Carpathian 16 - Dark Demon

him."
    "That first morning, after the Troll King marked me and I brought you to my room, he knew. You were already able to get past all my shields, which by the way, are incredibly strong, but Razvan had removed them. That's how the shadow warrior was able to get in. I set the safeguards in the room, not you. And that's why I didn't sense him in the ground, even when he was attacking me in the cave." Again she rubbed her ankle. "I was only aware of the actual attack after the poison was already on my leg."
    "And when we were running down the stairs in the cave, I sensed him running parallel to us, but he confused you, making you believe he was under us."
    Natalya nodded her head, trying not to shake with the sudden cold settling into the very bones of her body. "He's alive, Vikirnoff. And he's orchestrating something very bad here."
    "And he and the vampires want the book your father stole. Xavier and Razvan need the book to complete their plans."
    "But my father hid it from them. And Razvan knows I can touch objects and see things so they've been waiting until the right moment to acquire the book in order to proceed." She pressed her fingertips into her aching temples. "I provided them with the way to do this."
    She tapped her ankle. "Razvan challenged me and I made it happen. He used my own work against me. How ironic is that?"
    "I am sorry, ainaak enyém , I know how much you love him." He held her tightly, breathing for her, feeling the pain knifing through her heart and praying he wouldn't have to be the one to kill her brother.
    "I know I'm right, Vikirnoff. He'll come after us with everything he has now. He knows that I know. I didn't mean to give myself away, I was just so shocked." She spread her hands out in front of her. "I'm so sorry. If only I'd thought to play along with him. I could have gotten us information."
    Vikirnoff took her hand, pressed a kiss into her palm, her knuckles, the tips of her fingers. "Do not apologize. Not now, not ever. Your reaction is entirely justified."
    "But he'll try to kill you."
    "He has been trying to kill me." He smiled against the nape of her neck. "You thought about killing me. I seem to bring that out in people."
    She tried to smile, appreciating that he would make such an effort with her, but she couldn't get past how obtuse she'd been. "I should have handled it better."
    "Betrayal is never easy to handle and there is no right way to accept it. It doesn't matter now. We are going to be okay."
    Natalya was silent for a long time. He could hear the beat of her heart begin to accelerate.
    She turned her face up to his, one hand reaching back to catch him around the neck as she looked into his eyes. "Exchange blood with me."
    His own heart began to pound wildly, matching the rhythm of hers. "I thought we were not going to take any chances that you can't access the memories of the knife."
    "If I won't be able to find the book, neither will they. Neither side will have it and that's probably a good thing. Anything Xavier made and sealed with the blood of three magical species is no doubt powerful, deadly and too dangerous for anyone to try to wield."
    Vikirnoff took a deep breath and let it out. There it was. Total commitment. There would be no going back once she converted. She was tied to him now, but that last step, that important difference would seal her to him and his kind for all time. He wanted her to choose that path for herself. Not to escape from who she was.
    "Natalya…" What could he say? He could deny her nothing, especially now when pain was her world and she was so shattered. "If we do not know where the book is, how can it be protected? What if they find a psychic woman with your talent to help them find the book? We need to destroy it."
    "How can we destroy the book? If it could have been destroyed so easily, then my father would have done so."
    "You have a good point. I do not know the answer to that, Natalya, but I think all Carpathians would sleep better knowing our prince had the care of the book rather than knowing it was floating around somewhere the vampires could find it."
    "What if the book corrupts those who touch it? Power corrupts."
    "That is something we do not have to think about yet, Natalya. The truth is, you want to exchange blood with me not because you are committed to me , to our relationship, but because you believe something is wrong with you."
    The gentleness in his voice made her want to weep and she turned her face away from his