Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

was a small barb, curving in the opposite direction. She had to slit the skin carefully to allow the points on either side to become loose enough to slide out without further damaging Terry\'s leg.
    At first she used her human sight, blocking all other ability to see until she had the barb out. Only then did she allow herself to look with the eyes of a mage. Tiny white worms writhed and burrowed, swarming to the cells to reproduce as quickly as possible. Her stomach lurched. It took tremendous effort to shed her awareness of her own thoughts and physical self and become a blaze of healing white light pouring into Terry\'s wound to burn the organisms as quickly as she found them.
    The wormlike creatures tried to hide from the light, and they reproduced quickly. She tried to be thorough, but Terry squirmed and moaned, distracting her, all at once reaching down to his other ankle, trying to yank the snake head free.
    She found herself abruptly back in her own body, for a moment disoriented and panic-stricken. \"Terry! Leave it. I\'ll take it out.\"
    She was too late. He screamed as he yanked at the foul snake\'s head, tearing it loose from his ankle. The barb ripped through his skin and muscle. Blood sprayed the backseat of the car and shot across the seat, splattering Gerald\'s chest.
    \"Don\'t touch the blood with your hands!\" Lara yelled. \"Use a cloth. Get your jacket off, Gerald.\"
    She clamped both of her hands over the wound, pressing hard, ignoring the burning pain as the blood coated her skin, burning to the bone. She fought past her own fear and panic to reach for the cool, centered place inside of her, calling healing light, burning white-hot and pure to counteract the acid of the snake blood. The way her birthmark was burning there had to be vampire blood mixed in the foul brew.
    Gerald ripped his jacket open and threw it away as the material smoldered with a grayish smoke.
    Terry grew quiet as Lara sent healing light streaking through his body to the gaping wound in his leg.
    Bleeding slowed to a trickle and the tiny wormlike creatures retreated from the spreading heat Lara generated.
    She cauterized the wound, destroying as many of the parasites as she could before bathing her hands and arms in the same hot energy.
    \"Did you get any blood on you, Gerald?\"
    He shook his head. \"I don\'t think so, Lara. It felt like it, but I wiped my hands and face and there aren\'t any smears.\"
    \"Once we get Terry to a healer, take a shower as soon as you can. And burn your clothes. Don\'t just wash them, burn them. Everything.\"
    She backed out of the seat, helping Terry to swing his legs out of the way of the door so she could close it and Page 14

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    rush around to the driver\'s side. Terry\'s coloring was terrible, but more important, she didn\'t like the way he was breathing. Part of his distress could be shock, the shallow, too fast breathing of panic, but she feared she hadn\'t stopped the parasites from assaulting his body. He needed a master healer immediately.
    She drove as fast as she could over the narrow, pitted mountain road, sliding through some of the sharper turns and bumping over the muddy holes. Dirty water sprayed into the air as the car fishtailed through mud and snow. All around them, the peaceful countryside seemed a sharp contrast to their terror and desperation.
    Haystacks and cows surrounded them. Small thatched houses and horse-drawn carts with huge tires gave the impression of stepping back in time to a much slower paced and happier era. The castles and abundance of churches lent the area a medieval look, as if knights on horses might come charging over the hills at any moment.
    Lara had traveled all over the world searching for her past. She remembered little of her journey from the ice cave and once the gypsies had found her, she\'d traveled all over Europe. Passed from family to family, she\'d never been told where they\'d found her. Coming to the Carpathian Mountains had been like coming home.
    And when she had entered Romania, she felt at home. This place was still wild, the forests untamed and the land alive beneath her feet.
    The car slid around another corner and they were out of the heavier forest and into the peat bogs. The trail narrowed even more, winding on solid ground while the smell of the bog permeated the air around them. Trees swayed and drooped under the heavy weight of snow. Lights in the distance heralded farms and for a moment she thought