She blinked, drawing a little away from him, wariness creeping into her expression. «Right? About what?»
«The ritual binding words of course. It was a good thing I said them and tied us together. With your stubbornness we probably would still be dancing around one another.»
«My stubbornness?» Her green eyes glittered at him. «I think you invented the word.» She pushed a hand through her tawny hair, sweeping it off her face to glare at him. «In fact, if you look up the word 'stubborn' in the dictionary, your picture is right there as the definition.»
Vikirnoff thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He wrapped the ceremonial knife in a white cloth and tucked it inside his shirt, out of her sight. «You still have not wanted to admit it was the best thing I could have done for both of us.»
She scrambled to her feet, sliding weapons into the loops on her pants. «And it will be a cold day in hell before I ever do. I don't think bringing that up is in your best interest, but thank you for trying to distract me.» She blew him a kiss. «I don't really rise that easily to bait.»
«Sure you do. You cheated. You were lurking in my mind.»
«I wanted to see what you really thought about just leaving the book where it is. I have reservations about turning it over to your prince.» She thrust the pair of Amis sticks into the loops on her belt. «I'm not certain it would be entirely safe with him.»
«Because Razvan is plotting to kill him.»
She winced but nodded as she strapped on her twin holsters. «Razvan's very good at what he does, and quite frankly, with the vampires, Xavier and Razvan against him, I don't think your prince is up to it.»
Vikirnoff watched as she slid extra clips into several compartments of her pants. He was very aware she was pleased with his creation, nearly matching her original design, but improving slightly so she could move easier and reach whatever she needed quickly. «Mikhail will not be defeated by any of them.»
«How do you know that? You don't even know him. I searched your mind for memories of him, but he was not fully grown when you left these lands. How do you know his strength? Why do you even trust him? That book is more dangerous than you can know and no Carpathian prince will easily destroy it, nor can he hope to wield its power. Once the book is in his hands, they will send everything and everyone they have after him. You'll be condemning him to death.»
«Mikhail Dubrinsky will not be defeated by those who seek his death. He is extremely powerful, Natalya. It is in his blood, bred into his very genes, his bone and spirit and veins. He can be wounded, yes, but when push comes to shove, he can unleash a power greater than Xavier imagines. Mikhail will find a way to destroy the book and in the meantime, he will protect it.»
She turned to face him, staying partly in the shadows to hide her expression. «What if I don't want to turn the book over to him, Vikirnoff? You never asked me how I felt about it. You assumed I'd be willing, but I am not someone to follow so easily.»
Vikirnoff studied every nuance of her tone, for the first time uncertain if she was challenging him to make a point, or if she really meant it. Her mind was closed to him, and, although he could breach the barrier she had erected, it seemed an insult when she dearly wanted her privacy.
Of course they had to turn the book over to the prince. What else would they do with it? He paced away from her, knowing she would read his agitation, but he didn't care. «What would you want to do with the book?» He made every effort to keep his tone flat, without any inflection whatsoever.
Natalya shrugged. «I haven't decided yet, but I'm not about to be railroaded into something I'm not certain is the right thing to do. The book is enormously powerful. It contains thousands of spells, magick so complicated and so dangerous that I don't think any but a mage should ever possess it.»
Vikirnoff stiffened. «You would use this book?» His gut churned with protest and his lungs began to burn for air.
Her eyes took on a faint amber glow. Bands of light streaked across her face and hair as she shifted closer to the candlelight, reaching for the long sword in its scabbard against the wall of the cavern. At once she was far more difficult to see, blending into the shadows.
«If I chose to use the book it would be my business, Vikirnoff. You cannot dictate to me that I must retrieve this book and then turn it over to someone I don't know, I don't trust and I don't respect.»
Vikirnoff remained silent, forcing back his first response. She knew very little about his people and it was true, he had arbitrarily decided for her what she should do with the book once she had recovered it. And he was pushing her to recover it. Natalya was not a woman to be forced into anything. Right now she felt cornered and she was fighting back. «Have I earned your respect?»
Her amber eyes glittered, taking on the eerie glow of the night creature. «Yes, of course. One has nothing to do with the other. You aren't Mikhail Dubrinsky. You aren't asking me to give you the book for safeguarding, you're telling me to give it to him.»
«Would you give me the book?»
«Yes.» She didn't hesitate. «But not to give away. Only to safeguard.»
Vikirnoff let his breath out. She disarmed him so easily. The tension began to ease from his body. «Do you want to keep this thing? I think of it as evil. Am I wrong to feel that way about it?»
«The blood of my grandmother and two others sealed this book. Of course I think of it as evil and more than ever, that means it can't fall into the wrong hands. I don't know your prince and I don't find memories of him in you. How do you know his heart or his soul, Vikirnoff? You want to hand him a weapon that could be the ruin of us all and yet you do so on blind faith.» She shook her head. «I can't do it.»
«Are you concerned that Mikhail will be in more danger?»
«Partly.»
«No one has to know he has the book. He will not try to wield the power, only to study Xavier's plan to rid the earth of our species. Xavier must have spent centuries developing a spell to use against my people.»
«I'm certain he did. The point is this. You asked me to locate the book and I did. Now you want me to recover the book and hand it over to someone I don't know. Does that make sense to you?»
«If you trust me, then there is no problem. We do not want to keep this thing.»
«Isn't it better to leave it where it is for the time being and if it becomes apparent Xavier is getting close to discovering its whereabouts, then retrieve it?» Natalya stepped out of the shadows. «Don't ask me to do this, Vikirnoff. I can't go against what I feel is right, not even for you.»
«You believe it is better to leave the book there? Why do you think vampires are looking for psychic women who have the ability to touch objects and read the past? Why do you think so many have gathered here? A war between vampires and Carpathians? I believe they are searching for the book. Xavier knows your father was found near the peat bogs. He has to be searching there.»
«The safeguards will hold.»
«Will they? Who taught your father the safeguards? Who taught you? Even Razvan knows the safeguards you use. They will not hold and I think you know that.»
«Then I'll guard the book. I'll hide it somewhere else, halfway around the world, somewhere he'll never think to look.»
«Natalya.»
She threw her head back, exposing her throat, but her fists were knotted at her sides. Her name. Just that, nothing else, a wealth of expression in his voice. «I'll find the damn book, Vik, but I'm not handing it over to the prince until I'm certain it will be safe.»