Christine Feehan - Dark Curse 19

seen you. How is Manolito?»

«Manolito is very well and has found his lifemate. Her name is Mary-Ann Delaney. I believe you know her. And your woman? And the child?»

«Shea is doing fine and we are having the naming ceremony in a few days. Our son grows strong.»

«That is good news,» Nicolas said. «The best of news for all of us.»

The flutter of wings heralded two more Carpathians. Vikirnoff Von Shrieder and his lifemate, Natalya, shifted together. Nicolas clasped Vikirnoff's arms, a little taken aback that Natalya had answered the summons to the warrior's counsel. It had not occurred to him that Vikirnoff, an ancient warrior of tremendous prowess, would allow his woman to place herself in harm's way.

He glanced at her. The woman had bright red hair and eyes that changed from brilliant green to blue. She had the mark of the Dragonseeker stamped all over her, the classic looks, the brightness illuminating her skin, the bands of color in her hair. She was known to be a fighter-and also the sister of Razvan, Lara's father. He stepped away from Vikirnoff, afraid he would be unable to maintain silence on the subject of women fighting when Natalya would be such a prize to Xavier should she be captured.

Nicolas shook his head and then caught Gregori watching him with his piercing silver gaze. He knew exactly what Nicolas was thinking.

«And I agree,» Gregori said, as he walked past Nicolas to position himself beside Mikhail.

«Agree with what?» Mikhail asked, turning away from where he'd been talking with Darius. «And with whom? It is not all that often you agree with anything.»

«I think one of the topics we need to place under discussion is the welfare of our women and children– allof them-including the women who believe they have the need to fight vampires.»

Mikhail bared white teeth. «O jela peje terad. Sun scorch you, Gregori, you are not getting me in trouble with my lifemate and daughter. I am not doing your dirty work for you…» He included Nicolas in his glare. «Either of you.»

Gregori shrugged. «Swear all you want, it is an issue you have to face.»

«Me? Oh no, you don't. I refuse to take all the heat on this. If we are getting into it, all of you are voicing your opinions loud and clear. The women would rise up like my worst nightmare.»

«I am serious,» Gregori insisted. «If we are going to bring in the full counsel, then we should address all issues.»

Mikhail nodded his head. «I know it must be discussed, Gregori, but you and I both know the old ways are long gone. Even then we had a few women warriors.»

«Not lifemates,» Nicolas interjected. «Never women who could bear us children, or that when lost would take their mate with them.»

Mikhail shrugged. «In the old days very few lifemates were warriors. Times are different. Our species is on the brink of extinction.»

«All the more reason to protect the few women we have,» Nicolas said. «Sometimes old ways are good, Mikhail. Our women did not take up arms just to show they could.»

«These women did not start out as Carpathians. Our specieslooks human and when we bind a human woman to us, although she is converted by blood, she thinks like a human. Through the centuries human women have had to fight for their rights…»

«That is a weak argument,» Gregori broke in. «What do we do here in this chamber? We swear our loyalty to our people. We swear to serve them, whatever the sacrifice calls for. Our lifemates have never done that. They do not understand that in order to save our species from extinction, they must sacrifice, too. We have a handful of couples, less than thirty, Mikhail. Our children do not mature for a good fifty years. Do you really believe that we can afford to lose one woman? One pair?»

«No, but I also know that we are in a war with enemies surrounding us from all sides. We cannot afford to be divided either.»

«We are not divided,» Gregori said. «No man wants his woman fighting.»

Mikhail shook his head, a slow smile touching his mouth. «So you think we should tell our women to be quiet and let us make decisions for them? It is not the men who will be divided, it is our women. From us. Free will. Have you forgotten that small little detail? We take that away when we bind them to us, do we continue to do so after they are our lifemates? I suppose we can reduce them to little more than puppets who do our bidding at our will. But I know both Raven and Savannah would walk into the sun before submitting to such enslavement.»

«O jela peje terad. Sun scorch you, Mikhail,» Gregori growled. «You have become modern and liberal in your old age.»

Nicolas turned away from the prince as another couple entered. Nicolae, Vikirnoff's brother, with his lifemate, Destiny, hurried in. Nicolas wanted to get a good look at the woman who had been captured by a vampire when she was just a young child. She had endured the torture of a vampires blood, riddled with cell-eating parasites, for years. Medium height, very curvy, with sculpted muscle, thick dark hair and enormous blue-green eyes, she flowed with grace and the fluid step of a trained fighter. He noted her eyes were restless, moving around the cavern, taking in every detail, noting exits and entrances, the chimney and labyrinth of tunnels.

Destiny was best friends with Manolito's lifemate, MaryAnn. She saw each person in the room, sizing them up, her gaze resting on him just a little longer. Nicolae, her lifemate, was very tuned to her, Nicolas noted with approval, placing himself between her and the men without lifemates in the room. Like most Carpathian males, Nicolae was tall and muscular with long black hair and cool dark eyes.

«You are Nicolas, brother to Manolito.» Destiny greeted, moving toward him, forcing her lifemate to keep pace in order to protect her.

It was a classic mistake women made, forgetting that anyone could be a danger, even here, in this sacred place of power. Nicolas sighed and shook his head. His woman would learn her place and every security measure he could think of for her.

«How is MaryAnn?» Destiny asked.

«She is happy,» Nicolas answered. «I have news to share, but want to wait until we have all gathered. I brought you a letter from MaryAnn.» He slipped his hand inside his shirt.

Destiny's eyes narrowed, became cool and watchful. She shifted slightly onto the balls of her feet, turning just slightly, a subtle movement that put her in a good position to defend herself and attack if necessary. As if choreographed, her partner shifted at the same time, a few steps between them, giving plenty of room. This was a fighting team. Even Nicolas, for all his absolute opinions on the subject of women hunting vampires, could see they were in perfect sync. It still didn't make it right.

He took the letter from inside his shirt and handed it to Nicolae as a courtesy. One warrior to another. Nicolae turned the envelope over in his hand, obviously scanning it before handing it to his lifemate.

«Thank you,» Destiny said to Nicolas. «I appreciate you bringing this to me personally.»

At first he thought she meant to be sarcastic because he had handed the letter to her lifemate, but then he realized the couple really was in perfect harmony. She didn't seem annoyed by his protection, but rather accepted it as her due.

Another Carpathian male arrived. The first was Dominic, of the Dragonseeker clan, great-uncle of Razvan and great-great-uncle to Lara, although Carpathians rarely made a distinction. As Lara referred to the aunts she, would refer to Dominic as «uncle.»

Nicolas studied his stern face. The Dragonseekers were one of the most powerful lineages in all of the Carpathian community. He was tall with broad shoulders and metallic green eyes, a legacy of his clan, eyes of seers, changing color with mood or in battle. In the last battle to save Mikhail and the Carpathian race, he had suffered severe burns across his shoulder, down one arm, up his neck to one side of his face. The scars were there if one looked closely, faint evidence of the horrific charring of his flesh. Strangely, the scars added to his aura of danger. His green gaze took in everything, then settled on Natalya for a brief moment.