Dark Curse (50 page)

That which does slither, bites and strikes, feel the wrath of fire-cold ice. I call thee fire, cold of flame, fit to my hand, strike this bane
. As Natalya gathered the energy force, converting it into cold fusion fire, she directed it straight at the icy serpents.

The snakes shattered into a million pieces, the ice crystals melting. They were absorbed by the floor. Natalya looked grimly satisfied. "We've got to get out of here fast. I hear the water beating at the dam Nicolas built and if we're caught…"

"Nicolas will find us the way out." Lara said it with absolute conviction because she believed in him. She lifted her head to try to look to see what was happening in the chamber leading to the escape corridor.

Nicolas stepped into the cavern, alert for whatever trouble Xavier had left as his last line of defense against losing his daughters. He had held Branislava and Tatijana prisoner for centuries, and he wouldn't let them go so easily. He could see shadowy figures moving in the darkness of the chamber, and there were more than he wanted to think about. Not shadow warriors. As much as they seemed insubstantial, they didn't appear to move with the same swirl of smoke and grace. No, these were different.

He felt the rush battle brought, the one feeling he was familiar with and embraced. He knew what heightened senses brought, and the power flowing through his body.
Come to me
, he sent into the darkened chamber.
Come to me and die
.

As he moved into the center of the chamber, the first attack came as a shadowy figure charged him. Nicolas leapt smoothly into the air, slashing as he did so, razor-sharp talons slicing across the throat of the aggressor. His claw went through the air, touching nothing solid at all. He landed in a crouch, recognizing his opponents. Not shadow warriors, men of honor whose souls were ripped from their resting place, but death slaves, mercenaries who willingly pledged their service after death in order to rape and pillage with the aid of the dark arts to protect them in life. They were already dead and they were nearly as bad as vampires.

Three rushed him and he whirled around and through them, drawing energy from all around him until he could fashion a sword of blazing light—light he knew they avoided. If the light remained too long, they would grow accustomed to it, even with their sensitive eyes, so he flashed it on and off. Colors pulsed through the light, giving off a strobe effect, but each time the light came near, the death slaves retreated.

Take them through now, Vikirnoff. Death slaves guard the way. Hurry.

Vikirnoff didn't wait. He sent Natalya ahead of him with Lara, and caught up with the other two women, trusting Natalya to get Lara through.
Faster
, he ordered.

Natalya muttered something that sounded like "chauvinist pig" in his mind, but it sounded more of a caress than an insult.

The death slaves let out an eerie cry and, sensing the women, charged in spite of the light. Nicolas closed in on them, clearing a path, sweeping his light sword through the ranks, driving them back. Two managed to slash at him, in spite of his speed, their numbers overwhelming. One opened a cut on his arm, another on his side. He sealed off both wounds, weaving in and out of their ranks, his light sword hacking through them.

Like shadow warriors, the death slaves were already dead and therefore insubstantial, but light was a bitter enemy and enough of it could destroy them if he managed to strike them in the heart. In the dark, surrounded by enemies, it was nearly impossible to choose his target accurately at the blurring speed he needed to survive.

Natalya and Lara stopped to look back in spite of Vikirnoff's gruff command to keep moving. They could see Nicolas moving in and out of the death slaves with fluid grace and astonishing speed. He seemed a machine, flowing rather than stepping, never flinching even when the tip of a dagger or sword tore open his flesh.

Lara hesitated, but Natalya grabbed her arm.

"Look at him," she whispered. "He was born for this."

Carpathian males burst through the tube, catching at the women and passing them to the front out of harm's way, paying no attention to their resistance. Vikirnoff relaxed visibly, but he didn't relinquish his charges.

What do you need, Nicolas
? Lucian asked.

Gregori, leading a large group, charged into the foray to take the pressure off of Nicolas.

The sun
, Nicolas answered, taking his time, now that he had reinforcements, to plunge the sword of light into the nearest heart. The death slave exploded, burst into molecules and rained down onto the ice floor.

Again that eerie cry went up as one of their own was sent for good to the land of shadows.

I'll see what I can do
, Lucian said.

Natalya peeked through the solid wall of tall, grim-faced Carpathians. Lara did the same. For the first time, Natalya saw the difference in the coordinated movements of the warriors. Without women to protect, they moved with double the speed, graceful and precise, utterly without fear, their attacks well orchestrated.

The first wave of Carpathian males charged the center of the mass of death slaves, Nicolas leaping over the first line of the enemy, forcing them to either come after him and turn their backs on the other Carpathians or fight the men coming at them. The death slaves had no choice but to defend themselves against the newcomers, giving Nicolas more time to fight the three facing him.

It was obvious the battle was well-coordinated on the part of the Carpathians. They each knew how the other worked, never once having to look to see if their backs were guarded. They flowed together, almost like a ballet, cutting through the ranks of Xavier's guardians.

The ice cave expanded and contracted as more death slaves poured into the battle from all directions. They must have been guarding other entrances and, with the disturbance, came running. They swarmed into the chamber, slicing at Carpathians with lethal swords, attacking with a fury born of desperation. Xavier punished any who failed him and even the dead were careful not to cross him.

Lucian waited until the fighting was at its most ferocious, when the chamber was arcing with energy. He began to gather the energy into a ball, pulling power from every conceivable resource. The ball spun brighter and hotter, so much so that he was forced to cloak it, to keep from blinding himself. Still, he drew power to him, collecting every bit he could summon to him without draining his companions. When the ball pulsed with power, threatening to detonate, he called out to Nicolas.

Your sun is ready.

Mist.
Nicolas gave the command on the common path and shifted.

The other Carpathians shifted at exactly the same moment.

Lucian released the whirling mass of energy, a bright white light spinning out of control through the chamber. The ice cave lit up like daylight, only brighter, as if a bomb had gone off, the flash as bright as the sun.

The death slaves screamed a collective cry of denial, the note shattering the ice chamber, causing cracks all along the walls and ceiling. Their bodies glowed bright, burst outward into molecules and scattered across the floor.

Out
! Nicolas was already streaking for the tube.

Vikirnoff and the others burst into the open. Branislava and Tatijana cried out, covering their eyes. Neither had ever been out of the ice caves before and the wide-open space was terrifying. The male Carpathians gathered around them, shielding them from the early-morning dawn and providing a tighter group so they felt safe.

Lara didn't look back as they set out for the home of the prince. She never wanted to see the ice caves again. She held tight to Nicolas's and Tatijana's hands as he whisked them through the skies to the deep forest.

* * *

Francesca had already been alerted and she was waiting along with Mikhail to greet Rhiannon's daughters. The two women were thin and weak, their bodies' wracked with pain, muscles cramping continuously. Lara sat between them, holding their hands while the two healers worked on them. Mikhail gave them his blood and Gregori followed suit, while outside, the unmated Carpathian males formed a ring of protection.

"How is it you are fully Carpathian?" Lara asked, feeling guilty that she was asking questions when both were so weak and needed to go to ground to rejuvenate.

"Our mother," Tatijana explained. "It was the only way she could think to help us fight him. And we did the same for Razvan, your father, after Xavier killed our brother."

Nicolas knelt beside them. "I am Nicolas, lifemate to Lara. Lara and I would be honored to take you home and watch over you until you are at full strength, but we will take you wherever you are most comfortable."

"Of course with Lara," Branislava said. Weakly, she touched Lara's arm, love filling her gaze. "We never thought you would return for us."

"Thank you, Lara," Tatijana added. "We had lost all hope."

"Do you have news of my brother?" Natalya said. "We thought he had turned."

"Xavier torments him with that idea that you believe he betrayed you, that all Carpathians abhor him and that his own daughter believes him a monster."

"I did," Lara admitted. She rubbed her wrist where it burned and ached.

At once Nicolas took her hand and turned her wrist up to feather kisses over it.
You had reason. Do not feel guilty when you have just saved your aunts. No one else would have freed them. Without you, they would have remained prisoners for all time and everyone would still believe Razvan followed in Xavier's footsteps
.

"We were not allowed out of our prison for several years now," Tatijana explained. "We were frozen, asleep most of the time since you were gone, only awakened when he wanted to drain our blood. I am sorry, but we only know of the past."

Branislava blinked rapidly. "I want to visit with you, both of you, all of you, and thank you for our rescue, but I am much too weak and disoriented. Nicolas, would you take us home?"

"It is best," Gregori said. "They need the soil. They have been denied it their entire lives. On the rising we can give them more blood and slowly, over time, they will be strong again."

"The soil could be contaminated," Lara objected.

"Most likely," Gregori agreed, "but it is all we have for now. We can only do one thing at a time. If your aunts are comfortable with you, that is where they must go to heal. We will deal with all else another time."

Lara nodded, although she abhorred the idea of her aunts becoming infected.

"Most likely it is the man infected first," Gregori added, to try to reassure her.

Excitement was tangible throughout the Carpathian community as word spread that two Dragonseeker women had been recovered. Nicolas, Vikirnoff beside him, went out to address the unmated males guarding the home of the prince. As Dominic was suspect with the parasites in his blood, Nicolas and Vikirnoff—as the two related males—were now the official guardians of the two Dragonseeker women.

Light was pouring into the sky and Nicolas winced automatically. He loved the night. Even in the early morning light, he felt his skin burn, although he had to acknowledge it was more psychological than anything else. He knew some Carpathians enjoyed walking around the village in the early morning hours—he wasn't one of them.

He thanked the men who had come to his aid, told them all what they'd found and confirmed that yes, Branislava and Tatijana were Rhiannon's daughters. He confirmed they were ill and would be resting for some time before being introduced into Carpathian society, trying to be tactful when he was telling them they couldn't be introduced immediately. What he really wanted to say was to leave the women the hell alone, that they'd been through enough already and didn't need the men circling around like a pack of wolves. As he spoke, he could feel Lara's amusement. He couldn't see her, she was inside Mikhail's house with her aunts, but she was laughing at him.

What is so funny?

You prefer to tell everyone what to do.

His stomach tightened in reaction to her teasing tone. He had forgotten fun in the midst of duty.
I want to go home
. He wanted to hold her close to him.
And I only want to tell you what to do
.

She laughed at that.
You would dictate to the world if you could get away with it
.

Maybe that's the truth, but only because I am always right.

He left it to Mikhail to tell the others they needed to let Branislava and Tatijana alone until they were fully healed, but he made it clear the two women were under his protection.

Lara gave him the mental equivalent of rolling her eyes and he gave a shrug back.
It is always better to be safe, especially when one guards our treasures
.

They took Branislava and Tatijana to their home. Lara fussed over them, insisting on checking the soil for the richest and most fertile they could find within the cave. Used to the cold of the ice, the warmth of the cave was nearly as disconcerting as the open spaces.