Riley stared in stunned amazement at the fiercely beautiful man kneeling before her. He'd said "Palafertiilam" and touched her cheek with exquisite gentleness; she found herself literally frozen in place. Little red and gold specks of glowing ash were falling in a dazzling display around them, adding to the dreamlike feel of the moment. The terror of mere seconds ago had evaporated entirely, leaving behind a dazed sense of wonder. Then, with a blinding speed every bit as shocking as his unexpected gentleness, the man whirled on Gary, divested him of the pistol and caught his throat in a viselike grip. The entire series of moves happened in less than a heartbeat.

"No, please!" Riley leapt forward instinctively, grabbing the vampire's arm. Beside her, Ben brought up his weapon.

"Ben, wait," Jubal barked. "He's not the vampire! He's not the vampire!" Jubal pointed to his left wrist where the bracelet that had been radiating colors seemed to have changed back to what he had called its dormant state.

Whether driven by an innate protective streak, a rush of adrenaline or simply self-preservation, Ben did not respond to Jubal's shout. He brought his rifle up, taking aim at the back of the dragon-man's head. His finger squeezed the trigger.

Riley's whole body jumped at the loud report, then everything seemed to move in slow motion. The rifle spat bullet after bullet in rapid succession. Riley screamed and covered her ears as she waited for the dragon-man to fall. He seemed an impossible target to miss, standing as he was only a few feet in front of Ben. But the man didn't fall.

One moment the dragon-man was standing in front of her, the next he was not. She saw the small explosion of dirt as the bullet crashed into the wall of mud behind the spot where he'd been standing. Then another and another. It happened so fast, she was still trying to make sense of it when the rifle fell silent.

The dragon-man had released Gary to disarm Ben. He now had Ben by the shoulder and was staring intently into Ben's eyes. The man's other hand was pressed against the bullet hole that had ripped through his stomach. Ben sat with abrupt gracelessness. Ignoring Gary and Jubal, the vampire released Ben and turned his entire focus back on Riley.

She half expected him to rip her to pieces as her mother had been.

Instead, he gave a small bow and said in a surprisingly calm and polite voice, "You are not Arabejila, sivamet. My apologies for the confusion. It is only that you resemble her so strongly."

Some small, rational part of her mind was thinking she should be screaming or something, but Riley just stood there, mesmerized, staring at the preternaturally beautiful face. At the ... the distinctive fangs that had lengthened in his mouth. Dear God. He was a vampire. An honest-to-God, bloodsucking vampire! The vampire looked like a man. A stunningly beautiful man. Short, closely cropped black hair, skin like burnished mahogany, dark eyes that flickered with ruby lights in their depths. And his voice ... his voice was pure magic. It caressed her like a physical touch, soft, smoky, soothing. The stirring cadence of his voice calmed her.

It took her almost a minute to realize he was now speaking English, she was so fascinated with the shape of his mouth and that flash of white teeth. His voice was charismatic, a blend of honey and warmth.

"Please, palafertiilam, allow me to introduce myself." He bowed slightly, with an otherworldly grace. "I am Danutdaxton."

Dumbfounded didn't begin to describe her state as the man straightened to his full height. She had never seen anyone so beautiful, so impressive or so wounded. He stood there with straight shoulders, his body bleeding from hundreds of small and large wounds, his gaze steady on hers, his eyes ... mesmerizing. His eyes were incredible, with as many facets as a cut diamond, the color as luminous as a diamond, yet holding tiny red and orange flames. His mouth was cut perfectly and when he smiled ... his teeth looked very white and very sharp.

"I-" She cast a frantic glance at Gary and Jubal. She knew they'd told her that vampires could appear good, but she was shocked at her reaction to him. Tiny electrical charges raced up her arms. Her breath caught in her lungs and even her mouth went dry.

To her surprise, the two men shared a silent, speaking gaze, then both lowered their weapons and bowed in the vampire's direction.

"It's okay, Riley." Gary began speaking to her in a very soft and calming voice. "He's not a vampire. The other one was-the black dragon. But he's a Carpathian ... a hunter." He said hunter as if it held great meaning.

"B-but ... he's got ... f-f-" She tapped a finger on her teeth and spat the word out. "Fangs. And he can literally dodge bullets."

"I know. It's hard to explain, but he isn't a vampire. He hunts them. He's one of the good guys, but he's hurt very bad and he needs blood." This time Gary looked like he knew he was imparting things he didn't want to.

"Carpathians need blood to heal," Jubal added, "and he needs to heal right away."

"So ... what?" Riley glanced between the two men, suddenly not feeling at all reassured. "Are you saying he has to take our blood to survive?"

She didn't look his way, afraid of being entranced by his gaze again. If he needed blood, she didn't want him taking hers-or did she? Was that what she was afraid of? That she wanted to go to him and take away his pain? Her need to help him confused her and made her wary. It took every bit of strength she had to hold herself in place and not rush to him and offer whatever he needed-including blood.

"Does he take blood the way a vampire does?" She winced at the question, afraid she was insulting him, but she needed to know. While trying to avoid the hunter's gaze, her glance fell to Ben, and she dropped quickly down to check on him. Ben's eyes were glazed over and he swayed as he sat on the ground. "Is he okay? What did you do to him?" she asked.

Dax answered, his diction without hesitation as if he'd always known her language. "He is perfectly healthy. He has minor cuts and bruises. Nothing worthy of your concern." When she looked unconvinced, he added, "I have put him into a meditative state to calm him. He was becoming quite agitated, and he could easily have hurt you or the others without intending to do so. But you are all perfectly safe now." As if that should put all her fears to rest, the hunter turned away and began speaking with Jubal in his ancient language.

She looked Ben over. He was breathing, and just as the hunter had stated, other than a few cuts and bruises, Ben appeared perfectly unharmed. But it was like the man was sleeping with his eyes open.

"I understand, thank you, Jubal." Clearly finished with whatever private conversation he'd been having with Jubal, Dax had changed back to English.

She didn't care if the hunter got angry, she couldn't allow Ben to be in such a state, not when he'd come to her rescue so often. "Let him go." She turned toward the hunter. "Let him go right now."

He released Ben so quickly, the unconscious man rocked forward, almost falling onto her. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, a little shocked that the hunter had complied so quickly.

Coming to, Ben looked like he had just awakened from a long nap. He actually yawned. "Wow, that was some dream." Ben smiled at her, totally relaxed as his gaze wandered to the half-naked, badly wounded man standing behind her. His smile faltered. His gaze traveled up Dax's impossibly torn body to his beaten and bloody face. Then Ben just froze, his mouth open, his eyes wide with renewed terror.

"Ben. Ben, it's okay." Riley grabbed his face with both hands, forcing his shocked gaze to hers. "It's over. Everyone's okay."

Ben gave a choked sound, like a scream pinched off before it could gain volume.

"He's not going to hurt us." She forced a smile. "Look. See?" She stood slowly and put a hand on the hunter's upper arm. Rock-hard muscle bunched beneath her fingertip and shook with a small tremor she would have missed if she hadn't been touching his skin directly. For a moment pain slammed into her, taking her breath. Just that fast it was gone, leaving her feeling slightly ill. "Everything's okay. You're okay. You're safe now."

"It would be much simpler and more effective just to keep him under my control," the hunter murmured close to her ear.

She shivered at the melting richness of his voice, then scowled, refusing to look at him. "Don't you dare. If you are one of the good guys, like Jubal claims, you'll leave him alone."

"If that is your wish, I shall, but your safety, palafertiilam, is now my first concern. The moment this human's fear puts that at risk, he will go back under my control. Does this please you?"

Riley drew in a deep breath. Even looking at him was difficult. What was it that pulled her toward him like a magnet? She needed to push him away from her, to get some perspective.

"My mother's dead, some ancient evil we were sent here to contain has escaped into the world and I'm standing in front of a man who can change from a dragon to a man, dodge bullets and control people's minds at will. Nothing about this situation pleases me!"

His eyes filled with genuine sorrow. "I am sorry I was not able to save your mother." He lifted one hand to the side of her face and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ears. "More sorry than I can express. I know what it is to lose someone you love."

Her whole body ached to lean toward him, to let him wrap those impressively muscled arms around her and envelop her in his strength. Riley fought the instinct, but it took considerable effort.

She allowed herself the luxury of looking at him, uncaring that she was so attracted to a being that clearly wasn't human. She saw pure strength, and power. She couldn't help but notice that. The way he moved was so careful and precise, so fluid and effortlessly graceful, like a giant, predatory jungle cat. When he stood still, his dark, burnished skin seemed to shimmer with flashes of iridescent scarlet, as if the dragon he had been was still there, waiting for its chance to be free. Her gaze fell to his chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and the rippling muscles that bunched beneath his skin held her attention captive.

As she looked down, she caught her first unobstructed view of his chest.

"Oh, my God." There was a hole over his heart, as if someone had taken a pickax to his sternum. The wound should have been gushing blood. With a wound like that, he should be dead. Instead, it was as if something had closed off the blood vessels, leaving only trickles of red seeping from the gaping cavity. She turned a horrified gaze toward the others. "He should be dead with a wound like that! How is he not dead?"

"Carpathians can be killed. It just takes a lot more than it takes for a human. They can control their heartbeat, their blood flow, the functions of their internal organs, just about everything," Gary explained.

"But Dax isn't going to last long in this state without healing," Jubal added. "This part is going to be hard for you to comprehend, Riley. Dax needs to pack those wounds with earth and he needs blood to replace all that he's lost."

"You mean he's got to suck someone's blood?" She took a half step away from the Carpathian. "He's got to drain one of us to survive?"

"Carpathians take only what is needed," Dax explained hastily, clearly making an effort to still the rising distrust in her.

"Carpathians have lived for centuries in harmony with humans," Jubal added quickly. "Please, there will be time to explain everything later. For now, we need to help heal Dax. If that vampire released from the volcano comes back-"

"He will," said Dax.

"-we're going to need the hunter at full fighting strength."

"Do not fear, sivamet," Dax said, and the soft, husky timbre of his voice ensnared her once again. "If it comes to it, I will die before allowing Mitro Daratrazanoff to hurt you, but it would be best for all if I faced him in full health."

Her gaze dragged back up his torso, pausing as it reached the terrible wounds gaping in his flesh.

"Can you really heal him, Jubal?" Her voice didn't seem like her own, and neither did her reaction. For reasons she didn't understand, the sight of the man's terrible wounds was almost more than she could bear. The thought of his pain horrified her on a deeply personal level-affecting her as viscerally as the sight of her mother murdered before her eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of this man suffering, and she didn't know why. She was certain that brief glimpse of agonizing pain had been his.

Vampires and hunters, volcanos and dragons: this whole situation was crazy, but she couldn't tolerate the idea of this hunter-Dax-suffering one more second of pain. She looked at Gary. "Fix him now." Her voice carried with the power of her ancestors, and something in him seemed to rock with her words.

There was a brief moment when no one moved. Even the world around them seemed to hold its breath. Everything went still. Gary moved first, looking almost formal, standing in front of Dax with a slight bow.

"Saasz han ku andam szabadon," Gary murmured in the hunter's ancient language. Without flinching, he offered his unbroken wrist to the hunter.

Whatever the words meant, the hunter clearly took them as an invitation, because without delay he bared his fangs and bit down, his mouth closing around Gary's wrist. Gary's expression flashed briefly with pain before going totally relaxed.

Riley's heart nearly stopped beating. Her hand went defensively to her throat. She felt her pulse pounding there. For a moment, the flash of fangs had been shockingly sexy. She wanted Dax's mouth on her neck, his teeth sinking into her-not Jubal. Blinking, shaking her head at her strange compulsion, she nudged Jubal.

"What did Gary say to him?"

"It is a custom of Carpathians. Gary said, take what I offer freely. That means, Gary would exchange his life for that of the hunter if it was necessary. He is asking no favor in return for his blood," Jubal explained.

Riley couldn't help but watch. The movement of Dax's mouth on Gary's wrist fascinated her. The hunter's fangs joined the two men together, as if they were close brothers, one saving the other without thought for his own safety. Dax appeared stoic, but the flames in his strange, multifaceted eyes leapt and danced. She felt her heart tune to the rhythm of the hunter's as if they were connected instead of hunter and friend. Her blood sang in her veins, surging hotly.

Dax's gaze jumped to her face.

Dax released Gary and straightened. There was no trace of blood on his lips and no sign of a wound on Gary's wrist. She didn't know what to think. Beside her, Ben stood in shivering paralysis.

The gaping wound in Dax's chest did begin to bleed then, but some invisible force kept the blood from spilling out of the wound. Dax scooped fresh dirt from the ground, spat into it, and packed his wound with the mixture. His eyes closed, as if packing his wound with mud brought some sort of relief.

"I have not had blood in many centuries. It is both wonderful and awful." His gaze drifted over Riley's face. "I am starved, and yet I dare not take too much. Just enough to heal my wounds until I am used to feeding again. Then I will need to sustain myself in order to hunt the undead."

Riley pressed her lips together, nodding as if she understood when she didn't really. Jubal seemed to though. He stood in front of the hunter and offered his unbroken wrist.

Dax reached for the other arm with surprisingly gentle fingers. "This pains you. The bone is broken." Even as he spoke he ran his hand over the injury.

Riley watched closely. Heat seeped out from between Dax's palm and Jubal's skin. She could see a faint glow, and she was close enough to feel the warmth as well. The little white lines of pain eased on Jubal's face.

"Is that better?"

Jubal nodded. "Much, thanks."

Riley noted that Dax didn't apologize for having broken Jubal's arm in the first place, nor did Jubal seem to expect him to do so.

Jubal murmured the same exact phrase in Carpathian as Gary, and just as before, Dax bowed, took the offered wrist and drank.

This time when he finished, Dax thanked the two men and then looked at her. Her whole body tingled. Heat washed up her spine and her gaze fixed on his mouth. What is wrong with me? She should be screaming in horror. This was an honest-to-God vampire right in front of her eyes, drinking blood from her friends. And she was just standing there, marveling at him.

She touched her tongue to suddenly dry lips. His gaze jumped instantly to her mouth and those flames in his eyes leapt higher. Her thighs tingled. Her breasts ached. She swallowed hard and instantly his gaze was on her throat. He seemed aware of every move she made, every breath she took.

Beside her, Ben began shaking horribly. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God. He's going to kill us. He's going to kill us all."

Ashamed that she'd forgotten he was even there, she reached over to lay a soothing hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Ben. If Jubal and Gary say he's a friend, I think we should believe them."

Poor Ben didn't believe them. He must have thought the vampire was going to drink him dry, because his mind completely snapped. With a shriek, he spun around and started racing through the jungle, bouncing off trees in his mad rush to escape.

"Ben!" Riley spun around. "Someone stop him! He's out of his mind."

"I can bring him safely back and keep him calm," Dax said, "but that requires me to control his mind, which you have already told me I must not do." One dark brow arched. He stood there, waiting for her to make the decision.

She bit her lip. On the one hand, she hated the idea of him controlling Ben's mind-of him controlling anyone's mind. On the other hand, in his current state, Ben was going to injure himself or worse. And if that evil vampire was still roaming around ...

She glanced again into the forest where Ben continued to shriek and stumble, running into a bush first and then a tree. She winced when he went down and then scrambled back up only to run again.

"Do it."

The hunter reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His expression softened with unexpected gentleness, making him look almost ... kind. In a rough-edged, dangerous, bloodsucking, gorgeous vampire sort of way, that is.

"It is for the best, palafertiilam. I will do him no harm, I promise you." Then he switched his attention to Ben's fleeing figure, and his expression turned to stone. Fixed, focused, unyielding. He spoke in that ancient language of his, and though Riley couldn't understand the words, there was no mistaking the tone of absolute command.

In the distance, Ben came to an abrupt halt, then turned and calmly made his way back to the group. His expression was serene, as if he were out for a stroll through the park on a balmy summer day. He walked back to Riley's side and stood there, silent and still.

Even though Riley had given Dax the okay-even though she knew this was for Ben's own good-watching him obey like a mindless puppet made her stomach churn. It was so wrong. Like slavery, only worse. At least slaves still possessed their own minds.

"As will he, when I release him," Dax said.

Her eyes flared in alarm. She spun around. "Did you just read my mind? Did you? Did he?" She whirled on Jubal and Gary, looking for answers.

"Riley ..." Gary held out his hands in a conciliatory gesture.

"I did. Forgive me if I offend, palafertiilam. Your thoughts are very strong. I-" His voice hitched, and his expression flickered for an instant before he continued, "I must remind myself you are not familiar with Carpathian ways. I did not mean to intrude."

She frowned. That flicker in his expression had been a wince. He was in pain. Glancing at the still-dreadful gaping wound in his chest, concern overrode fear. "Sit down. Sit down and do whatever it is you need to do to heal yourself."

She laid a hand on his arm, intending to help him down, but the moment her flesh touched his, agony rocketed up her arm. She gasped and yanked her hand back. The pain vanished instantly.

"Dear God, was that you?" She touched him again, and almost screamed. "It is. My God, it is. How can you bear it? You're in agony." She hadn't thought about what terrible pain he must be in when he first stood up, tall and strong. He was a freaking vampire or hunter or whatever he was. Mythical creatures weren't supposed to suffer, they weren't supposed to hurt-but he did, and it was excruciating. She knew it. When she touched him, she could feel it as clearly as if it were happening in her own body.

Unable to help herself, she touched him again. Something inside her demanded that she help him, that she heal him. It was almost a compulsion.

Clearly, Dax wasn't the one compelling her, because he gently pulled her hand away. "Do not, palafertiilam. We cannot keep all the pain in check, and I would not have you hurt yourself on my account."

"We? Who's we?" she asked in a distracted voice. Her attention was already, inexorably pulled back to Dax's injuries. Looking at the wound, she could almost feel it herself. As if she were traveling inside his body, touching each raw nerve ending, broken bone and shredded muscle, feeling with gifts that had been passed down from generation to generation. Dax's pain called to her, tore something deep inside, some barrier she hadn't realized existed.

Riley lifted her hand again and slowly placed it over the mud-packed hole over Dax's heart. She pressed her palm against the wound, packing the earth deeper into the wound, completely unaware of what she was doing. Only aware that she needed to continue. There was something wrong inside him, something that seemed intent on consuming him. Sheer force of will held it in check. His will, stronger than the mountains, stronger than the earth itself.

Her hand lifted, leaving a perfect handprint in the mud. She raised the same hand to his face and touched his cheek, wiping the blood and dirt from his cheek and trailing it slowly down his throat back over his heart. Words and patterns blossomed inside her mind. Power rose as Riley looked into Dax's eyes, iridescent, beautiful eyes and focused on the gleam of scarlet fire that flickered in their depths.

She slid an arm around Dax's side, placing one hand over his heart and the other in the same spot on his back. Then she unleashed the power that was now a throbbing beat inside her. The raw, earthy force flooded through her hands, and Dax's body devoured it. The power consumed the earth packed in his wounds and transformed the dense, rich, organic matter into skin, bone and muscle. She had no control over what happened next, no comprehension of how it happened. She only knew that the power in her called to the power in him, using the earth that bound them both together. Bones knit, nerves re-formed, tissues and blood vessels regrew with astonishing speed.

When it was done, Riley's consciousness came rushing back to her body. She sagged against him. Now, it was his arms coming up to steady her. She stared up at him, dazed, still feeling everything he was, as if she were connected to him, as if she were part of him. She knew she had somehow, miraculously, healed him. Healed him completely. Yet, it still felt like she'd missed something. He was still in so much pain, and he shouldn't be.

Riley's brow crinkled as she tried to work through the confusion. Her eyelids became very heavy and it was suddenly all she could do to try to keep them open. The effort was too much for her. Exhausted, blackness swallowed her up, and she collapsed in the arms of the hunter.

Dax found himself smiling down at his lifemate. What a gift she possesses. She had healed him-and not with methods known and used by Carpathians, but by manipulating the earth itself. She had touched him, and the earth in his wounds had transformed at her command. Dax checked his wounds, flexing his muscles experimentally. The hole Mitro had torn in his chest was gone. The countless, bone-deep slashes torn by razor-sharp talons had knitted together, leaving not even the smallest seam to prove they'd ever existed. He'd not even needed to go to ground!

Even Arabejila, more gifted in earth than any Carpathian he'd ever known, had never possessed such an amazing talent.

And his lifemate was human, to boot. That made her existence even more of a miracle. He'd never heard that a Carpathian and a human could be lifemates.

Not that it mattered. She was here, in his arms, and he was more content than he'd ever dreamed possible just holding her and breathing in her scent. Even the Old One seemed entranced by her. She smelled of wildflowers over spring rain, a miracle of fresh beauty in the midst of Mitro and the volcano's destruction.

While she was healing him, his soul recognized and cried out for hers. He felt her soul answer. She didn't recognize the calling, only the flash of pain at the knowledge that she was so close and yet they weren't joined. Deep inside him, the second soul had reached for her as well, already so much a part of Dax, that the dragon knew Riley was their salvation.

His thoughts turned immediately to her welfare. She must be the one he'd felt trying to keep the volcano contained, and no doubt the effort of those exertions as well as the miraculous way she'd healed him had clearly exhausted her, leading to her collapse. He checked her carefully, just in case, but her only injuries were minor cuts and bruises from her race through the jungle, and those he mended with a thought. She needed sleep, then water and food, but the latter could wait until she awakened.

He couldn't take his eyes off her. Even smudged with dirt and ash, she was the most beautiful sight he'd ever beheld, and she seemed so fragile in his arms. The mere thought of the slightest harm befalling her made his muscles clench and the Old One strain against Dax's control. He and the dragon, both, were united in their determination to protect her. With a thought, Dax cleansed the ash and dirt from her body, leaving her and her clothing clean.

Dax finally tore his gaze from his lifemate, and turned his attention to the two men who had offered him their wrists. Jubal and Gary were friends to the Carpathian people. He'd learned their names and searched their memories when he took their blood, and used that connection to absorb their language, a more modern dialect of the language he'd correctly identified as English. They were now under his protection as well. As for Ben, Dax owed the man a debt for the way he had stayed to protect Riley despite the danger to himself.

"Eat, drink and rest for a few minutes, my new friends, but then we must get moving. Mitro, the vampire I was hunting, is free of his bondage, and it isn't safe to remain here." He looked down at Ben, who had slumped over onto his bag. "He will be fine once he wakes. If you would be so kind as to prepare him food and water as well."

"You're going to hunt the vampire." Gary made it a statement.

"He won't expect me to have healed so quickly. He'll need blood and a place to go to ground. If I'm lucky, I will be able to destroy him this night."

Gary glanced at the sky. "There's not much in the way of night left."

Dax nodded. "I task you with watching over my lifemate." There was a small edge to his voice, the first of the night. "I will return tomorrow eve. See to it that she is well." He looked around. "You will need to find a place easier to protect. Mitro is capable of sending anything at you. He will know I will work to keep you safe, and above all else, he wants Riley dead. He believes her to be Arabejila. I'm certain of it."

"Just up ahead, there's a small hollowed-out clearing," Jubal said. "I noticed it when we first hit the base of the mountain. It's protected on three sides by boulders with a small stream on the other side. We can set up a tent there with netting for Riley."

Dax checked the location with a judicious eye and then added safeguards to keep out any threat. "I will return."

He took to the air with great reluctance, streaking away from them. He had little time. Mitro would hunt for blood before he went to ground, and he was in a rage. He would do as much damage as possible. Dax went back to the spot where the two dragons had fought. Blackened pools of acid stained the ground, and burned through any plant or tree that had been left standing on the side of the mountain close by.

The mountain was ravaged by the mud and fires. Still, everything seemed so different, new to his eyes. Even with the powdery ash settling on the trees and brush at the base of the mountain, and choking the air, he could still discern color, a gift from his lifemate. Blacks were vivid and bright. Whites and glimpses of green and brown sent a small frisson of joy through him in spite of his grim task. In a way he was grateful for the ash. The colors were so unique to him, so vivid and brilliant, they almost hurt his eyes.

He picked up the scent immediately. Mitro was gravely wounded and had no energy to waste on hiding from Dax. He would expect the hunter to go to ground near the humans, not chase after him.

Once more Dax took to the sky, using the form of an owl. The owl's vision provided him with the ability to see so much more and its small body would barely be noticed. As it was, with the ash in the air, Dax was forced to send a wind in front of him to clear the skies enough to see anything unusual. Mitro wouldn't have gotten far without blood. He crisscrossed the area patiently, widening his circle until the owl caught sight of something lying near the stream.

Immediately, Dax descended, the owl settling in a tree above and to the right of the scattered objects below. A heaviness in his chest, along with the knots in his stomach forewarned him. There were two bodies, both had tried to run, and had died hard, screaming in fright. Their eyes remained wide open, mouths still forming their last cries, both throats shredded. Bright ribbons of blood streaked their bodies. Mitro had always been a messy eater.

Inside the body of the owl, Dax sighed. He had known Mitro would find blood; he was too cunning not to. The rain forest was a big place, and there were few humans anywhere near the mountain, yet unerringly, Mitro had been drawn to them.

Dax shifted into mist and drifted down to study the two bodies. Both appeared to be native to the forest, although dressed in the same way as Gary and Jubal. A machete lay inches from one of the bodies, its blade stained dark. He moved over the second body, and found what he expected. Blood had seeped from under the body where he'd been cut multiple times by the machete. That was just like Mitro, forcing someone to hack up a friend or loved one for the vampire's amusement.

Mitro was definitely up to his old tricks. He hadn't been an hour or so out of his prison and he was already killing and torturing. Sorrow pressed down on him, an unexpected emotion. So many lost years attempting to destroy a depraved, vile creature, and failing time and again. Having to look upon the aftermath of the undead's path of destruction over and over was far more wearing than he'd realized. Now, with his ability to feel, Dax was weighed down by every single one of those lives lost over the centuries.

At once he felt a stirring, a brushing of souls. His. The Old One's. Hers. His heart leapt. The burden of destroying Mitro was his, but he wasn't alone. Ours, the Old One corrected.

A soft whisper stroked a caress in his mind. Ours, Riley's voice echoed.

Dax was not alone. He would find Mitro and destroy him, that was his bound duty, but this time, he would have something of his own to fight for. The owl spread its wings and took off as dawn was about to break. He was grateful for the ash, obscuring the gathering light. He'd been deep inside a mountain for so long that even deep within the owl's body, that shrouded, first light hurt his skin and pierced his eyes.

He hurried back to his woman. Palafertiilam. Lifemate.