“It might be different when it is someone you love,” Traian said, but he didn’t argue with her. He was coming to know Joie’s family. They stood for one another, and they were determined to stand for him as well.
Mirko entered with Gary, going to Traian’s side without hesitation and extending his wrist. “I offer freely,” he said without hesitation.
“I am sorry for the trouble,” Traian said. “We will send help.”
“Everything will be fine,” Mirko assured. “Take what you need.” He frowned down at Traian, really observing him as he fed. “Your wound is deep, hunter. You need to go to ground. Even with my blood, you don’t have strength enough to heal that gash. He nearly tore out your heart.”
Gabrielle watched Traian feeding from Mirko. It should have repulsed her, but instead she was fascinated. It seemed such a noble moment to her, one being reaching out to aid another. Mirko, like Gary, seemed completely unafraid and matter-of-fact about giving blood, as if it were an everyday occasion. There was no enthrallment with these men as the Carpathian had done with Gabrielle.
Traian closed the wound on Mirko’s wrist and nodded. “I will go to ground when my lifemate is able. Again, thank you. I owe you.”
Mirko shook his head. “Mikhail is a friend. We’ll keep everyone from this side of the inn.” When he went out, he hung a blanket across the ruined door so there was no chance of anyone seeing inside the room.
Traian kept his eyes on Joie. The first ripple of pain crossed her face and sent a shudder through her body. Traian felt the pain take her, a fire burning with the force of a torch in the center of her body, blossoming outward like an explosion.
Jubal gasped as pain burst through his brain.
“Stay out,” Traian said.
“He’s watching. Waiting. You take care of Joie. I can do this,” Jubal said.
Traian couldn’t protect both of them. Jubal had to make his own choices. He merged with Joie, trying to take the brunt of the pain, determined to make her initiation into his world as easy as possible.
Joie’s body arched, convulsed, and she turned her head, violently sick. He caught her shoulders to steady her and seized her spirit a little tighter to shoulder more of the pain. Instantly the vampire struck, waiting for that perfect moment when Traian would be at his weakest, striking at Joie’s unprotected mind through his blood-bond with the hunter.
Go to your death!
The master vampire commanded, pushing the compulsion as deep as possible.
Jubal’s spirit leapt in front of the compulsion, a wall of absolute resolve. The compulsion hit him hard, filling his head with the need to reach for the gun lying on the floor. He fought back, refusing to move, filling his mind with love of his sister and his implacable will that she live.
You will not harm either of them.
Thunder rocked the inn. Furious, the vampire sent another deluge of rain pouring into the room, but he slipped out of Traian’s mind, unable to take the pain consuming all of them as Joie’s body fought to rid itself of toxins and her organs reshaped.
Jubal slumped against the wall and slid down it, wiping sweat from his face. He had fought a mental battle and stood his ground, finding it far more exhausting than a physical battle. He couldn’t imagine how difficult Traian’s battle to save Joie’s life was. The hunter’s wounds should have killed him and he’d healed Joie’s body as best he could, given her blood and was fighting to hold her spirit to his while shouldering most of that brutal pain. Jubal shook his head and covered his face with his hands for a brief moment.
Gabrielle handed him a glass of water. “Drink this, and then we have to help.”
Traian was amazed at Joie’s siblings, certain they would be horrified and afraid as the convulsions started, when Joie was violently sick and it was impossible to control the waves of unrelenting pain. Her brother and sister worked together as a team, seeming to understand that he couldn’t talk or direct them. His full attention was on blocking as much pain as possible and helping Joie through the conversion.
Gary kept the room clean and smelling of the soothing aromas from the herbs and candles. All of them picked up the words to the ancient healing chant. Gabrielle wiped beads of blood from Traian’s brow and then Joie’s. He managed a faint smile of acknowledgment, but his focus remained on his lifemate, working to keep the pain bearable and waiting for the moment her body had completely accepted the conversion.
The moment he sensed that her body had undergone the transformation and he could safely do it, he sent her to sleep. Exhausted, he looked up at her family, grateful the sun was about to rise and the master vampire would have to go to ground. Traian doubted he had much battle left in him. He needed the healing, rejuvenating sleep of his kind, deep beneath the earth.
“I have to take her away for a few days. We will be unable to get in touch with you, but she is alive and she will heal quickly.” He avoided all references to the ground. Joie’s family had been through enough without knowing the specifics of where he would take her and how she would spend her days.
Gabrielle leaned over and brushed a kiss on the top of Traian’s head. “You take care of her. We’re depending on you. I’m not sorry she found you, not after watching the way you’ve cared for her.”
Traian could see she was blinking back tears. “Thank you, Gabrielle. As soon as possible, I’ll bring her to you.”
“I’ll stay here with them,” Gary offered.
Traian shook his head. “Warn Mikhail. I don’t want to send the information to him on the chance that the one who took my blood could find a way to use me to harm him. Let him know there is something in that cave of value to the vampires and that there are numerous traps. He’ll understand when you tell him it is a cave the mages used.” He frowned, for the first time unsure. If he named the master as a Malinov and he was wrong, it would be a terrible blow to the Malinov reputation. He needed more time to think on it.
Gary nodded. “Jubal and Gabrielle may come with me, if they choose.”
Traian rose, Joie in his arms. “Go then, go tonight. The rules that have always applied to vampires seem to be changing rapidly.” He met Jubal’s eyes. “You will be safer under Mikhail’s protection. Stay with them until Joie and I are recovered.”
He slipped out onto the balcony, into the night where he belonged—where he was comfortable. The wind blew into his face, ruffled his hair, brought him information from creatures around him.
He took to the skies, the sleeping Joie in his arms, and headed for a small cave he remembered from his younger days, a cave of healing with hot springs and glacier-water pools. Far below, his homeland stretched out before him, a place he had not seen in many years. The sight brought back memories of his parents and his childhood friends. He was home and he held his lifemate in his arms.
She will never be safe. You will always be linked to me. I spared your life, but I can take it whenever I choose. And I will take hers.
The hate-filled voice of the master vampire invaded his mind.
Traian didn’t hesitate. He sent a clap of deafening thunder back along the mental path the vampire had initiated, a bolt of lightning streaking through the sky like a spear homing in on prey. Just as quickly, he moved his own position, fully prepared for a war in the sky.
An explosion of pain burst in Traian’s head in angry retaliation. He rode it out, certain he’d scored a hit.
You will pay for that.
I am an ancient warrior. I do not fear you or any other of your kind. If you wish to pursue me or mine, I welcome the opportunity to carry out your death sentence.
You and your kind will never find me. I will disappear until you and yours forget me and then I will return to kill all of you, everyone you have ever loved,
the vampire vowed.
Traian moved again, certain of reprisal. He had not displayed fear or awe, or even respect, and the vampire was used to his minions admiring him.
A shower of hot stones poured from the sky. Traian protected Joie, covering her body with his like a blanket. The stones fell harmlessly around them, but the attack was a halfhearted attempt. The vampire was fleeing and simply wanted to instill fear in Traian. He hugged Joie closer to him.
“I have been a warrior so long, I barely recall any other existence. Even a master vampire cannot change my chosen path. If he should come to find us, Joie, I will not turn away. He will not take you from me, nor will he take me from you.” He made the promise to her aloud beneath the stars. And then he took her deep beneath the surface to the healing caverns.
J
oie awoke quickly. One moment she knew nothing, and the next she was fully conscious. She heard the steady fall of water, the thrum of life beating in the earth. She felt different, completely alive, yet her body ached and her neck felt torn. She turned her head to look at the man holding her.
Traian lay beside her, his arms around her, one hand on her bare stomach, his fingers splayed wide. His long hair fell like a dark waterfall around his face. His eyes were dark, wide open, framed with long lashes, so beautiful she wanted to fall into the deep well of love she saw there.
They were lying in a deep hole in the damp soil of a cave. Overhead the ceiling sparkled with crystals, and water shimmered in a pool not far from them. She knew it, saw it, yet it should have been impossible, buried in the soil as they were.
“Open the ground above us,” she ordered, trying not to let her pounding heart get so out of control she had a heart attack.
“Carpathians do not have heart attacks,” he said, a smile in his voice, but he obligingly opened the earth above them so she could see the gems on the ceiling of the cave they occupied.
“I was seeing what you’ve seen,” she guessed. Her voice was different, husky, not at all the way she’d sounded before. “The gems. The pool.”
“Yes.” His teeth nipped her shoulder. “We’re in a cave I used to swim in as a young man.”
Joie looked around her, reached out, and touched the damp soil. “It’s a darned good thing I don’t have a cleanliness fetish. Aren’t beds appropriate when you’re injured?” She was trying very hard to keep the nerves out of her voice, resorting, as usual when she was uncertain, to humor.
“The soil heals us.” He kissed her neck, swirled his tongue over the wounds on her neck. “We can remove all traces of dirt easily. Our wounds were packed earlier with soil but are very clean now. I will repack them before we go to sleep again.”
“How lovely for us. Are there worms in this particular little bed of soil? And did I happen to mention worms in any of our talks?”
“I do not believe you did.”
“There was a reason for that.” Her fingers tangled with his. His hand on her stomach was soothing her in some way she didn’t understand. Her insides ached. “Did someone take a baseball bat to me?”
“No. The conversion is difficult.”
She didn’t want to remember the horror of that seemingly endless pain. The complete loss of control. The helpless feeling she had or the look in his eyes. Especially the look in his eyes. Begging forgiveness. He’d looked guilty, terrified of losing her. She recalled the blood-red tears that had fallen on her face. “Yes, it was difficult.” She touched his face with gentle fingers and gave him a faint smile. “For both of us.”
Traian caught her fingers and pulled them into the heat of his mouth. “You scared me. I will admit that to you now.” He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin. “Watching you have to go through such pain was almost more than I could bear. You saved everyone there at the inn with your sacrifice, you know that, don’t you?”
“We all worked together,” Joie said. “I knew you would come. I just had to buy us some time.”
“All of you were more than lucky. Any vampire is difficult to defeat, but master vampires have lived for century upon century, growing in strength and power. They use others as minions and puppets and keep themselves from dangerous battles. They sacrifice lesser pawns and slide away when hunters are in the area. They only fight when they are assured of victory. Valenteen had a reputation as a fierce hunter. It helped that mage blood ran in your veins. He had more trouble getting past the barriers in your minds and controlling you. Gary is protected by Gregori, so he wasn’t as susceptible as most humans would be.”
“Do you really think we’re descendents of a mage?” Joie asked, once again stroking her fingers over his lips.
“I do not think there is much doubt. The genetics are quite strong in your brother and since you claim he is a full blood brother, the mage is in all of you. I believe that is what allowed you to resist Valenteen the way you did.”
“I can’t really recall much after I landed on the floor. Jubal and Gabrielle are all right, aren’t they? I vaguely remember Gabrielle’s hand holding mine and once I felt my brother very close. Tell me they’re both okay. They had to have been terrified when that nasty vampire ripped my neck open.”
Traian felt the tremor run through her and pressed his body closer. “They were incredible.” He still had trouble believing that neither of them looked at him with blame. And Gabrielle had been so generous in her parting words to him. “They are both fine. Gary took them to our prince. They are with Mikhail and his lifemate, under their protection. I like your brother and sister very much.”
Joie covered the hand pressed into her stomach. “You sound a little surprised. Haven’t you liked many humans?”
“I never really thought about it before. We live in the world with humans and protect them, but to keep our race safe, we have always remained apart. This has been my first close contact with humans where they actually know who and what I am. I found your family to be accepting and tolerant of me and my people, even with all the danger I brought with me. I feel genuine affection and admiration for Jubal and Gabrielle, which is somewhat of a surprise to me.”
“And Gary? Is he all right?”
“He is fine, Joie. Gary is an extraordinary man and obviously trusted by our prince.” Traian rubbed her nose with the pad of his finger, and then traced her mouth.