Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

«We challenged the males to a paintball game,» Skyler said, continuing walking toward the cabin. «It was Josef's idea and should be fun, but Josh and I can't shapeshift and neither can the other children. I told Francesca we need rules. Like no shifting and no communication between the males; otherwise, they have too big of an advantage, don't you think so?»

Leaves rustled again, just a whisper of sound. A twig broke. Alexandria turned her head toward the sound. «There's no wind. Something or someone is moving in the trees just to our left, Skyler. I think we should take to the air. I thought I glimpsed a wolf again through the trees. He was quite large, and moving at our pace, but it could have been my imagination.»

«Well, then, we're both imagining the same thing,» Skyler said, moving closer to Alexandria. «I sometimes can feel things near. Let me just…»

«No!» Alexandria said sharply. «You have no way of knowing if it is a friend-or monster. If you open your mind, you might lead him right back to you. I've called Aidan to us and he is sending Gabriel as well.» She spoke as Skyler stepped into another ice-covered puddle. The crunch was loud in spite of the snowflakes, and muddy water spurted out in a long spray.

A shadow fell across the snow, a dark stain looking all too familiar to Alexandria. An arm reaching-stretching obscenely-growing as if made of rubber. Insubstantial-shadow only-yet she could see it reaching toward Skyler, slithering over the rocks and through the shrubbery like a snake. If it hadn't been snowing she would never have seen, but with the white background, the fingers of the hand appeared bony and gnarled, an old hand with talons for fingernails.

To her horror, the dirty water from the puddle moved as well, ringing a tall tree like a dark noose, cutting into the trunk as if it were a garrote.

«Skyler!» Alexandria leapt forward even as Skyler instinctively jumped back. The tree splintered and cracked, the earth rocking beneath them. Alexandria could have dissolved into vapor, but she refused to leave the teenager exposed. She hurtled herself at the girl, intending to use her blurring speed to sweep them both to safety, but the shifting ground split, taking Skyler from her grasp. The best she could do was shove Skyler as far from her as possible, hoping to keep her from being smashed by the tree toppling down.

Even as the tree trunk groaned and splintered and the earth rolled, there was a terrible sound as the tree broke in half, knocking the top from the tree and driving the large, heavy branches straight down on them. Alexandria felt the blow to her head, the branch that picked her up and swept her down with alarming force. For one moment she thought she heard voices murmuring in a foreign language quite close, but she couldn't make out what they said. She tried to turn her head, to see where Skyler was, but the movement brought on pain, a haze of stars that faded away to leave a black, yawning void.

«Alexandria?» Skyler tried valiantly to control the tremble in her voice. Gabriel! Francesca! She called her family to her, a shattering cry that swept across the night. They're coming. She was pinned down under a heavy branch, her legs trapped, one hurting so much she had to fight back nausea.

Baby. We are coming. Hold on. That was Gabriel, his voice strong and vibrant, a rock to lean on.

You're hurt. Francesca's tone was gentle and soothing. Tell me how bad.

They were trying to reassure her, distract her, but Skyler felt danger surrounding her, pressing in on her with a suffocating presence. Her leg was bleeding, spilling bright red

blood across the snow. If she moved, bones rubbed together with excruciating pain, radiating through her entire body until she broke out in a sweat.

Something moved in the bushes quite close to her. She couldn't turn around to see what was creeping up on her. Hot breath exploded on the back of her neck and she cried out, trying to fling herself out of reach. Fur brushed her face as a huge wolf pushed through the maze of branches to inspect her wound.

Skyler froze, held her breath as the animal turned to look at her. The eyes were a brilliant ice-blue, startling in the midst of thick black fur. «I know you,» she whispered aloud, her heart in her throat. «I've seen you before, haven't I?»

The wolf shifted. The heavily muscled, furred body gave way to a tall, broad-shouldered man with shining black hair streaming down his back. His face was harshly sensual, a carving of stone with lines etched deep and a strong jaw and masculine mouth. His eyes were so blue they seemed to burn over her.

«Why would they allow you to come out alone?» he asked. «It was foolish of them. If they do not guard you better, I will no longer allow you to stay with them.»

As he spoke, his gaze held hers, but she could see he had separated himself from his body, becoming a strong dominant spirit. She felt his presence the instant he entered her body. She wanted to scream, to fight, to evade his spirit. He moved through her with speed and purpose, repairing the damage to the nick in her artery, the bone, and lastly the flesh. All the while she shared his mind. Knew his memories, his implacable resolve.

Dimitri. Relentless hunter of the vampire. Protector of wolves and lifemate-to Skyler.

«No!» She shook her head vigorously in denial. She wouldn't be anyone's lifemate, least of all this man with his burning eyes and his dominant nature. She couldn't conceive of being with a man so hard, so utterly certain of himself. Emotions poured into her, colors vivid and bright, so bright she feared she might go blind-or maybe it was his fear, his colors, his emotions. She couldn't separate herself, as if by entering her body to heal her, he had wrapped himself around her insides, burrowing deep to find her soul.

His mind opened to hers, a dark place of haunting sorrow and hundreds of years of dealing death without remorse. He acted swiftly, violently-with absolute resolve. If those deaths were a part of his aching loneliness and terrible sorrow, she couldn't tell. This was not a man to be swayed from his path. He followed his enemies with tenacity and ruthless, unrelenting persistence. Violence was his world and she would never-never-go back to that kind of life. She wouldn't survive. As it was, just brushing his mind and finding the darkness, the coiled demon waiting-and willing-to strike, was so terrifying she wanted to retreat to that safe place inside her where no one else could go.

«You will not.» He made it a decree, pulling out of her body and back into his own. «You need blood.»

She shook her head. «Gabriel and Francesca will give it to me.»

He turned his ice-blue eyes on her, his look so cold it burned her skin. Skyler shivered, unable to look away from him, so frightened-of what-she wasn't certain. That this man would change her life for all time. That he would consume her, swallow her whole. That he was harsh and unyielding, a man without compromise. Skyler had fought hard to belong, to come back to life when she had retreated so far. Dimitri wasn't evil, not like her father, but he was a man of violence, of strong emotions and passions, yet capable of turning it all off so that he felt nothing at all.

She shrank away from him when he reached for her mind. Skyler felt the steady, relentless pressure and tried to build a wall, thick and made of steel, impenetrable, but he was too focused and too strong. She raised her arms up defensively as he reached to draw her close to him, a small sound of fear escaping before she succumbed to his control.

Dimitri drew her into his arms, allowing pleasure to burst through him, comfort-even peace. In hundreds of years he had never expected to find her. Necessity had made him cold –brutal even, but the warmth of her body, the sound of her voice, the softness of her skin brought hope where there had been none. He could barely see with the colors so bright– barely think with emotions he hadn't experienced in centuries.