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him. Although right now, right at this moment, he felt like his was breaking. He ached for both of them.

His life force flooded her starving body, organs and tissue and brain greedily reaching instinctively for nourishment-for life. He made certain he not only gave her enough to replace what she had lost, but enough for a formal blood exchange. Their first true exchange and it was much needed. He had to find a degree of control to combat the darkness that had grown so strong over the last few centuries. His one fear had been that of turning vampire, becoming the most loathsome of evil creatures, yet now, with his lifemate to provide the light to his darkness, he should have been free of worry. Without the formal blood exchange, even with the claiming ritual, until they met as one in body as well as soul and mind, he was a danger to everyone-but mostly he was dangerous to her.

Nicolas cradled Lara in his arms, close to his chest, still rocking. The sun had gone down some time ago and the night was on them. He had no idea when she had managed to harm herself or how long she had lain awake contemplating harming herself, but her spirit was a long way from her body.

"O jela sielamak. Light of my soul, come back to me." She struggled and at first he thought it was to stay away from him, but then he realized her spirit was trapped elsewhere. She had drifted away on a sea of blood and wherever her spirit had roamed, past or present, or the shadow world, she was trapped in a web she couldn't get out of. Without hesitation, he merged his mind fully with hers, following the path to find her and guide her back to the land of the living.

Chapter 8

Nicolas shivered. It was cold. For the first time in his life, when he tried to regulate his body temperature, it was impossible. The cold was mind-numbing. And there was so much fear, wave after wave swamping him. Fear was not an emotion he was intimate with and the waves were overwhelming, keeping him off balance, his stomach churning and his heart beating too loudly. He didn't question that he shouldn't have a heart-or hear one, not while he was without his body, he simply accepted whatever happened and continued after her.

He found himself in a child's body. She was so tiny, her heart wild. Terror-her terror-settled into his mind, filling every corner, every compartment until he breathed it in and out, until it was living inside his very soul. He stared through horrified eyes at a man chained to the wall of ice. A young woman sat beside him weeping as she tried to wipe the beads of sweat from his face.

Razvan/father.

Nicolas breathed through the terror and tried to focus on what was happening. Razvan was nearly

drained of blood, weak, barely able to talk coherently, his voice low and trembling so that the woman leaned close and pressed her ear to his lips in order to hear him.

"Shauna, get her out before it's too late. You have to let her go."

Lara's mother shook her head, tears running down her face. "She's too little, Razvan, she'll never make it on her own."

"Better she die than let him get his hands on her."

"I can't bear it. I can't bear to lose you and her. There has to be another way."

"I will need blood and you've already given me too much."

"She hates giving blood. She's too young to understand," Shauna said, but she was already lifting the little girl with copper curls onto her lap.

Instead of feeling comforted, Nicolas was swamped with Shauna's fears as well. Living in the body of the child-Lara he struggled against the arms holding him tightly, fought, kicking and biting as Shauna extended the child's arm toward the man lying pale and ravaged. His heart felt as if it might explode. He tried to shift, to get away from the teeth coming at his small, exposed wrist. He had always been fast and strong, his powers honed at a very early age when few boys could even think of shifting, yet now he was powerless to free himself. He could only wait, watching those teeth come closer and closer to his flesh.

His body shrank away from the hot breath. He heard whimpering and felt Lara's spirit desperately fighting to free itself. The small arm was already covered in scars.