Dark Promises (Dark #29) (40 page)

He was a hunter of the vampire. Skilled. Merciless. Capable of ripping out a heart and throwing it onto the ground. Capable of withstanding horrendous wounds without flinching to get the job done. Capable of calling down the lightning and incinerating the blackened, wizened heart and bathing his arms and torso in the white-hot energy in order to get rid of the acid-like blood from the undead before he directed the whip of lightning to the vampire's body.

“Eww,” Trixie whispered. “So that's how it's done. I don't suppose they can put lightning in a bottle and sell that in their vampire-hunting kits on the Internet.”

“I don't think so, Grandma,” Teagan said, her voice even softer than her grandmother's. “I saw Andre do that several times and it never feels real.”

Gary turned toward them, and Gabrielle's heart thudded wildly.
Aleksei?

“I'm here,
kislány
,” he said, and he was, striding toward her, right past Gary to wrap his arm around her, to inspect the side of her neck.

I have to go to him.

I know. Give me a minute to make certain this wound is thoroughly cleaned and as healed as possible until we get to ground.

I know. Two little words, but they said everything to her. Meant everything.

She felt him inside of her, so bright. No ego. All Aleksei. At once the throbbing in her neck stopped.

“Teagan,” Aleksei said softly. “Thank you. You did a great job.”

Teagan sent him a smile. “Andre's been working with me.”

Andre and Fane stood in front of Gary. Gabrielle could see them greet him in the way Carpathian warriors did one another. Forearms to forearms. Making themselves vulnerable to attack.

Gary had definitely saved Trixie's life. Without him, the three hunters might not have made it back in time to save any of their lifemates, let alone Trixie. His eyes moved from the two warriors thanking him to Gabrielle. She felt his penetrating gaze all the way down to her toes. It was a little disconcerting to be looking into Gary's eyes and see that he wasn't Gary. She saw that so clearly.

His eyes were even different. He'd always worn glasses. Now, his eyes were a deep blue, moving on to a dark inky black and then, when he blinked, a blue green, like the color of the sea. Her heart pounded as Aleksei wrapped his arm around her waist and urged her toward the man.

I don't think I can do this, Aleksei. Maybe if I had . . .

What? Recognized he wasn't her lifemate? Would that have changed anything at all for him? He had not made the decision to become Carpathian. Gregori had made the decision for him, based on his dire condition. She'd been there. She couldn't have stopped Gregori. No one, not even the prince, could have. Gregori had few people he loved in his life. Gary was one of them.

You need to go to him, Gabrielle. I will be with you. Close. Inside you. In your mind. But you need this and you know it.
Aleksei stopped walking and allowed her to take the last few steps on her own.
Kislány, you are not to touch him. Not for any reason. I will not be able to tolerate that, so for all of our sakes, keep your hands to yourself. He will not touch you. He is an ancient now, far gone from any of us—even Gregori.

She hated that. She hated that Gary had given so much of himself to the Carpathians and now he had lost all of himself. She lifted her chin and stepped close to him. She scented something wild—feral. A trapped animal not familiar with civilization. Gary. Her Gary. So far gone. So out of reach.

Andre and Fane had gone to their women, allowing her a little privacy with Gary. His eyes moved over her face. Impassive. Cool. Remote. She reached out for Aleksei in her mind, needing his strength to get through this.

“You were amazing. Thank you for coming to our aid.”

“I had to know you were all right, Gabrielle.”

She shivered at the coldness in his eyes. Her Gary was gone for all time. In his eyes burned the hell of centuries of darkness—of battles. He had become a vessel for the ancients, and there was no turning that around and bringing the man she knew back.

She stepped close to him, trying to find the man she loved. Would always love. He was in there somewhere. The gentle soul whose brain had no match. “Gary.” She said his name softly, trying to call him back to her. Away from the terrible, unrelenting darkness she'd seen in the ancients there in the monastery.

“Are you happy? Is he a good lifemate to you?”

She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Even his voice was different. She had to work to fight back the tears. She nodded. “He's very good to me, Gary. She's out there. For you. Your lifemate.”

His eyes changed color again, bleak and cold and gone from her. The ancients with their despair of finding a lifemate were already working at him. She knew dawn was close and all of them would have to go to ground. Light was streaking through the gray, heralding the sun. Still . . .

“Teagan helped the ancients, Gary. It is possible she could aid you to hold on. Let us try for you. Trixie can match your song . . .”

“It is not mine alone.”

Gabrielle glanced back at Trixie. The other two women were already pressing close.

“It is all yours,” Trixie replied softly. “I see the notes, and they were originally others', but they've blended with your original song and made another completely different one, unique only to you. Let us try. You saved my life. You saved my granddaughter. Please. Allow us to do this for you.”

Gabrielle could see Gary didn't hold out any hope. She had to fight to keep her hands to herself when she wanted to take his arm and tug until he went with them to the map of the world still drawn on the ground.

“It might be worse to know she isn't there,” Gary ventured.

“Nothing can be worse than where you are,” Aleksei said. “I know. No hope. Only unrelenting darkness. Not even the whisper of temptation. So far gone you know you cannot be around anyone without risking your honor. Give this to them. If not for you, then for them. For Gabrielle.”

Gabrielle loved him for that alone and she had to tell him. Say it. Make it understood that even though Gary stood right before her and she ached for him, wept for him, it was Aleksei.
It's you I love.

I know, kislány, I feel it. I am in your mind, holding you tight to me. He is close to agreeing. We do not have much time before the dawn is upon us. As old as we are, it is nearly impossible to stand even the early morning sun. Persuade him.
There was a pause.
Without touching him.

She hadn't even realized she was reaching out toward Gary as if she could hold back the darkness in him. She jerked her hand back and pressed her palm tight against her thigh. “Please,” she said softly. “Just do this. If it doesn't work, well, at least you tried. Even if we can't find a direction for a lifemate, Teagan can ease the darkness just a little.”

“For you, Gabrielle.”

At least the memory of her was still there in his mind. Aiding him in some way. He might not be able to feel the love he had for her, but he remembered it. He had remembered enough to care if she was all right and to do this for her.

Teagan beckoned him toward the map, obviously hoping with him so close to it, they could manage the process faster. Trixie was already tuned to his song and she pushed the notes toward Gabrielle. Gary's song was dark and foreboding—every bit as dangerous as that of any of the ancients who had been locked away in the monastery. That hurt.

Gabrielle held herself together by leaning on Aleksei's strength. He was there, in her mind, holding her tight. She knew he wanted to be close to her and that it took tremendous discipline for him to hold himself physically away from her. She loved him all the more that he did—that he gave her this time with Gary. That he gave Gary what he needed as well.

Teagan's hands moved through her stones, seeking the one that would fit Gary. Gabrielle held her breath, praying silently that something would be right. She hadn't considered that Teagan might not have what he needed. She'd been in the mountains, collecting various stones that spoke to her, but what if . . .

Teagan frowned and pulled out several stones, cupping them in both hands. “I've never had the pull of more than one,” she admitted, “but he needs all of these.”

That didn't sound good. Gabrielle bit her lip. Hard. A single ruby drop beaded. Instantly Gary's gaze fastened on her mouth. Aleksei rumbled low in his chest. A warning. He moved, inserting his body between Gary and Gabrielle, his head bending, his tongue removing the single drop of blood as he glided past her.

Do not tempt him again. He is near the end. The ancients who poured themselves into him had no lifemates. They each endured centuries of darkness without any reward at the end. They sought the sun to keep their honor. He is all of them combined. If Teagan does not work her magic, he will have to do the same soon. No warrior, no matter how strong, can take many ancients' demons and stay honorable for long.

She felt his touch all the way to her toes. She felt his revelation all the way to her soul. She shivered and inhaled his scent for strength, because now she knew there was no hope without this. Aleksei didn't tell her lies.

Teagan began her soft chant and at once, the color green enveloped her and began to spread from her toward Gary. A healing, soothing green, right in the center of the color wheel. Slowly, the other colors began to appear, all of them searching for a way into the merciless darkness surrounding Gary. Gabrielle held her breath, terrified the colors wouldn't penetrate at all. At first it seemed as if the dense cloud was impenetrable, but the green found a thread, a single opening, and wove a thin line, the width of a spiderweb, through the black.

Gabrielle almost bit her lip again, but she felt Aleksei brush his finger over her lips, stopping her. She realized he was very aware of her bad habit and was concentrating on her more than on Teagan and whether she was successful or not.

The colors moved around the thick, solid mass. It seemed hopeless. Other
than the single thread of green, nothing else could get through. Then Gabrielle felt the subtle boost of power. First Andre joined with Teagan. Then Fane joined with Teagan. Last was Aleksei. The three ancients poured their combined strength into Andre's lifemate.

The burst of power sent a few of the colors pushing hard at the edges of the darkened aura. One, a deep purple, slid in beside the green, winding around it, so that the two colors were woven together. Red slipped in using the same entrance but branching out, every bit as thin a thread as the green had been. Indigo found the red and followed the strand, braiding with it so that it looked as if a spider had begun a web. That thin. But it was there. Yellow and blue followed, spinning together, using the same entrance and moving inside away from the other two strands.

Teagan swayed and slumped over the stones. She tried twice to speak, but Andre gathered her into his arms and turned her away from the others. Gabrielle knew instantly he fed her. She could scent the blood in the air. Gary's gaze followed them and he inhaled sharply. Instantly she was aware that his wounds hadn't been healed. He hadn't asked them to be. Nor had anyone offered him blood to replace what was lost. She opened her mouth.

Do not!

That was definitely an order. Gabrielle snapped her mouth closed, pressing her lips tightly together.

I will give him blood and heal him once you women are finished. Teagan has helped as much as she could. It is something and will give him relief. How long or how much, I do not know, but you will not allow him to touch you. Not to heal him. Not to feed. Do you understand me?

She knew he expected an answer. Her gaze shifted to him. He looked as if his ferocious temper might erupt at any moment. She even felt it, that fury, right in her mind, beating at her.

I understand.
She didn't really. Gary would never harm her.

He is not the Gary you knew.

Trixie had his song, those notes, not silver, not gold. Fierce. Wild. Fearless. Powerful. It was impossible not to feel his song, not to be shaken by it. Trixie surrounded Gabrielle with the notes until she had absorbed them and her palms were filled with him. Her skin tingled. Hurt. Burned. Even her bracelet burned with fire. She gasped and nearly stopped, but she wouldn't
let him down. None of the other ancients' songs had given her pain. She knew it was the pain of the ancients that had been poured into Gary.

She breathed through it and moved her hands over the map, trying to let go of herself, of her need to do this, to help him. She couldn't be there, only the strange talent she had.
Please. Please. Please.
She forced herself to quit chanting the prayer in her mind. This had to be right. Real. And if it didn't work, if she didn't find anything, she had to accept that. It would be a terrible blow, but she would have no choice.

She listened for Aleksei's breathing. Strong. Steady. Her rock. He was there with her, his lungs moving, his heart beating. Her left palm jerked toward her left. Subtle, so subtle she was afraid she'd done it. But no, there it was again. Very subtle. She opened her eyes and looked down, carefully drawing a circle with her right hand, the strongest point in the middle of that circle. France. Somewhere in France, Gary had a lifemate. He just had to hang on until he could find her.

She smiled triumphantly. She'd given him something. Hope. A chance. It was done. The best she could do for him.

“I will send the addresses to you of any psychic women Josef finds in the database, Gary,” Andre said, “but remember, she may not be in there, so you have to hunt within that circle, and it covers a lot of territory.”

Aleksei stepped close to Gary and extended his wrist. Fane glided in between the two men, extending his own wrist. “Let me. For Trixie. For what you did for my lifemate, I offer freely. Take what you need.”