She raised her face to the heavens, letting the snow cover it like a white mask. «Why now?» she asked softly. A plea. A prayer. «Why are you asking this of me now? Don't you think you've taken enough from me?» She stood waiting for an answer. Lightning to strike, maybe. Something. Anything. Her whispered entreaty was met with implacable silence.
Raja gave a series of whines. Come away, little sister. Leave him. He obviously disturbs you. Come away before the sun is high.
For the first time in hundreds of years, she'd forgotten the sun. She'd forgotten safety. Everything she knew, everything she'd learned-it was all gone because of this man. She wanted to go away. She needed to go away, but everything in her was drawn to this one man. Palafertiilam-lifemate-her lifemate-the curse of all Carpathian women.
CHAPTER 2
I vory crouched down beside the fallen man, her fingers gliding over his face, around to his neck to feel his pulse. It was unnecessary. Her heart had slowed to match the impossibly slow beat of his. She brushed the snow from his face and began a minute examination of his wounds. His body was crisscrossed in scars-nearly as bad as her own, should she allow anyone to see her as she was. His skin was ice-cold. Every Carpathian learned from childhood how to control the temperature in their bodies, yet he was freezing.
Little sister! Raja's whine ended in a growl of warning. The sun is climbing.
If she didn't take him, he would die here in the open. Her heart stuttered as she looked back at his tracks. That had been his intention. From the old and fresh scars on his ankles and wrists, she could tell he had been chained, the links coated with vampire blood, burning into his flesh each time he moved. She knew one man who used that method of imprisonment: Xavier, the high mage. The Dragonseeker had escaped captivity and instead of heading toward one of the villages to seek aid, he had gone into the forest interior, making his way to the most remote side of the mountain where the sun could claim him.
The pack milled around, uneasy now, casting glances up at the sky. The snow began to come down harder, coating the silvery pelts. Cursing, Ivory reached for him, pulling him into a sitting position so she could lift him.
His eyes snapped open-dark swirling pits of suffering, of determination, of resolve. This was a man honed in the fires of hell, a man who'd suffered unbearable agony and set his mind in stone. There would be no manipulating him; she could see and feel that as his energy surrounded her.
«Leave me.» His voice gave a hoarse command.
She felt the mental push behind the brusque order and hastily shut out the compulsion. The telepathic coercion affected her wolves; she could see them back away, and she waved her hand to hold them. Only her long and very tight bond with the pack held them to her under the strength of that compulsion-and that told her a lot about this man. In spite of being so weak, half-starved and emaciated, he was incredibly strong-and dangerous.
She wasn't about to open her mouth. She shook her head mutely and went to lift him. The Dragonseeker pulled back and laid his hand on her arm with surprising gentleness. She felt the jolt of electricity and her body tingled, sudden awareness forcing the air from her lungs in a hissing rush.
«You do not understand,» he said. «You are in terrible danger just being close to me. I have powerful enemies and they can reach you through me.»
Again she felt the warning compulsion in his voice. He radiated purity-truth. He wanted her to leave him knowing it was a death sentence-not just a death sentence, but that he would die in absolute agony, one slow inch at a time. She cursed again. She had no choice but to speak and he would know the truth. Her species had one mate. One. They could look the world over, through centuries of living and unless they connected to that one person, the one who shared the other half of their soul, they were not true lifemates.
If she spoke, he would know. He would see in color, he would feel emotion-not just remember it. He would know-and maybe he already did-that she was his other half. She knew she had no choice. He would fight her, try to force her to leave him and he had to know she couldn't, that it was virtually impossible to do such a thing no matter how much she might want to. Ivory gave a slow shake of her head.
The Dragonseeker put his hand up and she knew he was about to speak. She spoke first. «I cannot and I think you know why. If you do not want my pack-and me-to suffer the sun burning us, you must cooperate.»
She saw the shock register on his face. His body actually flinched as if from a body blow and he squeezed his eyes shut tight for what seemed an interminable amount of time as if his returning colors and emotions were too overwhelming, too dazzling for him to process. In truth, he didn't seem to welcome the news any more than she had, but she was fully aware that he felt that same pull toward her as she did toward him. When he opened his eyes, the color was swirling, dark, almost black, and then mixing into a deep emerald green before going back to a midnight blue. He blinked and the effect was gone. He took a breath. Let it out.
«My mortal enemy is Xavier, the high mage. He can possess my body at will and often does, slipping in and out of me and committing hideous, vile crimes against all peoples: mage, human and Carpathian alike. You cannot stay near me. He is weak at the moment, which is why he has not overtaken my body and forced it back. This is my only chance to escape him.»
Ivory sank back on her heels and stared into the dark, ravaged eyes. He was telling the truth. Xavier. He had set in motion things that could never be undone. He had commanded the vampires to chop her body into pieces. He was an incomparable monster like the world had never known, and he couldn't be allowed to regain power.
«Your enemy is my greatest enemy,» she said. She had so many.
«Leave me. Hide yourself. If I die here, he cannot use me to harm any other.»
Little sister! Come away from this place. Take us home. This time Raja bared his teeth, his voice demanding.
Sister-kin. The rest of the pack took up the desperate cry.
Ivory felt the burning itch begin along her bare neck and arms. In spite of the thick snow falling around her, she was that sensitive, or maybe it was a fear she'd developed over the years. It mattered little.
«How does he possess you?»
«I gave him an opening.» His gaze held hers captive as he made his confession. «There was a young mage woman who was kind to me. At that time, without my knowledge, Xavier was experimenting with ways to possess a body. He used mine to impregnate women. He wanted a blood supply and thought having children would do it for him. I am his grandson.»
Ivory raised her arms to allow the pack to merge with her skin. Grateful that she was at long last preparing to go, the pack took their places one by one, covering her back and arms as if they were only ink on her skin and not immortal creatures. She never took her eyes from her lifemate, never changed expression even though inside she could hear herself screaming.
«The young woman had my child, a little girl, quite beautiful. She was amazing and talented. We were all held prisoner. My aunts, me, my child's mother and beautiful little Lara. I didn't want him to kill Lara as he'd ultimately killed her mother, and I told him I would do anything.»
She gasped in disbelief. «To the high mage? You traded your soul? To the high mage?» She felt a little idiotic repeating herself, but who did that? Who would be that . . .
«At the time, I had been tortured severely. He had left Lara's mother's dead body to rot in front of us, and I could not bear for Lara to be tortured. In truth, I was not thinking clearly.» He shook his head. «I cannot remember facts accurately anymore. Time has blurred together for me. But you cannot trust me. He can take this body at any time and force me to do unspeakable things to those I love. I have betrayed everyone who ever meant anything to me.»