Dark Destiny (19 page)

Nicolae held her for a long time, staring down at her face. She looked young and vulnerable, an angel with features that were far too seductive for his peace of mind. Or for the peace of his body. He felt humbled by her trust. He had never supposed she would trust him enough to sleep in the same chamber with him, no matter how severely injured she was. He sighed softy and lowered her into the rich bed of soil. Destiny. His world. She lay so still, her breath stilled in her lungs. His hands lingered on her as he surveyed her injuries.

The air in the chamber stirred gently and he whirled around swiftly, a dark, dangerous predator, menace in every line of his body. His eyes flashed a hot reprimand at his brother. "You did not warn me."

"It is good for you. You have spent so much time sharing her head, I think it best to test your skills now and then."

Nicolae relaxed slightly. "Very funny. Your sense of humor has warped over the centuries."

"I did not know I had a sense of humor." Vikirnoff studied the lines of strain in his brother's face. "You are arrogant and you do not even realize it. You do not even seek to hide her resting place from me."

"I trust you."

"You do not trust me with her life, Nicolae. I am in your head just as you are in mine. You know how strong you are; you believe I am not a threat to you because you know you can protect her."

Nicolae raked a hand through the black silk of his hair, leaving it more disheveled than ever. "I believe in you, Vikirnoff."

Vikirnoff shook his head. "You believe in yourself. She has no idea how dangerous you are. How strong you are. After you connected with her you shouldered part of her physical pain, lessened her emotional pain, all the while going from continent to continent hunting for her. You battled the undead where you found them and avoided all contact with our people as Vladimer requested. You went on her hunts with her, helping orchestrate them, feeding her your own strength and power from great distances and shielding her from that knowledge. I know of no other Carpathian who has accomplished such a feat. Why do you hide your strength from her? And why do you allow this?" His hands gestured toward the bed of soil where Destiny lay, bruised and torn. "Why do you not forbid this behavior and simply put an end to your suffering? You are a Carpathian male. This is hell for you."

There was no reprimand in Vikirnoff's voice; there never was. He was mildly curious about behavior he couldn't fathom. Vikirnoff clearly found it incomprehensible that a Carpathian male would allow his lifemate to live in constant danger.

Nicolae shrugged his broad shoulders. The simple movement sent a ripple through his powerful muscles, a subtle warning to those who might see only his unfailing elegance. "She is my lifemate. I will do what is necessary for her, no matter what the cost. Destiny needs to be in control of her life more than she needs my protection."

"That makes no sense. We have few women. She is needed, alive and capable of giving birth to a female child. Why would you allow such unnecessary danger to her? Take her to our homeland where she belongs."

"A vampire robbed her of her life, forced his domination on her. Should I do the same?" Nicolae shook his head. "You know she would never stand for such a thing."

"You can take control of her. Once she is healed—"

"Vikirnoff, she will never be completely healed, you know that. What was done to her is there in her mind for all time. She must come to me of her own free will."

"The cost to you—"

"Does not matter. Will never matter. The physical danger to her is nothing in comparison to the danger of losing her to her own demons. They are more real and more lethal than any vampire she chooses to fight. I know you cannot understand, but you and I have stood together for centuries. You know me. You know my strength. There is no danger of my failing her by turning vampire. If she chooses another world, another time and place, I will follow her."

"Do you remember all those years ago when our Prince called us to him? We were already aware our lifemates were not in the world with us. Most of us had already fought battles and had seen brothers and friends turn to a corrupt existence. We accepted that we would not have our lifemates, that something had happened to prevent their birth or that they had died before they had a chance to grow." Vikirnoff casually tugged at his wrist with his teeth.

Nicolae would never leave Destiny unprotected while she lay helpless in the healing sleep he had commanded. Not even with Vikirnoff to guard her.

Nicolae accepted the offering just as casually, nodding before bending his head to his brother's wrist.

"I have given this situation much thought," Vikirnoff said. "We accepted our lives as guardians of the world. We asked for nothing in return, and we did our duty and upheld the honor of our people." Vikirnoff glanced at the woman lying so still, her body battered and bruised, the tears in her skin still ragged. "This is not right. She should never have suffered like this. It is the very thing we gave our lives and our hopes to prevent. Of all people, it should not have happened to your lifemate. The undead should never have touched her."

"And yet he did," Nicolae said with resignation, closing the laceration in his brother's wrist. "Thank you for your help in this difficult situation."

"It is easier to continue when I see your lifemate and I know there is hope for our race. That there is hope my brother will live on and continue our line."

"Perhaps Prince Vladimer knew that some of us would find our lifemates in this century rather than in our own. He did have precognition. If there is hope for me, surely there is reason for you to continue your existence, Vikirnoff."

"Perhaps that is why he chose certain ones to stay and others to go. Our Prince was a great man and saw far into the future. I thought at first he was wrong not to tell his son of our existence, but Vlad was right. Mikhail drew our people together as no other could have. They were few, and they fought hard for the preservation of our race."

Nicolae nodded his agreement. "Our people would have become divided had we not remained hidden. Vlad foresaw much, and that is why it is so important that all of our males continue to hold on."

"How is it that one who is so strong, so skilled a hunter and so intuitive, did not know the child he communicated with was his lifemate?" The question was casual, but Nicolae's gaze immediately sharpened, focused on his brother. There was a hidden significance to this question, but when Nicolae touched his brother's mind lightly, it was closed to him. He thought over his answer carefully, choosing his words.

"I believe I could not know she was my lifemate," Nicolae replied candidly. "Had I had that knowledge, I would have lost my sanity knowing she was being tortured and raped and forced to witness his murders. I tried, once or twice, to use her sight, to kill the vampire, but there was no blood bond between us and it was not possible. I was too far away to help her. The knowledge that I could not protect my lifemate would have sent me over the edge. Because I did not know for certain, I could still function, protecting her as best I could. It has occurred to me that on some level she knew the truth. Oh, not as we know, but still, she protected me in the only way she could, by not speaking. I might have found her sooner, but maybe not. She was so frightened that she kept moving all the time."

"She is a strong woman and very courageous. But she is in constant danger fighting the undead. She does not value her life."

"But she values my life. She has always valued my life, and she knows our lives are intertwined. She will not willingly give up her life in a fight, and she is not careless. I will not, I
cannot
force my will on her. She will find her way to me in her own time."

"I am in your mind, Nicolae. The only emotion I can feel is yours. The battle for her weighs heavily on you. Take her to our homeland. You are far stronger than she is, far stronger than most ancients, most hunters. She would have no choice but to obey," Vikirnoff urged. "She might be upset for a while, but at least she will be safe."

Nicolae shook his head. "She would not be safe. She would not tolerate such behavior on my part. In her eyes I would be no better than the vampire, forcing my will on her. My comfort is not important to me, only her life and her sanity."

"You have bound her to you. You live or die together."

"We lived or died together before I said the words. She agreed to the ritual to protect me, anchoring me to the world of light."

Vikirnoff leaned his hip against a rock and studied his brother's face. "You insist, then, on remaining here in this place overrun with the undead?"

"I know what is in your mind, although you are attempting to close it to me. You cannot sacrifice yourself by hunting the vampire here. We both know you are too close to turning to continue killing. Go to our homeland and we will follow as soon as we are able."

Vikirnoff shrugged, the gesture very close to his brother's mannerism, a casual display of sheer strength. "One of us must continue our line."

"I believe you have a lifemate somewhere, Vikirnoff. I think Vlad sent us into this century with the foreknowledge that we had a chance of finding our lifemates. Why it has taken so long, I do not know, but this is no time to choose the end. We had no hope, no belief that it was possible, yet we hung on. Now that there is hope, you cannot give up."

Vikirnoff regarded Nicolae for a long moment in silence. He shook his head slightly. "She will eventually find out that she only thinks she can read what is inside of you. That you hide what she cannot handle. What then, Nicolae? If she chooses the dawn for the two of you and I have waited too long, then I have nothing to anchor myself to the world of light. You sentence both of us if she is not able to overcome these terrible scars on her soul."

Nicolae reached out, laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "She will survive."

Vikirnoff was silent again while water dripped continually from the walls of the cave. Finally he nodded once, then swept his hand over the earth to open it a short distance from where Destiny lay surrounded by rich soil. "The undead has gone to ground. I suspect he will flee the area or at least pull back to regroup. Her friends are safe for a time." He floated across the chamber to lie in the earth.

Nicolae watched the dirt pour over his brother, watched as the surface smoothed and settled as if undisturbed for eons. He set safeguards at the entrances to the cave and up along the steep, narrow chimney. Nicolae would take no chances with Destiny in his care. He set an intricate safeguard over his brother's resting place, one that for the first time would alert him should Vikirnoff rise first.

Nicolae lay in the dark, rich soil beside Destiny's body. Still uneasy over the shadows in Destiny's blood, he decided another thorough inspection was warranted. Once more he shed his own body to become light and energy, entering hers to check the repairs he had made, to meticulously go over the cells where the vampire had injected his poison. He inspected her blood, wanting to see if his ancient blood was slowly fighting off the vampire's tainted sludge. Her blood was different. He felt it, sensed it, but no matter how carefully he searched, he could not find the poisonous bacteria. At times he had the sense that something was there with him, aware of him, but he found nothing to substantiate the feeling. He was gratified to see the blood flowing much more freely in her veins. Some of the long-term internal damage had been healed. It gave him hope that there would be a way to cure her completely. Finally he gathered her close to him and allowed the soil to pour over them, his lips brushing her cheek as the earth enfolded them into its care.

Destiny woke fighting. She knew she wasn't alone the moment awareness came to her, still deep beneath the earth as the soil opened above her. Her heart began to beat, and air found space in her lungs. She felt the body next to hers—hard, muscular, male. Strong. Too strong to fight, but she tried anyway. She was on her side, and the instant she became aware she turned, the edge of her hand slamming down with the force of a hammer toward the throat she knew was close to hers. But it was no longer there.

As her hand passed through empty air, Nicolae shackled her wrist, brought her hand gently to his throat to rest over his pulse. "You are safe, Destiny. Always safe with me. Each rising from this night until the end of our days, you will never wake alone or at risk. I will be here."

Destiny wrenched her arm free and launched her body out of the earth, her heart pounding so loudly it sounded like a drum in the confines of the cave. She landed some distance from him, fully clothed, her hair neatly braided and her gaze moving continually, restlessly in all directions.

"Where's Vikirnoff? He has not risen?"

Nicolae took his time rising, deliberately pausing before he clothed himself so she could get a good look at his sinewy body. He swept his hair back, using human means, securing the thick mass at the nape of his neck with a leather thong. "Are you nervous, Destiny? Surely not. You cannot be nervous with your lifemate."

Destiny tried not to stare at the perfection of his masculine body but she couldn't stop. He had incredibly broad shoulders, a narrow waist and hips, long, lean legs and well-defined muscles. He was fully aroused and quite casual about it as he dressed.

She began pacing, quick agitated movements that betrayed her inner conflict. "I can't be with someone all the time. I need space."

"There is a world waiting outside this chamber, Destiny." Nicolae gestured toward the entrance. "The night is waiting."

Her hand went to her throat. The ragged tears were healed. Her skin was without a single blemish. Her heart was beginning to settle down again, finding the exact rhythm of his. She forced a small smile, a brief curving of her mouth, yet her blue-green gaze continued to jump around the cave. "I think this might feel like my first one-night stand."

"One-night stand? I am offended. You planned to use me and throw me away after one night, did you? I am not that kind of man, Destiny. I am in for the long term. Eternity. You slept with me. It would be wrong of you to toss me out."