Dark Destiny Page 0,61

the edge. Because I did not know for certain, I could still function, protecting her as best I could. It has occurred to me that on some level she knew the truth. Oh, not as we know, but still, she protected me in the only way she could, by not speaking. I might have found her sooner, but maybe not. She was so frightened that she kept moving all the time."

"She is a strong woman and very courageous. But she is in constant danger fighting the undead. She does not value her life."

"But she values my life. She has always valued my life, and she knows our lives are intertwined. She will not willingly give up her life in a fight, and she is not careless. I will not, I cannot

force my will on her. She will find her way to me in her own time."

"I am in your mind, Nicolae. The only emotion I can feel is yours. The battle for her weighs heavily on you. Take her to our homeland. You are far stronger than she is, far stronger than most ancients, most hunters. She would have no choice but to obey," Vikirnoff urged. "She might be upset for a while, but at least she will be safe."

Nicolae shook his head. "She would not be safe. She would not tolerate such behavior on my part. In her eyes I would be no better than the vampire, forcing my will on her. My comfort is not important to me, only her life and her sanity."

"You have bound her to you. You live or die together."

"We lived or died together before I said the words. She agreed to the ritual to protect me, anchoring me to the world of light."

Vikirnoff leaned his hip against a rock and studied his brother's face. "You insist, then, on remaining here in this place overrun with the undead?"

"I know what is in your mind, although you are attempting to close it to me. You cannot sacrifice yourself by hunting the vampire here. We both know you are too close to turning to continue killing. Go to our homeland and we will follow as soon as we are able."

Vikirnoff shrugged, the gesture very close to his brother's mannerism, a casual display of sheer strength. "One of us must continue our line."

"I believe you have a lifemate somewhere, Vikirnoff. I think Vlad sent us into this century with the foreknowledge that we had a chance of finding our lifemates. Why it has taken so long, I do not know, but this is no time to choose the end. We had no hope, no belief that it was possible, yet we hung on. Now that there is hope, you cannot give up."

Vikirnoff regarded Nicolae for a long moment in silence. He shook his head slightly. "She will eventually find out that she only thinks she can read what is inside of you. That you hide what she cannot handle. What then, Nicolae? If she chooses the dawn for the two of you and I have waited too long, then I have nothing to anchor myself to the world of light. You sentence both of us if she is not able to overcome these terrible scars on her soul."

Nicolae reached out, laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "She will survive."

Vikirnoff was silent again while water dripped continually from the walls of the cave. Finally he nodded once, then swept his hand over the earth to open it a short distance from where Destiny lay surrounded by rich soil. "The undead has gone to ground. I suspect he will flee the area or at least pull back to regroup. Her friends are safe for a time." He floated across the chamber to lie in the earth.

Nicolae watched the dirt pour over his brother, watched as the surface smoothed and settled as if undisturbed for eons. He set safeguards at the entrances to the cave and up along the steep, narrow chimney. Nicolae would take no chances with Destiny in his care. He set an intricate safeguard over his brother's resting place, one that for the first time would alert him should Vikirnoff rise first.

Nicolae lay in the dark, rich soil beside Destiny's body. Still uneasy over the shadows in Destiny's blood, he decided another thorough inspection was warranted. Once more he shed his own body to become light and energy, entering hers to check the repairs he had made, to meticulously go over the cells where the vampire