Carpathian 17 - Dark Celebration

declaration of his love. "You don't ever have to make excuses to me. If you want to go out for a run, then we will. It isn't safe to go by yourself, but we don't mind going with you, do we, Jen?"
    The baby smiled up at them both, happy to have her way.

    "I wouldn't be alone," Corinne tried one last time, reluctant to take the infant out in the cold. "I scanned and Nicolae and Destiny with several others are quite close to the house.
    I'd be safe with them. You can stay here and keep warm."
    "We're going with you, but you have to carry the baby," Dayan said decisively. "It will just take us a minute to get ready." He was already changing the baby's clothes, wrapping her snugly in warm clothes and donning his own outdoor gear. "You know you won't be able to run in the snow like normal. You'll have to use your abilities, to skim lightly over the surface. It takes a little bit of concentration, but you'll get the hang of it. While you're doing it, you'll still have to keep the baby's motion to a minimum."
    "You're certain you want to do this with me?"
    "Yes." He wasn't about to let her go out alone, and he needed his hands free in order to defend them both should there be need.
    Corinne adjusted the front-pack and waited until Dayan had put the baby down into it, securing her and wrapping her up with a tiny hooded jacket. "With all the Carpathians in the area, don't you think it would be suicide for a vampire to attack one of us? Look what happened to the one who went after Juliette De La Cruz. I think he must have had a death wish. The De La Cruz brothers are just plain scary."
    "The De La Cruz family was always very powerful, according to Darius. He says they are ancients, somewhat secretive, and have very incredible skills. He has a great deal of respect for their power, and coming from Darius, that's saying a lot."
    "So why would a vampire target a De La Cruz woman? I'm telling you, none of this makes sense. Most of the women here are probably descendents of the jaguar line. Juliette definitely has stronger blood ties to that lineage than most, but still, the vampire drew her out. Didn't he? Wasn't he specific to her fears?"
    "I don't really know. There's been some talk about it, but no one really knows what's going on. But that was the second attack, Corinne," Dayan reminded. "Lesser vampires are often used by much more powerful ones. I'm not willing to take any chances. I think we've got one hanging around waiting for an opportunity and it isn't going to be with my family."
    "I still say they'd be utterly stupid to hang around here with so many Carpathian hunters gathered in one spot. Why would they do that?"
    Dayan shrugged. "It's an old battle tactic. Harassing the lines continually eventually weakens them. And they are definitely striking at our women now." He glanced at the baby.
    And our children .
    Maybe we shouldn't go then. I can do without running this evening. I just was cooped up for so long with all those children. I don't know how Sara does it. One is enough for me.
    Ours is a handful. Dayan bent to brush a kiss across the back of the baby's head. "We take precautions, Corinne. We don't change our lives. You want to go running, we'll go.
    And like you said, it's good practice for you. The more you practice using Carpathian methods, the better you'll be at them. We'll be safe enough with all the others in the area as well. We'll head toward them."
    "Falcon dropped by to take most of the food to the inn already, so nearly everything is done," Corinne said, as she opened the door. "He and Sara were going over the last minute rehearsals with the kids. The children are so excited. Even for Falcon, they wouldn't calm down, and they adore him."
    "I noticed Jen really responds to him as well," Dayan said, turning back to add safeguards around the house. He didn't want any surprises when they returned. Corinne had embraced the Carpathian life, his way of life, and she'd never looked back, seemingly had no regrets, but it was important to him that she never did. He had come so close to losing her—losing both mother and child—and he wanted her life to be smooth and happy—to give her anything he could.
    Corinne put her hand on his arm and smiled up at him, her heart in her eyes. "Falcon's gentle like you and the children respond to that. You're such a poet, Dayan."
    He groaned softly, tucking away the fact that he was secretly pleased she saw him that way. "Don't let Darius hear you say that. I'll never