Carpathian 12 - Dark Melody

feel his heart pounding out a rhythm of fear in his chest. He took a breath, deep, dragging her scent into his lungs. Dragging in serenity, a tranquil state of mind. He allowed it to flow over him, through him, knowing that what she said was true. "I do not fear traveling to another world. If you are there, that is where both of us will be. I hope to stay in this time and place to share the beauty of this world with you. I want to be able to once again feel love for my family and raise our children here with them before traveling onward. But if it is not meant to be, then so be it."
    Corinne lay beside him, drifting in a semi-dreamlike state. The baby moved inside her beneath Dayan's warm hand. It connected the three of them. Dayan felt that connection very strongly, and Corinne found herself smiling, relaxed and totally happy. He had given her a treasure beyond any price. He had loved Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    her the way she was. With her heart disintegrating and another man's child in her body. He loved her with her strange talent and matter-of-fact ways. She had been accepted for who and what she was. No more and no less. No one could ask for more.
    She wanted to hear his music, to drift off into her dreams of him with the sound of his songs in her ears.
    Dayan felt her wish in his mind, looked around the cave, suddenly aware that he was without his precious instrument, and that he hadn't once thought of it. He always had it in his hands, yet now when it was needed, it was nowhere in sight.
    'Your security blanket.' There was a trace of laughter, as if she felt his panic welling up. 'Baby.'
    Dayan found himself laughing, relaxing in the warmth of her company. 'I cannot play for you without my guitar. '
    'I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. Sing for us – the baby and me. You don't need your instrument to sing to us.' She sounded incredibly smug, teasing and happy.
    Dayan pulled her firmly against him so that her head fit snugly into his shoulder. He could do no other than oblige. His beautiful voice was filled with his love, the lyrics pouring out of him like molten gold. She fell asleep in his arms with a small smile curving her mouth. Beneath his hand, the infant snuggled closer and drifted off with her mother.

Chapter16
    Corinne woke, her body rippling with pain. She heard the soft echoing cry of the baby, and was frightened that her time to give birth had come too soon. It was that small, forlorn cry in her mind that kept Corinne calm. She took a deep slow breath to provide her daughter with precious oxygen. "We're all right, baby," she crooned softly. "We expected this to happen."
    It was very dark in the cave. Only the water shining like black silver gave off a faint light, a reflection from a vent far overhead, yet Corinne could see as clearly as if it were daytime. She took a cautious inventory of her body, excited, afraid, yet determined. She tried not to notice that her heart was pounding far too hard and laboring sluggishly.
    She didn't want to think of dying, or to be frightened by it. She had loved. Completely. Totally. Without reservation. And she had been loved in return the same way. How many others could say that? And she knew she would accomplish this most important, most monumental task of her lifetime. She would leave a legacy of beauty and wonder. A treasure for the world. Her daughter. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, centering herself. She could do this. She could always do what was required of her.
    More than anything else in her life, this was her important moment. Giving life to her daughter.
    "We can do this, baby," she whispered softly. "Together. The two of us. We can do this." So many other women had gone before her and there would be millions after her, but this was her moment in time and she wouldn't fail her daughter.
    Corinne turned her head slowly to look at Dayan. He lay beside her absolutely motionless. He was very pale, there was no discernible rise and fall to his chest. His skin, usually hot to the touch, was stone cold.
    He lay as if dead. She found his long, dark, silky hair and tangled her fingers in it to connect with him.
    She needed him, needed him solid and real beside her. Asleep or awake, he reassured her with his Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    presence. The sun hadn't yet set, but instinctively she knew the time was close. It was strange not to