Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

Skyler screamed and backed away from her, sheer terror on her face. She put her arm behind her back, turned and ran. Natalya signaled the men off and she went after the girl, moving with blurring speed, catching her before Skyler could get away from the protection of the warriors.

«What is it? What did you think Vikirnoff would do?» she asked gently.

Skyler stilled in her arms, her heart thundering, her mouth dry. She shook her head. «I don't know. I don't know what happened.»

Natalya touched her mind very lightly, a soft probe, and found blankness, an impenetrable wall hiding memories.

«Do you feel it?» Skyler asked, her eyes pleading with Natalya. «I'm not crazy. I can feel it disturbing the air. It's so subtle.»

Natalya inhaled sharply, opened her mind, utilizing more than her Carpathian senses. She dug down, reached for her lineage, the part of her that was mage. Her cat roared, bared teeth and lunged for the surface.

«Oh, yeah, honey, I feel it,» Natalya assured her. She hissed out a long slow breath of displeasure, turning in a wide circle, palms up in the air. «I definitely feel it.»

Is it vampire? Vikirnoff asked.

Natalya shook her head, her face paling. She turned to look at Vikirnoff, despair on her face. She stepped back away from the Carpathians as if she suddenly couldn't bear to be in their presence.

Tell me now! It was a clear command from her lifemate.

Natalya bared her teeth at him, snarled and turned away. Vikirnoff looked from her to the teenager, who was once more rubbing her wrist as if in pain.

Vikirnoff stalked Natalya with long, purposeful strides, one hand coming down hard on her shoulder, spinning her around, the other up defensively to prevent the rake of her claws. «Tell us now.»

Natalya looked up at him in utter desolation. «Mage.» She whispered the word. «I think Razvan is alive. This is a mage spell. It is why Carpathians are finding it difficult to detect. A mage is working a destruction spell. It is subtle, but I can feel it. Whoever is wielding the magick is very skilled.»

Vikirnoff felt the sorrow, the devastation in her. Razvan was not only her brother, but her twin. She had been the one to throw the sword to end his life. They had not recovered his body and no one knew for certain if he had died. Razvan was a terrible enemy. Part Carpathian, part mage and now vampire as well, he was able to do what no other had done. He had formed an alliance with the vampires and he had fathered children when it was thought impossible.

Vikirnoff brought his hand up to the nape of Natalya's neck, joining them together. We do not know if it is Razvan. It could be Xavier, our mortal enemy, or any of his trained followers. And if it is Razvan, how would Skyler feel him? How would she ever detect a mage spell? She was the one earlier in the woods recognizing the flow of power. Only then was Alexandria able to feel it. Mikhail sent the word to all of us.

Natalya took a deep breath and turned to the teenager. She knelt down in front of her, taking both hands. «I know it is hard to touch others, and to remember much about your past, Skyler, but sometimes it is necessary.»

Skyler shook her head and tried to back away. «I can't. I don't want to.»

Ask her about her wrist. Why it is aching when she is feeling the weaves of the dark mage.

Natalya held Skyler firmly, preventing her from moving. «Just answer a couple of questions. Why does your wrist ache?»

«My wrist?» Skyler looked confused.

«Yes, you're rubbing it whenever you talk about the feeling of power in the air. Does your wrist hurt?»

Skyler frowned. «It burns and throbs as if…» She trailed off and cradled her wrist close to her body, glancing uneasily at Vikirnoff.

«As if someone had torn it open and used you for feeding?» Natalya persisted.

Skyler shook her head. «I want to go home. Right now.» Gabriel! Lucian! She struggled against Natalya's hold on her, tears forming in her eyes.

«Okay, honey. We're going to take you home, but something is wrong with Corinne's heart. You don't want her to die, do you?» Natalya persisted. «Not if we can help her.»

Dayan swore aloud. «I've called the healer. Corinne can't maintain her heart alone. I'm doing it for her. Someone take the baby.»

Skyler choked back her tears. «I don't know how to help her.»

«Do you have a birthmark?»

Skyler drew in her breath sharply and shook her head again.

«Any mark at all? Like a tattoo? Of a dragon maybe?»

Skyler burst into tears, shame on her face. «How did you know? Nobody knows. I've never told anyone, not even Francesca. It's faded most of the time. My father said he branded me because I was his property to rent out and everyone would know to give me back.» Her voice was so low it was barely audible.

Natalya sank back on her heels, the tiger in her struggling for supremacy as her anger rose. Her hair banded with color and her eyes began to change color. «That man was not your birth father, Skyler, and he didn't brand you. The rotten bastard.»

«He was. He was always with me.» Skyler nearly shouted it, this time, shaking off Natalya's restraining hands. «He was my father.»

Gabriel and Lucian materialized on either side of the girl, and she flung herself into Gabriel's arms. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. «Would someone like to explain?»

Vikirnoff did so. What could have traumatized her even more than the brutality of the father she had that she dare not remember it, Gabriel?

You think Razvan fathered her?

We know he was alive that entire time and that he fathered Colby Jansen. We know he had other children, that he wanted them for their blood. If she carries the mark of the dragon, she is Dragonseeker. It would explain so many things about her.

But why would we not know, Vikirnoff? Francesca and I have often been in her mind, distancing her from the brutality of her childhood.

«Gabriel,» Skyler looked up at him. «I know you're talking to them about me. What is it? What do they think about me?»

He stroked back her hair. «They think you are from a very special lineage among our people. That is why you are so rare a talent.»

Natalya stood up, glancing over to where Gregori had materialized beside Corinne. The young woman lay in the snow, her face pale, beads of sweat dotting her brow while she struggled for every breath.

«Her heart appears to be normal,» Gregori said. «Yet it is not functioning as if it is. I can breathe for her, but it is impossible to reverse what is not wrong.»

Natalya moved away from the others. «Take Skyler and go. She should be guarded at all times. Send word to Rafael to guard Colby. Just in case. I will do battle with this mage and see which of us is the stronger.» There was determination on her face. She put more distance between them.

She lifted her hands and sketched a sign in the air. At once they could see a grid of arcing light pulsing in the snow-filled sky. It was faint but there, a trace of brightness with veins everywhere, scattered across the sky like a giant net.

Skyler shook her head. «Don't let her do it. Stop!» She wrenched herself out of Gabriel's arms and ran to Natalya. «He's aware of us. If he knows who you are, where you are, he'll find you. He can always find you.»

«I'm aware of him,» Natalya said. «And I can find him. It's no good living your life afraid, Skyler. Whatever he's done to you, whatever anyone has, you have to take your life back. You're strong enough and you have Gabriel and Francesca to guide you. Go with Gabriel and trust me to do this.»

Skyler hesitated, then shook her head. «If you do it, then I will too.»

Natalya smiled at her. «I am the granddaughter of the dark mage. I have Dragonseeker blood in my veins and I am well versed in the magick of the old ways. Even if it is Xavier, my grandfather, I am a match for him. Don't be afraid for me.» She avoided her lifemate's gaze. Both knew if it was her twin brother, she might hesitate at the wrong time. She felt Vikirnoff moving in her, coiling to strike should there be need.