Dark Slayer

«It is your immeasurable courage,» she corrected. «It is not as if anyone could have endured as you did.»

He brought her fingers to his mouth and bit gently. «You will make me blush.»

She doubted that. He had no ego. None. He simply accepted his life and lived in the moment, focusing his entire attention on what he was doing and giving his best to whatever task was at hand. She did a little blushing thinking of how he focused so completely on her when they made love. Nothing else was in his mind but giving her pleasure. It was an intoxicating, exhilarating experience, and one she was already addicted to. She lost herself in him so completely, and found herself wanting to give him that same complete focus.

«My entry in that diary is the formula with which we will defeat him.»

Everything in him stilled. «We are going to bait a trap.»

She kept her eyes steadily on his. «Yes, we are. He needs a body. And he needs heart's blood. Dragonseeker blood.»

«You are going to ask me to put myself in his hands once again.»

His voice was strictly neutral and his mind was firmly closed to hers. Her heart contracted. There was no expression. No condemnation. No judgment whatsoever. He merely waited her answer, his fingers still on hers. Sometimes, like now, his courage terrified her. His belief in her shocked her.

«You would put yourself into his hands if I asked you to, wouldn't you?» she said, her stomach knotting.

«Yes.»

She shook her head. «I could not ever conceive of putting you anywhere near where that evil mage could get his hands on you.»

For the first time he stirred and something crossed his face so swiftly she couldn't quite catch it, but it made her nervous. «Just what or who is the bait?»

«I now have Dragonseeker blood running in my veins. When I open them and leave tracks, he will be unable to resist. I am a woman and he will think me easily controlled.»

He sat back in his chair, his lips drawn into a tight, implacable line. Tiny embers smoldered in the depths of his eyes, but again, he went silent-waiting.

«I have thought this through, Razvan,» she hastily explained. «It is all there. He will come for me, darkly handsome, taking your form, using his mind to draw me to him. He will want to seduce me, and he will open his arms to bring me in close to him.»

«No.»

«You know I am right. This is the way.»

«No.» Razvan rose and called to the pack. «I am taking the wolves running. Would you care to join us?»

«We need to discuss this.»

«There is no discussion. Are you coming?» He moved away from her with swift, long strides, snapping his fingers and calling to the pack.

Ivory stood for a long moment, unsure whether to be angry or happy that he would be so protective. No one had wanted to protect her, not since she was a young girl and her brothers and the De La Cruz family had surrounded her with love. Ten men doting on her had made her feel like a princess-a smothered one at times, but still a princess. Razvan had gone through so much with Xavier. He just needed to get used to the idea.

She was astonished when she saw him spread his arms as she did, and Blaez and Rikki leapt onto his back, merging into his skins as tattoos. For one moment she found herself a little upset. The pack had never been divided. They were her family.

«The pack is not divided,» Razvan said. «We are a family.»

He was back to his usual calm. Matter-of-fact. Or maybe he always had been. Even saying an adamant no to her, he had not raised his voice or sounded upset, just implacable.

She nodded in agreement. «Yes, we are. It is a good thing for both of us to carry the wolves. They will guard our backs.»

He flashed a small, tentative grin, removing the years from his face until he looked almost boyish. «It is amazing to be so accepted by them.»

She felt that peculiar wrenching in the vicinity of her heart that he often produced in her. His simple pleasure touched her. «Where are we going?»

«I want to go to the place where you found the soil for our bedchamber.»

«The cave of gems.»

He nodded. «The soil is pure, so we know that Xavier has not had a chance to spread his poison everywhere. I would like to find how far the infection has spread, how large of an area there actually is. I cannot believe this would be the only place. Once we know how to look, we can send word to other Carpathians to check their soil.»

«You believe we can cleanse it?»

«I absolutely believe you can,» he said.

She tried not to feel a ridiculous glow, but there it was, a silly ember that spread through her body like heat. It truly was frightening how she reacted to him. Embarrassed, she held her arms out and allowed the remainder of the pack to merge with her skin before scanning above them to ensure there was no way anyone could observe them leaving their lair.