The whip of lightning crashed through the crack. Instead of the precise hit on the parasites, it swung in a wide arc, seeking Dragomir.

7

Sandu leapt out of the way of the whip of lightning. More crashed through the crack, swinging around in the air like sizzling snakes seeking a target. Gary threw his body over Emeline’s, taking her to the ground, while the ancients scattered in every direction. Each took a corner, ducking as the lashes bit into the ground, slamming all around Dragomir.

In the midst of the chaos, the parasites had to be watched so that none slipped into the ground. They all knew that the high mage, Xavier, determined to drive the Carpathian people into extinction, had developed microbes to infect the soil and cause miscarriages in the women. They couldn’t risk that taint spreading here.

Emeline’s cries nearly drove Dragomir mad. Every instinct he had – Carpathian, ancient and lifemate – pressed him to get to her at any cost. To protect her, ease her transition into her new life and protect their child. As he turned toward her, lightning whips lashed all around him, striking the ground, shaking the entire house and healing grounds as they sought him.

Emeline needed his blood. He felt the first pain blossoming in her body, a blowtorch taken to her insides – the start of the conversion. She needed him desperately. They had given her so much Carpathian blood, the transformation was imminent.

Sandu, I must get to Emeline. The lightning strikes are directed at me. You must seize control from Vadim and his spy.

As he sprinted back toward her, Sandu wrested control of one of the wildly flailing whips to incinerate the parasites. Several of the wriggling creatures leapt off the cement wall in an effort to gain the safety of the soil, but Sandu had the presence of mind to dive beneath them so they landed on his body rather than in the earth. The parasites tried to burrow into him, desperate to live, to carry out their master’s commands. Sandu kept moving, driving his heels into the dirt and launching himself to the cement barrier. He swept the parasites off his chest and lashed the whip right across them, incinerating them.

Lightning cracked across the healing grounds, running along the ceiling above them, springing out from a main fork to strike at the chanting Carpathians above the grounds. The bright light illuminated the dark, rich soil, so that one could see the minerals sparkling throughout. The whips were nearly blinding, so bright, forcing the Carpathians to cover or close their eyes against the white-hot energy. The moment they did, the whips danced, slapping at the grounds, the upper balcony and all around Dragomir.

Dragomir, using the preternatural speed of his kind, rolled beneath the lightning whips and then dove over them in somersaults that had him back on his feet running. No one could take to the air in molecules; the electrical energy was too strong. Hair stood up all over his body as the whips continued to strike. The ground should have been the deadliest place to be as the arc current spread out in a circle from each strike – and there were dozens of them – but instead, the ground itself was protected.

When he was nearly to his goal, the whips went into a frenzy, slamming all around him, making it very clear that he was the target. He hesitated for a moment, continuing to time the strikes, dodging them, testing as he inched closer to Emeline. Sparks rose over and over from the healing grounds as lightning struck, but it couldn’t arc through it, spreading out to do more destruction, because powerful safeguards protected the healing earth.

As he neared her, the strikes lessened and came at him from behind or sideways. Not one hit near where she lay, the healer’s body stretched over hers, his hands plunged into the soil, aiding the safeguards. Andor and Ferro were on either side of her, their bodies, and the safeguards woven with Gary, protecting her from harm.

They couldn’t protect her from the conversion. The three men tried to lessen it for her, hoping to keep the baby from letting go, but Emeline needed Dragomir – her lifemate. That bond had forever sealed them together. A woman could go through the conversion without her lifemate, but he knew it would be much more difficult for her.

He knew the exact moment Tariq and the healer made the decision to strike back at Vadim. He knew it was the combination of the two; no Carpathian could fail to recognize the decisive Daratrazanoff touch. Even as he shielded Emeline, Gary wove his power with Tariq’s and the two struck at the wielder of the lightning. As they did so, Sandu took back complete control of the whips of lightning. It was a three-pronged attack, the two ancients’ strike concentrated, and unexpected, not one hint of their communication with each other spilling out. That told Dragomir that Tariq and Gary had a past connection he knew nothing of.

The moment Sandu had the lightning back under his control, Dragomir was on the ground beside Emeline, dragging her into his arms almost before the other ancients could relinquish their guardianship positions. “I’m here,” he said, stroking back her hair. “Look only at me, Emeline. I will not leave you or the child.” He caught her chin and forced her head around, away from the display of power and into his eyes. “Look only at me, sívamet.”

She reached out to trace the road map of scars on his rugged face. She had first thought him striking but too rugged to be considered handsome. Now, she looked at him and found him gorgeous, the best-looking man she’d ever met. More, he was just plain the best of the best of men. She let herself fall into that hot, liquid golden pool of his gaze. It should have burned, but instead she felt cleansed. She had been tainted by evil for so long she hadn’t thought she could ever feel this way again.

She stroked his face, traced one of the many scars, her touch loving, but she couldn’t help it. He’d given her back more than just her life. He’d given her courage. He’d given her hope. Somehow, despite her looking her absolute worst, despite evil permeating her body, Dragomir still had seen her – the person under all of that.

“I am falling in love with you so fast,” she murmured. “I don’t want to do that to you, and there aren’t any strings, but just know it’s there. It’s so deep inside me now, so much love for you.” She ignored the fiery pain bursting through her body. She could do that because she was melting into all that glittering gold. Because his arms were around her and his chest pressed tight against her body. Because he was Dragomir and always standing for her. She had to give him the truth. “I’ve never felt like this before, given my heart to someone. So much love, so many threads binding us together, it’s terrifying and beautiful at the same time.”

It was a confession, one of love growing deeper by the moment. She truly didn’t want him to feel obligated to love her back, but she was so tied to him now, she wasn’t altogether certain how she would survive his leaving her.

“I want the strings,” Dragomir murmured, reaching down to trace a line along the heavy muscle of his chest. “As many as possible. You are the only one, sívamet. Your heart is safe with me. Feed now. My blood is clean. I am an ancient and strong. This will get you and our baby through the conversion safely.” He paid no attention to the chaos that had been going on just moments earlier. She was his entire focus. He was in her mind and could feel the beginnings of the change in both her and the baby.

He cradled the back of her head in his palm and pressed her forward until her mouth was against his chest, even as he distanced her from what she was doing. She was still aware, but he took all human abhorrence from her so she only saw the beauty. Only tasted the essence that was Dragomir. His blood ultimately was hers. His body was hers. Everything he was belonged to her.

He felt the first tentative touch of her tongue. His body reacted unexpectedly, a strong, hard jerk as if waking from a long sleep. He’d had that reaction before, but this was even stronger, more urgent. The first caress of her tongue sent a burst of pleasure rushing through him. Her declaration of love sank into his bones, wrapped around his heart and pierced his soul like an arrow, settling there for all time.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her to him, throwing his head back as she drew more and more of the ancient blood from him. He felt the rush in her as the blood hit her system, as it flooded her organs and moved through the placenta to the baby. Even as his blood gave her strength, it swept through both mother and child, fueling already saturated organs to speed up the change.