Dark Curse (Dark 19)

The hum of the crystals greeted Nicolas as he entered the deep caverns. The formations of the giant crystals never failed to astonish and impress him. Only nature could have provided such a wealth of beauty formed with rich minerals. Gypsum, not uncommon in many areas, was not as well known in the Carpathian Mountains. A thousand feet below the earth, with the hot magma burning even farther below it, the soft limestone bed had been cut through by the wash of hydrothermal liquid bubbling up, breaking through from the magma chambers below and filling the chambers before draining away, leaving behind a thick forest of selenite, some over seventy feet in height and a good seven feet in diameter.

Nicolas had seen the giant redwood forests in the States and he had found the trees impressive and grandiose but not even they could compare to the magnificent forest of crystals. He knew the gypsum columns were very rare throughout the world as they were so deep beneath the earth, steeped in heat and bathed in one hundred percent humidity, which made the underground grottoes difficult for even the most expert of cavers to discover, but the Carpathians thrived in the underground environment.

He looked around the labyrinth of chambers, one leading to the next, at the shape and colors of the enormous crystals, and felt awed. He stopped a moment to admire the beauty and soak it in, wishing Lara was with him to share the moment. He felt at peace, as if he might be in the greatest cathedral, as if this place was a gift from the heavens for his species alone. No other species could withstand the high temperatures and humidity for any length of time without being cooked, yet his people thrived here. Standing at the foot of a giant crystal column, he felt very close to any deity that might be looking out for him.

As he descended deeper into the inner chambers, the vibrations increased, tuning to his body so that he felt power ripple through him. As he moved through the separate chambers to get to the warriors' council room, the walls, heavy with crystals, appeared to undulate, a slow rhythmic wave like the gentle ebb and flow of the tide. The continual movement enhanced the feeling of being one with the earth, another tie to

the planet itself and the mountains so rich in everything the Carpathian people needed.

At least for the first few centuries, the mountains had provided for them, but now he suspected Xavier had somehow managed to change that. He hoped to address that suspicion and give credence for his need to re-enter the high mage's black arts labyrinth of caves. The network ran miles beneath the mountains, spread out like a village. There was no way of knowing if any of it was still occupied. Xavier had left powerful safeguards that were death traps.

He and Vikirnoff intended to find another way into the chambers of the dark mage after the council meeting. The entrance they had been using was closed to them, and the parasite venom in the guardian's teeth was a powerful dissuading argument for trying to go through a door primed to kill.

Many of the Carpathian males had already gathered and he hailed them, using the more formal forearm-to-forearm greeting out of respect. With his emotions so new, the camaraderie he felt was somewhat overwhelming. He had always been aloof. For the most part, other than his brothers, very solitary. Within the confines of the large warriors' chamber, he felt the strength of the Carpathian people, the wisdom of the ancients and especially the connection they all had through their prince.

He realized, once inside the deep chamber, that an air of sobriety ran through the men-and the three women waiting there. He raised an eyebrow as he greeted Vikirnoff.

"Raven is having more trouble. Gregori has called most of the women and want them to do their woman magic, as we all referred to it in ancient times. He has no idea what is wrong, but hopes Syndil and the others can stop her from miscarrying."

"And Savannah?"

"Gregori has not allowed her to get up other than to attend to Raven. He is very grim, so I fear the odds of her keeping the babies are not good either."

Nicolas glanced at the three women present in the warriors' chamber: Natalya, Jaxon and Destiny. "Shouldn't they be with Raven?"

"The women are aware we are raising the issue of female fighters and have formally asked the three of them to speak on behalf of the others."

Nicolas shook his head. "We could have a fight on our hands."

Vikirnoff shrugged. "In the end, the prince will have to make a decision on the issue. Natalya has hunted the vampire and has been independent for a long time. Destiny has hunted her entire life. I am not even certain she could put it down. She was enslaved by a vampire and suffered greatly at his hands."

"I am well aware of the arguments," Nicolas said. "And I have discovered it is not so easy to say no when your lifemate is insistent on doing something dangerous. I have strong reservations against taking Lara back to Xavier's cave, but she is probably the one who will be able to unravel the safeguards. She will recognize clues we might miss, and the journey may open her memories even more-memories we may need to aid us in solving the problems our women face."

"I had not considered those things," Vikirnoff said. "In truth, I had decided we should just go in tonight if we find a suitable entrance, and leave the women behind."

"Your woman would not follow you?"

"Of course she would think to follow me if she knew." Vikirnoff sent Natalya a look of utter devotion. "She does not know the meaning of 'quit.' On the other hand, I have more experience and if necessary, could throw her off for a few hours in order to do the necessary exploring. She would be angry with me later, but I would much rather have her safe."

"And if you tell her to stop hunting?"

"If Natalya decides it is the right thing to do to stop hunting the vampire, she will stop, but that is the only way. I could dictate to her until the end of days, but she goes her own way and I am proud of her for doing so."

"You are not going to be much of a help," Nicolas pointed out.

Vikirnoff frowned. "I've always had a quick learning curve and in dealing with women, I've found it is much easier avoiding a confrontation."

"We need to have Mikhail make a ruling on this issue."

"I will add my voice to yours and Gregori's. I believe if we do not act soon, it will be too late. We must have more hope for our males. And we have to find a way to produce more children as well as search the world over for lifemates. The only real hope we have left to us is for our women to produce more children."

Dayan of the Dark Troubadours strode up, obviously overhearing what Vikirnoff said. "Perhaps we should take a page from our enemy's book and open a psychic center where we can interview women without them being aware we are doing so."

Gregori moved through the giant crystal forest, Mikhail at his side. Both men looked strained and tired. A hush fell across the council hall.

"Any news?" Lucian asked his younger brother.

Gregori shoved a hand through his thick hair, the gesture weary. "There is little we can do now. I am holding the twins to their mother. They want to live. That is something."

"And Raven?" Lucian prompted.

Mikhail shook his head. "She is trying to hold on. Jacques and I are both holding the baby to her, but they are getting weaker. Soon I will have no choice but to allow the child to slip away. I dare not risk Raven. She says no, but I cannot take chances with her life."

"If we can aid you in any way," Lucian offered. "We are more than willing."

Mikhail nodded. "The women gather now. There is much magic in the old ways. Syndil is providing the richest soil and Shea has come up with a strengthening drink to aid their bodies in gaining nutrients they seem to be lacking."

"There is some reason to believe that Xavier has a hand in this," Nicolas said, raising his voice so all could hear. He related the small cracking open of the door to Lara's memory. "We hope she will

remember more when we go to the ice cave. Perhaps there is a piece of the puzzle that we can find in time to help."

"Xavier's lair is dangerous," Lucian said. "If he is alive he would not have abandoned it completely. He had too many of his secrets stored there." He looked at his brother. "As a healer, Gregori, what kinds of things could he have done, centuries ago, that would cause our women to have these problems?"

"The fact that the problems changed over the years leads me to believe that whatever Lara saw could be real. First we noticed the lack of female babies," Gregori noted. "The precedence occurred over a long period of time. Because our women as a rule only give birth every fifty or so years, no one noticed that the male count was rising as the female count dropped."

"His first attempt?" Lucian asked.

"Perhaps," Mikhail mused. "We would have to talk to Shea about the way he could have influenced the sex of the children, but many of our people were attending his school. In those days, Xavier was a trusted friend. He set up the safeguards for us, weaving strands of magic with natural energy to protect the places we rested. No one ever guessed his jealousy of our longevity would lead him to commit the atrocities that he has over the centuries."

Gregori shrugged broad shoulders. "His jealousy has led him down the path of madness."

"He is entirely evil now," Nicolas declared, "if he wasn't already before."

Natalya stood suddenly, touching her lifemate's arm with gentle fingers. "I'm sorry, but Raven has summoned me. I must go to her."

Mikhail's face was drawn and tired as he looked at her. "I appreciate whatever you can do to help us, Natalya." He pressed his fingers to his temples. "She has asked that I do not interfere with what they are doing."

Gregori's face was pale as well. "They want Natalya right away."

Natalya nodded. "Yes, they are calling for me and of course I'll go. Whatever it takes, all of us are behind you."

Vikirnoff brushed a kiss across the top of her head and squeezed her hand as she took her leave. "Natalya isn't always comfortable within a group."

"No one is comfortable right now," Mikhail said. "This is a heart-breaking situation for everyone. If Raven and Savannah cannot keep these children, do you think any of the women who are now pregnant will feel as if they have the chance to carry? And the ones who are not, do you think they will chance the heartache?"

"They will not have a choice, Mikhail, if our species is to survive," Lucian pointed out. "All of us feel the pain of the loss of our children, but we cannot give up or give in to that heartache."

Mikhail's eyebrow shot up. "I did not realize you and your lifemate had suffered the loss of a child, Lucian."

"All losses diminish us as a whole."

"Words give little comfort when one suffers the loss of a child who is not only the best part of you but part of your beloved lifemate as well," Mikhail agreed, "but we talk with our child. We encourage him, love him, suffer the pain when he is hurt because Raven's body is rejecting him. He is as real to us as if we were able to hold him in our arms. Raven has lost a son once already. Now there is another and she is losing him to an enemy we cannot see or fight. Each rising he slips farther from us, inch by slow inch and we are helpless to save him. Do you think I want this for my lifemate? Or for yours?"

There was a small silence. Gregori stirred. "We are asking that everyone weigh in with these matters because if we do not have answers soon, our species will not recover."

"You are a healer, Gregori," Destiny said. "Do you think our women should continue to try to have children when we have been unable to resolve these problems? Wouldn't it be better to wait until we know what's wrong before we subject our hearts, minds and bodies to such trauma?"

"Our problem is very simple, Destiny," Gregori answered. "If we do not have children, we die out. Every hour we wait to have female children, we lose more of our males. Yes, it is a tragedy and is a terrible thing that our women must risk losing a child, but our men are without hope. No one can continue without hope."

"It seems a useless sacrifice to get pregnant knowing the child will die, just to give false hope to a male. In the end, he has nothing anyway," Jaxon pointed out. "If we cannot safely have children, maybe the solution is to look in another direction. Why not put together a database of female psychics as Dayan mentioned? We could find a way to check them out, record their voices, have our males listen and see if there is a possibility that they can find their lifemates that way."

Destiny nodded. "We're not utilizing modern technologies for our searches."

"If you create a database, our enemies will have their targets laid out before them like a feast," Lucian objected. "Do you think the moment word got out, as it would, that we have stored names and locations of potential lifemates our enemies would not move on that as fast as they could?"

Nicolas frowned. "There has to be a way to protect the database. It does not sound like a bad idea."

"Our enemy thought of it before us," Destiny said. "They have a psychic research center called the 'Morrison Center' in the United States. I'm betting they've established them everywhere. The women go to the center, are tested and then they are targets for murder. The database already exists."

Several of the men without lifemates exchanged long looks of complete understanding. One stepped forward. Nicolas had seen the man once, years earlier, but only when he had passed through the Amazon forest chasing a vampire. Like most males without emotion or color, he had been solitary and rather curt when they had met. His name was Andre. Nicolas had tracked him and found evidence that the man had been wounded in the ensuing battle, but he was long gone from De La Cruz territory.

Andre gave a stiff bow toward the two women before addressing the others. He stood tall and straight, his face a chiseled mask, his eyes hollow. "If there is a database already of potential lifemates, I say we take it over. We have all accumulated wealth through the years, we can buy them out legally, or hack into their system, or just walk in and take over those running the place by using mind control. Once we have control, we turn the site into a fortress."

"It is a calculated risk," Lucian said. "The more we expose ourselves the chances of discovery are

greater. The world of computers and modern technology-with cameras on every cell phone and nearly every public place one goes outside of these mountains-raises the danger to all of us."

"I am more than willing to take that chance if it increases the odds that even one of us will find a lifemate. We cannot afford to wait to give our protection to these women," Andre declared.

There was a note in his voice that told Nicolas he was asking permission and most likely would go after the database whether it was okayed or not. Judging from the looks on the other males without lifemates, Andre would have a lot of help.

Gregori started to speak but Mikhail forestalled him by moving into the center of the circle. He looked around the chamber filled with many single males, men who had given their lives to sustaining a dying species.

"This opportunity is far too important to pass up, whatever the risk. In any case, if these women are in danger whether they are true lifemates or not, they need our protection. I will meet with you next rising to discuss this issue and come up with a plan of action."

Andre again gave a small bow toward the women and slipped toward the back of the chamber where he obviously was more comfortable and less exposed.

Mikhail, many of our males are desperate. They could abuse this situation, turning into stalkers of these women if we are not careful. This could become a huge problem, Gregori cautioned.

I am well aware of that. But it is a sound idea and one, once voiced, that cannot be taken back. These men are indeed desperate and they will go to whatever lengths it takes to acquire this list of potential lifemates. If we control the list, we can protect the women.

So be it.

"Once this information is acquired, however we do it, we have to make certain the guardian will stand against any and all who would force them to give it up." Mikhail took a careful look around the chamber to ensure everyone understood him. "These women are targeted for murder. We do not want to expose them to any more risk than they already are under."

"It's all part of the master plan to destroy our species," Nicolas said. "If our enemies can successfully eliminate our women and children, and all potential lifemates, all hope is lost and a good portion of our males will join their ranks."

"Do we pull back and protect ourselves by calling everyone back to the Carpathian Mountains?" Gregori asked. "We have a better chance of protecting our own by gathering together. Our enemies' numbers have increased and they are now running in packs." He indicated Nicolas. "We've had disturbing news all of you should hear, including reports of the vampires trying to open the shadow world so their dead can join their ranks against us."

Nicolas revealed the plot his brother Manolito had uncovered when he had awakened still partially in the shadow world after the attack on Shea. "The Malinov brothers have made an alliance with Xavier. We do not know if Razvan is part of their conspiracy or if he is a prisoner at this point. With the parasites Xavier developed, the vampires appear to recognize one another and yet can hide their presence from us. We can no longer trust that we can so easily detect an enemy."

Gregori nodded. "The enemy has corrupted many of the jaguar-males. We'll be asking Zacarias and his brothers to act as emissaries and try to get those not already lost to join with us."

The silence in the room was broken only by the humming crystals. The news wasn't good. Mikhail eventually stood. "Many of you may have heard that Manolito has found his lifemate. She is lycanthrope. That species has always gone their own way, but they wield a lot of power and would make a tremendous ally. We need to locate them and send someone to convince them to join with us."

There was a brief murmur of conversation as the men discussed the possibility of finding the long-absent lycanthrope species.

"And humans?" Jaxon asked.

There was a long silence. Mikhail sighed. "This has been a long-running debate. Most think it is still not the time for acceptance."

"Perhaps expand our trusted circle. Cullen, Gary and Jubal certainly have proven to be more than reliable," Jacques said, naming three of their human friends. "Without Gary we wouldn't be nearly as far along in our research as we are. He works hard and keeps our hours. He also watches over the children who cannot go to ground. Mikhail has several friends in the village who have proven trustworthy time and again."

"And have we considered aligning ourselves with the community of mages? Not all of them followed Xavier, and most were abused and tortured under his rule," Nicolas added.

Immediately, at the suggestion, heated discussions broke out. Mikhail said nothing, simply let the men discuss the possibility of asking aid of other communities-ones they had protected but had been careful not to reveal themselves to.

Mikhail sat quietly, his senses flaring out to bridge with the power emanating from the forest of crystals. Each geode hummed a slightly different note and as he listened, turning his mind to the notes, he heard the quiet voices of the ancient warriors who had gone before. Each told of the old days when all the species existed in harmony. The reclusive lycanthrope, as powerful as the Carpathians in their own way, but running on a short fuse, the males every bit as protective of their females as the Carpathians, which made for a volatile situation when so many Carpathian males were unable to find lifemates among their own kind. Would an emissary be welcome if they were found? Or would he be killed to protect the lycanthrope society as a whole? Whoever he sent would be at risk.

Leadership wasn't about knowing the right thing to do, it was about making decisions and being willing to accept the responsibility that came with inevitable mistakes. If he allowed his men to reach out to the various species, he could put his people at terrible risk. Over the years the vampire myths had grown and become legends. Few would distinguish between a Carpathian and vampire. Jaguars had turned on their women.

Mikhail rubbed his eyes wearily. Their world seemed too long at war. He had so many problems trying to keep his dying species alive, yet at that moment, surrounded by his fellow warriors, his mind continually tried to reach for his lifemate and check on his child.

When the discussion looked as if it might go from heated to outright mayhem, he broke in. "Mage and Jaguar have mixed with humans and I would guess lycanthrope have done so as well over the last few centuries. Many of the shifters have diluted their blood. They carry the gene, but they no longer can shift.

Shea had a human mother and a Carpathian father. We do not know whether Razvan deliberately impregnated human women or whether he was forced to do so, but we know the children carry Carpathian blood. Our species is not so far removed from any other. We have to have allies and we need to actively find them."

Mikhail's voice was quiet, but carried the weight of his absolute authority. "We cannot abandon other species to fight the vampire alone. We need to change with the times and become more open to friendship and alliances."

"The more we let into our circle, the more difficult it will be to protect our women and children," Gregori pointed out. "We are surrounded by enemies and we do not know friend from foe at this point."

"Then all of us need to be trained in destroying vampires," Jaxon proposed. "It should be mandatory, so no matter where we are, we have a chance to get out alive."

"We train the male children from the time they are born now," Mikhail said quietly. "I am already passing my knowledge to my son who is in Raven's womb."

"What about your granddaughters, Mikhail?" Jaxon asked. "Is anyone teaching them?"

Gregori scowled, his silver eyes glittering with something close to a warning. "My daughters and my lifemate will never be allowed into a dangerous situation."

Destiny's eyebrow shot up. "You can't possibly know that. You can't. No one, not even you have that kind of control throughout a lifetime, especially a lifetime as long as we have. Absolutely all women and even our children should be trained in how to destroy a vampire," Destiny said. "It only makes sense."

Jaxon nodded her head. "Why should you only train the male children? Even if a woman never has to use her knowledge, she should have it. You never know when she may be attacked and males are not always by our sides."

"Why not?" Nicolas demanded. "Your lifemate and every other male whether he is attached or unattached should be with one of our women when they go anywhere. Each and every one of you, and especially our children, should have bodyguards. Ivory died because she left the safety of her family. We lost Rhiannon for the same reason. The moment Xavier closed his school to males and took only our females, we should have refused to allow them to attend."

There was a murmur of agreement in the chamber and several nodded their heads. Destiny glanced at her lifemate, clearly asking him questions. She scowled at his answers.

"You re talking about something that happened centuries ago, Nicolas. Times are different and the world is different. You can't live in the past."

"No, but we can learn from it," Nicolas said. "We lost everything by not protecting our women. Everything . We are down to thirty or so women who can maybe provide one or two lifemates for our males, if we manage to figure out what is killing our children. We cannot afford to think in terms of humans or any other species that have numerous numbers to fall back on. If they choose to forget their women and children, that's their problem, but we cannot. We have to do everything in our power to protect the few that we have."

"You can't lock up the women, Nicolas," Lucian said, "as much as we may want to."

"We could try," Dimitri, one of the single men, muttered under his breath.

Jaxon shot him a hostile look. "You can try, but I wouldn't count on it ever happening."

Gregori stirred, drawing all eyes instantly. "Destiny is correct in that our women and children should be taught how to defend themselves. But I agree with Nicolas on this point. No child and no woman should go unescorted. We have too many enemies and if we can no longer detect them, they could walk through our village and would never be aware of the danger."

Jaxon frowned. "Do you really think any grown woman is going to sit in her home waiting for an escort when she has things to do?"

"We all make sacrifices in times of need," Gregori said.

Jaxon rolled her eyes. "Then you wait in your house for one of us to come escort you. Try it for a few risings and see how you like it." She turned her head and met her lifemate's icy gaze. "If I feel like visiting a friend or relative, I'm certainly going to do it."

"Now you sound like a sulky child deliberately misunderstanding what I am saying to you," Gregori said. "No one wants to dictate to you. The reality is quite simple. We need children, not fighters, and women have babies not men. We have a surplus of fighters and very few women so the task of giving birth falls to the women."

"Really?" Destiny's eyebrow shot up. "So what I'm hearing is that Nicolae should be allowed to fight the vampire, but not me because if I get killed we lose me as a brood mare."

"That is not what I said," Gregori denied.

"That's what it sounded like to me," Jaxon said. "And if she stayed home like a good little pregnant woman, and Nicolae was killed, what do you think would happen anyway? This entire argument is ridiculous. Maybe you're looking for some sign that we should know our places in the home and stay there, but we were not born nor raised Carpathian. We have our own baggage that comes with each individual and some of us need to act. Others need to stay in the home and still others want to heal or research or carry on with whatever work interests them. And that, my friend, is our right."

"I disagree," Gregori said, his voice quiet, but carrying easily through the cave. "You are Carpathian and as such, there are certain differences in our species we cannot get around. Your first loyalty is not to yourselves, but to our people as a whole. We do what is best for all of us, not just individuals. For instance, our first duty is to the prince of our people. Without him, we cannot exist, so his protection must come first at all times. Every man, woman and child should be taught that, respect that and whole-heartedly serve."

"I think all women have proven we're willing to serve the Carpathian people," Jaxon said. "We just don't want to go back to the dark ages when men dictated to women."

Swift impatience crossed Gregori's face. "Do you honestly believe this is about male versus female? This is about saving a species, not women's rights."

"So how is it saving the species to have my lifemate go out and fight the vampire, leaving me at home to worry whether or not he's coming home? If he dies, we both do. The risk is great either way. In a perfect

world, neither of us would be fighting vampires, but the world isn't so perfect, is it, Gregori? If I feel the need to stand by my lifemate and help to bring him home safe, you bet it is about my rights."

Gregori leaned close, his silver eyes slashing at Jaxon. "Why would you think, for one moment, that your presence does anything but jeopardize your lifemate's ability to fight? He is our greatest warrior. No one compares to him in battle. He has fought a thousand years, has more experience than any other, yet you, a female, once human, with so few years you are considered a child in our species, you think that he is not divided when he now battles? That his risk is lessened by your presence? It is more than doubled. He has to have one eye on you at all times. He has to keep his mind merged with yours in order to ensure your safety. Even directing you, he is divided, not wholly focused on the kill."

"Gregori," Lucian warned, his gaze going flat and cold.

Jaxon held up her hand. "No, this is why were here, isn't it? To hear both sides of this argument. I want to hear why Gregori and so many others are opposed to the women fighting the vampire. If I don't understand why he is opposed, I will never have a chance to agree with him."

Then be very careful, little brother, how you address my lifemate.

I speak the truth to her and you know it. You have a thousand times the risk when she is along. She has to understand that.

Lucian's cool gaze swept over his brother.Perhaps, but it is my risk to take .

I disagree. We cannot lose you, nor can we afford the loss of your lifemate. You have too long lived in a solitary world, going your own way and making your decisions based not on saving a dying species, but on Vlad's directive to seek and destroy the vampire. We have a new prince and a new threat that must be addressed.

You are very close to getting your ass kicked, little brother.

You are more than welcome to try.

Jaxon glanced from her lifemate's cold gaze to Gregori's slashing one. "I know the two of you are arguing over this, but I really want to hear what Gregori has to say. Lucian, please."

She slipped a restraining hand up his arm in a loving gesture that made Nicolas turn his head away and long for Lara's touch. Again he tried to reach out to her but only heard the sounds of the long-forgotten Carpathian lullaby. He turned his attention back to the discussion raging around him, but this time, he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

Lucian slipped his arm around Jaxon's waist, but nodded his head toward Gregori.

Gregori folded his arms across his chest. "Look at your lifemate in this moment. There is no threat to you, yet he is protective, ready to come at me if I say a word out of place to you. It is our nature, ingrained in us from before our birth, to protect our lifemate. Words and circumstance cannot change that, nor would we want it to change. Do you think this is less so in battle? Before you, he had only strategy and his own life to think about, now he must divide his attention and watch out for you. Even with the knowledge he shares with you of battles, even with his vast experience for you to draw on, you cannot be nearly fast enough."

"Every warrior has to start somewhere," Destiny countered. "You have young men practicing. We can do the same."

"Why would you want to?" Nicolas demanded. "Why would you want to face such a monster and risk your life when it is so precious to so many?"

"I cannot stop," Destiny answered truthfully. "Perhaps if Nicolae no longer hunted, I would be able to lay it down, but in truth, I am not certain I can."

Jaxon shrugged. "I've spent my entire life hunting monsters. I don't know what else I'd do."

"If you had a child?" Mikhail's voice as always was low, but swept through the room.

The crystals hummed low, the sound more melodic and soothing as if trying to bring the two women peace.

Andre and another tall Carpathian once again made their way through the ranks of warriors. Nicolas recognized the lone warrior, Tariq Asenguard, beside Andre. Vlad had sent him out centuries before. Even then he had stayed to himself, losing his ability to see color and feel emotion quite quickly after losing his family. His mother had suffered the loss of several children and in the end his parents had chosen to follow their young ones into the next realm. Nicolas had never seen him smile after that. Vlad had sent him to the North American continent and it was rumored he lived wild for a long time, although now he looked very civilized and would have blended with any business community.

Both Carpathian males bowed toward the women. Again it was Andre who spoke. "If one of our women wishes to go into battle and her lifemate allows such a thing..." There was a hint of scorn in his voice. "... obviously that is their decision, but knowing this is going on, when we have spent lifetimes battling the vampire and have more experience and are willing to sacrifice our lives so that even one woman will live and give us a female child, then we have no choice but to ban together and protect those female warriors. When you go into battle, look behind you, there will be a legion of warriors defending you."

Jaxon frowned. "Thank you very much, but no. I don't want anyone defending me. I have a partner. We work together. I don't want anyone putting his life on the line for me."

"If you choose battle and you believe that is your right," Tariq said, "then our surviving males who look to you and all of our women for hope have the right to see to your protection when your lifemate chooses not to do so."

Immediately pandemonium broke out. Power surged in the room and the crystals vibrated with anger as the males with lifemates turned on the warriors without.

"Enough!" Mikhail's voice was a whiplash through the room. Instantly there was silence. "What did you think our males would be feeling over this issue?" he demanded of his males with lifemates. "Even among you, the opinions are divided. Most feel very strongly one way or the other about our women putting their lives in jeopardy. Our single males have a huge stake in this discussion and their voices carry as much weight as any other man here. They have sacrificed for centuries and it is their lives-their very souls at stake."

Lucian nodded his head. "That is so." It was the closest they were going to get to an apology. "But no one will threaten or dictate to my lifemate. What we do is our decision."

"Then you are willing to divide our people?" Gregori asked. "You are willing to go against a decision our prince makes?" He threw the challenge in his brother's face, uncaring that Lucian was a legend in their community.

Before Lucian could reply, Jaxon lifted her hands to his face. "Tell me the absolute truth, Lucian. When I go with you on a hunt, is your attention divided as Gregori says? Are you more at risk?" She refused to let him look away from her, her gaze on his.

"It is my risk to take."

Jaxon took a deep breath and let it out. "You should have told me."

"To what purpose? You cannot sit at home. If you could, I would have commanded you long ago, but your nature demands you be actively seeking justice." He pulled her close to him, his large body protective. "I have every confidence in my ability to protect both of our lives, or I would never risk you." He sent his brother a cool, razor-sharp glare. "There was no need to hurt you with what others consider their truth."

"Truth is truth, Lucian," Jaxon said.

Mikhail studied the couple. "You have need of action and to aid the men in ridding the world of the monsters we face. I have need of women willing to be taught, to learn to fight and then to teach our women and daughters. We need women willing to guard other women and be the first line of defense should the battle be brought to our doors. Perhaps this is something you would be willing to consider. If not..." He directed his gaze at Andre and Tariq. "Then I believe you will not be facing the vampire alone in battle-ever."