Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

Page 65

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    as male and of herself as female. And he made her lose focus. She didn\'t have a clue how to handle him-but she knew absolutely she wouldn\'t allow him to turn her into the puppet her father had wanted.
    His hand brushed the small of her back, his fingers trailing along her spine. \"I think we will manage just fine, Lara. Give it time.\"

Chapter 7
    The chamber was even more beautiful than Lara remembered, a dazzling display of gems and crystals of various colors. The water sparkled as it poured from the wall into the pool, the droplets like thousands of diamonds falling from the sky, but the warmth and beauty of the cave no longer made her feel safe and comforted. A cage was still a cage no matter what it looked like. She preferred the glacier-blue ice caves, cold and desolate, because she knew exactly what to expect there.
    She moistened her lips and steadied herself. Yes, she had strong Carpathian blood running in her veins, and she burned like hell in the sun-she figured that was just the luck of the DNA draw-but she wasn\'t fully Carpathian like Nicolas. She wasn\'t a hunter who had killed over the centuries. She wasn\'t close to turning vampire as he was. And that meant, she simply had to bide her time and wait. She wasn\'t concerned with the safeguards at the entrance. She was a talented mage and had watched carefully as he had woven the strands for the safeguards.
    She searched for a safe topic of conversation. Anything that would keep him from touching her mind and discovering her plan. \"Did you see the prince? Did he tell you how Terry was doing?\"
    \"I spoke with Gregori, our healer, and he said your friend has a good chance of surviving. He would not say that if it was untrue.\"
    \"Gregori looks less like a healer than anyone else I could imagine.\"
    \"I suppose he does. You obviously had seen the parasites before.\"
    She had shared that memory with him, she had no choice but to admit it. Lara nodded. \"Xavier experimented often trying to find ways to strengthen his ability to command others to his bidding.\" She couldn\'t stop the shudder that ran through her body. \"His creatures were ravenous and often escaped his commands. They ate human flesh.\"
    \"Your mother?\" He asked it softly, his voice gentle.
    She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. She hadn\'t thought of her mother in years. She\'d never been able to conjure up a picture of her in her mind, not even a scrap of memory. Not the color of her hair or even her scent. She hadn\'t known she had a mother until the parasites combined with the silver of Gregori\'s eyes had triggered a long-forgotten memory. \"Yes, but I didn\'t remember her until now.\"
    \"She was mage.\" He made it a statement.
    Lara frowned. Now that he said it aloud, she recalled her aunts referring to her mother as mage. Why hadn\'t she remembered that before? Why hadn\'t she remembered that her mother had curly hair? She touched her own hair. She had been born with white hair although a red tint had developed very early on. Little corkscrew curls had been all over her head, thick and springy, impossible to control. Her mother\'s hair had been like that as well. \"Yes, she was. I vaguely recall pulling on her curls.\"
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    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    The memory of her mother lying on the floor of ice, parasites attacking her dead body made her sick. She pressed a hand to her mouth, found she was trembling and paced closer to the warm pool. The sound of the waterfall soothed her, allowing her to draw a few deep breaths so that she could change the subject. She didn\'t want to remember anymore.
    \"You were gone a long time. What did you do tonight?\"When you weren\'t controlling other people\'s minds and stealing their blood without their consent . The thought came unbidden and she kept her back turned so he couldn\'t read her expression. She didn\'t trust herself at all. He was used to reading opponents, and right now, whether he knew it or not, they were locked in a battle for life.
    \"We held a warrior\'s council this night. The vampires have banded together and are trying to destroy our species. Humans would stand little chance against them. Just making them believe vampires exist would be nearly impossible.\"
    Her heart jumped with shock and she turned to face him in spite of her resolve. \"Vampires are too vain and selfish to band together. They only hunt in pairs when one has become the puppet of another. I know that to be