Dark Melody Page 0,70

be brought fully into our world soon. The child is in surprisingly good health. Most of the oxygen and nutrients are going to her little body. She is, indeed, a strong psychic. We must not lose either of them.

Dayan felt the heat and power as the healer began working, moving carefully around the heart. Working to get blood to flow more strongly, carrying precious oxygen throughout the body.

That is as much as I can do for her from this distance. Send her to sleep. Even while you travel, try to keep her asleep, but be careful not to overtax her heart with any compulsion she may fight. She has strong barriers. I will meet you soon, Dayan, and we will see to it that your lifemate survives, if there is any way to do so. I thank you.

Dayan replied formally as he returned to his own body and felt the withdrawal of the others. Using such energy over a long distance was not easy. He knew his family and the healer would seek the rejuvenating soil, as he must too. Beside him, Corrine stirred, drawing his attention.

"Why am I feeling so different?" Corinne asked, looking up at Dayan. Her eyes were clear, and she was breathing much more easily. The tiny white lines of strain around her mouth had disappeared.

The relief Dayan felt was overwhelming. He lay beside her trembling with hope, with joy. "The healer is near. He linked with Darius and the others to provide you with more strength. He was the one who worked on your heart."

Corinne was silent a moment, surprised at how much she believed in him. In the strange ways of his family. She did feel better each time Dayan used his telepathic abilities to aid her. She couldn't deny that whatever he was doing worked.

"I want you to sleep now, Corinne," Dayan said. "The dawn is here and you need rest. I will sleep soon too. Rest will allow your body to heal even more."

"I am tired," she agreed, then smiled sleepily at him. "Although I suspect you are using your gift to give me a push in that direction."

"If I am doing so," Dayan said noncommittally, "it is a small one." He pulled her more tightly into the strength of his arms. "I love holding you, Corinne, and lying beside you. The baby is peaceful now - have you noticed? She was kicking before, but she has drifted off now, safe in her little world."

"I love your voice when you talk about her." Corinne's voice was soft, drowsy, as her consciousness faded into sleep.

"You love my voice all the time," Dayan replied smugly, brushing a kiss onto her temple. "Sleep now, my love. Wake when I call to you."

Chapter 9

"Corinne - " The voice penetrated deep layers of sleep, dragging her back from a shadowy world of dreams. Someone was shaking her shoulder and demanding she wake immediately. It took a few moments before the desperation in the voice penetrated the shadows. Alarm spread, and she forced her eyelashes to lift. "Cullen, what is it? What's wrong?" Her heart was pounding and there was a hard pressure in her chest. "Is it Lisa?"

"She's gone. I woke up and she was gone. She left you a note." Cullen was shoving a piece of paper in her face.

Corinne took the letter, her fingers, slightly shaking, curling around the edges of the pale lavender paper. She didn't need the note to tell her where Lisa had gone. She knew Lisa, knew the way she thought. Lisa was programmed to wake up early, and she must have thought about the contract she had signed and talked herself into believing there was no danger. Lisa didn't want there to be danger, so it was simple enough for her to dismiss it. That was Lisa. The world was a place where she changed what she didn't like. People were supposed to be polite and kind, so Lisa simply imagined them that way. When other women didn't like her because of her looks, Lisa was very hurt and did everything in her power to change their opinion of her.

Angry with herself for not having foreseen such a possibility, Corinne threw back the covers and reached out toward her robe. It moved on its own, jumping from the hook on the back of the door to dance across the room to her hand. Corinne didn't seem to notice as she slipped into the terrycloth folds and paced restlessly across