The floor beneath Natalya trembled and a large square slid away to reveal a stairway leading further beneath the earth. She hesitated. We're going down not up. What if the Troll King is down there?
We have no choice. This is the only way out of the chamber that we have left to us. We must take it. He reached out to brush tears from her face with the pad of his thumb.
Natalya hadn't realized she was crying. The burning in her leg was bad, but it was more the idea that the unknown thing was attached to her. Just as Maxim had managed to slip inside her head. It was humiliating to think that the master vampire had gotten into her mind and Vikirnoff, not she, had driven him out. Now she had some parasite attaching itself to her body, boring into her flesh.
Turning back she gave her warriors a last command. «Hear my commands though I be gone. Continue to hold. Stand straight, stand strong.» She gave the shadow warriors a small salute, wishing she could give them peace and send them back to their resting places.
«We have to go now,» Vikirnoff urged.
She turned away from the chaotic scene and took the narrow stairs chiseled from ice leading below the chamber of the dark mage.
Vikirnoff followed her down, down deeper still, closing the hidden panel behind them and weaving safe-guards against the vampires in the event they found a way to escape the shadow warriors. Once the panel slammed shut an eerie light gleamed along the twisting stairway. It was carved with care, very narrow steps that seemed to go on forever.
They ran down the long staircase for several minutes. It was strangely silent as if they were the only two people in the world. «I don't think they can follow us using that escape route, do you?» Natalya asked, stopping abruptly.
«Not unless Maxim has hours to figure out the safeguards I used.»
«Then get this thing off of my leg,» Natalya said. «I can't stand knowing it's on me.»
Vikirnoff nearly smiled at the demand in her voice. She was totally confident that he could and would get it off. «Sit down and rest. Let me take a look at it.»
«Take your time, it's only burning a hole through my leg and grossing me out, but hey! Just look at it.» Natalya scowled at him.
His dark eyes ran over her face and made her shiver. She bit her lip. «I'm sorry. When I'm scared I tend to be a little flippant.»
«Do not apologize to me. I am well aware of your need to make light of the situation.» He crouched beside her and took her leg in his hands, pushing the material away from her skin so that his fingers brushed intimately against her calf. «I am attempting to develop a sense of humor where you are concerned.»
He bent his head to study the grotesque fingers circling her ankle. His dark hair spilled around his shoulders, wild and disheveled and far too appealing for her liking. His breath was warm on her skin. It was all Natalya could do not to reach out and touch his hair. His neck was a mess, the burn hideous and painful looking, yet he seemed detached from it as if the only importance to him was helping her.
«It's alive, isn't it?» She asked the question to distract herself. There would be no more kissing in the midst of deadly peril. She absolutely refused to be too stupid to live. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. He had a sinful mouth and that was the problem, not her. It was all Vikirnoff.
«Yes.» His voice was grim, «This leaves the same scent as the one you named Troll King. I think this is his work.»
She swallowed hard. «Xavier?» She would not call him grandfather. She didn't want to think he was related to her. She couldn't think about him without seeing him murdering her grandmother.
Vikirnoff frowned. «I do not think the dark mage. This one feels vampire yet not. I cannot tell yet what we are dealing with. I'll have to go inside to push the parasites out.»
«Parasites? Are you telling me I have freakin' parasites in my leg? Get them out of me now. Right now. Hurry, Vik, or I'm going to lose my freakin' mind.» Natalya shuddered, her skin suddenly feeling as if bugs were crawling all over her.
«I am uncertain just what freakin' is but it cannot be good.» He thought it best not to mention the Vik. She really was distressed, her lower lip trembling and giving his heart a small shake-up.
«No, it isn't good and my butt is going numb with cold sitting on this block of ice.» Oh, lord. She was complaining. Whining. Sitting there like a sissy when he was covered in blood and had his throat nearly torn out. The tigress had deserted her leaving her vulnerable and shaky. She covered her face with her hands too humiliated to face him. «Just please, please get them out of me.»
He murmured something soft to her in his ancient language. It sounded tender and gentle and made her want to cry. She sat very still watching as he separated himself from his body, his spirit moving through her with warmth and a far too intimate touch. He did is so easily, not at all like her clumsy attempts. There was no fighting for focus or concentration, just a brief closing of his eyes and she knew his body was an empty shell.
She felt his presence the moment he was in her, touching her mind with reassurance and much more. He made certain not one shadow of the master vampire lingered behind, hidden and waiting to spring from the corners of her mind. He added more safeguards to keep her shields strong before moving through her to her leg. She felt his quiet confidence and she leaned heavily on it. Too many things had gone wrong and Natalya was no longer certain she could handle alone the task given to her. Just the revelations about her grandparents were enough to shake her to the very core of her existence. She tried to stay still, to appear as confident as Vikirnoff when she was really very distressed.
Vikirnoff studied the tiny microorganisms clinging in clusters to the original puncture wound. They wiggled like little worms and around the wound, the area appeared inflamed
and swollen. He had seen such things before. His brother's lifemate, Destiny, had been infected with such microorganisms. The imprint of the hand itself was branded deep into Natalya's skin and blisters formed in small clusters around the bony-looking fingers.
The parasites tried to hide or run from the white light of his healing spirit, but he was relentless, ridding her body of every single one, taking more time than they comfortably had to ensure her bloodstream and her every cell were free of the microorganisms. Only when he was certain he had eradicated every one of the intruders did he turn his attention to the original wound. What kind of mark had been branded into her flesh and bone? He had thought he had healed the injuries earlier, but the puncture wounds had reopened deep in her ankle.
He was not a master healer but he should have been able to repair her body. She should have had extraordinary shields to keep out the vampire and, to some extent, him, but her mind was vulnerable. It didn't make sense. He was missing something important and it could cost them both their lives. Again, he repaired her ankle, paying particular attention to the tissue around the wound, inspecting it carefully to make certain he had closed and sealed the wound properly after removing all infection.
The brand seemed to be an entrance for more microorganisms, but he couldn't figure out how. This was very complex and alarms shrieked at him. Maxim or one of his brothers might have the brains to figure something like this out, but he doubted they'd have the patience. This took experimentation, time, endless time. Someone had worked in a laboratory and combined old magick with modern science.
Healing the brand on her skin required more time and energy than exterminating the parasites. The blisters and burn marks disappeared easily, but the brand itself was stubborn, refusing to give way before the white light. In the end, Vikirnoff managed to erase a small part of the palm only.
He pulled back into his own body swaying with weariness, worry on his face. Natalya studied his expression and looked down at her leg. «It's still there, isn't it? What exactly is it?»
«The original puncture wound is the host, I think. The brand allowed entrance for tiny parasites, very small, microorganisms. They are difficult to detect and there's something strange about them. Someone developed them, cult
ivated them in a lab and mutated them using some sort of chemical.»
Natalya stiffened. «Chemical? A chemical was attached to the parasite? As in a potentially explosive chemical?» She rubbed her temples and shook her head.
«What is it, Natalya?»
The gentleness in his voice warmed her. He looked so tired, lines etched into his face, his skin pale. She brushed his jaw with her fingertips. «One of my memories that doesn't quite
connect. I thought of that. In an experiment once, but I can't remember what I was doing.»
«And you are getting a headache.»
She smiled at him. «One more ache among many. Thank you. I know it wasn't easy trying to get those things out of me.»
«We will remove any that linger as soon as we can, Natalya. And we will find a way to get your memory back if at all possible. This practice of marking with parasites is something fairly recent the vampires seem to be using to identify one another.» His fist bunched in her hair, fingers rubbing silken strands. For a brief moment he rested his brow against hers. «We will make it out of here. You know that, right?»
Natalya stayed close to him, skin to skin, her hand on his face, his in her hair. They were both exhausted and hurting, physically and emotionally. «I'm glad you're with me, Vikirnoff.»
His smile was slow in coming, but it reached his eyes. «It has been a fun adventure, has it not?»
«Oh, you're funny. Now you think you're a comedian. Adventure my butt. Let's get out of this place.» Natalya stood up and looked around her. The stairs seemed endless, giving off a strange translucent glow that only made the effect creepier. «Do you think we're going to run into something worse?»
«Worse than the vampires or the shadow warriors?»
She shook her head. «Worse than whatever is tracking me beneath the ground.»
Their gazes locked. Vikirnoff had such compassion in his eyes, Natalya looked away, afraid she would cry. The idea of parasites clinging to her body or even just the hand branded on her skin, sickened her.
«We will get rid of it, ainaak enyem.»
The way he said the endearment turned her heart over. «What does that mean exactly?» She tried to interject suspicion into her voice, as if he was still calling her slip of a girl or something equally obnoxious, but she recognized the word ainaak as forever. More than that, it was the way he said it, the look in his eyes.
«Forever mine.» His fingers curled around hers. «Which you are.»
She gave an inelegant snort of what she hoped would sound like derision. She felt a little foolish walking down the stairs holding his hand, but it was comforting. «How was he able to get into my head, Vikirnoff?»
«Maxim?»
«He was able to crawl inside of me.» She shuddered and he felt the revulsion rippling through her mind as well.
«I am not certain,» he replied carefully.
«But you have an idea.»
«Shields are safeguards. Blocks. We weave them automatically and we expect that no one will come into our minds and tear them down.» A muted sound distracted him, divided his attention. It was hushed, stealthy, as if someone or something was nearby. Even with his extraordinary night vision he couldn't see beyond the ice pack of the walls bulging around them and overhead. The staircase wound downward, but now was leveling off and curving toward the south.
Natalya chewed at her lower lip, frowning, concentrating on what he was not saying. «Why would my safeguards be destroyed?»
«I do not know. How did the shadow warrior get into the room at the inn?» He sent his senses seeking around them for any hint of danger. Something was definitely moving in the darkness off to their left. The wall of ice was thick between them, but the unknown stalker kept pace with them. We are not alone. Keep talking, but do not say anything of importance.
Natalya let go of his hand and dropped back two stairs to give both of them room if they should have to fight. The feel of her knife was familiar and even comforting as she laid the blade up along her wrist to conceal it. «It's cold down here. You aren't even shivering.» She allowed the tigress to rise toward the surface just enough for her to utilize the superior senses of the cat. At once she scented something peculiar.
It smells like something wild. Not a vampire, but not human. Not Carpathian. I don't recognize the scent… yet I do.
She uttered a small shriek of frustration in her head. I detest having my memories so fragmented.
«I can regulate my body temperature,» Vikirnoff responded aloud. «You can, too.» Does it smell the same as the creature that caught your ankle and tried to drag you beneath the ground?
At once he heard her heart begin to accelerate wildly, but she was game enough, snorting derisively. «If I could regulate my temperature, Vik,» she smirked at him when he threw her a warning glance over his shoulder. «I'd be doing it.»
Keep an eye on the walls. He gave her the warning as he searched the wide expanse of ice.
Not the walls! She stared at the steps below her feet frantically. He's below us now.
Vikirnoff, we have to get off the steps.
No, he's pacing along beside us.
I'm telling you he's below us.
Vikirnoff simply turned and dragged her into his arms, taking to the air to get her feet off the stairs. He was certain he was right. The creature was not below them, but instead was stalking alongside them, obviously aware of some break in the wall they had no knowledge of. He moved fast, using preternatural speed, racing through the twisting, narrow hall, staying as far from the left wall as possible. Even using his supernatural speed, the creature kept pace with them and then suddenly it was ahead.
He is moving into position to strike.
My ankles are burning. Which side? She gripped the knife.
Left.
Natalya shifted closer to Vikirnoff's left shoulder, knowing her knee was digging into the wound on his chest and her elbow had to be hitting his neck. He didn't wince, but she felt his pain. Not in her mind, but in her body. I'm sorry.
Vikirnoff heard the soft whisper in his mind, felt her lips brush his temple. His gut clenched, a curious roll that was unfamiliar to him. She was combat ready. A part of him admired her, thought her extraordinary and another part of him was outraged that he was allowing her to be in harm's way.
She growled a warning. He had no idea whether it was meant for him, or for the creature stalking them, but the knife flashed as the opening yawned to their left and the narrow cavern erupted with a wild howl of pain and rage.
Blood splattered across Vikirnoff's face and Natalya's arm. It burned like acid. Natalya swore in his ear. I can't make it out, did you see it?
He glanced behind them, momentarily slowing down. Natalya gasped and jerked on his hair. Don't you dare! I mean it. We're getting the hell out of Dodge this time. I'm not tackling that thing when you're hurt and shadow warriors could be on us at any moment. Kick it up a gear, Speed Racer, and get us out of here.
He knew he was too badly injured to fight anything with the kind of speed and strength the creature displayed, but he wanted to get a look at it. We are not in Dodge nor am I Speed Racer. Is your Troll King a vampire?
Natalya had excellent night vision as well as olfactory senses. Even the tiny hairs on her body acted like radar, much like a cat's whiskers, yet she couldn't identify the creature through scent or sight. She had tried to look at it, but her impression was of something tall
and very muscular. Like a very blurry Godzilla. And it smells familiar yet not. I can't explain it. It's very frustrating. And she was getting dizzy as they hurtled around narrow corners, just barely missing crashing into the walls. He stopped following us and is throwing a bit of a tantrum, digging in the ice. I think I scored a really good hit on him, there was a lot of blood.
Vikirnoff had no idea what or who Godzilla was, but it didn't matter. She couldn't identify the creature as vampire and it was going to come after her again and again until he destroyed the threat to her. He wasn't at all ce
rtain the creature was that injured. It was very possible he was trying to bring tons of ice down on top of them. They needed to get out of the cavern immediately.
The hall encasing the stairs widened and Vikirnoff increased his speed, moving so fast he nearly missed the small tunnel that seemed to lead upward.
Wait! Natalya tugged at his hair again. That's it. The hidden entrance. I know it is. I feel it.
You are certain? He was already backtracking, feeling her certainty. She had mage blood in her and it had to be directing her.
Vikirnoff allowed her feet to touch the ice floor. At once she looked down, her eyes searching the floor around her. «I no longer feel his presence. Do you?»
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