Carpathian 16 - Dark Demon

chiseled from ice leading below the chamber of the dark mage.
    Vikirnoff followed her down, down deeper still, closing the hidden panel behind them and weaving safe-guards against the vampires in the event they found a way to escape the shadow warriors. Once the panel slammed shut an eerie light gleamed along the twisting stairway. It was carved with care, very narrow steps that seemed to go on forever.
    They ran down the long staircase for several minutes. It was strangely silent as if they were the only two people in the world. "I don't think they can follow us using that escape route, do you?" Natalya asked, stopping abruptly.
    "Not unless Maxim has hours to figure out the safeguards I used."
    "Then get this thing off of my leg," Natalya said. "I can't stand knowing it's on me."
    Vikirnoff nearly smiled at the demand in her voice. She was totally confident that he could and would get it off. "Sit down and rest. Let me take a look at it."
    "Take your time, it's only burning a hole through my leg and grossing me out, but hey!
    Just look at it." Natalya scowled at him.
    His dark eyes ran over her face and made her shiver. She bit her lip. "I'm sorry. When I'm scared I tend to be a little flippant."
    "Do not apologize to me. I am well aware of your need to make light of the situation."
    He crouched beside her and took her leg in his hands, pushing the material away from her skin so that his fingers brushed intimately against her calf. "I am attempting to develop a sense of humor where you are concerned."
    He bent his head to study the grotesque fingers circling her ankle. His dark hair spilled around his shoulders, wild and disheveled and far too appealing for her liking. His breath was warm on her skin. It was all Natalya could do not to reach out and touch his hair. His neck was a mess, the burn hideous and painful looking, yet he seemed detached from it as if the only importance to him was helping her.

    "It's alive, isn't it?" She asked the question to distract herself. There would be no more kissing in the midst of deadly peril . She absolutely refused to be too stupid to live. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. He had a sinful mouth and that was the problem, not her. It was all Vikirnoff.
    "Yes." His voice was grim, "This leaves the same scent as the one you named Troll King.
    I think this is his work."
    She swallowed hard. "Xavier?" She would not call him grandfather. She didn't want to think he was related to her. She couldn't think about him without seeing him murdering her grandmother.
    Vikirnoff frowned. "I do not think the dark mage. This one feels vampire yet not. I cannot tell yet what we are dealing with. I'll have to go inside to push the parasites out."
    "Parasites? Are you telling me I have freakin' parasites in my leg? Get them out of me now. Right now. Hurry, Vik, or I'm going to lose my freakin' mind." Natalya shuddered, her skin suddenly feeling as if bugs were crawling all over her.
    "I am uncertain just what freakin' is but it cannot be good." He thought it best not to mention the Vik . She really was distressed, her lower lip trembling and giving his heart a small shake-up.
    "No, it isn't good and my butt is going numb with cold sitting on this block of ice." Oh, lord. She was complaining. Whining. Sitting there like a sissy when he was covered in blood and had his throat nearly torn out. The tigress had deserted her leaving her vulnerable and shaky. She covered her face with her hands too humiliated to face him. "Just please, please get them out of me."
    He murmured something soft to her in his ancient language. It sounded tender and gentle and made her want to cry. She sat very still watching as he separated himself from his body, his spirit moving through her with warmth and a far too intimate touch. He did is so easily, not at all like her clumsy attempts. There was no fighting for focus or concentration, just a brief closing of his eyes and she knew his body was an empty shell.
    She felt his presence the moment he was in her, touching her mind with reassurance and much more. He made certain not one shadow of the master vampire lingered behind, hidden and waiting to spring from the corners of her mind. He added more safeguards to keep her shields strong before moving through her to her leg. She felt his quiet confidence and she leaned heavily on it. Too many things had gone wrong and Natalya was no longer certain she could handle alone the task given to her. Just the revelations about her