Dark Slayer

She changed her words, singing tribute to a warrior, strong and pure and all alone in a world of madness. Honor drove him, love of his sister, of his people, a code that he refused to break no matter what was done to him. She sang the song of tribute to a warrior, love pouring into every note. The more she moved through Razvan's memories and saw his life, the way he struggled to maintain honor in the madness surrounding him, the way he barely clung to sanity when he faced what Xavier had forced his body to do, the killings, impregnating women, feeding from his own children, stabbing his aunt. Tears choked her, and love flowed from her heart to his, filling his until there was no other emotion but love. The splinter fled, unable to stand the genuine, untainted emotion that Xavier could never feel. Gregori surrounded the fragment with his strength and herded it to join the others in darkness.

Ivory knew saving Razvan's soul was her task alone. She was his other half. His soul was hers as well. An intruder had invaded and dared to dwell, to take what was rightfully hers. Razvan had not claimed her, had not joined their souls together, but each time they were near, she felt the pull between them, strong and intense. She changed her song again, this time singing from her soul to his, calling to her true lifemate to accept her, to join with her, to accept her merging. Her light would be too much for someone as evil as Xavier.

Light to dark, dark to light.

My soul to yours together we fight.

Half of a whole, together one.

Mend and heal for two now are one.

Blood, body, bone mended, together our light it shone.

Light burst through Razvan's body, bright and pure, the light of an innocent soul-that of his lifemate. Though he had not claimed her, their souls, two halves of the same whole, shimmered with dazzling brilliance, side by side, only a thin gap between them. Her half seemed to illuminate his as she moved her soul over his, and then merged, letting her light go into his darkness. The fragment ran before the light, smoldering with smoke around the edges as if burned, the cells shrinking away so that Gregori could herd it to join the others.

Razvan felt complete. Whole. The sensation of their merged souls shook him. He felt tiny threads weaving them back together as the two halves recognized one another and reached for what had been lost. He knew her intimately, every struggle, every part of her determination and her courage, all that she was, what she was. He held her safe and she held him safe. For the first time since he was a young boy he felt he could breathe freely.

Gregori began to chant. The words were in the ancient language, a healer's greatest command, greatest gift, to force out the darkness of evil from Razvan. His voice was powerful, vibrating through both Razvan and Ivory, a tool of immense strength.

Kuuluam han ku kod es han ku Karpatiiak altenak-I take that which is dark and banned.

Saam te Szavear-I name you Xavier.

It entolam kuulua ainadet-Your body I now claim and command.

Ottiam sa eset veriet es luwet-I see the sinew, blood and bone.

Muoniam ainadet belso es kinn-From its core I hold and hone.

Muoniam kodaltepoarak, it poarak juttam-I command these abominations, these fragments left I now bind.

Totellosz sarnaakam, ka?asz kontalik, kaik ka? asz-Do my bidding, go from this warrior, leave nothing behind.

The splinters did their best to struggle against his commands, but they were too fearful of the light. Each time his energy touched on them, they smoked and withered more.

Get back to your body, Ivory. They were both at risk as the slivers of Xavier's blackened and malevolent soul fled Razvan's body to seek another host.

Ivory and Gregori merged their spirits back in their bodies as Razvan rose over them, protecting them in that first disorienting moment. The ground rumbled ominously. Dirt spewed up like a geyser. The sky darkened overhead. For one moment they could hear the rustling of the leaves on the trees, and then a swelling noise like a wall of rushing water.

Within moments the clouds and a sliver of the moon were wiped out under the heavy migration of huge bats. The bats neared, showing dripping fangs, some landing on the ground in a circle around the group, using their wings to walk. Others flew at their faces, teeth gnashing together.

The earth opened up right beneath Razvan and a giant worm burst from beneath, jaws open, serrated teeth clamping around Razvan's ankle. For a heartbeat, the thirty-foot worm hovered, with Razvan locked in its teeth, and then it slid back beneath the ground, the dirt pouring in after it.

Ivory drew a wicked-looking, circular, crystal-centered weapon and held out her arms. «Now,» she called to her pack.

The wolves leapt into the air, diving for her back. Ivory was already plunging, straight down, hands in front of her face like a modern-day Olympic diver, changing form as she went, pushing through the dirt to follow the path of the large worm dragging Razvan deep.

Look to me. At me. I am with you.

No! Go back. He cannot have you.

Nor can he have you. Ivory blocked out everything happening on the surface. Gregori would fight his way clear of Xavier's mutations and get the prince free; he had to. She had one duty, and that was to her lifemate-keeping him out of the hands of the high mage.

I cannot shift and get away.

You have seen the worm, bred to travel through the earth. Once his teeth meet in the middle, he holds your form. She knew. She'd extracted that very venom to use with her own combination of chemicals to make the coating on her weapons to prevent vampires from shifting. He cannot have you. Do not struggle. Stay very still so it injects less poison. Keep your mind in mine. You have to trust me.

She felt him holding himself utterly still. It had to take a great deal of courage not to fight the worm dragging him deeper beneath the earth. It was easier for the worm to go through its tunnel, already carved through the layers of soil as it headed back to its master to deliver its prize. Razvan had to know where and to whom the worm was taking him, yet he ceased fighting.

Razvan had never been able to trust anyone once his father had died and his sister was lost to him. To give her that-to put his life, no, his soul in her hands-had to be nothing short of a rebirthing by fire because never before had he put his very soul into someone else's keeping.

I trust you.

It would take trust. Fighting a worm was extremely dangerous. Practically everything about the worm was venomous. The spikes that ran along his body to dig and propel himself forward and back through the tunnel, and the barb on the end of his lashing tail, all contained the same poison as the fangs and double rows of serrated teeth. The tail itself could break every bone in a warrior's body. The hide was tough and could slice through a hand or arm if brushed against.

Close your ears, Razvan. You cannot listen. The sound will be bothersome to you. It was the only way she could think to describe it, but she had to slow the worm down, disorient it. With the tunnel already dug, it could warp time with alarming speed. When it releases you, you will have only seconds to push the poison from your body so you can shift. You have to be ready. Seconds only. She had to trust that he would feel the urgency in her and obey.

Knife in one hand, arms outstretched toward Razvan, eyes locked with his, she began to chant.

I call to the element of air used for sound. Drum to the heartbeat of evil that digs through the ground. Pitch, harmonics, combine and align, Fight by attaching to warp evil's mind.

The notes she used were pitched to vibrate and disorient, triggering vertigo and time loss in the worm. The earth responded to the discordant notes of her command. The cadence of her song continued, but Ivory's tones altered, changing the vibrations of the earth so that they became in tune with the surrounding soil, drawing it inward so that it began to collapse and fill the tube. The wave of sound moved through the earth. The ground shuddered, trembled. Dirt rained in all around them.

Keep looking at me. Ivory kept moving toward Razvan, propelling herself down the long, wide hole. Remember, push the poison out fast when the worm releases you.

She had shifted form and was nothing but molecules traveling at a high speed but still not fast enough to catch up.

Keep your arms outstretched above your head, toward me, toward the surface.

More soil tumbled into the tube. A clap like thunder roared down the tube behind the worm and the creature hesitated. It was enough for Ivory to close the gap between them, her hands materializing. She shoved the weapon into Razvan's right hand and caught his left wrist. At once she began to sing again, this time the notes resounding through the earth. The sound was painful, crashing through their bodies and minds, turning their insides to jelly.

The worm completely stopped moving, opening its mouth wide in a scream that reverberated through the ground, releasing Razvan at the same time.

Now! Now! Shift when you can, holding the weapon. Follow me in. Fearlessly, Ivory became vapor only, streaming inside the giant opening of the worm's mouth.

Razvan pushed the poison from his body, ignoring the wrenching pain, closing off his mind to anything but following her. He felt the disc in his hand vibrating as he shifted and knew he still held it, which meant it was no mere illusion, but was constructed of natural earth and gems. He followed her without hesitation, past the double rows of serrated teeth, past the dripping fangs and pockets of thick amber venom, down the very throat of the beast.

Touch nothing inside; not the walls, nothing. These worms have two vulnerable spots, and both of them are deep inside Even going for their eyes does nothing. Look for scar tissue inside the throat-you will know it when you see it. Everything else is coated. The spot is where Xavier attaches himself to give instructions. The second place is much deeper and much more perilous to find.

Razvan didn't want to know how she'd discovered this information, but there was no doubt in his mind it had been hard-won through first-hand experience. She was too confident in her assessment, and her voice was tight with tension.

He scanned the walls of the worm's throat. Bumps and ridges in dark purple and black covered the membranes above and all around them. The worm pitched and bucked, fighting to get out of the collapsing tunnel, making it doubly difficult to avoid accidentally skimming along the wall. Venom dripped from the ceiling, raining down around them. As vapor, it was easier to avoid the drops.

There! Above and to your right, on the roof of his throat. Razvan spotted the small circle and recognized the stamp of Xavier. Welts and splotches made tiny rings and whorls, damaged for all time after contact with the mage.

We will only have seconds to get out again. The disc is iolite, a violet stone that enhances vision on the astral realm. Follow what I do and then move fast out of here.

Razvan realized there was a thin thread of blue-violet light emanating from the disc. Ivory took her normal form, hovering in the center of the worm's throat, dodging the strings of poisonous saliva. Hairy fibers sprang into action, reaching like tentacles toward the heat source. Ivory grimly eluded them and, using deadly aim, struck hard and fast with the light, using it like a spear or a laser, penetrating into the worm's tough wall, anchoring deep. She let go of the disc and it followed, slamming hard into the ring of scars.

Razvan mimicked Ivory's actions, releasing first the light and then the disc within a heartbeat of hers. Light burst from the two discs and lit up the walls of the throat, bathing them in a violet wash. Sound came next, high-pitched, the notes threatening to shred all reason, so that Razvan hastily muted the sound.

Ivory was already streaming back toward the mouth of the worm. The huge, cavernous body thrashed back and forth, rolling and bucking harder than ever. Hurry. The urgency in her mind convinced him to double his speed as nothing else could. Behind them, the violet light spread like a cancer, staining the venomous throat bluish-purple. Steam rose.

Ivory hovered just behind the double rows of teeth. Be ready.

Razvan had no idea what he was ready for, but the worm seemed more unstable than ever as all around them smoky blue-violet vapor curled, pouring from the two discs. He heard Ivory mentally counting, concentrating hard. Deep in her mind, he felt the exact moment she began to burst forward.

The worm opened its mouth to cough. The throat contracted, muscles squeezing down behind them, closing the gap as they shot from inside the worm.

Move. Move. Ivory didn't slow down, but kept driving through the soil, back up toward the surface.

Razvan followed, amazed at her skills, at her knowledge of the enemy and at the fast, efficient and utterly calm way in which she went about destroying it.

When we surface, the bats will be attacking. Come up near the prince to add to his protection. All of Xavier's twisted abominations will be fighting to get to him.

Around him he could feel the unstable ground quivering, rolling, as the worm thrashed and fought, sending shock waves undulating deep beneath the earth. The ground sank all around them, falling in on itself.

Faster. Ivory hissed the command in his mind. Take the lead.

She might be one of the best warriors he'd ever encountered, and by far the most knowledgeable dealing with Xavier's army, but he was still a Carpathian male and her lifemate. She wasn't going to be protecting his back, not when he could be protecting hers.

Keep moving. We are close to the surface, he informed her. Whatever is up there is not as bad as the evil Xavier had inside of me. Watch yourself.

He will go for the prince, Ivory reiterated. The one sure way to destroy the Carpathian people is to destroy the prince.

Razvan burst through the surface, emerging into a night filled with the sound of battle. Thunder cracked and lightning streaked across the sky, slamming into earth as bolts hammered into the crushing crowds of bats swarming over the ground. It looked like a living sea, bats walking on their wings, baring teeth at anything in their path. Flesh eaters, he'd seen the mutations in the caves Xavier occupied, placed there to guard, to sound the alarm and to provide blood from the animals they killed and dragged to the lairs.

Ivory emerged from the ground, shrugging, arms outstretched. The wolves leapt from her back and into the midst of the bats, snapping necks as they grabbed and shook their prey, fighting their way through the mass to the circle defending the prince. Ivory followed them, drawing one of her many homemade weapons, tossing it to Razvan and pulling another.

Razvan discovered the strange gun fired light, not bullets. He had never participated like this in a battle, with blood spraying across the snow. But he didn't hesitate, staying in Ivory's mind. She was a warrior through and through, wading through the bats, kicking them aside, spraying the bright light fed by a diamond across a wide path, severing heads.

«Keep the spray level with their necks,» she advised, and then called out, «Gregori! We're coming in.»

One of the bats seized Razvan's calf and tried to tear open his leg. Blaez, the second largest wolf, caught the malicious creature in strong jaws and ripped it away from Razvan, tossing the bloody body into a group of bats that tore into it with a viciousness that reminded him of Xavier.

Gregori slammed bolts of lightning into the center of the bats, opening the way for them. Razvan followed Ivory through the sea of bats, staying close to protect her back, his gun spewing the blade of light behind them in a wide arc. When the wolves hesitated, preferring to stay to the outside, Ivory hissed a command.

You will get eaten alive. Come! She held out her arms and the wolves leapt over the mass of furry bodies and merged with her back.

Ivory continued to wade through the bats, running toward the small group, fighting to keep from being overpowered. The group refused to just dissolve and abandon Gary, their human friend. It would be nearly impossible to protect him from the air.

«Get the prince off the ground,» Ivory yelled above the din to Gregori. «The attack will come from under the ground. This is a diversion.»

Falcon jerked Gary off the ground, no questions asked, as Mikhail rose as well. The hordes of bats went crazy, flying at them with renewed frenzy.

«I lost sight of Xavier's fragments,» Gregori warned. «They're probably in the bats.»

Ivory thrust one of her light guns into Sara's hands. «You have to sever them right at the neck or they really go psycho on you.» She pulled a strange-looking object, much like a grenade, from a loop on her belt, readying herself.

«Have you seen these mutations before?» Gregori asked, continuing to use the thin whip of lightning to incinerate the bats.

«I study everything the mage does,» Ivory answered. «There is a portal close. I must find it and close it or they will continue replicating. It is in the ground, not in a cave.»

«You've seen these creatures before?» Mikhail asked.

Ivory nodded, her gaze scanning the ground. It was rippling beneath them, undulating, like a wave in the sea. «They get away from Xavier sometimes and they would be a huge threat this close to the village. They are major carnivores and attack in a group.» She gripped the disc in her hand tighter as she saw dirt bubble up from the ground.

Gregori and Falcon were in constant motion, slamming white-hot energy through the mass with strike after strike. Mikhail slammed his fist hard, punching through one flying at Gary's face. All of the Carpathians and Gary had numerous bite marks and scratches from the continual assault.

«Give me one of those weapons,» Razvan said. «You are not going alone.»

Ivory frowned, her eyes still scanning the ground. «Going inside their lair is worse than the worm. Stay here and help guard the prince.»

Now the ground bubbled ominously. Various sections sank several inches.

«Ivory.» He waited until she glanced up to read the determination on his face. Razvan was not a man to back down. «Give me a weapon.»

She tensed, seeing the ground shift in the sunken areas. One hand flicked to her waist and she tossed Razvan a duplicate of her grenade as she jumped, feet first, into the center of the spot where the sinking ground was the most active. Razvan followed her beneath the ground, shifting to vapor to go through the layers of dirt. The grenade shifted with his body, becoming nothing but molecules, telling him it was another of her homemade natural weapons. It had been oval-shaped and bumpy, not at all smooth.

A stench rose, a combination of fetid rotting meat, dead carcasses and sulfur. His stomach lurched, but he didn't hesitate to follow her deeper into the tube. Bats rose from beneath and he had to resist the urge to strike out at them as he dropped onto the rockier ledges where the colony dwelled. He kept his mind firmly in hers, following her exact movements. She was a warrior, well versed in the ways of Xavier, determined to defeat him and the mutations he set loose on the world. He had firmly joined her war, and what better way to learn than from the expert.

He couldn't help but admire her complete concentration and single-minded, no-nonsense purpose. There was no wasted talk, no wasted movements. Ivory was all business, flooding him with information as they dropped to the floor of the lair. The rock surrounding them was dotted with dark holes, the floor covered in bones, fur; old and new blood splattered the rocks and soaked the floor, pooling in thick puddles and hiding in crevices.

This is a slaughterhouse.

Once they escape Xavier's command, they start this behavior, swarming and reproducing, killing everything around them. They'll pick the bones from a horse clean in minutes.

I saw Xavier's first experiments. He fed them human and mage alike. Razvan tried not to remember the sounds of those dying in agony, but the hideous smells triggered the memories and his stomach lurched. Once he threw one into my chamber. I was chained to the wall and it began to devour me from the feet up. I could feel every tooth as it tore into my flesh. I thought if it ate me, I would cease to exist, but I could not stand the agony after a while.

He didn't know why he felt compelled to make the admission, and was ashamed the moment he did. It had been long ago and he'd pushed those memories to the back of his mind until the stink of death and decay brought them crowding back.

Long ago, I had wolves gnaw on me, on my leg bone. Fortunately, they helped bury me.

Her voice was so matter-of-fact, he almost didn't understand what she'd said. She kept talking as if she hadn't revealed anything of importance at all.

What we are going to do is change the composition of air using our homemade grenades. The fire down here will burn hotter than anything you've ever felt, so remember, you cannot draw this chemical into your lungs and you have to protect yourself from the intense heat, even in this form. You will want to panic and go toward the surface, but the fire will race upward and we must wait until the chemical disperses. When you materialize to activate the grenade, they will swarm on us. The feeling is utterly horrifying. You felt one. Imagine hundreds.

Let's do it. The stench was getting to him, and the idea of exposing himself to hundreds, maybe thousands of the demonic creatures would be terrifying if he let himself think about it.

We do it on three. Materialize, pull the pin and count, and then throw it into the center of their lair. You have to hang on for five seconds. It will be a lifetime, believe me. Immediately resume this form and stay out away from rocks, but keep away from the center. Do not breathe, whatever you do, and do not attempt to surface, no matter how hot you get.

Razvan positioned himself to face her, hoping to block her face and the front of her body from the oncoming attack.

One. Two. Three.

Razvan took his solid form. At once his boots sank into the decayed, rotting bodies and, even as he pulled the pin on the chemical grenade and began counting, his arm swinging back for the throw, the bats swarmed over them, hundreds of them, the weight nearly driving them to the floor, teeth sinking deep and tearing at their flesh.

He heard the wolves roar, teeth snapping in return, protecting Ivory's back. The five seconds seemed an eternity as the gas hissed into the air. The bats continuously issued a high-pitched shriek that reverberated through his skull, a call for more to join the frenzied feast. He felt the chunks of flesh being torn from his back and legs. He stepped closer to Ivory, shielding her with his body while her wolves protected her back.

They both lobbed the grenades at the same time and simultaneously shifted. The flash was deafening in the small confines of the rocky cavern, shaking the earth. The light was so bright, even without his body the intensity burned his eyes. The blast blew Razvan back and he had to hastily right himself to keep himself away from the walls.

In purging the lair of every occupant, they changed the composition of the air to gas, igniting it in a raging fire that rocketed up the walls. The rocks glowed orange-red, flames licking greedily inside every hole and tunnel. The extreme pressure hurt every molecule of his body. The noise was terrifying, the crack of the splitting rocks as great fiery chunks gave way, and the death screams of the bats as their furry bodies heated from the inside out and either burst or exploded. Some erupted into flames.

For a few minutes it was worse than any hell he could have ever imagined. Every instinct urged him to take Ivory and surface, but the fire was moving upward, ahead of them, purging every cranny and nook, every single hole and tunnel the creatures had constructed. It felt interminable, as if they were trapped in the center of a volcano. He fought the urge to take a breath while his body was still molecules.

Hovering protectively, he tried to surround her body with his to shield her from the worst of the heat, although the temperatures were so hot he doubted it mattered. The rock still glowed but the flames died down before Ivory began her rise to the surface.

Emerge as close to the others as possible. I will warn them and we will attack the creatures on the surface. It would not have done any good to kill them first without taking out the lair.

He had never admired someone so much in his life. She did what had to be done with no thought for her own safety. She was matter-of-fact about emerging into another storm of flesh-eating bats after her body had been torn up by the creatures. He couldn't feel the least reluctance in her, and something inside him opened and embraced his true destiny. He was meant for this woman. He was a match for her-her other half. He was born Dragonseeker, a warrior, not the evil monster Xavier had tried to shape.

Elation burst through him as he tore through the blackened ring of dirt, emerging into the midst of snapping teeth and fire raining from the sky. He had never felt so alive or free. He caught a bat in each hand and knocked their heads together, flinging them aside, and he was attacked from all sides, the sheer weight of bodies trying to knock him over as they did their best to eat him alive.

«Cover Gary. Cocoon yourselves in an airtight, heat-resistant bubble,» Ivory said, then flipped a grenade to Razvan.

There was something very satisfying in being her partner. She hadn't included the other hunters or the prince in her fight. He was her lifemate, her partner, and although he didn't have their experience, she trusted him far more than she did the others, and it was the first time since he had been apart from his sister that anyone had ever given him trust.

«Warn any coming to your aid to stay away. This is the only way I know to kill a colony.» She knew they had seen the plume of fire bursting from the ground and probably even felt the heat. «This will be like nothing ever felt.» Her gaze leapt to Gary in the midst of the melee. Gary was valiantly fighting. It was obvious he had been around the Carpathians, and even the wicked creatures did little to shake his faith in his friends.

«She is getting torn apart,» Razvan snapped. «Do as she says now.»

The sight of her with the bats slicing through her arms and legs was more painful than he expected. He fought his way to her side and faced her. «Pull the pin and count.»

«Cover them, Gregori,» Ivory reiterated. «No one breathe. You will have to do that for Gary. If you can, get any wildlife away from here.»

«Do it,» Mikhail commanded.

They pulled the pins and the gas hissed into the air. Razvan didn't look at the others, only at Ivory with her brave, calm face and the wolves fighting from her back. He didn't even feel the teeth slicing deep or see the bloody carnage the bats were leaving on the snow, he only saw and felt her. She gave him a half-smile, her eyes soft as they counted and lobbed the grenades into the center of the writhing mass and both dissolved.

He knew what to expect, but still, the explosion seemed worse now that it wasn't contained in a hole in the ground. A mushroom cloud of orange rocketed into the sky. The blast rocked both of them, the force blowing them back and away. The pressure raced through their bodies, feeling like great stones weighing on their chests.

There was a feel of power to shifting, an enormous rush to battle when one was in control of one's own body. Nothing dimmed that elation, not even the exploding trees or the masses of incinerated bats raining from the sky or the stench of foul flesh burning. For the first time in his life, he really felt as if he had done something that made a difference. Because of her-Ivory. He waited while the heat streamed around them, cooking everything in its path, his mind occupied with the woman who knew so much about Xavier.

Was it possible that she might be the key to ridding the world of such a monster? Was there actually a chance? The world around him was on fire, and yet for the first time in centuries, he felt hope. The roar of the flames and the snapping and crackling of the inferno mingled with the last gasping shrieks of the hideous creatures, and he could only hear her soft whisper in his head.

Life can have unexpected high moments.

A sharing. He recognized her willingness to share a small piece of who she was with him. Her love of battle. She loved the fight, the careful study of the enemy, the planning and preparation, the rush of adrenaline when her well-trained body and brain responded like a ballet dancer performing precise, complicated steps and emerging victorious. The feelings flowed from her into him, filling him with her, with her sense of purpose, with the realization that no other knew this complicated, talented woman the way she was letting him.

That realization humbled him, yet bolstered him at the same time. He had never felt as if he could measure up. He hadn't been strong enough to defeat Xavier, or even to get away or to save his child or his aunts. This woman, his lifemate, strong and enduring, offered him, at the very least, friendship.

You are right about those unexpected moments. It was definitely an unexpected high moment. While wind generated from the blaze roared around him, while heat blasted through his body and the world went up in flames, purging the last of the mutated bats, he felt at peace. He felt whole. And he was happy.

He felt her small, shared smile and held it to him, secreting it away in his heart-the heart she had given back to him.

When you go back to your natural form, I will be singing the revealing spell. The four splinters that were removed from you will need a host, and the bats are dead. He will have fled their bodies, Ivory cautioned. He will be looking for another host. Warn Gregori to watch the rest of them.

Of course. Vigilance was everything now. This was a chance to destroy a small part of Xavier. Even if it took one piece at a time to rid the world of him, it would be well worth it.

Razvan took his natural form and signaled to the others to do the same. «She is using the revealing spell. Watch for Xavier's dark spirit,» he warned them.

Ivory shimmered into her physical form, watchful, already singing the revealing chant, sending the notes scattering across the charred field and into the sky. It was still raining debris. Smoke and ash swirled together and drifted on the slight breeze. Snow drifted from the heavy clouds, mixing with the falling remains, nature already attempting to cover the signs of battle.

I call to me all that is good to aid me in my desperate plight.

I plead for the song that I may sing to reveal evil stalking the night.

Light of sky, burning bright, find that which is dark and bathe it in light.

Evil one, I call forth the blight you left behind.

Light spilled across the remnants of the battlefield, illuminating four dark shadows sliding among the dead toward the small group of Carpathians shielding Gary. Gregori threw out his hand, fingers spread wide, and lightning jumped, sizzling and cracking, toward the four fragments. Three burrowed into the ground, but the tip of the whip slashed into the fourth, incinerating it.

The ground rolled and pitched. A shriek rose. Black blood bubbled up from the ground and a noxious smell burst from the center of the ooze. The shriek rocked the trees, sent leaves trembling. Gary put his hand over his ears to muffle the hideous sound.

Gregori tried following the remaining shards with the lightning tip, sinking strike after strike into the ground, but with no results. There was no following them into the ground itself. Three small slivers would be impossible to track, and all of them knew they would eventually find their way back to Xavier.

Ivory swayed with weariness. «The dawn will break soon, Razvan. I need to rest. Do you come back with me or stay?»

It was almost a challenge, he decided, studying her face. She didn't know if she wanted him to remain with her or join the others. He touched her mind and realized she had not been in company for so long that she found the contact with him-and so many others-overwhelming.

«We would be happy to provide you with shelter,» Mikhail offered. «We have several safe resting chambers.»

Razvan felt Ivory instantly recoil from the idea. She trusted no one that much. She would never rest where others knew of her sleeping chamber. Razvan was her lifemate. She recognized him and yet was wary still.

«I think it best that we return to our own resting place,» he said.

Ivory sent him a small grateful smile and nodded her head. «Xavier will not stop his hunt for Razvan. It is evident he has puppets in the area. I would make certain my children were protected both during the day and at night.»

Sara slipped her hand into Falcon's. «We will double their protection.»

Falcon clapped Gary on the back. «You look a little worse for wear. Thank you for going after Travis for us.»

Ivory ducked her head, the color sweeping up her pale skin. «I did not mean to imply your friend was not valiant. I am certain he takes excellent care of your children during the daylight hours, but Xavier is desperate to find Razvan and get him back. He will need Carpathian blood. I doubt he can go long without a blood supply. No one is safe, least of all the most vulnerable.»

Mikhail's piercing eyes moved over both Ivory and Razvan. «Perhaps our healer should take a look at your wounds before you leave us.»

Razvan took a good look at his lifemate. There were scratches and bite marks up and down her arms; a few on her face and her legs had blood running down them. He was certain he didn't look much better. He didn't want to stay any longer. He feared his sister or daughter might come to the aid of their prince, and he had been through enough without facing them. He didn't know how he would feel or what he could possibly say to either of them, but when he looked at Ivory's weary face, he refused to be selfish. She needed care, and her needs came first.

Ivory stepped back several paces. «These are mere scratches. My lifemate can attend to them. An inconvenience only.» She inclined her head, a regal gesture, toward Mikhail. «I am certain we will cross paths again.»

«Please do come and meet Raven, my lifemate,» Mikhail invited. «She cannot travel at the moment and will be sorry she was not here. You are truly an inspiration to our women.»

Gregori cast him a smoldering look before turning to Ivory. His strange silver eyes gleamed at her as she slid back into the shadows, and she knew he recognized the sudden dangerous stillness of a warrior in her. «If you have need, lady, call and I will come. I do not give my word lightly.»

I guess you might want to rethink your position on women in battle, Mikhail sent telepathically.

The women are with this one for five minutes, old friend, and it will be anarchy.

Mikhail sobered. What of Razvan?

The boy has more honor than good sense.

That boy is older than you are, Mikhail was compelled to point out.

He has suffered greatly and he is no traitor. Less so than I am. There was a small silence and Gregori lifted his silver eyes to his prince and oldest friend. When the woman, Lara, was so terrified of my eyes, I knew she had seen Xavier. We share the one lasting testimony, branded always for meddling with things best left alone.

It was an apology and they both knew it.

Mikhail clapped Gregori on the shoulder, affection in his gesture. It was long ago, as many things were, and in the end it came to good.

That is what Razvan said.

Gregori stepped close to Ivory. She didn't back away, but her eyes went as watchful and as still as her body, as if she half suspected he might attack her. He clasped her arms in the greeting of highest respect, one warrior to another. «Kulkesz arwaval-jo?esz arwa arvoval-go with glory-return with honor.»

Without waiting for her hesitant reply, he gripped Razvan's forearms in the same respectful clasp. «Kulkesz arwa-arvoval, ekam-walk with honor, my brother. We have only recently learned of Xavier's existence, and probably know far less about his ways than either of you, but if you wish to pool our information, we would be grateful.»

Ivory's uneasiness was more apparent to Razvan than ever. She edged away from Gregori and looked to the sky several times. Razvan took her hand and began moving a distance from the others with her.

«We will meet again,» he said, knowing it was true. Right now, Ivory didn't want to face the fact that they had inadvertently become part of the Carpathian world when she had saved the child. Gregori and the others would look toward her, a warrior of their own, as an immense and invaluable vault of knowledge on their greatest enemy.

He could feel her withdrawing into herself. Her expression didn't change, but remained serene and distantly friendly. Inside she was quaking. He kept moving across the snow, leading her away from the others, making the responsibility for choosing to leave his alone. He cared nothing for what others thought. Long ago he'd learned to accept condemnation from everyone. He was the most despised Carpathian alive, worse than the vampires, and although Mikhail and Gregori chose to welcome him, he saw distrust in the eyes of the others. He didn't want nor need acceptance from them-only from Ivory.

Keep walking away from the direction of our home. The snow will cover our tracks, but anyone will be able to track the blood scent. Just up ahead, we will have to close all wounds.

Razvan almost couldn't hear past our home. His stomach tightened. Home. Our home. The idea of it was comforting and frightening at the same time. He glanced at her through the thickening snow. Her face was turned away from his. She looked ethereal striding through the snow, like an ice princess, not the warrior he knew her to be.

They stopped beneath the shelter of several large trees. The high canopy kept the snow from falling on them while they examined themselves for poisonous parasites and took a few minutes to close every wound and scratch. The ones on their legs were the worst.

«The bats are more effective attacking from the ground,» Ivory explained.

Razvan glanced at her. She studiously avoided his gaze. His heart gave a funny little wrench. She was nervous. The slayer, a warrior beyond measure, was nervous being alone with him. He hadn't considered that she might be more nervous than he was.

«Xavier wanted them to bring back blood,» Razvan explained. «That was his original purpose, but they were so vicious he began to expand his ideas.»

When they were both finished, Ivory insisted they look one another over a second time.

«You are very thorough,» he commented.

«It is how I stay alive. How we will stay alive. You have to learn if you are going to stay with me. And you are free to go, if you wish.»

Her lashes lifted and she flicked him a quick gaze. He couldn't tell from her expression whether she hoped he'd choose to go. He shook his head. «I will stay, and Ivory, have no fear, I am a quick learner. I can play dumb if need be, but I am not.»

«I have kept my lair safe for hundreds of years, even when I was slowly carving out the passageways. There are no traces of anyone around or near my resting place. I do not hunt close by. I never leave tracks. I am careful there is no scent. I do not go out every night. I live quietly and avoid people as much as possible.» She looked at him, for the first time meeting his eyes. «When I do go out it is for one purpose only: to gather information on Xavier. If it takes a hundred lifetimes, I will find a way to destroy him.»

He nodded his head. «I understand.»

«I am not certain you do. It is my sole purpose for existing. I care nothing for society. I do not want friends. I do not know how to be civil other than for the purpose of obtaining information. Are you prepared for that?»

A slow smile welled up from the pit of his stomach and settled on his mouth. He saw her catch her breath, and then she looked away from him.

«I do not have friends, nor will society welcome me. I have more reason than any other to want to destroy Xavier.»

«If you truly want to learn from me, then heed this. You cannot let this become personal. It is a duty, a sacred duty. You must pray and meditate until you are absolutely certain that you are on the right path. Will you give me your word of honor that you will do that?»

Razvan waited until she looked at him. «You have my word. Let us go home.» He dissolved before she could find another reason to protest.

She led the way, choosing a route high enough that they were a part of the dark clouds moving in silence across the sky.

Razvan took note of the landmarks, the rising mountains, the lakes and streams and surrounding countryside. The snow was dazzling white, the air crisp and clean, refreshing after so many centuries of smelling blood and death, yet the wide-open spaces were disorienting. His life had been underground, confined to a small prison room unless Xavier was using his body.

Ivory's voice interrupted his thoughts. We are coming up on the lair. Always approach it from a variety of directions, never the same one. Scan carefully. Better to sleep elsewhere for one night than lose our fortress to the enemy. There is a warning system in place. I have to reprogram it to allow you entrance. This system is made of gems, Ivory explained. I called the gems and asked for aid. Once I embedded them in rock, each about three feet apart, zigzagging down the crack, from one side to the other, the gems not only bring light to the lair, but they act as a warning system for me. She hesitated and then corrected herself. For us.

He felt the rightness of her words, joining them together, but also the reluctance, as if she couldn't quite get around the fact that they were meant to be lifemates.

The safeguard is actually the way the gems work. They measure the weight of my molecules, with the wolves on me of course, as I am drifting down through the crack. If the weight is too heavy, or too light, the crack would close below and stop the intruder. If I am in the lair, I would hear the rocks closing and could prepare for an attack. Nothing can penetrate the rock from below us or either side-it is too thick. Not even the worms can drill through. In order to carry you in, I had to change it once already, and it was difficult with the sun so close on my heels.

How was I able to get out?

It only works in one direction; a warning system is not needed in both. I would not keep anyone a prisoner. Again there was that slight hesitation. In truth I have never thought to bring anyone down here.

He thought it best to ignore her nervousness, and he did not have to feign his interest in her system. It was as unique and brilliant as the inventor. He waited while she disappeared into the crack and added a few more of her gems. The light worked much like an ancient mirror system, one prism working off another. He realized she used the gems for her weapons as well, that her experiments were sophisticated.

It is safe for you to come and go as you please.

Ivory floated down, avoiding the light spreading slowly across the sky, screened by the now-heavy snow. Once she hit the living chamber, the wolves leapt from her back and padded after her to the bed of soil.

«I do not do well, even under the ground, when the sun has risen.» Again Ivory appeared uneasy. «I spent too many years in the soil trying to heal.»

«I spent many lifetimes in the ice caves,» Razvan assured, watching her curl up, the wolves surrounding her. He waited for an invitation.

Ivory gestured toward the side of the large basin. «There is plenty of room.»

He envied the wolves pressed close to her, but said nothing, knowing she was being more than generous. He closed his eyes and allowed the breath to leave his body, his heart to slow and then stop while the soil poured over them like a living blanket. It was the first time he could clearly remember being totally relaxed and infinitely happy.

Ivory woke knowing three days had passed and the sun had already sank from the sky. She was used to the way time passed so deep beneath the earth and the rhythms spoke to her, as she had become accustomed to them. It had been disorienting at first, which was when she'd come up with her prism system for bringing a small bit of light into her sanctuary. It rather shocked her that Razvan woke with her. The wolves would, of course, after so many years, but she had thought to go hunting alone and to give herself time to prepare for another in her lair.

She stared at his face, the lines etched there, the way his eyes seemed so compassionate and understanding. His life had been nothing but struggle and pain, yet he seemed, when she touched his mind, to be truly kind. Why then, did her hands tremble? Why did she feel as if butterflies had taken flight and were winging their way through her body whenever she looked at him? She had absolute confidence in her abilities as a warrior, but had no idea how to interact off the battlefield.

Razvan's expression softened when his eyes met hers and he smiled. Her heart jumped in response. His smile was sweet and made him look years younger. «Good evening. You certainly are beautiful to wake up to.»

She wasn't. She knew she wasn't. She was in her true patchwork form-her body put together in pieces and a little mismatched here and there. She rubbed at one of the worst offending scars, the one dissecting her collarbone, and was shocked to find the ridge lessened. The healer had done more than heal her wounds. The scars would never disappear completely, but he had helped them to fade to thinner, flatter lines.

«I am not, you know.» She could feel color rising under her skin.

It embarrassed her that she no longer knew the civilities. Once, long ago, she had run a warm, happy household. Somehow, seeing that sweet smile on Razvan's face brought bittersweet memories rushing back. There had been so much laughter and love in her house. How could her brothers have turned their backs on everything honorable and chosen to give up their souls? They hadn't suffered the way Razvan had suffered, and he had endured the centuries of torment, being branded a criminal, despised by all those around him, his body used for vile things. Yet, still, he kept his honor.

She had told herself that her brothers had been grief-stricken over her disappearance, but she knew better. Everyone experienced loss. All five of them had turned together-unheard of in Carpathian history. She knew them better than anyone else, and she knew that meant it had been a conscious decision, not one made from too many years of lack of emotion or killing friends who had become vampire. The decision hadn't been made because they were desolate from grief or had waited too long for lifemates. She knew their decision had been reasoned out together. They wanted power. They believed they were smarter, stronger and more deserving than anyone else. Her disappearance had been the excuse they needed to finalize something they had often discussed in the privacy of their home.

«You look so sad, Ivory.»

She never thought to hide her expressions in her lair. She didn't hide her true form and now didn't know what to do or how to act. She gave a small shrug. «This is a little awkward.»

«Only if you wish to make it that way. I will not intrude where I am not wanted.»

Ivory shook her head. «No, do not feel that way, as if I would not want you here. I invited you. After all these centuries, I just am not certain how to act with company.»

His smile widened, reached his eyes, warming them into soft velvet. «But then, I am your lifemate, not company. Act as you always have. I am here to learn from you.»

That hurt, struck her in her belly like a knotted fist. He wasn't in her lair to be her lifemate in the way a man might claim a woman. She knew that. She wanted no part of that, yet she still felt slighted. It was the perverse reaction of a woman, not a warrior, and she was disappointed in herself. She had set the terms; he was merely abiding by them. She pushed at the fall of her heavy hair, more for an excuse to hide than because it was bothering her.

«I will get more at ease over time.» It was all she could think to say.

Ivory watched the wolves as they gathered around him. In spite of his older appearance, he was a handsome man. Now that the earth had revived and rejuvenated him, his frame was filled out and muscular. His hair fell in a long wave nearly to the middle of his back. It was thick and dark, and she knew from three weeks of holding him and feeding him, running her fingers through that soft, thick fall, that many colors made up that heavy mane, not the least of which was gray.

Razvan, instead of towering over the pack and bullying his way into leadership, crouched down in the midst of the six wolves and allowed them to take their time pushing their noses into him and rubbing along his legs and back.

This is Razvan. My mate.

She included Razvan in the circle of communication, knowing when they went into battle together that leadership was essential. Raja had to accept him as her partner and therefore coleader of the pack. He would only do that if she named him mate.

Razvan glanced at her. Ivory willed herself not to blush. She tried to look as nonchalant as possible. Razvan seemed very large in the confines of the bedchamber. His masculine frame filled up the entire room. Every breath she took seemed to draw the scent of him into her lungs. Every breath he took made her ultra-aware of him, the way his heavy chest muscles moved beneath his thin, tight tee; the way his body looked in that brief moment before he'd donned that thin, tight tee.

Raja turned his head and looked at her, giving her an aloof glare, baring his teeth at Razvan. The Dragonseeker shrugged his shoulders.

«I know what it feels like to be displaced, old man,» he soothed. «We will get along.»

«Offer him your blood.»

Razvan stood slowly, his eyes meeting Ivory's. «You feed them Carpathian blood?»

«You do not remember much of our first meeting.»

«Some.»

She took a breath, let it out, and then made her confession. «Many years ago, so long now that I cannot remember when it all started, a wolf pack helped me. They found pieces of me and would have consumed them, but I was able to touch their minds, and instead they buried the pieces of me together. In return, I found their descendents and I made certain they thrived. I did not spend much time aboveground in those days. My body just could not handle it. But when I did, the wolves were all that kept me sane. They were my only companions and all I had to trust.»

She spoke in a soft, clear voice, as if she was telling a tale she had heard about someone else, as if the horror of those endless years had not been hers to bear. He had his horror locked away in his mind, but somehow hers seemed so much worse.

Something frightening deep inside Razvan lifted its head and roared in rage. He had long ago buried any aggressive feelings. Too many years of captivity, of being unable to do anything about it had pushed rage and anger aside, and then, finally, his emotions had faded into oblivion, so that he forgot the intensity, the sheer strength of feelings.

«That was a terrible time for me. I couldn't be out of the ground for very long, but I went looking for my brothers. I needed them. I could barely function. My mind or my body.» She ducked her head and her hair fell around her face, hiding her expression. Her voice remained as steady as ever. «It took me twenty-two years to locate the first of my brothers. I had a few run-ins with vampires along the way and inadvertently began building a reputation for slaying the undead. They began to hunt for me. I still had to spend most of my time in the ground in order to hold my body together.»

«You do not have to tell me this if it distresses you,» Razvan said.

Ivory shrugged her shoulders and tossed back her hair, her eyes steady. «It matters little now. It was a long time ago. Over the next fifty years I searched for my family, only to find that they had all turned. It felt very much like they had betrayed me.»

Ivory felt the lump rising in her throat, threatening to choke her, threatening to humiliate her. She shrugged a second time. «I had the wolves. You understand? They were everything to me. They do not have a long life span in the wild and so each new litter of cubs, each renewal, was my only family. I needed them.»

Razvan wanted to hold her, to offer her comfort, but when he took a step toward her, she moved away from him, back toward the other room as if she hadn't noticed. He followed her, moving through the pack of wolves, ignoring Raja's bared teeth as if the wolf was beneath his notice. He couldn't help but be intrigued by the story. He had no idea that wolves could carry Carpathian blood, and he doubted if anyone else had known it either.

«So these wolves are not the original pack,» he prompted, watching as she picked up a comb and began running it through her hair. It was a soothing action, not one of necessity.

Ivory moved restlessly to her memorial wall. Her family wall. She touched Sergey's face, traced the beloved lines carved there. «No, several generations were born and died, but they were always with me. Eventually the vampires began trying to find my pack to kill them. They came to think the wolves protected me in some way. Believe it or not, the undead can be very superstitious, especially since they have an alliance with Xavier. He feeds them stories to make them believe he is stronger than they are.»

Razvan watched the pads of her fingers move over her brother's face, stroke after stroke, the gentle, loving motion mesmerizing. He could only imagine someone loving him that much, missing him and wanting to save his soul the way he sensed she did her brothers'. He was dead to his own sister, much in the same way he knew Ivory had to have separated herself from her brothers now to keep her sanity, to keep from being overwhelmed by sorrow.

Feeling a driving need to hold her in his arms and comfort her, he did the only thing he could think to do that wouldn't earn him a blow. He stepped up behind her and held out his hand for the comb. «Let me.»

There was silence. She held very still, her face turned toward her memory wall, her hand not moving, her breath not flowing. He could feel the faint trembling of her body. A wild creature held captive, unknowing whether or not to accept kindness. Very slowly, she held the comb back over her shoulder, not looking, not letting him see her face.

Razvan's fingers were gentle as he took the instrument from her and began a slow glide through her hair. «How did you come to have your present pack?»

Again there was a brief moment of silence while she tried to accustom herself to Razvan combing her long hair. She cleared her throat. «I still could spend little time aboveground. When I did, it was with the wolves or hunting. My pack had given birth to a new litter of pups. Six of them. Three male, three female. The entire pack was excited, and I more than any of them. The pack's good times were mine.» This time her fingers traced the ancient Carpathian text. Siv pide kod. Pitaam mustaakad sielpesaambam . Love transcends evil. I hold your memories safe in my soul.

He realized the importance of that simple statement. She had no other contact, human or otherwise, that wasn't an enemy. The pack had virtually become her family and her friends, her very community and only confidants. She had seen the empty shell of her brother and needed the reassurance of her wall, her home, the words she had come to believe in. He felt the first stirrings of love for her, the beginning, and recognized he was stepping on a path he would not-could not-leave.

«Over the years, while living with the wolves, I realized a few had the ability to communicate with me telepathically. At the time the litter was born, the alpha male and female were both able to talk to me and I was not quite as lonely. I felt as if I had a family again.»

She dropped her hand from the wall as if bracing herself. «One evening I rose and went in search of the pack. The vampires had gotten there before me. There was blood everywhere, fur and bones and carcasses strewn over the very meadow where they had done the same to me.»

She pulled away from him, paced across the room. He could see her hands were shaking, but she put them behind her back as she turned and faced him. There was guilt and defiance mixed on her face. «I found the cubs in the den. All of them were dying. The vampires had inflicted wounds on them, but hadn't killed them outright, leaving them to suffer horribly before they died, or for other wild animals to finish them off.»

She tilted her chin. «I saved them. I crawled into the den and I fed them my blood. I did not think beyond that moment. I just could not bear to lose everyone all over again. I had promised their ancestors that I would look out for them, but because they had aided me, the vampires destroyed the entire pack.»

«It was not your fault.»

«Perhaps not, but it felt as if it was my fault. I stayed in the den to protect them, burrowing beneath the ground during the daylight hours and staying with them during the nights. I had to give them blood and, at times, I had to take theirs as I couldn't hunt. Raja was the first to turn. I had no idea it was even possible, but I knew the ramifications. No wolf pack could be Carpathian and let loose on unsuspecting humans. They would be immortal, or nearly so as we are. The first was an accident, but the rest, although it broke a moral law, was done with great purpose.»

She met his eyes, expecting condemnation. Razvan shook his head. «It seems all of us have chosen a path that perhaps has not always been the wise one. You. Me. The healer. Yet our paths have merged and become the same.»

Ivory shook her head. «You are a very different type of man.»

«Am I? Perhaps I have been away so long I never learned what a man was supposed to be.» He gave her a lopsided half smile that stole her breath. She had never felt the strange girlish fluttering a mere smile from him seemed to generate, but the very feel surrounding him was one of peace and gentleness.

«I was not insulting you. I like that you are different.» Maybe a little too much. She had a purpose-they both did-and it required full effort and attention. They didn't dare lose sight of their final objective, nor could she change the course she had set herself on.

His smile heated his eyes and changed the color to warm amber. She could get lost in his eyes if she let herself. Ivory squared her shoulders. «I made the decision to turn the pack based on my need to survive. They were all I had. I have tried to be responsible about it. They stay with me at all times, hunt with me and are given only my blood. They do not have litters, although Raja indicated that should I have a baby, they would be able to provide a pack for my child.» Again she found herself blushing, her gaze dropping from his. «As I did not think that would ever be possible, I did not give the idea much heed.»

«So all six have been with you . . .»

«Centuries. They live here in the lair, hunt with me and fight with me.»

Razvan nodded. «And I have come along and disrupted the peace of the pack.»

«It is always difficult integrating a new member, but not impossible. Raja must accept you.» Again she looked at him, her gaze steady. «You are my lifemate, whether we claim each other or not.»

He didn't point out to her that the male of their species alone had the ritual binding words imprinted upon him before birth. He had been born Carpathian and human, but the words were there, should he choose to bind them together, with or without her consent. He believed the binding was given to the male because his half of the soul was darkness without his lifemate. Once his aunts managed to turn him fully, he had known he must find his lifemate to alleviate the darkness spreading with the passing years. The driving instincts of the Carpathian male were in him, urging him to stake his claim, where the man who was driven to protect those he cared about refused to take a chance with her life.

«Tell me what you think will aid Raja in accepting me.» Should the alpha welcome him, then the others would as well.

«I have shared my blood with you repeatedly and called you my mate. We will feed the pack together. You offer your blood to Raja first. If he does not take it, no one will be fed this day.»

«Perhaps I could reason with him rather than punish.» He had been tortured and deprived of food until he was starving. He could not do that to another living thing.

Ivory padded barefoot into the midst of the pack, scratching ears and rubbing fur, her fingers massaging necks with affectionate familiarity. «The pack leader respects strength.»

«Fighting or punishing is not always strength,» Razvan said. «Xavier was the cruelest man I have known. Warriors came and went from every species. He defeated them all. Every one of them, yet I will never respect him, nor will I be like him.»

There was quiet determination in his voice. Ivory sighed. Razvan hadn't survived imprisonment and torture by being faint of heart. He was stubborn, unswerving and relentless. She had been in his Dragonseeker mind and knew just how unwavering he could be.

«Raja knows I respect you.» She pinned the pack alpha with a steely gaze. «I am certain he will accept you.» Because if the wolf didn't, she might have a few private words with him.

Raja snorted and then gave her a wolfish grin, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as if he might be laughing. Razvan smiled. With a casual tear of his teeth, he sliced open his wrist and offered it to the big male wolf without hesitation.

Ivory tensed. Raja leaned his head toward the welling blood and sniffed before giving a tentative lick. His mouth clamped on the wrist unexpectedly, teeth sinking deep.

She murmured the binding words softly in the ancient language.

No me elidaban, no me kalmaban-As we are in life we are in death.

Elid elided-Life to life.

Siel sieled-Soul to soul.

Me juttaak, me kureak-Life to life.

Me juttaak, me kureak-We are bound together as one.

Triumph swept through Razvan. He was part of something. He belonged. Ivory's acceptance of him was far more reluctant than the alpha wolf's. The wolf respected her mate. Had fought in battle with him, saw no hesitation and that he was quick to shield and protect Ivory. Ivory might accept Razvan as a warrior-at least one to train-but as her mate, that was something altogether different.

Razvan hid a smile as Ivory turned away from them, frowning a little as she fed the females. She kept her back to Razvan, shutting him out as she talked to the wolves, allowing him to reach for the mind of the wolves himself. He found Raja to be very intelligent, a strong strategist and capable leader. His second in command, Blaez, was a very serious wolf. He liked Blaez's personality very much. And then there was Farkas, the male the vampire had attacked and injured so severely. Farkas's body had been repaired in the healing soil, but craved rich Carpathian blood to complete the process.

Razvan staggered when Farkas finally licked across the wounds to seal them. He sank down beside the wolf. «You do this every night?»

She shook her head. «We are very careful not to rise every night. It is probably unnecessary after all these years, but without three consecutive nights in the soil, my body refused to function properly, so I still am cautious. In truth, I have not had problems in a long while, but I do not care to risk it.»

Razvan's brows drew together. «What kinds of problems?»

Ivory sank to the floor beside him as the smallest female closed the laceration on her wrist. «Nothing big. Walking. Running. Coordination mainly. My muscles were cut into pieces and they need to be strengthened.»

«You should have told the healer.»

A faint, haughty look crept into her expression. «I have never needed the healer or anyone else to survive. If I have need of the soil, it is there for me.» She shrugged. «Besides, it is better for us not to be out much. The less we leave, the less chance of a vampire or hunter stumbling across the lair. I have much work to do here. We go out for a hunt and run, and then we stay in a few days. It has worked out well for us. I will need to go out to feed for both of us. It will take a few hours as I have to travel a distance from our lair.»

«Not without me.»

«There is no need for both to go. Xavier is actively hunting you, using every resource at his disposal. You cannot leave traces for him to find you.»

«Not without me,» he repeated, his tone mild.

She narrowed her eyes. «That is so silly.»

«So was refusing the healer's help, but you had your reasons. I have mine.»

«You do not like anyone giving you blood,» she guessed, shrewdly. «You are Carpathian. You need blood to survive.»

«I am well aware of that.»

His tone never changed. Reasonable. Pleasant. Gentle even. She gritted her teeth. Nothing seemed to get to him, and she had deliberately needled him, wanting to shake him out of his stubbornness.

«It is just smarter for me to go alone.»

«Perhaps. But we go together.»

Her teeth snapped together at that mild tone. «Are you always like this?»

«I do not know. I have not been around any other than Xavier. I did not upset the woman who gave birth to Lara as I am upsetting you. But, like me, she was a prisoner and neither of us could make our own decisions. I am able to make this decision, for ill or not. I go with you.»

She stuck her chin out at him. «I am your lifemate. It is my right as well as my duty to provide for you.»

«Are you willing to provide solace with your body as well?»

Her heart jumped. Leapt. Took flight right along with a million birds in the pit of her stomach. Even her womb reacted. Which was silly, because he never changed expression, not on his face and not with the tone of his voice. They could have been discussing the weather. «No.» The word came out a whisper. Maybe even a question when she wanted to sound absolute and distant. There was just something about him that moved her, called to her, a nameless need, a hunger in his gentle eyes, that stark aloneness that drew her like a moth to flame.

«Then there is no need to provide anything else. We work together toward a common goal. We both wish to pool our vast wealth of knowledge in order to destroy Xavier.»

He was right. She knew he was right. It was exactly what she wanted, yet hearing him say it aloud in that calm, matter-of-fact voice made her want to weep.

«You brought me here to learn what I have learned of Xavier and to show me the ways of a warrior. I accept those boundaries.»

«Good.» She stood up. «That is excellent. We need to go.» Her body gave a subtle shift and she stood in front of him in absolute perfection, her clothes revealing her smooth, petal-soft skin.

«Why do you do that? Why not be seen as you truly are. You are beautiful, you know. The lines are your body's badges of courage. A warrior's true tribute. I have never seen anyone so beautiful.»

She turned away from him, not wanting him to see how his words affected her. She hadn't been told she was beautiful since she was a young woman, centuries earlier. Why did the warmth in his voice bring heat to her body when he seemed so unaffected by her?

«I do not want the vampires to know they marked me. It is a psychological game I play. When I discovered they were superstitious, it gave me the idea and I have continued to make them believe nothing they do to me can harm me.»

His smile was slow in coming, but when it did, she experienced a curious fluttering in the region of her stomach. She took a step backward and spun around. «If you insist on coming with me, I trust you will at least heed my warning to be cautious and leave no trail back to our lair. Xavier is going to send an army to retrieve you, everything he has in his arsenal.»

«Which is considerable,» Razvan agreed. «And he has your imprint now.»

She stilled. Turned slowly. Her gaze locked with his. «What do you mean?» Her mouth went dry.

«You pushed him from my mind, my heart, my body and my very soul. To do that, you shared your light. He cannot fail to recognize you if you studied under him. He will work day and night to wreak vengeance. That is his way, and I will not allow him to succeed. Until he is destroyed, you have me as your bodyguard.» His gentle tone was still low, black-velvet smooth, but implacable.

Her heart fluttered along with her stomach, a feminine reaction she abhorred, which probably made her more caustic than she normally would have been. «I am a warrior, and you know very little about battle. I hardly think you are going to be of much assistance in a fight. If anything you will probably be a complete hindrance.»

He bowed slightly. «Perhaps that is so. But I will be a powerful bargaining chip.»

She went white beneath her already fair skin and her breath hissed out in a long, slow exhale. «Do you think that I would trade my life for yours?»

«No.» He didn't look in the least ruffled. «But I would.» He gestured toward the thin crack winding upward through the thick walls of rock. «Hunger is beating at me. Let us hunt.»

She held out her arms for the wolves to leap onto her, shifting into the form of tattoos.

«Why did you want them fed first when we go to hunt?» Razvan asked curiously.

«Never take a hungry wolf with you when you are trying to leave no tracks. They are allowed to hunt game only once every few days to keep them sharp, but I do not risk wolf tracks or tempting them with human blood. In this form, we leave no tracks, yet they can aid me should I need it.»

«I would not mind a wolf tattoo of my own,» Razvan said. «It makes for beautiful artwork, as well as having eyes to watch your back.»

The admiration in his voice threw her and she bit down hard on her lip to keep herself focused. She didn't want to like him as a person, only to see him as another tool in her war against Xavier, but he charmed her in ways she hadn't expected.

She let her breath out in a little rush again. «You are a frustrating man, Dragonseeker.»

«I suppose I am.» There was no remorse, only amusement.

Ivory turned away from him before her sense of humor got the better of her. The thing about Razvan, she decided as she began to ascend through the inch-wide crack that zigzagged the way up through hundreds of feet of rock, was that there was an inner peace that radiated outward from him. Nothing seemed to disturb him. But then, how could it?

He had asked Gregori what more could be done to him than had already been done. He didn't fear death. There wasn't much in the way of torture, physical, emotional or mental, that Xavier hadn't subjected him to. He had learned long ago that he couldn't control others or events, only his own reaction to what happened. There was a hidden strength in Razvan, a well of it, deep and pure, that she saw and felt every time she was close to him. But there was also a gentleness she hadn't expected from a man honed in violence and blood.

She had always believed she would need a fierce warrior in order for her to be physically attracted to a male, but she found inner strength appealed to her more than fighting skills. His strength and gentleness tempted her as no other. She looked too long at his eyes, those ever-changing eyes that seemed soft and deep where she might lose herself if she didn't take care.

The night was clear and crisp, snow glistening on the ground, turning everything overly bright. Ice crystals hung from the trees and dazzled her eyes when she scanned the ground.

Be careful not to disturb the snow as you come through the crack. The slightest movement can displace the flakes, and that might lead an enemy to investigate closer.

Ivory touched his mind to see if he was irritated by her instructions. He seemed just the opposite, soaking up her advice and following it carefully. He made no move to take the lead, following her across the sky inland, toward the valley, away from the region where Carpathians dwelled, toward a small farming community at the base of the ice mountains.

You are in his territory. Razvan did not have to name the mage. There was no distrust in his voice, only a mild question.

He will send his armies wide in search of you, thinking you will flee far from him. He prides himself on his long reach and he will assume you will fear him too much to stay close. This will be safer at the moment.

You have studied him.

I went to his school for a short time, Ivory informed him. I loved the work and was good at it. Unfortunately, I also paid attention to him and realized he was not as he appeared to be. In those days, I was rather young and naive and did not know how to hide my thoughts and suspicions.

Razvan's warmth flooded her mind, making her aware that the cold of the night had pierced her, or perhaps it was thinking of the past.

You have learned well over the years. I have observed him at work on a daily basis. I watched the madness in him progress over the years until his mind was no longer functioning properly. There is no reason. He has become a megalomaniac, believing himself a superior being to all who walk the earth. He is particularly bitter with the immortality of the Carpathians and is always experimenting to find a way to destroy them.

A ribbon of icy water cut through the valley, meandering through several wide meadows used for pastures and winding in and out of groves of trees. Ivory followed the same path, staying high, not moving fast, but drifting along, taking note of all movement-the animals, smoke coming from chimneys, any humans-she took it all in and shared with Razvan.

There is always a pattern to movement, she instructed. Animals are important to watch, even the smallest of them. Mice will scurry into the underbrush at the first sign of danger. They see shadows from above. All prey animals do, and their instincts are good. You do not have to be connected to them to use them as a warning system.

Razvan stopped drinking in the sheer beauty of his surroundings and began to pay attention to the things she pointed out. Ivory was the consummate warrior. When she left the lair, everything was all business. All survival. He needed to learn, and she was willing to instruct him.

He scanned the uneven terrain, seeing with new eyes.

Nature is your friend, your ally. Trees tell stories. Look at the area to the south. Just below the mountain near the small farm tucked into the shadow.

The grimness in her voice alerted him to trouble, but he couldn't see anything but glistening snow and dazzling ice and a few bare limbs poking out of an otherwise snow-laden tree. A few tracks in the snow led from a small house to a barn and then around to the back where several smaller buildings housed animals, but he couldn't see anything that might have alarmed her.

What am I looking for?

Something sat in that tree watching the house. It was no owl. If you look closely at the tracks, someone walked out of the house out toward the barn and then around toward the shelter. The strides increased in length and depth, which means they began running. Whatever it is, it is still there. I feel the energy.

Razvan inspected the naked tree branches and then tried to open his mind to the energy fields surrounding him. Information flooded in. As they approached the small farm, the air lost its crisp, fresh scent and began to feel and smell foul. Vampire. His hissed the word.

Tell me what it feels like to you. Reach out very lightly. Let your mind expand to encompass his but do not enter his.

Razvan knew that if his touch was too heavy the vampire would feel his presence and be alerted. If his victim still lived, there would be no hope. The undead would kill and consume as much blood as possible to ready himself for an attack.

Vampires like their blood adrenaline-laced, Ivory explained. They terrify the victims on purpose and keep them alive as long as possible. The blood is like a drug to them and they need the high continually. Can you feel the chaos in his mind?

He could. The vampire's mind raced so fast it was like trying to board a runaway train. Even the sound was chaotic, as if the volume was turned up and down so that one moment noises roared and shrieked and then receded, only to start again.

He cannot keep the sound of the victim's heart under control. He is too excited. This one has recently turned. I doubt if he had time to have been recruited by the league of vampires or by Xavier. Usually at this stage they are left alone because they are too dangerous to approach. They cannot handle the highs they feel.

Ivory circled the house. Two children inside. The vampire knows it, although the man tries to hide the information. His woman is in the barn. She thinks to fight for her man. She has armed herself with garlic, crosses and holy water, but has no real weapon other than farm tools.

There was admiration in Ivory's voice. Razvan liked that about her. Her take on the world was very simplistic. A man and a woman fought together for their family, even against the worst kind of evil. Both knew they probably would die, but they hoped to take their attacker with them and give their children a chance to survive.

His first thought was to send Ivory to get the woman and her children to safety while he took on the vampire. He had no doubt that he could kill a vampire. He had a rudimentary knowledge of how to slay them, but she would have a better chance to save the farmer as well. He needed time to perfect his fighting skills, so he remained silent and left it to Ivory to tell him what she wanted to do.

I would not do what you told me to do anyway. There was a distinctly teasing note in Ivory's voice, although they both knew she was perfectly serious.

Deep inside, in spite of the gravity of the situation, Razvan found himself happy. Little moments like this, shared amusement, things he'd forgotten existed between people, made up joy in life. He'd forgotten that, and he bet Ivory had as well.

You are a bossy little thing, but I like that. I must be a little strange.

A little? She gave a snort and slipped into the barn through a crack in the window frame.

A woman frantically searched through several farming tools, dragging anything with a sharp blade out to a center pile. Tears ran down her face, but she worked fast, her breath coming in soft sobs.

«Shh,» Ivory cautioned as she materialized to one side of the woman. «I am a Carpathian warrior come to aid you. Please put down your weapon and do exactly as I tell you. You will have to trust me.»

Razvan instinctively stayed in the form of vapor, knowing his presence would only serve to frighten the woman further.

«With your help, I think we have a chance of saving your husband.»

Ivory's voice was quiet and calm. She looked regal, a snow princess come out of the world of nature in her long silver wolf coat, so thick and luxurious falling to her ankles. Her hair cascaded in a long blue-black fall and her face looked serene and innocent. Her voice sounded like warm, melting honey. In contrast, she carried a lethal-looking crossbow and the belt at her hip was covered in weapons. But it was the double rows of tiny crosses embedded in her buckles that eased the woman's tensions.

The farmwife made the sign of the cross in the air. Ivory answered her with the same sign and the woman relaxed and tossed her curved scythe onto the pile of tools.

Ivory walked from the barn toward the stable, her head up, her eyes glowing a strange whiskey gold as she approached the building. From his position inside the stable, where he now waited for her, Razvan could see her advancing, each confident stride carrying her closer. She took his breath away. She definitely had an otherworldly quality, as if the legend of the Dark Slayer had come to life and moved with grace and elegance through the snow.

The vampire toying with his victim looked up as the horses, nervous and stamping in their stalls, suddenly quieted. Pigs stopped squealing. The stables went eerily silent.

Ivory flashed a small smile toward the vampire. «I do not recognize you, but I see you have no table manners. Perhaps you wish to taste something much richer.» Deliberately, her eyes on the vampire, she set her teeth into her wrist.

Razvan noted the vampire immediately lost interest in the human, dropping him to the floor, where the farmer did his best to crawl away while the vampire was fixated on the sight of those small white teeth sinking into a delicate wrist. Two beads of blood welled up, ruby-red, dotting her smooth, petal-soft skin. The fragrance of her drifted to the vampire mixed with the tempting scent of Carpathian blood.

Razvan watched as the farmer crawled toward a broken board in the wall. Instead of creeping through the hole in the wall, he reached to try to pry loose the board for a weapon. Razvan materialized on the other side of the wall and leaned in, finger to his lips. Taking a cue from Ivory, he sketched the sign of the cross in the air between them, knowing neither a minion sent from Xavier nor a vampire would do such a thing. When the man's eyes cleared and he nodded slightly, Razvan beckoned to him to slide through the ragged hole. As the man crawled into the snow, Razvan took his place, donning the illusion of the farmer's body and clothes.

The vampire shuffled closer to Ivory. He bowed, smiling at her. As further evidence that he was recently turned, his teeth didn't have the spiked points, nor were they stained black. He still maintained his rugged good looks. «What are you doing wandering around alone without benefit of protection?»

Ivory smiled sweetly. «What makes you think I am alone? Or without protection?» Keeping her gaze locked with his, she licked at the blood drops, closing the wound and depriving him of the treat he was so looking forward to.

The vampire shook his head. «You have no protection, lady, or I would feel them near.»

Ivory made an elegant, derisive sound that wiped the smile from the vampire's face. «You did not hear me. Why, then, would you think you could hear my lifemate? You were so busy toying with your food, you forgot the most basic of all lessons. It is no wonder that you will not survive this night.»

She poured contempt into her voice, yet she sounded very much the lady. Soft-spoken, nonthreatening, delivering the reprimand from princess to peasant. Razvan's admiration for her grew. She mesmerized the vampire without doing anything but talking. The undead had all but forgotten about the lowly farmer. He didn't view the human as a threat at all. Instead, he concentrated his attention on Ivory, wanting her rich Carpathian blood, a treat for a vampire who had recently turned.

The vampire scowled at her. «You dare to reprimand me when you walk the night alone? What are you doing here?» His voice turned wily and what he perceived as suave. «And such a beautiful woman, too. I have need of a lifemate.»

«Your youth is showing. So impetuous and wrong. Only those newly turned vampires still believe they can force women to become lifemates. Too bad you will not have the time to grow experienced.» She tilted her head to one side and studied him, her gaze sweeping him up and down. «You are new enough that you still have your looks. Looks are wasted on the young.»

Before he could reply her hand went to the loops on her holster and she flung six coated arrowheads into his chest in a straight line up and over his heart. Razvan rose to his feet and punched through the chest wall hard, the vampire blood burning over his arm and fist. He had so many scars that he barely felt the bite of the acid as he gripped the heart and began to extract it.

The vampire roared and slammed his head against Razvan's. He tried to dissolve, but the coated arrowheads prevented his chest from shifting to vapor. Raking at Razvan with talons, he tore the flesh from the heavy muscles covering Razvan's chest in an effort to dig through and get to his heart. Razvan yanked his arm back, using more strength than he had thought it would take. The heart was black, but still a normal size.

«Do not look at it. Incinerate it,» Ivory said.

Razvan called down the lightning, careful to keep it from striking anything but the vampire and his heart. He bathed his arms and hands in the white-hot energy field. «Controlling the lightning is difficult. I almost missed and nearly hit you.»

«I was prepared for it.» She sighed and regarded him with worried eyes. «Hesitation can get you killed. You were on him fast enough, but you cannot count him dead until the heart is incinerated. You should have burned that first. A more experienced vampire would have repaired himself while you were still marveling at your work.»

Razvan laughed aloud. Killing vampires was dirty work. The fetid breath and claws tearing into his chest and belly had been both frightening and exhilarating. He'd done it. He'd killed his first vampire. It hadn't been a perfect kill, but he had destroyed the undead and saved the farmer. It felt good to do something positive instead of waking up to find that his body had impregnated a woman, or delivered a poisonous blow to his sister or her lifemate. There was no way to tell Ivory how he was feeling, so he didn't try. He flashed her a smile and bowed.

«I will remember.»

She was certain he would. He looked so happy standing in that bare, run-down stable with his clothes torn to shreds and his blood streaking his chest and arms and belly. She ran her worried gaze over him. Blood dripped steadily, but there was light in his eyes and in his mind. He made her feel humble with his simple pleasure in doing something she considered a job. He considered it good.

«Thank you for allowing me the experience. It is the only way I will learn to become an asset on our hunt.»

Ivory shrugged, feigning indifference when everything feminine and nothing warrior about her was reacting to that look in his eyes. «It was your plan,» she pointed out.

He flashed a half grin at her, shrugging modestly. «In the old days, before I realized Xavier was in my mind, I was good at planning battles. I kept myself sane, exploring his weaknesses, and everyone else's as well. The vampires. Carpathians. Even the Lycans. But one day I realized that whenever I discovered that Xavier had a weakness it suddenly would be found and shored up. I was aiding my own enemy.»

She wanted to comfort him, to just wrap her arms around him and hold him close; instead she leaned down to casually pick up her arrowheads and place them in the small pouch at her side. Razvan wasn't asking for pity; he was stating a fact. But it struck like a blow, that boyish memory that had to hurt like hell. «You took the vampire down fairly easily. And that's what counts.»

«I am grateful you let me practice on him. Thinking it through in one's head is not the same as actually experiencing it. Taking the heart was harder than I expected. I am strong, and yet you make it look easy when it is not. There must be a trick to it that I have not gotten yet. But I will. I do think I had an advantage in that I can barely feel the burn of the vampire's blood anymore.»

To Ivory, it was heartrending that he thought the buildup of scar tissue from his vampire blood-coated chains was an asset. She wanted to weep for him. Instead she forced a casual response. «He was hardly worth messing up my fingernails.» She waved her hand and the ashes blew from the rickety building. «Come here. Let me make certain there is no poison in the lacerations.»

Razvan crossed to her side without hesitation. He caught her hand to examine her fingernails. «You are right. He was not worth messing them up. You have beautiful nails.»

To her consternation he brought her fingertips to his mouth and kissed them. «You forget to warm yourself.» He blew on her fingers and then drew them into the warmth of his mouth.

Her heart nearly stopped and then began to pound frantically. He was lethal at close range. That gentleness that was so much a part of him surrounded her, mesmerizing her as surely as her voice often captivated those within hearing distance. She took a breath and drew him deep into her lungs. She was tall and she could nearly look him square in the eye, but his shoulders were far wider than hers, even though she was wearing her thick fur coat.

She felt safe with him. Which was silly, and disturbing. She had learned never to trust anyone, yet she had let this man into her life. She didn't need him. She didn't want him. But standing so close to him confused her. Hunters had a certain energy surrounding them; everyone did. His was different. His energy was peaceful, absolutely peaceful. Almost serene. Breathing him in gave her strength in a way she'd never known before. He had a quiet acceptance over his fate, and the lack of need to control everything and everyone around him. In his own way, Razvan was enthralling, charming her without even trying.

Ivory swallowed hard and kept her gaze glued to the deep lacerations running up and down his chest. One particularly long scratch led down to his belly and disappeared into the band of his trousers. She laid her palm over one of the worst lacerations and closed her eyes, feeling for the poisonous brew that would signal parasites. Even though, after the first time, she knew the wounds were clean and merely welling blood, she continued to examine each individual injury.

She liked standing so close to him. The sense of serenity was an aphrodisiac in itself. She had heard of the practices in the Far East that had spread throughout the world, and to her this man embodied the very spirit of Zen. He felt calm. Even the simple pleasure he took in learning was without ego or rush.

Ivory leaned forward without conscious thought, her eyes half-closed, and slid her tongue over the long laceration, the healing agents in her saliva immediately removing the sting and closing the wound.

Razvan went still. «What are you doing?» His voice went hoarse.

Ivory noted the change in his breathing. He wasn't nearly as calm now as he'd been a moment ago, and there was something enormously satisfying in that. Her palm slid down to the next scratch and her mouth followed. Every muscle was defined, jumping beneath her touch, his body radiating heat, smelling of the outdoors on a spring night.

His breath left his body in a rush. She felt the ripple in his taut belly as her mouth skimmed down his chest, lower, following the path of the laceration.

«What are you doing?» he repeated.

«Healing you.» Ivory's voice had gone husky-almost liquid-betraying her.

He let his breath out in a long, slow exhale. «Listen to me, Ivory.» Razvan caught her wrists in his hands and held her away from him. His touch was gentle, incredibly so, but his grip was unbreakable without a fight. «My body betrayed me over and over. I do not even know how many times Xavier used my body to bring himself not only pleasure with other women, but to deliberately have a child with them so he could use the child's blood.»

«I do not understand what you are saying to me.» Her eyes met his. Held there.

«I am saying this is dangerous. You are my lifemate and everything in me demands I claim you. Once I weld us together it is for all time. I would not do that to you when it is so dangerous. You seemingly purged Xavier, but I was weak enough once that he managed to place not one but four pieces of himself into me. He used me for abhorrent, vile crimes. There are children in the world who suffered horribly because of my body. I do not know them. I would not recognize them if I saw them.»

«You would,» she denied, believing her words. «You would recognize them.»

«The healer and the prince tentatively accepted me, but only because I was with you. You would live the life of an outcast should you join with me.»

Ivory shook her head. «You are so noble, Razvan, always putting others before yourself, but in truth, you have not thought this all the way through.» What was she saying? Ivory was appalled at herself, arguing with him as if she wanted him to claim her. When had her feminine nature become so perverse that she wanted him to want her, even though she would never accept his claim? What in the world had gotten into her? She must be far lonelier than she realized. She enjoyed her life. She had chosen her life. She licked her lips, tasting him. Craving him.

«I am sorry. I do not know what got into me.» She turned away from him, but he didn't loosen his hold on her wrists, forcing her back to him.

«Do not do that. I would never reject the one person I want in my life. Though you have studied Xavier, you do not know how truly evil he is. If he knew you meant everything to me, that you are the reason I still live, then he would cease trying to find me and turn everything he has to acquiring you. I cannot allow that to happen. You are the one person I would trade my soul for. He cannot know that.»

She strained away a second time and he pulled her back, forcing her gaze to meet his, his grip firm, but still as gentle as ever, disarming her.

«I would trade everything, even honor, for you. It is the one thing I have kept intact all these long years. I endured much for honor.»

She nodded slowly. «Until I experienced the compulsion myself, I had no idea of the draw between lifemates.»

He shook his head slowly, still holding her gaze. «It is more than the draw between lifemates-much more. I have been inside your head. I have studied your home and the drawings you so patiently carved into the rock. Everything about you appeals to me. Every moment in your company only makes those feelings stronger. Perhaps the pull between us is strong physically because we are lifemates, but the pull on my heart and soul is equally as strong.»

She drew in her breath. «Thank you for that.» She would hold his words to her. They were spoken in truth. She knew purity when she heard it. «We must feed before we return to our lair, and I should erase the memories of the farmer and his wife so they do not inadvertently speak of this and draw Xavier's attention.»

«I touched his mind.» Razvan brought up each of Ivory's hands and pressed his mouth to the sensitive skin on her inner wrists where he'd been holding her. «The farmer would have fought for you, knowing he was going to die. He is a good man.»

«I liked his wife as well. I am glad we found them before it was too late. Very few vampires dare to enter into the territory protected by hunters. This is just outside the hunter's range. I come here often to check, and even here, probably because the vampires disappear when they come this way, this region stays fairly safe-at least until recently, since Xavier has expanded his territories.»

Ivory stepped back away from him. She should have been shaken up by his rejection of her blatant advances, but instead, she felt comforted and… cared for. She hadn't felt that way in more than a century. She found herself smiling up at him. His answering smile was slow in coming, but it warmed her.

Ivory paused and allowed her senses to flare out to search the night for other hidden dangers. A fox was close, searching for stray chickens that might have missed the lockdown for the night. A few mice hid from an owl circling overhead. She touched the owl several times to make certain it wasn't something else in bird form, but it was diligently hunting for a meal and not at all interested in what was happening in the human world.

She could feel Razvan's light touch as he followed her lead. The thing that stood out was his absolute lack of ego, which made for an extremely weightless touch, nearly impossible to detect. He would be a huge asset to any hunt just for that alone, but if he could plan battles in the way that he said, the two of them would have an even better chance to stop Xavier.

She touched the few floating clouds last, careful to examine each one to make certain they were genuine. When she went to step from the stable, Razvan stopped her with a touch to her shoulder.

«You did not search below the earth. That is Xavier's realm and he sends every spy through the tunnels the worms dig for him. In a recent battle, he went himself, using my body, to try to murder my sister and the prince. Another time he tried to kill Shea, the sister-in-law of the prince and her unborn child. I would fear the ground more than any other method of travel.»

«I can sense the passage of the worms.»

«He sends spies in very small forms now. Scorpions and insects have become his allies. He uses others from another realm, such as the shadow warriors he has drawn against their wills from the ranks of the dead, but other much more demonic creatures as well.»

«He has never used insects to spy.»

«He has always used them, he just mutates them. You are looking for his mutations.»

Ivory let her breath out while she processed the information. «That explains a few things. You do know a lot about him.»

«I have been with him since my fourteenth year. I have been present for most of his experiments, if not all.»

Her eyes widened and her heart jumped. «He allowed you to watch him as he cast and wrote his spells?»

He nodded. «My sister was always good with spells. I have never been good. Once he recognized that, he did not fear my presence.»

«But you have a good memory.»

«I remember everything down to the smallest detail. That is why I am gifted when it comes to planning battles.» He wasn't bragging, he was merely stating a fact.

Excitement coursed through her. «I really want to get this straight. You were present when he conducted his experiments and cast his spells? For his mutations? To bring the shadow warriors under his command? All of it?»

«He likes to brag. He needs admiration. He needs someone to know he is smarter than the rest of the world. He has few students. I can identify the mages helping him. Most fear him too much to be anywhere near him, and they should. He has no loyalty toward anyone. If he needs blood or a body for an experiment and he cannot get anyone else, he will lure an assistant to his death. I was extremely handy to have around. I had Carpathian blood he could drain from me, and he could brag.»

A small humorless smile curved his mouth. «For years I was able to disguise my blood and my abilities, until he took me over so completely. I paid for the indiscretion of besting him, as well as for trying to warn my daughter and sister. But it was worth it to know he was not entirely invincible.»

«I cannot imagine your life, or how you stayed sane.»

Razvan's smile softened into the real thing. «No more than you, hacked to pieces and left for the wolves. Only you would have found a way to persuade the wolves to aid you. Your voice is an amazing asset, but it is your will that intrigues me.»

«Some would say I am too pushy and obstinate.»

«Some do not know you.»

Again her stomach did that fluttery thing she was coming to associate as a very feminine response to him. It didn't upset her quite so much now that he admitted he was more affected by her than she had known.

She turned her attention to the ground, this time paying attention to the smallest insect. There was life beneath the snow, hiding in the richness of the soil and beneath the boulders and roots. She didn't detect even a small hint of evil, but she remained silent, allowing Razvan to examine the ground. He had lived his life with Xavier, and knew every secret experiment, knew his habits. Her excitement at the prospect of working with him, of tapping into such a source of knowledge was growing.

She believed in her own abilities. She had studied Xavier's ways and she believed she could unravel his spells and build counterspells to reverse his evil experiments if she knew the exact spell. If Razvan had really been present and could remember the exact wording, they would have a real advantage.

«I think we are safe,» Razvan said, «although that fox is hungry and may decide you look a fine, tasty treat.»

«Are you saying I look like a chicken?»

«Well, your feathers seem to be a little ruffled.»

She found herself laughing when she never laughed. Razvan was just plain fun. Maybe having someone to share life with made things fun. Whatever it was, she hoped she could hold on to it, even though the prospect was a little frightening, just because she'd never really had much to lose before.

She moved ahead of him, striding across the snow. Razvan followed a step or so behind, gliding to her left. She realized he was allowing the wolves to guard her back and he was taking up a position on her weakest side. Very few would discern that she had a weak side. She practiced all the time, using either hand to throw, shooting the crossbow with either hand and generally working to make both sides even, but she just wasn't quite as quick with the left. He had a good eye for assessing an enemy.

Or a partner.

They were getting used to sliding in and out of each other's minds. From a warrior's point of view, that was a huge asset; from a woman's maybe not as much.

«Why?» Razvan sounded genuinely curious.

She flicked him an under the lashes glance, assessing his expression, but as always he had that same mantle of calm surrounding him. «This is not easy for me. I have unexpected feelings that I have no idea how to cope with.» The admission was truthful because she could do no less than be entirely candid with him. He was honest and she needed to meet his integrity with honor of her own.

His smile not only encompassed her, flooding her with warmth, but it made her feel like part of something else-something bigger than herself. «That makes two of us.»

The farmer stepped out from his house and into the snow. There was blood on his arms, defense wounds, Ivory saw. His wife came out and stood slightly behind him. The farmer looked very nervous.

Ivory smiled at them to reassure them. «He is gone from this world and we will erase all evidence of his passing.»

«You are hunters,» the farmer greeted, his voice neutral, neither welcoming nor rejecting. «There have been persistent rumors. We have never encountered a creature so evil.» His eyes skittered back and forth, indicating his nervousness.

Behind him, hidden mostly from their view, his wife shuddered. Ivory looked at the small dwelling. Strings of garlic hung in the window. A cross was carved into the door. The farmer's fingers drummed against his thigh over and over.

Razvan stepped up, a casual movement, but slightly in front of Ivory. He bowed slightly toward the farmer. Ivory could feel the stillness in him. His eyes moved over and around the cabin, continually scanning around them. He had been perfectly relaxed before, but now, he felt coiled and ready to strike.

Something is wrong. She kept her expression serene, but she went on alert.

I do not know what is wrong, Razvan mused. Something. Something is off. He paused.

Ivory opened her mind to encompass the farmer and his wife. As a rule, she could easily touch minds and do a quick read, but there were a few people resistant with barriers. A quick, light touch yielded nothing. The wife stayed slightly behind the husband, her face in the shadows. It would be peculiar and unlikely not to be able to read either of them, yet both minds were as if a clean slate.

Both? Razvan questioned. The insects. None are near the house. Yes, they are going about their business, but not even an ant is near the dwelling. He glanced toward the window of the little farmhouse. Inside, Ivory.

Ivory kept smiling, but her mind expanded further, reaching into the house to find the children. A boy and girl. Both terrified. Where was the threat coming from? Why hadn't either of them sensed it? Only a master… She broke off the thought, her heart thudding. She kept her eyes level with the farmer's. If she was right and a master vampire was in that room with the children, if the farmer realized she knew, so, then, would the vampire.

Only a master could keep his presence unknown, she explained. He would control both of them and the children, too, to keep them from betraying his presence. He must have been recruiting the newly turned. A master will often use a lesser vampire as a pawn.

Ivory steeled herself. It had to be Sergey. There wouldn't be more than one master in an area, not even related. They might have formed a coalition, but no master vampire's ego would allow him to be too long in the presence of another without serious infighting. She would have to face him again, unless she was lucky enough that he ran when he realized there were two hunters, not one.

She gripped her crossbow in preparation. What we have to do for a meal is ridiculous.

The fingers tapping on the farmer's thigh turned to a fist. He shuddered and reached for something positioned just out of sight behind a porch post.

The vampire has taken control of them. O kod belso-darkness take it. I do not want to have to kill a good man.

Razvan smiled at the farmer, but stepped back, forcing Ivory to do the same. Are you adept enough to take them back?

From a master vampire? Ivory hesitated. I do not know. Probably not. Even with two of us, Razvan, we might not defeat him. To hear the voice of a master, you must listen with more than your ears or they can enthrall you. Put your arm around me. Stay to my left side and stay free of the coat.

Razvan did as she asked without hesitation, sliding his arm around her waist while smiling amicably at the couple on the porch.

Ivory bowed slightly. «I hope that you both have a long and prosperous life.»

He will expect us to attempt to erase their memories. As Ivory explained she took a step back, as if they were leaving. When I go to do it, he will most likely strike at me, at my mind. If you join with me, we will be far stronger and we will have a chance, but we might not live through this. Now is the time to walk away if you wish to fight another day.

But you will fight for these strangers. He made it a statement.

She was not going to allow Sergey to take any more from her than had already been taken. I have to. It was that simple. She no longer knew if she was driven by honor, but she could not walk away from these people and allow Sergey to murder their children and turn them both into the walking dead. I have to, but you do not.

Razvan flicked her one telling glance of reprimand. Tell me what you want me to do.

She allowed a small smile in her mind to warm him, her only offering of thanks when they could both lose their lives. Merge with me. He will strike hard and fast, hammering at me to get in, especially if I can manage to free the couple from him. You will have to hold.

Ivory turned to the couple, lifted her hands to the sky and chanted.

I call to air, earth, fire and water, I ask you to send me the voice of power. Deep within these darkened souls, Send forth my voice so that which is dark may be seen and unfold. Allow what was hidden to now be seen, So that I may cast out that which is unholy and unclean.

As Ivory chanted, Razvan felt the force of the vampire's attempted entry, battering at their shared minds. The blow nearly drove him to his knees, shattering all preconceived notions of power. The sky darkened and the ground shook. Pieces of the roof splintered off into large spears and hurtled down on them. The ground heaved upward, and scorpions poured out of the earth, blackening the snow, a moving carpet of lethal insects.

Razvan instinctively shoved Ivory away from him and took to the sky, going up and over the disintegrating porch roof. The rapidly gathering storm clouds burst, raining acid drops, so that everything the liquid dots hit sizzled and burned. Trees shrieked, the branches trembled, leaves and needles withering under the deadly assault.

Ivory spun away from the swarming insects, rushing the porch, yanking the man and woman up into her arms. The farmer dropped the pitchfork he'd grabbed, shocked that the vampire had controlled him. At least Ivory had managed to break them both free of the vampire's hold, but she felt it was due more to him orchestrating his attack then her strength pitted against his.

«My children,» the woman sobbed.

Ivory tried to protect their skin as she carried them to the meager shelter of the trees. The acid rain poured down, burning through the wolf pelts so that the animals shifted and shrieked in pain. The woman screamed as drops sizzled over her arms, but Ivory, with a renewed burst of speed, moved them into the thicker canopy.

«Stay here. We will get the children free of him. My wolves will protect you.»

She turned back to aid Razvan in the rescue of the children, streaming through the fiery burn of the rain while her skin burned to the bone.

Razvan streamed down the chimney, and into the tiny room. A boy of perhaps ten lay sprawled on the floor, blood smearing his mouth. The little girl, with a bone-white complexion and eyes too big for her little face, looked to be no more than five. The vampire laughed as he ripped at her neck, his teeth tearing into tender flesh.

The sight sickened Razvan, conjuring up too many memories, the feel of his own teeth tearing into childish skin. His stomach heaved. He had no experience fighting, but he had power and strength and determination beyond anything conceived of by the undead. It mattered not at all to him whether he lived or died, or how much suffering it took to extract the child. The vampire, on the other hand, wanted to live.

Razvan sped across the room like a human bullet, taking his human form at the last possible moment, slamming his fist deep into the wall of Sergey's chest while dragging the child out of his arms and tossing her toward her brother. She landed like a rag doll, broken and sprawled out across the sheep rug.

«Press your hand to the wound on her neck,» Razvan snarled at the boy. «Press it hard.»

Razvan stared into the vampire's hideous face, the stretched skin over the skull, the pitiless eyes, the jagged teeth stained with the fresh blood of the child. Sergey's lips peeled back in something between a snarl and a smirk. He bent his head and bit down savagely on Razvan's shoulder, the rows of teeth meeting through the muscle, ripping through sinew and bone, tearing at the flesh and devouring great gulps of precious blood. His hand clawed deep through the heavy muscled chest, burrowing relentlessly toward Razvan's heart

Razvan turned his head calmly to look at the boy as if he wasn't being eaten alive by the monstrous demon tearing at his flesh. «Take your sister and go to the silver wolf pack. They will take you to the next village. Ask for a man named Mikhail. He will heal your sister and protect both of you. Run, do not look back.»

His voice never changed, never trembled or showed pain. His hand, inside Sergey's chest seeking the blackened heart, was met with razor-sharp intestines, twisting and pulling around his fist, biting deep into the skin, acid blood pouring over him like molten-hot lava, but he was every bit as relentless as Sergey, refusing to back away.

«I do not mind dying, han ku vie elidet-thief of life. What of you? Are you prepared for your final justice?»

The undead did not respond, and instead continued to rip and tear great chunks of flesh from Razvan's shoulder and neck. Ivory burst into the room, firing the crossbow, the first coated arrow hitting Sergey in his eye. She fired as she ran, hitting his throat as his head arched back. The third went into the open mouth, lodging in the throat. Sergey screamed, his voice so high-pitched the glass in the windows exploded. He jerked backward, taking Razvan with him, one arm shifting until it took on the shape of the beak of a hungry raptor.

As the beak clamped down around Razvan's arm, viciously slicing through flesh and bone, cutting it completely in two, the vampire hissed at him. «I will cut you in pieces and feed them to the wolves, and then I will devour those children.»

Razvan staggered back. Blood sprayed across the room. Sergey gripped the stump of Razvan's forearm and yanked, drawing the fist from his chest and dropping it on the floor, kicking it away in disgust. The vampire jerked at the arrow in this throat and hurled it toward Razvan with tremendous force.

Razvan moved with blurring speed, his one hand shooting out to catch the metal shaft in midair, reverse it and slam it down hard on the top of the vampire's foot, driving the arrow through the top all the way to the floor.

We have to slow him down. He will go after the children just for spite.

«Get away from him!» Ivory warned.

«Too late,» Sergey snarled.

Even as Ivory leapt to cross the distance between them, Sergey whirled, a long sword in his hand. He sliced across Razvan's shoulder and down his chest, carving more pieces. Razvan staggered and went down. Sergey slammed the blade toward his ankle. She met blade with blade, the force going up her arm and through her body as sparks flew and the sound rang in her ear. Razvan was eerily silent, but his hand gripped a knife of his own as he waited an opportunity to aid her.

Sergey laughed, the sound cruelly malicious. «I will chop him up, piece by piece, as they did you, and I will feed them to your own wolf pack. I might let you live, sister dear, just to see you weep for the loss of your lifemate. You must learn who is strong and who is weak. You are on the wrong side. Join me. Let us cut him up together and I might spare you.»

Ivory's heart pounded. Her body jerked in response to the sight of her lifemate's body in pieces. There was a hole in his chest and his arm was in two pieces, slices through his shoulder and chest and one leg, his blood a terrible fountain, pouring over the floor.

Ivory knew that the vampire was the vilest of all creatures. The one before her no longer even resembled her brother, although he tried to keep up the illusion with the hope that it would cause her pain and make her hesitate, throwing off her aim. He had deliberately chosen to tear at a child's flesh and to hack Razvan into pieces, bringing forth some of their worst nightmarish memories to make the battle all the more difficult. She gripped her sword harder and stepped between her lifemate and the undead who had once been a beloved brother.

«Kill me, then. But I am taking you with me.»

The vampire jerked the remaining arrows from his body and tossed them contemptuously onto the floor. «So be it,» Sergey said and thrust his sword straight toward her stomach.

Ivory parried, jumping to the side. Too late she realized the vampire had deliberately driven her away from Razvan. She lunged back, but Sergey struck again, slicing through Razvan's leg a second time, the cut deep enough to go through bone. Her blade raced toward the vampire's skull, but he dissolved and materialized across the room.

Stop thinking about me and fight him the way you always fight.

In the moment that Razvan spoke, every agonizing stroke of the blade flooded back to her, as the vampires chopped her into pieces much the same way Sergey was doing to Razvan. Methodically. Relentlessly. Mercilessly.

Do not try to save me. Think only of killing him.

I cannot defeat him. He was a great warrior. He taught me to fight. He is a master vampire. Even our strongest hunters rarely can defeat them alone.

Who better than you to fight him? You know his every move before he makes it. You have changed over the centuries. He will be expecting that young woman he taught, not the seasoned warrior you have become. He is preying on your emotions. Do not be tricked by one such as he. You are a great warrior, and you, better than any other, can defeat him.

Around them the house began to shake, the walls undulating and breaking apart so that debris rained down on the vampire. Ivory knew Razvan couldn't move with his agonizing, mortal wounds, but was buying her time to regroup, using what remaining energy he had, not to attempt to burrow into the ground, but rather to use his powers to aid her.

Ivory took a deep breath and let it out. Razvan may have been inexperienced, but he had the heart and soul of a warrior-like she did. Never had she seen another warrior so courageous, so stoic. She took another deep breath and let it out, allowing a mantle of calm to settle over her. Razvan was right. She could not allow her feelings to interfere with her primary job. She was a warrior first, a woman second.

She forced herself to look only at the vampire-to see only the vampire. As long as she could keep Sergey focused on her and away from Razvan, she might be able to keep her lifemate alive and slay the vampire. What weapons could be used against this master? Vanity was the one trait that not only all the undead shared, but her brothers in particular.

She changed her appearance subtly, very slowly, softening her features to take on a younger, more girlish look-as in the old days, long before the centuries had passed, when her brothers had loved and cherished her more than their own egos.

Sergey lifted his sword and touched it to his forehead in a mock salute, allowing her to see Razvan's blood running down the blade to the hilt. The ruby drops coated his hand and, with his gaze locked with hers, he licked at the blood.

Her stomach knotted, but she tilted her head to one side and laughed, a taunting, tinkling sound, like that of a young, giddy girl. «You have grown old, Sergey. I thought with all your intelligence and experience, you would become, at the very least, a master vampire, one so powerful it would take our strongest hunters to ban together to defeat you. Yet here you are, struggling to vanquish a woman, your baby sister.»

His eyes glowed with fire. She could actually see tiny flames burning in the dark depths. She had been correct in thinking the way to shake him was through his enormous ego. Sergey swung the sword at her neck, slicing through the air with such force that when she ducked and ran her own sword into his side, the momentum from his swing actually carried him away from her. He screamed, the sound a mixture of pain and rage.

The floor erupted beneath her feet, splintering, so that she nearly fell through. But thanks to her many lessons from her brothers, she was dancing out of the way of the falling floorboards. She could smell the rich soil beckoning from the various holes in the floor.

«Oh dear, you have gotten slow, haven't you? You are nothing more than a weak, withered shadow of your former self. In the days past, one look from you would have crushed me, let alone the might of your sword, but now you play games like the puny coward you are, the way a shriveled and fading old man might play chess with trembling fingers and a mind forgetting the moves.»

Can you bring the rest of the roof down on him? she asked Razvan, hating for him to use up his strength, but needing a distraction.

Of course. There was no hesitation, but she was beginning to know Razvan and his iron will. He wouldn't hesitate, no matter the cost to him.

The roof crumbled with a thunderous roar, the wood and dirt once more falling on Sergey's head and shoulders. It wasn't nearly as effective as the first time, but it bought her the seconds she needed. Ivory tossed the sword to the ground beside Razvan's hand and jerked out the small, handmade laser. It was powered by a diamond she'd cut herself.

Sergey dissolved to avoid the wood and dirt raining from the roof as the house shook apart. He materialized just behind Ivory, but three wooden boards with jagged points came hurtling at him with breakneck speed, forcing him to dissolve again. Each time he flowed past Razvan the blade sliced another deep cut. Ivory timed him this time, letting loose a blast of white-hot energy that did some slicing of its own. The blade of light didn't cut all the way through his skull, but the letter T was very prominent.

Black blood splattered across the crumbling walls. A foul stench filled the air, as if a corpse was rotting from the inside out.

«The stamp of a traitor. Wear it proudly. It will not come off.» Ivory inclined her head, the princess acknowledging something crawling beneath her feet. She ran toward him, firing the crossbow rapidly, the arrows running up his body and preventing him from shifting, giving her a straight line up his chest to the wizened heart.

Thin lips peeled back in a snarl, Sergey sprang to meet her, ripping at one of the arrows and slamming it home just over her heart as she plunged her fist into his chest. As her hand burrowed deep, his intestines wrapped around her fist and wrist, sawing away at her skin, opening deep lacerations, allowing the poisonous vampire blood to pour inside the wounds.

Sergey stood toe to toe with her, the black holes that were his eyes staring mercilessly down into her eyes. He twisted and dragged the arrow out of her body and plunged it in a second time. «Feel that?» he hissed. «Dear sister. Beloved sister. This is how much I love you. I will bring you to our side. We will rule the earth soon and you will be part of us, one with us. I do this for you.»

The tone was very much that of the brother she had lost, but his face was a mask of evil, his eyes two hot coals glowing deep ruby-red. His breath was fetid in her face, burning her skin, singeing her eyebrows. She tried to keep her hand moving forward to find the shriveled heart, but the cuts were too deep and she was in danger of losing her hand. Gritting her teeth, she pushed harder, trying to move through those heavy muscles to gain the heart.

Sergey slammed his fist into her chest, intending to drive not only the arrow deep into her heart, but his own hand, using his strength and speed to outrace her for her heart. For a moment the crosses coated in holy water burned through his hand, straight to the bone so that he howled and screamed in rage, spittle running from his mouth. He flung back his head, enduring the pain, trying to push past that holy line of defense.

A flame burst from the sky above them, a fiery blast that slammed hard into Sergey's back. The vampire was driven forward onto Ivory's arm. Her fingers scraped the edge of the withered organ. Elated, she ignored the agony as the razor-sharp bands tightened around her hand and wrist and dug deeper.

Sergey screamed, the sound blowing apart the rest of the house, reducing the wood to spears, hundreds of them flying through the air from every direction at both Razvan and Ivory. With his last remaining strength, Razvan threw a barrier around Ivory's back and the top of her head to prevent penetration of the sharp spears. Half a dozen drove through his body, staking him to the floor.

Sergey swept Ivory's legs out from under her. She went down hard, slipping in the pools of blood covering the floor. Sergey staggered back, his face a twisted mask of hatred. Before he could slam his fist deep into her chest, she surged to her feet, leaping in the very motion Sergey had taught her as a young child.

Ivory smiled at him, deliberately locking her gaze with his as he had when he'd licked at Razvan's blood. She knew there was a gaping hole in her chest where he'd tried to reach her heart. Blood dripped steadily, yet she taunted him with a smile. She took a step and went down on one knee, still holding his gaze, watching his eyes narrow, watching the cruel thoughts move through his mind. Keeping their gazes locked, she drove her hand and wrist deep into the welcoming soil. She knew the soil intimately, knew the healing properties. She had lain companion to the minerals and elements for a hundred years.

She whispered to the earth in the ancient language, the language she knew better than any other, a language close to the earth.

Ema Maye, en, lanad, omasak Teteh. Jalleen jamaak-Mother Earth, your daughter stands before you wounded once again.

Maye mayed-Earth to earth.

Siv sived-Heart to heart.

Me juttaak elidaban es kalmaban-We are bound together in life and death.

Pusmasz ainam, juttad lihad-Heal this body, bring together this flesh.

Te magkoszunam, sivam sivadet-I give thanks from my heart to yours.

She continued, her voice rising and falling with the ebb and flow of the earth's blood.

Twist this root, break and bend, Fit the wood to my hand. Hone the edges, make them sharp, To pierce deep within that which is aged and dark. I name you need, fit to my will, Your making is to stop the evil that would kill.

Sergey came at her as she had known he would, believing her distracted by her wounds, muttering to herself beneath her breath. As he bent toward her, she jerked her hand from beneath the soil, newly healed, all traces of the deep lacerations gone. In her fist was a root, twisted and sharpened to the finest blade, honed down to the finest ice pick, and in one smooth, easy move, she thrust it up and straight into his left eye.

He slammed his fist into her throat, knocking her back and down as he whirled away from her. As he came down he viciously kicked at Razvan's head. Razvan was already wielding the heavy sword, swinging it in a brutal cut at the vampire's calf. Sergey barely moved his leg in time to avoid most of the blade. The edge caught him enough to cut into his tendon. The vampire leapt into the air to escape another blow.

Coming down in a fighting crouch, her weapon already blazing, Ivory added another letter in the word traitor to his forehead. The laser cut the R so deep it dug into the skull itself.

«Before we are finished here, you will bear the mark of the traitor for our brothers to know that they taught me well. They will be amused that you could not dispatch a woman, your sister-child, so easily,» she taunted.

Vampires were vain creatures, especially master vampires. Her brothers had always had large egos, believing they would do a better job ruling the Carpathian people than the prince and a better job of protecting the prince than the Daratrazanoff lineage. He knew when word of his defeat, of the damage done to his body, reached his siblings, he would be the laughingstock of the entire vampire world.

As if knowing it was all true, Razvan laughed, the sound low and taunting, echoing through the surrounding fields and sky.

Sergey shrieked, furious, blood and spittle erupting from his mouth. «You are already dead, weak one. You think I do not know how you crawled on the ground like a dog, following after Xavier for his scraps? You are less than a worm and deserve to die writhing in agony. You pathetic weakling. She will die a hideous death before she joins you in the afterlife.»

Ivory put every ounce of contempt she had into her voice. «I will go to my lifemate and live in bliss while you walk through the fires of hell, snarling and spitting and crying like a child for blood. You are nothing, the undead, fodder for our brothers who laugh at your weakness and point fingers at your ineptness.»

Sputtering with rage, Sergey clapped his hands together and his voice boomed like thunder, sounding as if it came from a great distance away, and surrounding her, echoing from the sky and coming up from beneath her feet.

Remove all sound from her throat! Quiet the words that would be spoke.

Ivory instantly felt the effects, her throat closing, so that even when she opened her mouth, no sound emerged.

He is using a spell Xavier often used on his underlings when he was tired of their questions. He is even using Xavier's voice, Razvan told her. It is effective in frightening them into obedience because his apprentices believe he is powerful enough to remove their voices permanently.

Ivory threw her hands into the air and double-time clapped.

Sound abound. Thoughts race by. Air to lungs, let my voice cry.

She could immediately breathe better, and the air hissed from her mouth in blessed sound.

She replaced Sergey's spell with one of her own, turning his words back on him, although she knew it was temporary and wouldn't last long.

I call to the power deep within, Remove the sound, quiet the din. Take away that which is harmful, seal it tight, Remove the offending orifice from my sight.

When Sergey tried to open his mouth, it was no longer there-a thick scar tissue of skin had grown over the opening, sealing it closed so that he couldn't speak. His face was blank from his nose down. His eyes, widened in alarm, spit venomous hatred at her. The arrows in his chest fell to the ground, eaten through by his acid blood. He lifted his hands and electricity arced from his fingers, leaping at her.

Ivory dodged sideways, firing more arrows, using the same straight up-and-down pattern as before, marking the line over his heart. The hair on her body stood up as the electricity sizzled and snapped, but when the vampire snapped it like a whip, hurling the energy across the room at her, the force struck an invisible barrier and followed a vapor trail back to lash at Sergey.

Ivory made a second try for the heart, smashing her fist deep, but Sergey turned to the side, catching her wrist and snapping the bone, flinging her from him. As he followed her down, Razvan yanked a spear from his leg with his only hand, impaling Sergey as the force of his momentum carried the undead right onto the spear.

It missed his heart by inches, tearing through his gut. Sergey yanked the pole free and hurtled it at Razvan with vicious force. The warrior knocked it aside with the edge of his hand and retaliated with a weak sweep of the sword.

«You will be known to the vampire world as he who has no voice. They will ridicule you for all time, long centuries should you survive, because a woman defeated you along with her pathetic dog of a lifemate.»

Sergey's eyes widened, spun, his nostrils flaring, black blood pouring from his wounds as he nearly exploded in his anger. He threw his arms out wide and energy surged, blowing out the remaining walls. The heavily laden clouds overhead spun and churned, twisting into a long thick spear of lethal ice.

Sergey ripped the arrows from his chest and dissolved, streaming away from them, leaving behind droplets of acid blood. Everywhere the blood fell, it burned through the wood and flooring of the farmer's house.

Ivory took to the air after him. Across the sky, storm clouds gathered in force, lightning rimming the edges, turning the once clear sky an ominous gray. The clouds boiled with activity, bursting upward like mushrooms exploding. The ice spear moved away from her, lightning sparking from its tip as it traveled across the sky.

Sergey must have sealed off his wounds, because the droplets ceased almost immediately. She could give chase, follow that telling spear. He was wounded, yes, but he wasn't really in such bad shape, and without Razvan to aid her, she wouldn't fare nearly as well. The spell would wear off fast and Sergey would have his fangs back and a burning need for revenge. In the meantime, she would lose Razvan, if she hadn't already.

«Choose who lives and who dies!» Sergey's voice boomed across the sky.

The sound waves burst through her, nearly knocking her backward. Rage poured over her, filling the sky, squeezing hard on her chest. Obviously the spell wore off faster than she'd hoped.

«Give chase. Follow me, little sister, and you may have a chance to save the puny mortals and their disgusting whelps. If not I will kill and feed on them as well as your precious wolf pack. Follow me and your dog of a lifemate dies if he is not already gone from this world. Choose. And live with the choosing.»

Ivory reached out to her wolf pack. They were carrying the two children and the two adults across the miles of rugged terrain on their backs, racing toward Mikhail's home deep in the mountains. The pass was still open, but with the terrible storm brewing, she doubted if it would be for long. If they were forced to take a longer route through the upper mountains, they would be at a disadvantage as Sergey streaked across the sky to intercept them.

The vampire is after you. Call to the prince. Call to the hunters. I cannot aid you. She sent the warning to her beloved brothers and sisters. It was all she could do, she realized with a sinking heart. She could not allow Razvan to die.

There was a stirring in her mind. Weak. Flickering. Save the children.

She refused to argue, to answer. She would not let Razvan die. Ivory turned back, circling the farm once to make certain there was no feel of danger before she dropped down into the remains of what once had been a snug house. There was blood and flesh and bone, splintered walls and mud and debris. There was Razvan lying on the floor in a pool of blood, his arm and hand a distance away.

Ivory returned the pieces to his body. Five spears remained in his body, along with a large hole where the sixth had been. She drew a deep, shuddering breath. His sides heaved as he tried to drag in air. His eyes were closed, and all wound sites were sealed, although there was enough blood on the floor to make her think it was too late to seal anything off.

I need to know that you live. His voice came into her head from far away. Heal your wounds quickly so I can leave you in peace.

«You cannot go. I will not allow it. I mean it, Razvan, you must live.» She bent close to him so that her breath was warm against his cold skin. «I need you. Do you hear me? I need you. You must live for me.»

Remove the spears.

«I know they hurt, Razvan, but you will die if I do. Give me a minute.»

I am already dead.

«No, you cannot think that way.» Ivory knelt beside Razvan, pulling his head into her lap. She bent low over him again. «Listen to me. You cannot go from this life. We have not done what we know is possible together.»

You ask the impossible.

She switched to telepathic communication, as it was easier for him. I asked it of myself first. I know how difficult it is when no one else does. I know what I ask, know what I demand of you, of my lifemate. If you go, we go together. Bind us. Bind us now. It will give me what I need to save you.

Razvan didn't open his eyes. His hand moved in hers, the fingers slippery with blood. You wish me to live through this?

We can defeat Xavier. We must defeat him. Bind us together. I will lead you now and follow you in the years to come. Bind us now, before you are gone from me.

Ivory forced back the burning tears, the terrible weight in her chest and the feel of her own wounds so little in comparison. He had to want her enough to live. Had to want to defeat Xavier enough. His will, so strong, had to match her own. Warriors, after so many centuries of loneliness, often embraced death. They could rest at long last, but she wasn't giving him up without a fight.

Razvan moved in her mind, searching. Whatever he found there, he came to a decision, even knowing the agony he would suffer. I can think of no other I have met in my lifetime who I would rather have. If you accept me . . .

Absolutely I do. Time was running out. He had lost too much blood. He had cauterized the wounds, so many, as Sergey sliced him into pieces, making his body a patchwork imitation of hers. But the blood loss was severe.

You are certain you wish to bind your life to mine with all it entails?

She answered without hesitation. I am.

So be it. His voice strengthened. You are my lifemate. I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give you my protection. I give you my allegiance. I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I give you my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life will be cherished by me for all my time. Your life will be placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate. You are bound to me for all eternity. You are always in my care. He opened his eyes and looked into hers. Te avio palafertiilam.

Ivory felt the threads binding them together. The two halves of their souls merged as one. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, her voice a soft whisper. «I accept with my heart and soul your offer. I take your soul. I take your body. I take your heart. You are one with me. I take you into my keeping and bind you for all eternity with my strength and will and our combined determination. Te avio palafertiilam-you are my lifemate and I refuse to allow you to leave this world. Let your soul dwell within mine.»

Razvan closed his eyes with his impossibly long lashes. A small satisfied smile curved his mouth. I have given myself to you, lifemate. Do what you must.

Long ago, when Xavier and Draven had sentenced her to die a horrendous death, it was not only her Carpathian blood and body, driven to repair itself and heal in the soil, that had saved her. It was a combination of those things, along with her will and Xavier's teachings. Xavier would have torn out his hair had he known how she had taken so many of his hexes and made them her own, putting her faith of a higher power into the weaving of each spell, twisting the curse into something for good.

This will hurt as much or more than the worst torture Xavier thought to put you through. Let yourself drift away, your soul and spirit in my safekeeping. She tried to warn him, choking back a sob. She knew from experience what she was asking to put him through.

She wept when she felt the flickering of warmth move through her mind, his life spirit a flickering dim light she now held in her soul. She began the work of removing all parasites from his body before closing off each wound and cauterizing it. All the while she worked, she switched between the Carpathian healing chant, and the healing spell she had used on herself when asking Mother Earth to aid her.

I call upon the power of earth, she who creates us all. Hear my call, Mother.

I ask for clear sight-the ability to see that which seeks not to be seen.

Guide me, Mother. Take my hands make them your own.

Use them to mend that which has been broken, torn.

Guide me, Mother. Provide rest and healing to a tortured soul.

Embrace him, Mother. Heal him of all injuries. Guide him, Mother.

I call upon the higher power. Use me as your vessel. See through my eyes.

Look into my soul. Use me as a tool. Guard us great one. Take us into your care. Nurture us as you would a child. Guide us with your knowledge.

So that we may arise once again to fight.

Her voice rose and fell as she called to the powers who had aided her centuries earlier in her need, rocking back and forth, heedless of her own wounds, caring only that Razvan, her lifemate, was spared.

Mikhail Dubrinsky, prince of the Carpathian people, heard the call of wolves long before they reached his house deep in the forest. Gregori. He summoned his second-in-command and best friend. I have urgent need of you. Hunters, heed my call. I have urgent need of you. He sent the command out on the common Carpathian telepathic pathway, summoning all who were close.

Safeguarding his home, Mikhail took to the air to intercept the wolf pack. They were still miles away, but the distress in their calls was profound. He sped through the thick canopy of trees, sending his senses out before him, trying to discern the danger following the wolf pack.

There was blood on the wind, and a foul stench that could only be attributed to the undead. Rotting flesh and poison. Humans.

Wait for me, Gregori demanded. I am but a few minutes behind you. It could be a trap.

I feel children. Blood. Terror. The wolves are calling. Which meant he wasn't waiting.

As Mikhail flew, another owl came up on his right, a second on his left. He identified both. Natalya, sister to Razvan, and her lifemate, Vikirnoff. Neither asked questions as they raced across the night sky with him toward the calling wolf pack. Overhead the storm clouds thickened, rolling and churning-boiling with anger. Flecks of white-hot energy lit up the edges of the cloud formations. Ice rained down, sharp spears meant to slow the fleeing pack.

Vampire, Mikhail identified. He pursues the wolf pack and whatever they guard. He was already moving with blurring speed, and he pushed himself, forging ahead of the other two ancient warriors.

Mikhail. Gregori hissed a warning. We do not know what we face.

I believe it is clear enough. Mikhail ignored the rumblings of his bodyguard and slipped lower in the trees as the ice began to penetrate even the thick canopy.

A wolf howled, a child cried out. A woman screamed. Mikhail could hear them clearly now.

«Go, take the children. Leave us. You will travel faster,» a man's voice rang out. «We'll try to slow him down.»

The pack gave voice again, whether in protest or agreement, Mikhail couldn't guess. The wind rose to a howling shriek, blasting through the trees with hurricane force, uprooting several trees. As the large trunks struck other trees, they fell in a domino effect, pointing like an arrow in the direction the wolf pack had gone.

The force of the biting cold wind flung the three Carpathians back through the sky and into the path of the falling ice. Mikhail felt a sharp point pierce his arm and he dissolved instantly, although the wind pushed him farther from the pack. The storm increased in strength, dumping huge amounts of snow from the sky until the ice was so thick and dangerous they could not continue forward in the air.

Drop down, we will have to run to meet them from the ground.

Gregori growled at him, this time much closer. Vikirnoff said nothing at all as his prince hit the ground running, but he moved into a better position to protect the man. Natalya paced just behind him, watching their back-trail.

This wolf pack is unusual, Vikirnoff ventured. They are using the ancient path of telepathic communication to call for aid. And they call us, not other wolves.

These have to be the wolves that travel with Ivory Malinov, Mikhail explained.

He had, of course, given the news to Natalya that her twin brother was alive and had escaped at long last from Xavier. He, along with Gregori, had informed her of everything that had happened, and of Gregori's firm belief that Razvan's crimes had been committed when Xavier either possessed his body or his mind. The news of both Ivory and Razvan's appearance, and that they were lifemates, had spread through the entire Carpathian community.

He knew they were all suspicious of Razvan, particularly Vikirnoff, who had shielded Natalya so many times from her brother in the past. She had suffered emotionally, finally accepting the loss of her brother, and now both were distressed. He could only give his opinion that Razvan had been wronged these years, and was not the criminal and traitor the Carpathian world believed him to be-but he knew they would all have to make up their own minds about the man.

I do not sense a Carpathian traveling with them, man or woman. Vikirnoff kept exact pace with the prince, shielding him as they moved in and out among the snow-laden trees. How can the wolves understand and call to us? How is it they can carry such heavy burdens on their backs and run with such speed?

It appears they are Carpathian. Mikhail had no explanation for how that had come to be, but he knew Ivory had one. If she had converted the wolves, it had been a dangerous venture. Intelligent wolves craving human blood could be the biggest nightmare of all-especially if they bred. He would have to weigh the fate of that pack.

The ice rained down, but the group was at least afforded some shelter from the vicious wind and the stabbing icicles by the twisted branches overhead. Vikirnoff added a protective buffer, weaving the branches tighter so they formed a tunnel.

They carry humans on their backs, Natalya said.

Her heart pounded hard. A part of her was desperate to see her brother, desperate to believe he wasn't the monster she'd come to believe him to be, but the sane half of her whispered that none of the rumors could be true. As she ran with her lifemate and the prince, she found herself praying.

Beneath their feet the ground rolled. The weight of the heavy snow toppled a large tree, the roots springing up from the ground, forming a tangled barrier.

The vampire delays us, Mikhail said. Gregori, swing around to the north. Come in from the other side with Falcon. His goal seems to be to reach the wolf pack before us. He must mean to slay the humans, but for what purpose I have no idea.

I am put on this earth to guard my prince, not save the lives of mortals we do not know.

Mikhail sighed. You grow more stubborn with each passing year, old friend. Vikirnoff is guarding your helpless chick. Come in from the north. Direct the others to come in from the other side. And stop giving me trouble.

Gregori gave the equivalent of a telepathic snort. I would not count on that happening anytime soon. The vampire races to close the pass. You cannot be caught on the ground if that should happen.

It will not happen, because you will be stopping him. There was every confidence in Mikhail's voice.

You do not ask for much.

No. A chance to practice and hone your fading skills.

Gregori's amusement burst over Mikhail as the prince increased his speed. It felt good to be a warrior instead of a ruler, rushing through the forest in answer to a call of distress. His muscles stretched and contracted, and his body rejoiced in the exercise, running tirelessly, weaving in and out of the trees.

Overhead, a thick ice spear burst across the sky, shattering clouds of ice and snow, raining glittering sparks of gold and silver down on the trees as it arced above them and then fell toward earth out of sight. Everywhere the sparks touched, the trees froze, turning a ghastly white, the color spreading like a disease along branches and needles, down the trunks to the ground itself, where the forest floor buckled under the icy pressure.

The heaving ground cracked, jagged fissures opening, so they were forced to leap over the widening cracks as they ran. Sharp ice towers erupted from the ground. Trees cracked and splintered as the spreading cold snapped brittle branches.

Where's it coming from? Mikhail demanded. We have to find the source.

He is trying to slow down the wolf pack, Gregori hissed. I have heard, but never seen, an ice spear that freezes everything in its immediate vicinity. You must be close to it. Break off and deal with it, and I will find the pack.

We're too close to the pack, Gregori, closer than you are. You're better equipped to work your magic against an ice spear capable of freezing a forest. Break off and go after it.

Not on your life. Send Falcon. Nothing is going to stop me from fighting at your side.

For one, I am supposed to command. You do not listen to my orders.

Was that an order? I didn't hear an order in there anywhere. I've sent Falcon to deal with the ice spear.

Mikhail found himself laughing again. It was impossible to be frustrated with Gregori; he'd known him too many years, and Gregori's primary job would always be to see to the safety of the prince. He was still smarting from Razvan shoving a knife to Mikhail's throat. There hadn't been nearly as much danger as it appeared, but Gregori still didn't like that Razvan had gotten close to the prince.

The wolf pack raised their voices again and he lifted his head and answered as he raced over the frozen river. With each step they took, more jagged ice towers erupted, so they were forced to dodge as they ran, but Mikhail could feel the strength of the attack weakening. The vampire was close to the pack and wanted to direct his energy there. Not knowing what the wolves were capable of, Mikhail redoubled his efforts to reach them, taking to the air, avoiding the higher skies where the icicles could hinder them.

He caught sight of the running pack as they came around a bend in the river, streaks of silver with the burden of humans on their back, running tirelessly toward them on the ice. One child was slumped over the alpha's body, and blood streaked his thick fur. Out of the corner of his eyes, Mikhail saw a massive black cloud moving fast across the sky toward the wolves.

Get into the trees. Get off the river and away from the open, he warned.

Vikirnoff actually swerved into him before he could turn toward the riverbank, packed high with snow. Mikhail shot him a quelling look as he streaked through the trees toward the running pack. The two alphas with the children made it into the thick trees. Mikhail caught the little girl as Raja skidded to a halt beside him, tongue lolling, sides heaving. The vampire had bitten into the child's neck and had not closed the wound.

Natalya dropped to her knees beside the girl. «Can you save her?»

The moment the two alphas were relieved of their burdens, they whirled around and raced back to defend the rest of their pack. The first strike hit perilously close to the wolf carrying the adult farmer. Blaez didn't even try to swerve. He ran steadily in a straight line toward the Carpathians.

Vikirnoff stepped out of the trees and faced the raging vampire. While Natalya and the prince worked to save the life of the little girl, he streaked toward the spinning black cloud. Gregori burst into view, coming up on the vampire's right, slamming bolt after bolt of lightning at the undead. Caught in the crossfire between two experienced hunters, already wounded, Sergey retreated, thrusting one last bolt of energy toward his ice spear, hoping to destroy the ground beneath the prince, wolf pack and humans.

Falcon struck at that exact moment, sending a fiery blast of heat through the brittle spear, shattering it, obliterating its potency.

Gregori! Mikhail called back the hunter. Do not give chase. The wolf pack says we are needed at the farmer's home. Ivory and Razvan had been fighting the vampire. The fact that he escaped them bodes ill. Natalya, escort the family to safety with Falcon and see to it that the child is well cared for at the inn. Ask Slavica, the innkeeper, to put them up for me. She will take good care of them.

I wish to go with you to see my brother.

I need you to do this for me. If the vampire doubles back, they will need the added protection.

Natalya hesitated, and then touched her lifemate's mind. Tell me the truth, Vikirnoff. Does he need me for this task, or is he trying to protect me from what you might find?

Vikirnoff, Mikhail and Gregori were already in the sky, moving quickly toward the farmhouse, while the wolf pack circled back, running across the snow-laden ground.

He worries. The undead is a master vampire. Look at the havoc he has wrought on the earth. The wolf pack worries for Ivory. I feel their fear and Mikhail, as prince of our people, feels it doubly.

Natalya sighed. It is done then. She waited for Falcon to lift the two adults and she took the children, whispering a command to ease their fears as they raced for the village.

It seemed an endless journey to Mikhail. He felt the tear in the fabric of his people. The injuries were great. He knew Gregori, a healer of tremendous skill, would not fail to feel the agony the two fallen fighters were experiencing. The fact that the energy was not concealed told all of the Carpathians what shape to expect Ivory and Razvan to be in.

Still, none of them were prepared for the horror of that sight. The farmhouse was a pile of rubbish. It looked as if a massacre had taken place, a slaughter. Blood was everywhere, and in the midst of it all sat Ivory, her wounds massive, yet she sought to heal the man lying in her lap. Two spears still remained in his body, while four lay broken and bloody a distance from him. His body was hacked nearly to pieces, with his arm in segments.

As they neared, it appeared as if Razvan was still breathing and Ivory's voice sang the healing chant softly, interspersed with another song none of them had heard before.

This cannot be, Gregori whispered in awe. He cannot still live. No one could live through that. He listened to the ebb and flow of Ivory's voice, melodic and tuned to the very heartbeat of the earth.

Mother, dear Mother, I plead with thee now. Daughter to mother, heal me and mine somehow. I am his light, he is my warrior strong. Challenged and scarred, he stood alone so long. Mother, I beg you to look deep within, try to see My soul gives light to his darkness, setting him free. Lifemates we are, two halves of a whole. Standing united, fighting evil, aged and old. Mother, dear Mother, hold us close in your arms. Provide us with shelter, with healing, hold off all harm. Mother, please bring balance, darkness to light Allow us to live, go forward to fight.

Ivory sang the words in the ancient tongue, the notes moving in and out of the rippling earth, twining with the ebb and flow of the sap in the trees and the heartbeat that was the earth itself. As she sang, the soil moved over their bodies, as if a living blanket, or the tide itself, always in motion, pouring over and around them, flowing into their wounds and encasing them in rich, black loam.

Razvan floated in a sea of pain. He had been there many times before, but nothing like this. His body felt as if all the parts weren't connected. He couldn't move. Maybe he was just afraid to move, to worsen the agony ripping through his body. He felt movement around him, as if insects and other nameless things crawled over him. Or through him. Even that wasn't enough to induce him to try to move.

He heard whispers, so low at first he thought he was hallucinating, but the voice grew stronger in his mind. Soft. Feminine. Determined.

I am with you. You are not alone. I watch over you and protect you. I will not leave you alone deep within Mother Earth. Do you feel her surrounding you? Holding you in her arms? Welcoming you? Feel her, lifemate. Feel her when all else seems lost.

He was certain he was hallucinating. Xavier would never allow him to sink into the rich soil to be rejuvenated. There was only pain and suffering. An endless life of it. He couldn't let go. He forced his will to obedience. No matter how much his heart stuttered or his lungs fought to draw breath, no matter the pain, he couldn't let go. He had promised-her.

He remembered her, although she might have been a dream, another hallucination. He considered that when he could get his mind to work through the waves of pain. He doubted he could have conjured her up even in his wildest imagination. He tried to picture her, but he found he couldn't think, so he just lay listening, trying to hear her voice again.

Far off he could hear a chant, spoken in the ancient language, voices raised, both male and female. It was impossible to sort through them to find one single voice, and he was certain she wasn't chanting with them. He felt her, not surrounding him, but merged with him, sharing his body. He didn't like the idea. If he felt so much pain, was she sharing that as well? He didn't know the answer.

Again his mind drifted, as if, because he couldn't do anything to prevent her from feeling the terrible pain, he didn't want to know if she was with him. He had spent too many years causing those he loved distress and he refused to think he was doing the same to her.

No, my love. I am with you by choice. I asked to be bound to you. I share your body willingly. Hear me, Dragonseeker, you must hold tight to me. Never let me go.

If he could have smiled, he would have. Where was he going to go? He couldn't move. He could only lie there, believing himself insane. The only consolation was her voice. He tried to remember if he'd dreamt it up when he was young.

After a while-and it could have been nights, or weeks, or even months-he became aware of a heartbeat. The sound was unusual, deep, echoing through his surroundings, so that it vibrated through his body, every muscle and organ, torn sinew and bone. Each beat shook him, yet soothed him. Each beat brought a twisting pain, but at the same time was strangely comforting.

After a long, indeterminate passage of time, he found he listened for that sound, enjoying the echo of it through his battered body. Now came a stirring of interest in his dark world. What are you?

I am Mother Earth, my son. You have become a part of me. My daughter begged me to accept you, to heal you. You are hearing the heartbeat of the earth moving through your body, making you one with me, with all of nature.

Now he knew he was insane. He was having a conversation with the earth. It was strange that it didn't bother him that he'd lost his mind. The pain was no less, but he had grown used to it, and he found the darkness and warmth a peaceful, restful place. He drifted further out on the sea of pain, letting it carry him as he had done so many times in the past.

His mind turned to his woman. Ivory. His lifemate. She was so beautiful she took his breath away. He knew if he'd met her a few hundred years earlier, their lives would have been so different. He had never dared to dream of her-never wanted Xavier to know for a moment that somewhere in the past or the future, there was a woman who held the other half of his soul. It was such an intimate gift, the sharing of souls, and he would never taint that bond with Xavier's evil.

Had he not died and been buried to suffer in this place, he would have taken her to his secret garden, the one place he remembered from his childhood where life had been good and filled with joy. He had played there with his beloved sister, Natalya. They had laughed together so often, running free through the fields of flowers and skimming stones over the placid waters of the lake. He would have brought Ivory there to share his one fond memory.

He felt the brush of fingers against his palm. Warm breath on his face. Take me there, beloved. Show me this place you dream of.

He had not expected that his desire for her was so strong that he could conjure her up. He skimmed his hand down her face, shaping the angles, tracing the pad of his thumb over her soft skin. I would take you there for our first courtship. It is part of me, the best part of me. Long before Xavier took my soul.

He no longer has your soul. You gave it to me, remember?

Razvan searched his memory. He remembered her face. So beautiful to him that when he closed his eyes she was still there. Her body, covered in those thin white lines, badges of courage, a living embodiment of the strength of will she possessed. He wanted to kiss every line, follow the map of them over her body until he knew each white jagged line intimately. Her skin, soft beyond all imagining, called out for him to simply touch her, to feel how extraordinary she truly was. He loved the way she moved. Just watching her, the sway of her hips and her purposeful stride, brought him a simple joy he'd never thought to feel. The way her face softened when she knelt to greet her wolf pack made him wonder how she would look when she held their child to her breast.

Dragonseeker. She called his wandering mind back to her. Do you remember giving me your soul?

Yes. To save me, Ivory. I have sinned lifetimes and cannot save myself, but I have touched you inside where no one else sees you, and you can do it. Put me on your wall with your brothers and carry my soul into the next life.

You are already safe, fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso-beloved.

Her voice poured over him like warm honey, and he lay quietly, listening to the beat of the earth's heart and feeling every wound throb and burn in tune to the steady symphony. He thought about her words. Fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso-beloved. He wished he was truly her beloved.

I would have walked through the garden with you. I have always wanted to grow my own flowers. I know exactly what they would have looked like and I would have named them for you. Ivory. Han ku vigyaz sielamet-keeper of my soul.

Show them to me, she entreated him.

Again he swore he felt those fingers moving against his palm, tangling with his own. He closed his hand tight to capture the feeling of closeness. He could drift along in the dream, or hallucination. Maybe he was on the other side, in a better place-although he could do without the agony rushing in waves over his body. He shoved the pain aside, settling deeper into the arms of Mother Earth and letting himself imagine the things he would show Ivory.

She looked carefree, with her long hair cascading down past her hips, a waterfall of silk that moved against his arm as they walked side by side. He liked that she was tall. He could see the length of her lashes, curling at the tips, two thick crescents that veiled her enormous eyes. He was thinking of leaning over and licking along the jagged seam of white that joined two pieces of her shoulder. Temptation was the way her skin was mapped into quadrants for him to explore.

I do not look like that. Embarrassment edged her voice.

Like what? He was puzzled that his dream woman could be embarrassed over his perusal. He could look at her forever-want to taste every square inch of her. He had a need to memorize every detail with the sensitive pads of his fingers, with his mouth and tongue, so he would forever remember the taste and feel of her.

As if these scars are sexy.

She ducked her head as she walked beside him down the narrow ribbon of stones that was the path winding through his garden. The long fall of hair hid her expression from him.

He stepped in front of her, effectively halting her, catching her chin in his fingers and lifting her face so he could hold her gaze captive with his. Everything about you is incredibly sexy, especially the way you fight. You take my breath away. The pad of his thumb rubbed over her full bottom lip. Sometimes I spend far too much time thinking about each of those lines on your body and wondering where they lead. What pleasures they can take me to-take us both to.

She blinked, her eyes going warm, then sultry. You think of me as a woman, then, not just a warrior.

How could I ever separate the two? Your traits make up the whole of who you are. His voice roughened with emotion. He searched in his mind for words to describe her, the way he saw her, but he could find little to express the way he felt, the beauty and light she brought to his soul, so empty and hollow and gutted by Xavier's evil.

Tell me. I need to know.

Words are not enough to explain a miracle, but I will do my best. You are tough, strong and skilled. Gentle. Kind. Compassionate. Fierce and formidable, with a will of iron. Sexy. Soft. Beautiful. Mysterious. Gentle and magnificent. You are all of these things. A miracle to me. A gift beyond any price.

Her lashes fluttered as she veiled her expression. The temptation of her mouth, the curve and soft texture, was too much to resist. It was a dream, nothing else, and it was his dream, the first one he had dared in a long time-since the betrayal of his sister. He hesitated, suddenly afraid. Could Xavier be tricking him? Was he now betraying the one woman who held his heart and soul?

No!

The warm honey poured over him again, stirring his body. His heart jumped, beat for a moment out of tune with the heartbeat of the earth. Pain slammed into him from every direction, taking his breath, his ability to think, his very sanity. He thought he screamed when he'd been so stoic, but he had concentrated more than he knew on the natural rhythm of the earth, allowing the heartbeat to keep the pain at a distance so he could tolerate it. For a moment he couldn't breathe, couldn't think. It was impossible to live with such pain.

Do not leave me! Her voice was panicked.

He'd never heard Ivory sound anything but cool and under control. The note of alarm in her voice steadied him. He realized he was drifting away from the scent and feel of her, distancing himself to prevent Xavier from discovering her, but there was need in her that he'd never seen before. She'd been injured. He remembered that much. Horribly injured. He didn't feel as if he had much strength left, but what he had, he would gladly give to her.

Ivory?

I am here, Razvan, with you. In you. I hold you tight, my heart to yours, my soul to yours. Do not leave me. Give me your word. No matter how terrible it gets, give me your word of honor that you will stay with me.

If you need me.

I will always need you.

He could barely conceive of the pure honesty in her voice. Could she really have need of him? He would never, no matter how difficult the circumstances, turn away from her should she need him. I will be with you always, Ivory, if it is within my power.

Her voice came again, close, gentle, that warmth that seeped into the coldest marrow of his bones and heated from the inside out. Rest, then, fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso-beloved. Gain strength, but hold strong and endure for me.

It was no small task she asked of him. He allowed the pain to consume him, to wash over and into him, to become part of him. It was the only way to survive. His will-and acceptance. He would survive for her.

He woke again after an indeterminate amount of time had passed. Like all Carpathians, he knew the difference between night and day; even deep beneath the earth he knew it was dark and the moon was full and high. Sound had awoken him. Summoned him. Voices raised in the ancient tongue-the healing chant rising and falling with both male and female voices lifting toward the night sky, burrowing deep into the richness of the soil to find his shattered body to surround him and provide strength and healing power.

He felt the presence of a male, white-hot energy surging through him, burning together parts that had been torn apart. Excruciating pain burst through his body and he heard his own cry, the sound strangled and anguished. Ivory echoed his cry, her voice resonating with suffering. He tried to move, to get to her, and at once gentle hands stopped him.

You cannot move. Stay very still or you will undo what small repairs have been made.

Ivory? Razvan recognized the healer's voice. Save her first. I heard her distress.

She is merged with you, holding you to this earth, and she feels what you feel. Do not move, just let yourself sink into her, hold tight to her.

Gregori came back into his own body swaying with weariness. Small droplets of blood beaded on his skin and he actually slumped against Mikhail, unable to hold himself upright after the healing session. «How is it they live?» he asked the prince. «It is impossible, yet they survive. Each night I come to them, I expect to find them dead, yet they still live. How is it they endure? No one can live through such pain, yet this is not the first time for either to suffer such torment.» He opened his eyes and looked at his friend. «It is difficult for me to feel and see the absolute suffering the two of them endure.»

Mikhail laid his hand gently on the healer's shoulder. No healer could be of Gregori's caliber without being empathic. Each time he shed his body and joined the couple to speed the healing of those terrible mortal wounds, he felt what they did.

«You are saving their lives.»

Gregori shook his head. «I am aiding the swiftness of recovery, Mikhail. There is a difference. They have wills such as I have never seen in any Carpathian, male or female, in all my years of healing. Believe me, it is only their sheer will keeping them alive, not me.»

Mikhail's voice was comforting. «Take my blood to revive you and then go home to Savannah and allow her to soothe you. Night after night, subjecting yourself to their agony is wearing on you. You cannot continue without some respite.»

«As long as they continue, so will I.» Gregori looked up at his father-in-law, his face lined with weariness. «His body is actually knitting itself back together again. Three of the six spear wounds should have killed him, along with the sheer volume of blood loss, but somehow the earth itself is putting them back together.»

«Along with your blood and care.»

Gregori shook his head. «I do not understand what I am seeing when I attempt to heal them. It is as if most of their bodies are encased in mineral, hardened and impassable, while I have access only to a single part each night. Some nights it is the same part. I can enter an arm or leg and concentrate there, but the rest of their systems are blocked off to me.»

«I don't understand.»

Gregori frowned and rubbed at his chin. «Usually when I heal, I can enter an entire body and flow through it with ease, moving through every part, but when I enter Razvan or Ivory, only a small part of their bodies are accessible. It changes with each night.»

«What could cause that?» Mikhail wondered.

«I don't know, but I'd like to find out. The soil has always aided healing. And when we're wounded and tired it rejuvenates us, but we've always used a healing spirit to go inside our bodies and repair from the inside out. Something is repairing their bodies, something other than me. It seems to be a slow process, but it is keeping them both alive. I think Ivory could have been saved, but she chose to bind her fate with Razvan's. She is fully merged with him and wherever he is encased, so is she.»

«A type of magic? Something Xavier might have come up with?» Mikhail ventured.

Gregori shook his head. «There is no taint of evil. Rather it smells ancient to me, as if they have awoken something from long ago, before our time, and it works to save them. And you know me, I don't trust things we've never encountered. We are a people who have seen much over time.»

«True,» Mikhail said, «but not all.»

«I need to understand how things work. I would like to speak with Syndil. She has been cleansing the earth of toxins for us and is very connected to the soil. I have never seen this, and I don't understand how they are surviving, let alone healing. Nor do I have an explanation for how their bodies are segmented. Perhaps she can explain it to me.»

Mikhail frowned. «I don't want her to feel the agony they suffer. It is difficult enough for the two of us.»

«She might speak to the earth and hear the answer. Perhaps if I understood, I could aid them, reduce the pain in some way.»

«I'll talk to her,» Mikhail agreed reluctantly. «Both Natalya and Lara are anxious to help, but I've asked them to stay away until we are certain Ivory and Razvan will live.»

«I have no doubt they will live, Mikhail,» Gregori said. «I just do not know how.»

«You realize Ivory did this once before on her own, centuries ago. There was no one there to hold her spirit, to keep her safe as she keeps Razvan to her.»

«She must have been in the soil hundreds of years,» Gregori said. «Her body didn't knit back together perfectly. I tried to ease the scars internally as well as externally.» He ran both hands through his hair in a gesture of weariness. «She took great care, or perhaps it was Mother Earth, to make certain she could have children. It is the one area where she has no scarring of any kind, and yet there was evidence that even across the womb, they had hacked her in half.»

For one moment the air around them crackled with energy and then Mikhail took a breath, bringing himself under control. «I can't see how her brothers could ever have chosen to give up their souls knowing the vampires and Xavier conspired to kill her.»

«They blamed Draven.»

«It was an excuse and you know it. All of us have lived with betrayal and loss, with grief. They were not near the end; they made a deliberate choice. They have painstakingly pulled together vampires into a league to fight against us, and you know that has taken centuries of planning and even more time to implement. They have also allied themselves with our greatest enemy, the very mage who gave Ivory to the vampires.»

«We will know what really happened when Ivory chooses to tell us.» Gregori stretched and tried to stand. Dizzy from lack of blood he sank back down. «In the meantime, we can only hold to this course we are on and work to help the pair survive.»

«They may be the key to destroying Xavier.»

«I think you may be right, Mikhail.»

The prince offered his wrist to his son-in-law. «Take what I freely offer. And Gregori, this time you heed what I tell you. You go home to Savannah and you rest. I have already sent her a message that you are on your way. I've asked Syndil to meet with you there.»

«You sent word to Savannah?» Gregori glared at the prince. «She's going to fuss over me, and you know she's pregnant with the twins and needs to rest.»

«She needs to feel as if she's helping her lifemate. Go home and rest. You said it yourself: these two will survive. Perhaps in talking with Syndil, she will find a way to enrich the soil even more in order to lessen their suffering.»

Gregori made his way home, avoiding the two women and their lifemates waiting to speak with Mikhail. He didn't want to try to reassure them that Razvan and Ivory would live. He believed they would, but he didn't understand how, and he could barely function with the amount of pain washing over him each time he touched them. There would be no speaking to them, no getting answers, maybe even no recognition from Razvan for those women-he was too far gone. On top of the couple's pain, he didn't wish to feel the pain of a sister and daughter for the suffering of a loved one.

Savannah waited at the door for him, her beautiful face smiling, welcoming, her eyes so compassionate that for a moment he wanted to weep with joy that he'd been given such a miracle. He just gathered her silently into his arms and held her tight to him.

Savannah walked him inside. «You look tired.»

«I am tired.»

She tried not to be alarmed. Gregori never admitted to being tired, but this couple, so torn and mangled, fighting valiantly to live when anyone else would have chosen to go to the next life, had captured far more than his attention as a healer. She knew her lifemate well. He respected that couple, wanted-even needed-to find a way to end their suffering.

Savannah put her arms around him and held him, laying her head against his chest. Gregori's hand came up to stroke her hair.

«How are the girls behaving this evening?»

«Kicking a lot. We're getting closer. I don't think they're going to wait much longer.»

«Maybe I should talk to them,» Gregori suggested. «It is not yet time. They are too anxious and need to stay where they are safe.»

Savannah laughed, the sound happy and bright, dispelling some of his tension. «I don't think you should talk to them again. You always sound gruff and stern, and the little one is a rebel. Whatever you order, she does just the opposite.» She glanced mischievously up at him. «I have a feeling she's going to be a lot like you.»

«Don't say that. I was a very bad child.»

Savannah laughed again and Gregori found himself smiling. He dropped several kisses on her nose. «Have I told you that I'm madly in love with you?»

«Not recently.»

«Well I am. I haven't quite forgiven you for twins, especially that they're female, but I'm so in love with you, sometimes I can't think straight.»

The smile faded from Savannah's face. «Each time we go into the ground, I worry that the microbes will attack the babies again. And Lara is exhausted.»

Xavier had found a way to use extremophiles to attack the Carpathian females and babies, very effectively reducing the population over hundreds of years so they were now on the brink of extinction. The pregnant women were terrified of losing their babies, and Lara, Razvan's daughter, could not be fully brought into the Carpathian world because, while the extremophiles could detect the Carpathians hunting for them, they could not detect Lara, as she was mage.

«She does a sweep on all the pregnant women each evening, and yet there's always a recurrence. Even though she makes certain the men are without the microbes, it doesn't take long before we're all infected again. She has to be converted soon. Neither of them complain, but it is difficult for Nicolas.»

Gregori's fingers settled around the nape of Savannah's neck. «She has years before she will be in trouble, but yes, it is difficult on her lifemate. And if she gets pregnant . . .» He trailed off with a small sigh. «I am hoping Ivory and Razvan are the answer.»

«How can they be?»

«I don't know, but I think your father does. He was too calm, too certain that Razvan wouldn't drive that knife into his throat.»

«He is sure of his skills, Gregori.»

«That is true, although he should take more caution with his life. Still, it was more than that. He trusted Razvan when he shouldn't have.»

«You can't know everything, Gregori,» she said gently.

His brooding silver gaze slid over her. «When it comes to your father, I should. He is my greatest responsibility. Without him, our species would fade away, lost as so many others have gone.» He spread his fingers over her rounded womb, holding his children to him. «We have to safeguard their legacy, Savannah.»

«We will,» she replied, leaning into him.

Gregori lifted his head. «We are about to have visitors. They've spared our daughters another lecture from their father.»

Savannah's laughter warmed him. She hugged him. «They are very grateful to our visitors, especially the little one. She gave the equivalent to rolling her eyes.»

His silver eyes slashed at her. «You are not encouraging them, are you? I thought I would not have to deal with that behavior for another twenty years or so.»

«She thinks you are very bossy.»

«I am bossy because I know what's best for her.»

Savannah laughed again. «You argue with her and she isn't even born yet.»

Gregori huffed out another breath, a man driven beyond endurance by his stubborn unborn child, but his fingers lingered with loving strokes. Savannah laid her hand over his and they stood quietly a moment, feeling the presence of their daughters, surrounding the twins with love.

The knock on the door was expected and Gregori opened it to Syndil and her lifemate, Barack. One was never far from the other, he'd noticed. He welcomed both of them with a traditional Carpathian greeting. «Pesasz jelabam ainaak-long may you stay in the light.»

Syndil and Barack responded in kind and stepped into the house. «How are you feeling, Savannah?» Syndil asked.

«Very pregnant,» Savannah replied with a small smile. «If I get any bigger I might pop.»

«It is good to gain, especially with twins,» Gregori said. «You are right where you're supposed to be.»

«He monitors me carefully to make certain the babies are growing properly,» Savannah explained. She leaned in to kiss Barack on the cheek, ignoring Gregori's sharp reprimand.

There is no need for kissing.

Savannah laughed again and rubbed her cheek against Gregori's shoulder affectionately.

«Mikhail sent word that you wished to talk to me.»

Gregori indicated for her to sit. Barack sank into the seat beside her and took her hand.

«I am certain you've heard the news, that Razvan has escaped Xavier and that Ivory Malinov is alive. You were not raised in the Carpathian Mountains, and did not know the rumors of these two, but suffice it to say it is a shock to everyone to find out all we believed of them is wrong.»

Syndil tangled her fingers with Barack's. It always surprised Gregori to realize this one woman who wielded so much power was so shy and humble. She walked on the ground and new life sprang up after her. She danced and sang and toxic soil was restored to health. They had chanced on the knowledge, the prince spotting her healing an entire battlefield destroyed by vampire venom. She had been so quiet about her talent, so modest, no one would have ever known had Mikhail not seen her gift with his own eyes.

Syndil merely nodded her head, shifting just a little toward Barack. He moved closer to her, slipping his arm around her shoulders.

Gregori sighed. «I have no right to ask this of you. Indeed, it may be risky.»

Barack frowned.

«The pair encountered a master vampire and took him on in order to save a family. While Razvan has little or no experience fighting, Ivory is an extraordinary warrior. Together they managed to hurt him and run him off, but at great cost to their bodies.»

«You know I would aid you,» Syndil said, her soft voice musical, «but I am no healer.»

«I would disagree with that statement, Syndil.» Gregori leaned forward. «You understand the earth better than most. You hear her talking to you, crying out when she's wounded, and you're able to fix every injury.»

«That's different.» Syndil waved a dismissing hand. «Not at all like healing a wounded Carpathian.»

«I cannot do what you do,» Gregori said. «I do not always hear our mother speaking to us. This couple, what is happening with them, I do not understand-and I've tried. I listen to Mother Earth, but she whispers and I can't comprehend what she is saying. They are suffering. In agony. Both of them.» He hung his head and ran both hands through his hair in agitation. «I'm helping them, yes, but so slowly, and each night that passes and I go to them, they feel untold pain.»

«What would you have Syndil do?» Barack asked.

Gregori shook his head. Savannah perched on the arm of his chair and slipped her arm around him, her fingers sliding into his hair to soothe him. «Just tell them, Gregori. Let them decide.»

«I have never seen anything like what is happening. Razvan's body was hacked up, literally. He had his arm chopped off and in pieces. He had six spear holes, three fatal. His wounds were horrendous. Slices all the way to the bone, in many cases cutting through the bone. The blood loss was unbelievable. Instead of attending his wounds, he aided her in the battle.»

Barack sat up straight. «And he survives?»

«So far-yes. I don't know how. She also had many wounds, and yet she managed to merge with him in some way; I do not know how. They are separate bodies, but their hearts beat as one, their minds are one. Even that is not the issue. If I have access to his arm, the rest of his body is encased completely in mineral, as if he is part of the earth itself. When I share their bodies, I hear the earth whispering. I can hear the rhythm of its heartbeat, but I can't understand what she is saying to them. Could this be? Could Mother Earth be healing them? Not just rejuvenating them?»

Syndil was silent, turning his words over and over in her mind. Barack said nothing, waiting for his lifemate to give her advice. It was her realm of expertise and he was inordinately proud of her. He never ceased to be shocked that his quiet little Syndil was consulted by every Carpathian, and the prince and Gregori often asked her counsel.

«I believe so, yes. We have a connection to the earth, to the very Universe. It's the reason we're able to shift and call down the lightning. It's why our bodies rejuvenate in the soil. If this couple has a deeper connection in some way, if Mother Earth claims one or both as her children, their bodies might be slightly different from ours.»

Gregori's frown deepened. «We're all the earth's children.»

Syndil shook her head. «Not in the same way. The earth is alive. There is a heartbeat, a rhythm, a pulse. She whispers and shouts and screams. She welcomes us home each dawn as her children, but if she accepts one of us as her own, as her biological child-I know no other way to explain it-she might send them everything she has, the very richest soil she can call, every healing element. Who knows what she is capable of doing for one she considers part of her.»

The lines on his face remained as he sat back. «Why would she single out one Carpathian?»

Syndil, calm and serene, smiled at him, warmed him, enveloped him with her utter lack of vanity. «I would imagine the circumstances had to be extraordinary.»

Savannah leaned closer. «Can you help her? Can you feed the soil where they are recovering, help to keep it rich to speed their recovery?»

Gregori brought her fingertips to his mouth. He hadn't wanted to ask Syndil. Anyone approaching that expanse of soil would be able to feel the agony radiating from the couple, and to ask a woman to share that experience was nearly more than he was capable of doing, yet if she didn't help, it could well take years to heal such mortal wounds.

«Before you answer, Syndil»-now he looked to her lifemate, husband to husband, willing him to understand-«there are things you should know. The pain they suffer is unlike anything I have ever experienced in centuries of battles and healing. If you are empathic, you can't go there without being affected. Even if you don't touch them, just entering the area is an uncomfortable experience. I have no words to describe the suffering.»

«And yet they live,» Barack said.

«A seemingly impossible feat,» Gregori said. «Yet they continue.» His gaze moved broodingly over Syndil. «I do not ask this of you lightly. I would not want you trying to connect with them or helping me to heal them because to share their bodies right now is an agonizing task.»

Even when he slept the sleep of Carpathians, that first moment of awakening was torture, pain flooding his body, wrenching at every organ and tearing great holes in his body, as if he shared some part of Ivory and Razvan deep beneath the ground. He knew it was a waking nightmare, but still, the dreadful dream lingered with him night after night upon awakening.

«I can't heal another human as you can, Gregori, but if the earth requires help in restoring minerals or any other particle it should need, I can and will do that. I wish I could be of more assistance, but I have only the one talent.»

«And that one talent is much needed. Will you need help from others? I know Natalya and Lara and even young Skyler help you rejuvenate the soil where our women lie.» Again there was a small frown he couldn't quite keep from his face.

The idea of Skyler, such a young girl, and Lara, who was already giving more than she should, enduring the pain, didn't set well with him. And Natalya . . . He sighed. Once she got near her brother, she would touch him whether they warned her against it or not. She was headstrong, and she had always adored her brother. If Syndil needed the other women, he would have to find a way without her to speed recovery.

«I can try, Gregori,» Syndil offered. «I would like to see what the earth is doing to aid them. I may never get such a chance again.»

«It is unique,» Gregori agreed. «Thank you.»

Syndil smiled at him and turned her attention to Savannah. They had become good friends over the last few weeks as Savannah fought to keep her unborn children alive. «How are you really feeling?»

«Exhausted, but very happy,» Savannah said. «It won't be long, although Gregori talks to them nightly to convince them to stay in their safe environment as long as possible. We want them fully developed, with as much weight as possible. Even outside the womb, the microbes could attack.»

«I hope we can allow Ivory and Razvan to rise before the babies are born,» Gregori added. «I think they may be able to aid us greatly and give all of our children a fighting chance.»

Syndil sat back. «There is no question that all of us need to aid them. Isn't it strange how in the end, it is never the individual but rather the sum of all of us working together that makes things right?»

«It appears, Syndil,» Gregori agreed, «that you are right.»