Christine Feehan: Dark Possession

She was trapped. MaryAnn drew in her breath and let it out slowly. She would not die in this place. She was a fighter, and she would somehow get word to Destiny and Nicolae that this branch of Carpathians was traitors. Fear skittered down her spine as she realized what she had to do. Escape into the rain forest, find her way back to the airstrip and somehow get the pilot to take her to an airport where she could catch a flight home. Hastily she looked around the huge room, trying to figure out what she could take with her.

Nothing. There was nothing. She would have to improvise. She went to the window and peered out. The grounds were fairly wild, the rain forest creeping toward the house like an insidious invader, vines and shrubs stretching toward the courtyard. It would be a short run. She caught the edge of the window and attempted to lift.

MaryAnn.

She shrieked, nearly jumping out of her skin, pressing her hand to her pounding heart as she whirled around. Vapor streamed under the door and through the small keyhole. Juliette and Riordan shimmered into human form, Riordan by the window, Juliette by the door.

«Where do you think you're going?» Riordan demanded, his black eyes snapping with fury. «You would be killed within five minutes of entering the forest. We are responsible for your safety.»

His voice seemed slow to her ears, a growling rumble that reminded her of demons she'd seen in movies, as if the sound was being played far too slow. Fear beat at her, rage filled her and confusion reigned. The counselor in her stepped back to try to make sense of the jumble of emotions pouring in.

«MaryAnn,» Juliette spoke gently. «I know you're puzzled by the things that you're feeling, but we think we have an explanation. We think that Manolito bound you to him in the way of our people. Riordan has reached out to him on their shared path and yet Manolito resists him, fearing him to be vampire, just as you are afraid of us. He claims he has a lifemate, and here you are, in despair, grieving for a man you say you've never met. Does that make sense to you? Something is happening here, and for both of your sakes we need to figure out what it is.»

Riordan rubbed his temples as if they ached. There was worry in his eyes. «I fear for my brother's safety as well as his life. He seems confused, and one cannot be confused in the rain forest. We have powerful enemies. He is in terrible danger. He trusts no one but his lifemate. If you are that woman, you are the only one who can save him.»

He stared at her with the unblinking eyes of a wild animal, shrewd and cunning and terrifying. MaryAnn

shuddered and backed up until she was against the windowsill. A part of her thought they were crazy, deliberately trying to baffle her, but the counselor in her was always seeking information and adding it all up. She knew enough about lifemates from Destiny. She'd been around the Carpathian people for a while, and although she didn't understand the bond, she knew it was strong and unbreakable.

Juliette held out her hand. «Come back into the other room and let's try to sort this out. You don't remember at all being alone with Manolito?»

She would remember, wouldn't she? She'd dreamt of him coming to her. A daydream once-only a dream. He'd pulled her into his strong arms and his mouth had slid over her skin down to the swell of her breast. The spot throbbed and burned. Without thinking, she put her palm over the pulsing strawberry that wouldn't quite heal and held the warmth to her.

She shook her head. «It wasn't real. He was across the room at the Inn in the Carpathian Mountains, but I didn't ever really talk to him.» He had looked at her. She'd expected his eyes to be flat and cold and empty like so many of the hunters', but he looked… dangerous, as if he might be hunting her. Instead of being frightened as she was now, she had been secretly thrilled, because, after all, it was a fantasy.

MaryAnn followed Juliette out of the room, aware of Riordan prowling behind her like a great jungle cat. He moved in silence, as his brother had moved. She needed air; the room seemed so hot and oppressive, much like the rain forest. That didn't make sense either. The house was well insulated and air-conditioned to comfortable coolness.

«I don't see how I could be his lifemate. I didn't even meet him. Wouldn't I know? Wouldn't he know?»

«He would know,» Riordan said. «He would be drawn to his lifemate, and if you were the one, the moment you spoke, he would see in colors and his emotions would have been restored. He would not have been able to get very far from you.» He frowned. «But he would have told us. You would have to be placed immediately under the protection of our family.»

«She was already under the protection of Gregori as well as Nicolae and Destiny,» Juliette reminded him. «He might not have thought it necessary.»

He would have thought it imperative… unless… Riordan broke off his thought and studied MaryAnn's face. «You said it wasn't real. What did you mean by that?»

Color slid under her flawless skin. «I dreamt of him.»

Juliette took a deep breath. «Oh, Riordan. What's happening? Something terrible is going on or he would be here.»

Riordan immediately was at her side, gliding so fast he was a blur, his arm slipping around her waist as he pressed kisses to her temple. «MaryAnn is here. The three of us can figure this out and we'll find him.»

For some reason, the fact that Riordan had included her, as if she could help find a solution, eased some of the tension in MaryAnn. She blinked several times, breathing deeply to try to see past the strange image of the vampire superimposed over the couple. The incisors receded a little, leaving them with normal white teeth.

«Is he really alive?» she asked, not daring to believe.

Riordan nodded, «We all tried to hold him to us, but he was dead, by our measures as well as human, his soul

already leaving his body. No one believed we could bring him back, even with the healer and the rich soil and everyone working to keep him in this world, when suddenly he was back with us. If you are his lifemate, you could be the explanation. You may have kept a piece of his soul safe with you unknowingly.»

MaryAnn opened her mouth to protest and then closed it abruptly. She knew the Carpathians weren't human. The same rules didn't apply to their species. She had seen things she would have thought impossible only a few short weeks ago. «But why wouldn't I know if I was his lifemate?»

«It is our men who are imprinted with the ritual binding words,» Juliette explained. «As a precaution for the species to continue.»

«You mean so the woman can't refuse him.»

«It is the same thing,» Riordan said. «And I doubt if he has bound you to him with the ritual words. It is more likely he has tied you together through a blood exchange.»

Her heart leapt again, then settled down to a steady drumming. She had allowed Nicolae to take her blood in order to better protect Destiny, but she had never, never, contemplated exchanging blood. She shook her head. «I didn't. It wasn't real. I wouldn't have done that. I'm still struggling to understand and believe your world. I would never have voluntarily taken his blood.»

Juliette and Riordan exchanged another long look. «You used the words 'it wasn't real.' What was this dream you spoke of?» Riordan asked.

MaryAnn pressed her hand tighter to her breast. She could still feel his mouth against her skin. She'd been outside and it had been snowing. Then later, when she'd gone back to the house and she'd been alone… Her skin felt cool and he had pushed aside her clothing. His lips had been warm and soft and so very sensuous. She hadn't thought to push him away, only cradle his head while he drank and then… and then…