Dark Melody (20 page)

"Leaves shine silver in the moonlight," she said. "I often sit in my backyard and watch the way the breeze makes them glitter at night when the moon is out." She lay back shivering, cuddling closer to him as if the talk of being outdoors chilled her. "It's cold in here." She beckoned with her hand toward the cupboard. The double doors flew open and a thick quilt tumbled out. It rippled like a magic carpet as it floated across the room and spread itself over them.

It wasn't cold, but her body was not regulating its temperature properly. Dayan suppressed the apprehension shimmering in his mind. He forced a smile. "You are showing off, Corinne. You are supposed to be sleeping and gaining strength, but instead, you are waving your hands about and making blankets dance in the air."

Her breath fanned his neck. Warm. Intriguing. Tempting. She laughed very softly, the sound joyful in the stillness of the room. Suddenly his smile was real. "At night when I was very young, I used to imagine myself flying on a magic carpet. I didn't dare set the blankets floating; I was afraid I would get caught."

"So what did you do instead?" he asked.

"I read, of course. Everything I could get my hands on. Books could take me to all the places I never could go on my own." She traced the indentation in his chin. "I've read so many books – fiction, nonfiction, encyclopedias, anything I could get my hands on. And I had the music."

"How did you manage to learn to play, especially when you were living on the streets a good part of your life?" He shifted her, wrapping his arms securely around her, curving his body protectively behind hers so they fit like spoons.

Corinne's laughter was soft, like the rain on the roof. "There was a small club, a bar, where live bands played all the time. Locks meant nothing to us, and we often slept in the back room there. Instruments were left behind all the time. I'd watch the band play, and then I'd practice until I could play the forgotten instrument with the same sound as the person on the stage. I'm lucky enough to have a good ear, and I can remember music easily. The piano was easiest for me because I could watch the performer's fingers and see how a particular piece was played."

"Do you realize how truly rare such a thing is, Corinne?"

She smiled. "I had many hours to practice."

Dayan slid his hand down her ribcage to her stomach. "She is moving. The two of you need sleep. I am keeping you up."

Corinne felt her insides turn to mush when he laid his hand over the baby in a protective gesture. Instinctively she knew that was what he was doing. She felt close to him, connected with him, content to lie beside him and listen to the sound of his voice and feel the heat of his body. It was one of the things she counted as beautiful in the world. One of the things she was thankful she had experienced.

"So – " Gregori's silver eyes burned over his brother. "You are Darius. I have heard much of your exploits. The miracle of keeping so many children alive, including two of our females." He clasped Darius's arms just above the elbows in the formal greeting of one warrior to another.

Gregori emanated power from every pore. He had long black hair like Darius, and a stockier, more muscular build than most Carpathian males. His eyes were a piercing silver, and as they rested on the brother he hadn't seen in centuries, an affectionate gleam glimmered in the depths.

Looking at him, Darius was at a loss for words. He had memories of this man locked away, placed carefully where they would never be tarnished. He had always been proud of being Gregori's sibling. In the earlier days, when life was hard and Darius struggled to safeguard the other children, he had drawn heavily on those memories of his legendary brother. He had honed his will of iron by comparing himself to his brother, by pretending Gregori was watching him, judging his actions. As a child, lost in the wilderness with infants to care for, Darius had tried hard to live up to the legendary image of his brothers. The twins were a myth, the greatest vampire hunters known to their people. Gregori had been so much more real to him.

Gregori stared into the steady gaze of his brother. "No one could be prouder of the things you accomplished than I. It was indeed miraculous that you saved both girls and saw Barack and Dayan through the long centuries of darkness. I thank you for giving me back my sister." He turned his head to look at her. Desari. She was tall and straight, with a voice like an angel. "A true gift to the world."

Desari went into his arms, tears swimming in her dark eyes. "I am honored to meet you at last."

"The honor is mine." Gregori hugged her long and hard before handing her back to the tall, golden warrior waiting to greet him. Gregori reached for his lifemate, bringing her in front of him, his arms securely around her. "May I present my lifemate, Savannah. My sister Desari and my brother Darius." There was pride in his voice.

"And you must know Julian." Desari clasped hands with her handsome lifemate. "He knows much of you."

Savannah laughed at Gregori's expression. "I can see I will have to insist we talk together, Julian." She kissed Desari's cheek and laughed again when Gregori firmly removed her from Julian's reach.

"You can stay away from him." Gregori pinned his brother with a steely eye. "How did you come to allow our sister to associate with this barbarian?"

Darius's eyebrow shot up. "Yes, I was meaning to take you to task over your lack of judgment. Whatever possessed you to send him to us? Your lack of foresight amazes me. He took advantage of the situation, as you can well see. I hold you responsible."

Julian smirked at the brothers. "It was fortunate I was around to guard the women of our race while the two of you were off chasing vampires, trying to hone your skills. In the end, I had no choice but to stay and guard what our race holds dear. I might point out that my relationship with Desari has officially made me your brother." He grinned complacently at them.

"I had hoped you might whip him into shape," Gregori confided with a deep sigh. "But I see it is impossible. He never obeyed a single law."

"You sent him to me to be rid of him." Darius feigned a scowl. He had come to respect Julian for his independent ways and welcomed him into his family.

Gregori reached out to clasp Julian's arms in a warrior's greeting of respect. "I thank you for all you have done for my family. I am indeed grateful that it is you looking after my sister."

Julian grinned at him. "I am most grateful for the job."

"I trust your brother Aidan is well and knows why you have chosen to be apart from him." There was a subtle edge to Gregori's voice. "Had you spoken with Mikhail or me, we would have aided you in your battle with the vampire. You were a child, Julian, with a child's perception of guilt and responsibility. Mikhail and I are proud of the choices you have made to safeguard your people and your brother. You did talk with Aidan." It was more of a statement than a question.

Julian grinned sheepishly. "I took Desari to meet Aidan and his lifemate Alexandria. He had much to say about my protection of him. He obviously spent more time with you than I had first realized. He is well, as is his lifemate."

"This is Tempest," Darius said, drawing his redheaded lifemate to him. "She has not been long in our world."

Desari immediately shifted to stand close to the shorter woman. Julian glided closer as if protecting her, the family closing ranks to ease the newest member's fears. "Tempest has great courage. Without her, we would not have Darius. Our family owes much to her."

"Welcome to our family, little sister," Gregori said. "I thank you for my brother's life. It would not do to lose one so valuable."

Tempest smiled shyly, grateful for the support of Desari and Julian. She leaned into Darius as she tried not to be intimidated by the sheer power emanating from Gregori or his peculiar, soulseeing eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet the rest of Darius's family. We've spoken of you often and looked forward to your visit with us."

Savannah leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I know all this must be new to you and perhaps a little frightening, but I can see you are well loved."

"Desari and Syndil have welcomed me as a sister, and Dayan, Barack and Julian are protective elder brothers." Tempest smiled lovingly at Darius. "And Darius makes it all worthwhile. I'm not afraid, just a little overwhelmed. And I do want children someday, so I'm putting my faith in you, Gregori, to solve the tremendous problems we all face."

"I promise to do my best." Gregori inclined his head. "With so many working, we hope to find answers much more quickly. Gary Jansen has been doing research into the different lineages, trying to ascertain how often a child was usually born to Carpathian couples. It appears, with the exception of a few lines, most children were born fifty to one hundred years apart. Savannah's line is an exception through her grandmother's side of the family. Sarantha, Mikhail's mother, had four children quite close, three males and one female. And my mother also had the two of you, Desari and Darius, close together. Yet Desari is the only female child who survives in our lineage." Gregori smiled at his brother. "Thanks to you, Darius. We owe you much."

"There are so few of us," Desari said sadly.

"But our ranks are growing as we discover that ancients are scattered throughout the world," Gregori replied gently. "Gabriel and Lucian still live. They live and have found their lifemates. Gabriel's lifemate, Francesca, has sent one of her healing quilts for Corinne. We would have liked to visit longer with them before returning to the Carpathian Mountains."

Desari reached out to link her hand with her lifemate.

"Julian told me the sad story of such heroes. It was a privilege to meet them at the wedding."

"They are true ancients. Mikhail is hoping they will be able to aid Shea and Gary in their research into the high mortality rate of our infants," Gregori said. "I have long sought the answer to this problem, but have not yet succeeded in defeating our worst enemy."

"The fact that we do not have female children," Savannah sighed. "And the difficulty of keeping our children alive the first year. You will solve the mystery. You are no longer alone, Gregori. You have Shea and Gary and now Francesca. You will find the answer, and we will have the children you wish for."

"Twins," Julian supplied. "Two little girls to run wild, with their father chasing after them." He looked well pleased with the idea.

Gregori bared white teeth at Julian across the table. "I see you are having much fun at my expense, Julian, but remember, I have known you many, many years. Desari, my young sister, there is much we have to speak of."

Julian laughed. "I wish you would speak to her, Gregori. She has surprising gifts, as Darius and I have found out." He kissed his wife. "I do not suppose you would want to sing your brother into a tree trunk for me."

Gregori's eyebrow shot up, a habit he shared with Darius despite the long separation between them. "Desari can use her voice in such a manner?"

Desari laughed, blushing a soft rose color. "Of course not. He is exaggerating. I use my voice to soothe and heal others, to bring them joy."

"Or reprimand elder brothers and lifemates when they do things she does not agree with," Darius offered helpfully.

When Gregori's silver gaze rested on her thoughtfully, Desari sighed. "All right, it is true I once used a net to entrap them." She smiled conspiratorially at the other women. "As you age, your gifts will come to you, and they will be useful in ways you did not imagine."

Gregori hauled Savannah closer. "I am taking you back to our country, where you will never hear this kind of feminine nonsense."

She rose on her toes to kiss him firmly on the hard edge of his mouth. "My mother lives there, and as I recall, you said my father allowed her to run amok, creating chaos and havoc in her wake."

"I would like to meet your mother," Desari said. She caught her brother's arm. "Let's plan a tour of Europe. We can go home to the mountains. It would be such fun. Barack and Syndil wanted so much to stay there and visit, and I'm certain Dayan would want to bring his Corinne to meet everyone."

"First we must see to it that Dayan will be coming with us," Darius reminded her.

"The situation sounds grave," Gregori commented.

Darius nodded. "Dayan is worried, with good reason. I had never thought to come up against such a problem. He cannot convert his lifemate with the baby unborn. But Corinne's heart is enlarged and overworked. I doubt if it will last until the baby is old enough to be born, and I am certain it will fail during labor."

"How long do you think her heart will hold out?" Gregori frowned, his dark brows settling into lines of worry. "You have examined her through your link with him. Do you feel we have enough time?"

"I do not honestly know," Darius admitted. Feeling emotion had some drawbacks, he was discovering. He loved Dayan as a brother. He could feel Dayan's pain, his perpetual heartache, and Darius was raw with the need to ease his brother's suffering.

Gregori allowed his breath to leave his lungs in a long sigh. He had thought Darius and Desari lost to him for all time. The joy of discovery, the affection swamping him, was overwhelming enough, but to feel as if he might fail them when they needed him most was truly daunting.

Reading his mind, Savannah reached up to soothe Gregori, rubbing the pad of her finger back and forth over his frown lines. "You will save her. I know you will, Gregori." She could feel the sheer magnitude of his emotions swamping him as he looked upon kin he thought lost to him forever.

Gregori's arm circled her waist at once, locking her beneath his broad shoulder. "I cannot imagine what this man is feeling with his lifemate so threatened." His silver gaze slid over Savannah. "There are few threats that would shake me, but such danger to you would leave me decidedly rattled."

A slow grin curved her soft mouth, and her eyes sparkled like gems. She was willing to provide the laughter for him, the teasing to ease the overpowering emotions. She was his lifemate, and
he
was in
her
care, however much he thought it was the other way around.
"Decidedly
rattled? I do love the way you put things. That is such an understatement. If I stub my toe, you lose your mind."