Dark Lycan (Dark 24)

"Either we have to keep a Carpathian with us at all times so the women can communicate from the air, or one or all of you has to be brave enough to allow them to exchange blood with you," Fen explained for the third time.

It was one thing to eat and be merry with the Carpathians, but a blood exchange was repugnant to every Lycan. They gave one another blood in battle, but to them, that was entirely different than what Fen was asking of them.

"Fine," he said with a small sigh. "I'll have to be the one to do all the communicating with our squads in the air. I'll ask Tatijana to exchange blood with me." They'd done so just this rising when he'd made passionate love to her, but he wouldn't mind the rush before they set off to try to pick off the pack one small unit at a time.

"The woman will take your blood?" Zev asked, his gaze shifting to where Branislava and her sister were laughing together beneath the forest canopy.

"Her name is Tatijana," Fen said, beginning to feel annoyance that he had to continue the charade of being fully Lycan. They were wasting time while the pack could be moving into position to attack.

The women were going up into the air because their energy output was far less than the men's in any shape they chose. Tatijana, Branislava, Destiny and Natalya were all going, each taking a different direction. It could be dangerous if the Sange rau detected them and chose to defend their pack. Fen would be undetectable by any of them, yet he had to keep up appearances. It was frustrating to know Tatijana might encounter trouble.

"Would Branislava be the one taking my blood?" Zev asked.

Silence fell on the pack. His pack mates looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. Convel shook his head, his expression grave. "You can't, Zev. We don't know what could happen."

"What will happen," Fen said, gritting his teeth, "is we can get to work. We have four riders and four groups of hunters. I'm volunteering, but just in case we have another pack discovered, we need someone else able to hear. Destiny and Natalya are communicating with the Carpathian hunters."

Zev didn't continue to argue. He crossed the ground between Branislava and him, hoping she wasn't as mesmerizing as she had been the night before. He could feel the gaze of his pack mates boring holes into his back. The weight of their disproval was heavy in the air. Still, his feet kept moving, striding now, covering the ground faster.

She turned and watched his approach, her emerald eyes a deeper green than he remembered, nearly glowing. And then she smiled and the very air left his lungs in a rush. He couldn't decide if it was her hair, all that fiery red contained now in a fancy braid as thick as his arm, or her amazing eyes that sometimes, like now, appeared to be multifaceted, or her mouth with her full, inviting lips, that drew his gaze the most.

She let him come all the way to her. He was aware Fen had followed him and Tatijana had gone to meet him. They had stepped into the shadows and were shielded from sight by a large tree. Branislava simply stood motionless, waiting for him.

"My dancer," he said, wishing he had some elegance to him, "I was told it was possible to communicate telepathically with you if you took my blood and I gave you mine. Would you be willing to exchange blood with me?"

"Yes, of course," Branislava said. "Telepathy is the easiest form of communication. You can rest assured that I would never pry into your mind. I will simply relay information."

"You could do that? See things in my mind?"

"Perhaps," she answered, "but there is no need for such a thing, and you are Lycan. Lycans have different brain patterns and most of us can't read your thoughts easily. I would think you have a rather good shield."

He didn't want to think too much about the consequences. "Let's do it then. Tell me what to do."

She took his hand and led him deeper inside the trees where the shadows would keep them safe from prying eyes. "Would you prefer not to feel anything at all? Or taste anything at all?"

"I've tasted blood. I'm a Lycan. I want to know what's going on at all times," Zev said firmly. He wouldn't mind tasting her blood. Everything about her intrigued him.

She stepped close to him. So close. There wasn't more than a scant inch between them. Her scent wrapped him up in velvet and left him reeling just as it had the night before. She put her arm around his neck and drew his head down to her. Her mouth moved over his skin, featherlight, but oh, so sensually. His entire body reacted, going hard with urgent need, blood surging hotly, every nerve ending alive and aware of her.

"You'll feel the bite. A sting of pain but it will be gone quickly," she whispered in his ear. "Trust me, I would never do anything to harm you."

He didn't even care. His every sense was fixated on her mouth and the way it moved over his pounding pulse so seductively. Her lips touched his neck and his gut clenched into knots of anticipation. His cock jerked strong, hard and alert. Her teeth sank deep and pain added to the intensity of his desire, and then it eased, giving way to pure pleasure. The way she took his blood was the most erotic thing he'd ever experienced.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him, feeling his blood pounding hotly in his veins. His pulse thundered in his ears. He didn't want her to stop. He wanted more, so much more. His hands moved beneath her shirt to find bare, satin skin. He slid his palms up her rib cage to cup the weight of her breasts, thumbs seeking her taut nipples beneath her shirt. He was so inflamed he would have taken her right there, in the deep shadows of the trees, but she lifted her head, closing the pinpricks with her tongue.

Their eyes met. The amazing green emeralds pressed into her face looked glazed, as if she'd just been made love to. She also looked a little confused.

"Sir, I believe you are trespassing into areas we never discussed in our negotiations."

Shocked, Zev slid his hands from beneath her shirt. Her skin had been so hot to the touch that he actually felt the cold of the night on his fingers.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. Every time you take someone's blood do they feel like I do?" If so, he was just a little bit jealous, although he wasn't familiar with that particular emotion and was guessing at it.

She shook her head. "No. It's never been like that before."

"Good." He wanted to be her first. Maybe she'd remember him the way he knew he'd always remember her. "Do I get to bite your neck?"

She laughed, breaking the slight tension between them. "I think it would be safer if we just use my wrist."

"Safer, but not as much fun," Zev pointed out.

She bit into her wrist and offered it to him. Bright drops of blood seeped along the laceration. He took the proffered wrist and raised it to his mouth. Even her wrist gave off that beckoning scent of wild honey and citrus that he'd come to identify as Branislava. He licked at the ruby droplets. She tasted as good as she looked-better even. She could be addicting, and that was dangerous for his species. Hot, fresh blood this good was a temptation none of them dared have.

Lycans always had to be cautious ingesting blood. They were predators. Feral. Civilization had come to them, but deep in their hearts, they would always be wild. Blood sang to them. Called to them. Whispered and cajoled. Her blood was exceptional-the taste exquisite.

Branislava put her other hand on his shoulder, her eyes meeting his. The feeling was nearly as erotic as it had been earlier when she'd taken his blood. He let himself fall into her unusual eyes, let himself feel that moment fully. He would never again have a chance to be this intimate with her-and it was intimate.

Fen had said she couldn't fall in love with anyone else but her lifemate, but she felt that same magnetic pull toward him as he did to her. He saw it in her eyes and felt it in her mind. Her blood was rich and hot. So hot. So good. It energized him.

"Enough," Branislava cautioned. "I can't be weak when I'm in the air." She tugged at her wrist.

Zev let go immediately. He was rough and crass compared to her, but still, she didn't take her gaze from his and she closed the wound in her wrist with her tongue.

"It's done then?" he asked. "You can talk to me telepathically?"

Yes.

Her soft voice whispering so intimately in his mind was shocking. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to allow her to take his blood. He could barely breathe and he damned well couldn't walk.

You try it. Talk to me.

There's not much I can say without making a fool of myself. My attraction to you has been unexpected.

"Are you all right, Zev?" Convel called, anger edging his voice.

He should have known his pack would be worried. The moment Branislava had led him into the privacy of the trees, his pack mates must have become anxious that the Carpathians might be ambushing them in some way.

"I'm fine. We were just making certain it worked," Zev called back. He smiled at Branislava. "Thank you, Miss Branislava, I think we'll be able to hunt together."

"I think we will, too," she said. "My friends and family call me Bronnie."

He gave her a little salute and strode out of the trees to meet his fellow elite hunters.

Tatijana and Fen joined Branislava the moment he left.

Fen took her hands. "You're certain you're up for this, Bronnie? Tatijana and I both gave you every memory we could of the Sange rau and how they fight, how fast they are. Any werewolf will go for your belly every time, and don't underestimate how high they can leap."

"I think I've been hibernating a long time and I need to jump right into the fray. Right now, I can be of use and I need that, Fen, to help push me to start living. Being a prisoner for so long and trapped in the ice can make one long for what's familiar to them and certainly that isn't the best thing for me."

"Just promise me you'll be careful," Fen said. "Nothing can happen to either of you. I can be in the air in seconds and I travel fast. Just call for me."

"Don't you dare give yourself away to the Lycans," Tatijana said. "I mean it, Fen. They'll turn on you so fast. Mikhail gave Zev something to think about, but not the others. And you can't count on him for protection. We'll be fine. We know what to do."

"Is everything all right?" Zev asked, coming up behind them. "We're all ready."

"I'm just making certain they know how the rogue packs work," Fen said. "I don't want them to take any chances with their lives."

"You're just giving us information," Zev cautioned the women, adding to Fen's warnings. "That's all, just find them and tell us. The Carpathians will transport us if it's a great distance."

"We need the field," Tatijana said. "Move your pack back into the trees."

Zev nodded, glanced at Branislava, shook his head and walked away. Fen wrapped his palm around the nape of Tatijana's neck and pulled her in close to him.

"He might look back, wolf man," she hissed, but she didn't pull away.

"I could care less," he said, and kissed her. "Don't you dare get hurt. Not a single hair. Do you understand me?"

"I understand you," she said, and kissed him back. "I love it when you go all wolfie on me."

Branislava burst out laughing. "Come on, Tatijana, let's show them what Dragonseekers can do."

The two women walked out of the trees, into the open. Both looked elegant in spite of their jeans, shirts and boots. They came out holding hands, but in the middle of the field they embraced and each turned and walked into the center of their quadrant.

"What are they doing?" Zev asked.

"Shifting," Fen said. "And they need room."

The two shifted almost simultaneously, their small curvy figures shimmering one moment and becoming something else altogether. Fen was used to Tatijana's blue dragon. She was beautiful to him, with her long, spiked tail and wedge-shaped head. She could dive into water and swim beneath the surface for long periods of time. In her human form, after centuries in dragon form, her skin was always cool.

Branislava was just the opposite. She was a fire dragon, her crimson scales nearly glowing. She looked as if her dragon had been born in a live volcano, a part of the fiery blast, all red and orange. When she expanded her wings Fen heard gasps from several members of the pack.

She stood on her hind legs and flapped her wings, creating a windstorm. Tatijana followed suit. Fen looked around him. There was shock and awe on the faces of the pack as the two dragons took to the sky.

"You saw her in battle," Fen reminded them.

"She was in the sky mostly," Arnou defended. "I was looking out for my skin, killing as many of the werewolves as possible. I guess I didn't think too much about it, but seeing them up close like that after seeing the women as they really are . . . it's just . . ." he trailed off. "I have no words."

"Amazing," Daciana seconded. "I wouldn't mind being able to shift shape."

The pack burst out laughing. "You can, Daciana," Zev reminded. "You're Lycan. You feel like being a wolf, just shift."

She shrugged. "It's not the same. I've always been a wolf."

"Tatijana and Branislava were born into the Dragonseeker lineage, a very ancient and honored line. They were actually in the form of dragons for several centuries and it's far more familiar to them than their natural human form."

He reached for Tatijana. How's it going up there?

It's been two minutes, Fen. I couldn't possibly get into trouble that fast. Her laughter teased at his body, soft and intimate. The night is fairly clear and that will help. We're flying high though and using the existing clouds to mask what we are. From below, we just look like clouds in strange shapes.

Good idea, my lady.

I do have them occasionally, but I can't take credit for that one. Bronnie thought of it.

It's her first flight in a very long while, Tatijana. Are you certain she's strong enough for this?

Branislava was family now. They were bound by Tatijana. More than that, he liked and respected her. He'd seen the glimpses of her courage when Tatijana inadvertently opened the door on her past and he couldn't help but admire her.

She's excited. She really does need this. When you've never been in the open before, or around others, it's easy to stay away and hold yourself tight, not move for fear of falling, so to speak.

Tatijana spotted a small opening in between two massive boulders. Brush grew right up to the side of the mountain and those jutting boulders, but right between them was an opening, a dirt floor no more than two feet by two feet. If there was an actual cave there, it would make a perfect den for wolves. The werewolves might be attracted to such a place.

She sent the image to Fen. Is there a cave here? What other signs should I look for?

There's definitely a cave there, Fen said. I'd marked it earlier as suspicious, but when I checked it out, there was no one there. That doesn't mean the pack hadn't targeted it as a possible place to hide if they needed to lay low for a few days. If they're there, even a small number of them, look around in the surrounding brush, they'll have at least two lookouts outside. They'll be concealed well. Think wolves. The werewolves think like their animal counterparts in terms of protecting their pack.

Tatijana didn't want to drop lower, especially if the rogue pack had lookouts that might spot her. She moved from cloud to cloud, appearing to be drifting with a slight wind. Her dragon's eyesight was very keen. She could see miles away if she chose to use the superior vision.

At once the look of the world changed around her. It was a little disorienting to concentrate on such visual acuity, but her dragon was quick to pick up movement. Below them and just to the south, she spotted the leaves of a bush waving against the wind. Once her dragon had found a potential target, she stayed high in the air, drifting, her dragon only occasionally having to circle back.

The third circle confirmed there was a creature, half wolf, half man lurking in the brush. I see one of the guards. He's in the form of half man and half wolf.

That's what we're looking for, Fen said. Send me the coordinates and just keep an eye on them until we arrive. If any come out of their hiding spot, count so we get some idea, but do not, under any circumstances engage with them.

"We've got one of the units," Fen said. "Let's go."

Eight Carpathian males had agreed to transport the elite hunters to cut down on time as well as the chance of the Sange rau spotting them.

They took the form of giant birds and, although the hunters looked at one another as if they might balk, the moment Fen and Zev stepped forward and swung onto their bird's backs, the others followed suit. They were hunters and there was a rogue pack to destroy. That job came before anything else, even fear of the unknown.

The Carpathians took them in soundlessly, dropping out of the sky a distance from the cave to allow the elite hunters to get their feet on the ground again. Jacques, Vikirnoff and Nicolae went with Lykaon, Arnou and Fen, spreading out a couple of feet apart to the left. Falcon, Dimitri and Tomas went with Zev, Daciana, Convel and Gunnolf to the right, again spreading out so that they made less noise as they stalked the rogue pack.

Dimitri, the lookout on that side is just a little over nine meters from you, to your left. He hasn't spotted you yet, Tatijana warned.

Take care that you don't do anything to tip Zev off that you're anything but a Carpathian, Fen warned hastily, cursing himself for not maneuvering Dimitri to stay in his group.

Dimitri didn't answer him. Instead, he held up a clenched fist. Immediately all members of his hunting party dropped low and stayed completely silent. Dimitri went to his belly and shifted to a small squirrel, covering several meters before determining he might give off too much energy the werewolf would pick up.

He halted, assessing the situation. He wanted a silent kill so the lookout couldn't warn his fellow guard or those hiding inside the cave.

You no longer give off energy, Fen reminded. You haven't for a long time. After these last two nearly mortal wounds and all the blood given to you, you're more mixed than Carpathian. He won't feel you coming.

Dimitri took his brother at his word. The little squirrel easily made his way through the brush until he nearly ran into the werewolf's foot. Just as the wolf looked down with greedy eyes, Dimitri shifted, driving the silver stake straight through the heart of the rogue. Simultaneously, he silenced any cry the man could give, by simply cutting off his windpipe. He eased the body to the ground.

It's done. Can you get to the other one, Fen?

I see him. Going after him now.

Above their heads, Tatijana stayed in the clouds. She watched Fen creep forward, easing his body through the brush. She knew there wouldn't be a whisper of movement and he knew exactly what he was doing, but still, she wanted to plunge down and wipe out the threat to her lifemate. Her bond with Fen seemed to be growing with every passing hour. She didn't think it could get any stronger, but her love for him just seemed to deepen.

Fen palmed the silver stake. Insects sang all around him, undisturbed by his presence. He took a breath and let it out as he eased closer. He smelled the rancid odor of the werewolf. The rogue hadn't washed and old decayed meat and blood clung to his fur.

Don't move. Don't move. Tatijana's warning froze him. Dimitri, another coming your way as well. I think the guards are being changed.

Fen allowed his gaze to encompass the pack spread out behind him. Lykaon's fist was clenched, a sign for them all to freeze. Apparently that had been meant for him as well. He preferred the Carpathian form of communication between hunters. Telepathy made things so much simpler.

Fen, he's going to walk right over the top of you. Do you want me to help?

I've got this, sivamet. No worries. Just sit tight. Dimitri? Can you take the second guard out?

Yes. They'll come looking when the first two don't come back, Dimitri pointed out.

That will be to our advantage. Fen glanced around to see if any member of the pack could see him. He would have to use the speed of the Han ku pesak kaikak-Guardians of all-if he was going to kill both guards and keep them silent as they died.

Zev was the only one within eyesight of him to see his blurring speed. Tatijana, have Bronnie distract Zev just for a moment. I need enough time to take both guards out simultaneously. She'd better be quick. I'm running out of time.

He could hear the other werewolf breathing in short, ragged pants. He'd been injured recently and hadn't completely healed. Fen could smell the wound. He kept his eye on Zev even as he planned the moves out in his mind.

He could reach out and touch the first guard. The second was two steps away, cursing as he got hung up on a thorny branch. The moment Zev looked away, Fen rose up fast, slamming the silver stake through the rancid werewolf's heart with his right hand, silencing him as he did so. He turned, using his left hand to take out the second guard. The rogue never actually saw him, he was too busy trying to get brambles out of his fur when the stake went through his heart.

He felt Tatijana's relief. She poured into his mind just for a moment, letting him feel her love before she quickly turned back to her job. Fen eased across the distance separating them until he was beside Zev.

"The others will have to use their swords to cut off their heads. I'm not hacking them off with my knife."

Zev grinned at him. "What a wuss. All this time I thought you were so tough you carried a spare knife in your teeth just for hacking off heads." He signaled the pack forward again.

"I trust you have a plan for entering that cave," Fen said.

"Not exactly. I thought we'd let them come to us."

Fen raised his eyebrow.

"That blue dragon up there came up with an idea and sent it to me through Branislava. She thought it might be fun to fill the cave with insects. The biting kind. If you've got your eye on her, Fen, you might reconsider. She's intelligent and has sass. You're old enough to know to stay away from that kind of woman."

"Not a bad plan," Fen agreed. His lady did have sass. You could have shared your plan with me.

I had to give Bronnie something real to distract him. He's too smart for anything else. In any case, I didn't want you charging in there. You and Dimitri seem to get into trouble every time I turn around. I'm in your mind, wolf man. You planned on leading the charge, didn't you?

He shared his amusement with her. I'm faster.

You've been fighting other people's battles for too long, Fen, and you can't stop. You use your body as a shield for the others, and Dimitri is just like you.

That much was true. Dimitri was more like him than he wanted his brother to be. Dimitri was fearless in a fight. Fen would rather have him than any other at his back.

Zev signaled his pack to move forward into place. He nodded to Fen.

We're ready down here. Do you want to do the honors, my lady? Or should I? he teased, already knowing her answer.

I lived in a cave my entire life, wolf man. I know insects. And what I don't know I can imagine, Tatijana added with a little laugh.

The wind drifted over them, a soft, gentle touch that sent a ripple through the leaves around them. Above them, the clouds changed shapes as they lazily floated across the dark sky. A slapping sound suddenly disrupted the silence of the night. Inside the cave, a muffled yell, quickly silenced, was heard.

Suddenly at the entrance, men in various stages of shifting began pouring out of the cave, nearly falling over one another, slapping at their clothes and fur. Two stumbled and fell, creating chaos for those still inside. The two downed werewolves were trampled as those inside, desperate to vacate, simply ran over them. Swarms of red ants covered their bodies so that they looked as if their clothes and skin were alive and moving.

That woman is a terror, Zev observed, hardly able to contain his laughter. We may as well go home and let her handle this.

Fen couldn't help but find the situation amusing. His lady did have a scary imagination, sending revved-up fire ants swarming over the werewolves. Make certain none of us get bit, he warned her.

Don't be such a baby. She gave a little sniff of disdain, but he felt her laughter. She did have a nasty little sense of humor.

I believe in retaliation, he warned, although his threat was an empty one and they both knew it.

Tatijana laughed softly and he felt her fingers brush down the side of his face.

I brought them out of there, now it's your turn. And check on your brother, after. Something's not right.

What does that mean?

If I knew I wouldn't have said to check on him. Again there was that soft laughter.

Fen shook his head, but he did locate his brother. Dimitri appeared to be like the rest of them, waiting for Zev's signal to move in on the werewolves. He touched Dimitri's mind, just to assure himself. Dimitri blocked a merge with him, shocking him, but he turned his head toward Fen and gave him a thumbs-up.

Fen sighed. He couldn't worry about Dimitri in the middle of a battle with rogues. Fen counted fourteen werewolves exiting the cave. If the Sange rau were breaking the larger pack into smaller units, their numbers were definitely depleted. The units before had been much bigger, twenty-five or thirty.

Zev signaled the hunters forward. They had formed a loose semicircle around the entrance and they went at the werewolves, springing out of the brush to attack. Fen moved fast, using the silver stakes as quickly as possible, wanting to get it over with. It felt like a massacre, the screams and blood and smell of death.

He'd had several lifetimes of hunting and destroying those preying on others. He knew it was the only thing they could do, but it still was difficult at times. The rogues were caught unawares and only a handful managed to fight back. The elite hunters used silver swords to remove the heads before the bodies were gathered and burned. The scent of burning fur and flesh made him feel sick.

Tatijana, did you find any trace of Abel or Bardolf? he asked to distract himself.

Well . . . she hesitated, clearly unsure. When I was flying around the mountain of mist, I felt a sudden shiver, an awareness of danger. It was there for just a moment, but it occurred to me that one of them, or both, could be holed up there. The mountain is above the one where the prince resides and it is possible someone could spy on him from up there. But, Fen, honestly, I don't know, it was just a weird, scary feeling.

"Zev, Tatijana is going to land and pick me up. She may have found the lair of the Sange rau. I'd like to take Dimitri and check it out," Fen said.

Zev looked up at that sky. He could see the blue dragon circling above them. "I'll never get used to that sight. It's amazing. Dragons." For a moment he searched the sky, and Fen was fairly certain he was looking for the fiery red dragon. Zev sighed. "I can't stop you, Fen, but you and I both know, even two of you have little chance of killing one of them. If they're together . . ."

"I doubt they'll be together. Vampires don't trust one another that much. It just doesn't seem to me like they'd share resting quarters."

"You've got the best instincts I've ever seen for hunting them," Zev said, "and you certainly know more than I do about fighting one. You've clearly had more experience, just don't get yourself killed."

Fen nodded. "Good luck hunting the other packs. I'll join you if nothing comes of this."

Dimitri, let's go hunting. I've had enough of these rogues and their masters invading our homeland.

I was just waiting for you.

Shift to a dragon and I'll go up with you. Once we're out of sight, I can stop this pretense. We have to find them, Dimitri. I have a sense of urgency growing in me. I can feel a real battle coming.

Dimitri made his way to a small clearing and shifted without preamble, changing to the form of a dragon, politely extending his wing to his brother. Fen climbed up to the dragon's back, settling himself before giving the go-ahead. Dimitri was never showy. His dragon was brown, but the spikes were razor-sharp. Beside the red and blue dragons, he looked drab and could be easily overlooked.

Fen knew that was Dimitri's way. He was nearly always quiet, rarely putting in his opinion, but he was lethal and his dragon would be as well.

Tell me what's going on with you, Dimitri.

Dimitri's dragon stayed close to Tatijana as they winged their way through the night sky. Fen, the wolf is present. He's strong. Very strong. He's been with me a long time now. He spoke abruptly, without any warning, dropping the bombshell into Fen's mind.

Fen let out his breath in a little rush. He'd known all along that his brother was well on his way to becoming what he was. Still, the wolf's presence was undeniable.

He'll protect you. The more you work with him, the faster you'll merge, Dimitri.

Long before we came here, I had already felt him rising. Now, though, he's different, as if we're becoming one. All those years we hunted together. You giving me blood. Me using some of the Lycans for a food source when we were hunting with a pack. It never bothered me. I wasn't afraid of the Lycans hunting me. I figured I could go to ground the way you do.

But now you realize it might not be such a good thing. Fen had realized the same thing some time ago, but he'd suspected it was too late for his brother. A male who spent lifetimes killing and living in darkness was extremely susceptible to the pull of the Sange rau, more so he thought than the Carpathian to the vampire.

There's Skyler.

There it was. Fen had wrestled with that very problem. Did one have the right to expose his lifemate to such a thing when there was no data on a Carpathian/Lycan cross? The more questions that had been brought up, the less of an answer he had. He'd been selfish giving in to Tatijana's demands. He had wanted to be persuaded, and he'd let her seduce him into it.

On the other hand, Dimitri would not survive without Skyler. Now, more than ever, he needed her.

I'm sorry I got you into this, Dimitri. Centuries ago, he hadn't a clue what caused the change, although even then he'd suspected. He should never have gone to Dimitri, but the fight to stay honorable had become nearly impossible.

I went into it with my eyes open. You explained even then what the danger was in exchanging blood. I have to talk to Skyler about this, but before I do, I have to figure a few things out.

Don't make her decision for her. Tatijana was adamant that she had the right to make her own choice, and I have to believe that's true.

Skyler's young.

But she's powerful. And intelligent. Your instinct is to protect her, but don't just discount her because of her human age. She's not yet Carpathian . . . Fen broke off.

There was the real dilemma. Fen hadn't even considered the real problem. Skyler wasn't Carpathian. She was human. She hadn't been converted. If Dimitri converted her with his mixed blood, what would happen? Could he even convert her? Would it work? They didn't have an answer to that question. As far as they knew, it hadn't been done.

Now you see.

Still, there are ways around that. Gabriel or Francesca? Fen suggested her parents. He knew even as he made the suggestion that it wouldn't work. If Gabriel was already insisting Dimitri couldn't claim Skyler until she was much older, he would never aid Dimitri into bringing his daughter into an unknown, uncertain world. Okay, not either of them, but someone will help us. Perhaps Bronnie. She's Dragonseeker and I know Skyler has Dragonseeker blood in her. Isn't her birth father Razvan?

That would be a possibility. There was a grain of hope in Dimitri's voice.

There's always a solution, Dimitri. When you're too close to the problem and it involves someone you care about . . .

Love, Dimitri corrected. I love her with everything in me. I'd rather meet the dawn then expose her to something dangerous.

I hate to be the one to tell you: she was exposed to danger long before you knew she was your lifemate. The moment Gabriel and Francesca adopted her, they brought her into our world. Fen frowned. How did you manage to hold silver with the wolf already in you?

I burned my palm the first time I tried to use it, so I just coated my hands. That way Zev and the others wouldn't suspect anything.

That was Dimitri. Smart. No fuss.

We're making the approach, Tatijana warned. Do you want to change shapes just in case? We're very close to where I felt the warning.