feel her pain and sorrow even stronger than I felt Skyler's. She is connected to us as no other has been. We must put you deep within the soil to heal. You must be strong before you begin your journey of discovery."
"First I will take care of your doctor friend. You cannot do so." Lucian made it a decree. His black eyes glittered for a moment, sheer ice and menace.
Francesca glared at him, her black eyes sparkling. "I will do what is necessary.
You have no say in it." Lucian's empty eyes turned on his brother, one eyebrow arched.
"You will allow this lunacy?" "These things are difficult."
Gabriel shrugged his broad shoulders as if to say Lucian didn't know anything about women.
Francesca tossed her thick braid over her left shoulder. "I realize you were born many centuries ago, Lucian. I should have not shown such impatience. Women no longer do whatever a man decrees." Her voice held a faintly haughty tone.
"Francesca!"
The look in Gabriel's black eyes was something between laughter and censure. He could not remember anyone ever speaking to Lucian in such a way.
She turned away from her lifemate, trying desperately not to laugh. The two men were very old-fashioned in their manners. Courtly. Elegant.
Sexy.
That thought crept in unbidden and was hastily censored. She shared Gabriel's thoughts, knew it was in his mind to prevent her healing Brice until he had removed all traces of the tainted blood himself. Right now, Gabriel needed the healing earth, as did Lucian. Both ancients were wounded and weak.
"I have noticed for some centuries now, it is the women who take care of all the little details. I will ensure that Brice sleeps this day until the new rising. It is necessary to prepare the earth for your brother. He is in great need, despite his belief in his own omnipotence. Do not worry, I do have brains and have managed quite well without guidance of any kind for centuries. I will be able to handle all the details by my little lonesome while you poor boys rest."
"But you will not go near Brice,"
Gabriel said, trying to make it more of a statement than a command.
Francesca swept past her lifemate and glided down the hall toward the kitchen and the underground chambers. Of course she wouldn't risk her unborn child trying to heal Brice without aid. Did they think she was a dolt? The two of them could sleep in the underground chamber together!
"I will not be sleeping with my brother, woman, believe me. I will be sleeping right alongside you where I belong."
Thistime there was distinct laughter, a drawling male amusement in the deep timbre of Gabriel's voice. His voice always held that lazy, sexy note she couldn't ignore.
"Do not count on your charm to get you out of this one. "
Francesca opened the earth, a section of deep rich soil large enough to accommodate Lucian's powerful frame.
"I am much gratified to know you find me charming." "Was I thinking that? I do not think so. I believe what I was thinking was how irritating the males of our race are and I am certain I had good cause to hide my existence from them all these centuries."
Deliberately Francesca kept her voice as haughty as ever. Teasing him. Loving him. Wanting to be alone with him. Gabriel.
"You were thinking about making love to me, not sentencing me to a lonely bed." "You think much of yourself, sir." "Only by reading your thoughts. I find I like the way you view me far better than the view I have of myself."
Francesca scattered healing herbs across the dirt floor and added precious soil from her homeland from the small treasure box she had guarded over the centuries. The soil was what Lucian needed more than anything else.
"It is ready."
Gabriel reached for his twin, helping him to his feet. It felt right to be with Lucian again. They moved the same way; their expressions were totally alike. It suddenly occurred to Gabriel that perhaps Francesca couldn't tell them apart.
"Do not be so silly. You are part of me, the other half of my heart. You think the silliest things, Gabriel."
The whisper of her voice was an invitation. It heated his blood as nothing else ever could.
Gabriel guided Lucian past the chamber containing Brice. The twins touched the mind of the sleeping human at the exact same time, sharing the knowledge without thinking about it, a well-rehearsed action.
Francesca stepped to one side to allow Lucian into the narrow