Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

waiting in the outside world, she couldn\'t survive this torment day after day.
    Stay strong. He is nearly sated.
    She clung to that, knowing that the aunts always were aware when Razvan was about to stop feeding. She felt weak and dizzy, her knees sagging. And then everything in her went still. The hair on the back of her neck rose. Goose bumps rose on her arms and a shiver of apprehension slid down her spine. He was coming. If Razvan was a monster, her great-grandfather was the living epitome of evil. She could feel his presence long before he ever entered the chamber.
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    Razvan shuddered visibly as he lifted his head and shoved Lara behind him. Lara swept her tongue across the wound, the healing agents in her saliva sealing her skin.
    The scent of decayed flesh heralded Xavier\'s arrival. He entered, his emaciated body bent over, one hand wrapped around a walking stick as he shuffled into the chamber. The walking stick was a weapon of amazing power and could be-and often was-wielded to administer pain. The long robes covering the thin body rustled with every step, swishing across the ice floor, picking up crystals so that the hem collected shards and splinters of glistening white. The long white beard was nearly to the old man\'s waist. His image was blurry as he moved, but if she looked hard enough she could see the rotting flesh beneath the glamour.
    Lara felt the surge of power and knew it emanated from the walking stick rather than from her great-grandfather. Razvan cowered from the old man as he approached. She knew Xavier was the oldest mage, the master of both white and black magic. His teachings had been the foundation of not only the race of mages, but of the Carpathian people as well. Her aunts had educated her in the terrible family history of kidnap, rape, murder and war. All because of this one man and his search for immortality.
    Xavier stretched a thin arm toward her, his fingers like bones, the nails long and curled. He beckoned.
    Razvan shoved Lara away. \"You will not touch her. You have your own supply.\"
    Come close, Lara, now, while they bicker over you. Come close to the wall and aid us in breaking free.
    \"I can no longer use them as you well know. They have become far too powerful to control. I need the book.
    We must find the book.\" Xavier stumbled closer to Lara, his clawlike fingers reaching for her. \"Once I have the book, they will not be able to defy me.\"
    Razvan swept Lara farther behind him. \"This one is mine and you will not touch her.\"
    \"Do not presume to give me orders.\" The voice bellowed in the vast chambers. Xavier stood to his full height, Razvan shrinking before him. \"I grow old, but I still have my abilities and you do not.\"
    Lara inched closer to the wall, all the while gathering the energy in the room.
    \"You cannot even control your own children. As sick as they are they still defy you! You forced me to bring you my own offspring, but you cannot have this one. You kill them with your greed.\"
    \"You will give her to me.\" Xavier swung his stick up, the tip pointing at his grandson.
    Lara seized the moment, pulling every scrap of energy from the stick she could and directing it toward the ice wall. At the same time, the aunts connected their power with hers. The massive wall bubbled outward toward the chamber. Great shards fell off as the ice spider-webbed, and then fragmented.
    \"Stop them!\" Xavier leapt away from the splintering ice as he yelled the warning.
    A bright red dragon burst through the ice, claws stretched toward Razvan as the blue dragon bent its wing to Lara.
    Nova! Now! Climb on fast. Aunt Tatijana called to her.
    Lara didn\'t hesitate. She jumped agilely onto the wing, scrambled up the sloping membrane and swung her leg over the dragons back. Immediately the dragon reared back on its leg, great wings flapping violently, Page 5

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    creating a windstorm, blowing both men backward. Xavier lost his grip on the walking stick. Lara concentrated on it, funneling the wind straight at the thick wooden staff. It rolled to the far side of the ice chamber. The blue dragon took to the air.
    There is not much time. Go, Tatijana, flee while you can, Bronnie pleaded with her sister while she flung her body between Razvan, Xavier and Lara.
    Lara could see both dragons were weak. Already their skin color was fading. The effort to keep the two mages at bay was already taking its toll on them. Sitting