Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

she was worthless and had killed her own mother.
    \"Get it out of me! Get it away from the babies,\" Savannah cried. \"Get it out of me now.\"
    She could hear herself screaming silently, deep down where no one could hear.
    I hear. I am with you. Nicolas\'s voice was quiet and gentle, but carried absolute confidence. Hang on, hän ku kuulua sÃ-vamet, I am almost there .
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    He was coming and he had called her \"keeper of my heart.\" Lara tried to cling to that, shivering with cold, aware of little around her but the whispers of her past.
    Natalya dropped on her knees beside Lara. \"You need blood.\" She used her teeth to open her wrist, extending her hand toward Lara.
    Lara\'s horrified gaze fastened on the elongated teeth, then touched on the red droplets welling up. The thin crimson trickle turned her stomach. Crablike, Lara scrambled backward away from Natalya, feeling trapped.
    All eyes seemed on her and for a moment the expressions seemed greedy and disdainful. Her wrist burned and ached. She rubbed her fingers over the scars, looking toward the chamber entrance, judging the distance to make her escape.
    Worthless, pathetic creature. You killed your mother. It is no wonder your father wants you dead. I should let him drink you dry.
    Wide shoulders filled the doorway and silver eyes glittered and raked over her face. The scream echoed through her mind, built and built until it was a giant tsunami, bursting out of her, growing and expanding as energy exploded outward.
    Nicolas threw Gregori aside and took the brunt of the assault, the powerful energy waves slamming him backward and down. Both he and Gregori shifted into mist as they moved. The force of the blow shook the chamber. Several sconces exploded, showering the cavern with wax and flame. Gregori materialized, his body blocking Savannah and Raven from falling debris.
    Lara pulled herself into a standing position and staggered toward Nicolas, remorse adding to her feelings of humiliation and self loathing. He was there instantly, sweeping her up into his arms and glaring at the women.
    She buried her face against his chest, clinging, wanting to disappear. She felt fractured, fragile, raw and exposed.
    \"I trusted you with her.\" Fury burned through Nicolas, his strong body vibrating with power as rage took hold. He knew Lara\'s emotions were cutting into his self control, but it mattered little. She had come here already in a fragile state and instead of being bolstered by the women, they had torn her to shreds. He wanted to annihilate them. To maintain control, he stepped back toward the entrance.
    Gregori spread his arms wide in a gesture of challenge and there was real anger breaking through the usual cold-stone demeanor. \"Take your woman and go. Mage-born, daughter of Razvan, great-granddaughter of Xavier, what do we really know of her? It is bad enough that she endangered our prince with her lack of control, but she has placed every woman in this room in danger.\"
    Nicolas dragged in his breath, the rage in the pit of his stomach coming to a boil. \"You dare to imply that she is a spy in our camp?\"
    Power shimmered throughout the cavern and the walls undulated. The ground beneath them rolled.
    \"Stop!\" Raven cried out.
    \"Gregori, you don\'t understand,\" Francesca intervened.
    \"What is going on?\" Mikhail appeared, standing squarely between the two Carpathian males. \"You are in a Page 158

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    sacred place.\"
    \"She\'s done a great service, Gregori,\" Francesca said. \"She found and brought to the surface the parasite threatening Raven with miscarriage. We thought the baby lost to us. She\'s exhausted and needs blood.\"
    It was more than that. Merged as he was with Lara, Nicolas felt the press of Xavier\'s torment. He whirled around with Lara in his arms and took two steps, but Savannah cried out, pushing past everyone to block the entrance to the chamber.
    \"She can\'t leave. She can\'t.\" Tears swam in her eyes. \"I\'m sorry for what Gregori said, but she has to get this thing out of me. It\'s trying to kill my children.\"
    Gregori put a gentle hand on her shoulder, ignoring Nicolas who was still shaking with fury. \"I can get rid of it, Savannah, now that I know what to look for.\"
    Natalya shook her head. \"It hides from men. Xavier was very clever. He knew every male scans his life mate\'s body to ensure her health. Lara detected it because she lived for years with Xavier\'s