Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

Mikhail,― Gregori said.
    â€œI just do not know how.―
    â€œYou realize Ivory did this once before on her own, centuries ago. There was no one there to hold her spirit, to keep her safe as she keeps Razvan to her.―
    â€œShe must have been in the soil hundreds of years,―
    Gregori said. “Her body didn’t knit back together perfectly. I tried to ease the scars internally as well as externally.― He ran both hands through his hair in a gesture of weariness. “She took great care, or perhaps it was Mother Earth, to make certain she could have children. It is the one area where she has no scarring of any kind, and yet there was evidence that even across the womb, they had hacked her in half.―
    For one moment the air around them crackled with energy and then Mikhail took a breath, bringing himself under control.
    â€œI can’t see how her brothers could ever have chosen to give up their souls knowing the vampires and Xavier conspired to kill her.―
    â€œThey blamed Draven.―
    â€œIt was an excuse and you know it. All of us have lived with betrayal and loss, with grief. They were not near the end; they made a deliberate choice. They have painstakingly pulled together vampires into a league to fight against us, and you know that has taken centuries of planning and even more time to implement. They have also allied themselves with our greatest enemy, the very mage who gave Ivory to the vampires.―
    â€œWe will know what really happened when Ivory chooses to tell us.― Gregori stretched and tried to stand. Dizzy from lack of blood he sank back down. “In the meantime, we can only hold to this course we are on and work to help the pair survive.―
    â€œThey may be the key to destroying Xavier.―

    â€œI think you may be right, Mikhail.―
    The prince offered his wrist to his son-in-law. “Take what I freely offer. And Gregori, this time you heed what I tell you.
    You go home to Savannah and you rest. I have already sent her a message that you are on your way. I’ve asked Syndil to meet with you there.―
    â€œYou sent word to Savannah?― Gregori glared at the prince. “She’s going to fuss over me, and you know she’s pregnant with the twins and needs to rest.―
    â€œShe needs to feel as if she’s helping her lifemate. Go home and rest. You said it yourself: these two will survive.
    Perhaps in talking with Syndil, she will find a way to enrich the soil even more in order to lessen their suffering.―
    Gregori made his way home, avoiding the two women and their lifemates waiting to speak with Mikhail. He didn’t want to try to reassure them that Razvan and Ivory would live. He believed they would, but he didn’t understand how, and he could barely function with the amount of pain washing over him each time he touched them. There would be no speaking to them, no getting answers, maybe even no recognition from Razvan for those women—he was too far gone. On top of the couple’s pain, he didn’t wish to feel the pain of a sister and daughter for the suffering of a loved one.

    Savannah waited at the door for him, her beautiful face smiling, welcoming, her eyes so compassionate that for a moment he wanted to weep with joy that he’d been given such a miracle. He just gathered her silently into his arms and held her tight to him.
    Savannah walked him inside. “You look tired.―
    â€œI am tired.―
    She tried not to be alarmed. Gregori never admitted to being tired, but this couple, so torn and mangled, fighting valiantly to live when anyone else would have chosen to go to the next life, had captured far more than his attention as a healer. She knew her lifemate well. He respected that couple, wanted—even needed—to find a way to end their suffering.
    Savannah put her arms around him and held him, laying her head against his chest. Gregori’s hand came up to stroke her hair.
    â€œHow are the girls behaving this evening?―
    â€œKicking a lot. We’re getting closer. I don’t think they’re going to wait much longer.―
    â€œMaybe I should talk to them,― Gregori suggested. “It is not yet time. They are too anxious and need to stay where they are safe.―
    Savannah laughed, the sound happy and bright, dispelling some of