Christine Feehan - Dark Curse 19

«Lara!» Nicolas called. «It's grown another head. What are you doing up there?»

«Playing dolls,» Lara called back, a bite of irritation in her voice. «This isn't easy, Nicolas. I need to concentrate.»

«You can do it,» Natalya encouraged. «You have a feel for him and I've noticed the ice responds to you.»

Lara hadn't considered that. She was at home in ice caves. They felt natural to her and the mage spells flooded her mind, faster and faster the more she used them. The aunts had prepared her for any trouble, it seemed, and more than ever she was determined to bring their bodies home. In life, maybe they'd been prisoners, but not in death.

«Keep the venom and parasites off of me, Natalya,» she said.

«You got it.»

Lara took a breath and let it out, lifting her hands and weaving a pattern in the air directed at the shadow warriors.

Ancient warriors of the past, who stood with honor and favored tasks. Now controlled by the dark and unseen, I call to you-listen to me. Bound by darkness that has no honor, I call to your spirit-fight once again as warriors. I send to you strands of strength, allowing you the ability to

think. I ask a boon and release your souls, stand as one that has been froze.

The shadow warriors froze, dropping their swords, points toward the icy floor. Through the swirling smoke, Lara caught glimpses of the red pits for eyes set into black masks where their faces should have been. Facing the mirror of ice, the warriors remained frozen, staring sightlessly into that which reflected their empty souls. It saddened her that these men, who had lived their entire lives with honor, could be commanded by one so evil as Xavier.

Lara lifted her hands once more and began to weave a pattern, this one even more intricate and detailed than the one before. This time when she chanted, her voice rang with respect.

Those who have suffered evil wrongs, who have fought in battles standing strong, look into the ice and see, that which may be reclaimed by thee.

Holding her breath, she waited as each warrior began to move, awakening as if from a long sleep. They stretched their arms toward the mirror of ice.

Lara continued to chant softly.Warriors of strength, time and valor, take back that which is yours and ascend with honor .

The ice began to form and give birth to floating lights, each a different color and shape. As the lights descended, the warriors stepped into them, glowing for a moment. Then each, bowing low toward Lara, simply vanished.

The moment the last of the shadow warriors disappeared, Lara called to Nicolas. «The way is clear. We have to get out of here. Don't step on the pods.»

Vikirnoff and Nicolas joined their lifemates, hurdling over the snapping teeth to get out of the mother parasite.

«That was well done, Lara,» Nicolas said, sending a small salute after the warriors. «You honored them and rightly so.»

«What are we going to do with that?» Vikirnoff asked, as the hideous creature snapped her jaws at them. She couldn't move, frozen as she was, her body part of the ice cave.

«Destroy it, Lara,» Nicolas said. «I cannot call down the lightning here, but you can destroy that breeding machine. It sits there waiting for victims to feed to its young. You command all the elements.»

«So do you.» She tipped her head back and studied his face. He wanted this for her-to feel powerful and in control. He wanted her to know she could kill the monster that preyed on his people. She nodded. «I wish we'd had time to think of a way to destroy his laboratory.»

Nicolas's smile held no humor, he simply bared his teeth in a wolfish way. «I'm giving it some thought. It is necessary to see where he is slipping the infected microbes into the soil.»

«He has to be using the glacier to deliver them to either the soil or the water,» Lara said. «My guess would be the soil because the villagers don't seem to be infected.»

«We will find it now that we know what we are looking for,» Nicolas said with confidence. «But in the meantime, destroy that creature.»

Lara looked back at the ice monster with its bloodstained teeth and dripping venom. Xavier had created the perfect mother for his parasites.

Lara needed fire, and air to feed the fire. She lifted her arms and faced the monster, while the others stood back, knowing Nicolas had given her a perfect opportunity to thwart Xavier. Destroying his parasite factory would set him back a great deal.

«This is for Razvan and Gerald and Terry,» she whispered softly and held up her arms, hands sketching a pattern in the air.

I call on the power of the west, air hears my call I draw on the power of the east, fire come to me.

A rushing of wind could be heard as small, flickering particles began to gather, swirling round and round, creating a wind tunnel. The faster it turned, the higher the flames leaped, gathering more and more particles until it became one large tube of fire. Lara gave a flick of her hand and shot the fire funnel straight and hard at the monster breeding the horrific parasitic worms, enveloping it entirely.

That which is mother and bound by deed, let fire consume the parasites that feed.

The great jaws gaped open in a silent scream and the fire hissed and fought against the ice, blazing white-hot, incinerating and melting the creature fast.

Nicolas blew Lara a kiss. «That ismy woman,» he said. «Let's get out of here.»

They used their blurring speed to move through the passageways. Xavier's ice caves were well aware of their presence and were beginning to fight back in earnest. The sun would be rising soon and they had to leave. They needed to find the bodies of the aunts and get out before they were trapped by their own weaknesses.

They used blurring speed, not touching the ground, moving fast through the twisting, sometimes very narrow tunnels, always going to the left and up.

Lara's heart began to pound.This is it. This is the chamber where I last saw them and they helped me to escape .

Immediately, Nicolas halted. Natalya and Vikirnoff stopped as well, looking around.

Lara recognized the cathedral ceilings and the two rows of tall, intricate crystal-and-ice-carved pillars running the length of the room. Globes of various colors sat in niches built into the columns. Life-sized ice sculptures of various mythical creatures were scattered around the room, looking like fierce guards. The sculptures had frightened her as a child, especially when she'd seen them come alive at Xavier's whim and stalk her across the floor. Set inside chiseled archways were bloodred pyramids that gave off an unholy glow.

«Don't look into the globes, especially the cloudy ones. They come alive and can trap you.» Lara reached for Nicolas's hand, needing the contact.

«Natalya and I have been here before. I pushed the ice through the opening to close it in order to prevent the prince from coming down here to aid us,» Vikirnoff said. «Xavier had set a trap for Mikhail using vampires to help him. We were forced to close the opening to protect him, and Natalya and I

barely made it out alive.»

«We went through the floor,» Natalya said. «He has trapdoors built in to escape.»

Beneath the ice floor was a starburst, squares and pyramid pattern that ran through the floor. In the center of each shape were hieroglyphics, each symbol carved deep into the various shapes.

«And I saw the dragons encased in ice,» Natalya said. «The ice around them was several feet thick. They looked like water paintings. At first we didn't realize there were two of them.»

Lara nodded to her right. «There's an alcove just through there.» Now she could barely breathe. Would the bodies still be there? And if so, where had the blood come from? They couldn't still be alive, could they?