Dark Destiny Page 0,8

a mind block in place, a strong barrier he didn't bother attempting to penetrate.

Nicolae sped through the sky, the owl keeping pace with him, eyes searching for signs, senses flaring out to test the air for the noxious trail. He didn't bother to attempt to track Destiny; he had taught her too well. Her trail was nearly nonexistent. Without the wound, he would never have caught her scent, and she had already dealt with the laceration so that there was no more telltale spoor for him to follow.

Nicolae glanced at his traveling companion, the large owl flying so strongly beside him as it had done for years. They were traveling companions. Hunters. Brothers. Watching each other's backs.

I will go into the lair of the vampire and destroy him. It is not safe for you to do so, but should something happen to me, I ask that you take this woman to the Prince.

His brother could no longer battle the vampire. He was too close to the beast to resist the call of blood.

There was a heartbeat of silence. Two. Nicolae felt the wind rushing past them as they moved together through the sky. For a moment he thought the other would not speak. He so seldom did these days, preferring to remain in the form of an animal.

You give me a task I am uncertain I can fulfill. You can do no other than see to it she is safely returned to our homeland. She is my lifemate, although as yet unbound.

Again there was only the silence of the night.

Nicolae, I am older by several hundred years. My time is waning. You feel the crouching of the beast. I am the beast. How can you trust my word?

For a moment Nicolae felt his heart jump. Vikirnoff had long battled the bleakness of a colorless existence. He had hunted the vampire for hundreds of years, destroying old friends. With each kill it became harder and harder to resist the need to feel something. If Vikirnoff made a kill while feeding, he would be lost for all time. Nicolae closed his mind to the possibility. Vikirnoff was strong and he would endure as long as there was need.

I trust you, Vikirnoff, because I know you. You are a warrior without equal and your honor is everything. You are my brother, the one who came to guard my back in my darkest days, as I have done for you. Give me your word you will do this if I should fail. You would never go back on your word. Not even the beast is stronger than your word. She is one of us, though converted by a vampire. A female capable of producing female children for our race. You must perform this one last task and then you can go to ground, only to awaken if you feel the call of your lifemate.

Nicolae was firm, dealing warrior to warrior.

There was no other choice for either of them. They had stood for centuries against the vampire, alone in their territories until both were near the end. Until Nicolae had been connected with a child being physically and emotionally abused. His brother Vikirnoff, centuries older, had rushed to his side, to ensure that Nicolae would not succumb to despair when he couldn't prevent the continued assaults.

Chapter Two

Destiny looked around herself carefully at the cave to which she had followed the vampire. His lair was close. She had already encountered two of his traps and had slowly, meticulously unraveled them. Her chest was inexplicably tight, her lungs laboring to draw air. There was an anxiety in her that had never been there before when she was hunting.

He was here at last. Nicolae. She whispered his name softly in her mind. He had told it to her often, the sound blending with his accent to form something beautiful, but she had never dared repeat it. Now the strange name tugged at her heartstrings. She had known the day would come when he would find her. He had been getting closer month by month, day by day. He was relentless in his pursuit of her, and all along, she had known she would have to face him one day. She thought she had been prepared, but in truth, she was terrified. She relied on him, on his concern for her, his companionship, strange though it might be.

Nicolae had come to her in her darkest hour, had shared her torment, the depraved tortures of an evil mind. His