He knew Zacarias was a law unto himself. He had been too long in the wilds, an ancient hunter on his own, far from home, with darkness always tearing at him, yet he had stayed an honorable man.
We will not be the ones to start the war, Zacarias. Keep your brothers, especially Rafael, under control while I sort this out. Rafael was lifemate to Colby, Paul’s sister. He loved the boy and no doubt was furious that the Lycans had dared to attack him.
“We have not interviewed Dimitri as of yet,” Rolf said. “None of us have ever laid eyes on him. We sent word to treat him with respect and care as we were away. One phone call to Zev Hunter, and I will have a much clearer understanding of what is transpiring.”
“Zev is a good man,” Mikhail said. “One we have trusted. He was not a part of the taking of Dimitri and left soon after to track those who had taken him.”
Rolf shook his head. “Zev is the leader of the elite team. They would not have acted without Zev’s authority. It would be . . .” He frowned, looking from Daciana to Makoce, two of the four members of Zev’s elite hunter pack that were there to guard them. “Treachery.”
Daciana and Makoce both nodded their heads. “We were fighting the rogue pack with the Carpathians here,” Daciana explained. “Zev was with us. The Sange rau projected an image, an illusion of himself, and we all believed there was an imminent threat to the prince. While we fought here, two members of our team, Gunnolf and Convel, slipped away, and somehow this incident occurred with Dimitri.”
“How do we get from two of your elite hunters fighting with us, to betraying us, kidnapping the very man who saved their lives, torturing him and murdering our children?” Francesca demanded.
Rolf looked around the room at the posturing warriors and shook his head. “I do not have an answer for you. I can only reiterate we did not come here to start a war. We came in peace to build an alliance with you. An alliance between us would benefit not only your species, but ours and humans as well. Allow me to step outside and make a call to Zev. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Why do you need permission for anything from those who harbor the Sange rau?” Lowell, the guard who had insisted there was no proof of the attack on the children, demanded. His raised his voice, a belligerent sneer adding fuel to the fire. “Look at them, living in the mountains, hiding from the world. They think they have the power to dictate to us, but they are nothing at all. We don’t need them. No Lycan would kill a child.” He looked around at his fellow guards. “They have contrived this story in order to have reason to kill us all.”
A murmur of agreement nearly ignited Rafael into action. He made a move, his hands coming up, but Zacarias glanced at him, his face set in stone and Rafael subsided.
“Lowell,” Rolf said, his voice firming. “You will remain silent.”
“It is my duty to keep you and all council members safe,” Lowell insisted. “I have a job to do, and while I respect your authority, in this instance, I believe that it is important to save you from yourself.”
The majority of the guards seemed to agree, nodding their heads, or simply drawing more weapons.
Mikhail, you must leave now, Gregori insisted. This is getting out of hand. Lowell is deliberately turning the other Lycans against us. He wants to start a fight. Your safety is too important to risk you.
Perhaps that is so, Mikhail agreed, but once I leave the room, a fight will start. I don’t want to give up yet. Rolf is an honorable man. Not only do I sense that, but Ivory confirmed my belief, and you know she is extraordinary.
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?