"Please. Just wait. You can't do what you're thinking of doing." Her voice shook.
Aleksei closed his eyes. He had to get away from her. From her scent. From the intimate knowledge he had of her body. He had time to think. To process. A lifemate was about caring. About having a home. A family. Someone to love you as you loved her. To take you as you were. Accept you. This woman wanted no part of that. She kept reaching out to him, but there was nothing there for him. He couldn't look at her again. She was asking too much of him.
"It is too dangerous for me to stay and talk." And truthfully, there was no reason. There was nothing else to say. "I will get Fane to come to you. He will watch over you until the others go to ground." His voice was gruff. He could hear the growl coming close to the surface and he swallowed it down. He was close. Too close. "It is best you go to ground immediately to be safe. Next rising, walk out of here. Fane will open the gates for you."
He heard movement and then she was right there, stepping in front of him, blocking his way. He kept walking and she was forced to step back, her hands out, coming into contact with his chest.
"Stop. You have to give me a minute. You're not letting me even think," Gabrielle said. "You can't just tell me calmly you're going to commit suicide and then walk away. That's not right."
"What is not right is my lifemate choosing another man over me," he said quietly. "This is dangerous to both of us. I refuse to lose my honor. Without you, I cannot live. You know that. Your duty was to me. You refused. You chose another."
"Stop saying that. Stop thinking that." Gabrielle caught his shirt desperately. "You aren't listening."
"You are not saying anything."
"Because you won't give me time to think."
He caught her chin, forcing her head up so he could look into her eyes. "Are you willing to share your life with me? Your body with mine? To give yourself to me? In order for us to be lifemates, these are the things that have to be."
She licked her lips, smearing that small bead of ruby red. Her lashes fluttered and then dropped down to veil her expression.
"That is what I thought." He gently removed her fists from his shirt and stepped around her.
Gabrielle watched him stride away and nearly collapsed on the ground, but that wouldn't do any good. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be responsible for this man's death. She'd wanted him dead just minutes earlier, but the reality of his being dead was something else altogether.
She stood undecided, watching him as he waved his hand toward the door. Instantly it obeyed him, flying open. Outside she could see the night. Feel the breeze. The cool air. The mist enclosed the monastery in a gray veil. She sucked in her breath and went after him. There was no real thought in her mind, just that she had to stop him.
She couldn't think about Gary right now or what was happening to him. She'd already lost him. She lost him the moment she'd agreed to become Carpathian. Aleksei was right in believing she had known about lifemates and that she could be one to someone, but he was wrong in thinking she had betrayed him. Or was he?
"Stop. Aleksei. Stop." She couldn't prevent the tremble in her voice, but there was also pleading. "Just give me another minute of your time."
He didn't turn around this time. He kept walking. Desperation set in. She ran after him. "I'm not Carpathian. I'm human. I knew Gary before I was converted. When I was converted, I thought . . ." She was almost up to him and she was still talking to his back. He needed the truth, so she had to face it. Deep down inside her, where no one looked, not even her, she had to face the truth to save this man's life. "I thought they would teach me what I was supposed to know. I thought someone would help me. Instruct me, but they didn't."
She halted. Put a hand to her mouth, found her fingers were trembling and bit down on them in an attempt to still them. To stop talking. He didn't want to hear her. He didn't want to see her. Whatever transgression she'd made, and she could admit in his eyes she'd made a huge one, he didn't want to hear what she had to say.
She hated being Carpathian. She couldn't just take off because she didn't know even the basics of caring for herself. Her sister was gone all the time so there was no asking her. And then that stupid, stupid war with the faction of Lycans that wanted to destroy Lycans and Carpathians both. She hated feeling incompetent. She had stayed longer and longer in the laboratory, and she knew she had clung to being human more and more as time passed. How could she not? No one took the slightest interest in her or treated her as if she was worth anything other than Gary.
"Aleksei." She whispered his name. She had too many sins on her soul already and she didn't know if she deserved them or not.
She knew Gary was in trouble. She couldn't save him. She was responsible, and she couldn't save him. Now this man, innocent in the entire horrible mess, was going to die as well. Because of her. Because of her inability to adapt.
She sank to her knees. "Don't do this." She whispered that as well.
How had she messed up her life to this point? She wept inside for Gary. Sorrow pressed in so deep she could barely see with the tears in her eyes. She could barely breathe with tears clogging her throat. But still. There was Aleksei. There had to be a way to save him. She didn't want to think too hard on what that way would be.
Are you willing to share your life with me? Your body with mine? To give yourself to me? In order for us to be lifemates, these are the things that have to be.
She licked at the small laceration in her lip. These are the things that have to be. Was she such a coward she couldn't give him those things to save his life? Would it be impossible? She closed her eyes, feeling the caress of his hands on her skin. Her body reacted, coming alive, just as it had done earlier. As if it had a life and will of its own. To share her body with Aleksei would be such a betrayal of Gary.
She closed her eyes. She had blamed everyone for this mess, but she'd chosen to be Carpathian. She bit her lip again, shaking her head. Her sister, Joie, hadn't been Carpathian and she'd still been a lifemate to Traian. She'd been human. Gabrielle squeezed her eyes closed tighter, not wanting to face the reality of what was happening to her.
She didn't understand the lifemate bond. She only knew it was intense. Very intense. Very sexual. Very everything. Lifemates were always together. And the men were very domineering. The women didn't seem to mind, in fact they usually just rolled their eyes and did what they wanted, but the male Carpathians scared her.
Gabrielle took a breath. The life frightened her. The violence. The blood. The intensity of their lives. She was such a coward. She had seen vampires up close. Her entire body shuddered. They weren't the only enemy. She touched her back, down low, where her kidneys had taken the knife slicing through them. The pain had been excruciating. And then the Lycans had come. She wanted her safe world back. The cocoon of her laboratory where she could hide away. Gary would have given that to her.
She covered her face with her hands as realization dawned. She loved Gary with all of her heart because he would have given her exactly what she wanted. Not what she needed. What she wanted. She wanted to hide away. Be safe. Be happy. No bumps. No scares. Just a sweet, easy journey through life.
Joie and Jubal could easily handle their mother's intense meltdowns. Her father just shook his head and grinned. When she was young, Gabrielle hid under the bed, her fist jammed in her mouth, her heart beating hard. When she was a teenager, she learned not to say a word. She would disappear in her mind. When she was an adult she hid herself in work. She hid. Period. From everything and everyone. Including herself.
Hiding had led her to this moment. To the possible death of two good men. She was a researcher, and yet she hadn't asked any questions about life as a Carpathian. She hadn't lifted a finger to acquire knowledge when knowledge was her world. Why? That alone should have raised a red flag for her.
Gabrielle wrapped her arms around herself and began to rock back and forth, trying to soothe herself. Trying to think what to do. She was intelligen
t. Highly intelligent. She couldn't save Gary, and that tore at her. Ate her up. Left her grief-stricken with that terrible weight of guilt pressing squarely down on her. But what about Aleksei?
Truthfully, he terrified her. He was violent. Dangerous. Definitely domineering. He would expect her obedience. Her loyalty. Her participation in blood exchanging. In--well--everything. Her body did another shiver, almost of anticipation. Her mouth craved his taste. Her body craved his touch. What did that make her when she loved Gary? How could she want another man when her heart belonged to someone else?
Nothing made sense to her anymore. She'd never talked to her mother about anything that was important to her. There was always drama with her mother. She knew her mother loved her children--loved them so much she wanted to run their lives. She had no problem with tantrums in public and that had always humiliated Gabrielle. Like their father, Joie and Jubal had found their mother amusing.
She had shut down as a child. Refused to live life. Afraid. She was still metaphorically under that bed, shaking, her fist jammed in her mouth to keep from making a sound. Holding herself still. She'd locked herself in a laboratory because she would rather face a hot virus than live her life. Gary was safe. He saw how fragile she was. How afraid of life she was. She wanted a controlled environment, and he was willing to give that to her. She loved him for that. She loved him because he was a kind, gentle, protective man. But she couldn't have him. She couldn't save Aleksei if she clung to her safe world. If she clung to loving Gary.
She took another deep breath. "I'm sorry, Gary," she whispered. She had to let him go if she was going to save Aleksei and herself. She didn't mind dying, but she couldn't live with Aleksei's death on her conscience. She couldn't. That meant she had to let Gary go to his own fate, and she had to try to figure out her own.
Gabrielle stood up slowly and followed Aleksei out into the center of the monastery grounds. She didn't hurry. There was no point. She knew he would be waiting out there for the sun, and it would be a long wait. The sun wouldn't rise for several hours.
She felt the other ancients watching. She couldn't see them, but she knew they were there. Her stomach clenched. Knots formed. Terror kept her from breathing, but she forced her body forward. She knew the ancients had surrounded Aleksei--from a distance--but they were there to destroy him if the dawn didn't. He had been telling her the strict truth.
She walked straight to him and sank onto the ground beside him. Close. Her thigh touching his. Just that small brush of her leg against his sent a shiver of awareness through her. She saw his body jerk and knew he was just as aware of her.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Get back inside and put yourself in the ground."
His voice was scary. The look on his face was even scarier. She shook her head and stayed.
"I will not allow this, Gabrielle. I am capable of forcing your obedience, as you well know."
She lifted her chin and looked at him, really allowing herself to see him for the first time. Up close, he was all male. All hard edges. In a way, a very scary way, he was striking. She couldn't imagine anyone fighting this man and coming out on top. He appeared extremely lethal, and she was very certain he was every bit as deadly as he appeared. Still, she looked him straight in the eye.
"I'm your lifemate, Aleksei, whether or not you or I like it. That means you don't get to sit here and wait for the sun without me. Whatever happens to you, happens to me. I'm willing to do this if it's what you want to do. With the mistakes I've made, I think you deserve to make that call--but know, whatever you decide, it's for both of us, not just for you. As your lifemate, it's my right to make the decision to follow you, wherever you lead."
She made the statement quietly. Firmly. In a low tone, so that he had to listen to hear her speak. She meant what she said and she knew he could hear it in her voice. It was the first time in her life, outside the laboratory, that she had ever been confrontational, scared out of her mind, but determined.
5
Have you got him?" Andre asked. "We cannot lose him. What happened? How could this happen? She was not his lifemate. This is not supposed to happen."
"Gary lost everything all at once, just as if he had lost his true lifemate," Mikhail explained. "Colors and emotions are gone. All. At. Once."
"Do you have him?" Andre asked again.
Gregori jerked his head. "Not without Mikhail. He's strong. I did not expect this."
"We did not factor in the possibility that a human's love can be as strong as that of a lifemate. We do not see it that often," Mikhail said. "But this loss is from the ancients, not from the loss of a lifemate. It happened far too quickly. We were saved such an event because we lost emotions and color over a long period of time, so we barely realized they were fading over those two hundred years. To have everything wiped away in a moment would send a man insane."
Gregori shook his head. "That is not going to happen. We have to get him out of here. We are vulnerable here."
"I felt them, too," Mikhail said grimly. "Human hunters. The society is on this mountain, trailing after someone. Still, they are miles away."
"I can stay behind and hunt them," Andre offered. "You take Gary home and put him in the ground. Try to heal him, Gregori. We cannot lose him."
"There is greatness in him," Mikhail said softly. "He is destined to do great things for our people. I should have sat Gabrielle down after I converted her and explained her duties as a Carpathian woman. I did not. I thought her sister would. I thought others would aid her in learning, but ultimately it was my responsibility and my failure."
"None of us could have foreseen this," Gregori said, reaching down to pull Gary to his feet. Gary's eyes burned with dark fury. He could hold his brother in check with Mikhail's help because they shared the same bloodline.
"No, but we could have helped Gabrielle adjust to our way of life so she would not have felt so dependent on Gary. We practically threw them together. From the beginning, I was uneasy over their relationship, but still, I did not interfere," Mikhail admitted. "I thought, once Gary became fully Carpathian, they would understand they were not destined for each other. I did not factor in human love, which is very real."
"Mikhail," Gregori warned. "We have to leave now."
"They are a distance away." Mikhail glanced toward the gates of the monastery, a frown on his face. "I do not like leaving her to her lifemate. Aleksei did not understand what was happening, and he is very close to turning."
"None of those inhabiting the monastery have sworn allegiance to you," Gregori said. "You cannot risk going in there. Gabrielle has a lifemate, and how they choose to fix this mess is on them, not you. We have to leave. Right. Now."
A stirring in Gregori's mind startled both of them. The thrall was there, a killing frenzy brought on by the sudden loss of all emotion and the pouring in of centuries of too many battles, too many deaths far too fast for one mind to cope with.
I feel them. Down below us. Eager to kill. Leave me behind and I will keep them from the prince. Gary used the more common telepathic path of all Carpathians, so that not only could both Mikhail and Gregori hear him, but so could any other Carpathians in the area, including the ancients.
Gregori heard his brother quite distinctly. He was still there. Different. But his mind was there. Gary's intelligent mind was quick and fearless.
It is too dangerous for you, right now, Gregori responded. Andre can take care of this threat. You come with me back to our home to guard Mikhail.
They have new weapons. Weapons Andre has not yet seen. I have been researching the society and found some of their schematics. They could kill him or those inside the monastery.
They knew Gary spoke of Gabrielle. Already, his memories would be fading fast. She would be the last for him. The memory of love that most Carpathians tried to hold on to. Love of family. Of siblings and friends. He would lose even that, and if it was anywhere as fast as the loss of color and emotion, his memories of those emotions could go
at any time. He would be left with only his honor to sustain him. And he would hold the darkness of all the ancients that had gone before him.
They will not kill me, Andre assured. Nor will they kill the ancients.
"We need to get word to the De La Cruz brothers. They need to watch over Luiz. The same thing will happen to him," Mikhail said.
"I'll call them on my cell." Andre flashed a faint smirk. "Imagine Zacarias with a cell phone. His brothers call him just to make him crazy. And Josef texts him. How do I know this? Zacarias had a few words to say about it to me the last time I saw him."
Even Gregori gave pause at the idea of anyone calling Zacarias De La Cruz on a cell phone.
We need to get the prince out of here. Gary clearly was pulling it back, taking control back.
Gregori was a little shocked that he was already strong enough to do that. He exchanged a long look with Mikhail. He had taken hold of his brother with the prince's help, keeping him from moving, preventing him from killing anyone. It had taken both of them, and both together were exceedingly strong. Still, it was a struggle. Now, Gary was exhibiting signs of that strength by thinking clearly when his brain shouldn't be able to process anything but killing.
"Gary's right, Mikhail," he agreed. "We need to get you out of here. Andre, no trace of us left behind."
Mikhail sighed. "You will never change, Gregori."
"Not when it comes to your safety."
"And Gary is going to be just as bad."
Release me.
Not with a threat so close to the prince. Not with Gabrielle trapped in the monastery. Mikhail answered Gary, sparing Gregori.
I can do nothing to help Gabrielle. I can help to guard our prince.
Mikhail raised an eyebrow at Gregori and shook his head slightly. It was there, that clarity, but Gary was also an extremely intelligent individual. He worked out many of their battle strategies. He could so easily, even in his present state, lull them all into a false sense of security. He was thinking and that was a good sign, but they were too near Gabrielle, and if those starting up the mountain truly were members of the society hunting them, Gary could easily be tipped over the edge into permanent darkness should he kill, even to save the prince.