I understand. His loyalty to her, his complete regard for her past and her feelings made her want to be what he needed all the more.
Te avio päläfertiilam. You are my lifemate.
She loved that word. This binding ritual was the equivalent of a human marriage, but more. The vows could not be broken.
Ainaak sívamet jutta oleny. You are bound to me for all eternity.
They could follow one another from one life to the next. They were bound, heart and soul. She felt even closer to him. She knew those threads weaving their souls together had done their job.
Ainaak terád vigyázak. You are always in my care.
It was done; they were tied together for all eternity. Dimitri sent her one last burst of love before he allowed the connection to fade. I love you, Skyler, with all my heart. Be safe for me.
Stay alive no matter what, Dimitri, she responded. I am coming for you.
Skyler had done everything she could to prepare for the night, other than the most important one—their fall back plan. Josef was definitely a strategist. He believed in backup plans. His backup plans had backup plans. She and Paul liked to tease him about it, but it was the meticulous care he paid to detail that always made everything work—like the swelling and bruising on her ankle. A Lycan such as Zev would never have bought her story if she hadn't been truly injured.
"It's almost time, Sky," Josef pointed out. "It's now or never. Can you do it? We need a safe place to retreat to, one the Lycans can't enter. This is their territory. They know every cave, every rock. I can go to ground, so could Dimitri, but you and Paul can't, so in the event of an emergency, we have to have a safety zone."
"I know." Of course she knew. They'd discussed it a million times. She was 75 percent certain she could do it. Okay, maybe it was more like 50 percent now that she actually had to produce something.
"If we're caught and given the opportunity to run, some—or all—could be wounded. We won't be able to outrun a pack, not with the shape Dimitri is in."
Skyler glared at him. "You're not making this any easier. Just give me a minute."
She'd thought about this moment a long time. She had to completely embrace who and what she was. She was Dragonseeker. Her birth father was from a powerful Carpathian lineage, one with great honor. Not a single Dragonseeker had ever turned vampire. Her father had been tortured for centuries, and still he refused to give in to the darkness that would have freed him from Xavier's terrible prison. That blood ran in her veins.
Her birth father was also mage, grandson to the most powerful mage the world had ever known. She was Xavier's great-granddaughter. That blood also ran in her veins. The more she'd used her abilities, the stronger they had become. That power was there, running beneath the surface, calling to her. It didn't have to be evil. Evil was a choice—like the giving up of one's soul. She could use her gifts for good as they were meant to be.
Her birth mother had been a very powerful psychic. Her ability to cross such long distances telepathically had come not from Dragonseeker or mage, but from her human mother. More, her mother had been the one to have a connection with Mother Earth. She could grow any plant, and sometimes, plants responded just to the sound of her voice.