The women moved quickly but calmly to prepare the chamber for the new ceremony, the most important ritual they might ever perform. Several women took bundles of sage, lit them, and began to walk from back to front through the chamber, along the wall, chanting low, asking to cleanse and bless with only positive energy, reaching as high as possible and then crisscrossing the room as they repeated the chant. The smoke drifted through the cavern and when they were done, they added the bundles of sage to the hot rocks lining the back wall.

Four of the Carpathian women braided sweet grass already soaked in water, in long ropes, binding their intent into the ropes, chanting softly their intentions of attracting energy to help aid Lara in her shamanic journey.

Francesca had already prepared potent-water beneath the full moon and she now gave it to both Savannah and Raven to drink. She had cleansed several good-sized rose quartz under running water and then placed them in a bowl of water covered with cheesecloth under the full moon. The rose quartz was the mother stone and often used to effect change and open the heart.

She took the smoothest stones of rose quartz and ametrine from the pouch and gave them to Raven and

Savannah to hold in their hands and rub while the ceremony took place. Next she took braided cowrie shells and placed them around both pregnant women's necks, another call to energy. She scattered rosebuds over the rich soil and added pomegranate to aid in the ceremony of renewed life.

Once Francesca had prepared Savannah and Raven, she took up a small drum, hand painted with a map of the shadow world and various animals of power and wisdom. She took a soft mallet and began to thump in a monotonous beat, using the rhythm of the women's collective hearts.

Lara seated herself close to Raven and Savannah, forming a triangle, while around them, the other Carpathian women formed a tight circle. Now, braids of sweet grass and copal tree resin were added to the smoking sage on the hot rocks along with herbs so that the room surrounded them with the scents of nature. Lara inhaled the scent, allowing the fragrance to carry her jitters away.

This was the most important task she might ever accomplish and she had nearly ended her own life. Had she succeeded, how many children would be lost? She felt she had been put on earth to fulfill this moment, to make this journey and save the three children. Xavier had destroyed so many lives and she was determined that he would not take these women and children as he had so many others.

Rubbing her fingers over a clear quartz crystal for clarity and focus, she pushed all thoughts away and allowed the waves in her mind to come and go and then recede altogether until her mind was a calm body of water, lapping at the edges relentlessly, ready to expand.

In her calm state, she sifted through her memories, long forgotten, and found the faint tracks of mage. She followed the path until she could open the door she needed. Dragonseeker blood might flow through her veins, but she was mage-her mother from a pure line. The mystic ran strong in her and everything she had been taught by the aunts was ready to feed her instincts should she need aid. This underground chamber the ancient women had instinctively chosen to use for their rituals was a place of power where the physical world merged with the spiritual realm. She felt the energy flowing into her, heard the rhythmic sound of a drum and the distant feminine voices chanting. The melodic notes carried her deeper into another sphere.

Smoke filled her vision. Clouds of mist and fog drifted in the smoke. She inhaled sharply, drawing the smoke and air into her lungs, as she set her soul free to travel. She found herself at the border of the two worlds, the chamber where she sat composed and tranquil, at the first stage of travel.

As her vision cleared, she could see a large tree with a labyrinth of roots and a jungle of wide-reaching branches standing before her. Mist of varying colors swirled through and around the branches. Leaves rustled as if alive, silvery green in color, fluttering in the soft breeze. The wind was just strong enough to stir the mist, not dislodge it, so that the she caught glimpses of the thick twisting trunk, leading upward toward the sky and down beneath the soil.

Lara concentrated on the tree. The trunk appeared quite old, grayish in color. There were a few dark knots in the trunk and branches and one or two places where it may have lost a limb over time, but the tree appeared healthy. She continued moving over the ever-expanding meadow toward the tree, her bare feet skimming the fresh grass. As she moved across the field, flowers sprang up under the soles of her feet as if she scattered seeds along the fertile ground. The closer she got to the tree, the more missing branches she spotted, and beneath the tree, held within the cage of roots, old dead limbs lay like broken bodies in a mass grave.

As she approached the tree of life, she heard voices crying out, the sound of weeping, and she felt wet drops on her upturned face. Tears rained down on her, the tears of ancient women who had gone before,

losing child after child to the unknown killer. The tears splashed on the ground to form a stream, each tear merging with another until the stream became a river.

Lara waded through the rising water to get to the wide, thick trunk so she could examine it up close. Faint, shallow marks were burned into the trunk leading up toward the branches where new life waited. Raven's son. Savannah's two daughters. Their souls clung to the gently rocking limbs far above her. She could see the two branches were blackened and hollow, twisted from some disease. Above them were several other brand-new souls as well, clinging to relatively healthy branches, but she could already see signs of the unknown disease eating at the limbs. These then, were the most recent Carpathian pregnancies. The killer had targeted Raven's child first and then Savannah's, but these children were in jeopardy as well.

There was a taint to evil. Xavier had used the dark arts against the Carpathians, corrupting his gift, twisting it for his own purpose and now she could see not only the faint track marks, but smell the odor of the malevolence along the trail of dark alchemy. The path led up toward the high branches, but also followed the trunk down to the maze of roots below the earth. She went down the trunk and followed the root system, seeking the source.

Lara drifted down the long trunk, pursuing the tracks, using scent and sight. Once on the tangle of roots, the trail was much more difficult as the tracks appeared everywhere. Shadows leapt out at her, great greedy claws, extended toward her. Moans and wails rose around her. The river of tears continued to rise.

She pressed the pads of her fingers deep into the smooth surface of her crystal and waited patiently. The croak of a frog drew her attention. The small creature floated to her on a lily pad. It leapt from the streaming water to the trunk of a tree, looking at her with large, earnest eyes.

She smiled and greeted the creature formally and with respect, her spirit guide in the underworld realm. Frogs were amazing, magical creatures, potent in both land and water energy. To Lara, the frog symbolized everything the Carpathian women sought. Transformation, rebirth, the bond of mother and child and Mother Earth to her daughters. Unblocking the energy and creating a path for a smoother flowing so healing could prevail, ridding the earth and water of all toxins was exactly what Lara wanted to do. And the symbolism continued further; when frog populations were strong, the ecosystem was in balance and harmony was restored. She was on the right path.

She followed with even more confidence. The frog hopped easily along the root system, moving from stalk to stalk until he found one extremely large and twisted root that seemed to lead away from the rest. It bored deep into the earth and the farther down it went, the more twisted and black it became. Holes pierced the root and the stalk wept black tears.

Lara traced the faint footprint of evil farther, spiraling down the long taproot. The impression of hatred and despair grew stronger until she was caught in its flow and felt the influence pressing on the mother's body to reject the small intruder nestled in her womb. The illusion was strong, mother hating child, wanting it to leave, to get out, that thething inside was a monster not a beloved child.

She resisted sending the little boy reassurance. That wasn't her job. Far away she could hear melodic voices singing a lullaby softly. She concentrated on the heartbeat, on the crystal in her hand that kept her focused on her journey.

The shadows grew stronger and darker. Waves of despondency washed over her. Threads of hatred and rage mixed with the flow of desolation. A weave of incredible power, but restrained, so subtlety was

at work here. She knew that touch. She'd felt that touch all too often as a child. Xavier had humiliated her. He'd made her feel weak and defenseless, unwanted and unloved. He had made her feel as if the people who had brought her into the world rejected and despised her. This was his work. His signature was everywhere. Whatever microbe he had devised to carry out his cunning conspiracy was very close. She was nearing the home of the killer.

She tapped Natalya's mind. She couldn't afford detection until Natalya was ready to strike and she dared not continue until Natalya followed her clear path and joined her spirit to spirit. This part was the most dangerous. Lara was light and airy, floating along the realm with little to alert others to her presence. Natalya was a warrior, skilled in the art of killing, and now, in spite of the fact that she had been mage, she was fully Carpathian. She had lost none of her mage skills, but it was possible the entity could feel her presence as a threat. Lara stayed very quiet until she felt Natalya's spirit join hers.

Lara continued forward, taking Natalya's spirit with her. The entity had burrowed beneath the earth, the negative energy raising the toxicity of the ground so that Lara's sensitive soul wanted to weep. She pressed her fingers against her clear crystal and pushed on, focusing on her mission. Used to the ice caves and the extremophiles she found there, she spotted the killer as it clung to a bit of fungus. It didn't surprise her at all that Xavier had chosen to use such an organism to deliver death.

Extremophiles were given the name because they could survive and thrive in all kinds of extreme conditions, hot or cold, darkness or light, even a salty environment. The microbe was perfect as an assassin. Of course, Xavier had mutated this one to serve his purpose. It was tiny, a chameleon microbe able to merge with cells and appear part of whatever it chose to mimic. She felt the moment the microbe became aware of her presence and the danger to it.

Alarm spread, resounding waves swamping her and she leapt aside as the microbe spit chemicals at her. Droplets of acid hissed through the stem of the root. The tree shook under the assault. She had known that extremophiles spit chemicals at other microbes to protect themselves and their territories so she'd been somewhat prepared, but the sudden aggression surprised her. The microbe went on the attack immediately, raining acid over the taproot in an effort to eradicate the threat to it.

Lara had to lure the thing to the surface so Natalya could kill it and she had to do so immediately. The attack could kill off the last of the baby's strength.Baby . The extremophile was programmed to kill an infant. No baby would be a threat to it. Knowing Xavier, he would have given his assassin the scent of both Dubrinsky and Dragonseeker blood.

For the first time she hesitated. She would have to go back to her childhood and face her demons again. There would be no Nicolas to stand between her and her traumatic memories, but she could not fail this child.

I am here, Natalya reassured.

The echo of female voices surrounded her, uplifted her, gave her renewed confidence with their offer of sisterhood.

Lara looked to her spirit guide. Without hesitation, the little frog who had started in water and transformed to land, began the journey along another root. She felt the warp of time and knew the frog was taking her back so that she would appear as an infant to the assassin.

At once the acid stopped raining down, but now the attack was different, sharp and focused and very complex. It began as a feeling, dread stealing into her mind. A voice whispered to her in the Carpathian

language, a repetitious message of hatred. The insidious tone was poisonous, seeping into her mind even though she knew she wasn't an infant. The disgust was all too reminiscent of her childhood.

She forced herself to continue up the taproot, knowing the microbe followed, feeling its presence as it whispered hideous things. No one wanted her. She was worthless. The body carrying her rejected her, fighting to rid itself of such a parasitic creature. Go! Go! Abandon the host. She detested carrying such a weak, pathetic foreign object. Not a person, an object.

Without warning, something stabbed at her, a vicious hot poker that tore through her outer shell to her soul. The microbe had gotten close enough to attack with a retracting stinger. She saw the probe disappear back into the chameleon of an extremophile. The pain was excruciating. Lara stumbled. At once sharpened points raked at her ankle. She nearly panicked, terrified of being injected with a mass of parasites. It was only the crystal in her hand and the sound of feminine voices rising in melodious harmony that kept her from abandoning her infant state.

She moved faster, her baby cries clearly spurring the microbe on to more vicious action. The murmur of the voice continued, relentlessly pushing at her to give up, to go away, that the body she resided in wanted her gone. Despair was an ever-present companion and now her environment became hostile as well. Attacks came in the form of an army of antibodies. Small chains lashed at her, beating at her in an attempt to drive her out. She realized the stinger had tagged her for attack and now the chains of proteins whipped around and through her.

This was happening to Raven's son and Savannahs daughters.

Outraged, Lara pushed upward toward the traveler's entrance where one realm met the other. No matter the cost to her, she would be bait and bring this hideous killer to the surface where Natalya waited.

As she moved upward, she felt a burning sensation, not on her outer shell, but deep inside, as if her blood was boiling. The stinger had injected her, not with a parasite, but with an incompatibility to her host's blood. Already cells were breaking down, causing hemorrhages. And all the while that voice continued to tell her how worthless she was and how much her host didn't want her there. Waves of despair swamped her continually.

Sound began to drown out the voice as pressure built all around her, squeezing down on her while the sound thundered in her ears and her heartbeat picked up pace. The comforting sound of the ebb and flow of life-giving fluid changed to a fast, hard race that roared in her ears, sounding like a frightening freight train coming at her from all sides.

Lara struggled up the tree, clinging to the sound of the lullaby, forcing the pads of her fingers into the crystal to maintain some semblance of reality. She wept, spurring the microbe on, letting her baby cries whip it into a frenzy so that the organism didn't realize she was doing anything but trying to flee its presence. In response, sensing victory, the killer increased its attacks, pressing despondency deep into her mind while it increased its assault.

Terrified, she fixed her sight on the smoke and mist swirling all around just out of reach. Time slowed, and she felt as if she was wading through quicksand. Her environment became less and less stable, small earthquakes rocking her, pressure squeezing down on her, shrinking her world from every side, fluid building all around her so that she felt as if she was drowning. A swarm of tremors shook the tree from branches to root deep within the ground.

Just when she thought she might not make it out, the little frog was there, swimming beside her, guiding her through the crumbling walls as violent shock waves attacked her. Fissures opened up around her as stability decreased. She made one last desperate push to regain the surface, to find her spot of entry.

Gasping, she inhaled sage and sweet grass. "Now, Natalya, now!" She slumped to the floor of the chamber, in the dark, fertile soil, exhaustion gripping her body and the echo of her childhood nightmares resounding in her mind.

Natalya crouched over Raven, her body as still as a tigress, unmoving, every sense alert, trained on her prey, waiting-waiting. She struck quickly when she detected a faint trace of mage and the taint of dark art. Her weapon was an egg. She rolled it carefully over Raven's wound, drawing the microbe into the center of the egg.

Lara couldn't talk, but she sent Natalya a warning using the common Carpathian path her aunts had taught her.Watch out, it's nasty. Don't let it sting you .

Already the egg was rocking, darkening in color, the microbe sending waves of hatred and despair out into the chamber. A mixture of the foul stench of decomposing flesh and rotten eggs assailed Lara, deepening the feeling of being back in the ice cave. In spite of the heat rising from the chambers beneath them, she shivered with cold, and icy fingers of fear traveled down her spine.

The smoke and incense quickly absorbed the negative energies. Natalya, mindful of the lashing stinger, rushed the new host from the cavern. She called for an electrical storm so that for a moment the night sky lit up as she called down the lightning to incinerate the microbe held within the egg.

Lara rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. Gentle hands touched her face and body as the women searched for injuries. She didn't have the energy left to tell them it wasn't her body that needed to be healed, but her mind. She pried open her eyes and watched as Francesca examined Raven.

Did we get it? Is the baby all right? She didn't have the energy to speak aloud.

Natalya strode back in, going straight to Lara, taking her hand.

Raven closed her eyes and touched her son's mind. Her hands fluttered over her stomach, rubbing gently. "He's at peace. Finally, he's at peace and I feel different. I don't think my body's trying to reject him."

Francesca immediately sent herself outside her own body, to go seeking in Raven's. A smile of joy lit her face. "This is a miracle. Shea, her blood pressure is fine, there are no more contractions, she isn't bleeding, and her body isn't treating the baby as a foreign invader and trying to dispose of it."

Lara closed her eyes, pressing both hands to her pounding head. She wanted to weep and laugh at the same time. She was happy she'd been able to find the microbe, but now childhood memories beat at her, images of blood and torture and screaming men and women. More than that was the feeling of utter hopelessness, a seed planted from long ago that she could barely rise above. Her self esteem plummeted, the insidious thread of dark magic preying on her mind.

She didn't want Raven to know what the journey had cost her, but she felt sick to her stomach. Too many doors had opened along the way, and remembering wasn't a good thing. There had been a reason her aunts built a barrier to protect her and the shield seemed to be in shreds. She needed to be alone, far from everyone else where she could pull her fractured mind back together. The problem was-she was

too weak to rise.

Around her, voices rose in excitement. Shea and Francesca whispered in consult, their body language animated. Raven's child was safe and the culprit had been found. The other women rejoiced and Raven wept with happiness.

"What about my daughters?" Savannah's quivering voice quieted the room. "Do I have one of those things in me attacking the girls? Is that why I'm having contractions and bleeding?"

Gregori! I need you. Her cry was heartfelt, a mother's instinctive need to protect her children.

Lara stilled, her heart beginning to hammer inside her chest. She knew what was coming, but she couldn't . There was no possible way with her mind so fragmented that she could go back and face her childhood a second time. Without conscious thought, instinctively her traumatized mind reached out to Nicolas.

Nicolas. Hurry. I fear I'm lost.

"Lara?" Raven asked. "Does Savannah have a parasite in her body attacking the girls?"

For a moment she was paralyzed, her mind frozen, refusing to process information. She was still that child in the cave with Xavier standing over her telling her she was worthless and had killed her own mother.

"Get it out of me! Get it away from the babies," Savannah cried. "Get it out of me now."

She could hear herself screaming silently, deep down where no one could hear.

I hear. I am with you. Nicolas's voice was quiet and gentle, but carried absolute confidence.Hang on, han ku kuulua sivamet, I am almost there .

He was coming and he had called her "keeper of my heart." Lara tried to cling to that, shivering with cold, aware of little around her but the whispers of her past.

Natalya dropped on her knees beside Lara. "You need blood." She used her teeth to open her wrist, extending her hand toward Lara.

Lara's horrified gaze fastened on the elongated teeth, then touched on the red droplets welling up. The thin crimson trickle turned her stomach. Crablike, Lara scrambled backward away from Natalya, feeling trapped.

All eyes seemed on her and for a moment the expressions seemed greedy and disdainful. Her wrist burned and ached. She rubbed her fingers over the scars, looking toward the chamber entrance, judging the distance to make her escape.

Worthless, pathetic creature. You killed your mother. It is no wonder your father wants you dead. I should let him drink you dry.

Wide shoulders filled the doorway and silver eyes glittered and raked over her face. The scream echoed through her mind, built and built until it was a giant tsunami, bursting out of her, growing and expanding as energy exploded outward.

Nicolas threw Gregori aside and took the brunt of the assault, the powerful energy waves slamming him backward and down. Both he and Gregori shifted into mist as they moved. The force of the blow shook the chamber. Several sconces exploded, showering the cavern with wax and flame. Gregori materialized, his body blocking Savannah and Raven from falling debris.

Lara pulled herself into a standing position and staggered toward Nicolas, remorse adding to her feelings of humiliation and self loathing. He was there instantly, sweeping her up into his arms and glaring at the women. She buried her face against his chest, clinging, wanting to disappear. She felt fractured, fragile, raw and exposed.

"I trusted you with her." Fury burned through Nicolas, his strong body vibrating with power as rage took hold. He knew Lara's emotions were cutting into his self control, but it mattered little. She had come here already in a fragile state and instead of being bolstered by the women, they had torn her to shreds. He wanted to annihilate them. To maintain control, he stepped back toward the entrance.

Gregori spread his arms wide in a gesture of challenge and there was real anger breaking through the usual cold-stone demeanor. "Take your woman and go. Mage-born, daughter of Razvan, great-granddaughter of Xavier, what do we really know of her? It is bad enough that she endangered our prince with her lack of control, but she has placed every woman in this room in danger."

Nicolas dragged in his breath, the rage in the pit of his stomach coming to a boil. "You dare to imply that she is a spy in our camp?"

Power shimmered throughout the cavern and the walls undulated. The ground beneath them rolled.

"Stop!" Raven cried out.

"Gregori, you don't understand," Francesca intervened.

"What is going on?" Mikhail appeared, standing squarely between the two Carpathian males. "You are in a sacred place."

"She's done a great service, Gregori," Francesca said. "She found and brought to the surface the parasite threatening Raven with miscarriage. We thought the baby lost to us. She's exhausted and needs blood."

It was more than that. Merged as he was with Lara, Nicolas felt the press of Xavier's torment. He whirled around with Lara in his arms and took two steps, but Savannah cried out, pushing past everyone to block the entrance to the chamber.

"She can't leave. She can't." Tears swam in her eyes. "I'm sorry for what Gregori said, but shehas to get this thing out of me. It's trying to kill my children."

Gregori put a gentle hand on her shoulder, ignoring Nicolas who was still shaking with fury. "I can get rid of it, Savannah, now that I know what to look for."

Natalya shook her head. "It hides from men. Xavier was very clever. He knew every male scans his lifemate's body to ensure her health. Lara detected it because she lived for years with Xavier's taint all around her. She was able to go on a soul journey to find it dwelling within Raven. She used herself as bait to bring the entity to the surface, and allow Natalya to destroy it."

Lara slipped her arms tighter around Nicolas's neck and buried her face against his throat. Nicolas nuzzled the top of her head with his chin and then looked at Gregori, dark anger rolling like thunder in his eyes. "Too bad you have condemned my lifemate to banishment as a spy from the camp of the enemy."

He stepped around Savannah only to find his way blocked by Gregori's solid body. "You will not condemn my children to death because you are angry with me." His body crackled with electricity, tiny sparks snapping around him.

"Get the hell out of my way," Nicolas snapped, not in the least intimidated.

When Gregori didn't move, Nicolas placed Lara carefully on the ground well clear of a possible fight zone and stepped up, chest to chest, staring straight into Gregori's eyes, two dangerous predators not yielding an inch. "Do you really want to do this with me?" The anger faded from his eyes so they went flat and cold and a killer stood where a man had been.

"If I have to," Gregori replied.

A collective gasp went through the cavern. Mikhail sighed and waved his hand toward the two men. The energy field around Gregori snapped off with a small, brightly lit surge before going dark and both men found themselves on the floor, sitting side by side on the edge of the rich soil.

"Enough. You can both leave if you refuse to do other than posture." Ignoring both men, Mikhail crouched down beside Lara, looking into her eyes. "This is more than needing blood. Francesca? Come take a look at her."

"Get away from her," Nicolas growled, his first thought to get to his lifemate, but the women surrounded them, pushing in close to the two men, trapping them inside a circle of protection.

Savannah caught at Lara's hand, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry. Please, I'll do anything. Anything at all. Don't let my babies die."

Lara's body jerked. She'd heard those words before. A man's voice calling out in a desperate plea. Xavier turning to look back at Razvan, his silvery eyes glittering with such contempt and triumph . She gasped, her shocked gaze hunting for Nicolas, her only anchor when the truth clawed at her, tore her open.

Nicolas. He did it for me. He allowed Xavier to take him over so I would be allowed life.

Razvan had inadvertently opened his soul to Xavier when he had sought to save the life of his child. He'd exposed his soul and Xavier had snatched it, able to control his grandson's movements, taking over without having to drain his energy by possessing the body. For her. To save her. Razvan had paid the ultimate price-not death, but soul destruction.

"Nicolas!" She called for him, covering her face with her hands. She was slipping backward into her mind.

"I am here,fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso , and I am not going anywhere."

"She came back too fast," Francesca said. She pushed past Mikhail to kneel beside Lara, slipping her arms around her. "She's freezing. Gregori, I need help."

"She's back in the ice cave," Nicolas said. He was already there, gathering Lara into his arms and holding her close, his mind merging with hers to hold her steady. He crooned softly to her, rocking her back and forth. "She should never have gone there without me."

"What has she done?" Gregori demanded, crouching beside Francesca to examine Lara. His hands skimmed over her.

"She used herself as bait. The entity destroyed babies so she regressed and became a child so it would follow her," Natalya explained.

Nicolas swore under his breath. "She shouldn't have gone back without me," he repeated.

"She fears me," Gregori said abruptly. "You have to get her to come back with me to retrieve what has been lost."

Nicolas searched Gregori's face for a long moment, then he nodded.

Gregori crouched quite close to Lara and looked into her eyes. He nodded at whatever he found there and murmured instructions to Francesca, who once again took up her position at her drum.

"She needs to feel safe and loved, Nicolas," Gregori said. "Bring her into the center of the circle and hold her so she feels your presence. Stay connected to her mind. A part of her is so stressed from the painful revelations of her past she's unable to deal with more of her memories. We have to invite that part of her to return and it must feel safe to do so."

"Invite it?" Nicolas echoed.

Gregori shrugged. "Do not worry, I will get back what is lost for her. We dare not leave even a small fragment of her soul in the lower realm too long. If Xavier is alive, he will sense her there and like Lara tracking his evil, he will be able to acquire a piece of her."

More sage and sweet grass was laid on the hot rocks. The women began the healing chant, the longer version often used to retrieve the soul of someone who had died. Nicolas found every muscle tight, his stomach muscles bunched and knotted in apprehension. He would much rather face a dozen skilled vampires than have to rely on someone else to aid Lara.

I am a healer and I cannot help my children or my lifemate.

Nicolas accepted the brief statement as the closest thing to an apology he would get from Gregori. And he understood what would drive a man to rage now. Impotence. Helplessness. The inability to defend what was his.

Nicolas bent his head and brushed kisses along Lara's cold forehead. She shivered continually, but she was aware of him. Her gaze clung to his and there was trust there. He was grateful for that much from her.

Gregori wasted little time, shedding his physical body and traveling, first into Lara, and then guiding them straight to the tree of life. His experience showed, Nicolas thought. He moved with complete confidence, meeting animals along the way, showing respect as he made inquiries, tracking what Lara had left behind in her haste to bring a killer from Raven's body.

Gregori's manners on the journey were impeccable, even when he found what was lost, politely inviting it home, persuading the stressed fragment it would be returning to a safe environment. The soft healing chant added to the healer's persuasive voice and in the end, the fragment returned to Lara without much trouble.

Gregori swayed a little from the drain of energy. "She needs blood and rest." He had seen the wealth of childhood memories pouring into Lara's mind.

"I am taking her home," Nicolas declared.

"No!" Savannah pressed both hands over the rounded curve of her belly. "I feel that thing tearing at my children, hurting them. Making them feel unwanted. I can't wait another rising." She reached out her hand toward Lara in a pleading gesture. "I swear to you, I would if I could. I know what this costs you, but they're hurting." Tears streamed down her face and she turned to Gregori.

He was there instantly, cupping the back of her head, pressing her damp face against his chest, but he said nothing-simply waited.

Lara turned back on shaky legs, her stomach knotting at the prospect, but Savannah was right. They couldn't allow the babies to suffer any longer than necessary.

"Absolutely not," Nicolas said. "I forbid it, Lara." He ignored the stubborn look on her face. "You barely made it out last time in one piece. If it has to be done, I will do it."

"How? If a man could do it, the healer would have already. It has to be a woman and that woman has to recognize Xavier's touch. It's very faint and difficult to follow."

"Natalya can go," Nicolas said. He was beginning to feel desperate, his skin too tight, his skull pressing down on his mind.

"She cannot and I think you know that. There is no one else." There was quiet despair in her voice and it shattered him.

The chamber was quiet, but he could feel all eyes on him. His gaze was locked with Lara's. She didn't want to go, and a part of her even wanted him to stop her, but both of them knew she had no real choice. How could she live with herself if she allowed two unborn babies to suffer as she had suffered, when she knew the lasting effects? When she knew the killer would double his efforts to rid the world of the grandchildren of the prince?

Nicolas.

She whispered his name and for the first time he heard love. His heart jerked hard in his chest. This then, was love. This terrible wrenching inside, an ache that was unrelenting. The terrible need to make her world right.

Sivamet-my heart. And he meant it.

I will need blood to make this journey.

He swallowed his protest. She had to go and he had to let her.

Gregori stepped forward, drawing their attention, extending his wrist. "I offer freely, my life for your life."

There was a small silence. Lara forced a self-conscious smile. "I'm sorry. I have an aversion to taking blood. I'm just learning to be able to take what my lifemate offers."

Gregori inclined his head. "I understand. And I offer my sincere apologies for my conduct."

"There really is no need."

Lara turned in Nicolas's arms, the pads of her fingers skimming beneath his shirt, seeking hot skin. She needed and he provided. It was that complex-and that simple. Nicolas moved back into the shadows and blurred their image to hide his reaction. No matter that she needed blood for survival, for him it was an erotic intimacy that would forever stir a physical hunger. His body hardened as he felt the skim of her teeth, of her lips and the bite of pain that gave way instantly to a flood of pleasure. He stroked back her hair, fingers caressing as he gave her his strength. Even when she sealed the twin pinpricks with a lick of her tongue, he continued to hold her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

Are you certain?

She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her blue-green gaze colliding with his. For a moment no one was there but the two of them and, beneath the fringe of long lashes, love-for him-shone bright and enduring. He felt the impact, like a hard punch to the pit of his stomach.

I'm certain. Just don't go anywhere.

He had no intention of going anywhere without her.

The microbe bent on destroying Savannah and Gregory's daughters proved to be faster and more vicious than the one in Raven. It was only the combined strength of the parents and the fact that the entity had to work on both babies simultaneously that gave them the resistance needed to hold out.

She lured the extremophile to the surface and it was destroyed, but not without a cost to Lara. Without Nicolas she knew she never would have managed to survive. He gave her blood, shielding her fragmented mind together to prevent the childhood trauma from destroying her. She wasn't aware when he finally took her back to their cavern.