Dark Curse (Dark 19)

Nicolas shivered. It was cold. For the first time in his life, when he tried to regulate his body temperature, it was impossible. The cold was mind-numbing. And there was so much fear, wave after wave swamping him. Fear was not an emotion he was intimate with and the waves were overwhelming, keeping him off balance, his stomach churning and his heart beating too loudly. He didn't question that he shouldn't have a heart-or hear one, not while he was without his body, he simply accepted whatever happened and continued after her.

He found himself in a child's body. She was so tiny, her heart wild. Terror-her terror-settled into his mind, filling every corner, every compartment until he breathed it in and out, until it was living inside his very soul. He stared through horrified eyes at a man chained to the wall of ice. A young woman sat beside him weeping as she tried to wipe the beads of sweat from his face.

Razvan/father.

Nicolas breathed through the terror and tried to focus on what was happening. Razvan was nearly

drained of blood, weak, barely able to talk coherently, his voice low and trembling so that the woman leaned close and pressed her ear to his lips in order to hear him.

"Shauna, get her out before it's too late. You have to let her go."

Lara's mother shook her head, tears running down her face. "She's too little, Razvan, she'll never make it on her own."

"Better she die than let him get his hands on her."

"I can't bear it. I can't bear to lose you and her. There has to be another way."

"I will need blood and you've already given me too much."

"She hates giving blood. She's too young to understand," Shauna said, but she was already lifting the little girl with copper curls onto her lap.

Instead of feeling comforted, Nicolas was swamped with Shauna's fears as well. Living in the body of the child-Lara he struggled against the arms holding him tightly, fought, kicking and biting as Shauna extended the child's arm toward the man lying pale and ravaged. His heart felt as if it might explode. He tried to shift, to get away from the teeth coming at his small, exposed wrist. He had always been fast and strong, his powers honed at a very early age when few boys could even think of shifting, yet now he was powerless to free himself. He could only wait, watching those teeth come closer and closer to his flesh.

His body shrank away from the hot breath. He heard whimpering and felt Lara's spirit desperately fighting to free itself. The small arm was already covered in scars. This wasn't the first time and it wouldn't be the last. There was no escaping those sharp teeth tearing through her skin to get at her tiny veins.

Nicolas pushed Lara behind him, shielding her as those teeth tore into his wrist. Pain blossomed, stole his breath, punched him in the gut. His vision darkened and blurred. He couldn't minimize the pain as he always had done, he had to let it wash over and through him, accept it to keep from passing out. Even as a child he'd been able to control pain over the many mishaps of shifting too close to the ground or slamming into a tree while flying. Although a man, he was merged deep with Lara, reliving those early years and he was as helpless as she had been. Merged so deep with her, he was not Carpathian, able to push pain aside: He had to suffer through it as she did.

He felt each individual tooth, felt skin rip, tissue and muscle, felt the puncture into his vein and the flow of his life force from his body. His spirit shrank until he felt small and vulnerable beyond even his scope of imagination. At the worst moment in his life, he had never felt this helpless. The lips sucking blood from his body felt greedy and ravenous. His body became leaden, his heart struggling to find a beat while his lungs labored for air.

"Stop! Stop, Razvan," Shauna cried and pushed at the mouth clamped around the little wrist. "You're going to kill the baby."

Razvan jerked back. Tears spilled down his face. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Lara. Shauna, this isn't safe. I can't stop myself anymore. I'm becoming like him."

"No you're not," Shauna said fiercely. "You're not like him. You'll never be like him." She rocked the baby back and forth trying to sooth her.

Razvan leaned over and closed the wound with a swipe of his tongue. Nicolas knew the healing saliva wasn't quite right, wasn't quite able to numb the flesh or heal properly, which was why the little wrist had scar tissue everywhere and why Lara felt the pain of each bite as if knives were ripping at her.

"Hurry now. She must go. He'll be coming any moment."

Razvan inched his body aside to reveal a hole in the ice. Where the ice had been white or bluish in color, it was now red with pink edges. He had tunneled into the wall of ice using his own warm blood to carve a tiny passageway.

Shauna hugged the child to her, squeezing tight, sobbing quietly as she did so. Abruptly she thrust the girl into the tight channel and shoved her. "Go. Hurry. Follow the water out."

The ice pressed down on the little body, scraping at skin. He felt the lacerations and tears as he scooted forward. There was no turning around. When he tried to scoot back rather than go into that smaller, darkened warren with the scent of blood heavy in his nostrils, his body simply wedged in tighter. Panic began to take hold. Nicolas fought to shift, to become smaller, anything to get out of the tunnel. The heavy ice weighed down on him. Above and all around him, the ice creaked ominously as the heavy pressure constantly shifted the walls.

Nicolas couldn't draw air into his lungs, his head was buzzing from lack of oxygen. He felt as if he was suffocating. He knew Lara was experiencing the same reaction and he was totally helpless to come to her aid. He felt overwhelming tenderness for Lara the adult who had suffered as a child, and rage and aggression, at his own impotence in protecting her from reliving it. He tried to pound at the ice, using sheer will to break her free, but there was no escaping the tight space. He only bloodied his fists.

For the first time in his life he experienced claustrophobia. He felt trapped with no way out. His enormous strength didn't work. No magic spell saved him. He couldn't weave energy and use it. No matter how hard he tried to use sheer force to crack the ice and break out, he was in a three-year-old female body that didn't have his powers. It was impossible.

Lara's spirit stirred. Merged so deeply together, it was nearly impossible to tell where one started and the other left off. Their souls were bound together.Go . Her whisper was weak.There is no need for you to live this with me. I survived it before, I will again .

He wasn't certain that was true. She barely was alive, and in any case, there was no way he would abandon his lifemate to relive whatever experiences she must in order to come back to him. He had thrown her into the past and he would shield her with everything he had in him in order to protect her from the worst of her memories. No matter what it took, he would stand in front of her.Rest, o jela sielamak. Light of my soul, I will not abandon you here . The tenderness in his voice surprised him, as did the ache in his heart.

Something sharp pierced his ankle, stabbed deep, all the way to the bone. His body suddenly jerked backward. Ice tore the skin from his shoulders and hips, from his arms. He tried to kick back to remove whatever had penetrated his ankle, but all that did was cause excruciating pain. His body was ripped backward through the tunnel fast, peeling the skin from his body as he was pulled back through to the ice chamber.

He fell onto the chamber's hard floor, horror filling him as he saw the most monstrous of creatures-Xavier. Shauna lay on the floor, blood seeping from her mouth and nose. Already dark bruises stood out on her skin. She reached for the little girl, but Xavier kicked the woman away and

yanked Lara/Nicolas up by the coppery curls. He carelessly tossed the child against the cavern wall, smashing her small body without thought.

Xavier was a mass of decomposing flesh, serrated blackened teeth and pitiless silver eyes. Nicolas watched with horror as the monstrous demon stomped the woman repeatedly, her ribs, crushing them, her face, breaking bones, her legs, pulverizing them.

Razvan struggled against the chains, so that they cut into his body and blood ran in rivers to drip onto the ice. He screamed, a hoarse, hopeless yell, bloodred tears streaking his face. "It was me. Don't touch her. I'll do anything. Please. Please." He fell back weeping, his fists pounding into the ice until they, too, were bloody.

Xavier ignored him, continuing to kick and stomp Shauna's body. "Look at what you've made me do," he yelled to Lara. "Look at her. Your mother, taking your punishment. You deserve this treatment. You did this. You've made her suffer." He reached down and yanked the child by her hair, dragging her across the floor to fling her facedown beside her mother. "Steal her last breath, you ungrateful brat. What are you good for except for food? You've killed your own mother."

He spat on the body and reached into the pocket of his long tunic, pulling out ajar of wiggling white parasites. "My friends will gladly clean upyour mess, although it will take a few days. Feast," he said and threw the parasites onto Shauna's limp body. The grotesque bugs immediately swarmed over her mother.

Xavier reached down and caught up Lara, his silver eyes glittering with maniacal glee. Laughing, he snapped a chain around her waist, locking it to her father's chain before he hobbled away. She had little room and was forced to sit beside her mother's body while her father rocked and moaned as they watched the parasites slowly consume her.

It could have been hours, or days that Nicolas sat, traumatized by the brutality of the Carpathian's worst enemy. He had thought he knew evil intimately in the centuries of hunting of the vampire, but this was far, far worse. Xavier had murdered his grandson's wife in front of the man and their child. Even more, he forced them to watch the slow consumption of her body by the ravenous parasites. It was no wonder that Lara had flashbacks when she saw them combined with Gregori's unusual eye color. And it was no wonder that her aunts and father had buried her memories deep.

We are with you, Lara, a voice whispered softly.Do not fear, we are near. Do not look at the body on the floor. That is no longer your mother. She has gone to a safe place where the monster cannot reach her .

Nicolas concentrated on the voices as they whispered encouragement, told stories and tried to aid a young child in dealing with the incomprehensible. Without her great-aunts, Lara would have either given up or gone insane. He found himself holding on to their voices, letting the soothing compulsion wash over him as the next vignette of Lara's childhood began.

The fear cycle was always first, he realized. Her spirit traveled up the path of her childhood, inching her way from her past toward the surface-and him. She managed to advance a couple of years before the web of horror entangled her again, effectively holding her prisoner in her memories.

At six she was thin and small, barely fed and alone constantly. She had a tiny cubicle, slept on the ice floor with only a thin blanket and her growing ability to regulate her body temperature. It was difficult for her to sustain heat, and the constant shivering prevented her from gaining much weight. The aunts were the one stabilizing influence, talking to her day and night, whispering of far-off places, teaching her as

much as a child could comprehend and implanting lessons and truths for times when she was older and could possibly grasp the knowledge and wield more power.

He learned they were kept drained of blood as Razvan was, often frozen, encased in ice, that they suffered horribly when thawed and that Lara felt every moment of their agony along with her tortured father's. It was only their voices that kept her sane.

He moved toward the surface with her, cradling her spirit, breathing warmth into her mind in an effort to reconnect with her. He needed her trust and he'd blown it in the worst possible way. He understood that now, understood what it was like to feel small and helpless-and without hope. He understood fully why she had chosen the only way out to her and that he was responsible for driving her to feel helpless all over again.

The moment fear swamped her, coming at her like a tidal wave, he knew she was trapped again in a significant moment of her life. She was aware the moment he stepped in front of her spirit again, surrounding her with his protection, allowing the waves of terror to engulf him.

Don't. Just go, get out while you can. We may never be able to leave this place.

I will not leave without you, Lara. It is my sin, my failing that sent you back here. I will not leave you here. If we stay, we stay together.

And he meant it. He embraced that child's body as she sat crosslegged on the floor, drawing a picture of a dragon on the ice wall. There was amazing detail for a child. Her little fingers grasped the small tine of a fork and carved scales with painstaking care over the dragon's body and long tail. She took her time, humming to herself, lost in her art.

A small whisper of sound alerted her. Lara tensed and slowly lowered her hand from the drawing, looking over her shoulder. Razvan's broad shoulders filled the doorway. His eyes were dark with sorrow, his face ravaged. One moment he looked a handsome man who had seen too much pain, the next his body hunched as if under a terrible burden. His face contorted and his eyes rolled back in his head as he fought some unseen foe.

"Lara, get out. Run, baby. Get out. He's in me, he's taken over my body and I can't throw him out. Go."

Even as he warned her, his voice changed back and forth, going from concern to cackling. Although it appeared to be Razvan standing in the doorway, Lara smelled Xavier, the rotting corpse of a man who refused to die. Nicolas felt her stillness, the instant pounding of her heart, the terror seizing her mind. She stumbled back on all fours to crouch against the wall.

"What is this?" Xavier/Razvan asked, standing in front of her drawing.

Lara/Nicholas stayed silent, keeping her hands behind her back, fear stamped on her face. Nicolas pushed her behind him as Xavier whirled around and struck him, knocking him off his feet, sending him flying.

"Answer me." Xavier/Razvan hissed with displeasure.

Lara/Nicolas picked himself up. "My best friend."

Razvan's face contorted as though he was fighting again. His body shook and a bloodred tear trickled

down his face. For a moment he held out his hand, but abruptly, the fingers curled into two tight fists and he sneered. "Friend? You think those dragons are your friends? Why would such a powerful creature ever befriend the likes of you? You're worthless, totally worthless."

He cackled, the wicked sound sending chills down Nicolas's spine, and the voice was all Xavier now in Razvan's body. Once again, Nicolas felt that hopeless vulnerability, knowing he couldn't stop this man. He was a six-year-old child, anemic, fragile, alone, with no hope of escaping. As he watched, the dragon on the wall began to pop out, first one clawed foot, stretching and reaching, the talons curling sharply. The head emerged, the eyes blinking for a moment before glowing red. The tail slashed and the dragon broke free, landing on the floor a few feet from Lara.

Nicolas pushed her farther behind him, corralling her spirit and shielding her as he felt her cringe in anticipation. This was going to be bad. He knew it wasn't just physical warfare, this was psychological, a deliberate attempt to defeat all hope, using a childhood make-believe friend that took the form of her comforting aunts against her. Possessing her father's body so that he did the ultimate damage to her, betraying all trust, ensuring she had nothing at all to hold on to. And he couldn't imagine what Razvan suffered, obviously some part of his mind aware of how his body was being used to torment his child.

The dragon swung its head back and forth, eyes spinning and then focusing on the child. It leapt on Lara/Nicholas, hissing and spitting. At the last moment Lara/Nicolas spun around and the claws ripped at his back, tearing deep gouges. He went to the floor, curling up in the fetal position as the dragon bit at his legs and slashed at him with its spiked tail.

Possessed as he was by Xavier, her father laughed and kicked at him, encouraging the dragon to spout flames until she screamed and Nicolas screamed with her.

Do not resist. Let him take what he wants from you. The feminine voices were in unison and Nicolas was instantly aware of Lara trying to kick out with her feet, not toward the dragon, but toward her father.

The dragon renewed its assault in a maddened frenzy of teeth and talons. Nicolas felt every shred in his skin, felt the rakes on his back as muscle tore beneath those sharp claws. The bites were painful, but shallow. The worst was the fire, spraying over his head, frying his sensitive skin, raising blisters instantly.

Suddenly impatient, Xavier/Razvan waved his hand and the dragon melted at his feet. He leaned down and jerked Lara/Nicolas to his feet, his teeth ripping open his wrist and sinking down to gulp greedily at the rich blood. Nicolas bit back a grunt of pain as his arm throbbed and burned. His stomach turned over and once again his vision blackened around the edges.

Lara suddenly resisted, swinging her arm in a tight arc and sinking the sharpened tine into Razvan's throat. Xavier screamed and threw her away from him, clamping his hand to his bleeding neck. Lara swept her tongue across her wrist and backed up slowly.

Nicolas wanted to hug her to him. In spite of the pain and the sheer hopelessness of her situation, Lara fought back, refusing to let a monster crush her spirit.

Xavier flew into a rage, spittle running down his face as he ripped her clothing away, his hands weaving a complicated pattern. Water poured down on her from the ceiling, she was lifted from her feet and flung back into the ice. The wall opened to receive her, molding around her back, buttocks and legs, freezing her skin to the ice itself.

Only then did Xavier grow quiet. He placed food and water a distance from her. "If you want to eat or

drink, you'll have to tear yourself from the wall. If you don't, I'll leave you there to rot and send my little friends in to eat your body."

Nicolas watched him shuffle out, leaving the child in excruciating pain with blood running down her legs, with her back already painful. He wanted to weep, to smash something, to gather her close and hold her against his heart and protect her always. And more than anything, he wanted to kill Xavier.

Again time meant nothing to him. He drifted on a sea of pain until the voices came again. Soft. Insistent. Encouraging. Singing of hope. Whispering endearments. Voices he could latch on to, voices that saved him from complete despair.

He found himself ascending once again toward the surface with Lara's spirit. Her light was a little brighter, but she felt battered and bruised-as did he. He tried to hurry, anxious that she not relive another event. He'd had enough-seen enough-experienced enough. He never wanted to feel that helpless and vulnerable ever again. He shepherded her, surrounding her with warmth and reassurance, feeling her reluctance as they moved closer to breaking free.

Lara was more afraid of him than of her past. She'd already lived through her childhood and survived. He was the devil she didn't know and in their relationship, he had all the power.

I am all you think I am, but I can learn. I will learn. I have many sins, palafertiil, not the least is arrogance, but I am not above admitting my mistakes. Come with me. Come back to me and give me a second chance.

He had accepted-from the first moment he heard her voice and knew that she had saved him-that she was in his care. He had resolved to do the best that he could for her-see to her every physical comfort. He hadn't expected resistance or mistrust on her part, but in truth, it hadn't mattered to him-his heart was not involved and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he could have all things his way. He even believed it to be his right. Somehow in this new night, he knew things were changing. The hard stone in his chest slowly began to beat the same rhythm as hers. He knew he was growing more and more protective, and feeling more and more tenderness toward her.

Something caught at her, jerking her spirit away from him, stalling the process of recovery. He worried now that he had found her too late and she had retreated too far, or had actually embraced insanity to escape the madness surrounding her. He sped after her, following her to the web where her spirit lay entangled by strands of memories rushing together to surround and capture her.

She was a year or so older, her hair bright under the flickering lights. He could see the beginnings of the Dragonseeker legacy woven into the color of her hair, the red glow and blonder highlights. Her eyes were by turns deep sea-green and a brilliant blue. She stood to one side in the great chamber with its cathedral ceilings, hiding behind a column, making herself small, obviously trying to avoid being seen by Xavier and Razvan as they faced each other.

Lara. The voices whispered in her ear.Xavier cannot ever know that you are aware of what he is doing to your father. He would kill you. You cannot tell your father, even to ease his mind, because when Xavier possesses his body, or Razvan is under his command, he will reveal all of your secrets .

If I tell my father I know he doesn't want to hurt me, maybe he will fight even harder. There was hope-and a little defiance in that childish voice.

He will betray you. He will not mean to, but he will be unable to stop himself.

You have been prisoners far longer. Lara was angry now, unbelieving.Xavier can't control you .

Razvan has been tortured, Lara, experimented on, over and over. His health and strength are gone. Xavier uses you against him. Xavier still doesn't understand the power of your blood. Once he does, there will be no chance of escape.

Nicolas felt the stubborn streak in Lara. She didn't answer her aunts, refusing to deceive them with an outright lie, but determined that she would go to her father and confess she knew Razvan was being manipulated against her.

As if sensing Lara's stubborn will, the aunts tried again, speaking in perfect unison, their voices soft and melodious. Nicolas recognized the threads of a compulsion woven into the pitch. Both women were weak and the suggestion wouldn't work on a stronger mind, but Lara wasn't healthy and her spirit had been beaten down.

Lara, you cannot give any information to your father that Xavier would use against him. Razvan wouldn't want you to. He has sustained Xavier all these long years and fought against him because his Dragonseeker blood is strong. Xavier knows he will soon give out and must find a replacement. If now, when he is at his weakest, you give him information that Xavier could harm you with, he will feel he has lost all honor.

The child that was Lara squeezed her eyes closed, not really understanding the whole of what the aunts were telling her, but she knew she couldn't reassure her father that she understood Xavier either possessed his body or forced him to comply using a combination of drugs and magic with his orders.

Nicolas felt Lara slip further away from him, the overwhelming despair she was feeling stronger than ever. She stared at her father with a wistful expression. He had a strong urge to pull her into his arms and hold her close, but he had no real body and she still didn't trust him. He understood why now. He understood her need for control and freedom. And he understood her absolute repugnance of anyone taking her blood.

Razvan looked weak, his once handsome face ravaged by pain and suffering. The lines were etched deep and the chains wrapped around his legs and arms had permanent burn scars from the vampire blood they were coated in. He sagged against a column, not even fighting to get away from Xavier, who took a small vial from his tunic pocket. Nicolas felt Lara tense, her small spirit shrinking back.

Interested, he stepped in front of her to block her, ready to take the brunt of whatever had happened at the age of seven. Xavier clearly experimented on Razvan and he was learning all sorts of pertinent information not only about his lifemate, but things that would be useful to the Carpathian people. Nicolas now wished he could stop Dominic from proceeding with his plan. If Xavier had felt compelled to try his experiments on Razvan because he had Dragonseeker blood running in his veins, Dominic would surely be a huge prize. Most of the experiments seemed to be centered around controlling the Carpathians or finding a way to imprison them yet still keep them alive.

For the blood. Lara's voice whispered to him, in her adult voice, not the child's.He wants your blood in the same way you want it from your sources. He will hold you prisoner and drain you dry. You would be nothing but a food source to him .

He softened his tone to tenderness, his heart reaching out for hers.Lara. I do not want you for your

blood. Come back to me. Am I really worse than this place in your past ?

For a moment he thought he had won this first battle, but then Xavier moved and the child was back, shuddering as her father was. She shrank back behind the column as Xavier hobbled across the floor of the ice cave, holding the vial in his gnarled fingers.

"You should have given me what I asked for. Giving me your sister was so little to ask in return for your life and the lives of your children." The old man clacked his tongue in reprimand. "And so many children. You betrayed your poor dead wife with your body. All those young, nubile women so willing to lay with you and give you children so you could suck the life out of them."

Razvan stirred. "You sucked the life out of them and you forced betrayal of my wife. She knew the truth, knew you used my body. Let me die, old man. I've served you for far too long and am of no more use to you."

Lara's body jerked in instant denial. The child shook her head hard, the red-gold spiral curls flying in all directions.Don't leave me, Father. I cannot bear it .

He will stay alive for you, Lara, the aunts crooned in unison.You are his only reason to continue his existence .

Nicolas found the blend of feminine voices soothing. Without them, Lara, and most likely her father, would have gone insane years earlier. The two imprisoned women were keeping hope alive. How could they do it when they had been prisoners and fed on from the time they were young children? The Dragonseeker blood in them had to be very strong.

Razvan lifted his head, his gaze darting around the chamber, seeking the child he knew had to be witnessing the confrontation between him and his grandfather. Lara froze, pressing as close to the column as she could get to avoid being seen.

Xavier let his breath out in a long, slow hiss. "I believe we can still get a few more children out of you before I'm done with you. My armies can now identify one another and even hide their existence from the foolish Carpathians thanks to you. And I can hold even the strongest prisoner and feed on the blood of the most powerful immortal, again thanks to you. I will not be hasty in getting rid of such a useful tool. You may not have the pure blood I need yourself, but you pass it on to your children."

Nicolas remembered from so many long centuries ago that Xavier had always loved to be the center of attention. He thought himself brilliant and powerful and wanted everyone around him to know that he was. He loved to brag. Nicolas had always considered him to be narcissistic. Xavier thought the world owed him their allegiance and respect. He believed he was entitled to any woman he wanted to have. Long before Rhiannon disappeared, many young mage women had lived to serve his every need or want. Xavier often had regaled the Carpathian men with tales of his sexual prowess and exploits, never realizing how little respect they had for him because he didn't hold his women in high esteem.

Now, having to hide for centuries, Xavier had no one to brag to other than the very ones he imprisoned. It was obvious he enjoyed Razvan's pain. Nicolas was certain he despised Razvan because the Dragonseeker ran strong in him. Xavier was mage. He wanted to be immortal and he wanted others to fear and admire him, but he thought himself far superior to the Carpathians. Razvan was too close to a Carpathian in his enduring strength and his code. He had protected his sister and tried desperately to protect his children, all the while being tortured and used for experiments. Yes, Xavier would despise him, because he hadn't broken Razvan and that continued defiance would cost his grandson dearly.

"You could have escaped when you got free so many years ago," Xavier pointed out, "but like a dog crawling to your master you returned to me."

Razvan shook his head. "You manage to change history to suit yourself. As I recall, I followed you to the United States because you were going to kidnap a child and bring her back here. You were unsuccessful, weren't you?"

Xavier erupted into a maddened rage, beating at Razvan with a thin whip, over and over until Razvan hung limply from his chains.

Impotent rage swept through Nicolas. He couldn't bear to see Razvan so helpless, beaten by a monster for trying to save a child. He shook with the need to strike back, desperate for his own power, hating his inability to save Razvan. The emotions were so strong that it took him a few moments before he realized he was feeling the child's passionate need to help her father every bit as well as his own sentiments.

She leapt out from behind the column and raced across the ice. Nicolas barely had time to push to the front when she kicked Xavier hard behind the knee. The old man tilted ominously, and then crumpled to the floor of the cave, howling. Lara tried to pull the chains from her father's arms, the vampire blood burning through the pads of her fingers. Nicolas felt the pain stabbing like a knife all the way to the bone, robbing him of breath. She whirled around to the man, trying to pick himself up off the floor, crouching down, patting at his tunic pockets to try to find the key to unlock the chains.

Xavier slapped her hard, sending her flying. Nicolas actually felt the Dragonseeker blood in her surge to the fore to aid her body in its catlike movements. Lara was obviously unaware of the way she landed on her feet, a seven-year-old child, untrained, yet already moving with physical prowess. She rushed the old man again.

This time, Xavier was ready for her. He threw her down and lashed her repeatedly with the whip, drawing thin red streaks across her body. She rolled and covered her head as he lashed her viciously.

"You want him free? You want that, girl? He'll smell the blood and come sniffing at you like a hungry hound. He hasn't had blood in days and he'll tear into you." The old man kicked her and shuffled across to her father.

Razvan fought at the chains, threatening Xavier and calling out to Lara to run. Nicolas couldn't get up. The pain of the whip, the burns and he was certain a cracked rib were too much for the small body they occupied. He could only lie there helplessly covering Lara's spirit, doing his best to shield her while Xavier stabbed a needle into Razvan's neck and dispensed a yellowish liquid.

Xavier stepped back from his grandson and watched with gleeful eyes. "She wants you free, Razvan, and I grant her wish."

Tatijana! Branislava! You must come to her aid. Please, please get her away from me. Block her mind, block my mind. I cannot bear to harm her again. This is too much, even for me.

Nicolas heard the plea in his head and Lara's small body tried to push itself up. He could see Razvan's face contorting. Saw Xavier step away from him, his expression cunning. Razvan's eyes glowed red and his teeth lengthened.

Fear consumed Nicolas, ate him from the inside out. He scrambled with Lara, trying to dig into the ice

for purchase to get away, but only slipped. Razvan lifted his head and sniffed the air-scenting the blood, just as Xavier said he would. He turned his head slowly until his mad eyes focused on Lara.

She whimpered and tried to crawl away. Growling, he was on her, licking at the drops of blood beading on her skin from the whip marks.

She fought, trying to push him away, but he pulled her arm to him and sank his teeth deep into her wrist. She screamed.

Nicolas felt the slice through his skin, the tearing of muscle and tissue, the puncture into his vein. It burned. More than physical was the agony of knowing he was so helpless. No matter how he fought, no matter how many blows he landed, there was no escaping those teeth gnawing at his flesh, or gulping at his blood.

Every moment made him weak until he felt he couldn't lift his arms to ward off his inevitable death. He almost welcomed death. It was preferable to being so powerless. His heart jumped in alarm. This then, was how he had made Lara feel. Hopeless. Filled with despair. So weak and vulnerable instead of making her feel powerful and cherished. This was the sin he would carry for all time.

Xavier pushed Razvan away and jerked Lara's arm to his mouth. The pain of his teeth was worse than Razvan's. His grandson pushed back, clawing at Lara and growling as the two men scuffled and fought over the prize. Lara wept softly until her body was too weak even for that. She lay panting, wheezing, her lungs struggling for air as Xavier controlled Razvan using magic, caging him in a field of energy and walking him back to his chains.

The old man turned to look at the child sprawled on the floor, his face a mask of fury. "You dare touch me? Kick me? I give you food. Life even. Ungrateful little brat." He reached down and hauled Lara up by her hair, the long red-gold curls framing her face.

Energy crackled and light sparked around his open palm. Shears appeared, sharp and wicked. Without preamble he hacked at the curls so that great chunks of silky hair fell to the floor of the ice cave. Lara screamed and writhed, trying desperately to wiggle free. Xavier took a firmer grip and kept cutting, all the while humming.

Horrified, Nicolas shoved Lara aside, knowing Xavier was purposely humiliating her, cutting the hair as close to her scalp as possible. Long strands of black hair began to rain down to pile on top of Lara's head, until the long thick strands of midnight black covered every inch of silky red.

Carpathian hair grew fast, long and thick and luxurious, almost like the pelt of an animal and few ever cut their hair. It was a sacred tradition in their culture and the ancients especially had an aversion to a shorn head. Nicolas was no exception. As the chunks of hair fell, he felt sick inside.

Lara's spirit stirred. Whether she liked it or not she was his lifemate and as her distress weighed on him, so did his on her. She pushed deeper into his mind, allowing him to pull her away from the childhood memories. Nicolas didn't hesitate, treating her sudden capitulation as a gift. He surrounded her spirit and took them fast from the past to the present, understanding completely why the aunts and her father had blocked her memories. He had lived them with her and he was shaky and sick inside.

Nicolas held Lara in his arms, looking down into her face, breathing for both of them, calling her name softly. "Come back to me,o jela sielamak . Light of my soul, be with me, Lara."

She blinked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears, exhaustion on her face, mouth trembling, her fingers sliding off his arm when she tried to hold on to him. She lifted her hand and stared, horrified at the blood smearing her palm.