Dark Celebration Page 0,5

far older.

Skyler. Mikhail told Raven. Gabriel and Francesca adopted her. Both Gabriel and Francesca have given her their blood. She is still human, yet carries a powerful bloodline. She is a very strong psychic.

Raven smiled at the teenager. She worries about the Carpathian males wanting to claim her now that she is sixteen. She's much too young to worry about such things. "You must be Skyler. How nice of you to come visiting. Perhaps you'd care to come in and talk to me while I check on the turkey."

"I do not see Gabriel with you," Mikhail said pointedly. This young child represented hope to his race, yet she walked through the forest unescorted.

Mikhail! Don't frighten her.

There are wolves in the forest, as well as the possibility of enemies.

Skyler stopped abruptly, her gaze shifting to Mikhail. For a moment, her dark eyes clashed with Mikhail's black ones defiantly. "Gabriel trusts me to make my way to your house. I'm not a child anymore."

"I can see that. I'm Mikhail and this is my lifemate, Raven. Gabriel and Francesca speak of you so often, I feel as if I know you. Forgive me if I showed my concern for a young woman I look upon as family."

A brief smile flirted with Skyler's mouth. "I have to hand it to you, Mr. Dubrinsky. That should make me feel like a worm, but it doesn't. I'm here because I absolutely want to make it clear that I am not a lifemate to anyone."

A shadow passed across the moon, briefly blotting out the light spilling down on the forest. Bats wheeled and dipped in a mad, frenzied performance in the night sky.

Mikhail stood still, searching the surrounding forest with his preternatural senses. He gestured imperiously toward the door Raven held open. They followed Skyler inside. "You are so certain of this?"

The aroma of turkey filled the house, and Mikhail hid his natural revulsion against the scent of meat cooking. Smells from her past often comforted Raven. She was unaware of it, but he sensed her happiness, as if the turkey in the oven had been an important part of her life-a good memory of childhood-so he was careful not to ruin it for her. Raven sent him

a small smile as if she might be reading his thoughts in spite of his thin shield. He'd have to watch that. Her skills and powers grew daily.

Skyler looked at the high beamed ceilings and wide-open space before her gaze settled on the three enormous stained-glass windows. Her face lit up and she walked straight over to them. "This is Francesca's work. Isn't she awesome? I helped her with this one." She tilted her head to study the vibrant colors. "I haven't learned how to weave the safeguards into the glass yet. I can do it in quilts, but glass is much more complicated." She glanced at Raven. "Do you ever stand under the setting sun and feel comfort?" Skyler moved an inch to her left. "Right here. If you stand right in this spot as the last rays of light hit, you'll feel it. I did that."

"It's a work of art," Raven said. "If I could, I'd have every window done in Francesca's work. I had no idea you were helping her."

"I have some talent, not nearly as strong as hers, but she's helping me develop mine. I hope to be partners with her one day." The smile faded, leaving her eyes bleak. She reached up to brush strands of dark hair from her face, revealing a small crescent-shaped scar on her temple and drawing attention to the white scars on her hands and forearms. Skyler seemed to be aware of her nervous gesture and folded her hands, her chin raising a fraction. "I've heard rumors of a coming-out party-where the men gather to see if they could possibly be compatible with one of the women..."

"We have no women," Mikhail pointed out. "There are no parties and no coming out as we have no women..."

Skyler's mouth firmed into a stubborn line as she followed the couple into the kitchen. "Gabriel and Francesca treat me like family."

Mikhail nodded. "They love you as if you were their daughter." He inhaled deeply, drawing her scent into his lungs. "You carry their blood so through love, blood and in every other way, you are their daughter."

"They've offered to convert me when I'm twenty-one and I'm considering it, but I want assurances that you won't try to force me to be with a man-any