Carpathian 15 - Dark Secret

three of you. Your dog will be welcomed and you can have as many horses as you like."
    Paul suddenly tugged at his hand, trying to free himself from Rafael's grip. He didn't seem to notice when Rafael lightened his hold and turned his attention completely on the boy. Paul went very still, his eyes glazing over. His body began to tremble and his expression went slack as if he were far away from them.
    Nicolas moved closer to the bed. Rafael kept the physical connection to Paul. The self-inflicted wounds were all healed, hut both Carpathians were in the boy's mind, feeling his emotions and reading his thoughts.
    "What is it, Don Rafael?" Julio asked.
    "Take the child out of here. Sean, put her to bed." Nicolas gave the order, his voice a powerful weapon.
    Sean Everett obeyed, taking his wife and Ginny with him. The Chevez brothers crowded closer to their nephew. "Has the vampire taken him over again?"
    Rafael held up his hand for silence, his features grim. "The vampire is on the move. By rights he should be in the ground. He is badly wounded and the dawn is upon us. He has cloaked the sun with heavy clouds, but he should not be able to travel once the sun has risen. He has truly become far more powerful than most of his kind. Paul is tracking him."

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    "Good boy," Juan murmured.
    "He is moving underground, not above," Nicolas said.
    "Why would he be on the move?" Rafael mused aloud. A tightness was beginning to form in his chest.
    He glanced at Nicolas to see if he shared the sudden dread. Nicolas met his gaze with a dark sober one.
    "Colby." Rafael stood abruptly, his expression savage. "He is after Colby." Rafael's heart began to pound. Fear clogged his throat. Terror warred with rage.
    "He knows where she lies," Paul said. He stared straight ahead, his eyes unfocused, but he said the words clearly. "He is making his way to her and he wants me to know he will kill me after he kills her.
    Then he will kill Ginny."
    "He will not have the chance," Nicolas assured him. "Will the safeguards hold?"
    "He is ancient. We invented the safeguards." Rafael's hands trembled. He itched to tear out the vampire's heart. The ground rolled ominously. Outside the building, lightning lit up the sky and the crash of thunder shook the house.
    "He cannot possibly move fast and the light will slow him."
    "Nothing stops Kirja." Rafael was already dissolving into a vapor, streaming from the room toward the early morning sky. When he is determined.
    Outside the sky had turned black, matching his turbulent rage. Colby! Wake! He issued the command with tremendous force, the force of a powerful ancient.
    He felt her instant response. Fear slammed into her, into him through her. The fear of being buried alive.
    He took hold of her with ruthless force, calming her mind. Kirja hunts you. How he does this thing in the early light, I do not know, but it is past the hour he should feel leaden. You are no longer human. You must get past all human fear and know you can do this. You are Carpathian.
    Her reaction was to keep her eyes tightly closed, but a swirl of anger drifted through her. Where's my brother and get me the hell out of the ground.
    Rafael felt the familiar clenching in his gut, the brush of fire through his veins. Colby had a temper and it always fascinated him, always aroused him. And he knew she would need it—that iron will and determination, the anger that pushed her when others would give up. Paul is safe and Nicolas guards the children.
    I feel the vampire now. He's burrowing through the soil, like a mole. The ground is screaming.
    Get me out of here.
    So the early morning light was too much for Kirja, but why wasn't he leaden as he should be? Rafael tore across the sky, speed uppermost in his mind. Your body is not yet ready to come out of the ground.
    You need the healing soil, querida. Can you still feel the fire raging in your organs? It is too dangerous.
    He's close. He felt malignant, violent, a weapon of hate and vengeance so evil Colby shuddered with fear. Rafael, hurry. There was the feeling of urgency in her. She felt something moving over her. An Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    exodus of bugs, running from the malevolence in the vampire, trying to escape him. Insects, they're everywhere.
    Rafael could hear the hysteria in her voice. It is so like you to face down a bucking bronco yet be frightened