Dark Wolf (24 page)

Gabriel moved up to Francesca’s side. Lucian, his twin, slipped through the ranks of the De La Cruz brothers to join his brother in protecting Francesca.

“You will stand down, Lowell,” Rolf ordered. “All of you. We are not going to escalate this without knowing all the facts.” He returned his attention to Francesca. “I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what you must be feeling, but I promise you, I will get answers.”

Francesca looked into his eyes for what seemed an eternity before she nodded her head and turned to bury her grief-stricken face against Gabriel’s shoulder. As Gabriel turned away from the Lycans, his arm around his lifemate, Lowell lifted his sword, executing a fast, fluid sweep at the two Carpathians.

Lucian was faster. The legendary Carpathian met sword with sword, parrying away the blow so that Gabriel and Francesca were unharmed. The sound of metal clashing ignited the room.

Josef sank back on his heels, trying not to sob. He had no idea how Dimitri thought to save Skyler, but there was no real life in her body. She lay as if dead, her eyes open and staring, yet they were not her eyes. Not her spirit. Paul had packed each bullet entry with rich soil in an effort to stop the bleeding. The bullets were silver, designed to kill a rogue wolf or the
Sange rau
. Josef had a mad desire to cut the silver out of Skyler’s body. Even that seemed an abomination to him.

He looked at Paul’s grief-stricken face and then down at his body. “You’ve been shot,” he announced, as if it was news. He realized he was in shock. Of course he knew Paul had been shot.
He
had been shot. Dimitri and Skyler had been shot. The Lycans were out for business. He looked around him, feeling dazed and a little dizzy. “They’ve surrounded us.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Paul said. “I think they intend to bring in a nuke.” He took Skyler’s limp hand in his and stretched out beside her. “Go to ground, Josef. You can heal yourself in the ground. Skyler would want that.”

“I’m not going to ground until I fix your wounds as best I can and see if Skyler comes back.”

Josef choked several times, clearing his throat repeatedly, determined not to break down and cry. He wanted Paul to believe there was still a chance to save Skyler. He didn’t believe for a moment that Skyler could come back from the dead and judging by Dimitri’s crazy choices, he feared the Carpathian would turn from Guardian to
Sange rau
and everyone would be in trouble. The thought terrified him. He could never defeat Dimitri in battle, not even a weak, starved, tortured Dimitri, but he couldn’t leave Paul to face him alone—or face Skyler’s death alone.

Skyler’s body jerked so unexpectedly both men nearly jumped out of their skin. Josef caught her hand. It was ice-cold—cold enough to make him shiver. Wherever she was, she didn’t inhabit the body lying between them.

See to Paul’s wounds.

Dimitri’s voice in his head made him jump nearly as much as Skyler’s awkward jerk. He sounded far away and strained as if whatever he was doing was costing him dearly.

What are you doing?
Josef demanded.
Dimitri, possessing Skyler’s body won’t bring her back.

I have found her spirit. It is still warm. If her human body undergoes the conversion, I have a chance to thrust her spirit back into her body. She has consented, given me her complete trust.

Josef’s breath caught in his lungs. Dimitri was going to undergo the conversion with Skyler’s body. He was wounded. Silver burned through his body. Already weakened and starved, the chances of him dying with Skyler were enormous.

You can’t be in two places at one time, holding Skyler to this world and undergoing the conversion,
Josef warned. He took a deep breath, terrified, but willing.
Is there a way I can take your place in either Skyler’s body—
the thought of which totally creeped him out—
or holding her spirit to this world?

Skyler’s body jerked again. Her eyes went wild, glacier-blue, but swirling with other colors beneath the blue—a beautiful dove gray Josef recognized. Skyler’s eyes, when she was completely calm and relaxed often went that amazing shade of gray. When she was happy, her startling blue shone through. Now, there seemed to be a mixture and for the first time, Josef felt hope that she hadn’t completely departed from their world.

“Fight, Skyler,” he whispered. “I don’t have anyone but you and Paul. Fight to come back. You’re strong.”

Thank you, Josef, for your offer,
Dimitri said. This time his voice was edged with pain.
You have always been the brother she has loved. You and Paul. She’s glad you’re here with her, both of you. You give her added courage to see this thing through. You cannot take my place. She is too far gone from us, and I’m holding her by our connection more than anything else. You cannot undergo the conversion with her.

Dimitri’s voice strained now. Turned hoarse and raspy. Josef could see ripples beneath Skyler’s skin as if her body had come to life, yet only her eyes showed real signs of life. Her body was icy cold, her skin tone nearly gray.

I count on you to see to Paul and then open the ground for us. Find some way to keep Paul as safe and comfortable as possible. Fen and the others are drawing closer, but they, too, will need to go to ground. I’ve told him of this . . .
Dimitri broke off abruptly.

Josef felt a flash of blinding pain. Skyler’s body convulsed.

Paul gasped and rolled to face her, pulling her hand to his chest. “What should we do? We have to do something.”

Josef shook his head. “There isn’t anything we can do. She’s undergoing the conversion, her organs reshaping. Her human body must die in a sense, in order for the conversion to work. All toxins will be removed from her body and she’ll be remade as Carpathian. The process is extremely difficult.”

He made his way around Skyler to kneel beside Paul. “The wound in your leg seems to be the worst. You’re bleeding pretty badly.”

“
Don’t
put dirt in the wound,” Paul said. “I’m not Carpathian or about to be, and I’d end up with gangrene or something equally as awful.” His gaze kept straying to Skyler’s body even though he tried his best not to look at what was happening to her.

Josef wanted to distract him, knowing the worst was to come. He didn’t want to tell Paul it was Dimitri possessing Skyler’s body with her, because even for their world, that was bizarre—and wrong.

“A little dirt never hurt anyone. Hold still for a moment. You can’t move or distract me, even if Skyler starts convulsing. Be prepared for anything, Paul. I’m counting on you not to move while I’m trying to heal you from the inside out.”

He shed his own body and entered Paul’s. He had deliberately given Paul the task of concentrating on him, rather than what was happening to Skyler. Skyler was completely in Dimitri’s hands. Josef had never heard of anyone attempting what Dimitri was trying to do. As much as he wanted it to work, he feared Skyler could not be recovered and Dimitri would be pushed over the edge into madness. He was very pleased that Fen was drawing closer, and he sent up a silent prayer that Dimitri’s older brother—a Guardian himself—would get there in time to destroy Dimitri if he became the
Sange rau
.

Dimitri was well aware of Josef’s thoughts. He feared those very same things. He was weak, and right now, his only focus could be on saving Skyler. Once he had taken possession of her body, he was certain a spark of light, very faint, but there nonetheless, had appeared in that warm mass he held to him in that other world.

He felt her, their connection transcending space and time now. In that other world one could easily get lost. During the worst of the conversion, Skyler might want to be lost. He feared she might try to pull away from him once the pain took hold. He did his best to warn her.

Feel me, sívamet. Feel me holding you close to me. This will be pain unlike any you can imagine. The fire will burn through your body, cleansing it, preparing it for the full conversion. I will be with you every step of the way.

He felt the smallest of answers. Warmth in his mind. His heart jerked in his chest. Stuttered with joy. She was there, clinging to life, relying on him, trusting him.

The Lycans put me through the very fires of hell, but I am thankful now. I can guide us through this. You felt the burn of silver twisting through my body. You were able to withstand that torment. We can do this together.

He had no idea just how bad a conversion actually was, but even in his weakened state, he knew with absolute certainty that he could face anything, take the brunt of it and remain honorable—for her.

Stay with me. Stay, Skyler. I know you’re weary and in pain, but I’m asking you to stay for me.
She had said similar words to him when he had been mortally wounded, eviscerated by the rogue wolves he had fought. She had come to him, across an impossible distance and she had helped to heal him.
Stay, csitri, I cannot bear to be without you. We’re so close to our life together.

Again there was that small spread of warmth. This time he was certain of that small light in the midst of the warmth. Skyler had an indomitable spirit. She would not desert him. She had fought for him, dared to cross into Lycan lands to rescue him. She would not leave him now. He had to believe that.

Pain welled up, a wave sharp and terrible, burning through his/her insides, raking and clawing at their stomach. He turned Skyler’s head just in time as her human stomach rebelled, emptying the contents over and over, a wretched action he couldn’t stop. Something more powerful than him consumed them. Wave after wave crashed through them, lasting long minutes that could have been hours. He lost track of time.

Abruptly, the pain faded, and they panted together, desperate to draw air into their lungs. He felt dizzy and weak. He couldn’t leave Skyler’s spirit alone in the other world. She would never make it back to him. Possessing her body took a tremendous amount of energy. He was still bleeding from multiple wounds and silver burned through his own body, yet he didn’t dare take the time to try to push it out. Already another wave of fire rose in Skyler’s body, lifting her up and slamming her back to earth.

The strength and intensity of the convulsion knocked the very breath from his body. His/her eyes widened in shock. He had suffered endless days and nights when the silver burned and twisted relentlessly through him, but this pain was different, a long wave that roared through them, building so fast it was next to impossible to get above it or on top of it.

He forced Skyler’s body to relax, relying on centuries of discipline. There was no blocking the pain, no way to stop the convulsions, or the way their body lifted, went rigid and slammed back to earth. As the wave subsided, she vomited again and again, a horrible retching sound that seemed to reverberate through the clearing.

Dimitri became aware of two things. Skyler’s spirit, rather than diminishing and retreating from the pain, seemed to grow a little brighter right in the center of the warmth he had surrounded. The earth sank around them, drawing them deeper into the richness of her soil almost with every wave or convulsion. Both things gave him hope that he might actually pull her back from the land of the dead.

10

F
enris Dalka cursed in every language he knew, streaking through the sky, furious that he hadn’t been able to track his younger brother. He was
Hän ku pesäk kaikak
—Guardian of all, yet he hadn’t kept his brother safe. Dimitri had saved his life on more than one occasion, had fought the rogue pack and the
Sange rau
valiantly, saved the lives of Lycans and Carpathians alike, and yet he’d been betrayed, held prisoner and tortured.

Fen, we’re close to him and he’s still alive,
Tatijana, his lifemate whispered into his mind, trying to soothe him.

Skyler has been murdered. He will either follow her or choose the path of revenge. Should he do that, he will be lost to us for all time—lost to her. This is my fault. I should have taken far more care over the centuries with him, with just how much blood I gave him when he was wounded.

He could smell the Lycans now. The wind brought him the overpowering scent of blood, of war. The Lycans were in pack formation, surrounding prey, most likely his brother and the two men who had aided Skyler in trying to rescue Dimitri.

He was not alone. The four Carpathian warriors who had started out with him to find and rescue Dimitri had been abruptly called back to the Carpathian Mountains. Two others had joined him, and he hadn’t been surprised. Byron Justicano and Vlad Belendrake, Josef’s only family, had come the moment they were aware he was in trouble. Both had been much closer to the area, and once they knew the exact location of Josef they had set out fast to find him. Byron’s lifemate, Antonietta, was blind and his sister, Eleanor, Vlad’s lifemate, had never been in a battle her entire life, so neither had come, although both had apparently argued to do so.