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 cont
inued 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 liv
ed, 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.
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