Carpathian 17 - Dark Celebration

lady, what she has suffered, the trauma in her life, and you will also avail yourself of Raven's knowledge of human children . Mikhail made it a command, emphasizing what he knew Dimitri was fully aware of. Dimitri had to understand the girl was too young and had been through too much for him to bind her to him. "Skyler is cold and Alexandria needs to get back to her home. Thank you, Alexandria, for your quick thinking in shoving Skyler out of the way. She could have been hurt a lot worse."
    Alexandria's gaze jumped to the face of the prince. "How did you know?"
    He indicated the ground. "I can read signs just as well as the next person. You pushed her away from the larger branches."
    "Thank you," Gabriel said. "We owe you a great debt."
    "The debt is to Dimitri," Alexandria demurred. "He saved her life by stopping the bleeding." She leaned against Aidan for support. "Whoever was able to find my fears and amplify them did a good job. I was very frightened."
    "What made the tree come down?" Mikhail wondered aloud.
    "There was a small earthquake right before it began to crack. I felt the ground roll,"
    Dimitri said. "I did not feel a surge of power. It felt natural to me, but we cannot know for certain."
    "I was so scared I think I imagined most things," Alexandria confessed. "I was certain a vampire was hunting us, but Skyler didn't feel it." She couldn't help herself, she had to examine the base of the tree. There was no sign of a garrote, shadow or otherwise. The trunk remained untouched and solid, the top having cracked and fallen in the bitter cold.
    She looked up at Aidan. "It was my imagination. I should have recognized the flow of power. I feel so foolish."
    His hand crept to the nape of her neck. "There is nothing foolish about you. Gabriel and Dimitri nearly came to killing blows and neither recognized the flow of power feeding their anger. And when I saw you lying so still covered by the branches, my emotions swung out of control. For a moment, I wanted to seek the dawn, thinking to join you."
    Her breath caught in her throat. "Aidan." She brushed her fingertips down his face. "You thought I was dead?"
    "It is my worst fear," he admitted, catching her finger in his mouth. "I always fear I might lose you."
    "Well, you won't. I'm strong, Aidan, and my skills are growing every day. I would have turned to vapor, but I needed to get Skyler out of harm's way. It seems I pushed her right into a compound fracture."
    "If she had remained where she was, she would have died," Dimitri said. "The heaviest piece of the trunk fell directly over where she was standing. I owe you much." He bowed slightly toward Francesca. "I apologize for causing you distress. I did not feel the subtle disturbance in nature and should have. I was consumed with the need to protect Skyler."
    "Women cannot be put in a bubble on a shelf somewhere, Dimitri," Francesca pointed out. "We have to live our lives as well as you men do."
    Mikhail interrupted as Dimitri opened his mouth in what obviously was another protest.
    "We cannot cancel the Christmas party. If we do our enemies might guess who in this region is human and who is Carpathian. By cooking and 'eating' food, we appear as normal as the villagers around us. Now that we know there is danger close at hand, we will be able to keep our loved ones safe."
    Dimitri's fangs glistened as he bared his teeth and took a step toward Skyler. "She has suffered enough at the hands of human men. I will not allow this."
    Skyler pressed closer to Francesca, gathering her courage to defy a man who seemed too tall, too strong—too invincible with his hard face and burning cold eyes.
    Do not rouse Gabriel's anger against Dimitri , Francesca cautioned. Let us handle this .
    She smiled at Dimitri. "Every child looks forward to a celebration such as this. Surely you can watch over her with us and give her this opportunity to relax and enjoy meeting the others as she has looked forward to doing for so long. She needs every good memory, every chance at laughter and a childhood she can have. Remember, Dimitri, she was robbed of that when she was young."
    "There is no chance I will ever forget," he bit out between his teeth. He turned the full intensity of his glittering eyes on Skyler. "This is important to you? It is not an act of defiance because your lifemate does not want you to attend?"
    She sucked in her breath, feeling the impact of his gaze all the way to her toes. She could never be with this man. She