She felt the wolves reach out with each of their senses just as she did, never taking safety for granted. It was how she’d managed to stay alive for so many years. Trusting no one. Speaking to no one unless she was far from her dwelling. Leaving no tracks. No trace. The slayer appeared and then vanished.
She worked her way in an ever-tightening circle, closer and closer to her lair, all the while scanning for blank spaces that might indicate a vampire, or for the disruption of energy that meant a mage could be in the area. Smoke and noise might be humans. Carpathians were more difficult, but she had a sixth sense about them and could hide herself if she felt one near.
As she began her spiral downward, unease rippled through her body and then through the wolves. Below her, through the layers of mist, she caught glimpses of something dark lying motionless in the snow. The snow began to fall, adding to her loss of vision, and she knew by the prickly sensation crawling over her skin that the sun had begun to rise. Every instinct told her to increase her speed and make it to her lair before the sun broke over the mountain, but something far older, far deeper, deterred her.
She couldn’t turn away from the sprawled body lying in the snow, already being covered with the new falling powder.
O köd belső—darkness take it
. Cursing ancient Carpathian oaths that would have shocked her five brothers in the old days, when she remained their protected, adored baby sister, she set her feet down in the snow and threw her arms out to allow her pack to leap down.
The wolves approached the carcass wearily, circling in silence. The man didn’t move. His clothes were torn, exposing part of his emaciated torso and belly to the gleaming, hungry eyes. Raja moved in, two steps only, while the pack continued to circle the body. The alpha female, Ayame, stepped in behind the male and Raja turned and snarled at her. Ayame leapt back and whirled around, baring her teeth at her mate.
Ivory took a wary step closer as Raja resumed sniffing the motionless man. He’d once been a powerful male, no doubt about it. He was taller than the average human by several inches. His hair was long and thick, a black-gray pelt that was loose and unkempt. Blood and dirt were caught in the thick strands, matting his hair in places. She leaned over Raja to get a closer look and something inside her shifted.
Gasping, she pulled back abruptly, her body actually turning, ready to flee. He had the strong bones of a Carpathian male, a straight aristocratic nose, and deep lines of suffering cut into his once-handsome face. But what really caught her attention and terrified her was the birthmark showing through his torn, thin shirt. She could see the dragon on his hip. It was no tattoo; he’d been born with that mark.
Dragonseeker
. Her breath rushed from her lungs in a long gasp. Around her the snow continued to fall and the world became white, all sound muted. She could hear her heartbeat, too fast, adrenaline pumping through her body, her blood roaring in her ears.
Raja nudged her leg, indicating they should leave the body where it lay. She took a breath, even though her lungs could barely drag in air. Her body actually shivered. She turned away, signaling to the wolves to leave him, but her feet refused to work. She couldn’t take a single step. The man with that ravaged face, too-thin body and barely a pulse, held her to him.
She raised her face to the heavens, letting the snow cover it like a white mask. “Why now?” she asked softly. A plea. A prayer. “Why are you asking this of me now? Don’t you think you’ve taken enough from me?” She stood waiting for an answer. Lightning to strike, maybe. Something. Anything. Her whispered entreaty was met with implacable silence.
Raja gave a series of whines.
Come away, little sister. Leave him. He obviously disturbs you. Come away before the sun is high
.
For the first time in hundreds of years, she’d forgotten the sun. She’d forgotten safety. Everything she knew, everything she’d learned—it was all gone because of this man. She wanted to go away. She
needed
to go away, but everything in her was drawn to this one man.
Päläfertiilam—lifemate—her
lifemate—the curse of all Carpathian women.
2
I
vory crouched down beside the fallen man, her fingers gliding over his face, around to his neck to feel his pulse. It was unnecessary. Her heart had slowed to match the impossibly slow beat of his. She brushed the snow from his face and began a minute examination of his wounds. His body was crisscrossed in scars—nearly as bad as her own, should she allow anyone to see her as she was. His skin was ice-cold. Every Carpathian learned from childhood how to control the temperature in their bodies, yet he was freezing.
Little sister!
Raja’s whine ended in a growl of warning.
The sun is climbing
.
If she didn’t take him, he would die here in the open. Her heart stuttered as she looked back at his tracks. That had been his intention. From the old and fresh scars on his ankles and wrists, she could tell he had been chained, the links coated with vampire blood, burning into his flesh each time he moved. She knew one man who used that method of imprisonment: Xavier, the high mage. The Dragonseeker had escaped captivity and instead of heading toward one of the villages to seek aid, he had gone into the forest interior, making his way to the most remote side of the mountain where the sun could claim him.
The pack milled around, uneasy now, casting glances up at the sky. The snow began to come down harder, coating the silvery pelts. Cursing, Ivory reached for him, pulling him into a sitting position so she could lift him.
His eyes snapped open—dark swirling pits of suffering, of determination, of resolve. This was a man honed in the fires of hell, a man who’d suffered unbearable agony and set his mind in stone. There would be no manipulating him; she could see and feel that as his energy surrounded her.
“Leave me.” His voice gave a hoarse command.
She felt the mental push behind the brusque order and hastily shut out the compulsion. The telepathic coercion affected her wolves; she could see them back away, and she waved her hand to hold them. Only her long and very tight bond with the pack held them to her under the strength of that compulsion—and that told her a lot about this man. In spite of being so weak, half-starved and emaciated, he was incredibly strong—and dangerous.
She wasn’t about to open her mouth. She shook her head mutely and went to lift him. The Dragonseeker pulled back and laid his hand on her arm with surprising gentleness. She felt the jolt of electricity and her body tingled, sudden awareness forcing the air from her lungs in a hissing rush.
“You do not understand,” he said. “You are in terrible danger just being close to me. I have powerful enemies and they can reach you through me.”
Again she felt the warning compulsion in his voice. He radiated purity—truth. He wanted her to leave him knowing it was a death sentence—not just a death sentence, but that he would die in absolute agony, one slow inch at a time. She cursed again. She had no choice but to speak and he would know the truth. Her species had one mate. One. They could look the world over, through centuries of living and unless they connected to that one person, the one who shared the other half of their soul, they were not true lifemates.
If she spoke, he would know. He would see in color, he would feel emotion—not just remember it. He would know—and maybe he already did—that she was his other half. She knew she had no choice. He would fight her, try to force her to leave him and he had to know she couldn’t, that it was virtually impossible to do such a thing no matter how much she might want to. Ivory gave a slow shake of her head.
The Dragonseeker put his hand up and she knew he was about to speak. She spoke first. “I cannot and I think you know why. If you do not want my pack—and me—to suffer the sun burning us, you must cooperate.”
She saw the shock register on his face. His body actually flinched as if from a body blow and he squeezed his eyes shut tight for what seemed an interminable amount of time as if his returning colors and emotions were too overwhelming, too dazzling for him to process. In truth, he didn’t seem to welcome the news any more than she had, but she was fully aware that he felt that same pull toward her as she did toward him. When he opened his eyes, the color was swirling, dark, almost black, and then mixing into a deep emerald green before going back to a midnight blue. He blinked and the effect was gone. He took a breath. Let it out.
“My mortal enemy is Xavier, the high mage. He can possess my body at will and often does, slipping in and out of me and committing hideous, vile crimes against all peoples: mage, human and Carpathian alike. You cannot stay near me. He is weak at the moment, which is why he has not overtaken my body and forced it back. This is my only chance to escape him.”
Ivory sank back on her heels and stared into the dark, ravaged eyes. He was telling the truth. Xavier. He had set in motion things that could never be undone. He had commanded the vampires to chop her body into pieces. He was an incomparable monster like the world had never known, and he couldn’t be allowed to regain power.
“Your enemy is my greatest enemy,” she said. She had so many.
“Leave me. Hide yourself. If I die here, he cannot use me to harm any other.”
Little sister! Come away from this place. Take us home
. This time Raja bared his teeth, his voice demanding.
Sister-kin
. The rest of the pack took up the desperate cry.
Ivory felt the burning itch begin along her bare neck and arms. In spite of the thick snow falling around her, she was that sensitive, or maybe it was a fear she’d developed over the years. It mattered little.
“How does he possess you?”
“I gave him an opening.” His gaze held hers captive as he made his confession. “There was a young mage woman who was kind to me. At that time, without my knowledge, Xavier was experimenting with ways to possess a body. He used mine to impregnate women. He wanted a blood supply and thought having children would do it for him. I am his grandson.”
Ivory raised her arms to allow the pack to merge with her skin. Grateful that she was at long last preparing to go, the pack took their places one by one, covering her back and arms as if they were only ink on her skin and not immortal creatures. She never took her eyes from her lifemate, never changed expression even though inside she could hear herself screaming.
“The young woman had my child, a little girl, quite beautiful. She was amazing and talented. We were all held prisoner. My aunts, me, my child’s mother and beautiful little Lara. I didn’t want him to kill Lara as he’d ultimately killed her mother, and I told him I would do anything.”
She gasped in disbelief. “To the high mage? You traded your soul? To the high mage?” She felt a little idiotic repeating herself, but who did that? Who would be that . . .
“At the time, I had been tortured severely. He had left Lara’s mother’s dead body to rot in front of us, and I could not bear for Lara to be tortured. In truth, I was not thinking clearly.” He shook his head. “I cannot remember facts accurately anymore. Time has blurred together for me. But you cannot trust me. He can take this body at any time and force me to do unspeakable things to those I love. I have betrayed everyone who ever meant anything to me.”
“And yet you fought him. You still fight him.”
“I am my father’s son. Xavier killed him as well and tried to possess my sister. I would not let him have her. I traded my life for hers and then my soul for my daughter. I have nothing left for you.”
Those piercing eyes never once left her face, and if there was regret or remorse in his confession, she didn’t hear it. He had traded his life and was willing to die this day, as the sun came up, to protect everyone else, Ivory included.
“He cannot have you,” she said. “I am sorry, but if what you say is true, then I have no choice but to render you unconscious so you do not know the way to my lair.”
For the first time his expression changed. “You cannot take me there, woman. I forbid it.” Both hands came up, and she felt the beginnings of the spell he was casting, one to force her compliance.
She was faster. Palms out, she shattered his spell so that small sparks clashed between them. She whispered softly and he blinked and fought for a moment, but starved and weak, his head slipped to one side as his eyes closed.
Ivory didn’t hesitate once she’d made up her mind. She slung the Dragonseeker over her shoulder and took to the sky, racing the sun as it climbed toward the higher peaks. She streaked up through the driving snow, scanning the trails leading into the mountains for tracks of human vampire hunters, rare now, but still a menace to her kind. She let her senses flair out, seeking signs of the undead who may have taken refuge near her lair, or a stray hunter, one of the Carpathian males she was careful to hide her existence from.
In midflight, she found herself rolling her eyes. A fat lot of good that had done her when she’d stumbled across her lifemate, just lying out in the snow, so thin and drawn, so emaciated from starvation and suffering that she couldn’t be heartless enough to leave him there.
“O jelä peje terád—
sun scorch you,
päläfertiilam—
lifemate,” she hissed aloud.
It had never occurred to her that she would find herself in such a predicament. A male. She was bringing a sodden male to her home. Her haven. She should have told him
terád keje
—get scorched—and been done with him, but no, she had to be a simpering female and take the blasted man home with her.
She made for the gap between the two tall, towering columns of rock rising like horns above the mountain. The rock seemed solid and no one, in all the years she’d been residing there, had ever found that thin crack in the left rock that ran from the inside around to the base, where the tower met the mountain peak itself. It took a moment to disable her intricate mineralogical alarm/protection system so she could pass through with the male. She blew gently into the wind, stirring the snow into a mini-blizzard, covering her drop as she entered vaporized, pouring like fog into the crack and making her way down through the inside of the mountain.