Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

orbs. Lara halted, her heart pounding. She had been in this room many times.
    She glanced over at the tall pillars, terrified she would see Xavier standing there with his grotesque mask of a face, his fierce eyes and the twisted smug smirk he always seemed to wear.
    Shadows moved and stretched. She gasped and stepped back.
    \"What is it, Lara?\" Natalya asked. \"What do you feel?\"
    Lara shook her head, twisting and turning, spinning in a circle to see everything-everywhere. \"Apparitions.
    Shadows. We shouldn\'t be here. Through there,\" she gestured toward another narrow tube, \"is his laboratory.\"
    \"We need to take a look at it,\" Vikirnoff said, moving toward it.
    \"Stop!\" Desperation was in her voice. \"Don\'t take another step. Don\'t breathe hard.\"
    The others looked warily around the room. Water dripped, a steady plop into the puddle forming at the base of the wall beside a wide column. Lara turned toward the sound. Another loud drop hit a second puddle, this one closer to her, right near the tallest pillar. She stared into the water as rings expanded outward toward the edges of the small pool of water.
    \"Elements. Water. He\'s all around us. He\'s everywhere.\"
    Nicolas glanced at her, alarmed by her rambling. \"Lara!\" He said her name sharply to snap her out of it. \"He isn\'t here.\"
    \"You don\'t understand,\" Lara said. \"He\'s here. He locks himself into things, into elements. He can travel that way. You don\'t know him.\"
    Nicolas moved cautiously to wrap his arm around her. He was worried about her and it showed on his face.
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    \"Lara, monsters always appear larger and much more indestructible when you are a child. He may have been here recently...\"
    \"I smell his tobacco.\"
    Natalya inhaled, shook her head and shrugged. \"If he is, Lara, he\'s hiding from us.\"
    The men were cautious as they made their way across the open floor. Natalya and Lara followed, both watching above and around them. The water dripped monotonously. As they approached the archway leading to the next series of open caverns, they could see just inside the entrance. Water sprayed from the ceiling, the droplets falling into a series of pools. Each pool was a bit lower than the first and each was a different color.
    Tiny frogs croaked, the notes mournful. A dark red stain dripped down from the ice and dropped into one of the pools, staining it a deep crimson. Several of the frogs stuck to the side of the wall, long tongues dipping in the blood, licking at it as it ran down. Although there was no breeze, each pool of water rippled slightly, as if something lived in them. The scent of blood and bodily fluids was heavy in the air.
    \"This is it,\" Lara said. \"This is what you\'ve been looking for, Nicolas. He mutates them here. He\'s experimenting with extremophiles and this is where he tests and corrupts them for his own purpose. We\'ve found his laboratory.\"

Chapter 18
    Standing at the entrance of the laboratory, watching the light spray of icy water come down from the ceiling to feed the pools, Nicolas felt his gut tighten. If Lara was right, and Xavier was experimenting with microbes, then it was the mage who had virtually brought the Carpathian people to near extinction and none of them had ever suspected the extent of his true treachery all those centuries ago. As if sensing his need, Lara slipped her hand into his. He closed his fingers tightly around hers and drew in a deep, shuddering breath.
    \"Without you, Lara, he might have succeeded.\"
    Vikirnoff looked over their shoulders. \"Is that spray natural?\"
    Steam curled over several of the pools, as if they were somehow warm and the icy spray created a foggy condensation. Droplets froze on the walls and congealed in the trail of blood.
    \"It appears so,\" Lara said, \"but you can\'t trust anything in these chambers to be what it appears.\"
    She held out her hands, palms out. The spray from the ceiling was so fine, it appeared more mist than anything else. \"It\'s ice,\" she said, \"tiny particles of ice.\"
    \"There has to be a purpose for it,\" Natalya added. She also put her palms out to test the \"feel\" of the spray.
    \"Are you getting anything?\"
    Lara frowned. \"Yes, I feel Xavier\'s hand in this. There appears to be subtle influence in the mist, but I can\'t tell what it is yet. Why can\'t you feel it?\"
    \"I can in the outer chambers, but it was difficult,\" Natalya said. \"But in this room, I wouldn\'t have even been