Stay with him. Do not allow him to separate himself from you. He will hold on with everything he is, not wanting to chance that you will die with him.
Colby concentrated on holding Rafael to her. She could see through his eyes and hear the wailing of the ghouls and the horrible cries of the vampire.
Deep in the vampire’s lair, Vikirnoff continued his battle with the relentless ghouls, but he could sense how close Rafael was to death.
“Rafael,” he commanded, “throw the heart to me now.” He kept his voice calm in the midst of the chaos reigning. He knocked back another ghoul, but it rose to confront him again as the others closed in.
Kirja’s razor-sharp fingernails worked to drag Rafael’s heart from his body, a slow but extremely painful process. The strength was ebbing from the vampire, but it was draining almost as quickly from Rafael. He could barely move, barely think, his body failing to obey the dictates of his brain as blood loss and lethargy from the rising sun sapped his remaining, rapidly dwindling strength.
He felt Colby moving in him, searching for a way to aid him. He couldn’t protect her from the pain in his body. He felt
the blow of it, nearly driving her to unconsciousness, felt her regroup, accept the pain. Then her strong will rose up, the unwavering determination of the Dragonseeker blood.
You will not die!
She made it a decree. An order.
Throw the heart to the hunter. Take my strength and rid the world of that disgusting creature. Now, Rafael. I won’t let you go.
Using the burst of strength, he did as she commanded, tossing the vile organ through the air to Vikirnoff. At once Rafael’s strength ran out and he began to topple. It was too late for him. His heart was shredded, his blood loss too great. But Colby and Paul would be safe and Vikirnoff would get out of the mines alive. Rafael closed his eyes and let go.
Colby merged her mind with Rafael’s. She was strong. She’d always been strong, so much so that her powers couldn’t be managed in her human state. She felt them now, running through her body, and she took a quick inventory of her abilities. Everything was different now, with the special gifts of the Carpathian blood running through her veins. She reached for the power, embraced it instead of shrinking in fear from it. She would save Rafael, hold him to her with her last breath even though his life force was no more than a small, dim light flickering weakly, all but extinguished. She held him to her with all of her strength, preventing him from falling to the acid inferno of soil in the chamber, at the same time, keeping his spirit from fading away.
Bring him to me. Hurry.
She sent the order to Vikirnoff, on the mental path she found in Rafael’s mind.
The soil is rich in minerals and it is our only chance.
Vikirnoff incinerated the vampire’s heart, stoically ignoring the acid burning his hand and arm as the blood ran down his skin. Kirja screamed horribly, his body going limp, his fist falling from Rafael’s body with a horrible sucking sound. The Carpathian’s lifeblood splattered over him. He grimaced and licked at it in a last, vain attempt to heal himself.
Vikirnoff directed a second white-hot ball of energy at the vampire.
Blackened noxious smoke rose and Kirja gave a final hideous, wailing shriek and his foul life at last found its end. Vikirnoff caught Rafael in strong arms before Colby could let him fall to the poisonous ground and sustain further burns.
The moment the vampire was fully destroyed, the ghouls dropped to the ground, lifeless without their master to give them orders. The soulless shadows ceased their continuous wails and the bones dropped back to the ground.
There was an eerie silence followed by an ominous rumble that grew louder as the maze of mine tunnels began to shake. Cradling Rafael in his burned arm, Vikirnoff streaked through the tunnels, away from the lair of the vampire. Dirt and rock poured down and smoke spewed through the shafts. Walls closed in behind them as he winged his way to the surface with the wounded hunter.
I am on the way with him. The sun is climbing rapidly. He is mortally injured. In truth, I do not see how you can save him.
Colby burst from the ground, the sun nearly blinding her. It didn’t even slow her down. She cast around for the richest soil.
What do I need, Nicolas? Tell me what to do to save him.
He told her, naming several plants, sending her images of what they looked like, and directing her where to find them. Ignoring the terrible burning inside her body, her streaming eyes and sensitive skin, Colby raced to locate the plants hidden in the dense forest. The trees helped to shade her from the sun’s burning rays and Vikirnoff supplied cloud cover as he traveled toward her. As Nicolas guided her hands, instructing her in what she must do to save Rafael, another voice joined his, and then another and another. She couldn’t get all of their names, but healers gathered from around the world to talk her through the process of saving Rafael.
If something should go wrong, Nicolas, you watch over Paul and Ginny.
Colby was fully aware she was risking her life. She would be giving everything she was to Rafael, and should she fail, it would mean both of their lives.
There cannot be failure.
Nicolas decreed it.
And then Vikirnoff was there, Rafael’s torn, mangled body in his arms. Colby closed her eyes for one brief moment as tears welled up and horror clutched at her throat. She had been prepared for his terrible injuries, but not for the sight of her proud, invincible Rafael ravaged so utterly. Her heart and soul screamed a protest.
She reached for her powerful will, grasped her strength with every fiber of her being, and shook off the despair and
pain and terror. There was no time for emotion, no time for hesitation or fear. She listened to the soft voices giving her instructions and she felt her power moving through her. Kneeling beside Rafael’s torn body in the mineral-rich soil where Vikirnoff had opened the earth for her, she set to work. It was easy enough to work on several levels, using her telekinesis to mix the plants and soil while she shed her body, her sense of self, and became the healing ball of energy needed to enter Rafael’s body.
All the while she held him to her, bound by her determination, refusing to allow him to escape into another world. His heart was all but destroyed, savaged by the vampire’s talons, lacerated and shredded. She hesitated in dismay.
It can be done.
The assurance came from one of the healers, a male named Gregori.
I will be with you every step of the way.
I am here as well.
A feminine voice, Shea, a healer.
A third voice, very distant and ultrafeminine, added her support.
I am Francesca. You are of the Dragonseeker clan. Few have the gifts you have. It can be done.
She heard Nicolas and his brothers urging her onward. Voices swelled in volume in her mind, chanting an ancient healing ritual. With determination, Colby bent to the task. It was no longer impossible—it was simply a matter of will, and she had that in abundance. Slowly, meticulously, she repaired Rafael’s shredded heart. Her physical strength waned several times, but Rafael’s brothers fed her every bit of energy they possessed. She even felt Paul’s touch through Nicolas.
She was as ruthless in her demands on Rafael, forcing him to endure the pain as she repaired his heart then set to work on his other numerous grave injuries. She shared her mind with the healers, following the instructions they whispered in her mind as she closed every wound, removed every drop of poison. She would not relinquish Rafael to Kirja’s power. The sun continued to climb in the sky and the effects were devastating on the Carpathians, but she was relentless, driving herself and the others beyond their endurance.
Vikirnoff, following the dictates of the healers, lay down beside his fellow hunter in the rich soil. He gave Rafael as much blood as he could spare, and helped Colby to pack the terrible wounds with the mixture of plants, mineral-rich dirt,
and saliva. Colby was swaying with weariness, covered in blisters from the sun, and sagging to the ground when she was finally finished.
I have never remained this long awake.
Vikirnoff looked at her with surprise.
You held us all together, refusing to allow even our strongest to give in to the lethargy of our kind. Rest now. If you can hold us, you will not allow him to die.
“Damn right I won’t,” Colby murmured and slumped over Rafael.
Vikirnoff had just enough energy left to close the soothing soil over all three of them before they succumbed to sleep.
20
C
olby awoke the
moment the sun went down, turning to Rafael even as she opened the earth above her. She had repaired the worst of the injuries to his heart with her careful, meticulous work, but there was a long way to go to keep him from dying. She started working at once, sitting beside him in the depths of the pit with the walls of soil high around them, letting go of her body to enter his. His heart was attempting to heal itself, but Nicolas and the others had warned her that Rafael’s wounds were so severe that not even a Carpathian as ancient and powerful as he was could recover without continual aid.
As she worked, she became aware of the voices joining with hers, both male and female, chanting the healing ritual. She gratefully recognized the touch of Gregori, and the much more feminine touch of Shea, both Carpathian healers. Colby followed their precise instructions for continuing the repairs to Rafael’s lacerated heart. He had to be awakened and given blood, but his heart would continue to hemorrhage until the muscle had sufficient time to heal, which meant he could not stay awake for longer than it took to feed.
“I will give him my blood,” Vikirnoff volunteered. He sat watching her, noting the absolute determination on her face.
“You already gave him too much this morning. Go find
whatever you need; you’re whiter than a sheet.” Colby swayed with weariness. “I’ll give him my blood and put him back beneath the ground where he’ll be safe.”
“I will return as quickly as possible to provide for you,” Vikirnoff promised.
Colby nodded and sat with Rafael’s head pillowed in her lap. She called softly to him, hating that he would be in pain when he woke, but knowing that he must feed in order to heal and regain his strength. She felt his brothers then, called by the need to respond even across half the world. She felt them attempt to shoulder Rafael’s pain as he woke.
Colby bent to press a kiss on his forehead. “Don’t move, just lie still. You need blood.” She tore at her own wrist, uncaring of the pain, pushing the wound against his lips. He was so weak, she didn’t even feel him taking the nourishment and it frightened her.
Do not give up hope.
It was Nicolas who reassured her and each of his brothers murmured their names in her mind and added their reassurances to his. Somehow it gave her a sense of family to have all the Carpathians whispering encouragement in her mind.
What about Paul and Ginny, Nicolas? Are they all right without me?
She worked to keep the wistful note out of her voice so it wouldn’t upset Rafael. That world seemed so far away from her now. She hadn’t been happy when told the news that the children had been spirited away to Brazil for protection—but she understood.
They are being spoiled by aunts, uncles, and a hundred cousins. They miss you.
She was grateful Nicolas thought to add the last.
Stop him now and put him back in the soil.
That was Gregori, the healer. Colby could feel Rafael’s spirit edging away from her as the pain grew intolerable. She halted his feeding, hesitating only for a moment before swiping her tongue across the ugly wound on her wrist. With Nicolas’s help she sent Rafael to sleep and closed her eyes wearily, slumping against the soil, uncaring that she lay in what looked like a grave. All that mattered was that she keep Rafael alive.
“You need to feed.” Vikirnoff’s voice jerked her out of her reverie.
She felt her mouth go dry. Rafael put her under enthrallment, but she wasn’t ready to relinquish that kind of control to someone else. “I don’t know if I can,” she answered honestly.
“If you do not feed, you will grow weak and you will not be able to hold him to you,” Vikirnoff pointed out. “I will keep you from knowing.”
Her heart slammed in her chest at the idea of giving Vikirnoff, a virtual stranger, that sort of control over her. With Rafael unconscious, she turned instinctively to his brother.
Nicolas! What should I do?
Nicolas was close to Rafael, her link to him. She had no one else to turn to in the unfamiliar situation.
I can’t think about his giving me blood.
Vikirnoff is an honorable Carpathian. Allow him to compel you. You must maintain your strength in order to sustain Rafael’s life.
She felt another of Rafael’s brothers move through Nicolas to reach her. Zacarias, the oldest, the strongest, the one the brothers all deferred to. She picked that out of Rafael’s memories.
I will make certain no harm comes to you.
Colby was amazed at the incredible sense of family, of the love they shared for her through Rafael.
Over the next several risings she repeated the same ritual each evening. She sometimes woke in the night to lie with the soil open, Rafael’s head pillowed in her lap, to stare at the sky and twinkling stars, her hands stroking caresses in his hair, willing him to survive, to come back to her. She devoted herself and her will completely to healing him. Vikirnoff supplied nourishment and she became comfortable with his presence, but never enough to submit her will on her own. Nicolas or one of Rafael’s other brothers always had to be with her before she would allow Vikirnoff to place her under his enthrallment.
On the seventh evening Vikirnoff rose well before Colby and was already out of the earth when she awakened. She was competent at opening the earth now and she floated to the surface, clothing herself the way Nicolas had taught her. She would awaken Rafael as soon as she had gathered fresh herbs and healing plants. “Vikirnoff?” She looked around. He was always waiting to supply Rafael with blood. She found a single rose lying across the boulder near the hot springs.
He was gone. That could only mean one thing. Colby spun around, holding the long-stemmed rose, her heart pounding in anticipation.