Carpathian 17 - Dark Celebration

and wary. He stiffened slightly. Beside him, Jaxon stirred, and he put his hand on her thigh to prevent her from speaking aloud. Do not dare to volunteer me .
    You are such a chicken. They are just children.
    It is a red suit and beard.
    And you'd look so cute and cuddly.
    Mikhail put him out of his misery. He sat back in his chair with a little half smile. "I thought my son-in-law would be the best man for the role. As he is your younger brother, tell me what you think."
    Jaxon choked back a squeak that could have been between laughter and horror. She nearly fell off the arm of the chair, only Lucian's steadying hand preventing her from landing on the floor. "You're kidding, right? Gregori would be every bit as bad a choice as Lucian would be. One look at him and the children are going to either run like rabbits or burst into tears."
    Lucian's thumb swept over the back of her hand in a small caress. "Never underestimate a Daratrazanoff, little one. We can rise to any necessary occasion and I am certain Gregori will enjoy the role." He sent Mikhail a wolfish smile. "Let me know when you are going to tell him what honor is in store for him and I will be happy to accompany you."
    "Oh, you two are just plain bad," Jaxon said. "You like stirring the pot. Gregori is bound to get you both back, you know."
    A glimmer of a smirk flitted across Mikhail's features and was gone. "It will be well worth it."
    Lucian nodded and reached for his twin, automatically sharing the information. Gabriel responded on their private mental path. Mikhail was here earlier and I could not resist allowing him to give you the news . There was laughter in his voice. I certainly plan on being present when our prince makes his first demand as a father-in-law .
    Lucian's fingers tightened around Jaxon's. That small shared moment of amusement, of love and laughter, was due to his lifemate. He had been without emotion for so long—
    loving his twin, yet never actually feeling the emotion. Over the centuries the memory had begun to fade and it had been alarming. He had walked in darkness without hope, until she came into his life.
    Jaxon leaned down to brush a kiss on the top of his head in a rare public gesture of affection. Even with her stepfather dead, she still couldn't get over the reticence she had developed to protect those she cared about. Lucian was always the one to make the first move, to take her hand, put his arm around her, and her first instinct was always to look around her with wary eyes—stiffen—and pull away. He was slowly getting her over it, and every small demonstration of affection when others were around was a huge step forward.
    Lucian rubbed his chin. "I think we should commemorate this event with pictures. It would serve us well in the coming years if we had such a thing documented."
    Mikhail leaned forward slightly, his small smile softening the hard lines in his face.
    "Surely you are not considering—blackmail."
    "Well, yes, as a matter of fact. We could hold this over his head for centuries."
    "Poor Gregori. It isn't fair to conspire against him this way," Jaxon objected. She frowned. "Although come to think about it, maybe he does deserve it for being such a male chauvinist."
    Mikhail's eyebrow shot up. "And Lucian isn't?"
    Her mischievous smile lit up her eyes again. "He tries desperately, but fortunately he has me to straighten him out."
    "Lucky me," Lucian said dryly.
    She sent her foot swinging against his leg a second time. "You are lucky. I keep telling you, but you keep forgetting."
    Lucian laughed softly. Mikhail had never pictured the warrior laughing and relaxed, and for some reason the sound lifted the burden on his shoulders just a little more. Good things were happening with their species. Maybe it wasn't happening as fast as Mikhail liked, but change was taking place.
    "I wanted to ask you about something I barely recall centuries ago. I was just a boy and remember very little."
    "I cannot promise to remember, but I will try."
    "In the old days, there was a woman who lived in the village. I do not even remember her lifemate or if she had one. I was too young to really care about such things. She healed the earth. Do you remember her?"

    Lucian frowned. "I did not stay in the villages much, even when you were a boy, Mikhail. To remember one person—a woman…" He shook his head. "The villagers, especially the women, avoided Gabriel and me, often fleeing when we were sighted."
    "Try, Lucian," Mikhail