Christine Feehan - Dark Demon 16

«You do belong,» he said. He pressed kisses against the nape of her neck. «You belong with me, thanks to those binding words you disliked so much.»

She frowned, snuggling closer. «Don't think I'm giving up on undoing the spell. I'm tenacious.»

«It is not exactly a spell.» His eyes were heavy and his arms were taking on the leaden feeling of his kind. «But did you figure out the first two lines?»

«Of course.» She felt smug; she couldn't help it. She had always had a gift for. languages and she had the advantage of speaking earlier languages before they had evolved into the twentieth century patterns. She was familiar with the way many words were considered unnecessary in the earlier languages. «The first two sentences translate more exactly to something like this: 'you wedded wife-my'. There is no specific word for the word 'are'. The second line comes out something close to: 'to me you belong, wedded wife-my.' I'm not certain of the exact phrasing, but it is far closer than the more modern form.»

A slow smile lit his eyes. «Really?» He arched his brows at her.

«Yes, really,» she said, undeterred. «I know you think it's funny, but I refuse to be trapped into something whether I want it or not. It's not good for you to think you've got me tied to you. I'm not a passive person and I wouldn't want you to think I am.»

His laughter was soft, his breath warm against the nape of her neck. «Passive? You? I cannot imagine anyone, least of all me, making that mistake.»

She grinned, closing her eyes. «Razvan said I needed to curb my tongue and that if Shakespeare had met me, Kate wouldn't be the famous shrew, Natalya would.»

«He said that, did he?» Vikirnoff was wise enough not to agree aloud. Not when her body nestled so comfortably next to his. «What else did Razvan have to say?»

«He said I needed to learn how to sew, to be more restful and soothing and to censor most of what I say.» There was laughter and affection in her voice.

«I cannot imagine.»

«I told him I did censor most of what I say. If he could read my mind…» Her voice trailed off, her lashes lifting so she could meet the amusement in his gaze. «Lucky you. You get to know the real me with no censorship.»

«Good night, Natalya.» He kissed her again and succumbed to the sleep of his kind, feeling very lucky to know the real woman.

Chapter 15

«Razvan! Where are you? I'm so happy. Come to me tonight. Where are you? Why won't you answer me?» Natalya hurried down the cobblestone steps leading to the great garden. They always met in the garden if they'd been separated for the day, but she couldn't find her brother anywhere.

«Why are you so happy?» The voice came from a distance and Natalya spotted her twin seated on the slabs of slate overlooking the fountain. He looked glum, his legs drawn up, his elbows on his knees, chin propped in hand. «Where have you been, Natalya? Do you even realize you deserted me? I didn't know the safeguards and I had to see grandfather.»

That brought her up short. They never referred to him as grandfather. Xavier was supposed to be dead. If they talked about him he would punish them, and his punishments were terrible. Xavier. Their Grandfather. They were forced to live with him after their father had disappeared. Natalya frowned. Why couldn't she remember Xavier when she was awake? She knew exactly what he looked like when she conjured up her dreams of her childhood, but not when she was in present time awake. How did that happen? «Don't call him that. We are to call him Uncle. He might hear you.»

«Why didn't you give me the safeguards, Natalya? How could you leave me wide open like that?» Razvan stood up slowly, turning as he did so, lifting his shirt. «Look what he did to me.»

Natalya halted instantly. «Oh, no! Razvan, why does he take it out on you when I make a mistake? I hate that. I hate that we're so afraid to be together we have to meet like this. Did he take your blood?»

«He always takes my blood. If not mine, then he would take yours. You know that. I don't care if he punishes me; he isn't going to get your blood.»

«Why do we stay? Why are we allowing him to dictate to us and keep us small children? I have power. He can't control me. He wants me to believe he can, but he can't. You have the same power in you, Razvan. You've resisted him for years. Together we can break free

of him.»

«We have different strengths, Natalya. You're good at commanding the elements. You have a quick mind and can figure things out.»

«You come up with the ideas in the first place, Razvan. Without you, we would have been dead a long time ago.» The words caught at Natalya. She looked down at her hands. They weren't the hands of a child, but those of a grown woman.

Shock spread through her. She looked up at Razvan. «What happened to us?»

The form of the teenage boy shimmered, became translucent and a man's image superimposed itself over the child. «You betrayed me. You chose the hunter, my enemy.»

Natalya shook her head, reaching out toward her brother. «I chose happiness, Razvan. That was something our grandfather didn't understand, could never understand. What was the point of longevity? I've watched people die over and over, but they led happy lives while I just lived on and on alone with no one to share anything with. Neither sorrow nor joy.» Her arms dropped back to her side, empty.

«We have power beyond imagination.»

«No, we don't. I've seen power beyond imagination, but it doesn't matter to me. Those people who are born, live their lives together as a family and die surrounded by family; they know how to live. What do we do? What does he do? He hides from the world with his malevolent schemes, drinking blood to stay alive-for what? Why live so long without happiness? I choose to be happy, to share my life. I will not apologize or feel guilty for that.»

«Look at us, Natalya. You took our world and changed it. I'm no longer a boy and I'm fading. Would you really choose him over your brother? Your twin?»

«I will not leave him. Why would you think I'm trading one for the other? You're in my dreams, Razvan. I will never forget you, never.» Her heart pounding, she studied the fading image of her twin, the harshness in the face of the man.

«You don't need me. You have him.»

Natalya refused to sound as if she were pleading. Or asking permission. «He is alive and I am alive. I cannot sustain my life on dreams of a brother long gone from me. My love for him is different.»

Razvan's face twisted with anger. «I forbid this! He is a hunter, hated by our family. Choose another.»

«This is a dream, only a silly dream. I choose Vikirnoff. I choose happiness,» Natalya said, determined to wake up. She would not allow her dreams to take on the twisted

nightmares that sometimes invaded them. Razvan would want her happy. He wouldn't be so angry with her over choosing to be involved in a relationship with someone who made her happy. Whatever occasionally crept into her dreams and corrupted them, she wasn't going to put up with it anymore.

«Wait!» Razvan called frantically. «The safeguards. You didn't give me the safeguards. I can't weave them myself.»

Natalya turned back to him, frowning as she murmured the spell to him.

He smiled at her, beloved Razvan, already repeating the words to ensure he didn't forget them. Pain flashed unexpectedly through her head, a terrible pressure that increased without mercy, and then, just as abruptly disappeared, leaving her shaken.

He shook his head. «It isn't right. That's not right. You aren't telling me the truth.»

Natalya stared at her brother in sudden shock and dawning horror. «My god, Razvan, it's you. It's been you all along.»

She gave a low, tormented cry. Her heartfelt as if he had literally torn it from her chest.