit on top of your resting place.»

Vikirnoff shook his head. «You cannot and you know it. I do not want to leave you to face the separation of lifemates, but I have no other choice.» One hand slid to the nape of her neck, his thumb brushing over her chin in a small caress as he bent his head even closer.

«I am capable of looking out for myself,» Natalya reminded him, squaring her shoulders. His mouth was so close to hers. A temptation. She knew he wanted her. That his body was full and aching. It was in every beat of his heart. It was in the hardness of his muscles and fullness of his groin. Most of all, in his eyes, diamond hard, glittering with such intensity as he stared down into her face. The erotic images she'd glimpsed in his mind took her breath away. He was no shy lover, but everything the tigress in her craved-needed-dreamt of and fantasized about. It wouldn't be difficult to change his mind, to keep him with her. The thought was there, unbidden, but strong in her mind. She didn't want him to leave her.

Vikirnoff lowered his head to kiss her. A small taste to get him through the separation, a mere brush of his lips against hers, but his will melted away as unexpected fire raged in his veins and his heavy erection pressed painfully against the material of his jeans. He heard a strange roaring in his head and every injury his body had suffered, every pinpoint of pain came together at the point of his groin. He needed. He hungered. He couldn't think anymore, only feel, pleasure and pain mixed together until he couldn't tell them apart. Until he knew this woman in his arms had to belong to him, did belong to him in spite of her denials. Not anyone else, only Natalya.

His mouth crushed hers, rough and demanding, teeth tugging on her lower lip, tongue sliding on the seam to thrust deep with his own claim. She realized he didn't want the separation any more than she did. He was more than willing to succumb to seduction. Wounded, in pain, it didn't matter, he would give everything up to claim her body, to be a part of her. Hunger seemed insatiable, hers, his, she couldn't even tell the difference, only that her fingers fisted in his hair and her head tilted back to give him a better angle while her mouth fed at his.

He dragged her closer and her arm knocked against his neck. He tensed, his body shuddering, breaking out immediately in a blood-beaded sweat. Natalya pushed away from him, shrinking back against the wall, pressing the back of her hand to her swollen lips. «This is crazy. You're making me crazy. Go away, right now. The sun is climbing, your

eyes are burning, the next thing I know your skin will burst into flames.»

A reluctant smile tugged at Vikirnoff's mouth. It felt like flames were already dancing over his skin, but she was right. He was weak, needed blood and healing soil. It was only the fact that he was an ancient, well experienced with grave injuries that allowed him to stay on his feet. His strength couldn't last forever and she would have need of him in coming battles.

«Go, Vikirnoff, I mean it.»

«I will see you safe first. Remove the safeguards and enter your room.»

She couldn't think straight, her blood so hot and her body tight and uncomfortable, begging for release. She took a breath and forced her scattered mind to work again. If she concentrated on the safeguards and not on the fact that he was going away, she would be all right again.

The room was just as they'd left it. She flung her pack into a corner and sat down in the small chair just in front of the television set. She'd paid extra for the television set and it was covered with the same colorful tapestries as the walls and bed, so much so that she could barely see the screen. «I'll be fine. You can see no one is in here or has been here.»

«It will not be easy. Being separated from a lifemate is extremely difficult. I, of course, have not experienced it, but am told grief is overwhelming because our minds need to touch. I will be asleep and you will not have access to me.»

«Don't flatter yourself, Vik.» She crossed her arms over her churning stomach and managed a smile. «I've been without you for a century or two, I think I can manage.»

«The doubt will creep in, Natalya. You will think I am dead. Emotionally you have already been through a storm. It will be difficult not to give into wild grief.»

Her eyebrow shot up. «Grief? Not just grief but wild grief? I think I'll manage just fine. The sun is climbing and you're wasting time. Just go now before…» Her voice trailed off. She wanted him to go.

«Do not try to access the past by touching the ceremonial knife, Natalya,» Vikirnoff cautioned.

«I do have a perfectly good mind and I've been able to use it all this time by my little old self,» she answered. «You're stalling.»

«Give me your word.»

She was beginning to feel desperate. «I give you my word, but you tell me the first line again.»

His eyebrow shot up. «The first line?»

«Of the binding spell. I want you to say it again in your language.» Her chin shot up. «You aren't the only linguist. I can speak several languages and I'm very good at figuring things out.»

«So you are still determined to undo what I wrought.»

«Yes.» She didn't know how true that was anymore, but damn him to hell, he was leaving her and she was already acting out of character, a whiny baby ready to cry for him. She'd tried to seduce him into staying and she'd pleaded with him. She had no shame and that just wasn't okay with her.

His eyes went diamond hard again. «Te avio palafertiilam.»

«That one isn't so difficult. When languages regress words are often dropped. There would be no 'are'. Literally it would be, «you wedded wife-my».» She looked at him triumphantly. «You literally married me, bonded with me, tied us together in the way of your people.»

«That is so.»

«I'm ready for the next line, unless you're afraid I can undo it,» she challenged.

He suddenly leaned forward, one hand on cither side of her head, effectively caging her in. «It would not matter to me. You are my lifemate, ainaak enyem, forever mine, and that is all there is to it. I do not give up what is mine. If trying to find a way to undo the ritual words occupies your mind and allows you to get through the hours of these next few risings without me, please feel free to work to your heart's content.» He kissed her. Hard. Deep. A fierce claim meant to shake her up, to brand her his, and it did.

Natalya couldn't stop her response, opening her mouth to him, feeding on him, devouring him with the same edgy hunger. Vikirnoff broke the kiss and lifted his head, his gaze holding hers captive. «You are mine. Your body doesn't lie, Natalya.»

«Oh, go away.» She pushed at him. «I belong to myself. I don't care what you say…» Her voice trailed off as her gaze lifted to his. «Next few risings? What does that mean? You won't come back tonight?» Fear was the first emotion followed closely by anger. She shoved at him again. «You did this thing to me. You made me dependent on you, but I refuse, absolutely refuse, to waste one moment of my time grieving when you're walking out on me. You shouldn't have tied us together if you were going to do this. Get the hell out of here, Vikirnoff, and don't you worry. I'm not going to look back. Not at all.» Was she prodding him again? Challenging him? She couldn't think straight with her mind in such chaos.

«I can take you with me, Natalya. We have exchanged blood on two occasions. It would be my pleasure to do so again.» There was seduction in his voice. A threat. A warning.

She studied his face. He was riding the edge of his control. There was too much feeling, too many emotions crowding in and they were feeding each other, back and forth. Natalya took a deep breath and drew back from the edge of the precipice she had nearly rushed over. «I'm sorry, Vikirnoff. I'm very shaken. Thank you for all you've done for me. I'm not acting like it, but I really appreciate it.»

He pressed his lips to her forehead. «Entolam kuulua, avio palafertiilam,» he whispered. «Good luck, kislany,» he added deliberately with a small grin.

She feigned outrage. «I know you didn't just call me a little girl.» There was a lump in her throat, but she forced her gaze to meet his. She could watch him go and never look back if she had to. She was no little girl, but a grown woman with a mind and heart and will of her own. «Go ahead and mock me. You won't be smirking when I find the spell to unbind us.»

«Weave your strongest safeguards, Natalya. No matter what, I will come back. I want you to remember that. I will come back to you.»

He straightened and she caught the slight wince. There was fresh blood leaking onto his shirt. Ashamed that she was holding him there, Natalya waved him away. «Go. I'm going to sleep for two days. That should give you plenty of time to heal, Superman.» It sounded impossible, but small cuts on her own body could heal nearly instantly and Vikirnoff was full Carpathian.

Vikirnoff pulled open the balcony door. The early morning sun was climbing fast. Light spilled over him and into the room. «Do not forget the safeguards, Natalya.»

«I won't.»

He took a step into the burning sun, hesitated and turned back. He hated leaving her. It hurt. A bone-wrenching, gut-churning pain that persisted in spite of the fact that he knew he would find a way to make her safe. She wasn't the only one to deal with separation. He had been alone too many centuries and the idea of being apart from her, unable to protect her, or hold her when she was so upset, bothered him more than he cared to admit. She had crawled under his skin and was entwined around his heart in spite of the fact that she was bold and flip and knew little of respect.

He still didn't know if he approved of her. She didn't act anything like the woman he had envisioned for himself or at all for that matter. When he'd thought about women, they were all gentle and peaceful and sweet. He turned back to her. She looked small and vulnerable, nothing like the little tigress out on the battlefield. Her knees were drawn up and she rested her chin on them, arms drawn tightly around her legs. She looked utterly alone. His heart stuttered. Swearing, he turned back to her, closing the doors firmly. «We are going to need the heavy tapestry.»

«What are you doing?» She kept her gaze fixed on his face. She could look at his face forever. There were lines that shouldn't have been there, but it was a strong face, beautifully

male, sculpted with clean, firm edges. Her heart was doing crazy little somersaults at his words.

«Staying. I am staying.»

Natalya took a deep breath, let it out and crossed the distance between them, taking his hand. «No, you're not. It's enough that you want to stay for me.»

«Not for you, Natalya,» he said. «For me.»

«Where will you be? Tell me where. Show me where and I won't worry.»

His palm cupped the back of her head, brought her to him for a long, searing kiss. Her mouth scorched his, every bit as hungry, her body melting into his, fitting to his form, so that he slid his hands down her back to her bottom and lifted, pressing her pulsing core tight against his heavy erection. He felt desperate, not wanting to let her go. They were both too raw with the emotions they'd relived through the past, with the newness of feeling emotion. He didn't just want to bury his body deep inside hers and stay there, he wanted to hold her forever.

Just stay merged. Inhale her, share her skin as well as her body. It was a fierce, intense desire that shook him to the core of his being.

She loved his mouth, his taste, his smell, everything about him, especially the way he kissed her, as if he could devour her and it still wouldn't be enough. She could have kissed him forever, but the sun was climbing and he was feeling it. In a short time it would be too late, they would have no choices left to them. Maybe that was what he was banking on, but Natalya wasn't willing to allow him to sacrifice his strength and energy. She pulled away from him.

«Go. Show me where you plan to rest and go. It's best for both of us and you know it is. I'll double my safeguards and wait for you.» She knew it was necessary to reassure him and she looked him in the eye, opened her mind to him so he could see she meant it.

He showed the cave with mineral rich soil that he remembered from his childhood. It had been a favorite place, although quite remote. Sharing the coordinates was easy enough with their mind merge. He caught her face in his hands, leaned his head onto hers. «Do not let anything happen to you.»

«You just look out for yourself and remember the Troll King. He's freaky. I'll be really, really mad at you if you get one more scratch on you.» She stroked his cheek. Her hand was trembling so she put it behind her back. «Please go, Vikirnoff. For me, take off now.» Because if he didn't, she was going to cry and then he'd stay and she'd feel guilty and angry with herself. «Please. For me.»

Vikirnoff turned abruptly and launched himself into the air, shifting into the form of a bird, uncaring that it ripped his wounds and droplets of blood dripped from the sky.

Mikhail. I have need of you. He sent the call. Imperative. Demanding.

I am here.

I go to ground to heal.

I felt the wounds. I will send aid to your lifemate. The brother and sister of Traian's lifemate are here. I will send them and they will make certain she survives the separation. Let her know to expect them.

Vikirnoff sent Natalya the information. Immediately he received the impression of a snarl. I do not need a baby-sitter.

Nevertheless. Vikirnoff broke the connection between them, unwilling to argue with her. It served no purpose when he intended to send her help regardless of her posturing. He didn't want her to be alone. Natalya had the mistaken idea that the ritual words were a binding spell. Both Carpathians and the wizards, those schooled in the power of the elements, were used to using what others deemed magick, but the ritual binding words were so much more elemental. Imprinted on a male Carpathian before birth, the binding ritual ensured the continuation of their species.

He found himself smiling, deep within the form of the bird. If it helped her get through their hours of separation to work on undoing the binding between them, then he would put aside his hurt feelings and be happy there was something to aid her.

Mikhail, there are many vampires in this area. I believe they seek to destroy you. You must be very careful.

We have been under siege for some time. Mikhail answered. Traian was attacked by a master vampire. He did not recognize him, but it was without doubt an ancient and well versed in all the powers. Traian had no choice but to leave us. The vampire drank his blood and connected them. Traian feared he could be used to spy against his own people. He has gone with his lifemate to meet the rest of her family.

Who is left to protect you? Vikirnoff stifled the alarm shooting through him. Maxim had seemed utterly confident in his ability to destroy the prince of the Carpathians. He had said Mikhail was without protection. Where was everyone? Their people were few and scattered over a wide range, but surely the prince was well guarded.

Falcon lives close and Manolito has returned from South America. You are here as well. In any case, I am capable of protecting myself.

Vikirnoff was silent, mulling it over as he winged his way toward the old cave. I think there is a well-orchestrated plot against you. How is it all of the hunters are gone?

My brother and Gregori have been in the States. Byron is in Italy and I believe Tienn and Eric are traveling with their lifemates. Gregori and Jacques are on their way back, but

they travel slowly as Shea is pregnant. Gabriel is not too far. Should there be need, they will come with all speed.

Vikirnoff didn't like it. There was need. Great need right now. Forgive me, but perhaps you are being too complacent. I was in the States with Rafael and we encountered Maxim's brother. It took both of us to kill him and Rafael nearly died doing so. They have grown powerful, Mikhail, and they are developing strange weapons against us. The vampires are banding together and they mean to assassinate you. Maxim told me it was their goal. If they have sufficient ranks here, we may be in trouble. You said Falcon was wounded. You are wounded as am I. We do not know the full extent of the army they have in place against us. You are used to battling fledgling vampires and those of lesser skills. You have never faced an ancient of great power. With some of our most experienced hunters such as Traian or Falcon injured, perhaps we need to reassess what is going on.

Vikirnoff was never much of a talker. He preferred action and it hadn't been his intention to get into a confrontation with his prince before actually meeting him, but twice now they had disagreed on a course of action. The prince was necessary to sustain their species. It was possible his daughter, Savannah, carried the necessary gene to ensure the survival of their entire species, but Vikirnoff wasn't willing to gamble with the prince's life to find out.

Heavy vines and a pile of rocks covered the entrance to the cave he sought. The area looked as if it hadn't been disturbed for several hundred years. The opening was very slender, hidden behind mere cracks in the boulder. Vikirnoff and his brother, Nicolae, had discovered the entrance as children. Magma, deep below the surface, heated the narrow tunnel and the caverns and springs. The double chambers were rich in minerals and the brothers had often carried the soil home to aid the healers.

Thank you for this information, Vikirnoff. I will take it under consideration. Do not worry about your lifemate. My friends will protect her.

Vikirnoff didn't snort his derision. It would have been rude when talking to royalty, but in truth, no one was going to protect his lifemate. If there was any protecting going on, Natalya would be the one doing it, he didn't care how distraught she might be over the separation. On that thought, came pride. Respect. Natalya might not be the woman he'd dreamt of, or fantasized about, but she was extraordinary and reliable. Utterly, absolutely reliable.

Deep within a chamber he opened the healing earth. His body was tired and he desperately needed to feed, but he had waited too long and the sun had climbed too high. Floating down into the warmth of the rich soil, he allowed the soothing properties to wash over him. Are you all right? He reached for her because he had to touch her. To know that she was alive and well.

Yes. What about you? You sound exhausted. Why haven't you gone to ground?

I was having a discussion with the prince.

There was a small silence. You were ordering him around, weren't you?

Why would you think that?

I just know you. Diplomacy and tact aren't exactly your strong suits.

The dirt began to fill in around and over him as he laughed softly, the sound echoing through her mind.

Chapter 11

«I love the way you laugh, Razvan, but it isn't going to get you the spell. You were supposed to study.»

«I did study.» Razvan grinned at her, his hair falling into his eyes the way it always did.

Natalya knew he believed all the girls thought he looked intriguing that way. She thought he looked like he needed a haircut, but she refrained from saying so.

«Just not spells. You know I think they're archaic. What's the point? No one believes in magick and I don't have the affinity for it that you do. Besides, you always tell me in the end, so stop stalling.»

Natalya put her hands on her hips. Of course she was going to tell him. She always did, but she wasn't going to give it up that easy. «What do you have for me in return?»

«You're supposed to give it to me because you adore me,» her twin pointed out.

«Adoration went out the window a long time ago when I realized I had to do all the studying. Safeguards are important, Razvan. What happens if I'm not around and you need to be safe?»

«I can always reach you, Natalya.» He hugged her to him. «It's never made sense for both of us to study the same thing. We share information.»

«But you aren't retaining the spells,» Natalya argued, the smile fading from her face. «That worries me, Razvan. What happens if you need safeguards and you can't reach me? You protect me all the time, the only real thing I have to give you in return is knowledge and you don't take it seriously.»

«Believe me, Natalya, I take it very seriously,» Razvan corrected. He ruffled her hair

affectionately. «You're so much smarter than I am, and maybe I take advantage of that by not studying as hard as I should, but never think I'm not aware of how much you help me. I'm proud of you.»

«Did he hurt you this time or did the safeguards hold against him?» Natalya, lowered her voice and looked around them. A shadow fell between them. Razvan's arm slipped from her shoulders and all at once he was a good distance away from her. He seemed to fade and Natalya reached out a hand to him, but she couldn't touch him and she dropped her arm.

«He was very angry. I think you're stronger than he is. If you keep working and learning things like you are, he can't touch us. Maybe his power is diminished, I don't know, but it worries me that you may be in danger. He doesn't like that he can't control you. If he can't hurt me, he can't get to you.»

For a moment Natalya's hair and skin banded with stripes and her eyes glowed a stormy opaque. «He was able to get through the safeguards and he hurt you, didn't he? To punish me because I won't come to him when he insists.»

«Show me the new one. Show me what you're using now.»

Razvan was fading from her and Natalya couldn't stop him. Grief intruded. Not for her brother but for Vikirnoff. Her need to touch Vikirnoff's mind, just to know he was alive, was safe. She ached for him, her mind reaching… reaching… but he wasn't there-only a dark pitiless void she seemed to be tumbling into.

«Natalya! The safeguards.» There was desperation in Razvan's voice.

«I told you to take them.» She was so distracted. She needed Vikirnoff. Where was he? Why wasn't he answering her call? Could he be dead?

«No! I'm dead. The hunters killed me and you haven't made me safe. Why won't you make me safe, Natalya? I need the safeguard…»

Natalya woke with a start. Her head was pounding and she looked around trying to remember where she was and what she was doing. Past and present always seemed to come together with a vengeance in her dreams. It was disorienting. She sat in the middle of the floor, knees drawn up, rocking back and forth, with tears streaming down her face. The television was on, but she had no idea what she'd been watching. She didn't remember summoning a dream of her childhood, but she must have just before she'd succumbed to exhaustion. Swearing under her breath, annoyed by her lack of control, she forced herself to look around the room. She should have remained alert, not given in to sleep when enemies surrounded her.

Rubbing her ankle, Natalya looked at the heavy drapes drawn to block out the light. Her

eyes and skin still burned, so she was certain the sun hadn't set yet. She tried to focus on the television, but she couldn't seem to think straight. She loved really old movies with bad special effects and she'd found a channel that played them, but she couldn't seem to keep her mind from straying to Vikirnoff. And that was just plain making her angry.

She gave it up with a little sigh, switching off the set and kicking at the rumpled bed. There had been no maid service in the room and it was still a mess from when Vikirnoff was there. The pillow held his scent and she buried her nose against its softness, inhaling deeply before hugging it to her. «Damn you, Vikirnoff Von Shrieder.» She felt better condemning him out loud.

Usually dreams of her childhood with Razvan soothed her, but grief was inches from her, clawing at her, threatening to choke her. Not grief for her twin brother, long gone from her, but grief for a man she'd barely met. But she knew him. She'd been in his mind and she knew what kind of man he was. Her soul had touched his. Where was he when she needed him so desperately?

«I'll be damned if your stupid binding spell gets the better of me.» He was alive. She knew he was alive. It didn't matter that she had reached out to touch his mind a hundred times over the last few hours and found a dark void, she would not give in to such fantasy. He was merely sleeping the rejuvenating sleep of his kind. She knew what it was, she'd actually studied the healing properties of the various soils in one of her many frenzied periods of gathering information to fill the long, empty hours of her life.

«Maybe I'll have to go to your cave and sit there waiting for you to wake up while I work on the spell to unbind us. Because I don't like this feeling.» Emptiness was a hole eating her alive. «Entolam kuulua, avio palafertiilam. I can figure this out. It isn't that difficult.» She pressed her hands into her churning stomach.

A soft rap on the door startled her. Natalya spun around, looking wildly for her weapons. They were always at her fingertips. Was she so far gone that she'd let her guard down? Vampires might not be able to attack during daylight hours, but they were masters of puppets, ghouls created to do their bidding. And there was always Brent Barstow skulking around. She wasn't in the least bit fooled by his casual attitude. The man was up to no good and that put him in league with the vampires as far as she was concerned.