There was another long silence as Fane tried to process how the world had moved on while he and his brethren had locked themselves away in the monastery. This cannot be. Vampires are vain and would never be able to resist killing one another.
Andre didn't argue. He didn't ever argue. He'd told Fane the truth. Some of the master vampires had grown crafty, and they sought power. Having lesser vampires surrounding them fed their egos and allowed them more power.
This is not good, Andre. We had no idea.
Warn the others. I will do my best to rid the threat to you, but should any get past me, understand what you could be dealing with. The society members also use drugs--drugs that can paralyze us.
Fane remained a presence in his mind. And then Andre felt him reaching for Teagan. Instantly he was there, a shield, preventing Fane from doing more than a cursory examination. He allowed his ancient friend to see her resolve, but refused to let him into her mind any further. Fane seemed to respect the boundaries because he didn't push.
When you have rid us of this threat, bring your lifemate back. I will allow her to try her healing skills on me. If she succeeds, no doubt a few of the others will allow her to try it on them as well.
Andre couldn't ask for anything more than that. He knew that living in complete darkness, one century after another flowing into one another until there was no difference and no way to mark time, took its toll. When you added hunting and killing old friends and even family, the toll got worse until it was one's very soul that paid the ultimate price. When one could no longer even hear the whisper of temptation, it was time to go. One more battle. One more kill. That could easily be the one pushing an ancient over the edge. After living a life of honor, that would be the worst possible fate.
Arwa-arvo olen isanta, ekam--honor keep you, my brother, Andre whispered telepathically in the language of his people. Meaning it. Asking Fane to hold out just a little longer.
Sivad olen wakeva, han ku piwta--may your heart stay strong, hunter, Fane replied back.
Andre took Teagan's hand. "Remember what I've told you. They shot at the owls flying. We cannot take any chances. We will hike down as humans. I will set up a camp off the path, down in the rocks where you climbed the boulder. We will meet them accidently. We are spending our time alone up here after our marriage."
"They can check anything with the Internet, Andre," she cautioned. "We haven't gotten married."
He gave her a look. One that said she was married. She was bound to him in the way of his people. The vows had been said. They were married. More than married. It was impossible to separate them. One could not survive very well without the other.
"Josef filed our papers, Teagan. We are officially married. I once told you I never used surnames that meant anything to me. Not until I met you. You have my name." He looked down at her, his gaze moving over her face. "It matters."
He watched her eyes go soft. Melt into dark chocolate. Her lashes fluttered, and he wanted to kiss her upturned mouth, so he did. She was irresistible. Her mouth was a haven wiping out his past, a dark lonely period that had gone on century after century, just as Fane and the other ancients suffered.
She slipped her arms around his waist, pressing her front to his, her breasts tight against him. She was much shorter and he always found that when her soft breasts brushed against his groin, his cock leapt to life, looking for a warm place to rest.
"It matters," she murmured against his mouth. "Nice to know to the outside world we're married, but my grandmother is not going to be happy. I'm certain she's come here to prevent me from making a mistake. She thinks you're involved in a human trafficking ring or some sheik that will put me in his harem in the desert."
He ran his hand over the back of her head. Teagan always braided her hair when they were outdoors. Rows and rows of cornrows that were tight over her head and drawn back in a thick ponytail that fell to her waist. He objected on principle. He loved her hair and preferred it down. She complied when they were alone inside the cave where they had a resting place, and he was content with that--for the moment.
"We'd better keep going down the mountain, sivamet. We need to know what we are dealing with, and they are a good distance away. I want to travel as humans, just in case. If they can shoot at owls, suspecting them to be more than the natural wildlife in the area, they have someone other than your grandmother assisting them." His voice was grimmer than he wanted it to be.
She gave a delicate shudder, holding his gaze. "Do you think there's a vampire traveling with them?"
"I think it is unusual for them to spot three owls winging out of a mist that is as thick and filled with safeguards as the one surrounding the monastery. Your grandmother can hear musical notes, and maybe detect the monastery, but when we take the form of an owl, we are that creature. The notes would be in perfect harmony. She was not the one pointing out Mikhail, Gregori and Gary as they flew away."
Teagan turned and began moving down the mountain fast. "Is Grandma Trixie in danger, Andre?"
She already knew the answer or she wouldn't have been practically running. He reached out and caught her arm.
"Slow down. We are on our honeymoon and we have to play that part. Your grandmother knows you like to hike and climb. She will think that is what you are doing and she will convince anyone else with her who might be suspicious."
"How much danger?" she demanded.
"She is traveling with at least four members of a society that kills indiscriminately. They are fanatical, and that means there is no reasoning with them. Most likely there is something else at play here. A vampire. A vampire's puppet. Maybe both. If there is a vampire, by now, your grandmother will know she's in trouble. In order to stay alive, she will have to be very, very careful."
"She's highly intelligent, Andre. Grandma Trixie didn't have a formal education but she's brilliant. If there's something not right, she will know immediately."
"Then she is in more trouble than ever." He wasn't going to lie. He couldn't lie to her, not even to remove the anxiety from her mind. "But, csitri, we will make certain she is safe."
6
Gabrielle held her breath. She'd never seen a man quite as scary as Aleksei and she'd been around Carpathians, even ancients, for a long while now. The very air vibrated with his darkness. With his fury. He was definitely at the very edge of his control and that alone nearly had her running from him. His eyes blazed fire. As in flames. She could see them.
She breathed out, emptying her lungs, pretending she was doing meditative breathing, sitting tailor fashion as if he wasn't scaring the total crap out of her. She wished she was like her brother and sister and could find amusement in any situation as they did, but her heart pounded and her mouth went dry. Still. She held herself firm. She wouldn't flee. She would follow him wherever he led. She owed that to him, and she was determined to see this through.
"Put yourself in the ground, woman." Aleksei bit out each word, his green eyes glittering and his mouth set with absolute menace.
She lifted her chin. "I will follow wherever you go. It is my right as your lifemate whether you reject me or not."
He growled. Not low, but a rumbling, scary, mean, threatening growl. Like a tiger might do right before he pounced on you and tore you to shreds. She blinked and dug her fingers into her thighs. His gaze dropped to her hands. Inspected her white knuckles.
"O jela peje terad, emni." He said the words low this time, in his own language, and for some reason, that was worse than the growl.
She lifted her chin, trying hard to keep from trembling. "I don't know what that means. I don't know the Carpathian language."
Something moved in his eyes. Something different. Not gentle. Not softening, but still, she had gotten that much through to him. She didn't know the language. A few words maybe, but those words hadn't sounded very nice.
"It means, 'sun scorch you, woman.'"
No. Definitely not nice. She flinched. "I suppose that's what we're doing here,
isn't it? Sitting out in the open, waiting for the sun to come up?" She tried a faint smile. "At least you know I'll obey that order."
"What is wrong with you? Are you a lunatic? Insane?"
She moistened her lips, and that small action had his gaze dropping to her mouth. She saw his body jerk as if she'd punched him. She probably was a lunatic. Otherwise what would she be doing in the middle of the monastery yard, surrounded by ancients who were there to ensure Aleksei did in fact kill himself? They believed she had betrayed one of them and deserved death. She felt the weight of their eyes, although she couldn't see them.
Her fingers twisted tightly in the fabric of her soft vintage jeans. "I don't think I am. But I'm so confused I could be."
"Put. Yourself. In. The. Ground."
Her heart nearly stopped beating. She'd really, really made him angry. He was terrifyingly angry. She'd seen him like that already and she didn't want to go there again. Her fists tightened around the material of her jeans.
"Not unless you do as well. I told you. Your decision is my decision."
He glared at her. The air thickened. Vibrated with his anger. He was from a different time, she reminded herself. Women didn't talk back to men in his time. They obeyed.
Suddenly he was on his feet. He reached down and caught her arm, yanking her up, yanking her into him. His body was hard. She couldn't find a soft place on him. He was enormously strong and his fingers shackled her just as well as any chain would have.
"If I really had a choice, I would throw you down and bury my cock in your body. I would taste you, eat you up, drink your blood. Claim every inch of you for my own. I would not let you rest until the sun began to climb and then I would put you in the ground with me and hold you while we slept. When we awakened, I would start all over again."
He was deliberately scaring her. She didn't doubt that he meant every word. Every single word. She could barely breathe. Barely draw in a breath. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, trying to assess her own reaction. Her brain screamed at her to run, but her body melted at his words. Really melted. She actually went damp and her breasts ached.
She didn't understand how it could happen when she knew she really loved another man, but strangely, she was physically attracted to Aleksei. The chemistry was off the charts, even when he was holding her captive like he was. She wasn't wild. There wasn't anything the least bit wild about her; normally she would have run for her life, but she couldn't. Not if she was going to save Aleksei, and he deserved to be saved.
"Is that your decision, then?" She couldn't look up at him. She just couldn't. Not with her heart pounding and her body reacting and her mind screaming at her.
Her question was met with silence. She stared down at the ground, terrified to look at him. Terrified of his answer. They would either return to that horrible carpet on the ground and he would take her body, or they would sit together and burn in the sun.
"Look at me."
She swallowed hard, studiously staring at the ground. "Aleksei. This is your decision. I told you I would do whatever you wished and I will, but I'm really scared. If I look at you, you're going to see that and it might influence you one way or the other."
"When I tell you something, Gabrielle, you are to do it."
His tone was gentle for the first time. His voice soft. Compelling. But there was no give there. No concession. He meant it. She closed her eyes briefly, summoning the courage she would need. In truth, she had caused this innocent man harm. She'd nearly pushed him over the edge right into the darkness. She knew that. She was responsible. She felt the darkness rising and she should have been able to pull herself together to calm him instead of inciting him further.
She'd been too upset at losing Gary to think straight. She'd been clinging to a way out. There was no way. Not even with Gary.
Aleksei's fist bunched in her hair in a clear warning. Gabrielle swallowed the terrible burning lump in her throat and lifted her gaze to his. The moment her eyes met his, her heart thudded wildly. She felt the darkness in him, and that was bad enough, but she could see it, too. The demons driving him. His implacable strength. This was a man the complete opposite of the one she'd fallen in love with. He was hard and scary and would demand things of her she wasn't certain she was capable of giving. Still. Without her, he wouldn't survive.
"You would tie your life to mine for all eternity." There was sarcasm in his voice, and she winced as if he'd struck her. "You would give your body into my keeping."
She couldn't look away. His eyes were such a piercing green, and they seemed to look right through her. She nodded.
"That is not good enough, Gabrielle. Say it."
She swallowed hard, afraid she might get sick, not because her body didn't want his. In fact, she was growing warm. Too warm. Her breasts ached and she was damper than ever between her legs. But quite frankly, her terror was escalating with every word he said.
"Yes."
Impatience crossed his face. His fingers tightened, pulled her a breath closer. Her hands landed on his chest and she gasped at the heat pouring off him.
"Yes, what?"
She stared up into that pure green. No gold flecks. No hazel. All burning green. She took a deep breath and threw herself straight into the wolf's jaws. "I give my body into your keeping."
Her declaration was met with silence. He stared down into her eyes for what seemed forever. She was terrified he would take her up on her offer. She was just as equally terrified that he wouldn't.
His fingers went to her chin. "I am very close to the darkness. Too close. I know nothing of modern women. I will expect complete loyalty from you. Complete honesty. And obedience."
She forced her gaze to remain steady on his. She would not lie to him. "I will give my complete loyalty to you. I will give you complete honesty. I cannot promise obedience."
Something moved in his eyes. Something hot and wild. Something that sent heat curling in the pit of her stomach.
"You are afraid of me."
"Yes."
"Of giving your body to me. I will not take a woman who does not want me. To do that would be pushing myself completely into darkness. I cannot make it through another rising without completing our binding. It is best you put yourself in the ground now and stop tempting me."
She took another breath. "I do want you. That doesn't mean I'm not afraid. I am. I've never had sex. I don't know the first thing about pleasing you or what I'm supposed to do. That doesn't mean I don't want you. It means I'm embarrassed and inexperienced."
She clenched her teeth. She couldn't do this. She couldn't stand there and convince this man to take her body without love. Without care. She started to turn away from him, but his hands prevented her from moving.
"Look at me."
She knew better than to disobey him right then. His tone was back to an almost snarl. Her gaze jumped to his, and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't read his expression, but her heart stuttered as his thumb slid very gently over her cheek. His touch was at complete odds with his tone.
He was beautiful in an entirely masculine, savage way. She found herself trembling. His touch, as light as it was, as sweet as it was, felt like a brand against her skin. There was a part of her that screamed at her that she was betraying Gary. The man she loved. The man she had planned to spend her life with. The other half of her screamed she had betrayed this man. She'd left him to complete darkness. To dishonor.
"I cannot merge my mind with yours," he said, and this time his voice was as gentle as his touch. "I cannot risk seeing him there."
"I know."
"That means you have to talk to me."
"I know." Her voice was a thread of sound. "I'm so scared, Aleksei." Her gaze clung to his. She knew she was willing him to keep her safe.
He suddenly leaned down and wrapped his arms around her back and thighs, lifting her easily into his arms, cradling her against his chest.
"There will be no going back from this. Once I mak
e you fully mine, there will be no room for anyone else."
"I know," she said again. She couldn't find air to breathe. Those two words were all that would escape through her pounding heart and burning lungs. She circled his neck with her arms, not knowing what else to do. "I'm really, really afraid," she admitted.
"He will not be with us," he continued, his green gaze blazing down into her eyes. "Not in your head. Do you understand me? When I am inside you, there is only the two of us there. Not him. You think of me. You say my name when you give me your surrender."
That was a decree. More, an ultimatum. She recognized it for what it was. She bit at her lower lip nervously. She didn't think any other man would dare to enter her mind when she was with Aleksei.
"Gabrielle." He growled her name in warning.
"No one else." She whispered her agreement.
It was just sex. Hopefully really, really good sex. She was saving him from the darkness. He needed her. He needed her to save him. She'd worked in a laboratory since her eighteenth birthday. She'd been in college at twelve. Then her masters. Her doctorate. She'd never had the chance to be with boys. To date. To experiment. To think she was in love. To know.
He turned and strode across the yard to the building they'd left earlier. His home. A shell of a building. No house. No white picket fence. No neighbors who would drop by for coffee and chat. Just four walls, a roof and a dirt floor.
His resting place was the death of her dream. Her only dream, since she'd been a child and her mother had been throwing things in the kitchen and she'd been under the bed, building a fairy tale to keep from hearing the shrill voice, her father's soft murmur and then softer laughter. She didn't understand their crazy relationship, but it was theirs, not hers.
Gabrielle buried her face between his neck and shoulder. At once she could hear the steady, rhythmic beating of his pulse. There was something solid about that beat, something rock steady, as if nothing would ever elevate it. Shock it. Stop it. That pulse would be steady through everything and it could be counted on.
Aleksei set her on her feet in the middle of the room. He framed her face with both hands, forcing her to look up at him. "You have to be certain, Gabrielle. Very certain. I will not be able to stop once I have started. I am too close to the darkness. With what has happened this rising, I am at risk, and now, so are you. There will be no going back."