Lara rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. Gentle hands touched her face and body as the women searched for injuries. She didn't have the energy left to tell them it wasn't her body that needed to be healed, but her mind. She pried open her eyes and watched as Francesca examined Raven.
Did we get it? Is the baby all right? She didn't have the energy to speak aloud.
Natalya strode back in, going straight to Lara, taking her hand.
Raven closed her eyes and touched her son's mind. Her hands fluttered over her stomach, rubbing gently. «He's at peace. Finally, he's at peace and I feel different. I don't think my body's trying to reject him.»
Francesca immediately sent herself outside her own body, to go seeking in Raven's. A smile of joy lit her face. «This is a miracle. Shea, her blood pressure is fine, there are no more contractions, she isn't bleeding, and her body isn't treating the baby as a foreign invader and trying to dispose of it.»
Lara closed her eyes, pressing both hands to her pounding head. She wanted to weep and laugh at the same time. She was happy she'd been able to find the microbe, but now childhood memories beat at her, images of blood and torture and screaming men and women. More than that was the feeling of utter hopelessness, a seed planted from long ago that she could barely rise above. Her self esteem plummeted, the insidious thread of dark magic preying on her mind.
She didn't want Raven to know what the journey had cost her, but she felt sick to her stomach. Too many doors had opened along the way, and remembering wasn't a good thing. There had been a reason her aunts built a barrier to protect her and the shield seemed to be in shreds. She needed to be alone, far from everyone else where she could pull her fractured mind back together. The problem was-she was
too weak to rise.
Around her, voices rose in excitement. Shea and Francesca whispered in consult, their body language animated. Raven's child was safe and the culprit had been found. The other women rejoiced and Raven wept with happiness.
«What about my daughters?» Savannah's quivering voice quieted the room. «Do I have one of those things in me attacking the girls? Is that why I'm having contractions and bleeding?»
Gregori! I need you. Her cry was heartfelt, a mother's instinctive need to protect her children.
Lara stilled, her heart beginning to hammer inside her chest. She knew what was coming, but she couldn't . There was no possible way with her mind so fragmented that she could go back and face her childhood a second time. Without conscious thought, instinctively her traumatized mind reached out to Nicolas.
Nicolas. Hurry. I fear I'm lost.
«Lara?» Raven asked. «Does Savannah have a parasite in her body attacking the girls?»
For a moment she was paralyzed, her mind frozen, refusing to process information. She was still that child in the cave with Xavier standing over her telling her she was worthless and had killed her own mother.
«Get it out of me! Get it away from the babies,» Savannah cried. «Get it out of me now.»
She could hear herself screaming silently, deep down where no one could hear.
I hear. I am with you. Nicolas's voice was quiet and gentle, but carried absolute confidence.Hang on, han ku kuulua sivamet, I am almost there .
He was coming and he had called her «keeper of my heart.» Lara tried to cling to that, shivering with cold, aware of little around her but the whispers of her past.
Natalya dropped on her knees beside Lara. «You need blood.» She used her teeth to open her wrist, extending her hand toward Lara.
Lara's horrified gaze fastened on the elongated teeth, then touched on the red droplets welling up. The thin crimson trickle turned her stomach. Crablike, Lara scrambled backward away from Natalya, feeling trapped.
All eyes seemed on her and for a moment the expressions seemed greedy and disdainful. Her wrist burned and ached. She rubbed her fingers over the scars, looking toward the chamber entrance, judging the distance to make her escape.
Worthless, pathetic creature. You killed your mother. It is no wonder your father wants you dead. I should let him drink you dry.
Wide shoulders filled the doorway and silver eyes glittered and raked over her face. The scream echoed through her mind, built and built until it was a giant tsunami, bursting out of her, growing and expanding as energy exploded outward.
Nicolas threw Gregori aside and took the brunt of the assault, the powerful energy waves slamming him backward and down. Both he and Gregori shifted into mist as they moved. The force of the blow shook the chamber. Several sconces exploded, showering the cavern with wax and flame. Gregori materialized, his body blocking Savannah and Raven from falling debris.
Lara pulled herself into a standing position and staggered toward Nicolas, remorse adding to her feelings of humiliation and self loathing. He was there instantly, sweeping her up into his arms and glaring at the women. She buried her face against his chest, clinging, wanting to disappear. She felt fractured, fragile, raw and exposed.
«I trusted you with her.» Fury burned through Nicolas, his strong body vibrating with power as rage took hold. He knew Lara's emotions were cutting into his self control, but it mattered little. She had come here already in a fragile state and instead of being bolstered by the women, they had torn her to shreds. He wanted to annihilate them. To maintain control, he stepped back toward the entrance.
Gregori spread his arms wide in a gesture of challenge and there was real anger breaking through the usual cold-stone demeanor. «Take your woman and go. Mage-born, daughter of Razvan, great-granddaughter of Xavier, what do we really know of her? It is bad enough that she endangered our prince with her lack of control, but she has placed every woman in this room in danger.»
Nicolas dragged in his breath, the rage in the pit of his stomach coming to a boil. «You dare to imply that she is a spy in our camp?»
Power shimmered throughout the cavern and the walls undulated. The ground beneath them rolled.
«Stop!» Raven cried out.
«Gregori, you don't understand,» Francesca intervened.
«What is going on?» Mikhail appeared, standing squarely between the two Carpathian males. «You are in a sacred place.»
«She's done a great service, Gregori,» Francesca said. «She found and brought to the surface the parasite threatening Raven with miscarriage. We thought the baby lost to us. She's exhausted and needs blood.»
It was more than that. Merged as he was with Lara, Nicolas felt the press of Xavier's torment. He whirled around with Lara in his arms and took two steps, but Savannah cried out, pushing past everyone to block the entrance to the chamber.
«She can't leave. She can't.» Tears swam in her eyes. «I'm sorry for what Gregori said, but shehas to get this thing out of me. It's trying to kill my children.»
Gregori put a gentle hand on her shoulder, ignoring Nicolas who was still shaking with fury. «I can get rid of it, Savannah, now that I know what to look for.»
Natalya shook her head. «It hides from men. Xavier was very clever. He knew every male scans his lifemate's body to ensure her health. Lara detected it because she lived for years with Xavier's taint all around her. She was able to go on a soul journey to find it dwelling within Raven. She used herself as bait to bring the entity to the surface, and allow Natalya to destroy it.»
Lara slipped her arms tighter around Nicolas's neck and buried her face against his throat. Nicolas nuzzled the top of her head with his chin and then looked at Gregori, dark anger rolling like thunder in his eyes. «Too bad you have condemned my lifemate to banishment as a spy from the camp of the enemy.»
He stepped around Savannah only to find his way blocked by Gregori's solid body. «You will not condemn my children to death because you are angry with me.» His body crackled with electricity, tiny sparks snapping around him.
«Get the hell out of my way,» Nicolas snapped, not in the least intimidated.
When Gregori didn't move, Nicolas placed Lara carefully on the ground well clear of a possi
ble fight zone and stepped up, chest to chest, staring straight into Gregori's eyes, two dangerous predators not yielding an inch. «Do you really want to do this with me?» The anger faded from his eyes so they went flat and cold and a killer stood where a man had been.
«If I have to,» Gregori replied.
A collective gasp went through the cavern. Mikhail sighed and waved his hand toward the two men. The energy field around Gregori snapped off with a small, brightly lit surge before going dark and both men found themselves on the floor, sitting side by side on the edge of the rich soil.
«Enough. You can both leave if you refuse to do other than posture.» Ignoring both men, Mikhail crouched down beside Lara, looking into her eyes. «This is more than needing blood. Francesca? Come take a look at her.»
«Get away from her,» Nicolas growled, his first thought to get to his lifemate, but the women surrounded them, pushing in close to the two men, trapping them inside a circle of protection.
Savannah caught at Lara's hand, tears streaming down her face. «I'm sorry. Please, I'll do anything. Anything at all. Don't let my babies die.»
Lara's body jerked. She'd heard those words before. A man's voice calling out in a desperate plea. Xavier turning to look back at Razvan, his silvery eyes glittering with such contempt and triumph . She gasped, her shocked gaze hunting for Nicolas, her only anchor when the truth clawed at her, tore her open.
Nicolas. He did it for me. He allowed Xavier to take him over so I would be allowed life.
Razvan had inadvertently opened his soul to Xavier when he had sought to save the life of his child. He'd exposed his soul and Xavier had snatched it, able to control his grandson's movements, taking over without having to drain his energy by possessing the body. For her. To save her. Razvan had paid the ultimate price-not death, but soul destruction.
«Nicolas!» She called for him, covering her face with her hands. She was slipping backward into her mind.
«I am here,fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso , and I am not going anywhere.»
«She came back too fast,» Francesca said. She pushed past Mikhail to kneel beside Lara, slipping her arms around her. «She's freezing. Gregori, I need help.»
«She's back in the ice cave,» Nicolas said. He was already there, gathering Lara into his arms and holding her close, his mind merging with hers to hold her steady. He crooned softly to her, rocking her back and forth. «She should never have gone there without me.»
«What has she done?» Gregori demanded, crouching beside Francesca to examine Lara. His hands skimmed over her.
«She used herself as bait. The entity destroyed babies so she regressed and became a child so it would follow her,» Natalya explained.
Nicolas swore under his breath. «She shouldn't have gone back without me,» he repeated.
«She fears me,» Gregori said abruptly. «You have to get her to come back with me to retrieve what has been lost.»
Nicolas searched Gregori's face for a long moment, then he nodded.
Gregori crouched quite close to Lara and looked into her eyes. He nodded at whatever he found there and murmured instructions to Francesca, who once again took up her position at her drum.
«She needs to feel safe and loved, Nicolas,» Gregori said. «Bring her into the center of the circle and hold her so she feels your presence. Stay connected to her mind. A part of her is so stressed from the painful revelations of her past she's unable to deal with more of her memories. We have to invite that part of her to return and it must feel safe to do so.»
«Invite it?» Nicolas echoed.
Gregori shrugged. «Do not worry, I will get back what is lost for her. We dare not leave even a small fragment of her soul in the lower realm too long. If Xavier is alive, he will sense her there and like Lara tracking his evil, he will be able to acquire a piece of her.»
More sage and sweet grass was laid on the hot rocks. The women began the healing chant, the longer version often used to retrieve the soul of someone who had died. Nicolas found every muscle tight, his stomach muscles bunched and knotted in apprehension. He would much rather face a dozen skilled vampires than have to rely on someone else to aid Lara.
I am a healer and I cannot help my children or my lifemate.
Nicolas accepted the brief statement as the closest thing to an apology he would get from Gregori. And he understood what would drive a man to rage now. Impotence. Helplessness. The inability to defend what was his.
Nicolas bent his head and brushed kisses along Lara's cold forehead. She shivered continually, but she was aware of him. Her gaze clung to his and there was trust there. He was grateful for that much from her.
Gregori wasted little time, shedding his physical body and traveling, first into Lara, and then guiding them straight to the tree of life. His experience showed, Nicolas thought. He moved with complete confidence, meeting animals along the way, showing respect as he made inquiries, tracking what Lara had left behind in her haste to bring a killer from Raven's body.
Gregori's manners on the journey were impeccable, even when he found what was lost, politely inviting it home, persuading the stressed fragment it would be returning to a safe environment. The soft healing chant added to the healer's persuasive voice and in the end, the fragment returned to Lara without much trouble.
Gregori swayed a little from the drain of energy. «She needs blood and rest.» He had seen the wealth of childhood memories pouring into Lara's mind.
«I am taking her home,» Nicolas declared.
«No!» Savannah pressed both hands over the rounded curve of her belly. «I feel that thing tearing at my children, hurting them. Making them feel unwanted. I can't wait another rising.» She reached out her hand toward Lara in a pleading gesture. «I swear to you, I would if I could. I know what this costs you, but they're hurting.» Tears streamed down her face and she turned to Gregori.
He was there instantly, cupping the back of her head, pressing her damp face against his chest, but he said nothing-simply waited.
Lara turned back on shaky legs, her stomach knotting at the prospect, but Savannah was right. They couldn't allow the babies to suffer any longer than necessary.
«Absolutely not,» Nicolas said. «I forbid it, Lara.» He ignored the stubborn look on her face. «You barely made it out last time in one piece. If it has to be done, I will do it.»
«How? If a man could do it, the healer would have already. It has to be a woman and that woman has to recognize Xavier's touch. It's very faint and difficult to follow.»
«Natalya can go,» Nicolas said. He was beginning to feel desperate, his skin too tight, his skull pressing down on his mind.
«She cannot and I think you know that. There is no one else.» There was quiet despair in her voice and it shattered him.
The chamber was quiet, but he could feel all eyes on him. His gaze was locked with Lara's. She didn't want to go, and a part of her even wanted him to stop her, but both of them knew she had no real choice. How could she live with herself if she allowed two unborn babies to suffer as she had suffered, when she knew the lasting effects? When she knew the killer would double his efforts to rid the world of the grandchildren of the prince?
Nicolas.
She whispered his name and for the first time he heard love. His heart jerked hard in his chest. This then, was love. This terrible wrenching inside, an ache that was unrelenting. The terrible need to make her world right.
Sivamet-my heart. And he meant it.
I will need blood to make this journey.
He swallowed his protest. She had to go and he had to let her.
Gregori stepped forward, drawing their attention, extending his wrist. «I offer freely, my life for your life.»
There was a small silence. Lara forced a self-conscious smile. «I'm sorry. I have an aversion to taking blood. I'm just learning to be able to take what my lifemate offers.»
Gregori inclined his head. «I understand. And I offer my sincere apologies for my conduct.»
«There
really is no need.»
Lara turned in Nicolas's arms, the pads of her fingers skimming beneath his shirt, seeking hot skin. She needed and he provided. It was that complex-and that simple. Nicolas moved back into the shadows and blurred their image to hide his reaction. No matter that she needed blood for survival, for him it was an erotic intimacy that would forever stir a physical hunger. His body hardened as he felt the skim of her teeth, of her lips and the bite of pain that gave way instantly to a flood of pleasure. He stroked back her hair, fingers caressing as he gave her his strength. Even when she sealed the twin pinpricks with a lick of her tongue, he continued to hold her tightly, not wanting to let her go.
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