Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

Corinne put her hand on his arm and smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. «Falcon's gentle like you and the children respond to that. You're such a poet, Dayan.»

He groaned softly, tucking away the fact that he was secretly pleased she saw him that way. «Don't let Darius hear you say that. I'll never hear the end of it.»

She laughed as she began a slow jog, skimming over the snow, trying to get the feel of how to place her feet to stay on the surface. «You're all so afraid of Darius. Have you even watched him with Tempest? He's a total pushover. He just can't be that scary.»

«You even say that about Gregori,» Dayan pointed out, keeping pace with her.

«He was wonderful to me and to the baby. The man is a teddy bear.»

Dayan snorted. «I've heard him called a lot of things, but teddy bear is not one of them.»

She shot him a small loving smile. Dayan felt his heart melt. She did it so easily. A look. A touch. And his world was right. All those years on the stage with so many women throwing themselves at him, not seeing him, not caring who he was. And then Corinne. She'd given him life.

«You gave it to me,» she said softly, showing him she was becoming adept at being a shadow in his mind. «You gave me life.» For a moment she reached out to take his hand, connecting all three of them. Baby, mother and father.

Dayan's heart swelled. He loved having a family. He would always love it.

Corinne shot him a mischievous smile. «Keep up, music man.» She bolted, running like a machine, smooth and fluid, her body moving easily, heart and lungs in perfect synchronization. Dayan ran behind her because he loved to watch her run. It was something

she had wanted more than anything, something that had been denied her all of her life. Others took it for granted, but Corinne enjoyed every single step she took. He could always feel her enjoyment, and he knew the baby felt it too. Jennifer always loved to go running with her mother, and Dayan knew it was the waves of happiness rolling off Corinne that both he and his daughter wanted to bask in.

Corinne was impervious to the cold, but not to the sparkling beauty around her. The trees were transformed, branches laden with white crystals, so that they glittered with millions of gems. She felt like she was running in a fairy-tale world with her handsome prince. Her daughter snuggled tightly against her chest, rocking gently, as if in a cradle, adding to the surreal effect.

Corinne flung out her arms. «I love my life!» She shouted it to the sky, happiness bursting through her until she couldn't contain it.

Dayan smiled, even while he was scanned the area around them for enemies. They were closing the distance to Nicolae and Destiny and the small group of people with them. He could tell the couple and their friends were walking in the general direction of Francesca and Gabriel's home, so the young girl had to be Skyler. He was beginning to know individual scents now and it helped ease his mind. He was used to living in the much smaller family of the Dark Troubadours. Even that had grown recently as each had found a lifemate. He was the only one of the Troubadours with a child, but he hoped that would change soon so Jennifer would grow up with other children around her.

Corinne listened to the steady beat of her heart. It always amazed her to hear that rhythmic beat, to feel strength in her arms and legs and be able to breathe easily even while she was running. She took a step, blew air out and her heart skipped. Missed a beat. She heard it clearly, felt the invasive weakness slide into her body. The breath left her lungs in a rush and she faltered, stumbling. Her heart missed another beat. She stopped running, wrapping her arms around the baby, holding her close, her mind racing, terror gripping her.

Was it possible her heart had been so damaged that even conversion to a Carpathian couldn't keep it going? She heard it distinctly, the beat, a skip, two beats, another skip. Fast. Slow. She turned to Dayan, eyes wide with shock.

«What is it?» He stepped back away from her, turning in a circle, searching the area around them for any enemies.

«Can't you hear it?» Her voice shook.

Dayan listened to the night, sorting the sounds muffled by the snow. He could hear voices in the distance, knew Nicolae and his brother were close. Something is wrong. He sent them the message on the common telepathic path.

There was a moment of silence. We're coming to you from the south. Nicolae responded. We have MaryAnn and Skyler to protect.

We have the baby.

Dayan felt edgy, troubled, but he couldn't find a blank spot that might indicate a vampire. They weren't alone, someone or something was watching, but he couldn't find a location. It didn't appear a vampire was the threat. He swore under his breath, startling Corinne.

«Can you hear it?»

He didn't want to hear it. The baby had a regular heart rate, faster than an adult, but Corinne's heartbeat was irregular. Even when he put his hand over her heart and tried to regulate the beat, it was all over the place. He forced calm when he really felt panic. He would not lose her. Not to anything or anybody.

«Do you think my heart is failing?»

«I want to wait for the others to get to us before I check. If I go into your body and we are attacked, the vampire would have the advantage.»

«Do you think we'll be attacked?» Corinne tightened her hold on the baby, her arms wrapping around the infant protectively. She looked carefully around the area, up into the trees and along the snow-covered ground. «Why can't I feel a vampire if there's one close? And how would a vampire affect my heart? It must be failing. The healing was only able to last a couple of months, Dayan.»

He kept his palm over Corinne's heart, in order to keep her heart beating in rhythm with his. «That isn't true, Corinne. I don't know what's going on, but when the conversion was completed, Gregori made certain your heart was whole and healthy.»

Nicolae and Destiny came striding through the trees, MaryAnn and Skyler in between them. Destiny was to the young teen's right, several feet between them, her restless eyes searching the ground while Nicolae searched the terrain. Above them flew two owls, circling the warriors, working their way through the canopy to try to spot an enemy from above.

Nicolae reached Corinne and Dayan, his gaze jumping to the protective way Dayan had his hand placed over Corinne's heart. In the muffled silence of the snow, they could hear the irregular heartbeat overly loud. «Vikirnoff and Natalya search from above. What is it?»

«I don't know,» Dayan said. «I feel something out here, Nicolae, but I cannot find it. And whatever it is, Corinne's heart is responding.»

Vikirnoff and Natalya spiraled down to earth, taking their natural forms, Natalya in leather, weapons everywhere. The warriors spread out, keeping MaryAnn, Skyler and Corinne with her baby in the center. Corinne's heart faltered and her legs went out from under her.

MaryAnn caught her before she could fall to the ground. She helped her to sit and knelt

beside her, screening the baby from anything that could be close and intend harm. «We need Gregori,» she said. «Someone call him.»

Skyler lifted her face to the sky and spun around, an alarmed look on her face. MaryAnn flung out a restraining arm when she went to move outside the circle, but Skyler avoided contact and stepped outside the circle to face toward the inn. «It's here again. I feel it. A steady current of energy.» She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her stomach, distaste flickering across her face. Her palm crossed over her wrist and she rubbed as if it was aching.

Vikirnoff frowned, watching her, as the others tried to identify what the younger girl was feeling. «Let me see,» he said, and reached for her wrist.