Carpathian 02 - Dark Desire

him sane."
    "This must be terrible for him," Raven said. "To break contact with you, he must be in the middle of something big. Mikhail is blocking me out, too, and so is Gregori. But don't you worry, we'll be fine together. And we would still know if something were to happen to them."
    Shea powered up the generator so she could turn on her computer. She felt very uneasy, restless, even alarmed. "Raven, you don't feel something is wrong, do you?" She typed in her password and waited for her files to appear on the screen.
    "No, but I'm used to touching Mikhail occasionally for reassurance and letting him go. We've been together long enough to develop a kind of routine. I touch him, and whether or not he allows me into his mind, I know he's there. You could try that."
    Shea concentrated for a moment on giving the commands to destroy her data. With a sigh she paced back to Raven. "It's not that kind of uneasiness. It's something else. At first I thought it was because I Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    wasn't touching Jacques' mind, but I don't think so anymore. I have the feeling something evil is watching us."
    Raven sent her mind seeking, scanning the surrounding woods carefully. There were deer a mile away.
    The three Carpathian men were even farther afield. "Rabbits, fox, wolves several miles out, but nothing scary that I can detect," she assured her softly.
    Shea picked up the shotgun and cracked it open to make certain it was loaded. "I feel almost sick, Raven. Something's out there."
    "It's the separation from Jacques. The first time it happened with Mikhail and me, I almost didn't make it through the night. Honestly, Shea, separation is very difficult at the best of times, let alone in the morning hours when we're growing weaker and we know the men are in danger. We may have been human, but we are their lifemates. Naturally we miss their mind touch."
    Shea wanted to believe her, but, just as she had felt an evil presence in the forest, she felt they were in danger now. She looked at Raven. This woman was important to all of them. Shea had promised Gregori she would keep Raven safe, and she was not about to be unprepared. "Maybe," she agreed softly.
    Nevertheless, she walked to the door, opened it, and stepped onto the porch to survey the woods.
    Nothing. The rain drove down harder, and in the distance Shea could hear the rumble of thunder.
    Lightning flashed in the sky. She found herself shivering, and her finger absently sought the trigger on the gun. Annoyed with herself, she went back inside, set the shotgun beneath the window, and worked at controlling herself. Her behavior was unacceptable to her. She could not believe she needed Jacques so much that she would be physically ill and have such an impression of danger because she was without his mind touch. Shea did not want to think it was an illusion, a trick of her mind, yet it seemed the lesser of two evils.
    "You're very pale, Shea. You need to feed," Raven said carefully, knowing from her own experience what a touchy subject it could be.
    Shea swallowed hard. She was dizzy with weakness. Maybe that was what was wrong; maybe it had nothing to do with Jacques. "I know. I just can't face it yet. I know I have to come to terms with it eventually, but it's still all too new."
    "You can't see yourself biting someone's neck, is that it?" Raven laughed softly. "I can't do it either.
    Yuck. Well…" She blushed, a faint pink stain spreading across her creamy skin. "Mikhail has a way of making it…" She trailed off.
    Shea found herself blushing, too. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Jacques seems to have that same way about him." Her hand curled around the stock of the gun again, and she tried to quiet the pounding of her heart. Her mouth was dry with fear.
    Shea stole a glance at Raven. She was curled up peacefully, almost serene. Silently Shea cursed.
    Something was terribly wrong; she knew it deep within her, yet she couldn't explain it adequately to herself or to Raven. "Have you ever tried to leave Mikhail?"
    Raven glanced up, startled. A soft smile curved her mouth. "You can't leave your lifemate. One, he knows what you're thinking, and two, he can find you wherever you are. Besides, you can't be away from him for very long—it's too uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. If you left Jacques, what you're feeling right now would not stop, it would only get worse. You can't leave him, Shea. You have to