Dark Lycan (28 page)

Fen pressed his fingers to his eyes. “I didn’t trust anyone else to heal you properly. I should have had Tatijana give you her blood. Mine is . . . tainted. Over the centuries, we’ve shared blood so many times . . .”

“Your blood is just fine,” Dimitri said. He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’ve always known I would end up like you. Lycan and Carpathian. It’s meant to be. I run with the wolves. I understand them. I always have.”

“The Lycans will condemn you to death. You know I have to go to ground each full moon to avoid detection. And what of your lifemate?” Fen turned to look his brother in the eye. “That woman is the most powerful psychic I’ve ever encountered. She crossed a continent to heal you. I don’t know very many powerful ancients who can do that.”

Dimitri smiled for the first time. “She’s amazing.”

“Yet you haven’t claimed her.”

“Her father wants me to wait until she’s at least twenty-five.”

Fen raised an eyebrow and then turned back to studying the Dubrinsky stronghold for signs Abel and Bardolf had already unraveled the safeguards. He couldn’t imagine his brother living by anyone else’s rules. “And you’re abiding by that?”

“Skyler and I have an understanding. When she’s ready, she’ll let me know. If she isn’t twenty-five, well, hopefully her father and uncles will let me live.” There was only the slightest trace of humor in Dimitri’s voice. “She was adopted by Francesca and Gabriel Daratrazanoff.”

Fen swung around to stare at his brother in shock. “The legends? As in Gabriel and Lucian Daratrazanoff? They’re alive? And Gabriel is her father?”

“That would be the one.”

“Any chance he’s not all that fond of her?” Fen asked.

“He adores her.”

“Of course he does.” In spite of the perilous situation they were in, Fen found himself grinning. “You shouldn’t worry about this little fight we’re about to enter, because your woman’s daddy is going to tear you limb from limb.”

“Don’t sound so pleased.” Dimitri nudged him. “You’re my brother. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Maybe your only chance is to become fully
Sange rau
,” Fen said, half meaning it. He nodded toward the eastern side of the mountain behind the Dubrinsky’s house. “Do you see that? A shadow slipping along the cracks. He’s moving fast, too, but staying in the crevices and cracks. That’s Bardolf. So where’s Abel?”

“Someone’s just emerging out of the forest. It looks like Gregori’s here to defend Mikhail,” Dimitri announced. “Over there, he’s stopped and is looking around. The man has always been careful when it comes to Mikhail’s protection. I’m not surprised he’s here.”

Fen didn’t answer. He turned his attention to Gregori and the minefield in front of him. Gregori was a striking figure in anyone’s war. Tall, with broad shoulders and a thick muscular chest, with his long black hair drawn back and his strange silver eyes, he looked a frightening figure with his immaculate clothes and his confident air.

Where was Abel? Would the
Sange rau
allow Mikhail’s guardian to remain unharmed? Mikhail and Gregori had a powerful bond. Together they could destroy nearly any enemy, even a mixed blood if they were allowed the time to initiate their complete sovereignty together. Abel would know that and he would move heaven and earth to stop Gregori.

Gregori walked toward the house. Except he didn’t walk, he floated, avoiding the traps on the ground. He veered away from the structure and advanced toward the mountain the back of the house was built into. That had to be where Mikhail was. A mountain could provide all kinds of securities and ways to escape. Gregori went straight to the entrance and began the complicated unraveling of the safeguards so he could enter.

Fen found himself frowning as he shifted his gaze to the shadowy figure of Bardolf a few hundred feet above Gregori. He should have been leaping on the guardian, but instead, he was still keeping to the cracks and crevices as he made his way down.

Something’s not right, Dimitri,
he whispered into his brother’s mind.

Alarm thundered in his very blood. He could hear it roaring in his ears. His heart beat even harder. He
knew
something was wrong.

Other than the shadow you’ve already spotted, everything is as it should be.
There was a question in Dimitri’s tone. If Fen said something was off, he believed him, he just couldn’t see it.

It’s Gregori.

Dimitri narrowed his eyes and focused on the Carpathian.
He looks fine to me.

Exactly. And he shouldn’t look fine. He was attacked at the farm. Viciously. Totally targeted by the pack. He’s torn up. No one, not even Gregori could recoup this fast.

So I’m looking at?

That has to be Abel.
Fen caught his brother’s forearms in a tight grip.
Bardolf is fast. You won’t be able to kill him, but do as much damage as fast as you can. Use everything you have in your arsenal and stay out of his reach. He’s not only vampire, but he’s werewolf. Stay alive, brother.

Dimitri gripped Fen hard.
I expect to see you in one piece when this is over.

Fen couldn’t let himself think about his brother and how terribly injured he’d been. Dimitri was a grown man, an ancient warrior who had been in countless battles. He was courageous and he definitely was skilled. Fen had passed every bit of knowledge he had on the
Sange rau
to his brother in the hopes that would aid him should he ever have to fight one. Dimitri already had heightened senses, proving Fen had given him a good amount of mixed blood. Now it was up to fate.

Like we practiced. Exactly like we practiced. You know how to do this.

Dimitri nodded.
Like we practiced.

Fen had to trust he’d prepared his brother for this day. He stepped off the cliff and shifted, his Carpathian/Lycan blood masking all energy as he streaked through the sky to drop down behind Abel just as the safeguards came down. Abel stepped cautiously into the entrance to the mountain. As he did, a Carpathian male came down the wide tunnel leading deeper under the mountain to greet the prince’s guardian.

“Gregori, I thought you were at the house healing Gary. We expected you’d stay with him.”

Gregori didn’t reply, but kept quickly striding toward the Carpathian.

Fen struck hard, driving his hand, silver stake firmly in his fist, through Abel’s back, seeking the heart. The Carpathian male raced down the corridor to come to Gregori’s aid.

Abel, using the enormous speed and strength of the
Sange rau
, leapt forward, dislodging Fen’s fist. He spun around and attacked, dropping the façade of Gregori, aggressively slamming his fist into Fen’s chest. As he did, his muzzle grew and he clamped his teeth over Fen’s shoulder, the bite pressure enormous, tearing through muscle down to the bone.

Vikirnoff Von Shrieder was shocked by few things, but the monster attacking was no ordinary vampire. He’d gotten through intricate safeguards as if the locks weren’t even in place. He’d looked and smelled just like Gregori. Carpathians had such an acute sense of smell they could place one another by blood alone, and Vikirnoff would have sworn he had been talking to Gregori.

He’d never seen anything move as fast as the two men fighting in the corridor. He felt like he was watching a fight scene on television in fast-forward. Hands and feet, shifting, and moving, the two combatants slammed into the rock walls and hit the high ceiling with neither giving an inch. He couldn’t help. There was no way to get off a weapon, they were moving too fast.

Mikhail, are you seeing this?
Vikirnoff had never been afraid in a fight, not even when facing a master vampire. He always figured he had even odds. He was a skilled fighter and had been battling for centuries, but he’d never in his life seen opponents like these.

I believe you are looking at the true
Sange rau
Fen told us of.
Mikhail studied the two combatants.
He was correct in saying we have never faced an enemy such as this one.
Mikhail’s voice had little inflection in it. He was merely stating a truth.

Vikirnoff drew his bow and pulled out a silver arrow. All of them were armed against an attack by the rogue pack. He doubted he could get the arrow off where it could do any good, but just in case the monster got through Fen, he was determined to stand between it and the prince.

Mikhail, he had a perfect image of Gregori in every way. He even smelled like Gregori’s blood. And he blew through the safeguards as if they weren’t even there.

Clearly our safeguards are for the vampire and not this new enemy.
Again, the prince’s tone was matter-of-fact. He had to have known that the
Sange rau
had come for him, but he seemed more interested in studying the way the creature fought.
They are almost too fast for even our eyes to keep up with.

Natalya.
Vikirnoff reached for his lifemate. She was in the corridor ahead, closer to the prince, waiting just in case something got past her lifemate and endangered the prince.
Do not attempt to fight this creature if he gets past me.

If he gets past you that means you are no longer in this world,
she answered.
I will do my duty and defend my prince and join with you as soon as possible.

Neither of you will sacrifice your lives uselessly,
Mikhail decreed
. If he should get past Fen, fall back and let us see if any of our defenses work against him. The sun is climbing in the sky. Surely even the
Sange rau
will be affected as we are. After all, he is vampire,
Mikhail reasoned.

The fight between Abel and Fen raged on. Neither seemed to get the upper hand and both bore terrible wounds, but that didn’t slow them down. Most vicious fights were over in a matter of minutes, but the two seemed to sustain the physical energy necessary to continue the battle indefinitely.

“Join me, Fenris Dalka. You can see we are the superior race. We can command the wolves and the Carpathian people alike. The humans will be our cattle. You will die here defending a species that should be extinct,” Abel proposed as they broke apart.

Blood ran in streams from both of them. Abel wiped at his chest and licked his fingers, smirking as he did so.

“Stalling isn’t a good idea, Abel. If you’re waiting for Bardolf to join you, you’ll be waiting a long time,” Fen said.

The smile faded from Abel’s face. His eyes turned wholly black. Fen didn’t wait for the attack, but launched himself fast, going low, sweeping the legs out from under the
Sange rau
. He stabbed down hard with a silver stake, missing the heart, but opening another hole in Abel’s chest. Blood poured out, hopefully weakening him more.

Abel rolled, his legs locking around Fen as he lifted up and slammed him down on the hard ground, trying to drive the air from his lungs. As he forced Fen into the ground, the hard rock beneath them rose in sharpened spikes. Fen grunted as he landed on his back, the spikes driving deep. Just that fast, the spikes dissolved, although the damage had been done to Fen’s back. Fen rolled up, punching his fist through Abel’s ribs. The snapping sound was audible.

As Fen regained his feet, Vikirnoff could see blood pouring from the deep punctures on his back. Just as he was certain he would lose so much blood that the vampire/wolf cross would have the advantage in spite of the broken ribs, the wounds in Fen’s back appeared to close and the blood stopped flowing.

Abel and Fen crashed together again, this time, Fen spinning Abel around to slam him face first into the side of the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel had grown thick crystals, thousands bursting out of the rock. The mountain shivered. The force Fen used to drive Abel into the wall was so enormous the crystals shattered into thousands of razor-sharp pieces.

Abel pushed back, slamming his head into Fen’s forehead. Fen staggered back, giving Abel room to turn. His face was a mask of hatred and blood. Fen looked cool and confident, no expression, not of anger or pain. They both moved with breathtaking speed, Fen firing several rapid punches into Abel’s face, driving the crystals deeper into the flesh so that Abel wore a mask of bloody gems.

The two combatants moved so fast Vikirnoff found himself standing a few yards away, his bow lowered and his mouth opened. Not only were they blurred, but they were also changing the landscape around them into weapons so fast he could barely catch it all. As fast as one would create a weapon, the other would neutralize it.

Vikirnoff, fall back. You and Natalya join me.

Vikirnoff hesitated. He had one purpose in that moment—to protect his prince. He had been assigned a position by the prince’s primary guardian . . .

Now. You can both serve me best from behind our safeguards.

There was pure command in Mikhail’s tone. Vikirnoff abandoned his position and hurriedly made his way down the corridor to the prince. Natalya joined him. Both could still see the furious fighting taking place.

Mikhail brought down the last and most intricate of their safeguards to allow Natalya and Vikirnoff through. Immediately he resurrected them again, all the while watching the two
Sange
raus’
furious battle.

“Fen is slowly moving his opponent backward. It’s slow,” Mikhail pointed out, “but clearly he’s trying to get him out from under the mountain. There’s a disturbance outside as well. I can feel a second battle taking place.”

“The man fighting with Fen is Abel, an ancient. I believe he’s connected to your family in some way,” Vikirnoff said. “It took a few minutes to place him.”

The mountain shivered again as Fen and Abel crashed into the ceiling. Great spikes of spun silver burst from the walls, burning into Abel’s body from every direction. Abel screamed with pain. Fen was on him instantly, driving one of the stakes deep into the chest by using his fist. He grabbed Abel’s shoulders and hurled him out of the corridor, back into the early morning sunlight.