Dark Celebration (11 page)

Blood still trickled down one side of Alexandria's face as she picked her way through the branches to Francesca. Aidan stayed closed to her, keeping a wary eye on the others, his body posture more than protectively aggressive.

Mikhail crouched low to study the ground around them. He straightened slowly and held up a hand for silence.

The snow continued to fall, soft floating flakes blanketing them. Small rodents rustled leaves along the ground in an effort to find a hiding place.

There was no wind, yet the branches of the trees around them swayed subtly. Gabriel immediately took up a position in front of the women, Aidan on the other side to cage them in. Dimitri handed Skyler to Francesca as if giving her a peace offering.

Francesca lowered Skyler to the ground, holding her close to comfort her. "I feel it too, Gabriel, a subtle power disrupting the natural flow of nature around us."

"The one thing I consistently have nightmares about is the shadow of an arm with long sharp talons reaching for me," Alexandria whispered. "I saw it on the ground, reaching for Skyler."

Dimitri crouched lower in reaction, his eyes flickering with flames. A soft warning growl escaped.

Alexandria shook her head. "It had to be an illusion. What I feared most. I feel the power feeding us, enhancing our fears, our emotions. Gabriel is angry, so is Dimitri, and the energy is feeding that anger."

Francesca nodded, taking a wary look around her. "I can feel it too. It's very subtle. I can't trace it backward. Can you, Alexandria?"

Alexandria shook her head in frustration.

"I feel it now too," Gabriel said, "through Francesca. I will recognize it again if I come across it."

"Could it be one of the children practicing?" Mikhail asked. "We used to make all sorts of mistakes all the time and accidents happened. Although if it is Josef, I intend to box his ears."

There was a small silence. Skyler took a deep breath and clutched Francesca tighter, all the while rubbing her wrist along her thigh. "They're blocking Carpathian blood. It's hard because I carry the blood, but I'm not fully Carpathian. The flow is coming from the direction of the inn and…" She broke off, color stealing into her face. "I'm sorry. They caught me and stopped. I should have been more careful. It was no child. I've been doing this all my life and I can tell you whoever it was is very adept, but I couldn't tell if it was male or female."

"Can you usually tell the difference?" Aidan asked.

Skyler nodded. "The touch is different, but this was too subtle—peculiar." She frowned. "Maybe more than one person."

"Why do you say that?" Mikhail asked.

She shrugged. "Parts of the weave felt different to me, as if more than one hand had woven it or as if the person was split into more than one personality. I'm sorry, I tipped them off and didn't get enough information, but whoever it was is a powerful psychic and they touched me." She glanced at Gabriel. "They knew I was there."

Gabriel spat a Carpathian curse beneath his breath. "We know our enemies have joined, mage as well as vampire. And the society dedicated to kill all vampires has spread worldwide."

"And they can identify you?" Dimitri demanded of Skyler.

She remained silent for a long moment, but the ice-blue eyes burned into her, forcing an answer. "Yes." She backed away from him, her small body trembling. One hand came up to defend herself, and the scars of a lifetime of torture were plain to see, both physical and mental.

Dimitri's face hardened into a mask. Only his eyes were alive, glittering with such intensity Skyler had to look away. "Do not do that," he said. "There is no reason to fear me. We have enemies surrounding us and you have been marked, singled out, yet you turn from the one person who has every right to protect you."

"Dimitri." Francesca said his name aloud to gain his attention. "Now is not the time for this. You are welcome to come to our home and talk about things. I know you have a large wolf preserve and are caretaker of several packs. Skyler is very interested in wolves and probably would enjoy hearing some of your stories."

Francesca! This man is threatening to take our daughter from us
. Gabriel bristled, although in truth, he was ashamed to be caught so much in an enthrallment that he had nearly killed a man. Not just any man—lifemate to his daughter.

And you did not use every means at your disposal to bind me? He is acting on instinct. She triggered his response to her and what can he do but try to protect and bind her to him? You cannot forbid him seeing her. After all, he will be your son-in-law.

Gabriel did the mental equivalent of a snort.
Not if he's dead. If he lays one hand on her, I will remove his heart
. It was an empty threat now, and he knew it. He couldn't really fault Dimitri, although he didn't think anyone would ever be good enough for his daughter.

Francesca sighed.
We should have had boys. He is her lifemate, Gabriel. He healed her leg and gave her blood when it was needed. He did not bind her or touch her inappropriately. Now stop trying to intimidate him
.

Gabriel sent her a low, rumbling growl of warning, but remained silent.

"You have no choice but to cancel the celebration tonight," Dimitri said. "Skyler cannot go to the inn when she has been identified. And every one of our women would be in danger."

"Mikhail," Alexandria protested. "You cannot cancel our celebration. The children are so excited. We can take precautions. It isn't like we don't live under a threat every single day of our lives. We don't even know what this is."

"
Exactly"
Dimitri said. "We don't know what this is."

Mikhail shook his head. "We need to be calm and think clearly. Skyler, if this person or persons uses psychic talent again, will you be able to tell, or can they block you now that they know you are close by?"

"I doubt they could stop me from feeling the disruption in nature, but I carry Carpathian blood as well. I didn't feel it right away when Alexandria and I were walking in the forest. She knew something was wrong before I did."

"Not exactly," Alexandria said. "I felt the effects, and bought into the illusion my mind created, but I didn't realize I was being manipulated."

"Skyler cannot go anywhere near that inn," Dimitri decreed, glaring at Gabriel, his body posture clearly challenging the other man.

Before Gabriel could respond, Mikhail held up his hand. "I'll send Jubal to the inn. He's human and is a very strong psychic. Manolito De La Cruz will go with him. His wounds from the battle are healed, and he is a very powerful hunter. Together perhaps, they can pick up any signs of treachery. We will all be on our guard. As for Skyler, she has Lucian and Gabriel as well as you, Dimitri, to look after her. I doubt with the three of you guarding her, anyone could do her harm."

Mikhail beckoned for the teenager to approach him. "You understand the danger you are in? Because our enemies might be able to find you, everyone in your household is in danger. You must be guarded at all times. Francesca, I suggest you talk to her about what a Carpathian male suffers when he is alone without his other half. She should have some understanding of the situation."

Dimitri, you will learn about this young lady, what she has suffered, the trauma in her life, and you will also avail yourself of Raven's knowledge of human children
. Mikhail made it a command, emphasizing what he knew Dimitri was fully aware of. Dimitri had to understand the girl was too young and had been through too much for him to bind her to him. "Skyler is cold and Alexandria needs to get back to her home. Thank you, Alexandria, for your quick thinking in shoving Skyler out of the way. She could have been hurt a lot worse."

Alexandria's gaze jumped to the face of the prince. "How did you know?"

He indicated the ground. "I can read signs just as well as the next person. You pushed her away from the larger branches."

"Thank you," Gabriel said. "We owe you a great debt."

"The debt is to Dimitri," Alexandria demurred. "He saved her life by stopping the bleeding." She leaned against Aidan for support. "Whoever was able to find my fears and amplify them did a good job. I was very frightened."

"What made the tree come down?" Mikhail wondered aloud.

"There was a small earthquake right before it began to crack. I felt the ground roll," Dimitri said. "I did not feel a surge of power. It felt natural to me, but we cannot know for certain."

"I was so scared I think I imagined most things," Alexandria confessed. "I was certain a vampire was hunting us, but Skyler didn't feel it." She couldn't help herself, she had to examine the base of the tree. There was no sign of a garrote, shadow or otherwise. The trunk remained untouched and solid, the top having cracked and fallen in the bitter cold. She looked up at Aidan. "It was my imagination. I should have recognized the flow of power. I feel so foolish."

His hand crept to the nape of her neck. "There is nothing foolish about you. Gabriel and Dimitri nearly came to killing blows and neither recognized the flow of power feeding their anger. And when I saw you lying so still covered by the branches, my emotions swung out of control. For a moment, I wanted to seek the dawn, thinking to join you."

Her breath caught in her throat. "Aidan." She brushed her fingertips down his face. "You thought I was dead?"

"It is my worst fear," he admitted, catching her finger in his mouth. "I always fear I might lose you."

"Well, you won't. I'm strong, Aidan, and my skills are growing every day. I would have turned to vapor, but I needed to get Skyler out of harm's way. It seems I pushed her right into a compound fracture."

"If she had remained where she was, she would have died," Dimitri said. "The heaviest piece of the trunk fell directly over where she was standing. I owe you much." He bowed slightly toward Francesca. "I apologize for causing you distress. I did not feel the subtle disturbance in nature and should have. I was consumed with the need to protect Skyler."

"Women cannot be put in a bubble on a shelf somewhere, Dimitri," Francesca pointed out. "We have to live our lives as well as you men do."

Mikhail interrupted as Dimitri opened his mouth in what obviously was another protest. "We cannot cancel the Christmas party. If we do our enemies might guess who in this region is human and who is Carpathian. By cooking and 'eating' food, we appear as normal as the villagers around us. Now that we know there is danger close at hand, we will be able to keep our loved ones safe."

Dimitri's fangs glistened as he bared his teeth and took a step toward Skyler. "She has suffered enough at the hands of human men. I will not allow this."

Skyler pressed closer to Francesca, gathering her courage to defy a man who seemed too tall, too strong—too invincible with his hard face and burning cold eyes.

Do not rouse Gabriel's anger against Dimitri
, Francesca cautioned.
Let us handle this
. She smiled at Dimitri. "Every child looks forward to a celebration such as this. Surely you can watch over her with us and give her this opportunity to relax and enjoy meeting the others as she has looked forward to doing for so long. She needs every good memory, every chance at laughter and a childhood she can have. Remember, Dimitri, she was robbed of that when she was young."

"There is no chance I will ever forget," he bit out between his teeth. He turned the full intensity of his glittering eyes on Skyler. "This is important to you? It is not an act of defiance because your lifemate does not want you to attend?"

She sucked in her breath, feeling the impact of his gaze all the way to her toes. She could
never
be with this man. She wanted to scream her denial. She wouldn't be a lifemate to any Carpathian, least of all this man. He terrified her. Desperation filled her with panic.

At Gabriel's soft warning growl, Francesca squeezed her shoulder.

Skyler forced air through her lungs and clutched Francesca's hand tighter. "I would very much like to go." She wouldn't ask permission. She had done enough begging from men. As a child, she'd had to perform vile disgusting acts for food. She'd had to seek permission to sleep, to go to the bathroom, just to speak. Her life had been hell and she would not return to that—she'd rather be dead.

Never, baby
. Francesca's voice whispered through her mind. A pure love, unconditional, a promise that would always be kept.
No one will ever hurt you like that again and live. I am your mother now and will protect you with every fiber of my being. Dimitri seems cruel and unfeeling, but in truth, his emotions are too overwhelming for him to control, so to protect you and all of us, he has to push his feelings aside and become a ruthless warrior. It is what he knows
.

And who he is
, Skyler said.
He's violence personified. I've seen into his mind. He merged with me and I could see him killing without thought, without remorse. He thinks to control me. To make me do as he says
.

All Carpathian males think that way. They are control freaks. Even our beloved Gabriel. You are too young and although his every instinct is pushing him to take you now, Dimitri is trying to hold back and give you what is yours
—
time
.

"I will confess I do not like it, but I am probably being overprotective. I cannot bear to see—or feel you suffer." Dimitri bowed slightly from the waist in an old-world gesture. "Then you shall go."

Skyler bit back her retort. She would have gone anyway. She didn't need him—a virtual stranger—telling her what she could or couldn't do.

"I was on my way to see Julian," Mikhail announced, deciding it was time to ease the obvious tension. "I know he loves a good time and I wanted to alert him to tonight's main surprise."

"There is a surprise?" Gabriel sounded wary.

"Raven wants St. Nick to show up, dressed in red," Mikhail said smugly. "The children will be expecting it."

Francesca bit her lip, suppressing a sudden smile when Gabriel actually stepped behind her as if for protection.
Big baby
.