“Destiny has whole colonies of them,” Nicolae said.
Gregori frowned. “Savannah, we will need candles, and the bag we brought with us from New Orleans. We did not need it for Dayan’s lifemate, but I fear we will need all of it here.”
Savannah nodded. “It’s lucky we didn’t use it.” She produced a large satchel and tossed it to her lifemate.
Nicolae inhaled the contents of the satchel deeply. Vikirnoff followed suit. Destiny was startled by their reaction. She took an exploratory sniff. The scent was of earth. Clean, fresh dirt. It smelled different from any she had ever encountered. She looked at Nicolae. There was something close to rapture on his face.
“What is it?” she asked curiously.
“Soil from our homeland,” Nicolae answered, awe in his voice. “How did you come to have such a gift?” he asked Savannah.
“Julian Savage, one of our people, had it brought many years ago to New Orleans. He stored it in a hidden chamber and left it for us when we became lifemates,” she explained. “It was a shocking but very welcome surprise.”
Destiny could sense Nicolae’s eagerness to put to use the treasure the healer had brought.
“We took some of the soil with us, thinking we might need it to aid Dayan and his lifemate when she was so ill, but it was not needed. We kept it for just such an emergency as this.” Gregori smiled down at his lifemate. “It was Savannah’s suggestion that we bring it along.”
Destiny looked into the dark bag, saw the deep richness and felt her palms itch. Nicolae plunged his hands into the soil and closed his eyes.
Vikirnoff. You must feel this. I feel it all the way to my bones. A welcoming such as I have not had in centuries. Our homeland is in this small bag.
Vikirnoff reached into the bag slowly. His hands tunneled deep into the rich soil.
I am sharing your mind, Nicolae. This will sustain me as nothing else could. I feel a sense of peace for the first time in so long. Thank you for allowing me this experience.
Destiny was sharing it with the two brothers. She sensed the intensity of Nicolae’s feelings for his brother and realized that the only way Vikirnoff could feel that love was through Nicolae’s emotions.
Emotions you returned to him, Vikirnoff reminded them. Returned to us, Nicolae corrected.
Chapter Nineteen
There was silence in the cave. Destiny looked around her at the candles burning in every conceivable space. Hundreds of them, tiny pinpoints of light releasing a soothing aroma of spice and the scents of healing. Essential oils were warming in small, nearly flat receptacles heated by the flames. These candles were meticulously crafted by the Carpathian people to be used in difficult healing sessions.
Gregori looked even more impressive as he seated himself beside Nicolae, his dark hair gleaming in the flickering light, his eyes liquid silver. Nicolae lay in a shallow depression of earth beside Gregori, his head in Destiny’s lap. She stroked strands of long, silky hair from his face with gentle fingers. His dark gaze was firmly locked on hers.
Breathe, little one. You look so
frightened. You will give me no choice but to kiss that look from your face. Gregori is a great man. He has not condemned us as you feared. Rather, he and his lifemate have welcomed you, welcomed us and agreed to aid us with this healing. You must trust him.
Destiny took a deep breath, took the healing scents deep into her lungs.
I trust only you, Nicolae, no other. I almost wish they had condemned us. This woman is the Prince’s daughter, yet she welcomes me with open arms. She has no idea what lies hidden inside me. I feel guilty every time I look at her, as if I’m hiding some terrible secret.
What Gregori knows, his lifemate knows. Savannah is Carpathian and typical of our people. None would condemn you. All will welcome you and would seek to aid you. Do not fear belonging, Destiny.
She tunneled her fingers in his hair, gripping with her fists as if she might hold him to her. Her tongue moistened her suddenly dry lips and she lifted her chin, meeting the strange, glittering eyes of the healer. She met his merciless gaze without flinching, trying to convey with a look what she felt. She didn’t dare say it aloud, not with Nicolae so certain this man would aid them. She hoped the healer could read that she didn’t fear death. She didn’t fear anything this man could do to her. But if he harmed Nicolae in any way, she would cut out his heart and incinerate it before welcoming her own death.
Gregori’s eyebrows lifted as if he were reading her mind and he glanced briefly at his lifemate.
I do not think my considerable charm has worked on her.
Savannah looked at him lovingly, her fingers sliding through his hair. “I know you can do this, Gregori.” She spoke aloud to encourage Destiny. Gregori didn’t need her encouragement.
You forgot to smile,
she told him.
I have mentioned on more than one occasion that smiling is considered important in public relations. I fear I’ll never manage to get that through your head.
If it were possible, his dark eyebrows rose higher, his silver eyes warming with love and suppressed laughter before he turned, completely sober, back to Nicolae.
Destiny watched the man as he simply shed his body and withdrew from them. He became light, energy in its purest, most selfless form. He entered Nicolae’s body and began waging the most difficult battle he had ever fought. The tainted blood separated from ancient blood, rushing away from him, straight toward Nicolae’s heart, as if attacking its host.
Destiny, merged deeply with Nicolae, watched in horror as the hideous brew raced for his heart.
Sleep!
Without preamble, using their strong blood bond, she shut down Nicolae’s heart and lungs instantly, trapping the blood in his veins, preventing the sludge from reaching its objective. She stayed hovering there, watching the nearly blinding light moving through Nicolae’s body, aware of the intense heat. There was no feeling of censure from the healer, nor did Gregori hesitate or become distracted by her interference.
The blood congealed into a thick, pulsating mass. Destiny could see pinpoints of hemorrhage and masses of lesions. Internal organs were slightly misshapen, and colonies of toxins were scattered throughout Nicolae’s system. She realized the tainted blood was willing to fight for possession of the host body.
The healer was undaunted, moving unerringly toward the thick clots of infestation. To Destiny’s horror, something thin and black moved within the pulsating mass. Tiny creatures, living parasites. She wanted to scream and scream. The need was so strong, she pressed her hand to her mouth to keep from diverting the healer from his task. Those hideous creatures lived inside her, she knew, and she had infected Nicolae. The idea was repulsive. Disgusting. She had lived with the creatures for years, never fully realizing how abnormal they were until she saw them infesting Nicolae’s body.
Nicolae stirred. His heart beat once, twice. The horrible wriggling creatures massed as if eagerly awaiting the movement of blood.
Your distress is calling to him. Calm yourself. Gregori connected through the mind merge Destiny had with her lifemate.
He can do no other than come to you if you need him. You are Carpathian, woman, not vampire. Do not allow him to awaken.
The voice, more than anything else, calmed her. She forced air through her lungs, beat away despair and horror, soothing Nicolae back to the Carpathian sleep. Her fingers bunched in his hair, her only lifeline to sanity. She couldn’t think about what lived and squirmed inside her. What she had passed to Nicolae. Unclean. She was unclean.
Focus! The voice was firm.
I need your help with this.