She was part Carpathian. She was capable of some feats, yet not all. She had the drawbacks, yet not the severity of them. She didn't belong in their world, she didn't belong to a species that had murdered her brother and waged a war over a woman, even if that woman had been her grandmother.
Mage blood ran strong in her. She was from ancient lines gifted with the ability to wield magick, to use the harmony of the earth, to harness the energies and spirits around her. She was adept at it, capable of weaving powerful spells, combining ancient text and her own inventions with astonishing results, yet there was nowhere for such things in the modern world.
The thought triggered a flash of memory, or perhaps a nightmare. I don't want to do that. It's too dangerous. Razvan, tell him what will happen if I call on that spirit. I won't. Razvan, he's hurting me. Make him stop! A shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness and loomed over her as her brother rushed to her aid. Gasping, Natalya pulled back…
What is it? There was alarm in Vikirnoff's voice.
Natalya closed her eyes, tears slipping past her lashes as she caught the vision of her
brother lying on the floor, his face already swelling and blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. As always a door in her brain slammed down, effectively stopping the replay of the distressing memory.
Natalya? Shall I come to you? What has upset you?
She leaned against the shower stall wall. There was such caring in his voice. She hadn't had caring or affection in a long, long time. Don't be silly. I'm just tired. Could he see all the way into her mind? Into the places that were so dark and shadowed and beyond her own ability to see?
Her father, Soren, had been half Carpathian and half mage. He had married a human, her beloved mother, Samantha. Natalya closed her eyes tight and tried not to think about her mother and the mess the vampires had made of her. Her father had gone a little crazy and left his children, Razvan and Natalya, alone while he went seeking to find his wife's killers. He had never returned and Razvan had become her only family.
Her eyes burned at the thought of her brother. So gentle with her, so careful to make certain she used every safeguard, dead at the hand of a hunter. She put her palm on the shower door as if she could feel Vikirnoff through the partition. The hunter was alive because she had chosen to save him.
Sighing, she stepped out of the shower and dried her body, wincing a little when she touched bruises. Natalya sagged against the wall, covering her face. What would Razvan say to her if he were alive? Would he be disgusted and ashamed of her? Or would he understand? She pressed her hands over her ears as if shutting out whispered recriminations.
She didn't understand why she was so drawn to the hunter, why she even considered the possibility of being his lifemate. In the past, she'd been a witness to a woman being drawn to a hunter in spite of her intentions not to be, but Natalya was not fully Carpathian or fully human. She was also wizard, with the blood of the dark mage flowing in her veins; few had her power. She did not believe she could be successfully bound. How could she expect Razvan to believe it if she did not? And how could she expect his understanding? She had the fear that he might reach out from his grave to condemn her.
Opening the bathroom door, she stood across the room from the badly injured hunter and wondered why she had been so determined to see him live. Natalya pulled on a pair of soft drawstring pants and a long sleeve shirt and stood watching Vikirnoff. He appeared to be dead. She couldn't detect the faintest breath of air moving through his lungs, but she didn't want to get that close to him yet. She still had the task of giving him blood.
You do not have to do anything so abhorrent to you, kislany. It is not necessary. I will survive.
Natalya stiffened. Had he been awake the entire time, a shadow in her mind? Why
couldn't she tell when he was merged with her?
«What are you calling me? What is Kish-lah-knee'?»
The emphasis is on the first syllable. Kish-lah-knee. It means «little girl.»
Natalya sucked in her breath, anger rising instantly. «What else have you called me?» She was no little girl, no baby, and she damned well wasn't afraid of him. Well, maybe that wasn't altogether true, but she refused to be intimidated when the hunter was so gravely wounded. She pushed up her sleeve in a business-like manner and forced herself across the room.
I called you my «little slip of a girl» and, «forever mine.»
The weariness in his voice tugged at her heart in spite of her anger. He was using too much energy when he needed desperately to conserve. «I am not a 'slip of a girl' or a 'little girl,'» she declared. «I'm a grown woman and I expect you to treat me with respect.»
As you do me?
She slashed her wrist and pressed it to his mouth. Pain knifed through her, but she stuck her chin in the air and accepted it. She wasn't going to feel guilty. He was a hunter, for heaven's sake. One of her greatest enemies, she'd saved his life, that should have been enough.
«You are not a «little slip of a girl».» But you are ainaak enyem, «forever mine.» I thank you for taking care of me when you are uncertain if it is the right thing to do.
«Don't thank me. I don't want your thanks. Just hurry up and get better so I can throw you out. Maybe your prince will come and take you home with him and get you out of my hair.»
And this night she dared not summon her dream of Razvan as she did each time she slept. She loved to go to sleep and call on her childhood memories of her twin so she could spend time with him. They had always met in their dreams and exchanged whatever each of them had been taught. It was all she had left to her, but not this time. She didn't dare face him, not with a hunter sleeping in her bed and her blood flowing in his veins. Not even when Razvan was dead.
I do not belong with the prince. I belong with you.
Natalya sighed and waited until he politely closed the gash on her wrist with his tongue. His touch was a velvet rasp that sent heat right up her arm. «I don't think we're right for one another. You don't even like me, Vikirnoff. My grandmother couldn't have been a true lifemate to her Carpathian if she fell in love with my grandfather. I was told the binding words only work on a true pair. I do not think we are true lifemates. We aren't compatible.»
Vikirnoff opened his eyes. She had forgotten how black his eyes were. How intense his
gaze was. Even in the darkness she could see that he had night vision, just as she did. «Rhiannon was with her true lifemate. Xavier murdered her lifemate and imprisoned her.»
«She was in love with Xavier. I've heard many stories about their life together. Their time was short, but they lived every moment together happy.»
His tongue moistened his dry lips. Natalya's heart jumped. She couldn't stand to see him in pain. «There was a war, Natalya. People were being killed. Do you believe she would have been happy? Would you have been? Xavier wanted immortality. He had longevity, but only Carpathians could live on and on. He was a powerful wizard but he couldn't find a way to live forever as he wanted.» His voice trailed off.
«Don't talk anymore. We don't need to do this now.» She didn't want to think about Xavier or her troubled nightmares of him. She didn't want to think about her father or mother. Most of all she didn't want to think about Razvan. «Please, just go to sleep and do me the courtesy of staying out of me mind.»
His eyes closed. That is an unreasonable request. If I do not share your mind, how can I see to your health and safety and happiness? It is my duty as your lifemate to provide these things.
Natalya sat with her back to the wall, knees drawn up, guns beside her, knives and sword within arm's reach. She laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes. «It isn't unreasonable at all. If it makes me happy to have privacy, then it stands to reason you should honor my request.»
There was a long silence. So long she didn't think he was going to answer. You are confused about what is between us and you are emotional. It can be difficult at first adjusting to what seems an intrusion in your life.
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Natalya allowed herself to relax. She needed sleep desperately and couldn't understand why Vikirnoff hadn't fully succumbed to the leaden state that took the Carpathian people when the sun was high. She preferred to sleep in the afternoon, and the sun burned her eyes, but she could push past the discomfort and go outside as long as her skin was protected. She probably should have gone out and found blood for herself, but frankly, she was too tired.
«I'm an intrusion in your life as well,» she pointed out. «We don't have to give in to this thing.» Whatever the thing was.
Vikirnoff was silent even longer. She didn't understand and he couldn't really blame her. He had to admire her, going against her beliefs to aid him. Guilt surrounded her, ate at her along with her complete bewilderment. The pull between lifemates was extremely strong and she felt it every bit as deeply as he. It is not a choice, ainaak enyem. Without you the darkness would take me. I cannot allow that to happen and neither can you. You know how evil the vampire is. I have fought such creatures most of my life. I will not become the undead. Not even for my misguided lifemate.
Damn him. He had a way of turning her words around on her. She bit at her knuckles to keep from ranting at him. He believed what he was saying. Worse, she believed it as well. She let her breath out slowly, waiting until she was calm. «You would become a vampire? Why?»
A Carpathian male cannot exist for all time without his lifemate. We are two halves of the same whole. You are the light to my darkness and without you, I have two choices. To seek the dawn or to succumb to that darkness. I have waited too long to make the first choice.
She detested the honesty in his voice. She detested everything about the situation. «So Carpathian males turn into vampires. That's where vampires come from.»
This was not taught to you ?
«Who would teach it to me?» Natalya sighed. «No wonder you hunters are a such a murderous lot. That's why I feel the darkness in you. You are very much like the vampire.»
Yes and no.
«This is just great news. My intended is the undead waiting to happen. Do I have a neon sign stamped on my forehead? If you're a bloodsucking evil monster, willing to murder and wreak havoc, please apply.»
She felt his faint amusement and tried not to smile when she was so exasperated with the situation. «Go to sleep. And Vikirnoff, I have my own darkness in me. I cannot be your light. There's been a mistake. I just haven't figured out what to do about it yet.»
Chapter 5
«Natalya! Hurry. You're late again. Grandfather is going to be angry with you.»
«I don't like going to see him. He has scary eyes.»
Razvan puffed out his chest, his mop of tawny hair falling into his eyes. «I'll protect you. If he is mean to you, I'll tell him we're going to leave.»
Natalya sucked in her breath and skidded to a halt, her silky hair flying in all directions. She shook her head solemnly. «No, Razvan, he gets very angry when you stick up for me. I don't want him to punish you. I know he was mean to you the last time you got mad at him for making me cry. You were too quiet and you didn't tell me what he did to you.»
«I don't care what he does to me. I won't let him hurt you. Not now, not ever.»
«Why won't Father come back ? I don't like being all alone. Mother is dead and Father went off and left us and now we just have Grandfather. I don't like him. You know Father wouldn't want us to live with Grandfather. He didn't like Grandfather either.»
«Ssh.» Razvan looked around, his too-old eyes suddenly wary as he threw his arm around his sister's shoulders. «Don't say that. He might hear you. He always knows what we talk about unless me meet in our dreams. We have to be careful, Natalya. Don't trust anyone. Don't trust Grandfather and don't be alone with him. Something bad could happen.»
Natalya spun around as something thudded against the door. When she turned back, Razvan was gone. Alarmed she ran down the familiar steps leading to her grandfather's workshop and pounded on the door. It was locked and no one came to let her in. She slid down the door to the ground, tears running down her face. Razvan would be punished because she hadn't obeyed. He would suffer the wrath meant for her.
Through the sound of her sobs she heard her twin's voice. He sounded far away from her. «Natalya? Where are you? I can't see you? Something's wrong with me. Am I dead? Did you kill me? No, no, the hunter killed me… Where are you, Natalya? Tell me where you are!»
Razvan's plaintive cry wrenched at her heart. «I'm here, Razvan. At the inn.»
Natalya woke with a start, tears running down her face. Her legs were cramped from staying in the same position for so long and her heart was pounding. Adrenaline flooded her body.
She and Razvan had been ten years old when their father had disappeared. She hated when reality or nightmares intruded into her precious memories of Razvan. She had no recall of her grandfather. She could only think that the events of the day had brought him into her dreams. Guilt weighed heavily on her mind and in her heart. Razvan was dead, killed by a merciless hunter and her guilt had entered her beloved dreams and twisted them, giving her a bad taste in her mouth and making alarm bells chime like crazy.
What had awoken her? She glanced at Vikirnoff. He remained still, no hint of breath moving through his lungs. No discernible heartbeat. She was still suspicious. She had seen him like that before yet he had been reading her thoughts.
Uneasiness spread through her mind. Her stomach churned and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. She snatched up her guns and stood listening at the door. Nothing. She ran her hands over the door. The safeguards were intact, some of the strongest she'd ever woven. Still, the feeling wouldn't go away. Something was not quite right. She glanced nervously at the bed.
Vikirnoff lay as if dead and then suddenly, without warning his eyes snapped open and his breath hissed out in a deadly snarl. Natalya nearly jumped out of her skin. His gaze shifted immediately to her face.
What danger has awakened me from my slumber?
So you feel it, too? She turned in a circle in the center of the room, trying to become a timing fork to ferret out the threat.
Get out of here. Go now, Natalya.
She crossed to the window and ran her hands over the drapes. She had no idea what she was searching for, but she didn't find anything. The feeling of dread was overwhelming. It's a good thing I have a big ego or you'd crush me with always wanting me to go away. She shot Vikirnoff a quick assessing glance. Should there be need, he would not be able to fight physically. He couldn't move at all, paralyzed by the time of day. She was tired and sluggish herself, but she had her weapons and whatever threatened them was going to get more then it bargained for.
She faced the door again. She felt a terrible dread each time she turned in that direction. Her gaze shifted around the room. The danger was palpable, but she couldn't find the source.
Natalya, get out. You must go. You can make it out the window. Protect your eyes and leave this place.
It isn't after me. It's after you. She was certain she was right and she didn't even know what it was.
She stepped back toward the bed, and positioned herself between Vikirnoff and the door. Her hands sketched an intricate pattern, while she murmured an ancient revealing spell. Whatever stalked the hunter was cloaked and it had to have known how to slip past the safeguards woven around the door. She didn't want to think of the possibilities of what that would mean.
Vikirnoff watched Natalya through half closed eyes.
Even in the darkened the room, his eyes burned, but he couldn't look away from her. Natalya seemed to glow. Power radiated from her, surged in the air around them. Electricity snapped and crackled. Natalya's hair flowed around her, rising upward toward the ceiling. Her hands pressed forward, her voice never ceasing.
Something shimmered in the room. Transparent. A shadow, bent over and creeping along on the floor. Natalya could barely see it as it inched toward the bed. Insubstantial, the
shadow was made of ever-moving black and gray smoke. Fierce flames burned in the eerie red eyes. For a moment her heart ceased to beat, then it went into overtime, pounding so hard she was afraid it would leap out of her chest.
Vikirnoff. This is a shadow warrior. There was awe in her voice and ragged horror. Better to face three vampires and a legion of humans.
You must leave now.
She wanted to leave. She was so frightened it amounted to terror. You cannot defeat a shadow warrior in your condition. Even if you weren't so badly wounded, it's full day. The sun alone would put you at a terrible disadvantage. I can't leave you defenseless.
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