Dark Peril Page 0,91

a bad night." Cesaro sighed. "Tell me honestly if Marguarita will live."

"She will live. I do not know if she will speak again. We did our best, but her throat was very torn. She will have this place and all Carpathians will honor her for her sacrifice."

Cesaro rubbed his temple, as if trying to ease a nagging headache. "Our people have always been De La Cruz. We fight for them, guard them and are honored to die in their service. Marguarita is no different. We will take care of her." He took a breath, let it out. "It would be an honor to carry out Jefe's wishes."

"You are certain," Dominic asked, liking the man more and more.

"I believe so."

Dominic didn't waste time. Every cell in his body was crying out for sustenance. He'd been using so much energy to heal Marguarita and to remove all signs of the battle that he'd grown pale. He moved toward the man rather than force Cesaro to walk to him.

"My people exist on blood, just as you exist on the meat of animals. We do not kill. Only the vampire does that."

Cesaro's swallow was audible. He nodded his head. " Don Zacarias has explained this to us. It is . . . difficult, but I wish to do this for you."

"If you allow me to, I will help you not to feel anything. You will retain the memory without fear."

Cesaro frowned, but shook his head. "I want to know what it feels like to serve those who have been so good to our families these long years."

Dominic preferred to take the blood from the neck, as did all Carpathians, but he didn't want this man's heart to explode. He could hear the trepidation in his brave request, and the strong heart accelerating. It was all he could do to respect the man's wishes and not calm him.

He swept his tongue over the offered wrist to numb the skin and then sank his fangs deep into the vein, almost in one continuous movement. Cesaro made a single sound, but he didn't flinch or try to pull his arm away. Dominic understood why the De La Cruz family believed in these humans. They were loyal to a fault and just as courageous. Hot blood flowed into his body, soaking into cells, muscles and tissue, instantly providing strength, replenishing his energy.

He was careful not to take too much, but when he swept his tongue over the twin holes, closing them, Cesaro swayed and Dominic helped him to sit.

"It didn't hurt like I thought it would," Cesaro murmured. He gave Dominic a small smile. "One builds it up in his head until he is afraid, but there was little pain."

"It can be dangerous," Dominic reminded. "When we have lived too long and killed too many times, there is no longer feeling."

" Don Zacarias told me that. He said you and your woman saved me. And saved him."

Dominic shook his head. "Perhaps we made his choice easier. I will clean up the battlefield while you drink plenty of fluids. Then you must take me to the body and send everyone else away." Solange brushed back the stray trendrils of hair from Marguarita's face. She looked like a beautiful broken doll lying there so still and pale. There were dark circles under her eyes, and two thick crescents of dark lashes fanned her cheeks. She had been a beautiful, vital woman just hours before. Solange sighed softly. There was so much violence in the world, especially, it seemed to her, against women. What had this woman done to anyone? She'd been living her life, happy. Now, her father lay dead and her throat was crushed. It all seemed so senseless to Solange. She'd spent nearly every day of her life working to prevent just such atrocities, and yet she seemed to fail at every turn.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," she murmured softly. Sometimes it felt as though she was always late, always just a little short, and the last couple of days had been bad ones.

She removed Marguarita's shoes and socks and drew a blanket over her. It would be up to the people on the ranch to see to her care now. "How are they going to explain all this?"

"They have doctors in the family," Dominic said from behind her.

She whirled around, a growl emerging. No one snuck up on her. She was cat. She scented the presence of others, yet there he stood, taking up the room with