Carpathian 01 - Dark Prince

Mikhail gently. "If you die, my old friend, we have no chance of saving her. We must work together if we are to do this thing."
    Raven's head lolled back, her body limp like a rag doll. Mikhail's blood ran unchecked down his chest.
    Jacques leaned into his brother, but Gregori was there before him, closing the gaping wound with a single stroke of his tongue.
    Mikhail was nearly oblivious to his surroundings, he was directing his entire being, his entire disciplined focus on Raven. She was slipping away from him, fading slowly but surely. Her heart beat erratically, one beat, a miss, a single beat. There was an ominous, eerie silence.
    Swearing, Mikhail laid her flat, physically breathed for her, manually stimulated her heart. His mind sought the trail of hers, found a small, huddled light, dim and fading. She floated on a sea of pain. She was weak beyond his imaginings. Breathe, massage. Call her back, reinforce it with an order. Repeat the process.
    A torrent of water raced down the rocky canyon behind them, a solid wall gathering speed and force.
    The ground shook again. Two trees exploded into fiery conflagrations despite the heavy rains.
    "Let us help," Gregori ordered softly.
    Jacques moved his brother gently aside, took over CPR while Gregori breathed for Raven. In and out, Gregori filled her lungs with precious air. Jacques forced her heart to continue. It left Mikhail free to concentrate on his mental quest. A stirring in his mind, the lightest of touches, but he knew it was her and he locked onto that trace and followed it ruthlessly. You will not leave me.
    She tried to move away from him, up and away. There was too much pain in the direction in which he called her.
    Panicked, Mikhail screamed her name. You cannot leave me, Raven. I cannot survive without you.
    Come back to me, come back to me, or I follow you where you lead.
    "I have a pulse," Jacques said. "It is weak, but it is there. We need transport."
    There was a shimmering in the gathering darkness. Tienn appeared beside them. "Eleanor has given birth, and the child lives," he announced. "It is a male."
    Mikhail let out his breath in a long, slow hiss. "She betrayed Raven."
    Jacques shook his head in warning when Eric would have spoken, would have tried to defend the woman. Mikhail was in a killing rage. The slightest mistake might provoke him. Mikhail's fury was triggering the turbulent weather, the raging storm and heaving earth.
    Mikhail sank back into his mind, holding Raven to him, taking as much of her pain as he could. The trip home was a blur to him, the rain pelting the windshield, lightning sizzling and snapping. The village was deserted and dark, the electricity out in the terrible ferocity of the storm. Inside their houses, people were huddled and praying, hoping to live through the ferocious storm, not understanding their very lives could Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    depend on one small human woman's courage and tenacity.
    Raven's body, so limp and lifeless, was stripped of her bloodstained clothing and placed on Mikhail's bed. Healing herbs were crushed, some lit. The poultices were replaced with newer, stronger ones to try to stem further blood loss. Mikhail touched the dark bruises on her face with trembling fingers, the dark marks that stood out starkly against her full white breasts where Jacob had deliberately hurt her in his jealous, drugged rage. Fury seized Mikhail and he longed to crush Jacob's throat beneath his hands. "She needs blood," he said abruptly.
    "So do you." Jacques waited for Mikhail to draw the sheet over Raven before he offered his wrist.
    "Drink while you can."
    Gregori touched his shoulder. "Forgive me, Jacques, but my blood is stronger. It holds immense power.
    Allow me to do this small thing for my friend." At Jacques's nod, Gregori drew a single mark over his vein.
    There was silence as Mikhail availed himself of Gregori's rich blood. Jacques sighed softly. "She has exchanged blood on three occasions with you?" He forced his voice to be neutral, not wanting to appear to reprimand his leader and brother.
    Mikhail's dark eyes flickered warningly. "Yes. If she lives, she will most likely be one of us." It was left unsaid that she might live to be destroyed by the very one who had converted her.
    "We cannot seek human medical aid for her. If our way does not work, Mikhail, her doctors will be useless anyway," Jacques cautioned.
    "Damn it, do you think I do not