Dark Curse (Dark 19)

Lara stood at the wide entrance to the cave, listening to the soft melody coming from within. Women's voices. The faint sounds produced instant memories of her aunts singing to her when she was alone and distressed, deep in the maze of caves beneath the ice mountain. For a moment, she stopped to listen.

"I know this song. It's a lullaby," she said. "It sounds beautiful in the Carpathian language. I used to sing it for the children in the camps where I lived. When I realized no one understood the language I switched to the English version. I was never certain exactly what the last line meant, but the melody and lyrics always comforted me, and also the children I sang to."

"The song is sung by mothers before the child is out of the womb," he explained. "While the mother is waiting until the night she can hold her child in her arms."

Nicolas sang to her in a melodious voice, one that sent touches of heat streaking along with the comfort. Tumtesz o wake ku pitasz belso. Hiszasz sivadet. En olenam g?idnod. Sas csecsemom, kunasz. Rauho jo?e ted. Tumtesz o sivdobbanas ku olen lamt3ad belso. Gond-kumpadek ku kim te. Pesanak te, asti o juti, kidusz .

She interpreted the lullaby. "Feel the strength you hold inside. Trust your heart, I'll be your guide. Hush my baby, close your eyes. Peace will come to you. Feel the rhythm deep inside. Waves of love that cover you, protect, until the night you rise." She looked at him. "What does that last line mean?"

"So many women were losing their babies," Nicolas said. "Women tell them that love will protect them until they are ready to be born, to come into our night."

"It's so beautiful."

Everything about the night seemed beautiful now. Nicolas had spent hour after hour making love to her, seemingly insatiable. They had taken a short break to enter the warmth of the mineral pool, only to have him take her there as well. He knew every inch of her body and the hot look he gave her made her blush, as if, with just a small encouragement, he might take her right there at the entrance to the women's cave.

"I don't really feel like I belong here, Nicolas." She twisted her fingers together. "I don't know anyone. Natalya isn't going to be here."

It wasn't that she was terribly shy, but gathering with the Carpathian women at such an emotional time, when she already felt raw and emotional was a little daunting.

"Raven asked for all women to attend and she asks very little of our people."

"I don't think she meant me. She doesn't even know me."

"Everyone knows about you, Lara. This is a very small community and we share a common communication path. When she put out the call for all the women to join her, she definitely meant you as well. I would attend with you, but it is a woman's ceremony."

"Natalya's a woman," she said stubbornly, under her breath. "And she isn't coming."

Nicolas framed her face with both hands. "I know I am asking a lot of you, Lara, but this is an ancient ceremony and one small detail may help you remember more of what you saw in the ice cave. Our children rarely survive the womb, let alone outside. They cannot go to ground as they should where the parents can protect them. Our women cannot even provide food for them. We need to know why these

things are happening and you might have valuable clues that will aid us. This could be the single most important time for our people."

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. "I can't make the memories come back. When I look too hard, everything is just a blank slate."

"Protection for you," Nicolas said. "But your aunts were not hiding these things from our people. If that were so, they would have erased your memories, not preserved them."

"Nicolas?" A woman materialized quite close to them. "Is this Lara?" She smiled in welcome, her face unlined and serene, in spite of the strain she had to be under. Her hair was bright red and hung in one thick, elaborate braid down her back. "I'm Shea Dubrinsky, Lara, Jacques is my lifemate. We can't thank you enough for coming. Nicolas tells us that you may be able to give us a few more pieces to the puzzle to help us find our answers."

Lara took a deep breath, glanced at Nicolas and then back to Shea. "I can't just conjure up the memories, but I catch a glimpse now and then. If it helps, I'm more than happy to tell you about them."

"We do plan to enter the ice cave as early as tomorrow evening," Nicolas added. "If you can give us that extra time, by aiding Raven and Savannah to hold on a little longer, there is the possibility of finding out more clues."

Shea frowned. "I've been researching this problem for some time. We know at this point we're working against a combination of things, including toxicities in the soil. In order for the soil to rejuvenate and heal us, we absorb necessary minerals through our skin. Every area has different minerals and various levels of richness, but we're finding more and more toxins as well. Our species is tied to the earth and we can't survive without the soil. If Xavier introduced something, a compound, a parasite that over the centuries has slowly killed our species, if we find out what it is, I believe we have a chance to combat it."

Shea was trained as a doctor and a researcher before Jacques claimed her.

"I have a memory of Xavier when I was about seven or eight, just a glimpse of a woman who must have just lost her baby. There was soil in the room with her. Xavier was very pleased that she lost the child."

Small lines appeared along Shea's forehead as her brows drew together. "He has had several centuries to perfect his attacks."

"Or introduce something that took place over time," Nicolas suggested. "I have to take my leave." He bowed low in a gesture of respect toward Shea. "We have a warriors' council this night."

She made a face at him. "The all-important 'keep the women at home barefoot-and-pregnant,' council? Yes, I'd say you have decisions to make. Maybe I should stay home and forget all about my research, just leave it to Gregori and Gary. I do have a son to take care of."

Lara frowned. "I don't understand."

"Nicolas didn't tell you? The men are having a meeting tonight and discussing whether or not women should be allowed-allowed-to fight vampires, or whether we would do much better staying home having babies."

"I believe it would be a good idea to leave now," Nicolas said, and cupped Lara's face in his hands,

bending to kiss her right in front of Shea.

Lara blushed, but she kissed him back, her eyes shining. Before she could protest or ask questions, he began to shift. He wasn't going to debate with Shea Dubrinsky over whether or not women should be out fighting vampires. It was going to be a heated enough discussion between the men. It was not a decision any of them would take lightly, but something had to be done to save their species. He sent Lara a wave of warmth and disappeared into the night.

Lara stared after him, not quite believing that he'd abandoned her to a group of strangers. Besides, she frowned after him, he'd taken the coward's way out and left before she could voice an opinion on the issue of men allowing or not allowing anything a woman did.

Of course I will listen to your opinion.

The intimacy of his voice made her blush all over again.Don't leave me too long .

I will return as quickly as possible.

She could hear the reassurance in his voice and it made her smile as she looked down the tunnel leading to the deeper chamber inside the cavern. "Are there many women here?"

"At the moment, we have about a dozen so we're more than glad that you have joined us. There aren't that many of us here in the mountains. We've had to send delegates to the warriors' council to speak for us as well as report back to us. Unfortunately, the men may have a legitimate argument and if so, we'd all like to hear it so we can have a chance to agree or disagree for ourselves."

It was obvious to Lara, Shea was trying to keep an open mind, but the subject irritated her. According to Nicolas, she was a modern woman who had gone through medical school, had a reputation as a valued researcher and felt the men were moving the women backward instead of forward, but she was trying to be fair and wait to hear all the facts. Lara liked her.

Shea waved her hand toward the interior. "Let me introduce you to the others."

Lara followed her down the narrow, winding tunnel that led deeper beneath the mountain. Like the caverns Nicolas occupied, this one was warm rather than part of the network of ice caves beneath the glacier and as they descended into the depths, the warmth increased. Sconces lit the way, small flickering subdued lights that glowed rather than danced. The muted lights played across the crystal growths in tunnel walls. Varied with color and shape, the lights created a dizzying display, making the wall almost surreal. In the dreamlike state, she felt almost as if she was walking backward through time to the warmth and safety of the womb.

As she entered the main chamber where the women were gathering, the illusion became even stronger. Two women, Raven and Savannah, lay in the center where black soil, rich in minerals, covered their bodies. Around them, in a loose semi-circle, women had gathered to sing the Carpathian lullaby softly, swaying back and forth as if rocking a baby.

Two other women, one tall and elegant and one thin, young and very fragile-looking, stood on the outer edges of the soil, hands lifted, both singing a soft, melodious rhythm as they moved their feet in an intricate pattern.

"Syndil and Skyler," Shea whispered. "They rejuvenate the earth itself. They're calling on the minerals

and healing properties to come forth to aid us in saving our children. Both have been invaluable in restoring toxin-free soil to us. Skyler is working as Syndil's apprentice and already, she's very good."

It was a beautiful sight, the two women performing an ancient ritual of cleansing the earth, and calling on Mother Nature to help save their children. Lara listened to the introductions, but all the while she was watching the ceremony, her heart swelled, and her mind followed every graceful sway of hands and feet. She knew the ceremony, in some part of her mind. The phrases were familiar to her, the rhythm and patterns, as if long before she was born she had been given the tools to cleanse the earth.

Her feet ached to join the two women, her hands fluttered, rising to trace a flowing arc in the air. She felt the pulse of the earth beneath her. Her heart began to change rhythm to match the song and the beat. Oh yes, the words were there, ancient and beautiful and filled with the power of women.

Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. Lara dipped low, bowing out of respect, her feet turning of their own accord to pick up the graceful spin Syndil and Skyler completed on two of the four corners surrounding Raven and Savannah. Instinctively, Lara took the third corner.We dance to heal the earth. We sing to heal the earth. We join with you now. Our hearts and minds and spirits become one .

The music was already there in her soul. But they needed a fourth. The other women danced and sang, their voices growing in strength, but they needed one more voice. They weren't strong enough. Lara looked to Syndil, a faint frown on her face. They needed to adjust their footing. "Do you feel it?"

A hush fell over the women. The warm cave pulsed with the suspension of power. Lara should have felt embarrassed to have all eyes on her. She had never done this before. She wasn't certain she was right, but something felt-off. She looked to Syndil. Power emanated from the woman, vibrated in the air around her. Her aura even pulsated.

Syndil frowned. "The dance is off balance, but there is little we can do about that." She glanced at Skyler. "What do you think?"

"It's working, but it's not exact." The teenager shrugged. "We can only do the best we can do. We need four and we have only the three of us."

Syndil nodded. "I adjust the dance and notes of the song by the amount of toxins I feel through the soles of my feet. With this soil we have to be especially careful because we're preparing it for the babies."

Lara nodded, still frowning. She raised her hand to feel the power pulsating through the room. "Some of the weaves are off a bit. We need a fourth weaver."

"There is no one. The others can contribute to the power, but they can't produce the healing song of the earth."

"There is no other from your lineage?" she asked Syndil.

Syndil shook her head. "Not that I know of. We suspect Skyler is of the Dragonseeker line, but we don't know. She heard the earth screaming, so if she isn't, she, like me, is empathic toward the earth."

"She has Dragonseeker eyes," Lara agreed.

Skyler's eyes were too old in her young face. And Lara could see traces of Razvan there. This then, was

probably one of the children Xavier had forced Razvan's body to produce in order to feed off of her blood. Somehow, the girl had ended up with the Carpathian race. The thought was unsettling and for a moment she wanted the comfort of Nicolas's arms. Without thinking, she reached for him. At once he was there.

You have need of me?

She felt foolish. She wasn't about to lose a child, yet she was shivering because a teenage girl had the eyes of her father.No. No. Everything is fine .

You have only to touch my mind with yours, Lara. I am with you.

His reassurance made her feel safe and comforted and for the first time in her life she felt as if she belonged.

I'm fine. This time she said it with conviction. She spoke directly to Raven, meeting her troubled gaze squarely. "We need Natalya."

The women all looked at one another. "Natalya is a warrior. She says she cannot feel the earth," Shea said. "She doesn't have the sensitivity for it."

Lara's eyebrow shot up. "Really? Is that what she said?"

Shea and Raven exchanged a long look and then Raven frowned. "Mikhail told me she could not heal the earth in the way her family could. Is that not true?"

Lara pursed her lips. "Natalya pulses with power. I would be shocked if she could not."

"Call her in," Raven said.

"She's at the warriors' council, speaking for us," Shea reminded.

"Call her back," Raven said again, and this time it was a command. "If there is hope to save these children, then this is far more important than the discussion going on with the men. In the end, Mikhail will come to a decision on whether women will fight with their men or not and we will all abide by it."

No one was going to point out that the reason they needed Natalya at the meeting was to make certain their voices were heard. Raven rarely-if ever-pulled rank as Mikhail's wife, but there was no doubt she wanted Natalyasummoned .

Raven's face was streaked with tears, and her anguish weighed heavily on the women. Raven had survived one loss, and now another child was slipping away. Beside her, Savannah was pale and drawn, closing her eyes, concentrating on holding her babies to her.

Both women could communicate with their unborn children, which made the loss all the more difficult to face. The babies were real, with personalities already developing.

"Call her now, Shea," Raven insisted.

Shea reached out to Razvan's twin.

"Why is Shea reluctant to call her back," Lara whispered to Syndil.

"Natalya is different," Syndil answered. "She's the oldest surviving female Dragonseeker and as such, her blood is extremely powerful. Beyond that, she is a force to contend with in every other way and she walks her own path. I think having to hide from Xavier, she became a loner over the years. She's always pleasant and respectful, but she has a tendency to keep to herself. One rarely sees her without Vikirnoff."

Lara wasn't surprised that Natalya was a loner. Natalya exuded the air of a very confident woman, but she was Razvan's sister and the granddaughter of one of the most evil men ever born. She'd most likely spent her earlier years looking over her shoulder and afraid to trust anyone at all. Lara wasn't certain she could overcome her own traumatic childhood in order to commit fully to Nicolas. She could certainly understand her aunt's reticence.

Natalya strode in with her easy, casual grace, her blue-green eyes wide with questions. "Raven? You have need of me?"

Raven nodded. "Lara and Syndil feel you are the only one to aid us in this and I am-we are¨C desperateto save our children."

Natalya glanced around the cave and then to Lara. "I don't have any experience in healing rituals, but if you tell me what to do, I'll do my best."

Raven let out her breath. "Thank you, Natalya."

Savannah's long lashes lifted. Her eyes were swimming with tears. "My daughters thank you as well. They're trying to hold on, but my body is rejecting them." She wrapped both arms around her middle and rocked gently. "I tell them I want them to stay with me, but they feel my body attacking them."

Raven nodded. "I can't bear to lose another child."

The naked sorrow in her voice tore at Lara's heart. A tall, elegant woman with waist-length thick black hair immediately knelt between the two pregnant women, laying a hand on either of them.

"Francesca," Natalya supplied. "Lifemate to Gabriel, healer, and adopted mother to Skyler. She's an amazing woman. Now tell me what you want me to do."

Lara was happy to have her there. She didn't know any of the women, and looking at Skyler was like looking at herself as a young girl. A little lost. Very much alone. Traumatized. The teenager made her feel exposed. Natalya was clearly a puzzle to the women, although it was obvious they admired her.

"This is about healing the earth first," Syndil explained. "We've found the richest soil we could and have coaxed more minerals in it, but we have to heal it from all toxins."

"And parasites," Lara muttered under her breath.

Shea spun around. "What did you say?"

Lara wished she hadn't spoken, but they were all looking at her expectantly. She pressed her fingers against her suddenly throbbing temple. "I'm sorry. I was thinking out loud."

"No, I need to know what you said," Shea insisted.

Lara shrugged. She didn't want to talk about her childhood, or even think about it. "Xavier always experimented with parasites. He was never satisfied with them and always looked for ways to use them. He once said they had been more useful than any of his most gifted mages. I can't imagine that he would do anything without that being his first thought. He could create toxins for the soil, but what if he created a parasite that entered the host body and prevented pregnancy?"

Francesca stood up slowly, her eyes meeting Shea's over the tops of both Raven's and Savannah's heads.

"We checked for foreign microbes. We scan the bodies of the women all the time," Shea said. "Gregori would never miss something like that."

"Maybe," Lara said, "but Xavier is a master at working with microscopic amoebas. And when you're dancing to heal the earth, you're looking for modern-day toxins."

Shea frowned. "Do you have any idea how many toxins are found in a newborn's umbilical cord or in breast milk? The soil is what we live in, what rejuvenates us, yet our children can't go to ground with us or use the most perfect nutritious milk nature can provide. I could name every chemical we've found in the soil, most of which cause cancer and..."

Raven laid a restraining hand on her sister-kin's arm. "Lara, our water supply and our soil are fed from the purest of sources, the glacier. Even with that, Syndil has to heal the earth."

"I'm just saying maybe your glacier isn't the purest of sources. Xavier owns the ice caves. The caves run for miles beneath the mountains, an entire city really. His mountain is above your homes and his glacier feeds your water supply and seeps into your soil. You've discounted him because you think he's dead. Well, he's not. No one is going to kill him. And he hates the Carpathian people. If he could have, he would have found a way to introduce something into your systems to make your bodies reject a pregnancy."

Lara ran a hand through her hair. "I'm not saying it isn't modern toxins, I'm only saying you might want to look to your past for answers as well."

She couldn't believe she was voicing her opinion to the circle of women. Growing up outside the ice caves, she had stayed under the radar by remaining as quiet and meek as possible. She had learned that if she wanted to remain with a family or in a camp, she had to keep from being noticed-not too easy when her hair banded with color and her eyes changed as well. The gypsies she had been with had been kind to her, but they were superstitious and her strange appearance along with her psychic abilities often made her unwelcome.

"Don't be uncomfortable," Francesca encouraged. "We need as many new ideas as possible."

"Well, Xavier isn't just a possibility as far as I'm concerned, he's done something to cause this. He might be spreading toxins to the land, and the water, but I would bet my life that he introduced something to Carpathian women that cause them to reject their children."

"We checked the women thoroughly," Francesca said. "And not everyone has the problem."

"Let's get this started again," Syndil said. "Raven and Savannah need rich soil to aid them in strengthening their bodies."

"Oh, my God!" Shea spun around, wide-eyed, her gaze meeting Francesca's. "We've checked the women, but men determine the sex of the child, both in human and in Carpathian. We didn't check the men. Our problems started with a disproportionate number of male children."

Francesca obviously tried to suppress her own excitement, opting for caution after so many disappointments. "Maybe. It's logical, but we have to continue to explore every avenue open to us."

Shea nodded her head several times, but squeezed Raven's hand. "We're going to help Syndil and the others make this the best soil possible for you and Savannah," she said. "And then I'm going to my laboratory and figure this out. All you have to do is hold on a little longer."

Raven nodded, but there were white lines around her mouth and desperation in her eyes. Lara had to look away from the open grief on her face.

Some of the other women must have seen Raven's face. They once again formed their loose semi circle. A fire in the corner held a large pot and Francesca put several large stones of various composition into the water along with bunches of the small blue flowers and the bitterroot mandragora. While she added other herbs and ingredients, several other women lit aromatic candles. At once the scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. The women began to sing the Carpathian lullaby.

Lara found herself joining them, lifting her voice, feeling the overwhelming sense of love for the unborn children, calling to them to stay in the womb, safe and protected, waiting until the moment they were born and could be held in loving arms.

Power surged in the room and it held a subtle difference. Feminine energy was every bit as potent as male, but it held roots of nurturing and compassion. Part mage as she was, Lara was very sensitive to the differences, sorting through individual threads and finding that the layers being woven around Raven and Savannah held genuine love and absolute harmony. The women had come together with one purpose-to save the babies-and no matter how each was different, from different backgrounds, their minds and hearts held the exact same objective and intent.

The strength of the combined women was amazing. She felt bolstered by it and encouraged not just to be part of the amazing sisterhood, but to feel balanced and confident in herself and the others as a whole.

Lara looked around the cavern at all the women, drinking in the sight, soaking in the feeling of unity. Power lived in each of them, as it did in all living things and they gathered that positive energy and used it for the best of all purposes-saving lives.

She added her voice, a soft melodious plea, a soothing comfort to the unborn children. The women connected, so that they could feel each other, close in their minds, and they also felt Raven and Savannah, and through them, the children.

Savannah's two daughters were nestled close, listening intently and trying to ignore the spasms that occasionally clamped down on them. Raven's child was a boy. Her body was desperately trying to abort, laboring hard to rid itself of the intruder. The boy was in great distress, torn between fighting to stay with his mother, and gaining peace by leaving. Raven crooned softly to him, rocking gently, her empty arms folded over him as if she was cradling him.

Syndil signaled to Skyler to take her position at the corner of the immense bed of soil prepared for the two pregnant women. Natalya and Lara took the lower corners. A hush fell over the cave until the only

sound heard was Raven's labored breathing.

Syndil's arms rose into the air and the other three women followed suit. Her feet began a pattern of dancing, her body swaying gracefully as her hands flowed in elegant lines. Skyler waited several heartbeats, humming the melody in perfect tune with Syndil until her feet took up the rhythm and she started the first line of the chant two lines behind Syndil. Lara took her cue from Skyler, waiting instinctively until her feet and hands, of their own volition, began to move. She felt the song of healing rising from inside to burst out. The air shimmered with power. And then Natalya joined them.

Their voices rose in song and they danced an intricate pattern to the sound of their bare feet patting the dirt as if drawing music from the very center of the earth. Lara felt the song, felt the dance, through the soles of her feet. She knew each step before she took it, each graceful movement of her hand and sway of her body before she made it. The song was loud in her mind, in perfect harmony with the other three dancers, perfectly tuned to the notes of the earth itself.

Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We dance to heal the earth. We sing to heal the earth. We join with you now. Our hearts and minds and spirits become one.

As she sang the song, this time it was right, the women merging into one unit with the earth, in accord with the sky above them and the hot core beneath them.

Oh, Mother Nature, we are your beloved daughters. We pay homage to our mother and call upon the North... Syndil bowed low and swept into a circle.South , Skyler repeated the move in perfect synchronization with Syndil.East . Lara dipped low, a sign of respect, spinning with the other two women as Natalya went next.West . All four women completed the fourth bow and turned at the exact same moment.Above and below and within as well .

Power burst through the chamber, alive now, visible threads linking all of the women in the room, drawing on their energy.

Our love of the land heals that which is in need. We join with you now, earth to earth. The cycle of life is complete.

The soil warmed beneath their feet. Raven and Savannah gasped as the wave of heat washed over them. The color of the soil darkened even more into a rich, fertile black, sparkling with minerals.

Lara felt the joy of the earth through the soles of her bare feet, moving up through her legs to infuse her body with strength and happiness. As part of a cosmic whole she was one with the women, one with the universe and had a complete feeling of confidence and accord. For that one moment in time, she had no fears, no vulnerabilities, part of a greater whole. She was flooded with almost a euphoric feeling of well-being, transcended by the energy and peace surrounding her.

The dancers stopped swaying and the women buried their hands in the richness of the fertile soil, far more valuable to them then the richest gold mine. They all should have been drained and weary, but the soil infused them with energy.

Syndil's face reflected the joy Lara was feeling, her eyes shining with wonder.

"This is what our soil should be for our women," Syndil said. "And with four of us, we can do so much now."

"I feel a difference already," Savannah said, relieved. "My cramps are far less."

Raven bit her lip and shook her head. "It isn't helping me. The contractions are getting stronger." Despair was in her voice.

Lara, one with the other women, reached to connect with the child. Fear swamped her mind, pain followed. She had the sensation of being torn from her safe haven. She choked back a ragged cry. The little boy was conscious of what was happening to him and he kept reaching out to his mother.

Raven tried to shield him from the pain and the continual battering on his tiny body. More than the physical assault against him, Lara felt the subtle flow of something else. She frowned, glanced at Natalya and then the others to see if they caught it as well. They were all caught in the same fear and grief of losing the child.

Lara touched her tongue to her suddenly dry lips, reaching instinctively for Nicolas. At once he was there, his warmth surrounding her, his strength giving her confidence. Steadied, she took a breath and let it out, trying to follow the thread of dark influence working against both child and mother. Before she could find the source, the child slipped farther away.

Raven began to cry, deep wrenching sobs that tore at Lara's heart. "I can't lose another child. He's too tiny to send into the next life without a mother. I have to go with him."

A collective gasp went up and the women visibly paled.

"You cannot," Shea stated. "Absolutely not."

"Mother," Savannah protested.

"Raven," Francesca's voice was the sound of calm. "If you choose to follow your son, Mikhail will follow you into the next world. Our people need both of you. You are distraught and not thinking straight."

Raven continued to weep brokenly. Shea sank down into the soil beside her, wrapping her arms around her while Savannah clasped her hand.

"I don't understand what that means, that Mikhail will follow her," Lara whispered to Natalya.

"Lifemates cannot exist without one another. If Raven chooses the next life with her child, Mikhail will have no choice but to follow, or he will turn vampire. This cannot be a choice for Raven, especially with Mikhail. He is our leader. Unless Savannah could take his place, our enemies have won and our species will be extinct."

Lara went very still, fingers of fear trickling down her spine. Nicolas could have turned vampire. She had left the world by her own choice, never fully understanding the dire consequences to him or to the people around him. He had never said a word to her, not one word of recrimination. Nicolas was an experienced hunter. Had he turned, he would have killed many before he was destroyed.

She scooped more of the rich soil into her fists as she looked at Raven's tear-streaked face. "You cannot take the chance with your lifemate's life." As she had done. Selfishly, without thought of the consequences to anyone else.

Looking around the chamber at the women gathered together to heal the earth and to save the lives of

three children, she realized that each person was valuable in their own way, that each contributed to the greater good. She was part of the circle of life just as Nicolas was, just as Raven and the unborn children were. Each of them was special and important and had a contribution to make. Maybe none of them knew what it was, but they had to revere life-fight for it-count each individual as important.

"Raven, you're needed here by so many," she murmured aloud, understanding for the first time that individuals made up the whole. "We would all be diminished by your passing."

"I need you," Savannah said, gripping her mother's arm. "I need you with me. I'm your daughter. If you only have me, aren't I worth staying here for?" She looked panic-stricken, very white in contrast to the black soil. "Mom, you can't leave me."

"I know. I know." Raven put her arms around her daughter. "I just can't bear losing another child. He's so tiny and he wants to live. He's so far away."

Francesca caught her arms, gave her a little shake. "Raven, look at me." She waited until Raven focused on her. "You re panicking. You have to be calm so he can stay calm. You have to believe we can save him so he'll believe it."

"It hurts him and he's in shock," Raven protested.

"I know, honey. And you're feeling his pain and his fear and it's amplifying your own, but that won't help him. We can. All of us. Look around you. We're all here with you. We'll help."

Savannah nodded her head. "I'll help, too, and so will the twins."

Lara reached again for the thread. "There is a dark art at work here. I feel it when I connect with you and the child. You're being influenced to give up and so is your son. You have to fight back, Raven. Don't let Xavier have this child. Don't let him take you and the boy. Buy me some time."

Francesca and Shea whipped their heads around to stare at her in shock. "Are you certain?" Francesca demanded. "Really certain?"

"It's subtle but it's there. Believe me, I can recognize Xavier's influence anywhere, no matter how light his touch is."

"I need to feel what you're feeling," Francesca said. "Natalya? Do you feel it?"

Natalya went very still. She nodded slowly. "Yes, she's right. And the same influence is working in Savannah as well. Not as strong yet, because the twins are merging to bolster their strength, but the weave of dark art is attacking them as well. They won't be able to hold out against it if it continues, at least not until they're ready to be born."

Savannah placed both arms protectively around her stomach. "What can we do?"

"We have to destroy whatever is attacking them," Francesca said.

"Should I call Gregori back?"

"And Mikhail?" Raven's voice wavered.

Lara frowned. "We can't take the chance of it retreating once it feels the threat of a male. Carpathian men are the protectors and guardians. It doesn't perceive us as a threat."

"Can you follow it?" Natalya asked. "Because if you can give me a target, I can destroy it." She spoke with absolute confidence.

"I can follow it," Lara said.

"Raven?" Francesca said. "This is your call. Yours and Savannah's. If you believe Mikhail and Gregori should be called back to try to deal with this attempt to murder your children, then we'll summon them immediately."

Raven and Savannah exchanged a long look. Silence settled into the cavern. The water in the huge pot continued to boil and the soothing scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. Raven looked around at the women who waited, the women who had all come for one purpose-to save their children.

Raven lifted her chin, leaned over and kissed her daughter and met Lara's blue-green gaze. "Find this thing and let's destroy it."