Carpathian 17 - Dark Curse

but shallow. The worst was the fire, spraying over his head, frying his sensitive skin, raising blisters instantly.
    Suddenly impatient, Xavier/Razvan waved his hand and the dragon melted at his feet. He leaned down and jerked Lara/Nicolas to his feet, his teeth ripping open his wrist and sinking down to gulp greedily at the rich blood. Nicolas bit back a grunt of pain as his arm throbbed and burned. His stomach turned over and once Page 80

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    again his vision blackened around the edges.
    Lara suddenly resisted, swinging her arm in a tight arc and sinking the sharpened tine into Razvan\'s throat.
    Xavier screamed and threw her away from him, clamping his hand to his bleeding neck. Lara swept her tongue across her wrist and backed up slowly.
    Nicolas wanted to hug her to him. In spite of the pain and the sheer hopelessness of her situation, Lara fought back, refusing to let a monster crush her spirit.
    Xavier flew into a rage, spittle running down his face as he ripped her clothing away, his hands weaving a complicated pattern. Water poured down on her from the ceiling, she was lifted from her feet and flung back into the ice. The wall opened to receive her, molding around her back, buttocks and legs, freezing her skin to the ice itself.
    Only then did Xavier grow quiet. He placed food and water a distance from her. \"If you want to eat or drink, you\'ll have to tear yourself from the wall. If you don\'t, I\'ll leave you there to rot and send my little friends in to eat your body.\"
    Nicolas watched him shuffle out, leaving the child in excruciating pain with blood running down her legs, with her back already painful. He wanted to weep, to smash something, to gather her close and hold her against his heart and protect her always. And more than anything, he wanted to kill Xavier.
    Again time meant nothing to him. He drifted on a sea of pain until the voices came again. Soft. Insistent.
    Encouraging. Singing of hope. Whispering endearments. Voices he could latch on to, voices that saved him from complete despair.
    He found himself ascending once again toward the surface with Lara\'s spirit. Her light was a little brighter, but she felt battered and bruised-as did he. He tried to hurry, anxious that she not relive another event. He\'d had enough-seen enough-experienced enough. He never wanted to feel that helpless and vulnerable ever again.
    He shepherded her, surrounding her with warmth and reassurance, feeling her reluctance as they moved closer to breaking free.
    Lara was more afraid of him than of her past. She\'d already lived through her childhood and survived. He was the devil she didn\'t know and in their relationship, he had all the power.
    I am all you think I am, but I can learn. I will learn. I have many sins, päläfertiil, not the least is arrogance, but I am not above admitting my mistakes. Come with me. Come back to me and give me a second chance.
    He had accepted-from the first moment he heard her voice and knew that she had saved him-that she was in his care. He had resolved to do the best that he could for her-see to her every physical comfort. He hadn\'t expected resistance or mistrust on her part, but in truth, it hadn\'t mattered to him-his heart was not involved and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he could have all things his way. He even believed it to be his right. Somehow in this new night, he knew things were changing. The hard stone in his chest slowly began to beat the same rhythm as hers. He knew he was growing more and more protective, and feeling more and more tenderness toward her.
    Something caught at her, jerking her spirit away from him, stalling the process of recovery. He worried now that he had found her too late and she had retreated too far, or had actually embraced insanity to escape the madness surrounding her. He sped after her, following her to the web where her spirit lay entangled by strands of memories rushing together to surround and capture her.
    Page 81

    Christine Feehan: Dark Curse
    She was a year or so older, her hair bright under the flickering lights. He could see the beginnings of the Dragonseeker legacy woven into the color of her hair, the red glow and blonder highlights. Her eyes were by turns deep sea-green and a brilliant blue. She stood to one side in the great chamber with its cathedral ceilings, hiding behind a column, making herself small, obviously trying to avoid being seen by Xavier and Razvan as they faced each