There was an eerie silence followed by an ominous rumble that grew louder as the maze of mine tunnels began to shake. Cradling Rafael in his burned arm, Vikirnoff streaked through the tunnels, away from the lair of the vampire. Dirt and rock poured down and smoke spewed through the shafts. Walls closed in behind them as he winged his way to the surface with the wounded hunter. I am on the way with him. The sun is climbing rapidly. He is mortally injured. In truth, I do not see how you can save him.
Colby burst from the ground, the sun nearly blinding her. It didn’t even slow her down. She cast around for the richest soil. What do I need, Nicolas? Tell me what to do to save him.
He told her, naming several plants, sending her images of what they looked like, and directing her where to find them. Ignoring the terrible burning inside her body, her streaming eyes and sensitive skin, Colby raced to locate the plants hidden in the dense forest. The trees helped to shade her from the sun’s burning rays and Vikirnoff supplied cloud cover as he traveled toward her. As Nicolas guided her hands, instructing her in what she must do to save Rafael, another voice joined his, and then another and another. She couldn’t get all of their names, but healers gathered from around the world to talk her through the process of saving Rafael.
If something should go wrong, Nicolas, you watch over Paul and Ginny. Colby was fully aware she was risking her life. She would be giving everything she was to Rafael, and should she fail, it would mean both of their lives.
There cannot be failure. Nicolas decreed it.
And then Vikirnoff was there, Rafael’s torn, mangled body in his arms. Colby closed her eyes for one brief moment as tears welled up and horror clutched at her throat. She had been prepared for his terrible injuries, but not for the sight of her proud, invincible Rafael ravaged so utterly. Her heart and soul screamed a protest.
She reached for her powerful will, grasped her strength with every fiber of her being, and shook off the despair and pain and terror. There was no time for emotion, no time for hesitation or fear. She listened to the soft voices giving her instructions and she felt her power moving through her. Kneeling beside Rafael’s torn body in the mineral-rich soil where Vikirnoff had opened the earth for her, she set to work. It was easy enough to work on several levels, using her telekinesis to mix the plants and soil while she shed her body, her sense of self, and became the healing ball of energy needed to enter Rafael’s body.
All the while she held him to her, bound by her determination, refusing to allow him to escape into another world. His heart was all but destroyed, savaged by the vampire’s talons, lacerated and shredded. She hesitated in dismay.
It can be done. The assurance came from one of the healers, a male named Gregori. I will be with you every step of the way.
I am here as well. A feminine voice, Shea, a healer.
A third voice, very distant and ultrafeminine, added her support. I am Francesca. You are of the Dragonseeker clan. Few have the gifts you have. It can be done.
She heard Nicolas and his brothers urging her onward. Voices swelled in volume in her mind, chanting an ancient healing ritual. With determination, Colby bent to the task. It was no longer impossible—it was simply a matter of will, and she had that in abundance. Slowly, meticulously, she repaired Rafael’s shredded heart. Her physical strength waned several times, but Rafael’s brothers fed her every bit of energy they possessed. She even felt Paul’s touch through Nicolas.
She was as ruthless in her demands on Rafael, forcing him to endure the pain as she repaired his heart then set to work on his other numerous grave injuries. She shared her mind with the healers, following the instructions they whispered in her mind as she closed every wound, removed every drop of poison. She would not relinquish Rafael to Kirja’s power. The sun continued to climb in the sky and the effects were devastating on the Carpathians, but she was relentless, driving herself and the others beyond their endurance.
Vikirnoff, following the dictates of the healers, lay down beside his fellow hunter in the rich soil. He gave Rafael as much blood as he could spare, and helped Colby to pack the terrible wounds with the mixture of plants, mineral-rich dirt, and saliva. Colby was swaying with weariness, covered in blisters from the sun, and sagging to the ground when she was finally finished.
I have never remained this long awake. Vikirnoff looked at her with surprise. You held us all together, refusing to allow even our strongest to give in to the lethargy of our kind. Rest now. If you can hold us, you will not allow him to die.
“Damn right I won’t,” Colby murmured and slumped over Rafael.
Vikirnoff had just enough energy left to close the soothing soil over all three of them before they succumbed to sleep.
20
Colby awoke the moment the sun went down, turning to Rafael even as she opened the earth above her. She had repaired the worst of the injuries to his heart with her careful, meticulous work, but there was a long way to go to keep him from dying. She started working at once, sitting beside him in the depths of the pit with the walls of soil high around them, letting go of her body to enter his. His heart was attempting to heal itself, but Nicolas and the others had warned her that Rafael’s wounds were so severe that not even a Carpathian as ancient and powerful as he was could recover without continual aid.
As she worked, she became aware of the voices joining with hers, both male and female, chanting the healing ritual. She gratefully recognized the touch of Gregori, and the much more feminine touch of Shea, both Carpathian healers. Colby followed their precise instructions for continuing the repairs to Rafael’s lacerated heart. He had to be awakened and given blood, but his heart would continue to hemorrhage until the muscle had sufficient time to heal, which meant he could not stay awake for longer than it took to feed.
“I will give him my blood,” Vikirnoff volunteered. He sat watching her, noting the absolute determination on her face.
“You already gave him too much this morning. Go find whatever you need; you’re whiter than a sheet.” Colby swayed with weariness. “I’ll give him my blood and put him back beneath the ground where he’ll be safe.”
“I will return as quickly as possible to provide for you,” Vikirnoff promised.
Colby nodded and sat with Rafael’s head pillowed in her lap. She called softly to him, hating that he would be in pain when he woke, but knowing that he must feed in order to heal and regain his strength. She felt his brothers then, called by the need to respond even across half the world. She felt them attempt to shoulder Rafael’s pain as he woke.
Colby bent to press a kiss on his forehead. “Don’t move, just lie still. You need blood.” She tore at her own wrist, uncaring of the pain, pushing the wound against his lips. He was so weak, she didn’t even feel him taking the nourishment and it frightened her.
Do not give up hope. It was Nicolas who reassured her and each of his brothers murmured their names in her mind and added their reassurances to his. Somehow it gave her a sense of family to have all the Carpathians whispering encouragement in her mind.
What about Paul and Ginny, Nicolas? Are they all right without me? She worked to keep the wistful note out of her voice so it wouldn’t upset Rafael. That world seemed so far away from her now. She hadn’t been happy when told the news that the children had been spirited away to Brazil for protection—but she understood.
They are being spoiled by aunts, uncles, and a hundred cousins. They miss you.
She was grateful Nicolas thought to add the last.
Stop him now and put him back in the soil. That was Gregori, the healer. Colby could feel Rafael’s spirit edging away from her as the pain grew intolerable. She halted his feeding, hesitating only for a moment before swiping her tongue across the ugly wound on her wrist. With Nicolas’s help she sent Rafael to sleep and closed her eyes wearily, slumping against the soil, uncaring that she lay in what looked like a grave. All that mattered was that she keep Rafael alive.
“You need to feed.” Vikirnoff’s voice jerked
her out of her reverie.
She felt her mouth go dry. Rafael put her under enthrallment, but she wasn’t ready to relinquish that kind of control to someone else. “I don’t know if I can,” she answered honestly.
“If you do not feed, you will grow weak and you will not be able to hold him to you,” Vikirnoff pointed out. “I will keep you from knowing.”
Her heart slammed in her chest at the idea of giving Vikirnoff, a virtual stranger, that sort of control over her. With Rafael unconscious, she turned instinctively to his brother. Nicolas! What should I do? Nicolas was close to Rafael, her link to him. She had no one else to turn to in the unfamiliar situation. I can’t think about his giving me blood.
Vikirnoff is an honorable Carpathian. Allow him to compel you. You must maintain your strength in order to sustain Rafael’s life.
She felt another of Rafael’s brothers move through Nicolas to reach her. Zacarias, the oldest, the strongest, the one the brothers all deferred to. She picked that out of Rafael’s memories. I will make certain no harm comes to you. Colby was amazed at the incredible sense of family, of the love they shared for her through Rafael.
Over the next several risings she repeated the same ritual each evening. She sometimes woke in the night to lie with the soil open, Rafael’s head pillowed in her lap, to stare at the sky and twinkling stars, her hands stroking caresses in his hair, willing him to survive, to come back to her. She devoted herself and her will completely to healing him. Vikirnoff supplied nourishment and she became comfortable with his presence, but never enough to submit her will on her own. Nicolas or one of Rafael’s other brothers always had to be with her before she would allow Vikirnoff to place her under his enthrallment.
On the seventh evening Vikirnoff rose well before Colby and was already out of the earth when she awakened. She was competent at opening the earth now and she floated to the surface, clothing herself the way Nicolas had taught her. She would awaken Rafael as soon as she had gathered fresh herbs and healing plants. “Vikirnoff?” She looked around. He was always waiting to supply Rafael with blood. She found a single rose lying across the boulder near the hot springs. He was gone. That could only mean one thing. Colby spun around, holding the long-stemmed rose, her heart pounding in anticipation.
Rafael stood there looking fit, much more fit than he had a right to, but he bore the signs of his brush with death. His beautiful dark hair, falling halfway down his back, was streaked gray on his left side. His face was etched with new lines and there was a weariness in his eyes that had never been there before. He touched the scar on his chest from Kirja’s attack. “Carpathians are not supposed to scar.”
She drank him in. Tears burned behind her eyelids and she had to swallow several times to get rid of the lump in her throat. “Maybe I didn’t heal you in the right way.” She couldn’t stop looking at him. He was so solid. So alive. “You look perfect to me.” She didn’t mean to blurt it out. He already wore confidence like a second skin.
“You saved my life.”
Colby nodded. “Someone had to do it. You were a mess.”
His black eyes regarded her without blinking. She’d forgotten how completely he could focus on her. Her legs turned rubbery, but she stood her ground, trying to look nonchalant. “Are you sure you should be up?” Her gaze drifted down his body and the air seemed to leave her lungs in a long rush. He was definitely up and seemingly fit.
A slow, sensual grin curved his mouth. His eyes darkened with a blatant sexuality. “Oh, I am very sure.”
A blush stole up her neck to her face. “You know what I mean. You nearly died.” There was a hint of accusation in her voice.
“I promise to be far more careful in the future, querida.” He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. He took a step toward her and watched with narrowed gaze as she took a small step back.
“I don’t think you can ever do something like that again. You scared me.”
“I am sorry.” His gaze met hers steadily. “For a lot of things. It was wrong of me to convert you without your permission. You were working your way to me and I grew impatient. I should have had more faith.”
“Yes, you should have. I will never be happy without a full partnership, Rafael. I’m not the sort of woman to tolerate you arbitrarily making decisions for me.” She wanted to be stern. It was necessary to get her point across, but he looked so alive, when he’d been so close to death for so many days. She had seen the battle in his mind and it had been horrendous.
“I am very aware of what kind of woman you are, Colby,” he agreed quietly. “I will do my best to try to work on learning to be a partner.”
“Well, work on it fast.” She had so much more to say on the subject, but she couldn’t think of what it was at that precise moment. All she could think about was touching the new lines in his face. His scar. She wanted to smooth the frown from his mouth and erase the worry from his eyes.
“I have to explain about Paul,” he said, determined to make certain she understood why he’d taken the boy from her. “I had no choice but to send him away. Kirja was unlike any vampire we have ever encountered. He was a childhood friend. A close friend who knew the way I hunt. He was a powerful Carpathian and as a vampire he had become tremendously powerful. If we did not succeed in destroying him, sooner or later he would have succeeded in killing Paul, or using him to harm you or Ginny. I knew I was risking you not understanding, but I honestly felt it was the right thing to do, the only thing to do.”
“I know.” She had seen the struggle in his mind. In all the time she had spent healing him, she had merged often with him to keep him alive and she’d seen his strengths and weaknesses. She had seen his memories and regrets, the way he wanted to do what was right and best for her even if it meant risking their relationship. His actions were motivated by love, not by a sense of power. He seemed to have trouble expressing his love in ways other than sexual. Colby was certain she could spend the next few centuries helping him learn to communicate better.
“Colby, about the ranch. I want you to come to Brazil. We can hold the ranch in trust for Paul and Ginny, until they are old enough to decide where they wish to live. I would like them to know Armando’s family. My family. And I would like for my family to know all of you. But if you cannot be happy there, we will come back and live together here.”
It was a tremendous concession. A gift he was handing her. He wanted to go home. He needed to go home. His heart and soul yearned for the rain forest, for his ranch, for the things familiar to him. For his family, both human and Carpathian. But she was in his mind and she felt his sincerity. He would make every effort to do what made her happy. And Colby found it wasn’t the ranch that mattered. It belonged to Paul and Ginny. She was more than happy to relinquish her share. If her brother and sister loved Brazil, she would love it. And if they needed to return to the ranch, she would return with them until they were of an age when they could cope on their own. But always, her choice was Rafael. She smiled at him. “I hope you have horses. I need to be around horses.”
“We have many horses, meu amor.”
She tilted her head. “Are you absolutely certain you’re feeling healthy and your heart is strong?” Her voice dropped to a sultry invitation.
“I am healed.”
Colby looked up at the cascading waterfall pouring over the cliff above them. It provided a shimmering backdrop to the secluded grotto where the hot springs bubbled up, separated from the stream by well-worn rocks. Fern and moss covered the ground like an emerald carpet. She took a breath, allowing herself the luxury of taking in the beauty of the place, appreciating the richness of the soil that had helped to heal Rafael.
He came up behind her, his hands sliding down her back to her hip, pressing her against his larger frame. Colby reached up to encircle his neck, pulling his dark head down to hers. She had to lean back, to seek the excitement of his mouth. “Make love to me, Rafael,” she whispered against his lips. “I nearly lost you and I need to feel you
loving me.” She turned in his arms, needing the comfort of his embrace. Needing to feel the corded steel running through his body.
“I always make love to you, meu amor.” He stepped back, the intensity and hunger in his gaze mesmerizing her. “With every breath I take, I make love to you.” With gentle, sure fingers, he unbuttoned her blouse, his knuckles brushing her full breasts. “You always have far too many clothes on. I thought we agreed you would just run around naked for me.” He pushed the blouse from her shoulders, hands lingering on soft swelling flesh, enjoying the pleasure of simply looking at her breasts before reaching up to remove the clips from her hair. He released the silky mass, his fingers running through it until the last braid was free to tumble unrestrained about her body.
He crushed the strands of hair in his fist, brought them to his mouth, his eyes never leaving hers. Watching her. Hungry for her. She had never once given herself fully to him, but he could see love in her gaze, in the flush of heat spreading under her skin. As always, wildness rose in him, but he fought desperately to tamp it down, sensing her mood, her need for not only a physical demonstration of love, but comfort as well. She had been so courageous. And she had chosen him. He kissed her again, peace settling into his bones, contentment in his soul. For the first time he lost the driven feeling, the need to conquer and take.
Rafael eased her jeans from her hips, his hands moving over her thighs until Colby felt weak with longing. She watched him, the raw desire in his eyes as he traced the contours of her body with evident enjoyment. His body crowded hers until she stepped back into the hot spring.
Colby slid into the water. Warm bubbles like champagne surrounded her, enveloped her body like a living blanket. The water supported her, moving up her flesh as she sank deeper into the mineral pool. The sense of weightlessness in the water, her hair floating like seaweed, and the backdrop of the waterfall made her feel sensual, a water siren luring her mate.
Christine Feehan 5 CARPATHIAN NOVELS Page 76