«It is not only my choice, and my right, but my duty as your lifemate.»
She touched his mind, more because she couldn't help herself than because she wanted to. As before, he was entirely open to her, allowing her to see both predator and man. He was angry at her defiance, certain of being right and unused to anyone questioning his authority. He was a dominant male, centuries on earth, a highly skilled hunter and it was an affront to his pride that his lifemate question not only his ability to protect and care for her, but worry that he might harm her in some way.
He didn't like anyone defying his orders, let alone his woman, and he had no intention of allowing her to leave the cave when he deemed it dangerous. As far as he was concerned, she was slightly hysterical and completely irrational.
Lara forced down panic and took a deep breath. Nowhere in his mind could she see that he was attempting to control her mind. There was some relief in that, although she was fairly certain, unless she could convince him otherwise, that he had no intention of letting her leave.
«I think we don't understand each other. I appreciate you trying to take care of me, but I've been doing that all by myself for some years now. I don't need nor want you telling me what is good for me.»
«Obviously that is not the case or we would not be standing here at the entrance to a cave in broad daylight.» He glided forward, one step, two, turned slightly and raised his hands.
Lara felt the surge of power, saw his arms lift and knew he was sealing and safeguarding the cave, which meant no one would get in-or out. Panic hit hard and she leapt forward toward the light spilling into the cavern. She caught a glimpse of his face, all sharp edges, beautifully carved, very masculine, the light throwing the details into sharp relief and highlighting the smoldering anger in his burning black eyes.
Alarm shot through her, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered, except getting out of the cave before he sealed the entrance. She ran fast, using a burst of blurring speed, speed she hadn't even known she was capable of. Desperation drove her past Nicolas. He reached out so fast she couldn't actually see him move, snagging her wrist, whipping her around and bringing her body up hard against his.
She struggled instinctively, trying to free herself from his grip, but he was enormously strong, his body hard like an oak tree. The light faded as the entrance sealed, plunging them into darkness. With the light, the air surrounding them seemed to diminish, so that she renewed her efforts, swinging at his chest, pounding until she felt battered and bruised.
Nicolas tightened his grip on Lara, taking care not to hurt her, but she was wild, fighting him with her fists and attempting to use magic. He could feel the energy pounding in her, trying to escape, just as she was trying. He surrounded her with soothing calm, holding her close to him, swamping her with reassurance.
«Lara, stop,» he hissed softly. «You are only hurting yourself.»
She wanted to hurt him. To move him. To make him understand what he was doing. Energy crackled in the air. Her hair glowed with bands of brilliant red, snapping and popping with electricity. The ground shook and undulated beneath their feet. The mountain groaned, rumbled. Dirt trickled from the walls and several smaller rocks fell and rolled.
Nicolas wrapped his arm around her head to protect her, sheltering her body with his. «Breathe with
me.»
His voice was calm. She hated that he was calm when she was filled with chaos and panic. She felt his breath warm against her cheek as he bent his head toward hers.
«We have to get out of here before the mountain comes down on top of us,» she said, not understanding why he wasn't feeling the same panic when all around them the mountain creaked and groaned and debris fell. «This is an earthquake.»
«It is not natural. You are causing it,» Nicolas said. «Look at me, Lara.»
She couldn't prevent herself from obeying, lifting her face, her gaze colliding-then locking with his.
«Your eyes have changed color. You are generating a tremendous electrical current. Even your hair is banding with color, all signs of power. You have to calm yourself.»
«Open the entrance."Because I'm capable of bringing the entire mountain down on both of us and would rather do that than be a prisoner .
He shook his head. «Do not force me to protect you from yourself."I am quite capable of doing whatever it takes to keep you from harm .
He looked as ruthless as he sounded. There was no give in him-no mercy. Not in his eyes, not on his face and certainly not in his mind. He would force compliance without a second thought. Lara had sworn she would never again feel helpless and vulnerable, as she had when she was a small child, but there was no point in matching her physical strength against Nicolas, and little point in challenging him with power.
«Do you really believe you have the right to dictate to me?»
He shook his head. «No. But I have the right to protect you. I am not threatening you. You are the one putting both of us in danger. It is my duty to protect you. Your fears are groundless. You have looked into my mind and find nothing there to alarm you…»
She made a derisive sound and once again tried to jerk away. He retained possession of her arms, holding her body close to his to prevent the occasional disturbed rock from striking her.
«I found plenty to alarm me. You're every bit as dark as a vampire.»
She expected him to deny the charge-she wanted him to deny it-but he simply nodded his head, his gaze still holding her captive.
«That is so. All Carpathian males who hunt eventually become as dark as a vampire. How could we not when we take the lives of friends and family? When we are judge, jury and executioner? Did you think there wouldn't be a price to pay for what we do? There is always a price, Lara, and we accept that when we take on the job.»
She let her breath out slowly, forcing her mind back under her own control. «Please let go of me.» Breathing deeply, she managed to pull back the power spilling from her, reining in the waves causing the disturbance in the cave.
«I can take you back to the chamber much faster.»
«I would prefer to walk.» She tugged backward, trying to put a little space between her and the heat of his body. He was too big, too solid, too masculine, mostly he was just too powerful, swamping her with his complete confidence.
He let her go the moment the earth beneath them and the walls surrounding them ceased rippling and the last rock tumbled to the ground.
Lara took another breath and looked down the dark corridor. «I wish you could understand that I don't think I can actually stay here all day.» It was hard to get the words out, to try to reason with the unreasonable.
«I realize you are having flashbacks, but I will help you get through this.»
His arrogance set her teeth on edge. As if he could solve her inconsequential problems when she couldn't do it herself. Lara stepped past him and began walking along the narrow corridor. At once candles sprang to life in scones above her head, throwing shadows along the walls of tunnel. The light didn't dispel the fear in her mind. She was a prisoner, anyway she looked at it and she had promised herself it would never happen again-and it wouldn't.
The narrow corridor expanded outward several feet past a veil of stalactites-thin, dark daggers of brown and gold sharpened to lethal points. The hanging spears glittered with earthy tones, so long and thick she had thought the corridor closed, impenetrable on that side, but she could see more corridors, a maze of trails leading in different directions beneath the mountain. He could have gotten her lost, but he had been true to his word, giving her the directions to get out, even though he had no intention of allowing her to leave.
«In the story of lifemates that my aunts told me, the couple seemed to be very much in love. I don't really see that happening between us,» Lara said, her back and shoulders stiff. «Do you?»
«Of course.» There was complete confidence in his tone.
Nicolas paced easily one step behind her, his body so close she could feel his warmt
h. She sent him a small frown. His breath was on her ear, one hand brushed the small of her back. She tried not to feel the pull between them, that physical chemistry that persisted no matter what. Maybe she was drawn to the very danger in him she so strenuously objected to, but whatever it was, when he was so close to her, it was difficult to think straight. «It was only a story my aunts told me. Maybe it isn't even true.»
«It is true. I could not have bound us together had the words not been imprinted before my birth. We 'marry' our woman immediately to protect the species from extinction.»
«How lovely for the woman.» Sarcasm dripped from her voice. Watching over her shoulder, she caught the faintest of smiles. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but it infuriated her. «Don't you think it's wrong that you can utter a few words and change a woman's life whether she wants it or not?»
«No. Why would a woman want to be with a man like me? It is the only way to protect our species from certain extinction. If you were not tied to me you would not so easily have come with me.»
«I said I wouldn't be a prisoner.» She walked faster.
Nicolas kept pace with her easily. «And you are not a prisoner.»
She shook her head. «We don't even talk the same language.»
It was impossible not to breathe him into her lungs. He was too close. He walked so silently she kept turning her head to see if he was there and she'd catch him. Real. Solid. Frightening. Fascinating. So male. Utterly handsome. He was almost too good-looking to be real. But his eyes gave him away. Hungry. Cunning. Intelligent. A hunter of prey. He made her pulse race and every alarm bell shriek. He made her aware of him as male and of herself as female. And he made her lose focus. She didn't have a clue how to handle him-but she knew absolutely she wouldn't allow him to turn her into the puppet her father had wanted.
His hand brushed the small of her back, his fingers trailing along her spine. «I think we will manage just fine, Lara. Give it time.»
Chapter 7
The chamber was even more beautiful than Lara remembered, a dazzling display of gems and crystals of various colors. The water sparkled as it poured from the wall into the pool, the droplets like thousands of diamonds falling from the sky, but the warmth and beauty of the cave no longer made her feel safe and comforted. A cage was still a cage no matter what it looked like. She preferred the glacier-blue ice caves, cold and desolate, because she knew exactly what to expect there.
She moistened her lips and steadied herself. Yes, she had strong Carpathian blood running in her veins, and she burned like hell in the sun-she figured that was just the luck of the DNA draw-but she wasn't fully Carpathian like Nicolas. She wasn't a hunter who had killed over the centuries. She wasn't close to turning vampire as he was. And that meant, she simply had to bide her time and wait. She wasn't concerned with the safeguards at the entrance. She was a talented mage and had watched carefully as he had woven the strands for the safeguards.
She searched for a safe topic of conversation. Anything that would keep him from touching her mind and discovering her plan. «Did you see the prince? Did he tell you how Terry was doing?»
«I spoke with Gregori, our healer, and he said your friend has a good chance of surviving. He would not say that if it was untrue.»
«Gregori looks less like a healer than anyone else I could imagine.»
«I suppose he does. You obviously had seen the parasites before.»
She had shared that memory with him, she had no choice but to admit it. Lara nodded. «Xavier experimented often trying to find ways to strengthen his ability to command others to his bidding.» She couldn't stop the shudder that ran through her body. «His creatures were ravenous and often escaped his commands. They ate human flesh.»
«Your mother?» He asked it softly, his voice gentle.
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. She hadn't thought of her mother in years. She'd never
been able to conjure up a picture of her in her mind, not even a scrap of memory. Not the color of her hair or even her scent. She hadn't known she had a mother until the parasites combined with the silver of Gregori's eyes had triggered a long-forgotten memory. «Yes, but I didn't remember her until now.»
«She was mage.» He made it a statement.
Lara frowned. Now that he said it aloud, she recalled her aunts referring to her mother as mage. Why hadn't she remembered that before? Why hadn't she remembered that her mother had curly hair? She touched her own hair. She had been born with white hair although a red tint had developed very early on. Little corkscrew curls had been all over her head, thick and springy, impossible to control. Her mother's hair had been like that as well. «Yes, she was. I vaguely recall pulling on her curls.»
The memory of her mother lying on the floor of ice, parasites attacking her dead body made her sick. She pressed a hand to her mouth, found she was trembling and paced closer to the warm pool. The sound of the waterfall soothed her, allowing her to draw a few deep breaths so that she could change the subject. She didn't want to remember anymore.
«You were gone a long time. What did you do tonight?"When you weren't controlling other people's minds and stealing their blood without their consent . The thought came unbidden and she kept her back turned so he couldn't read her expression. She didn't trust herself at all. He was used to reading opponents, and right now, whether he knew it or not, they were locked in a battle for life.
«We held a warrior's council this night. The vampires have banded together and are trying to destroy our species. Humans would stand little chance against them. Just making them believe vampires exist would be nearly impossible.»
Her heart jumped with shock and she turned to face him in spite of her resolve. «Vampires are too vain and selfish to band together. They only hunt in pairs when one has become the puppet of another. I know that to be true. My aunts told me exactly what had to be done to kill them if I ran across them, and they told me the vampires despise everyone, including each other. That is why the Carpathian hunters will always have the edge when fighting.»
«That has always been true, down through the centuries,» Nicolas agreed. «But it is no longer so. Someone has found a way to band them together and we are in for a long, bitter war for survival.»
She didn't question why his dark gaze stayed on the gentle lapping of the water in the pool against the smooth boulders. «Xavier? Do you think he's still alive? He was so old even twenty years ago, but he was good at getting the necessary Carpathian blood to continue his life.»
«We believe he may still be alive and has formed an alliance with five brothers, powerful Carpathians who we think have turned vampire.»
«If Xavier is still alive, then my aunts could be, too. I have to get into that cave.»
His head jerked up, black eyes burning over her face. «That cave is dangerous. Going there is foolish. If your aunts were alive, we would know it. They would have the ability to call to our people for aid.»
«If that were true,» Lara snapped, sarcasm dripping from her voice, «then they would have done so when I was a child. They were kept weak and sick.»
«Those who entered the cave saw the bodies of two dragons encased in ice-dead.»
Lara's stomach churned and she pressed a hand to her abdomen.
«Xavier kept them encased in ice. He froze his blood supply, very clever wouldn't you say? Do you know what kind of pain a person goes through when their body is recovering from being frozen?»
Nicolas gentled his voice. «Lara, I will go to the ice cave myself and check for you, but it is best if you stay far from that place. Xavier left protections-dangerous ones, including shadow warriors. It would be suicide for you to go there.»
Lara pressed her lips together tightly. What was the use of arguing with him when she planned to escape anyway? Of course she would go. How could she not? Her aunts would have never given up searching for her, nor would they let danger prevent them from going to the one place that would yield the bodies as well as clues.
; She cast around for something-anything at all to say. She could see the corner of the bed in the next chamber, a massive old-fashioned bed with a carved head– and footboard. She didn't want to go into the other chamber or even acknowledge it was there. Already, she could feel the tension rising in the cavern.
Glancing at him from beneath a screen of long lashes, she moved a little farther out of reach. He seemed to fill the space of the chamber, although it was quite large with high ceilings. It was impossible not to feel the sexual pull. He was too handsome, too sensual, the combination of the way he moved-going from utter stillness to a streak of action-was sexy. Power was in the flow of his body and etched into every line on his face. His brooding eyes could melt Lara and when he turned the intensity of his black gaze on her, focused on her completely, her body ceased belonging to her and reached for him.
She had tried to put off thinking of the consequences of Nicolas's claiming her as his lifemate. Maybe in a secret part of her she hadn't really believed that by uttering a few words he could change her life forever, but she felt the connection-and sexually it was just plain frightening. To go from not being even mildly interested in men who she was friends with and knew, to having her body flare out of control for a man she didn't even like was horrifying.
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