Carpathian 13 - Dark Destiny

carry this talent. They are the true miracle workers for our people. There is one close to us. The call went out for healers to save a pregnant woman with heart disease. I believe the woman and the baby are alive and doing well. I summoned one of the healers to us."
    Her hand went to her throat defensively, as if she expected wolves to tear it out. "This is another one of your brilliant arbitrary decisions?"
    "I thought it best. If he can heal us, we will have a normal life together." He ignored her disbelieving snort. "If he cannot, you will never feel alone in this world. If our people choose to condemn us, we will still be together."
    She closed her eyes, turned away from him so he couldn't see the expression on her face. "You took the chance of living the rest of your immortal life as an outcast? Just so I wouldn't feel alone?" She wanted to shake him until his teeth rattled. She wanted to kiss him until they both fell back on the bed senseless. She wanted to weep for the strength of his love and commitment.
    "You are my life, my very soul, Destiny. I could do no other."
    His simple words shook her. Could someone really love another that much? So selflessly? She let her breath out slowly, trying to regain a semblance of composure. "Who is this paragon of virtue with such a talent?"
    "He is called 'the dark one.' He is a descendant of a great line of hunters, and second-in-command to our Prince. He guards our Prince and is a renowned healer. He holds power in his mind and hands. I believe he is the one who will be able to help us. He is called Gregori."
    Destiny couldn't prevent the involuntary shiver of fear at the dreaded name. She had heard of Gregori.
    Every vampire feared him, feared his judgment. She had grown up with the whispered curses of the undead if the name was spoken aloud. She squared her shoulders. "What if he can't help us and he tells his Prince we're vampire, Nicolae? He'll hunt us, and he's said to be very powerful."
    Nicolae shrugged his shoulders casually. "I am an ancient, Destiny, older than Gregori. He cannot defeat me. I live by the code of the Carpathian people. He would not condemn me for tainted blood."
    "You're always so sure of yourself, Nicolae. This was your decision, and because you took such a chance with your life, I have no choice but to agree. I would never have called this man into my life."
    Comprehension blossomed. "You took my blood so I would be forced to accept this healer. You knew I wouldn't otherwise."
    Nicolae looked unrepentant. Destiny glared at him. "I have things to do tonight. I want to see Sam, and I'm hoping to talk to Velda and Inez about what's going on in the neighborhood. You might undo the safeguards for me." She didn't want to talk to him anymore. Or look at him. Delivering a swift kick might have eased some of her frustration, but she doubted it. He had outmaneuvered her and she knew it.
    She had no choice but to accept Gregori's ministrations, although she feared him. She cared nothing Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    about herself, but Nicolae was everything to her. She didn't want the tainted blood to begin its ugly work on him. He might have only a small amount, but eventually the blood would start its corruption, burning like acid. The pain would begin at every rising. He would grow to hate her. He would hold her in contempt. How could he not?
    "Because it was my choice, Destiny," Nicolae assured her, easily reading her thoughts. He had not considered that she would think such a thing.
    "It won't matter, Nicolae. As time goes on and your people do not accept you, as the pain spreads and the corruption grows so you have to fight it every single moment of your existence, you will forget the why and how of it and only remember you did it because of me."
    "I fought the growing darkness, an evil far stronger than this tainted blood, every moment of my life from my two hundredth year. It crouched in me, waiting for one moment of weakness. Why would you think, now, when I have you, that I would succumb to such an abomination?"
    She paced across the floor, caught between tears and anger. "I don't know, Nicolae. You shouldn't have done it; you shouldn't have taken such a chance with your life. With your soul. I lived with such a monster. I feel like he's reaching for us from his grave, reaching to rip us apart."
    "Nothing, no one, will take you away from me," Nicolae stated in his perfectly calm voice. There was