He was certain once they were lifemates, their souls bound together, she would relax a little and realize it wouldn’t be so easy to kill him. He had lived through countless battles as a human. He could live through many more as a Carpathian male. She would see that once she shared his mind.
“Say it,” she whispered. “Right now, Gary, with the moon shining down on us, in this perfect field of beautiful flowers. Bind us together for eternity.”
He smiled down at her. “I was just thinking what a lucky man I am to have found you, Gabrielle. To have you right here in front of me. To know you before either of us was converted. I know a few of the Carpathian males have known their lifemates from childhood, but it is rare. We have a past that binds us even closer.”
She smiled up at him, her smile reaching her eyes, taking his breath. This was finally their time. He tightened his fingers around hers, ignoring the still glowing bracelet. At least it had stopped the warning hum.
“You are my lifemate. I claim you as my lifemate.” He said the ritual words decisively. He had wanted to say them before he was even Carpathian. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman. “I belong to you. I offer my life for you.” He did belong to her. He loved her with all his heart. He would lay down his life for her in a heartbeat. “I give you my protection. I give you my allegiance. I give you my heart. I give you my soul.”
The moment he uttered the words, something shifted inside of him. Fingers of dread crept down his spine. His gut knotted. Tight. Tension slid in. The bracelet burst into flames, the red dancing through the gold ominously, leaping around her wrist and humming a warning.
Gabrielle bit her lip, pushing at the bracelet with her hand, trying to get it off. It wouldn’t budge, clinging as if a part of her body. She did her best to ignore it, feeling desperate, her stomach somersaulting while everything in her screamed she might lose the most important person in her world. “What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”
He had been reborn Carpathian. Fully Carpathian. He was no longer human. He loved Gabrielle Sanders with all of his heart. She loved him in the same way. With her heart. All of it. But this vow was to bring two halves of the same soul back together. She had to hold the light to his darkness. Gabrielle was definitely of the light. He could see it shining in her eyes. He could almost see her soul in those beautiful eyes. But not now. Not at this moment—he saw reluctance. He saw the same dread in her that was there inside of him.
“No, Gary,” Gabrielle said. “Finish it. Say it in the ancient language, maybe the ritual needs to be recited in the ancient language. They aren’t going to take you away from me. Not that. You’re all I have left. I can’t make it without you. Say the words to tie us together.”
She knew. On some level she knew. The knowledge was strong in him even when he wanted to deny it. Her soul would not bind itself to his.
“Gabrielle . . .”
“Don’t.” Tears swam in her eyes. “For me. If you love me, do this. I need you, Gary. I love you. Please, finish it. Say it in the ancient language.”
Gary took a deep breath. His world was crumbling around him. He couldn’t imagine Gabrielle with another man. He wasn’t even certain he would remain sane if he ever saw such a thing. He’d lose his mind and try to kill her lifemate. She belonged to him. He belonged to her. She looked . . . devastated, just as he was devastated.
“Please, baby, please, for me, try again,” Gabrielle pleaded.
“Te avio päläfertiilam. Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam.” The moment he uttered the binding words in the ancient language, the dread increased tenfold. His stomach lurched. The knots tightened. He drew in his breath, shaking his head.
She shook her head again and tried frantically to tear the bracelet from her wrist. Her nails dug into her skin, leaving bloody tracks.
“I won’t let them do this to us. They’ve taken everything from both of us. Over and over, bled us dry. They can’t have you. It isn’t working because we were both human. Their rules don’t apply to us. We helped them, Gary. If it wasn’t for you, and also for me, their children would still be dying. I know Lara helped, but it was you who pointed everyone in the right direction. You were the one who saved their children. We deserve to be happy.”
He drew her into his arms, fitting her body into his. He held her tightly. “Honey, it isn’t them. There is no them versus us. They want us happy.” He stood in the middle of the field, blinking as he looked around him, noting uneasily that the white petals of the flowers were no longer so white. The green of the leaves on the flowers had faded as well. He took a breath. Closed his eyes. Opened them, his heart bleeding for both of them. “This isn’t their fault.”
“How did this happen? I don’t understand how this could happen,” Gabrielle cried against his shirt.
He understood. He had been reborn. His soul was no longer the soul of a human, but that of a Carpathian male. Gabrielle had always belonged to another man. Another Carpathian. She was the keeper of that man’s soul. Whether he was alive or already gone, whether he would actually find her, was a moot point. Her soul still reached for his—her true lifemate’s.
“I don’t care,” Gabrielle said, pulling back to look up at his face. “What are the chances of either of us finding our lifemates? Seriously, Gary, calculate the odds. We can live as humans. We can go far away from here, build a life together, have our children and accomplish all the things we talked about doing for the world.”
There it was. She would go away with him. His heart stuttered in his chest. It wasn’t the right thing to do, not for either of them, but, God, he wanted her. She was there, under his skin, in his heart, his everything. But she wasn’t his lifemate—and he wasn’t hers.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “I see it on your face. Don’t do this, Gary. We belong together. In the human world we’d get married and have children and live out our lives together. We’d be happy. You know we would.”
Her fingers curled into the lapels of his jacket. His suit jacket. His wedding suit. Gary closed his eyes again, the need of her so strong in him, it shook him. She was giving herself to him. No man, not even a Carpathian male, could be offered the love of his life and turn it down. No one.
He opened his eyes slowly, his gaze hooded. Sensual. Needing her. Wanting her. Loving her with every breath he took. He just had to take her hand and lead her to the bed and she would be his. She would go away with him, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d be happy with her. She was everything.
Still, the night was dimmer. The color in the world around him had faded significantly. He tried not to be alarmed, but the white flowers were now dull. Her hair wasn’t a rich black but a softer gray. Her lips, always so red, had faded in color as well. All around him, he could see that he was losing his ability to see in color. The vibrant shades weren’t fading over time, like they did with most Carpathians; they were being wrenched from him all in one night. His brain processed the information even as he rejected the idea of it.
He hadn’t considered what rebirth meant. What the pouring of wealth into his mind from all the ancients in the Daratrazanoff lineage would actually mean. He received all the power. All the skills and knowledge acquired in centuries of battles, of living, were in his head. All of it. But with that came the darkness. Overwhelming. Terrible. Descending on him as if he’d lived those centuries, but again, overnight. Robbing him of his humanity. Taking this woman from him. His one love.
His hand tightened convulsively around Gabrielle. He stepped closer, needing to feel her body against his. Needing to hold her. He put his arms around her and held her tight. One hand cupped the back of her head, pressing her face against him. He ignored the rising hum of the bracelet.
“Honey, you are just as Carpathian as I am.” The words, as true as they were, tasted bitter in his mouth. It was too late for them. She didn’t understand what was happening to him. He was hurting her. He knew he was and that just added to the sorrow in him. She had chosen to live because she thought they would be together. Now she had to feel as if he was deserting her.
“Don’t, Gary. Please. Please, don’t let them take you away from me.” Gabrielle wept uncontrollably, her arms around him. Clinging. Pressing herself even closer.