Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

him.
    Lucian waited until the fighting was at its most ferocious, when the chamber was arcing with energy. He Page 202

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    began to gather the energy into a ball, pulling power from every conceivable resource. The ball spun brighter and hotter, so much so that he was forced to cloak it, to keep from blinding himself. Still, he drew power to him, collecting every bit he could summon to him without draining his companions. When the ball pulsed with power, threatening to detonate, he called out to Nicolas.
    Your sun is ready.
    Mist. Nicolas gave the command on the common path and shifted.
    The other Carpathians shifted at exactly the same moment.
    Lucian released the whirling mass of energy, a bright white light spinning out of control through the chamber.
    The ice cave lit up like daylight, only brighter, as if a bomb had gone off, the flash as bright as the sun.
    The death slaves screamed a collective cry of denial, the note shattering the ice chamber, causing cracks all along the walls and ceiling. Their bodies glowed bright, burst outward into molecules and scattered across the floor.
    Out! Nicolas was already streaking for the tube.
    Vikirnoff and the others burst into the open. Branislava and Tatijana cried out, covering their eyes. Neither had ever been out of the ice caves before and the wide-open space was terrifying. The male Carpathians gathered around them, shielding them from the early-morning dawn and providing a tighter group so they felt safe.
    Lara didn\'t look back as they set out for the home of the prince. She never wanted to see the ice caves again.
    She held tight to Nicolas\'s and Tatijana\'s hands as he whisked them through the skies to the deep forest.

    * * *
Francesca had already been alerted and she was waiting along with Mikhail to greet Rhiannon\'s daughters.
    The two women were thin and weak, their bodies\' wracked with pain, muscles cramping continuously. Lara sat between them, holding their hands while the two healers worked on them. Mikhail gave them his blood and Gregori followed suit, while outside, the unmated Carpathian males formed a ring of protection.
    \"How is it you are fully Carpathian?\" Lara asked, feeling guilty that she was asking questions when both were so weak and needed to go to ground to rejuvenate.
    \"Our mother,\" Tatijana explained. \"It was the only way she could think to help us fight him. And we did the same for Razvan, your father, after Xavier killed our brother.\"
    Nicolas knelt beside them. \"I am Nicolas, life mate to Lara. Lara and I would be honored to take you home and watch over you until you are at full strength, but we will take you wherever you are most comfortable.\"
    \"Of course with Lara,\" Branislava said. Weakly, she touched Lara\'s arm, love filling her gaze. \"We never thought you would return for us.\"
    \"Thank you, Lara,\" Tatijana added. \"We had lost all hope.\"
    \"Do you have news of my brother?\" Natalya said. \"We thought he had turned.\"
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    \"Xavier torments him with that idea that you believe he betrayed you, that all Carpathians abhor him and that his own daughter believes him a monster.\"
    \"I did,\" Lara admitted. She rubbed her wrist where it burned and ached.
    At once Nicolas took her hand and turned her wrist up to feather kisses over it. You had reason. Do not feel guilty when you have just saved your aunts. No one else would have freed them. Without you, they would have remained prisoners for all time and everyone would still believe Razvan followed in Xavier\'s footsteps .
    \"We were not allowed out of our prison for several years now,\" Tatijana explained. \"We were frozen, asleep most of the time since you were gone, only awakened when he wanted to drain our blood. I am sorry, but we only know of the past.\"
    Branislava blinked rapidly. \"I want to visit with you, both of you, all of you, and thank you for our rescue, but I am much too weak and disoriented. Nicolas, would you take us home?\"
    \"It is best,\" Gregori said. \"They need the soil. They have been denied it their entire lives. On the rising we can give them more blood and slowly, over time, they will be strong again.\"
    \"The soil could be contaminated,\" Lara objected.
    \"Most likely,\" Gregori agreed, \"but it is all we have for now. We can only do one thing at a time. If your aunts are comfortable with you, that is where they must go to heal. We will deal with all else another time.\"
    Lara