Carpathian 16 - Dark Demon

fighting to get away from the light.
    Mikhail only rose higher, shedding more light, until even the eyes of the hunters burned and they had to shield their eyes. Maxim's skin began to split and peel. Long strips fell to the ground and sizzled under the heat of the unbearable light. His long pointed nails curled and turned black. Noxious smoke poured from his body and rose upward, absorbed by the light and Maxim shrieked louder, raising his arms in an effort to take back his fading spirit.
    The vampire's chest split apart and worms poured out of his body, the blackened, wizened heart spilling into the radiant light. Maxim stretched his arm toward the organ. The heart tumbled back toward the vampire, but it was already beginning to smolder. The organ burst into flame and the vampire could only watch in horror. His hair, skin, even his teeth began to smoke.
    Gregori stirred and with an effort, dragged himself over to Mikhail. The hunter staggered to his feet and reached his one good hand toward his prince. Mikhail caught it. The light arced between, surrounded them and for one long moment shone through them. When Gregori pulled Mikhail back to the ground, Gregori's hand had already regenerated.
    Mikhail walked over to Maxim and stared into the red eyes. "My opinion of the Daratrazanoff family will always remain the same."
    Maxim slid to the ground in a puddle of melted flesh, the eyes staring up at Mikhail and Gregori. Black smoke drifted up from the pupils. Tiny flames burst through the smoke to incinerate the last of the vampire. There was a long silence. A wind rose and cleared away the stench of blood and battle.
    Natalya let out her breath slowly and reached for Vikirnoff's hand. "Okay," she said. "He can have the book."

Chapter 20
    Vikirnoff stood shaking his head, his narrowed gaze on Natalya as she leapt over a boulder, danced through a small creek, all the while wielding her lightning sword in and out of the trees fighting imaginary opponents. "Nothing is safe anymore. You have lost your mind."

    Her laughter floated back to him, touching him, warming him. "I'm practicing to be one of the three Musketeers. Or better yet, Luke Skywalker. I could see myself being Luke Skywalker. Totally."
    "Why not Princess Leia?"
    Natalya stopped and spun around, mouth open in astonishment, her sword pulsing with light. "You've seen Star Wars?"
    He folded his arms across his chest and grinned at her. "I believe everyone has seen Star Wars ."
    Natalya held the lightning sword in the air and grinned. "No wonder you all thought of making these swords. They negate the need for hairspray and flamethrowers."
    "I have never needed either." He indicated the pulsing blade of the sword with his chin.
    "We use lightning. It is much more lethal to reshape it."
    "I didn't have that advantage." She stared hard at the sword and it wavered, but didn't disappear. "Bloody thing annoys me when it doesn't mind."
    He shook his head, laughter warming his eyes. "You are trying too hard. Picture it gone.
    It is not quite the same thing as using a spell. You always think first of spells."
    It was true, Natalya knew, but it was still aggravating. Vikirnoff had awakened her with kisses, made love to her several times and even provided blood for her. She found it amusing that he had gone hunting without her, not wanting her to feed from another man.
    Perhaps she felt the same way about his taking blood from a woman, but she wasn't going to admit that to herself—or him.
    She concentrated on the sword and thankfully it disappeared. She had a tendency to get violent with weapons if she happened to have a bad practice session. "You know, Mr.
    Smug, it might be good for you to practice a bit every now and then. I thought your skills with a sword were a little rusty. You rely too much on other things and when the melting vamp, which was disgusting by the way, took your toys away, all of you bad boys had a bit of difficult time. It was a good thing I was there to save you."
    "Yes, it was."
    Vikirnoff was standing just below the fallen tree trunk she was balancing on. Natalya leapt off and he caught her, just as she'd known he would. Happiness burst through her. Of course he would catch her, he was always there in her mind, loving her, wanting her, feeling it was such a miracle to have her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Yes, it was. and you remember that next time you get all He-Man on me."
    Natalya bent her head to his,