Carpathian 13 - Dark Destiny

He didn't have nightmare images walking through his mind every waking minute. He didn't have scars on his body and etched into his soul. He didn't have poison in his blood that could corrupt and twist something good into evil.
    "I am so lost." She murmured the words aloud, listened to the wind carry them away from her, wishing it could take her pain so easily.
    I can take away your pain.
    There he was again. Just as if she had summoned him. He was always with her when her world was in turmoil. The wind tore tears from her eyes as she streaked across the sky. And what must I do in return for you ? There was despair in her heart when she wanted to show him joy. She wanted to be different.
    She wished she could go to him clean, without distress, without scars. Without the terrible weight and sin of what she was. What she couldn't change. She hated feeling sorry for herself; she didn't want his pity.
    You exist. You love me. You are beginning to surrender yourself into my keeping. It is enough. He was calm even when he was tearing out her heart.
    It wasn't enough, and they both knew it. Her cry of sorrow echoed across the skies.

Chapter Twelve
    Surrender herself into his keeping. Such simple words. He said them with calm, with conviction. Destiny raced across the skies with no idea of where she was heading, only the need to fly high and fast and far.
    I never wanted this.
    She detested whining. She detested feeling sorry for herself. She really detested being afraid. She hadn't feared her battles with the undead. If she had died then, it would have ended the suffering, the agonizing problems her tainted blood caused. If she were the victor, the world would be rid of another monster.
    Now she feared destroying the only person who mattered. The only one who had managed to find his way into her soul. Nicolae.
    I want you with all my heart. With every breath in my body.
    He was relentless in his pursuit of her. She understood suddenly. He had always hunted her, not for the reasons she had thought, but to satisfy a terrible need and hunger, the same craving she now felt. An addiction that would never stop. She couldn't find the strength she needed to free them both of this dangerous liaison.
    "Where are you, God?" She cried the words out among the clouds as she had done so many times Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    before.
    The wind carried back the answer. It caressed her skin with a loving touch and affectionately ruffled her hair. The wind surrounded her, enfolded her in the beauty of the night sky. The clouds shifted to allow her to pass through them, trailing a fine mist in her wake, dusted her skin with cool vapor so that if there were traces of tears, it was impossible to see them.
    Come back to me, Destiny. His voice offered comfort. Offered paradise. Offered everything.
    Why do you want me? Because I'm the light that burns so brightly you will not turn? Is that all there is between us? That and chemistry? I don't know you at all, do I?
    The wind murmured to her, a soft, consoling lullaby. She could feel the wildness subsiding deep within her, settling back to allow her heart and lungs to work without effort. A small sound, faint and far off caught her attention, so that without conscious thought, she changed direction, veering back toward the city.
    You have only to touch my mind, Destiny, to find the things you wish to know. To really love, you have to choose intimacy. You have to choose to know your lifemate. You have not made that choice.
    I was intimate with you! She was angry that he could accuse her of holding back. It had been difficult to commit herself physically to him. How dare he even think such a thing!
    Intimacy is far more than physical, little one.
    The lights of the city twinkled like thousands of stars, drawing her back toward humanity. Back toward Nicolae. She knew he waited. That he watched. Just how powerful was he? Had he somehow directed her feelings for him? Amplified them in some way she couldn't detect? Was she already in his power?
    She knew the answer. She was totally captivated by him. Completely. Utterly and completely.
    Destiny shimmered into her human form, landing easily, lightly. She was already moving, scanning, hurrying out of the secluded alleyway onto the street. Somewhere close by was the soft, discordant note that had disturbed her flight. A child's muted crying tugging at her heartstrings. She hurried, her footsteps silent, her