Dark Curse (29 page)

The praise in his voice made her color rise. "Can I help you heal? I'm not the best healer, but I have some skills." She had no idea how to help him with the injuries, but he looked so alone and she hated being the one to make him feel that way. She wanted to show solidarity, even though her inability to watch him take blood delayed his getting help. She felt awkward asking, but she couldn't let it go. "I know the Carpathian healing chant. My aunts learned it from their mother and they taught it to me, but I don't really know how to actually heal wounds very well. Maybe you could teach me what to do, just in case this happens again."

He smiled down at her, his expression tender. "It will happen again. Here, we can gather the richest soil we can find, mix it with our saliva."

"The healing agent in yours is probably much stronger than mine."

She chose a spot directly under the trees. She wanted a place where flowers grew in abundance. The plants were dormant, but the soil lay beneath the snow, black with minerals. She mixed the soil and saliva and made a compress for the wounds.

Earth with healing properties, flower beneath the earth do see, twine your essences, fill these wounds gently, apply your healing boon.

She breathed into the mixture, chanting softly in Carpathian, unaware she did so. She added her own special blend to aid in healing him.

This man is a shadow but of the light, help him to heal to resume his fight.

She was a little hesitant, afraid of hurting him, but she pressed the mixture carefully into the gouges on his chest and into his abdomen with gentle fingers. There was a small silence as she worked carefully, making certain to cover every scratch. She could barely breathe with the feel of his skin beneath her fingers, with the heat of his body so close. He remained very still, almost holding his breath, but her heartbeat followed the rhythm of his in exact synchronization.

"How long do you leave this on? I can't get past putting dirt into a wound." Her voice trembled a little.

"I should be able to clean it off in a few minutes." His hand cupped her chin and raised her face up to his. The pad of his thumb slid over her lower lip in a little caress.

Lara's gaze locked with his. Her breath stilled in her lungs. A shiver of excitement whispered down her spine. There was raw hunger in his burning black eyes, a desire that seemed to match the sudden smoldering in the pit of her stomach. Heat spread. Arousal skimmed over her thighs and breasts.

Nicolas bent his dark head toward hers. His lips brushed over hers, feather-light, a question, a demand, a soft entreaty and a firm insistence. She answered, drawing him into the soft haven of her mouth.

I'm so glad you're safe
. Her voice was shy.

Nicolas let his lashes fall, blocking out all sensation but the wet, velvet heat of her mouth. He could get lost there, eating her up, drinking her in. Molten lava poured into his veins, thick and hot, fueling every desire.

He deepened the kiss, took more of a command, pressing her a little to see if she would respond. It was getting more difficult to keep his hands off of her when the demons roared and his body hardened into one unrelenting ache. Everything inside of him knew Lara was the other half of his soul, the keeper of his heart. He feared she would never feel the same.

Her hands came up to curl in his hair, but she was tentative in her response, a little shy, not quite swept away as he wanted. He let it go. This wasn't the time or place, and she wasn't quite ready for that next step with him. He would have to be satisfied that she was reaching for him, even meeting him part way.

His hands were gentle as he allowed them to slip from her face. He loved the sexy, slightly dazed look in her eyes.

"Can you shift again?"

She blinked several times, her small teeth biting into her lower lip. She nodded.

A slow smile softened the hard cut to his mouth. "Follow the image in my mind and hold it. Each time you practice you will become more adept at it. When we get to Vikirnoff's home, it will not take more than a few minutes to make things right."

She knew he meant taking blood from Vikirnoff. He was swaying a little, she noticed, and the lines in his face seemed etched a bit deeper. There was no reprimand she could find in his mind, no looking down on her because she couldn't abide the thought of his taking someone else's blood. She found the genuine acceptance he gave her humbling and maybe a little healing. She breathed a little easier. "Let's go then. I don't want you to have to wait any longer than you already have."

He took a step to his right, holding mist uppermost in his mind and in hers. She felt the change almost immediately. The rush of adrenaline nearly stopped her from shifting, but she pulled back and let go of her physical body. It was much easier to accept the change this time and she was both exhilarated and proud that she managed to shift into mist and streak across the sky with Nicolas. She knew he was holding the image for her, but she didn't care. She'd done the impossible and it felt like a huge milestone to her.

I've learned a lot tonight, Nicolas, thank you.

He brushed her mind with an intimate warmth that poured over her like warm honey. Her heart contracted. He was finding his way inside her, past every barrier she'd erected from childhood. His gentleness was so unexpected when he was such a dangerous, arrogant man. He made her feel as if she were the only important person in his life. He didn't care if Natalya didn't approve of her—she was enough for him just the way she was and his acceptance went a long way toward making her feel much more confident in herself.

The house was built into the mountainside, so artfully arranged it was nearly impossible until one was right up on it to see it. Lara and Nicolas shifted on the rock steps leading to the cool shade of a porch, all built out of the same stone. Lara enjoyed the feel of going into a cave. The front looked like a home, with windows and a door, but made out of the mountain itself. The house itself was well lit with bright hanging lights, marble floors and gleaming polished wood everywhere.

"You have decided to settle here," Nicolas said, looking around the warm room.

"Unlike you and your family," Vikirnoff said, "my brother and I only spent the last few years hunting together and never in one location. Prior to that, we moved from region to region filling in where no ancient was posted. It will be nice to have a home after so long. Nicolae and Destiny are settling here as well. We will be able to help guard the prince and the women and children in the hopes of rebuilding our people."

Lara was grateful for Nicolas's hand on the small of her back, connecting them. He was also in her mind and it steadied her to face Natalya, who did look so much like herself. If Razvan had looked like her at one time, he no longer did, but Natalya could have been her mother—or sister.

Natalya waved her toward a deep, comfortable-looking chair. "Please sit down. It's amazing to finally meet you."

Nicolas took her hand as she sank into the thick cushions, his thumb sweeping over her palm in a gentle caress.
Will you be all right for a few moments without me
?

Her stomach lurched. When had she become such a coward? Was she so thrown by the scent and sight of parasites and silver eyes that she could no longer cope on her own? Maybe it had been death in those eyes and the scent of decay? Whatever childhood trauma she had dredged up refused to go away. The door had cracked open and she had to deal with it.

She glanced up at Nicolas. He looked so calm, so in control, so at peace while she was churning with doubt. He had to deal with her past as well.

We will do so together
. Again he flooded her with warmth, making her feel a part of him and not so alone.

Yes, we will. And I'll be fine. Don't worry about me.

Nicolas bent to brush a kiss across the top of her head.
Reach for me if you need me, otherwise, I will keep us separate
.

She moistened her lips. Of course he would think to pull his mind from hers to prevent her from "seeing" or feeling what was happening as he took blood. She nodded to indicate she understood, managing a small, reassuring smile.

Natalya watched Nicolas leave the room with Vikirnoff. "Is he good to you?" she asked abruptly. "The De La Cruz family has a certain reputation and they live by their own rules."

The question startled Lara and she was uncertain how to answer. "We've only just met."

Natalya nodded. "And he bound you to him, but the ritual isn't complete. Do you know what happens to the man if the ritual is completed?"

Lara shook her head. "I know only what my aunts told me in stories. I was a child and my memories of most of those years are vague, so I'm guessing some of it could be inaccurate as well. I often don't know what is real, planted by them, or my imagination."

"It must be very confusing for you."

"Yes, but I'm learning a lot."

"I'm sorry I make you uncomfortable. I'm extremely happy to meet you, after all, you are my niece. Colby, who is a lifemate to Rafael, is your half-sister. Razvan was also her father."

Tension locked her muscles and stretched her nerves. Natalya had deliberately inserted the information into the conversation to see her reaction. Lara kept her face carefully blank. "I've been having a few flashbacks that may indicate that Xavier possessed Razvan's body in order to seduce women and get them pregnant, so he could feed on the blood of Dragonseekers."

Natalya winced. "He wanted to use me that way. Razvan convinced him that I didn't have strong enough Dragonseeker blood to be useful. He protected me my entire childhood and throughout the years after. I didn't realize what was happening to him until recently and then I thought he had somehow turned vampire or was in league with them." She leaned forward, her blue-green eyes locking with Lara's. "Do you know if that's true? Do you know if he's still alive?"

Lara bit down on her lower lip. What did she really know about Razvan? Her childhood memories had been faulty. She remembered little until the trauma of seeing the parasites. Was he evil? Had he turned evil? Was he even still alive? There were so many conflicting pieces of memories rising now that she didn't know the truth. "I can't help you, as much as I'd like to. I don't have any answers. I see things that indicate to me that Xavier not only possessed Razvan's body, but he injected him with something that took his will—not his mind completely because he tried to resist, but ultimately, it appeared as if Xavier was making him do terrible things and Razvan was unable to overcome the combination of drugs and spells that Xavier wove."

Vikirnoff and Nicolas came back into the room, catching the last part of the conversation. Nicolas didn't look quite as drawn. He sat on the arm of Lara's chair, his body positioned protectively toward her. "Possession and taking over minds, making people into puppets, was Xavier's forte. No one had his skill and he continued to perfect it over the years. It was one of the things the prince and he disagreed on. Some things shouldn't be done." Nicolas tangled his fingers in Lara's hair. "Xavier felt the Carpathian people used mind control to get their way and he had every right to do so as well. It was difficult to argue with his logic."

"Because there was truth in it," Lara said.

Nicolas nodded. "At the time, I felt we were using our mind control for good, and he wanted to use it to further his own ends, but lately I have learned that I certainly used it for my own selfish purposes. It is much easier and faster when I want cooperation so I just do so without thinking."

Vikirnoff made a sound of disgust. "To ease someone's fears is not the same thing as making them do things they would never ordinarily do," he objected.

"Such as give blood?" Lara asked.

Vikirnoff shifted forward aggressively. Natalya put a gentle hand on his arm. "You have scars on your wrists, Lara. I found a ceremonial knife that had been Xavier's and when I accessed the memories, there was one of a young girl Razvan was using to feed from. Xavier came in and tried to take her blood as well and she was able to escape the cave with the help of two dragons."

Nicolas's hand curled around the nape of Lara's neck. "That was Lara. Her aunts were caught in the form of dragons and were too weak to escape as well. We are going back to the cave to determine their fate as well as to try to figure out what happened to Razvan."

Vikirnoff sat up very straight. "That cave is one big trap, Nicolas. We barely escaped with our lives. Xavier left guardians and there were signs that the chambers are still in use at times. We have been watching it closely, but no one goes in there, it is far too risky."

Nicolas's long, strong fingers began a slow massage on her neck. "We are well aware of the risk, Vikirnoff, but we cannot live with ourselves if we do not find out the answers to our questions. The aunts risked everything to save Lara. And the evidence that Razvan has for centuries—not a few years, but centuries—endured torture. He is Dragonseeker, which means there is the possibility that he could survive."

"We saw him attack Natalya," Vikirnoff pointed out. "He was in her head, tracking her, trying to lure her to him, to use her against us."

"But was Razvan in his own mind? Or was it Xavier possessing or controlling Razvan? Lara and I need to find the answer to that question. And her aunts have been imprisoned long enough. Dead or alive, and we do not expect to find them alive, we want to bring them home."