Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

them, warm leggings and sweaters to help heat their bodies. Their hair was long and thick, far past their waists and Natalya hastily braided both with a wave of her hand and then covered them with warm caps to keep the strands from freezing.
    Lara held their heads in her lap while Natalya immediately offered Tatijana her wrist. There was no hesitation.
    Natalya smiled at her aunt and murmured the ritual offering.
    \"I offer my life freely for yours.\"
    Lara took a breath and held out her hand to Branislava. \"I offer my life freely for yours.\" Her heart thundered in her ears. Her mouth went dry. Terror filled her mind, but she ruthlessly pushed it aside. This was her beloved aunt, who had sacrificed everything for her. She would save her and she would do so gladly. She meant her offering. She owed her life to Branislava and Tatijana-more, she owed her soul to them. Razvan\'s soul had been stolen by a madman and he could just as easily have used her, but at great cost to themselves, they had saved her.
    Teeth bit down into her wrist. Her stomach lurched, but she held on, breathing through the need to be sick, grateful her aunt was too ill to notice. It took a moment to realize her aunt wasn\'t hurting her. The teeth didn\'t tear at her flesh, but rather pierced with two small holes. There wasn\'t the erotic feel that there was when Nicolas took her blood, but more of a giving, a sharing, an act of camaraderie, giving her a deeper connection.
    Her aunt\'s body warmed faster with the influx of blood, but it wasn\'t enough for the shriveled cells and organs. As soon as Branislava swept her tongue over the pinpricks to close the wounds, Vikirnoff knelt beside her.
    Branislava shook her head. You need your strength to get us out of here . Even that small effort exhausted her.
    The continual sound of water became overly loud, drawing Lara\'s attention. She caught Natalya\'s wrist and gestured with her chin, not wanting to alarm her aunts. The water dripped onto the floor and ran along a crevice, forming a long, narrow tube. Within moments of hitting the icy floor, the water refroze, forming the long body of a snake. The moment one formed and slithered off, another took its place until a good portion of the floor was taken up by hissing snakes.
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    Tatijana swung her head toward them, although she was too weak to lift her neck to see. Don\'t let him take us.
    Kill us if you have to .
    Lara tightened her arms around both of them. \"He will never get near you again,\" she assured fiercely.
    \"I\'ll deal with the snakes,\" Natalya said. She raised her arms and gathered power to her. She was tired of Xavier\'s relentless pursuit and happy to find a target. \"Those people on Snakes on a Plane should have tried this.\"
    That which does slither, bites and strikes, feel the wrath of fire-cold ice. I call thee fire, cold of flame, fit to my hand, strike this bane. As Natalya gathered the energy force, converting it into cold fusion fire, she directed it straight at the icy serpents.
    The snakes shattered into a million pieces, the ice crystals melting. They were absorbed by the floor. Natalya looked grimly satisfied. \"We\'ve got to get out of here fast. I hear the water beating at the dam Nicolas built and if we\'re caught...\"
    \"Nicolas will find us the way out.\" Lara said it with absolute conviction because she believed in him. She lifted her head to try to look to see what was happening in the chamber leading to the escape corridor.
    Nicolas stepped into the cavern, alert for whatever trouble Xavier had left as his last line of defense against losing his daughters. He had held Branislava and Tatijana prisoner for centuries, and he wouldn\'t let them go so easily. He could see shadowy figures moving in the darkness of the chamber, and there were more than he wanted to think about. Not shadow warriors. As much as they seemed insubstantial, they didn\'t appear to move with the same swirl of smoke and grace. No, these were different.
    He felt the rush battle brought, the one feeling he was familiar with and embraced. He knew what heightened senses brought, and the power flowing through his body. Come to me , he sent into the darkened chamber.
    Come to me and die .
    As he moved into the center of the chamber, the first attack came as a shadowy figure charged him. Nicolas leapt smoothly into the air, slashing as he did so, razor-sharp talons slicing across the throat of the aggressor.
    His claw