There was the night in that enticing fragrance—a cool dark midnight-blue night, with stars overhead and a round full moon as well. That elusive aroma conjured up everything that she had come to love in the short time she’d been freed from her prison. More, she wanted to stay close to Fen and just inhale him into her lungs, to take him deep so she would never forget him.
“Tell me your name. I’m Fen. Fenris Dalka.” He didn’t break stride, walking with absolute confidence into the forest. He seemed a man without much fear.
She looked up at him. Studied him carefully and did one more scan just to be certain she was safe. She opened her mouth to tell him, but she just couldn’t. Something stopped her. There was far too strong of a compulsion to be with him. Maybe it was all new to her, this attraction between a man and a woman, but it had never happened before. She hadn’t been the least attracted to anyone else in the tavern, not even a single spark. She shook her head and smiled at him.
He flashed a grin at her. “You do know that mystery is very intriguing in a woman, right? I’ll be more enamored than ever. I can read lips,” he added.
She wanted him to know her name. She mouthed “Tatijana,” exaggerating every syllable so it would be easier for him. He got it on the first try.
“Tatijana is a beautiful name. Do you live close?”
She shrugged, happy to just be walking with him. His body gave off unexpected heat and she allowed herself to feel it. She needed to feel every moment with him. She knew she should pull her hand away from his. She didn’t know him. She didn’t know proper etiquette between a man and a woman, but for just this moment, for the first time in her life, she felt normal. Real. She wasn’t Carpathian. She wasn’t Dragonseeker. She wasn’t a mage’s daughter. She was a woman enjoying the company of a man.
“I lived here long ago,” Fen volunteered. “I’ve only returned for a short visit and must leave again.” He looked around at the dark shapes of the trees rising from the mist. “I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.”
Tatijana agreed with him silently. She wanted to dance there in the deep forest just because she was so happy. Just something so simple as walking in the woods at night flooded her with joy, and Fen was an added bonus. She nodded her head, feeling a little foolish that she wasn’t speaking aloud, but maybe he thought she couldn’t. She didn’t even care if that meant he pitied her, although when she scanned his thoughts, she didn’t find pity. She found . . . attraction.
“Have you lived here long?” he asked.
She glanced at his face. He wasn’t looking down at her, although his tone made her feel as if she was the most important person in the world and he wanted an answer. His gaze was restless, moving constantly, up in the branches of the trees, down along the ground, his vision trying to pierce the heavy veil of mist.
Had she missed something? Some warning? She took a careful look around, sending out her senses, scanning carefully to try to detect a threat. Just up ahead and slightly to her left, concealed in the trees were the three men who had left the bar after Zev. She sighed. Of course. She’d known they were going to make their try for her. She’d allowed herself to be swept away into a magical world that had no threats in it. Everything and everyone who could possibly threaten her just seemed trivial in comparison to Xavier.
She touched Fen’s arm. “I have to go,” she mouthed. “You can turn back now.”
She wasn’t going to involve him. She wasn’t certain he was human, but if he was, three against one, even when he looked big and lethal, wasn’t fair. She could dissolve into mist and they’d never find her, but Fen had to be protected, even if it was from his own gallantry.
Fen stopped abruptly. “You know they’re there, don’t you?”
Tatijana nodded reluctantly. She was giving herself away, but then so had he. The three men were in the distance, impossible to see with the heavy mist and the cover of the dense trees and brush.
“I’ll take care of them. You get out of here.”
She shook her head. She’d been afraid that he would be the protective male. She sent him a small “push” to leave. He scowled at her, shaking his head. Tatijana knew she’d made a terrible mistake. Fen was much more than he seemed, and that push she’d just tried had given him far too much information about her.
What was he? Mage? She didn’t think so. She’d been held prisoner for centuries by the most powerful mage the world had ever known and Fen was in no way similar physically nor did his brain scan that way. Jaguar? She didn’t think so. That left Carpathian or Lycan. If he was Carpathian, she would have known by his energy field. Lycans were the only species who didn’t produce that energy field readable to others.
She took a chance. “I am quite capable of defending myself. You need to leave. Those men are after me, not you.”
2
Fen went very still while the earth under his feet seemed to tremble and the trees surrounding them shook. He had all but forgotten being Carpathian. He had lived so long as an abomination—the most hunted of the Lycan kind—considered worse than any rogue wolf or pack who had to be hunted and destroyed. His kind could not be tolerated in the Lycan world.
He was both Carpathian and Lycan, and the combination made him an outcast. He had lived under a death sentence for centuries. There was no question of having a lifemate, no chance for him. He had long ago given up on that fairy tale. His lungs burned and he realized he was holding his breath. She was looking up at him with her amazing green eyes. The color changed, going from that deep emerald to a fascinating multifaceted aquamarine.
She knew. The signs for both of them had been there all along but they’d ignored them, misread them, or just plain didn’t believe them. On some impractical level he’d been waiting for this one moment his entire life. She existed. His lifemate. The one woman who held the other half of his soul. She was the light to his darkness. She brought back real color and real emotions.
Everything hit him at once, all of it. Feelings. Vivid color. Her hair was red gold yet changed in the shadows to deeper hues or streaks of color blending together. For one moment, he just let the emotions wash over him. He wanted to go where love would be, with this woman, this incredible miracle standing in front of him, staring up at him with wide, shocked eyes.
There was fear in her eyes and if she knew the half of it, she would run for her life. Fen cupped the side of her face gently, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her satin-soft skin. His heart stuttered and thunder roared in his ears.
“My lady,” he said softly. Regretfully. “I would give anything to bind you to me, but your protection must come first. You can’t be anywhere near me. I’m under a death sentence and anyone giving me safe harbor or aiding me will be killed with me. If they find you and know who you are, they will not take chances. They will kill you, too.”
Tatijana blinked up at Fen. His declaration was the last thing she expected. She’d braced herself for the claiming, the words that she knew would bind their souls for all time. There would be no living without him, and no precious freedom—the thing she wanted above all else.
“Why would someone want to kill you?” She sounded just a little accusing, a little miffed. She glanced toward the three men secreted in the trees in the distance. They were waiting to ambush the couple and wouldn’t creep through the brush—at least not until they got a lot more courage. “What did you do?”
A faint smile appeared on his face at the slight accusation in her voice. “Don’t pretend you wanted me to claim you. You did everything in your power to keep me from knowing that you’re my lifemate. I don’t think outraged feminine ruffled feathers are the appropriate response. You should be jumping for joy.”
“Well I’m not. Jumping for joy, I mean, that you’re my lifemate. I can’t have a lifemate right now. I’ve got issues.”
His grin turned into a smile that warmed his eyes and that made him all the more attractive.
His eyes were amazing. In the tavern they’d been ice-cold blue, like the ice in the caves that had been her home for so long. She’d been drawn to his eyes. Now they were even a deeper, richer blue, like the glittering sapphires that she’d seen in Xavier’s cache of gems and artifacts he’d used for his magic. She didn’t feel in the least that it was her fault she was acting like a ninny, not when he had those blue eyes.
She held up her hand. “But, here’s the thing, Fen. I’m not going to leave my lifemate, or any Carpathian in trouble. So why are you under a death threat and from whom?”
He shook his head. “Woman, you do know how to complicate things, don’t you?”
She liked the idea that she did. She liked the idea of complicating his life. She’d never had that experience before and she found she was quite proud of her abilities.
His smile widened, and she realized she hadn’t taken care to guard her mind from him. He was there before she realized, pouring warmth into her, filling every barren lonely place, fusing with her mind, joining them together. She caught glimpses of his memories, but she found them strange, not Carpathian.
“You like messing with me,” he accused, but the laughter in his voice and the warmth in his incredibly blue eyes belied any anger.
She’d never “messed” with anyone before. It took a moment to translate the modern jargon in her mind, but yes, she quite liked “messing” with him. He was providing several new and exhilarating experiences. “I do, yes.” The smile faded from her face. “Those three men waiting to jump me don’t really present a threat to either one of us, but you’re very serious about this death threat. Is Zev hunting you? Is that why you said he was so dangerous?”
He sighed and tucked her hand against his chest. “You’re really going to insist on an explanation, aren’t you? If anyone finds out you know, they would come after you.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not afraid, Fen. I’ve faced monsters you cannot conceive of . . .” She studied his rugged features, the lines in his face. “Maybe you can. But the point is, I will not run from trouble. I’m not going to hide. Just tell me why.”
“Centuries ago, I was hunting a particularly savage vampire. I’d never run across one so powerful and brutal. He was destroying entire villages, killing everyone in them, and for some reason I couldn’t feel him at all, not his energy, or any of the usual means of finding a vampire. Sometimes, when hunting vampires it’s what’s not there that gives them away, yet I was always one step behind. I could track him by his destruction, but I couldn’t get ahead of him.”
Fen turned his head toward the three men waiting. Tatijana immediately realized he had been listening to them the entire time. Carpathian hunters had enormous skills, aware of their surroundings at all times, even when they seemed totally focused on one thing—one person.
She was a little disappointed that she hadn’t kept his entire attention when he’d kept hers. “Seriously, those men are annoying me now.” She marched toward them, forgetting that Fen was on the other end of her hand. She managed three steps and came to an abrupt halt. She swung around, scowling at him. “What are you doing?”
“Wondering what you’re planning,” he replied, one eyebrow raised.
She swung back to face the threat. “I’m so disgusted with the three of you,” she called out. “If you’re planning on jumping us, get it done already. I’m trying to have an important conversation and Fen here is having difficulty concentrating. So either gather up your courage and come out into the open where the two of us will annihilate you, or slink on home.”
Fen burst out laughing. The rich, husky tone was so unexpected, so masculine that the sound seemed to reverberate through her body, sending little shock waves of electrical current sizzling through her bloodstream.
“I’m not having difficulty concentrating,” he said, his voice dropping an octave. “I’m hanging on your every word.”
She gave a little delicate sniff. “You’re supposed to be explaining yourself. When one’s lifemate refuses to claim his woman, there should be a reasonable explanation.”
“You have no desire for me to claim you,” he pointed out.
“That’s beside the point.”
Fen found himself grinning. The three humans waiting in the brush were discussing what to do next now that the element of surprise was gone. The one continued to try to persuade the other two that they were drunk and going to get into trouble. That he couldn’t have them hurting a woman.
Fen didn’t care one way or another if they attacked, but he was truly fascinated by the woman who all but stamped her foot at him. As a rule, Carpathian women were tall with dark hair. Tatijana was on the diminutive side, with light ever-changing hair and her amazing emerald eyes.
The vivid colors, after centuries of no color and then spotty, muddy hues, were almost blinding. The joy of feeling filled him even as the intensity of emotions nearly overwhelmed him.
“I want the explanation and I think, as your lifemate, I deserve to hear it.” She sounded both snippy and regal if that combination was at all possible.
“And no matter what, you aren’t going to do the practical thing and leave me, are you?” he asked.
She had him. The mystery and intrigue surrounding her drew him almost as much as the call of her soul to his. The pull between them was very strong, and he wasn’t certain, in the end, he would have the strength to watch her walk away.
“Of course not. Do you think I’m a coward?” She tossed her head like a fractious filly, indicating the three men now arguing in low tones they thought couldn’t be overheard. “Like them? I am Carpathian. I may not have practical experience in a battle, but I certainly have knowledge of every kind of enemy and how best to defeat them. I will never run from a fight, nor will I accept another’s command over me.”
She was . . . magnificent. The moon was mostly obscured by the veil of mist, yet her long braid seemed to give off sparks.
“How did you get your knowledge?” Fen asked.
She shrugged. “Perhaps you know the name of my father. He was the most powerful mage ever known, Xavier. He was a false friend to the Carpathian people, tricking them for years into thinking the alliance between mage and Carpathian was strong. He wanted immortality and the Carpathians did not give him their secret. He killed my mother’s lifemate and held her prisoner, as only the most powerful mage could. He forced her to have his children, triplets, two girls and a boy. My sister, Branislava, my brother, Soren, and me. He needed us for our blood.”
Fen was shocked and he knew it showed on his face. “I studied with this man, centuries ago. We all did. No one knew of his treachery?”
She shook her head. “My sister and I were held from birth in his lair deep beneath the ice where he fed from our veins, keeping us weak. Our mother had turned us completely when she realized what Xavier meant to do, in the hopes that we would find a way to escape. He killed her the moment he felt we could provide the blood he so craved.”
Fen had been centuries gone from the Carpathian Mountains and his brother hadn’t had time to give him much news. To know that a mage as formidable as Xavier had betrayed them and committed heinous acts against a Carpathian woman and his own children chilled him to the bone. He’d seen deceit in the form of vampires, but someone his people had considered such a friend and ally—Xavier’s betrayal seemed far worse. They had all trusted him.
“How long were you held captive?”
For the first time he saw her hesitation. Her hand trembled when she reached up to push back stray strands of hair. Fen covered her hand with his.
“My entire life. Centuries. We never left the ice caves until nearly two years ago. We’ve been in the Earth healing,” Tatijana admitted.
“And the prince allows you to go unescorted? Unprotected by his hunters?” He didn’t bother to conceal the edge—or disgust in his voice.
Tatijana h
astily shook her head. “He has no idea that I’ve awakened. None of them know. My guardians believe we are safe beneath the ground. I needed to feel freedom.” Her gaze met his. “I needed this.”
He understood what she was trying to convey. She hadn’t slipped away out of spite, or because she frivolously wanted to outwit her guardians, she really did need to feel freedom—and he understood that. In a way, Carpathian hunters lost their freedom when they lost all emotion and color. They had one purpose after that—to find their lifemate. If they didn’t manage to do so, as the years went by, they would run the risk of becoming nosferatu—the undead. The only thing left for hunters was to hunt and destroy the vampire and search for their lifemate.
“I told you about me,” she said. “Now it’s your turn.”
“I think we’re about to have company. Two out of three. The third one chose to abandon his friends when he couldn’t talk them out of their drunken idiocy—and I must say—he definitely tried.” He wanted to laugh at the expression on her face. She looked absolutely pained—and adorable. He’d never considered using that word, but now he knew what it meant.
“You have got to be kidding me.” She threw her hands into the air and whirled to face the two men creeping out of the bushes. “Are they really that stupid? What’s wrong with them?”
“It’s called alcohol. You spit it out when you tried it, but many humans like and are very affected by it. The more they drink the less inhibited they are, and they make really stupid decisions sometimes.”
“They aren’t even coordinated,” she pointed out. “One can barely stand. Do they really think they would have a chance against you? I can see them making the mistake about a woman, but they have to have seen you in the tavern.”
“Alcohol impairs the ability to think straight.” Fen turned to face the two men coming toward them, shifting position to place his body just a little in front of hers.
Dark Lycan (Carpathian) Page 3