Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

There in the darkness it burned bright red, but as he watched, his eyes played tricks on him, so that waves of colors glowed metallic and coppery. He couldn\'t find the strength of will to pull away from her, to stop the sweet fire sliding down his throat, tying them together in the way of his people. Somewhere, far off, he could hear his own mind screaming at him that he was losing his mind, that he had found her too late and that he was killing her, but he couldn\'t stop.
    Pain ripped through his left side, startling him out of his trancelike state. He jerked his head up without swiping his tongue across the twin pinpricks at her pulse to close the wound. Blood trickled down her neck into the earthy tones of her sweater. He could see the garment, a dazzling color, hues of browns and gold, with red drops scattering and pooling in the yarn.
    Color, after centuries of shades of gray. Beautiful, amazing color. He looked down at his side from where the pain emanated. The handle of a knife stuck out of his ribs. She stepped back away from him and spun to face him. Her eyes were twin jewels, burning bright, a deep emerald, not just green, but actually emerald. Even as he watched, the color swirled and changed, going from deep green to arctic blue. The blue was the color of the ice glaciers, clean and pure and ice-cold, but burning with intensity and fire.
    He smiled at her. \"Te avio päläfertiilam. Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam.\"
    His voice was low, a dark seduction that slid over her senses, like velvet playing over her skin, arousing her.
    Lara had heard those words before, long ago when the aunts sang her to sleep. They sang of a great love story.
    A man-as dark as sin. A woman-bright as light. Only that woman could save him from the worst suffering of honorable death, or the worst fate of becoming the vampire. She had the power to restore his lost emotions, to restore bright, beautiful colors to the world. The love story had been the one beautiful thing in her life as a child and she had clung to it, needing something to hang on to.
    Te avio päläfertiilam. Éntölam kuulua, avio päläfertiilam. You are my life mate. I claim you as my life mate. The words were so beautiful, so connecting, she could feel them echo in her heart and mind. They had been the words in her story and she dreamt of them, thought them romantic. But the man hadn\'t been so seductively beautiful and so utterly dangerous. And he certainly hadn\'t taken his lady\'s blood without permission. It was wrong. A violation she wouldnot permit.
    Ted kuuluak, kacad, kojed. I belong to you.É lidamet andam . I offer my life for you. As he spoke the words in that perfectly calm, soft voice, he gripped the handle of the knife and yanked it from his body. Blood gushed down his side. He held out the weapon to her, handle first.
    Lara swallowed hard, raising her gaze from the wound to his face. There was no anger. No expression at all.
    Page 20

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    Just a strange serenity that shook her. She moistened her suddenly dry lips and reached out to take the knife.
    Her fingertips brushed his. Electricity sizzled up her arm. He merely opened his arms wide, presenting his heart as a target.
    Pesämet andam. Uskolfertiilamet andam. SÃ-vamet andam. Sielamet andam. Ainamet andam. His teeth flashed very white in the darkness. \"I give you my protection. I give you my allegiance. I give you my heart. I give you my soul. I give you my body.\"
    She realized he wasn\'t talking figuratively, but literally. He was offering to stand there while she drove a knife into his heart and took his life. This was no vampire. She had no real idea of what he was, but the words he was uttering were in the Carpathian language, a language as ancient as her aunts had been. And the words were a ritual that bound two halves of the same soul together. She had never believed in that love story, not truly, even though she knew the kinds of things that could be wrought with elements and energy and magic.
    But as he spoke each word in that soft, seductive tone, his black eyes glittering with possession and absolute determination, she could feel the ties forging like steel between them.
    \"Are you crazy? You have to be out of your mind. Don\'t stand there like an idiot. You need to stop the bleeding.\"
    His eyes never left her face.SÃ-vamet kuuluak kaik että a ted. Ainaak olenszal sÃ-vambin . \"I take into my keeping the same