Christine Feehan - Dark Demon 16

She turned to face him, staying partly in the shadows to hide her expression. «What if I don't want to turn the book over to him, Vikirnoff? You never asked me how I felt about it. You assumed I'd be willing, but I am not someone to follow so easily.»

Vikirnoff studied every nuance of her tone, for the first time uncertain if she was challenging him to make a point, or if she really meant it. Her mind was closed to him, and, although he could breach the barrier she had erected, it seemed an insult when she dearly wanted her privacy.

Of course they had to turn the book over to the prince. What else would they do with it? He paced away from her, knowing she would read his agitation, but he didn't care. «What would you want to do with the book?» He made every effort to keep his tone flat, without any inflection whatsoever.

Natalya shrugged. «I haven't decided yet, but I'm not about to be railroaded into something I'm not certain is the right thing to do. The book is enormously powerful. It contains thousands of spells, magick so complicated and so dangerous that I don't think any but a mage should ever possess it.»

Vikirnoff stiffened. «You would use this book?» His gut churned with protest and his lungs began to burn for air.

Her eyes took on a faint amber glow. Bands of light streaked across her face and hair as she shifted closer to the candlelight, reaching for the long sword in its scabbard against the wall of the cavern. At once she was far more difficult to see, blending into the shadows.

«If I chose to use the book it would be my business, Vikirnoff. You cannot dictate to me that I must retrieve this book and then turn it over to someone I don't know, I don't trust and I don't respect.»

Vikirnoff remained silent, forcing back his first response. She knew very little about his people and it was true, he had arbitrarily decided for her what she should do with the book once she had recovered it. And he was pushing her to recover it. Natalya was not a woman to be forced into anything. Right now she felt cornered and she was fighting back. «Have I earned your respect?»

Her amber eyes glittered, taking on the eerie glow of the night creature. «Yes, of course. One has nothing to do with the other. You aren't Mikhail Dubrinsky. You aren't asking me to give you the book for safeguarding, you're telling me to give it to him.»

«Would you give me the book?»

«Yes.» She didn't hesitate. «But not to give away. Only to safeguard.»

Vikirnoff let his breath out. She disarmed him so easily. The tension began to ease from his body. «Do you want to keep this thing? I think of it as evil. Am I wrong to feel that way about it?»

«The blood of my grandmother and two others sealed this book. Of course I think of it as evil and more than ever, that means it can't fall into the wrong hands. I don't know your prince and I don't find memories of him in you. How do you know his heart or his soul, Vikirnoff? You want to hand him a weapon that could be the ruin of us all and yet you do so on blind faith.» She shook her head. «I can't do it.»

«Are you concerned that Mikhail will be in more danger?»

«Partly.»

«No one has to know he has the book. He will not try to wield the power, only to study Xavier's plan to rid the earth of our species. Xavier must have spent centuries developing a spell to use against my people.»

«I'm certain he did. The point is this. You asked me to locate the book and I did. Now you want me to recover the book and hand it over to someone I don't know. Does that make sense to you?»

«If you trust me, then there is no problem. We do not want to keep this thing.»

«Isn't it better to leave it where it is for the time being and if it becomes apparent Xavier is getting close to discovering its whereabouts, then retrieve it?» Natalya stepped out of the shadows. «Don't ask me to do this, Vikirnoff. I can't go against what I feel is right, not even for you.»

«You believe it is better to leave the book there? Why do you think vampires are looking for psychic women who have the ability to touch objects and read the past? Why do you think so many have gathered here? A war between vampires and Carpathians? I believe they are searching for the book. Xavier knows your father was found near the peat bogs. He has to be searching there.»

«The safeguards will hold.»

«Will they? Who taught your father the safeguards? Who taught you? Even Razvan knows the safeguards you use. They will not hold and I think you know that.»

«Then I'll guard the book. I'll hide it somewhere else, halfway around the world, somewhere he'll never think to look.»

«Natalya.»

She threw her head back, exposing her throat, but her fists were knotted at her sides. Her name. Just that, nothing else, a wealth of expression in his voice. «I'll find the damn book, Vik, but I'm not handing it over to the prince until I'm certain it will be safe.»

«That is good enough for me, ainaak enyem, I cannot ask for more.» He held out his hand. «Let us go find it.»

Chapter 17

The peat bogs were unexpectedly as beautiful as they were eerie. Natalya paced carefully around the nearest edges just along the pine forest, where the water drained from above and seeped up from below to form the enormous marsh. Sphagnum moss grew in abundance, the feathery stems and leaves stretched out invitingly over the surface beckoning her to come closer. Orchids and a dozen other plants flowered in or around the dark water. The ground, even close to the edges was spongy and each step she took shook the nearby trees. «Some of these plants are huge.»

«They are carnivorous. They eat insects,» Vikirnoff said.

«Still…» Natalya glanced up at the mountain rising sharply above them. Parts of it were totally obscured by the thick mist. Pine trees grew in abundance and some low branches partially dipped into the wide bog, so that needles floated on the surface along with the thick vegetation. She pressed her palm over the birthmark that warned her when vampires were near. «I don't think we're being watched. Do you feel any danger?»

«Not from vampires, but lately I haven't been able to feel them close by. I think it has something to do with the parasites in their blood. I have no idea how they mask their presence, but it seems to be effective.» He was still uneasy. The forest pressed too close and the smell of the peat bog was overwhelming. «Can you unravel the safeguards from here, Natalya?» There was more fighting room. He preferred the solid ground to the spongy, waterlogged terrain.

«No. I'll have to be in the exact spot my father was. He'll have set it up that way as part of the protection. If they come, you'll have to keep them off of me while I retrieve the book. Once they know we're looking here, they'll drain the bog before giving up.» The marsh was huge with sinkholes everywhere. In the moonlight, the stagnant water appeared deep and treacherous, despite the many plants blooming on the surface.

«You be very careful, Natalya.» It was an unnecessary thing to say, but her hesitation, coupled with the heavy oppressive weight settling between his shoulder blades, increased his feelings of unease.

Natalya tossed him a quick, saucy grin. «Careful is my middle name.»

Vikirnoff scowled at her. «This is a serious situation, Natalya.»

Her eyebrow shot up. «Really? I would never have guessed. I thought maybe it would be cool, campy fun like in The Creature from the Black Lagoon. It didn't actually occur to me that it could be serious.»

«There is such a thing as overconfidence.» There was a small pause. «What is The Creature from the Black Lagoon?»

Natalya shook her head in disgust. «Just what have you been doing all these years? Don't you ever watch television? The Creature front the Black Lagoon is a classic. A must-see movie right up there with King Kong and Godzilla. You had to have watched them.» When he looked blank, she sighed. «A scientist becomes this mutant creature and lives in the lagoon…» She trailed off. «Never mind, but we have to work on educating you about movies. You're missing some great stuff. It's education. How do you think I learned about vampires?»