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what he could possibly say to either of them, but when he looked at Ivory's weary face, he refused to be selfish. She needed care, and her needs came first.

Ivory stepped back several paces. "These are mere scratches. My lifemate can attend to them. An inconvenience only." She inclined her head, a regal gesture, toward Mikhail. "I am certain we will cross paths again."

"Please do come and meet Raven, my lifemate," Mikhail invited. "She cannot travel at the moment and will be sorry she was not here. You are truly an inspiration to our women."

Gregori cast him a smoldering look before turning to Ivory. His strange silver eyes gleamed at her as she slid back into the shadows, and she knew he recognized the sudden dangerous stillness of a warrior in her. "If you have need, lady, call and I will come. I do not give my word lightly."

I guess you might want to rethink your position on women in battle, Mikhail sent telepathically.

The women are with this one for five minutes, old friend, and it will be anarchy.

Mikhail sobered. What of Razvan?

The boy has more honor than good sense.

That boy is older than you are, Mikhail was compelled to point out.

He has suffered greatly and he is no traitor. Less so than I am. There was a small silence and Gregori lifted his silver eyes to his prince and oldest friend. When the woman, Lara, was so terrified of my eyes, I knew she had seen Xavier. We share the one lasting testimony, branded always for meddling with things best left alone.

It was an apology and they both knew it.

Mikhail clapped Gregori on the shoulder, affection in his gesture. It was long ago, as many things were, and in the end it came to good.

That is what Razvan said.

Gregori stepped close to Ivory. She didn't back away, but her eyes went as watchful and as still as her body, as if she half suspected he might attack her. He clasped her arms in the greeting of highest respect, one warrior to another. "Kulkesz arwaval-jo?esz arwa arvoval-go with glory-return with honor."

Without waiting for her hesitant reply, he gripped Razvan's forearms in the same respectful clasp. "Kulkesz arwa-arvoval, ekam-walk with honor, my brother. We have only recently learned of Xavier's existence, and probably know far less about his ways than either of you, but if you wish to pool our information, we would be grateful."

Ivory's uneasiness was more apparent to Razvan than ever. She edged away from Gregori and looked to the sky several times. Razvan took her hand and began moving a distance from the others with her.

"We will meet again," he said, knowing it was true. Right now, Ivory didn't want to face the fact that they had inadvertently become part of the Carpathian world when she had saved the child. Gregori and the others would look toward her, a warrior of their own, as an immense and invaluable vault of knowledge on their greatest enemy.

He could feel her withdrawing into herself. Her expression didn't change, but remained serene and distantly friendly. Inside she was quaking. He kept moving across the snow, leading her away from the others, making the responsibility for choosing to leave his alone. He cared nothing for what others thought. Long ago he'd learned to accept condemnation from everyone. He was the most despised Carpathian alive, worse than the vampires, and although Mikhail and Gregori chose to welcome him, he saw distrust in the eyes of the others. He didn't want nor need acceptance from them-only from Ivory.

Keep walking away from the direction of our home. The snow will cover our tracks, but anyone will be able to track the blood scent. Just up ahead, we will have to close all wounds.

Razvan almost couldn't hear past our home. His stomach tightened. Home. Our home. The idea of it was comforting and frightening at the same time. He glanced at her through the thickening snow. Her face was turned away from his. She looked ethereal striding through the snow, like an ice princess, not the warrior he knew her to be.

They stopped beneath the shelter of several large trees. The high canopy kept the snow from falling on them while they examined themselves for poisonous parasites and took a few minutes to close every wound and scratch. The ones on their legs were the worst.

"The bats are more effective attacking from the ground," Ivory explained.

Razvan glanced at her. She studiously avoided his gaze. His heart gave