Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

made a single sound, but he didn’t flinch or try to pull his arm away. Dominic understood why the De La Cruz family believed in these humans. They were loyal to a fault and just as courageous. Hot blood flowed into his body, soaking into cells, muscles and tissue, instantly providing strength, replenishing his energy.

    He was careful not to take too much, but when he swept his tongue over the twin holes, closing them, Cesaro swayed and Dominic helped him to sit.

    “It didn’t hurt like I thought it would,” Cesaro murmured. He gave Dominic a small smile. “One builds it up in his head until he is afraid, but there was little pain.”

    “It can be dangerous,” Dominic reminded. “When we have lived too long and killed too many times, there is no longer feeling.”

    “ Don Zacarias told me that. He said you and your woman saved me. And saved him.”

    Dominic shook his head. “Perhaps we made his choice easier. I will clean up the battlefield while you drink plenty of fluids. Then you must take me to the body and send everyone else away.”

    Solange brushed back the stray trendrils of hair from Marguarita’s face. She looked like a beautiful broken doll lying there so still and pale. There were dark circles under her eyes, and two thick crescents of dark lashes fanned her cheeks. She had been a beautiful, vital woman just hours before. Solange sighed softly.
    There was so much violence in the world, especially, it seemed to her, against women. What had this woman done to anyone? She’d been living her life, happy. Now, her father lay dead and her throat was crushed. It all seemed so senseless to Solange. She’d spent nearly every day of her life working to prevent just such atrocities, and yet she seemed to fail at every turn.

    “I’m sorry I wasn’t here,” she murmured softly. Sometimes it felt as though she was always late, always just a little short, and the last couple of days had been bad ones.

    She removed Marguarita’s shoes and socks and drew a blanket over her. It would be up to the people on the ranch to see to her care now. “How are they going to explain all this?”

    “They have doctors in the family,” Dominic said from behind her.

    She whirled around, a growl emerging. No one snuck up on her. She was cat. She scented the presence of others, yet there he stood, taking up the room with his wide shoulders and powerful frame.

    “How did you get in here?”

    “I used another form. It seemed easier than trying to remain unseen by the workers. Are you ready to go?”

    He spoke in that same gentle voice, but she knew there was an edge to him. There had been ever since she’d given her blood to Zacarias. She tried to figure out what she’d done wrong. It had been a long while since she’d spent so much time in anyone’s company, and especially the company of a man. How could she be what he wanted when she could barely force herself to speak to him? Was a relationship supposed to be so difficult, or was she making it that way? She had no idea how to act. What to feel or think. Or say.
    Especially say.

    Solange wanted to tell him she knew she could be all he could ever need, but she didn’t believe it. She didn’t want another woman touching him, sharing his time, his life, even his laughter or conversation. She knew she had somehow taken an irreversible step when she’d told him the truth about her blood. She’d opened the door for the possibility of a future. She was terrified of the consequences. She didn’t give her heart into a man’s keeping, it just wasn’t done. Yet she couldn’t stop herself from wanting him.

    He took away the utter loneliness she’d endured for most of her life. She told herself it wasn’t real, that he’d been her dream and she’d given the real man her dream man’s characteristics, but she knew better.
    Dominic was—Dominic. He was also Dragonseeker, and that gave her more pause than him being male.

    She’d heard the name Dragonseeker . The title had been whispered, a legend. A terrifying myth. Even the De La Cruz brothers inadvertently lowered their voices when speaking of the Dragonseeker. She hadn’t thought him real, more a story told in Carpathian society, a great warrior, a fierce fighter, so strong no one in his lineage had ever turned vampire. She had seen the respect Zacarias gave him, and Zacarias respected few. She knew Zacarias had a fierce reputation as well, yet he had definitely stepped back from Dominic.

    It