Carpathian 01 - Dark Prince

tourists and Hans. Byron, your house is close; the other assassins will suspect you. Do not go near your home. Vlad must take Eleanor and the child away from this area completely."
    "Are they able to travel?" Gregori asked.
    "By car."
    "We have the night. I have a house I use in the winter months sometimes, not often. It is well protected, difficult to access." Gregori's smile did nothing to warm his silver eyes. "I like my privacy. At the moment it is unoccupied. I offer it freely for the protection of the woman and child for as long as there is need.
    The house is well over a hundred miles from this place, and I roam the world, so you will not be disturbed."
    Before Vlad could protest, Jacques preempted him. "Excellent idea. That solves one of our problems.
    Byron has his own bolt-holes. Start now, Vlad. Guard Eleanor well. She is precious to us, as is the child."
    "I must speak to Mikhail. Eleanor is very distraught that she put Raven's life in jeopardy."

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    "Mikhail is not himself." Jacques removed the needle from Raven's limp body and Gregori's arm. Her breath was so light, so shallow, he didn't see how Mikhail could keep her going. "You will have to discuss things at another time. He is forced to use all his energies for Raven's survival. His woman is not breathing on her own."
    Vlad frowned, but complied when Gregori waved him out. He might have stayed to argue with Jacques to ease the conscience of his lifemate, but all obeyed Gregori. He was Mikhail's right hand, the most relentless of their hunters, the true healer of their people, and he guarded Mikhail as a treasure.
    "None of our people have fed this night," Eric pointed out, studying his wife's pale features. "No human will be out."
    "The risk is great when we are forced to enter a dwelling." Jacques sighed, wishing he could consult Mikhail.
    "Do not disturb him," Gregori said. "She needs him more than we do. If she dies, we lose him and any real chance at a future for our race. Noelle was the last female to survive, and that was more than five hundred years ago. We need this woman to continue our species. We must be at full strength. It is not finished."
    Mikhail stirred, opened his dark, haunted eyes. "It is not finished. There are at least two others, possibly four. Eugene Slovensky, Kurt Von Halen. I do not know the identity of the other two travelers, or if they are even involved. Their names should be at the inn; Mrs. Galvenstein can provide them." Long lashes drooped. Mikhail's fingers tunneled deeply into Raven's hair, as if he could drag her back from the brink of death.
    Jacques watched those long fingers stroke her hair lovingly. "Can we put her in soil for a few hours, Gregori?"
    "It should speed the healing process."
    Eric and Jacques went down to prepare the cellar, opening the earth with a single command, creating enough space to lay two bodies side by side. They moved Raven carefully, and Mikhail stayed close to her side, never speaking, focusing his entire concentration on her heart, her lungs, on preserving the dim light that contained her will to live.
    He lowered himself deep in the bowels of the earth, felt the healing properties of the rich soil as it settled around him like a welcoming bed. He accepted her slight weight, fit her body into the shelter of his.
    Mikhail moved his hands, formed a slight tunnel over their heads and ordered the earth to blanket them.
    The soil filled in closely around and over his legs, her legs, covered their bodies, pressing them deeper into the earth.
    Raven's heart leapt, nearly missing a beat, became erratic in spite of the firm beating of his own heart. I'm alive! They're burying us alive!
    Be still, little one. We are of the earth. It is offering to heal us. You are not alone, I am here with you.
    I can't breathe.

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    I am breathing for us.
    I can't stand it. Make them stop.
    The earth has recuperative powers. Let them work. I am Carpathian, of the earth. There is nothing to fear. Not the wind or the soil or the waters. We are one.
    1 am not Carpathian . There was sheer terror in her mind.
    We are one. Nothing can hurt you.
    She closed herself off from him, began a frantic struggle that could only end her life. Mikhail realized it was futile to argue. She could not accept the earth closing around her, over her head. He released them from the