Dark Destiny (43 page)

Water trickled from the far cavern wall, the sound loud in the ensuing silence. "He wanted me to join with them," Destiny admitted in a little rush. "He recognized the stench of evil in my blood, and he called to me and asked me to join their movement."

Savannah made a soft sound of distress. "How awful for you, and so frightening."

"It was difficult to face the truth of his words. My blood is like a beacon drawing the vampires. When I hunt them, they are always aware of me."

Gregori held up an imperious hand. His silver eyes moved from Destiny to Nicolae. "This woman hunts the undead?"

Destiny laid her hand on Nicolae's chest, suddenly furious that he would have to defend her actions. Tiny red flames leapt in her eyes. "I don't need Nicolae to answer for me. I'm perfectly capable of speaking for myself."

Savannah's soft mouth twitched, and she coughed delicately into her hand.

Gregori shifted, a rippling of muscle. His eyes shifted back to Destiny's furious face. He bowed his head slightly. "Forgive me. In our society, women are guarded carefully as the treasures they are. We need every one of them and do not care to risk their lives. I did not mean to offend." There was a clear reprimand in his semi-conciliatory words.

Destiny met Savannah's laughing eyes. "You poor woman. Is he always like that? Vikirnoff has the same attitude."

"You get used to him." Savannah ignored Gregori's warning touch. "He's all bark, no bite. I'm doing my best to convince him I would make a great hunter, but so far he's unconvinced. Do you really hunt vampires?" There was genuine interest and admiration in her voice.

Gregori's strange silver eyes glittered with menace. "Savannah." He sounded very severe. He stirred, a menace of movement.

Savannah leaned into him but didn't subside. "How did you ever get started?" she asked Destiny.

The taunting half-smile directed in Gregori's direction froze on Destiny's face. She reached almost blindly for Nicolae's hand. He was there instantly, his fingers threading through hers. "Destiny was taken by a vampire as a small child. He forced her to take his blood and converted her. Fortunately, she is psychic and the conversion did not destroy her. She had no choice but to learn to hunt. It was the only way to gain her freedom." Nicolae gave the information easily, casually, as if he weren't telling a story of terrible atrocity and torture.

Savannah turned to her lifemate. His hand moved lovingly over her small face. He bowed again toward Destiny in a gesture of respect. "Few people could survive such a thing. It is an honor for me to attempt a healing on such a strong, courageous person. Your survival is a true testament to the beauty of a woman's spirit."

Destiny had expected to be shunned. She had steeled herself for it. Being accepted was unsettling. She didn't know how to respond to warmth and acceptance. She gaped at the newcomers as if they had grown new heads.

Nicolae
. She sounded lost. A child seeking reassurance. The sands were shifting under her feet. Everything she had believed seemed untrue. Gregori was intimidating, but certainly less so than Nicolae could be. And Savannah was completely open and friendly.

"Thank you," she managed to stammer aloud.

"Tell me more about this vampire Pater and his coalition," Gregori suggested to Nicolae.

"I have noticed the vampires have been traveling together more, banding together in small groups. They have done so at times throughout the centuries, but never in such numbers. This is the first time I have encountered one who actually tried to recruit. He spoke of the power of numbers and how they could defeat hunters by aiding one another. He spoke to others like a commander in an army. He tried hard to get Destiny. And he is smart, this one. The poisons he used are more sophisticated than any I have seen before." Nicolae raked his fingers through his hair and met Gregori's glittering eyes. "I believe the threat to our people, and in particular to our Prince, is a serious one."

There was a small silence while Gregori pondered Nicolae's remarks. "Many of the ancients use lesser or fledgling vampires as sacrificial pawns. This is not the same thing. They are actually aiding each other and sharing blood?"

"I saw Pater offer his blood to a wounded vampire," Destiny said. "He was aggressively trying to recruit me to his side. The worst of it is, he actually made sense. They ambush their enemies and then get out fast to cut down on their losses."

Nicolae nodded. "They're using battle strategy instead of simply hitting fast and hard and emotionally. It was very unlike them." He glanced at his brother.

Vikirnoff shrugged carelessly. "Too organized. They have someone directing them; someone of power."

"A very powerful ancient. Intelligent, well versed in battle and in propaganda. He shows restraint, and the vampires he chooses to recruit and hold small bands together also show restraint," Nicolae added. "I would have to say he probably has tried this before, maybe many times over the centuries, and has learned patiently from his mistakes. He is after the death of every hunter. Then the world would be open to him."

"Patience is not something many vampires have," Gregori mused aloud. "This is unsettling news." He didn't think to question Nicolae's conclusion. Nicolae and Vikirnoff were both older and more seasoned in battle than even he.

"The poison they used was multigenerational," Nicolae said. "As the second generation mutated within the body, it was programmed to attack any healer. I have noticed for some time the use of poison as a method for capturing and defeating hunters. I know that those humans hunting all of us have used such methods, and it is my belief that this coalition of vampires uses those humans for experimenting with chemical ways to defeat us."

Gregori sighed. "Very sophisticated chemicals, it seems. I have seen vampires use the human society of hunters to further their own cause. It is not difficult for one to infiltrate their ranks."

"Pater mentioned spies, Carpathians perhaps, working with him," Destiny said. "At least he implied it."

"No Carpathian would do such a thing." Savannah sounded shocked at the idea. "They would have had to turn vampire."

"Well, you'd smell a vampire a mile away," Destiny said.

"Not necessarily," Gregori said. "Many are able to shadow themselves, projecting an image even to those of us who know them. Every Carpathian has power in varying degrees. What one does, perhaps another cannot. It is so with vampires."

"I can always smell a vampire," Destiny asserted. "And they can always scent me. Blood calls to blood." She ran her hand down Nicolae's arm. "I was so upset when Nicolae took my blood and infected himself. As a hunter, he will no longer be able to surprise them. They will know he is coming for them."

Gregori's silver eyes turned thoughtful. "You are saying that no matter what the circumstances, no matter how powerful the vampire, you
always
know when one is close by? You do not need the sudden surge of power or the blank void they often leave behind in their wake to detect their presence?"

Destiny thought back over her vampire hunting. "I use the surge of power and also the blank spots as a guide. I use everything I can to find them, and once in a while I find a vampire that is elusive to me, but most of the time I know them simply by the stench of their blood."

"The elusive vampire is more powerful than the others?"

Destiny shook her head. "Not necessarily. Sometimes he is a fledgling and other times a master. It is rare for my blood not to recognize theirs."

Above her head, Nicolae and Gregori exchanged a long, thoughtful look.

"No." Vikirnoff said the word softly, explosively. "What you are thinking is an abomination of all we believe in. Our women must be protected at all times. Both of you have lifemates. You have seen what the tainted blood does. Destiny has been in agony, suffering tremendous pain, both physical and psychological. All of our women are needed for a higher purpose than war. They must bring children into the world."

Savannah caught Gregori's arm. "You wouldn't dare. Not even for the life of my father would I allow such a thing."

"Certainly not a woman, and, no, Nicolae, I know what you are thinking, but Vikirnoff is right, we cannot risk a mated pair. Mikhail must hear of this firsthand. I must return to our homeland as soon as your healing is complete."

"There is more." Nicolae produced the photograph of the mysterious woman. "A vampire entered the office of a human friend of ours, Mary Ann Delaney, who helps battered women. He was searching for this woman in the photograph. He buried a compulsion in Mary Ann's mind to call him if she spotted the woman. There are a couple of interesting facts. Mary Ann herself is psychic. She is able to be converted should she have a lifemate among us, yet this vampire didn't attempt to seize her for himself. I have always assumed vampires searched for women with psychic abilities in the hope of finding a mate to return their soul to them. It is evidently not the case in this instance. They must be looking for something we have yet to figure out, or why would they ignore the psychic women in this area? With the exception of this one woman."

Gregori continued to study Nicolae's dark features before he took the photograph. His restless gaze noted the way Vikirnoff seemed riveted to the picture. "I have not seen this woman, have you, Savannah?"

She studied the face carefully. "No, but her eyes are so haunted. We must find her, Gregori. She can't be left to the vampires."

"Vikirnoff has agreed to look for her," Nicolae assured them. "This is the business card and number the vampire gave to Mary Ann." He passed the small card to Gregori. "She has no memory of his appearance, so I do not know if he is familiar to me or not."

"It wasn't Pater," Destiny said. "The stench was there, but not his."

"Morrison Center for Psychic Research," Gregori read aloud.

"Yet he had no interest in Mary Ann's ability. And there is another in the neighborhood, an older woman who also exhibits talent. I could not detect any interest in her by any of the vampires."

"I have heard the name Morrison on more than one occasion," Gregori said heavily. "The first time was in northern California. Coincidentally, it was also a time I was injected with a poison developed to defeat us. At that time I learned this Morrison mingled with human society, was adept at raising funds and mixed in the scientific world. I nearly met him again in New Orleans."

Savannah twisted around to look up at her life-mate. "You didn't tell me that."

"It was unnecessary. The name was attached to the laboratory where the human hunters were attempting to interrogate an innocent human woman. It is where I met Gary, Savannah. This name came up again just recently. Dayan's lifemate was married to a young man of talent who went to this agency, Morrison Center for Psychic Research, to be tested. He was murdered, and an attempt was made to acquire Dayan's lifemate, who was quite ill. We have just come from her bedside where she gave birth to a female child of extraordinary talent."

"Perhaps we should send word to guard the child," Savannah said, frowning. "If Destiny was taken, it is possible this vampire thinks to strike at children."

"Guarding the child would be a good idea, although I think this Morrison is looking for a particular talent. This is no child," Nicolae said, waving the photograph in the air. "She is a woman who is strong and knows she is being pursued."

Vikirnoff reached out and rescued the photograph from his brother, slipping it inside his shirt almost protectively.

Nicolae ignored the gesture. "There are three women with psychic talent in this area. There is also a priest who has knowledge of our people."

Gregori's breath hissed between his teeth. "Tell me of this man."

"Some years ago, a priest in Romania—"

"Father Hummer." Gregori snapped the name, his strong white teeth coming together in a bite. "Mikhail's friend. He was captured by vampire hunters and later killed by a vampire. Mikhail was the target."

"He evidently corresponded with a cardinal, asking theological questions, seeking aid in his search. The cardinal burned his letters with the exception of one. Father Mulligan found the letter upon the cardinal's death. He has since burned it, recognizing the danger to our species, but he retains the knowledge."

Gregori rubbed his dark eyebrows. "I fear trouble is brewing for our people. We must get to our homeland." He looked directly at Vikirnoff as if measuring him. "If this woman is important enough for a vampire to risk revealing himself, it is just as important to our people to find her. I will put out the word, but I will tell our Prince it is in your hands."

Vikirnoff bowed slightly. "I will find her. I give you my word of honor I will not choose the dawn until I see to her safety."

"It could take years."

"I have Nicolae and Destiny to guide me through dark times. They share their laughter with me, and their hope. I will survive."

Gregori inclined his head. "So it will be. We must think about this tainted blood of yours, Destiny. You said you would have recognized the stench of Pater's blood. You are able to detect a difference in each vampire's blood?"

Destiny nodded. "Yes. If I've met them before, I always recognize them and I know they recognize me. That makes it more difficult if I miss the first time when I'm hunting. But it gives me some advantage if they don't know I'm a hunter, because they identify me as one of the undead."

"This would be a great tool," Gregori mused aloud, "but dangerous for anyone without an anchor. And far too dangerous for anyone with a lifemate."

"You don't even know if you can rid our blood of the infections," Nicolae pointed out. "Perhaps you will know more once you have looked. It is much like an acid and contaminates everything it touches. In one wholly evil, it apparently has no harmful effects, but to one of the light, it is painful and dangerous."

Destiny looked at him quickly, anxiously. "You're beginning to feel the effects, aren't you? Please heal him first if you can, Gregori. I'm used to the feeling, and it doesn't really bother me. Nicolae should never have done such a thing."