Christine Feehan - Dark Curse 19

Tiny frogs croaked, the notes mournful. A dark red stain dripped down from the ice and dropped into one of the pools, staining it a deep crimson. Several of the frogs stuck to the side of the wall, long tongues dipping in the blood, licking at it as it ran down. Although there was no breeze, each pool of water rippled slightly, as if something lived in them. The scent of blood and bodily fluids was heavy in the air.

«This is it,» Lara said. «This is what you've been looking for, Nicolas. He mutates them here. He's experimenting with extremophiles and this is where he tests and corrupts them for his own purpose. We've found his laboratory.»

Chapter 18

Standing at the entrance of the laboratory, watching the light spray of icy water come down from the ceiling to feed the pools, Nicolas felt his gut tighten. If Lara was right, and Xavier was experimenting with

microbes, then it was the mage who had virtually brought the Carpathian people to near extinction and none of them had ever suspected the extent of his true treachery all those centuries ago. As if sensing his need, Lara slipped her hand into his. He closed his fingers tightly around hers and drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

«Without you, Lara, he might have succeeded.»

Vikirnoff looked over their shoulders. «Is that spray natural?»

Steam curled over several of the pools, as if they were somehow warm and the icy spray created a foggy condensation. Droplets froze on the walls and congealed in the trail of blood.

«It appears so,» Lara said, «but you can't trust anything in these chambers to be what it appears.»

She held out her hands, palms out. The spray from the ceiling was so fine, it appeared more mist than anything else. «It's ice,» she said, «tiny particles of ice.»

«There has to be a purpose for it,» Natalya added. She also put her palms out to test the «feel» of the spray. «Are you getting anything?»

Lara frowned. «Yes, I feel Xavier's hand in this. There appears to be subtle influence in the mist, but I can't tell what it is yet. Why can't you feel it?»

«I can in the outer chambers, but it was difficult,» Natalya said. «But in this room, I wouldn't have even been able to tell you Xavier had been here.» She looked around. «And I have to say, this is creepy, like in those spooky old movies where the mad scientist conjures up mutated zombies. These are all vats with extremely disgusting gunk bubbling in them.»

Nicolas stepped into the room, waited until the mist touched his face and arms before signaling the others inside. «It's cold, but I expected that.»

«The room isn't cold,» Lara pointed out. «In fact, that pool over there is steaming. I'll bet it's fed by an underground volcano. Xavier's tapped into something hot.»

«Wouldn't that kill anything he's trying to grow in here?» Natalya asked.

«Extremophiles are called just that because they live in extreme conditions.» Lara looked around the room. «And it looks to me as if he's testing every condition. Hot. Cold. Acid. Blood. Salt. Minerals. You name it, he has it in here. This is his breeding program.»

«Why all the frogs?» Vikirnoff asked.

Lara approached the little creatures, ignoring Nicolas's restraining hand. Again she placed her hand just inches from them. «They're male. All of them.»

Nicolas's jaw tightened. «This is where it started then. He found a way for the microbe to force male offspring and suppress female.»

Lara indicated the first pool. «See those stalks with that gelatinous mass, the tiny black specks wiggling inside? I'm betting those are all male. He's still working at perfecting his methods, I see.»

Things can always be improved.The hated voice whispered in her ear and Lara spun around, eyes wide with terror, expecting to see the mage standing behind her with his smug expression and his hate-filled silvery eyes.

She drew in a deep breath and pressed a hand to her thudding heart. He had always said that when he injected something into Razvan's body. The memory poured into her mind, the image vivid and sharp. Razvan fighting, sweating blood, her mother crying while Razvan writhed and convulsed on the ice floor. Bile rose. She was going to be sick.

Nicolas pressed his hand against her stomach, his mind merging with hers.I am here. He cannot harm you, Lara. You are not the little helpless child anymore . He poured strength and love into her mind.

«I'm sorry. I can do this. We have to do this. I want to find my aunts.» Lara lifted her chin and managed a faint smile. «Be careful in here. I don't trust anything.» Her chest felt heavy and she pressed her hand against it hard as she took another nervous look around. He was there. Maybe not physically, but Xavier permeated the room. His evil nature seemed permanently pressed into the layers of ice.

She took another deep breath to steady herself and forced her body closer to the tanks. One was filled with fluid and when she sniffed it, she drew back horrified. «I think this is amniotic fluid. Where would he get that?» The one beside it was blood. The blood coming from above ran steadily into the pool. Dense clusters of organisms floated in both pools.

«Where's that blood coming from?»

Nicolas stepped closer and sniffed it. «That is from the deer the bats took down earlier, but look at the other trails, Lara. This one has two separate blood trails. They are older, but the blood is Carpathian.»

Natalya waved them to the corner wall. «This is Razvan's blood. It's not as old as those trails and it also goes into that pool.»

«How old do you think Razvan's blood trail is, Natalya?» Vikirnoff asked.

She shook her head. «Not very old. A day or two. Just like in that chamber, his blood is congealed, frozen even, but it isn't old.»

«Then he's been here recently, which means Xavier has been here. Right under our noses,» Nicolas said. «He's been conducting experiments and sending his little microbe army after us this entire time. How could he hide from us?»

«He's had centuries to perfect his methods, and he appears to be sharing them with vampires,» Vikirnoff pointed out.

There was a small silence while all around the ice seemed alive, creaking and groaning. Lara looked around her. «The deeper the ice cave, the more unstable the ice, unless guarded by magic. Ice caves never stay the same, not like this one. Water can pour in from a melt above, creating a very strong waterfall, and then a few days later, when it's cold again, that can be completely frozen. And it moves. The walls move on you. You measure them to make certain they aren't closing on you. This ice is very stable in spite of the fact that we are hundreds of feet down. The walls move when he wants them to move. He's been here.»

Her lungs burned. She realized she was breathing shallowly. She detested this place and she wanted out.

«Lara,» Nicolas said, «can these two other blood trails be your aunts? I do not recognize the scent, other than knowing it is Dragonseeker.»

Natalya hurried over, pressing both hands to her chest tightly. «I did not know them. I thought them long dead.»

Lara felt sluggish, reluctant to move. «If that's their blood, we should be able to track it back to them. He kept them weak and sick because he was afraid of them, but he wanted their blood and he drained it from them often.»

Nicolas whipped his head around to look at her. «Lara! What is wrong with you?» He looked from her to the other two. «Something is wrong. None of us are breathing right.»

Lara tried to clear her foggy brain. «A natural hazard. He would use the elements and it would be simple.» She lifted her face to look at the ceiling and spray hit her. «Nicolas, we have to get out of here. Warm up your lungs. He's freezing our lungs using the ice crystals. The particles are so tiny and we inhale them.»