Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

that’s okay with me, it really
     is. But I’m just as afraid that you haven’t taken a good look at who I really am. I make my own decisions and I’ve never done well with someone telling
     me what to do.”
    He read the small hint of fear quite easily and it turned his heart over. Heat skittered
     through his belly and settled low. He pulled her tight against him. “I’ll cherish
     you forever, Riley.”
    She had made up her mind, but she still feared her decision. It was a huge one, and
     her life would be changed forever. If he abandoned her . . .
    “It is impossible for me to abandon you,” he assured softly. “I’m taking you back
     to Jubal and Gary, but I’ll be sleeping just beneath you. Reach for me if you have
     need and I’ll wake.” He kissed her thoroughly, wanting to remove every doubt from
     her mind. He knew it was impossible, but he would keep trying until she was just as
     certain of him as a Carpathian lifemate would be.
    She wrapped her arms around his neck when he lifted her into his arms. “I hate to
     leave this place. You made our time together beautiful for me. Thank you.”
    “I want you to remember that I love you, Riley. You. The person you are. This is going
     to get uglier, and you’ll need to hold on to any good moments we can find,” he warned.
    He took her through the hallway back out into the early morning light. The sun, obscured
     by the haze overhead created by the ash, still hurt his eyes. The light on his skin
     burned, but the scales moving beneath the surface protected his body, allowing him
     the freedom to take to the sky. He took in the early morning, breathing in the rain
     and scent of the forest.
    Movement was constant in the canopy below. The sounds were far different as the birds
     called to one another. Monkeys scolded and added to the chaotic movement. The forest
     was waking up just as he was going to sleep. He could see it would be difficult for
     Jubal and Gary to sleep during the day and his respect for them grew. They were going
     out of their way to protect what was his.
    The two men had already set up a net and tent with a sleeping hammock for Riley. They
     had chosen an area easily defensible and one where he could find a resting spot without
     the water table being too high. He found both of them extremely efficient. They were
     definitely well versed in the ways of the Carpathian people.
    He greeted them formally, giving them the respect they deserved, clasping their forearms
     as one warrior to another, before relinquishing Riley into their care. He found it
     much more difficult than he’d anticipated to leave her, even for a few hours. She
     looked alone, although she stood straight, her chin up and even managed a small smile
     he kept with him as he opened the ground and allowed the cool soil to greet him.

    They cautiously approached the clearing Lea Eldridge had told them about. Long before
     they were close, the stench of death filled their nostrils.
    Riley glanced uneasily at the three men. “Not again. I could feel Mitro as we’ve gotten
     closer to the river. He came this way for certain. I hate that my ties to him seem
     to be getting stronger.”
    “That’s the Carpathian blood,” Dax explained. “Not any tie to him. Your abilities
     are growing, and that has nothing at all to do with Mitro. He’s a killing machine.
     There is no goodness in him, no mercy, not for anyone. There’s no redemption for him.
     If his lifemate couldn’t save him, no one could. Arabejila is long gone, and evil
     has completely taken him over, although, in all honesty, I think he was already completely
     evil.”
    “Some people are born with something not right,” Riley said. “We want to say it’s
     always the environment they’re raised in, but sometimes, it just happens. Maybe it
     happens in every species.”
    Gary nodded his head. “Even animals are born with problems, both physical and mental.”
     He shrugged. “It happens.”
    Mitro had been twisted from the first time, as a boy, Dax had met him. There had always
     been a cunning savagery about him. His need to hurt animals and the other boys drove
     others away from him.
    Dax shoved the memories away. In the clearing ahead, the smoldering remains of a home
     came into view. He halted abruptly and caught Riley’s forearms, effectively stopping
     her. “You’ll need to stay here, sivamet . The stench of evil is strong here.”
    Her body rocked against his. She frowned up