I will transport the children to safety.
Go now!
Falcon was alarmed for the Prince, alarmed for the children. The ghoul was spinning, creating a peculiar whirlwind motion reminiscent of a minitornado. The winds were furious, blowing the insects in all directions, even sucking them up into the sky. The glow was bright enough to hurt Falcon’s sensitive eyes.
In all my long centuries of battles with the undead and their minions, this is a new phenomenon.
New to me also.
Mikhail was winging quickly through the waning light in the sky, battling the ferocity of the wind and the thick masses of insects attacking from all directions.
The undead is indeed powerful to create this havoc while he still lies within his lair. He is without doubt an ancient.
I sent word to your brother to wait to fight him, as I am certain this one is as old and as experienced as I am. I hope he listens to Sara.
Mikhail, in the body of the dragon, sighed. He hoped so, too. Immediately he touched Jacques’s mind, relayed what had transpired and their conclusions.
Falcon moved carefully away from the ghoul, attempting to put distance between them.
The undead baited a trap, drew us away from Sara using the children and the ghoul. He will go after her.
Each direction Falcon chose, the grotesque creature turned with him in perfect rhythm, matching his flowing motions as if they were dance partners.
Get out of here now, Mikhail. Do not wait for me. This thing has attached itself to me like a shadow. A lethal and difficult spell to break. He is a bomb. Get to Sara.
I will not be happy if such a despicable creature harms you.
There was an edge of humor to Mikhail’s soft voice. An edge of worry.
I am an ancient. This one will not defeat me. I am concerned only with the safety of you and the children. And with the delay in reaching Sara.
It was the truth. Falcon might not have seen such a thing before, but he had supreme confidence in his own abilities. Already he was working at removing the binding attachment from his cells. It was a deep shadowing, as though the ghoul had managed to embed its molecules into Falcon’s. Falcon tried various methods but could not find where the binding was impressed into his body. The ghoul was white-hot, blossoming like a mushroom and emitting a strange low hum. Time was running out.
Falcon ran his hands down his arms, across his chest. At once he felt the strange warmth emanating from his chest. Of course. The four long furrows the vampire had carved into his chest! The undead had left the spell in Falcon’s chest, spoor for the ghoul to recognize, to adhere itself to. Falcon transmitted the information immediately to the Prince as he hastily began to detach himself from the monstrous time bomb.
The humming was louder, pitched much higher as the insects clacked with more intensity. The bugs were in a kind of frenzy, flying in all directions, swarming, attempting to scratch their way through the barrier Falcon had erected around himself. He had no time to think about poisonous insects; he had to turn his full attention to removing the hidden shadowing on his body. The vampire’s fingerprints were etched deep beneath Falcon’s skin.
Falcon glided quickly toward the ravine, drawing the ghoul away from the forest. As he twisted this way and that, taking the vampire’s puppet with him at every step, he was examining his body from the inside out. He had missed those tiny prints marring his skin, pressed deeply into the lacerations he had already healed. So small, so lethal. He concentrated on scraping the nearly invisible marks from under his skin. It took tremendous discipline to work as he moved, using only his mind, leading the macabre ghoul right over the edge of the cliff. He was floating over empty space, enticing the unholy creature to take the last step that would send it plummeting to the rocks below. The explosion, when it came, could be contained deep within the ravine. Falcon worked rapidly, knowing that if the ghoul was attached to him, even by such tiny and invisible threads, the explosion would kill him.
The ghoul was in the air with him now, and Falcon began the descent slowly, taking the hideous thing where it could do no harm, even as he continued to find each print in the furrows on his chest. The whirling hot light suddenly shuddered, slipped, as if hanging by only a few precarious threads. The humming was now at fever-pitch, a merciless, unrelenting screaming in his head that made it difficult to think.
Falcon shut out the noise, increasing his speed, knowing he was close to throwing off the ghoul, knowing it was close to the end of its run. The vampire was waiting for sunset, holding Falcon away from Sara as surely as if he had imprisoned him. The ghoul pulsed with red-orange light through the white-hot glow just as Falcon sloughed off the last of the vampire’s marks. The puppet began to fall, dropping away as Falcon rose swiftly toward the roiling clouds.
Falcon dissolved into mist as he rushed away from the screeching bomb. The explosion was monumental, a force that blew insect parts in all directions, carved a crater into the side of the ravine, and set the brush on fire. Falcon immediately doused the flames with rain, directing the heavy clouds over the steep ravine as he turned toward Mikhail’s home, picking the directions out of the Prince’s mind.
When Falcon made contact with Mikhail, he found him engaged in conversation with a human male, cautioning the man to protect the children. He knew he need not worry about the children; Mikhail would never place them in a dangerous situation.
Sara, I am some distance away but I will reach you soon.
F
alcon!
Sara pushed herself upright despite her dizziness, staring in horror at the hideous beetle scurrying across the floor toward her. It was staring directly at her, watching her, marking her. And she knew what it was. Just as Falcon could use her eyes to see what was happening around her, the vampire was using the beetle’s. The hard shell was on fire, the smell atrocious, but it was moving unerringly toward her, the eyes fixed on her.
He knows where I am. He’ll kill all these people.
She was terrified, but Sara couldn’t live with more guilt. If this monster wanted her so badly, perhaps the solution was simply to walk out the door and find him.
No!
Falcon’s voice was strong, commanding.
You will do as I say. Warn the male that this enemy is an ancient, most likely one of the warriors sent out by Mikhail’s father who turned vampire. The sun has not yet set, we have a few minutes. The male must use delaying tactics until we arrive to aid him.
Jacques simply stepped on the large insect, flames and all, crushing the thing beneath his foot, smothering the flames. Sara cleared her throat and looked at Jacques with sorrow in her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring this enemy to you. He’s an ancient, Falcon says, most likely one of the warriors Mikhail’s father sent out.”
Raven smoothed back Sara’s hair with gentle fingers. Jacques hunkered down so he was level with Sara. His expression was as calm as ever. “Tell me what you know, Sara. It will aid me in battle.”
Sara shook her head, had to suppress a groan as her head throbbed and pulsed with pain. “Falcon says to delay the battle, to wait for him, and for Mikhail.”
“Heal her, Shea,” Jacques ordered gently. “The sun has not set and the vampire is locked deep within the earth. He knows where she is and will come to us, but the safeguards will slow him. We have time. Mikhail will make his way here, and her lifemate will come also. This ancient enemy is a powerful one.”
The children, Falcon. What of the children?
Sara was finding it difficult to think, with the grotesque remains of the insect on the immaculate shining wood floor.
The children are safe, Sara. Do not worry about them. Mikhail has taken them to a safe house. A man, a human, known to him and our people, is there to watch over them. They will be safe while we are hunting your enemy.
Sara inhaled sharply. Hadn’t the others seen what she had? The vampire had penetrated the safeguards and had found her, had watched her through the eyes of its servant. Now the children she wanted to adopt were being taken to a perfect stranger.
Who is this man? How do you know of him, Falcon? Maybe you should go there yourself. They must be so afraid.
Mikhail trusts this man. His name is Gary Jansen, a friend to our people. He will look after the children until we have destroyed the vampire. We cannot afford to draw the undead to them a second time. Mikhail will not leave them frightened. He is capable of helping them to accept this human and their new situation.
Sara lifted her chin, trying to ignore the terrible pounding in her head. “Do you know someone called Gary? Mikhail is taking the children to him.” She knew she sounded anxious but she couldn’t help it.
Shea laughed softly. “Gary is a genius, a man very much involved with his work. He flew out here from the States to help me with an important project I’m working on.” As she spoke she silently signaled her lifemate to lift Sara and transport her to one of the underground chambers below the house. “I wish I’d been there to see the expression on his face when Mikhail showed up at the inn with several frightened children. Gary is a good man and very dedicated to helping us discover why our children are not surviving, why there are so few female children born, but I can’t imagine him attempting to take care of little ones all by himself.”
“You are enjoying the thought way too much.” Jacques’s laughter was low, a pleasant sound in contrast with the loud, frightening noises outside the home. “I cannot wait to tell the human you are pleased with his new role.”
“But he
will
take care of them.” Sara sought reassurance even as Jacques lifted her high into his arms.
Raven nodded emphatically. “Oh, yes, there’s no need to worry. Gary would never abandon the children, and all Carpathians are bound to protect him should he have need. Your children will be very safe, Sara.” As they moved through the house, she indicated a framed picture on the wall. “That is my daughter, Savannah. Gary saved her life.”
Sara peered at the picture as they went by. The young woman was beautiful, but she looked the same age as Raven. And she looked vaguely familiar. “She’s your daughter? She looks your age.”
“Savannah has a lifemate.” Raven touched the frame in a loving gesture. “When they are small, our children look very young, but their bodies grow at about the same rate as a human child for the first few years. It is only when our people reach sexual maturity that our growth rate slows. That is one reason we have trouble reproducing. It is rare for our women to be able to ovulate for a good hundred years after having a baby. It has happened, but it is rare. Shea believes it is a form of population control, just as most other species have built-in controls. Because Carpathians live so long, nature, or God, if you prefer, built in a safeguard. Savannah will be returning home quite soon. They would have returned immediately upon their union, but Gregori, her lifemate, has received word of his lost family and wishes to meet with them first.” Raven’s voice held an edge of excitement. “Gregori is needed here. He is Mikhail’s second in command, a very powerful man. And, of course, I’ve missed Savannah.”
Sara was suddenly aware that they were going swiftly through a passageway. Raven’s chatter had distracted her from her headache and from the danger, but mostly from the fact that they were moving steadily downward, beneath the earth. She felt the leap of her heart and instantly reached out for Falcon. Mind to mind. Heart to heart.
We can only have a child once every hundred years.
She said the first thing she thought of, then was embarrassed that she had whispered a secret dream, now a regret. She longed for a house filled with children. With love and laughter. With all the things she had lost. All the things she had long ago accepted she would never have.
We have seven children, Sara, seven abandoned, half-starved, very frightened children. They will need us to sort out their problems, love them, and aid them with their unexpected gifts. The three girls may or may not be lifemates for Carpathians in sore need, but all will need guidance. We will have many children to love in the coming years. Whatever your dream, it is mine. We will have a home and we will fill it with children and laughter and love.
He was closer, he was on his way to her. Sara wrapped herself in his warmth, in his words.
This is my gift to you.
A dark dream she would embrace. Reach for.
“Where are you taking me?” Sara’s anxiety was embarrassing, but she couldn’t seem to hold it in check. Falcon had to be able to find her.
She heard the reassurance of his soft laughter.
There is no place they could take you where I could not find you. I am in you as you are in me, Sara.
“What you are feeling is normal, Sara,” Raven said softly. “Lifemates cannot be apart from one another comfortably.”
“And you have a concussion,” Shea reminded. “We’re taking you where you will be safe,” she assured again, calmly, patiently.
The passageway wound deep within the earth. Jacques took Sara through what seemed like a door in the solid rock to a large, beautiful chamber. To Sara’s grateful surprise, it looked like a bedroom. The bed was large and inviting. She curled up on it the moment Jacques put her down, closing her eyes and wanting just to go to sleep. She felt that even a few minutes’ rest would make her feel better. The comforter was thick and soothing, the designs unusual. Sara found herself tracing the symbols over and over.
The candles leaped to life, flickering and dancing, casting shadows on the walls and filling the room with a wonderful aroma. Sara was barely aware of Shea’s healing touch with all the precision of a surgeon. Sara could only think of Falcon. Could only wait for him deep beneath the earth, hoping they would all be safe until he arrived.