Carpathian 13 - Dark Destiny

centuries .
    I'll just bet there are.
    "MaryAnn, tell us something about the woman this man is seeking," Nicolae prompted.
    MaryAnn frowned again. "He gave me a photograph of her, a reprint from a computer. That's how I knew it wasn't Destiny." She rummaged through two drawers, confused that she couldn't remember where she had placed the picture. She found it in her notebook, pressed between two pages of writing.
    "This is the woman. Do you know her?" In spite of Nicolae's persuasive commands, MaryAnn handed the picture over almost reluctantly.
    The woman could have been anywhere from twenty to her mid thirties. She had a lush, full figure and a mass of dark hair falling in a cascade of loose ringlets. She was looking back at the camera, and there was a hunted, anxious look in the depths of her eyes. Destiny felt an instant kinship with her. She knew what it was like to be alone and hunted. Whatever the woman was running from, a violent boyfriend or husband, she now had much bigger problems with a vampire tracking her.
    "What is her talent?" Destiny asked.
    "She can hold an object and know who has touched it and the past history associated with it. A wonderful gift, and very rare."
    He asked her if she knew of any other people with such a gift. Why is the vampire more interested in the talent than the woman with the talent?
    Destiny could feel his confusion. The vampires were not acting in expected ways at all.
    MaryAnn swept her hair from her face and smiled at them. "Velda can see people's auras. Did you know that? We don't talk about it, of course, because no one would believe us, but she knows about me and I know about her."
    "What about you, MaryAnn?" Destiny asked curiously. "What talent have you been gifted with?"
    She smiled innocently, without any guile whatsoever, still completely under Nicolae's compulsion. There was no way to hide the radiance of her inner heart. "I have a small gift, one barely discernible to most people but useful when clients need help. I know when a woman is telling the truth. Like poorHelena . I know John Paul did attack her. And I know she loves him more than anything on earth. When women come here seeking refuge, I screen them. More than once, a woman has come for the wrong reasons.
    And worse, there have been a few who took money to act as a spy to find another woman already in a safe house."
    "This gentleman who came to see you, MaryAnn—what were his specific instructions?" Nicolae asked quietly.
    Again she frowned slightly and rubbed her brow. "I am to call him at once if she comes here. A reasonable request. He wants to help her. The research center has money and counselors, and they are Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    very willing to hide her from anyone wishing to harm her. He says her talent is valuable, and the center will do anything it can to help her. He believes she is trying to find an underground avenue toSouth America ."
    She cannot tell us anything more. I cannot see even a hint of what this vampire looks like.
    Pater? Could it be Pater? Destiny stared down at the face in the picture, the haunted eyes. What are we to do for her ?
    She must be found and protected. There is no other choice. She will be found.
    A terrible black stone weighed heavily on Destiny's chest. Jealousy. It rose, sharp and appalling and unexpected. She fought down the unfamiliar emotion, exerted control on herself, made certain she didn't meet Nicolae's sharp gaze.
    I cannot leave you, Destiny. I would not leave you. Vikirnoff must find and protect this woman. She must be escorted to our homeland and placed under the protection of our Prince. Nicolae framed Destiny's face with his hands and bent his head to hers, kissing her thoroughly.
    And then he was gone, leaving her to face MaryAnn, who sat behind her desk, one eyebrow raised and a faint smirk on her face. She fanned herself. "Well, well, well." Free of Nicolae's compulsion to speak of the stranger, she was once more completely at ease. "What in the world were we talking about? The two of you were so darned hot, you fried my brain."
    "Not the two of us, MaryAnn," Destiny said with disgust. "He's like that. Impossible." She began to pace back and forth like a caged tiger, prowling through MaryAnn's office, carefully skirting the comfortable chairs for clients. She moved with elegant grace, fluid, like an animal on the hunt rather than a human.
    Gliding. Her feet made no noise, her movements