Dark Wolf

9

Mikhail Dubrinsky, prince of the Carpathian people, sat across from the four members of the Lycan council who had come to negotiate an alliance with him. They had brought a full regiment of guards to protect them. He couldn’t blame them for that—he’d called in his warriors as well. It made for an interesting combination.

Gregori Daratrazanoff liked none of it, but then he was tasked with Mikhail’s personal protection, and he basically glued himself to Mikhail’s side. The main topic on the table, and the biggest bone of contention between the two species, was the subject of mixed blood. The Lycans had avoided the Carpathians for centuries, to ensure such a mix between their two species would not occur.

The Lycans referred to any mix between Lycan and Carpathian as Sange rau—bad blood. They believed anyone who had such a mixture must be hunted down and killed. Since it didn’t happen very often, none of their hunters were well versed in killing one of such a mixture.

Mikhail had seen the Sange rau in action and he could well understand the danger, not only to the Lycans, but to all species. They were almost unstoppable—unless you had another of mixed blood to bring them to justice. That was the key in this meeting. He had to convince the Lycan council that there was a difference between a wolf/vampire cross and a Lycan/Carpathian cross. The wolf/vampire murdered everything and everyone without discrimination, sometimes simply for the joy of killing—just as a vampire would do. The Lycan/Carpathian was called Hän ku pesäk kaikak—Guardian of all. Carpathians had given that name to the mixed blood because it was true: they fought for all species against the Sange rau.

He liked all four of the council members. They were each quite different. Lyall was soft-spoken, listened attentively and appeared extremely intelligent. Randall was a bear of a man, shaggy and bulky, with a booming voice, a grip like a vise, yet he was definitely the most reasonable. He weighed what he said thoughtfully. Arno had the best sense of humor, was more open and friendly than the others, but he was also the one most outspoken on the Sange rau. Rolf rarely spoke, but when he did, the other Lycans immediately fell silent and listened to every word. If there was a single alpha among the council members—and Mikhail was certain there was—Rolf would be the leader.

Francesca Daratrazanoff moved gracefully over by the tables. Lycans ate food, and she laid out the meals the local inn had delivered for them. She was an asset with her gentle, calming ways, and more than once, when the debate between Lycan and Carpathians became heated, she chose her moment to insert some small comment in her soft voice, bringing them all back under control.

Still, the level of tension was extremely high in the room, given that the De La Cruz brothers were present. All had brought their lifemates to Romania, although none of the women were at the meeting, which didn’t surprise Mikhail at all. Manolito De La Cruz and his lifemate, MaryAnn, would be considered Sange rau by the Lycans as they had mixed blood. Fortunately, the Lycans could only detect such a thing during a full moon, so they had no idea, but keeping the very lethal brothers from wanting to leap up and slay the Lycans each time they insisted the Sange rau must be killed was definitely becoming a problem.

Lucian and Gabriel Daratrazanoff said little. Neither joined in the arguments, but stayed in the background watching the proceeds of the meetings with interest. Gabriel’s daughter, Skyler, was lifemate to Dimitri, and the Lycans held Dimitri captive. Mikhail had been assured by the council members that Dimitri was safe and would remain that way until the summit between the two species came to a decision.

Mikhail rubbed the back of his neck. His people would never accept the Lycans’ view of mixed blood—and neither would he. All the discussions and heated arguing were really a waste of time. He would never change his position on the subject, or agree to pass a death sentence on innocent men just on the off chance that they might turn criminal.

Mikhail stood up, a fixed smile on his face, calling a halt to the meeting as the debate was once again becoming extremely heated. “I’m certain you’re all hungry, and Francesca is signaling your food has arrived. She has made it very clear to me that you must eat it while it’s hot. Shall we adjourn and give this subject a rest?”

Give it a rest?

He glanced across the room to Gregori. Their eyes met. Amusement showed in Gregori’s eyes briefly, although he hadn’t changed expression.

Zacarias hasn’t said a word, but the women aren’t here this evening. Marguarita, Colby, Juliette, Lara and MaryAnn have all been tucked away somewhere safe, Mikhail pointed out. This meeting is going to deteriorate fast if we don’t think of some way to get the Lycans to understand the difference between vampire and Carpathian. Manolito and Rafael are total hotheads.

Does that surprise you? Something really catastrophic would have to happen to trigger Zacarias to make any kind of move without your permission, Gregori assured.

The Lycan council members rose and drifted toward the tables. Their guards fell into step behind them, flanking them, a solid wall of large men. Mikhail was very aware of how fast the Lycans moved in battle. All were armed, just as his men were.

Somewhere, in the distance, he heard a woman cry out. Colby De La Cruz, Rafael’s lifemate. The sound was high, keening, a wail of fear and sorrow. Nicolas De La Cruz leapt to his feet, his brothers following suit. There was instant silence in the room, the Lycans swinging around to face what appeared to be a very lethal threat.

Mikhail stepped between the two factions, holding up his hand, facing the brothers. Francesca screamed, covered her face with both hands and would have fallen to the floor had Gabriel not caught her around her waist and held her, pressing her face to his shoulder, his eyes cold and hard as he, too, stared with lethal intent at the Lycans.

There was no way to stop the instantaneous ripple of knowledge, of treachery. Mikhail spun around to face the council members. The grief in the room was overwhelming, pressing down on all of them.

“They’re children,” Francesca accused. “You killed our child.” She began to sob. “She’s dead, Gabriel. Oh, God, how could this happen? How could they kill her?”

“You come into my home, sit at my table and all this time, you have been committing such treachery?” Mikhail said, his voice very low, a whip, striking hard at the four council members.

They winced at his tone, looking at one another. The Lycan guards reached for their weapons. Gregori caught Mikhail and all but shoved him back. Lucian stepped up beside him so they presented a solid wall between the Lycans and their prince.

It was Rolf who pushed past his own guards and stood without any weapon, facing his accusers. “I have no knowledge of what is happening. Clearly, you are aware of something tragic taking place. We came here in good faith. We have not committed any crime against your people, and we certainly do not kill children.”

Mikhail moved past his own bodyguards, although both stepped up beside him, prepared, he was certain, to kill everyone in the room if they made a move toward him. He could barely stand the look of such grief carved deeply in Gabriel’s face. Francesca’s weeping broke his heart, yet there was the ring of truth in Rolf’s voice.

“Skyler, Gabriel and Francesca’s daughter, is lifemate to Dimitri,” he explained.

“I heard her,” Francesca said, lifting her face from Gabriel’s shoulder. She pushed back her long dark hair and took a step toward Rolf—a very aggressive step.

Like all Carpathians, man or woman, she held great power. Mikhail might be able to keep the men under control long enough to get to the truth, but a grieving woman who had lost a child was something else altogether.

“I saw. Dimitri hung in a tree by hooks, silver winding its way to his heart. You lied to us. You told us he was safe, but even while you sat here charming us all, you were killing him, torturing him, death by silver you call it,” Francesca accused.

She took another step toward the Lycan. Gabriel put a gentle hand on her arm, but she shook it off. “She set him free, and your army chased her.”

“Paul was with her,” Nicolas said. “He’s been shot as well.”

“With silver,” Francesca said. “They riddled her body with silver.”

Rolf frowned, shaking his head. “They wouldn’t. I’m telling you no sentence was ever passed on Dimitri. He was to be held safely.”

The other council members looked at one another, expressions puzzled or alarmed.

Francesca took another step toward Rolf. “She was nineteen years old. Nineteen.”

The door burst open and a couple stood together in the doorway. Mikhail’s heart sank. How could he possibly prevent a war between Lycan and Carpathian? Razvan of the Dragonseekers, birth father to Skyler, and his lifemate, Ivory, stood shoulder to shoulder. Paul was a De La Cruz. Skyler was Daratrazanoff and Dragonseeker. To harm either of them would set lethal predators relentlessly pursuing the perpetrators of the crime. There would be no stopping the families.

“We did not do this,” Rolf said again, this time looking directly at Francesca. “I swear to you, give you my word of honor, we did not do this.”

“She’s not dead,” Josef yelled. “She can’t be dead. Go after her, Dimitri. You have to go after her.” He scrambled on all fours to get to Dimitri’s side. “She’s Dragonseeker. She’s strong. Go after her.”

Paul dragged himself to the other side of Skyler and Dimitri, one leg useless to him. He nodded his head. “She’ll fight for life with the same determination she fought for you.”

Skyler lay lifeless in her lifemate’s arms. Dimitri took a deep breath. He was bleeding from several wounds himself, the silver twisting through his body, burning with terrible intensity, but nothing could rival the grief and rage rising like a firestorm out of control. The madness was close—too close. He could feel darkness swirling inside him, the edges turning a fiery red. He took another breath, fighting back the emotions that threatened to dishonor him.

“If I can get her spirit and bring her close, you have to convert her, Josef. I cannot do both,” Dimitri instructed. His voice was raspy, hoarse, fear for Skyler choking him.

He shed his body fast, becoming pure spirit, a white light that entered her body and rushed down the tree of life after her fading spirit. He knew her so well. Every expression. The sound of her laughter. The way her eyes changed color and her hair banded with color, even when she dyed it. He knew her heart and soul. That steel spine that made her so formidable. Most of all he knew her love.

I cannot lose you. Your soul is tied to mine. We are one, csitri. Where you go, I will follow. Stay where you are, hold on and let me come get you.

There in the darkness he felt her. There was no light to guide him, but he would know the feel of her anywhere. That soft, gentle nature, the one that surrounded him and held him to her when all else was lost. She had come for him in his darkest hour. His lady. His Skyler.

His spirit moved downward along the trunk of the tree of life, passed the upper branches. Once below them, he couldn’t feel her anymore. For a moment panic nearly threw him back into his own body, but then he settled, calling on centuries of discipline. Hunting her in the cold and dark required calm, not panic, and he refused to lose her when he knew she was still there—somewhere.

Dimitri rose slowly, this time allowing the sense of the Guardian to emerge. The instant he did he became aware of everything there in the dark. Souls crying out. Those without souls crouched in the dark waiting for an unsuspecting traveler who knew them. The bitter cold coming from deep below, rising to infuse everything in its path with ice.

Yet above him and just to his left, there was a pocket of warmth between two branches, almost as if something had been caught there, or had clung there. He moved fast, surrounding that warmth with his light, holding it captive, recognizing the feel and strength of her unconditional love for him.

Päläfertiilam. Lifemate. Hän ku vigyáz sívamet és sielamet—keeper of my heart and soul. Give yourself into my keeping. Let me hold you close while Josef brings you fully into my world. To do this, you must have absolute trust in me. I will need to possess your body.

She was too far gone. She would never be able to take Josef’s blood even with his aid. He wasn’t even certain if the conversion could be done. Possession was forbidden, a tool of the mage world or the vampire, but he could see no other way.

Skyler could not respond. He couldn’t even see a faint flickering light, but her warmth increased to the point of true heat. He took that as a yes. He divided his spirit, a dangerous move when his own body was burning from the inside out. Nothing mattered to him but saving his lifemate.

He came back into his body disoriented and shaking. A part of him had remained in the nether world. “Paul, she is a daughter of the earth. We can’t heal these wounds in time, but Mother Earth may do so. Get the richest soil and press it into each of the bullet holes. Josef, take her blood, enough for an exchange.”

“But . . .” Josef and Paul exchanged a look of disbelief.

“Just do it. Then give her your blood.”

Dimitri didn’t wait for them to agree with his plan. He took possession of Skyler’s lifeless body. The fit was strange and wrong. Her eyes snapped open and she looked at Josef.

Josef fell back away from Skyler. He recognized those ice-cold blue eyes, and they weren’t Skyler’s. If he did as Dimitri asked, would she rise a puppet? The undead? He shook his head at the idea. There was no darkness in Skyler, not even with her powerful mage blood. He knew her.

He leaned down and sank his teeth into her neck, taking in the powerful combination of her lineage. He had taken her blood many times before when he was caught out away from others and needed to feed, but she was different now. More potent. There was even a different taste to her. He didn’t know if he was feeding from Skyler or Dimitri or a combination of both.

When he was certain he had taken enough for an exchange, he tore at his own wrist and pressed the laceration to Skyler’s mouth. Her movements were jerky, stiff even, as if she had little control over her own body. Her tongue tentatively swiped over the wound and then she began to drink, a small movement, barely there, increasing in strength.

Shocked, Josef gave her as much blood as he dared, not understanding what Dimitri was doing. He knew healers could retrieve spirits that hadn’t gone too far into the other world, but he’d never seen this done. Conversion was hard on a body. One species didn’t easily allow another to take over. But possession? Such an abomination was forbidden. One did not take over the body of another.

At this stage, Skyler was still human. Pressing dirt, no matter how rich, into her wounds couldn’t possibly heal her. Still, Paul did as Dimitri instructed and so did Josef. What else could they do?

Around them, the Lycans had gone wild, desperate to get through the transparent shield Skyler had erected. They tore at it with bare claws. They bit at it, fired bullets into it, and even hacked at it with swords. The shield held. Lycans climbed the trees surrounding the clearing and the strongest of them made large leaps in an effort to get over the shield. Most dropped to the ground, but two landed above their heads, slamming their bodies hard into the transparent ceiling. More dug at the ground in a feverish, frenzied effort to tunnel beneath the shield to gain entry.

Razvan sent Gabriel and Lucian one silent look, turned on his heel and abruptly left the doorway, striding away, the set of his shoulders the only thing that gave away his absolute rage. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that he intended to go find those who had murdered his daughter.

Ivory stepped inside the door and walked straight up to the Lycans, fearless. Her back was covered with tattoos of wolves. The wolves stared at the Lycans with lifelike eyes as she moved through their ranks. No one said a word. No one moved, not even when she emerged from the pack of Lycans to go up to Rolf and look him in the eye.

“He does not lie,” she announced. “It appears as if none of the members of the high council were aware of this betrayal, but I cannot tell if all of those who guard them were unaware of this treachery. There is the smell of conspiracy here. Which ones are guilty, I cannot say.”

Ivory stepped back from Rolf. “You do not know me, but I am wolf as well, not in the sense of blood, but I have had my own pack for centuries. I can tell you, someone wants a war between Carpathian and Lycan. I do not know who would benefit from such a war, but there are those of your kind working against you.”

Rolf frowned at her. “I hear the ring of truth in your voice, but there has been no hint of such a treachery. It would be difficult to hide from us.”

Ivory gestured around the room. “Whoever is behind this now has the perfect weapon available to them. These warriors will go to get their children. None will stand down. None will stop. They will hunt every Lycan who took part in the killing of their children. No one will be safe. No one. You and Mikhail must find a way to stop this.”

Abruptly she turned and walked out, following her lifemate.

“Rolf.” One of the guards, a man by the name of Lowell, pushed forward. “We should get all of you out of here, before this escalates.”

Another guard, Varg, nodded in agreement. “We have no confirmation that any of this is true. This could be their conspiracy to kill all of us and throw the Lycan world into chaos.”

Several guards pulled swords so that the light struck the silver, making it gleam as if in eagerness. More than one began to shift from their human form to Lycan, half wolf, half man.

Two of the elite hunters Mikhail recognized moved into position to defend Rolf. Daciana and Makoce, two of Zev’s elite pack, exchanged uneasy glances. They were aware, more than the others, of the danger all the Lycans were in. There would be a bloodbath here, if the tension continued to escalate between the two species.

The De La Cruz brothers spread out immediately, a clear sign of aggression. Jacques Dubrinsky, Mikhail’s brother, and several other Carpathian males moved into the spaces around Mikhail. The two species faced one another, moving warily to give themselves fighting room, yet careful not to trigger an attack.

Rolf did not take his eyes from Francesca’s grief-stricken face. “We did not know. When we heard that a Sange rau had been taken . . .”

“Dimitri is not Sange rau,” Mikhail reiterated, ignoring Gregori’s warning hand and emerging from the line of fierce protectors that had placed their bodies between his and danger. “He is Hän ku pesäk kaikak, Guardian of all. He saved the lives of your Lycans, and they repaid him with treachery. Would the Sange rau have risked his own life to save two of your people?”

Rolf shook his head. “Most of the others have never had to experience the complete destruction such a combination causes. We forbade contact with Carpathians in order to prevent such a mixed blood from rising.”

“If you know Dimitri couldn’t possibly be Sange rau, a rogue vampire/wolf mix, why would you hold him at all?” Mikhail asked.

In spite of the low, cool tones of both leaders, the tension in the room continued to escalate. Mikhail pinned Zacarias with piercing eyes. Zacarias was the leader among his brothers, a fierce, wild predator who remained untamed and uncivilized in spite of finding his lifemate. He was the most lethal man in the room, and the most unpredictable, a throwback to the old days when Carpathians hunted without fear of discovery.

He knew Zacarias was a law unto himself. He had been too long in the wilds, an ancient hunter on his own, far from home, with darkness always tearing at him, yet he had stayed an honorable man.

We will not be the ones to start the war, Zacarias. Keep your brothers, especially Rafael, under control while I sort this out. Rafael was lifemate to Colby, Paul’s sister. He loved the boy and no doubt was furious that the Lycans had dared to attack him.

“We have not interviewed Dimitri as of yet,” Rolf said. “None of us have ever laid eyes on him. We sent word to treat him with respect and care as we were away. One phone call to Zev Hunter, and I will have a much clearer understanding of what is transpiring.”

“Zev is a good man,” Mikhail said. “One we have trusted. He was not a part of the taking of Dimitri and left soon after to track those who had taken him.”

Rolf shook his head. “Zev is the leader of the elite team. They would not have acted without Zev’s authority. It would be . . .” He frowned, looking from Daciana to Makoce, two of the four members of Zev’s elite hunter pack that were there to guard them. “Treachery.”

Daciana and Makoce both nodded their heads. “We were fighting the rogue pack with the Carpathians here,” Daciana explained. “Zev was with us. The Sange rau projected an image, an illusion of himself, and we all believed there was an imminent threat to the prince. While we fought here, two members of our team, Gunnolf and Convel, slipped away, and somehow this incident occurred with Dimitri.”

“How do we get from two of your elite hunters fighting with us, to betraying us, kidnapping the very man who saved their lives, torturing him and murdering our children?” Francesca demanded.

Rolf looked around the room at the posturing warriors and shook his head. “I do not have an answer for you. I can only reiterate we did not come here to start a war. We came in peace to build an alliance with you. An alliance between us would benefit not only your species, but ours and humans as well. Allow me to step outside and make a call to Zev. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Why do you need permission for anything from those who harbor the Sange rau?” Lowell, the guard who had insisted there was no proof of the attack on the children, demanded. His raised his voice, a belligerent sneer adding fuel to the fire. “Look at them, living in the mountains, hiding from the world. They think they have the power to dictate to us, but they are nothing at all. We don’t need them. No Lycan would kill a child.” He looked around at his fellow guards. “They have contrived this story in order to have reason to kill us all.”

A murmur of agreement nearly ignited Rafael into action. He made a move, his hands coming up, but Zacarias glanced at him, his face set in stone and Rafael subsided.

“Lowell,” Rolf said, his voice firming. “You will remain silent.”

“It is my duty to keep you and all council members safe,” Lowell insisted. “I have a job to do, and while I respect your authority, in this instance, I believe that it is important to save you from yourself.”

The majority of the guards seemed to agree, nodding their heads, or simply drawing more weapons.

Mikhail, you must leave now, Gregori insisted. This is getting out of hand. Lowell is deliberately turning the other Lycans against us. He wants to start a fight. Your safety is too important to risk you.

Perhaps that is so, Mikhail agreed, but once I leave the room, a fight will start. I don’t want to give up yet. Rolf is an honorable man. Not only do I sense that, but Ivory confirmed my belief, and you know she is extraordinary.

Gabriel moved up to Francesca’s side. Lucian, his twin, slipped through the ranks of the De La Cruz brothers to join his brother in protecting Francesca.

“You will stand down, Lowell,” Rolf ordered. “All of you. We are not going to escalate this without knowing all the facts.” He returned his attention to Francesca. “I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what you must be feeling, but I promise you, I will get answers.”

Francesca looked into his eyes for what seemed an eternity before she nodded her head and turned to bury her grief-stricken face against Gabriel’s shoulder. As Gabriel turned away from the Lycans, his arm around his lifemate, Lowell lifted his sword, executing a fast, fluid sweep at the two Carpathians.

Lucian was faster. The legendary Carpathian met sword with sword, parrying away the blow so that Gabriel and Francesca were unharmed. The sound of metal clashing ignited the room.

Josef sank back on his heels, trying not to sob. He had no idea how Dimitri thought to save Skyler, but there was no real life in her body. She lay as if dead, her eyes open and staring, yet they were not her eyes. Not her spirit. Paul had packed each bullet entry with rich soil in an effort to stop the bleeding. The bullets were silver, designed to kill a rogue wolf or the Sange rau. Josef had a mad desire to cut the silver out of Skyler’s body. Even that seemed an abomination to him.

He looked at Paul’s grief-stricken face and then down at his body. “You’ve been shot,” he announced, as if it was news. He realized he was in shock. Of course he knew Paul had been shot. He had been shot. Dimitri and Skyler had been shot. The Lycans were out for business. He looked around him, feeling dazed and a little dizzy. “They’ve surrounded us.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Paul said. “I think they intend to bring in a nuke.” He took Skyler’s limp hand in his and stretched out beside her. “Go to ground, Josef. You can heal yourself in the ground. Skyler would want that.”

“I’m not going to ground until I fix your wounds as best I can and see if Skyler comes back.”

Josef choked several times, clearing his throat repeatedly, determined not to break down and cry. He wanted Paul to believe there was still a chance to save Skyler. He didn’t believe for a moment that Skyler could come back from the dead and judging by Dimitri’s crazy choices, he feared the Carpathian would turn from Guardian to Sange rau and everyone would be in trouble. The thought terrified him. He could never defeat Dimitri in battle, not even a weak, starved, tortured Dimitri, but he couldn’t leave Paul to face him alone—or face Skyler’s death alone.

Skyler’s body jerked so unexpectedly both men nearly jumped out of their skin. Josef caught her hand. It was ice-cold—cold enough to make him shiver. Wherever she was, she didn’t inhabit the body lying between them.

See to Paul’s wounds.

Dimitri’s voice in his head made him jump nearly as much as Skyler’s awkward jerk. He sounded far away and strained as if whatever he was doing was costing him dearly.

What are you doing? Josef demanded. Dimitri, possessing Skyler’s body won’t bring her back.

I have found her spirit. It is still warm. If her human body undergoes the conversion, I have a chance to thrust her spirit back into her body. She has consented, given me her complete trust.

Josef’s breath caught in his lungs. Dimitri was going to undergo the conversion with Skyler’s body. He was wounded. Silver burned through his body. Already weakened and starved, the chances of him dying with Skyler were enormous.

You can’t be in two places at one time, holding Skyler to this world and undergoing the conversion, Josef warned. He took a deep breath, terrified, but willing. Is there a way I can take your place in either Skyler’s body—the thought of which totally creeped him out—or holding her spirit to this world?

Skyler’s body jerked again. Her eyes went wild, glacier-blue, but swirling with other colors beneath the blue—a beautiful dove gray Josef recognized. Skyler’s eyes, when she was completely calm and relaxed often went that amazing shade of gray. When she was happy, her startling blue shone through. Now, there seemed to be a mixture and for the first time, Josef felt hope that she hadn’t completely departed from their world.

“Fight, Skyler,” he whispered. “I don’t have anyone but you and Paul. Fight to come back. You’re strong.”

Thank you, Josef, for your offer, Dimitri said. This time his voice was edged with pain. You have always been the brother she has loved. You and Paul. She’s glad you’re here with her, both of you. You give her added courage to see this thing through. You cannot take my place. She is too far gone from us, and I’m holding her by our connection more than anything else. You cannot undergo the conversion with her.

Dimitri’s voice strained now. Turned hoarse and raspy. Josef could see ripples beneath Skyler’s skin as if her body had come to life, yet only her eyes showed real signs of life. Her body was icy cold, her skin tone nearly gray.

I count on you to see to Paul and then open the ground for us. Find some way to keep Paul as safe and comfortable as possible. Fen and the others are drawing closer, but they, too, will need to go to ground. I’ve told him of this . . . Dimitri broke off abruptly.

Josef felt a flash of blinding pain. Skyler’s body convulsed.

Paul gasped and rolled to face her, pulling her hand to his chest. “What should we do? We have to do something.”

Josef shook his head. “There isn’t anything we can do. She’s undergoing the conversion, her organs reshaping. Her human body must die in a sense, in order for the conversion to work. All toxins will be removed from her body and she’ll be remade as Carpathian. The process is extremely difficult.”

He made his way around Skyler to kneel beside Paul. “The wound in your leg seems to be the worst. You’re bleeding pretty badly.”

“Don’t put dirt in the wound,” Paul said. “I’m not Carpathian or about to be, and I’d end up with gangrene or something equally as awful.” His gaze kept straying to Skyler’s body even though he tried his best not to look at what was happening to her.

Josef wanted to distract him, knowing the worst was to come. He didn’t want to tell Paul it was Dimitri possessing Skyler’s body with her, because even for their world, that was bizarre—and wrong.

“A little dirt never hurt anyone. Hold still for a moment. You can’t move or distract me, even if Skyler starts convulsing. Be prepared for anything, Paul. I’m counting on you not to move while I’m trying to heal you from the inside out.”

He shed his own body and entered Paul’s. He had deliberately given Paul the task of concentrating on him, rather than what was happening to Skyler. Skyler was completely in Dimitri’s hands. Josef had never heard of anyone attempting what Dimitri was trying to do. As much as he wanted it to work, he feared Skyler could not be recovered and Dimitri would be pushed over the edge into madness. He was very pleased that Fen was drawing closer, and he sent up a silent prayer that Dimitri’s older brother—a Guardian himself—would get there in time to destroy Dimitri if he became the Sange rau.

Dimitri was well aware of Josef’s thoughts. He feared those very same things. He was weak, and right now, his only focus could be on saving Skyler. Once he had taken possession of her body, he was certain a spark of light, very faint, but there nonetheless, had appeared in that warm mass he held to him in that other world.

He felt her, their connection transcending space and time now. In that other world one could easily get lost. During the worst of the conversion, Skyler might want to be lost. He feared she might try to pull away from him once the pain took hold. He did his best to warn her.

Feel me, sívamet. Feel me holding you close to me. This will be pain unlike any you can imagine. The fire will burn through your body, cleansing it, preparing it for the full conversion. I will be with you every step of the way.

He felt the smallest of answers. Warmth in his mind. His heart jerked in his chest. Stuttered with joy. She was there, clinging to life, relying on him, trusting him.

The Lycans put me through the very fires of hell, but I am thankful now. I can guide us through this. You felt the burn of silver twisting through my body. You were able to withstand that torment. We can do this together.

He had no idea just how bad a conversion actually was, but even in his weakened state, he knew with absolute certainty that he could face anything, take the brunt of it and remain honorable—for her.

Stay with me. Stay, Skyler. I know you’re weary and in pain, but I’m asking you to stay for me. She had said similar words to him when he had been mortally wounded, eviscerated by the rogue wolves he had fought. She had come to him, across an impossible distance and she had helped to heal him. Stay, csitri, I cannot bear to be without you. We’re so close to our life together.

Again there was that small spread of warmth. This time he was certain of that small light in the midst of the warmth. Skyler had an indomitable spirit. She would not desert him. She had fought for him, dared to cross into Lycan lands to rescue him. She would not leave him now. He had to believe that.

Pain welled up, a wave sharp and terrible, burning through his/her insides, raking and clawing at their stomach. He turned Skyler’s head just in time as her human stomach rebelled, emptying the contents over and over, a wretched action he couldn’t stop. Something more powerful than him consumed them. Wave after wave crashed through them, lasting long minutes that could have been hours. He lost track of time.

Abruptly, the pain faded, and they panted together, desperate to draw air into their lungs. He felt dizzy and weak. He couldn’t leave Skyler’s spirit alone in the other world. She would never make it back to him. Possessing her body took a tremendous amount of energy. He was still bleeding from multiple wounds and silver burned through his own body, yet he didn’t dare take the time to try to push it out. Already another wave of fire rose in Skyler’s body, lifting her up and slamming her back to earth.

The strength and intensity of the convulsion knocked the very breath from his body. His/her eyes widened in shock. He had suffered endless days and nights when the silver burned and twisted relentlessly through him, but this pain was different, a long wave that roared through them, building so fast it was next to impossible to get above it or on top of it.

He forced Skyler’s body to relax, relying on centuries of discipline. There was no blocking the pain, no way to stop the convulsions, or the way their body lifted, went rigid and slammed back to earth. As the wave subsided, she vomited again and again, a horrible retching sound that seemed to reverberate through the clearing.

Dimitri became aware of two things. Skyler’s spirit, rather than diminishing and retreating from the pain, seemed to grow a little brighter right in the center of the warmth he had surrounded. The earth sank around them, drawing them deeper into the richness of her soil almost with every wave or convulsion. Both things gave him hope that he might actually pull her back from the land of the dead.