Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

and of self-revulsion. Her voice was the most beautiful thing he’d ever heard and he concentrated on it, on that soft, sweet melody that seemed to take him somewhere far away from the stark brutality of his existence.
    â€œI remember Draven. He is a distant memory. A murderous, treacherous man who demanded young mage women from Xavier in return for his information. He disappeared one day and Xavier was furious, spewing vile curses on Gregori Daratrazanoff for weeks after. I assumed Gregori had finally found out his betrayal and administered justice.― He tried to open his eyes to look at her, but his eyelids were too heavy and he didn’t want to disturb her soothing fingers. “Why would Draven kill Rhiannon’s lifemate?― He choked a little over his grandmother’s name. He had his father’s memories of her, the soft-spoken woman Xavier had fed off of until his children were old enough to take her place.
    â€œDraven was obsessed with me. I was not his true lifemate, but he wanted me. He had the sickness in him that some of our males get, and he believed, because he was in line to be prince, that he should have any woman he wanted. My brothers refused him when I told them I knew I was not his lifemate.
    When they were gone in battle, Prince Vlad sent me to Xavier’s school, I think to keep me away from Draven.―

    â€œSo Draven bought you from Xavier with the body of Rhiannon’s lifemate.― Razvan made it a statement.
    His mind seemed at peace, drifting with the stroke of her fingers and the soft melody of her voice. It mattered little that the subject they discussed was abhorrent, his mind could process without fear or guilt or the overwhelming emotions that had poured into him at the sound of her voice. Now, his mind simply accepted and for the moment he was at peace. He didn’t want that ever to end. He imagined this moment must be close to heaven, a haven where nothing bad could happen, even for just a brief interim.
    â€œYes, but Draven didn’t count on the fact that I had ten strong warriors who had spent my lifetime teaching me to fight in battle. My five brothers and the De La Cruz brothers.―
    Ivory rubbed the strands of his hair between her fingers and then shifted him, just the slightest of movements, turning him so that his head was facing upward toward hers.
    Razvan’s eyelids fluttered. He opened his eyes to narrow slits and looked up at her. His breath caught in his throat and he stared at the woman above him. Her face was still that of an angel, skin so flawless and pure, but now he could see the scars—terrible scars that started on her throat and ran down her body as if she’d been pieced together by barbed wire.

    â€œHe did this to you?― He breathed out the words in shock, knowing Carpathians didn’t scar—not as a rule—yet her body was covered with lines, the disfigurement a patchwork of skin sewn back together almost haphazardly.
    â€œDraven did not like a woman defeating him, the mighty, soon-to-be prince, if his plans with Xavier succeeded. He could not resist bragging, telling me how he was going to kill his own father, because it never occurred to him that I could fight and defeat him in battle. He was so furious.―
    Her voice sounded far away, a distant song of peace and warmth in spite of the chilling tale she told. He found, try as he might, that he couldn’t experience the horror of her words, the extent of Draven Dubrinsky’s betrayal of not only his people but his own father. Xavier was the devil himself, a monster unrivaled, and yet Draven had deliberately sought an alliance with him.
    â€œI was caught by four vampires on my way back to my people,― Ivory continued, shifting him again, cradling his head to her.
    Her body felt warm and soft and so giving against his. She smelled of the forest, of the wilds, deep and green and secret.
    There was a touch of snow, distant and compelling, an ice princess yielding to no one, yet giving of herself to him. It was fanciful. He’d long forgotten fanciful and his wayward thoughts didn’t belong in the midst of her retelling such a traumatic event in her life. Everything seemed so dreamlike, yet he’d ceased to dream, knowing Xavier extracted information from his sister when he dreamt. He hadn’t even been able to stop that and save Natalya such