Dark Curse Page 0,94

Nicolas's voice slid into her mind with ease.

I'm getting bits and pieces now. Now they just come to me. She didn't know if she was happy about it or not.

Nicolas didn't like her feeling so confused. In close proximity to Natalya, Lara was already edgy. She hid it well, but she was uncomfortable, her memories still too raw. Twice she rubbed her wrist, although he knew it was habit more than pain, but the gesture served as a reminder of her traumatic childhood.

"I want to go with you," Natalya said. "To the cave. Ihave to go."

"Natalya," Vikirnoff cautioned.

"No, it's Razvan. I have to see if there's a chance we're wrong about him. Maybe we'll find something, a clue to what's been happening."

Vikirnoff muttered something under his breath. "The cave is a death trap. You were there, Natalya, you

know it is."

"He kept me away from Xavier. I could be the one with the nightmare childhood. I could be the one he experimented on and fed off. Razvan saved me, Vikirnoff. I love my brother and if I can at least clear his name so his children think better of him, then I owe him that much."

Vikirnoff shook his head. "It is insanity to go back there. You know that."

Nicolas understood exactly how Vikirnoff felt. The last thing he wanted to do was to take Lara back to the underground labyrinth that Xavier had created.I have to go, Nicolas. If it was your family you would go .

The problem, he decided, once your heart was involved, all logic went out the window. It mattered little that he knew it was dangerous, but now he understood her needs and that made the decision not quite as easy as it had been when he had no emotions. His eyes met Vikirnoff's, for the first time understanding the difficulties with keeping women safe.

"The caveman method had value," Vikirnoff stated.

"I agree," Nicolas said, sighing inwardly.I said I would take you. I do not go back on my word .

"Then we go tomorrow night?" Natalya asked.

"The night after," Vikirnoff corrected. "I want to do a little reconnaissance before we go and we have to attend the warriors' council. Jacques's baby will be named in the warriors' circle. It is important we all attend to support Jacques and Shea. Should something ever happen to Shea, Jacques could not survive it. Their son would have need of our entire community."

The warriors' council... where he had intended to support Gregori in their bid to keep women away from fighting. Nicolas nearly groaned aloud. "Have you heard news of the prince's lifemate? I assumed she was having problems again."

Natalya looked down at her hands, her expression sad. "Not only is Raven having problems, but evidently Savannah is as well. It doesn't look good. Gregori is working with both of them and Syndil has been working with the surrounding soil, but both women are bleeding, their bodies trying to reject the babies."

A burst of pain in Lara's head had her wrenching her hand free of Nicolas in order to press at her temples. Her mind seemed to splinter for a moment, and a door cracked open. She had a brief glimpse of a sobbing woman, blood on the floor and piles of dirt around her. Xavier stood over her smiling with satisfaction.

"Sometimes we must make small sacrifices for the greater good, my dear. One lost child to ensure that the death of many continues is not too small of a price to pay."

Bile welled up and she stood fast, pushing Nicolas away from her and rushing from the house to stand outside in the fresh, cold air where she could breathe. Nicolas came up behind her, placing gentle hands on her shoulders.

Lara shook him off, taking a step forward, breathing fast. "Don't. Don't say anything yet." He had seen that small vignette of her past. She had felt him there at that first burst of pain, before either realized what

was happening.

"You cannot possibly think you are in any way responsible for anything Xavier has done. He wanted immortality and he was angry and bitter that he did not have it and the Carpathians did. He wanted every power our species had as well as his own. When Rhiannon's lifemate was murdered and she disappeared, we knew he had been plotting against us for years. Of course we had no way of knowing the extent of the damage or what he had done. He is a master mage, and undeniably powerful. The seeds