"Raven, you're needed here by so many," she murmured aloud, understanding for the first time that individuals made up the whole. "We would all be diminished by your passing."

"I need you," Savannah said, gripping her mother's arm. "I need you with me. I'm your daughter. If you only have me, aren't I worth staying here for?" She looked panic-stricken, very white in contrast to the black soil. "Mom, you can't leave me."

"I know. I know." Raven put her arms around her daughter. "I just can't bear losing another child. He's so tiny and he wants to live. He's so far away."

Francesca caught her arms, gave her a little shake. "Raven, look at me." She waited until Raven focused on her. "You re panicking. You have to be calm so he can stay calm. You have to believe we can save him so he'll believe it."

"It hurts him and he's in shock," Raven protested.

"I know, honey. And you're feeling his pain and his fear and it's amplifying your own, but that won't help him. We can. All of us.

Look around you. We're all here with you. We'll help."

Savannah nodded her head. "I'll help, too, and so will the twins."

Lara reached again for the thread. "There is a dark art at work here. I feel it when I connect with you and the child. You're being influenced to give up and so is your son. You have to fight back, Raven. Don't let Xavier have this child. Don't let him take you and the boy. Buy me some time."

Francesca and Shea whipped their heads around to stare at her in shock. "Are you certain?" Francesca demanded. "Really certain?"

"It's subtle but it's there. Believe me, I can recognize Xavier's influence anywhere, no matter how light his touch is."

"I need to feel what you're feeling," Francesca said. "Natalya? Do you feel it?"

Natalya went very still. She nodded slowly. "Yes, she's right. And the same influence is working in Savannah as well. Not as strong yet, because the twins are merging to bolster their strength, but the weave of dark art is attacking them as well. They won't be able to hold out against it if it continues, at least not until they're ready to be born."

Savannah placed both arms protectively around her stomach. "What can we do?"

"We have to destroy whatever is attacking them," Francesca said.

"Should I call Gregori back?"

"And Mikhail?" Raven's voice wavered.Lara frowned. "We can't take the chance of it retreating once it feels the threat of a male. Carpathian men are the protectors and guardians. It doesn't perceive us as a threat."

"Can you follow it?" Natalya asked. "Because if you can give me a target, I can destroy it." She spoke with absolute confidence.

"I can follow it," Lara said.

"Raven?" Francesca said. "This is your call. Yours and Savannah's. If you believe Mikhail and Gregori should be called back to try to deal with this attempt to murder your children, then we'll summon them immediately."

Raven and Savannah exchanged a long look. Silence settled into the cavern. The water in the huge pot continued to boil and the soothing scents of lavender and jasmine filled the air. Raven looked around at the women who waited, the women who had all come for one purpose-to save their children.

Raven lifted her chin, leaned over and kissed her daughter and met Lara's blue-green gaze. "Find this thing and let's destroy it."

Chapter 14.

The hum of the crystals greeted Nicolas as he entered the deep caverns. The formations of the giant crystals never failed to astonish and impress him. Only nature could have provided such a wealth of beauty formed with rich minerals. Gypsum, not uncommon in many areas, was not as well known in the Carpathian Mountains. A thousand feet below the earth, with the hot magma burning even farther below it, the soft limestone bed had been cut through by the wash of hydrothermal liquid bubbling up, breaking through from the magma chambers below and filling the chambers before draining away, leaving behind a thick forest of selenite, some over seventy feet in height and a good seven feet in diameter.

Nicolas had seen the giant redwood forests in the States and he had found the trees impressive and grandiose but not even they could compare to the magnificent forest of crystals. He knew the gypsum columns were very rare throughout the world as they were so deep beneath the earth, steeped in heat and bathed in one hundred percent humidity, which made the underground grottoes difficult for even the most expert of cavers to discover, but the Carpathians thrived in the underground environment.

He looked around the labyrinth of chambers, one leading to the next, at the shape and colors of the enormous crystals, and felt awed. He stopped a moment to admire the beauty and soak it in, wishing Lara was with him to share the moment. He felt at peace, as if he might be in the greatest cathedral, as if this place was a gift from the heavens for his species alone. No other species could withstand the high temperatures and humidity for any length of time without being cooked, yet his people thrived here. Standing at the foot of a giant crystal column, he felt very close to any deity that might be looking out for him.

As he descended deeper into the inner chambers, the vibrations increased, tuning to his body so that he felt power ripple through him. As he moved through the separate chambers to get to the warriors' council room, the walls, heavy with crystals, appeared to undulate, a slow rhythmic wave like the gentle ebb and flow of the tide. The continual movement enhanced the feeling of being one with the earth, another tie to the planet itself and the mountains so rich in everything the Carpathian people needed.

At least for the first few centuries, the mountains had provided for them, but now he suspected Xavier had somehow managed to change that. He hoped to address that suspicion and give credence for his need to re-enter the high mage's black arts labyrinth of caves. The network ran miles beneath the mountains, spread out like a village. There was no way of knowing if any of it was still occupied. Xavier had left powerful safeguards that were death traps.

He and Vikirnoff intended to find another way into the chambers of the dark mage after the council meeting. The entrance they had been using was closed to them, and the parasite venom in the guardian's teeth was a powerful dissuading argument for trying to go through a door primed to kill.

Previous Top NextMany of the Carpathian males had already gathered and he hailed them, using the more formal forearm-to-forearm greeting out of respect. With his emotions so new, the camaraderie he felt was somewhat overwhelming. He had always been aloof. For the most part, other than his brothers, very solitary. Within the confines of the large warriors' chamber, he felt the strength of the Carpathian people, the wisdom of the ancients and especially the connection they all had through their prince.

He realized, once inside the deep chamber, that an air of sobriety ran through the men-and the three women waiting there. He raised an eyebrow as he greeted Vikirnoff.

"Raven is having more trouble. Gregori has called most of the women and want them to do their woman magic, as we all referred to it in ancient times. He has no idea what is wrong, but hopes Syndil and the others can stop her from miscarrying."

"And Savannah?"

"Gregori has not allowed her to get up other than to attend to Raven. He is very grim, so I fear the odds of her keeping the babies are not good either."

Nicolas glanced at the three women present in the warriors' chamber: Natalya, Jaxon and Destiny. "Shouldn't they be with Raven?"

"The women are aware we are raising the issue of female fighters and have formally asked the three of them to speak on behalf of the others."

Nicolas shook his head. "We could have a fight on our hands."

Vikirnoff shrugged. "In the end, the prince will have to make a decision on the issue. Natalya has hunted the vampire and has been independent for a long time. Destiny has hunted her entire life. I am not even certain she could put it down. She was enslaved by a vampire and suffered greatly at his hands."

"I am well aware of the arguments," Nicolas said. "And I have discovered it is not so easy to say no when your lifemate is insistent on doing something dangerous. I have strong reservations against taking Lara back to Xavier's cave, but she is probably the one who will be able to unravel the safeguards. She will recognize clues we might miss, and the journey may open her memories even more-memories we may need to aid us in solving the problems our women face."

"I had not considered those things," Vikirnoff said. "In truth, I had decided we should just go in tonight if we find a suitable entrance, and leave the women behind."

"Your woman would not follow you?"

"Of course she would think to follow me if she knew." Vikirnoff sent Natalya a look of utter devotion. "She does not know the meaning of 'quit.' On the other hand, I have more experience and if necessary, could throw her off for a few hours in order to do the necessary exploring. She would be angry with me later, but I would much rather have her safe."

"And if you tell her to stop hunting?"

"If Natalya decides it is the right thing to do to stop hunting the vampire, she will stop, but that is the only way. I could dictate to her until the end of days, but she goes her own way and I am proud of her for doing so."

"You are not going to be much of a help," Nicolas pointed out.

Vikirnoff frowned. "I've always had a quick learning curve and in dealing with women, I've found it is much easier avoiding a confrontation."

"We need to have Mikhail make a ruling on this issue.""I will add my voice to yours and Gregori's. I believe if we do not act soon, it will be too late. We must have more hope for our males. And we have to find a way to produce more children as well as search the world over for lifemates. The only real hope we have left to us is for our women to produce more children."

Dayan of the Dark Troubadours strode up, obviously overhearing what Vikirnoff said. "Perhaps we should take a page from our enemy's book and open a psychic center where we can interview women without them being aware we are doing so."

Gregori moved through the giant crystal forest, Mikhail at his side. Both men looked strained and tired. A hush fell across the council hall.

"Any news?" Lucian asked his younger brother.

Gregori shoved a hand through his thick hair, the gesture weary. "There is little we can do now. I am holding the twins to their mother. They want to live. That is something."

"And Raven?" Lucian prompted.

Mikhail shook his head. "She is trying to hold on. Jacques and I are both holding the baby to her, but they are getting weaker.

Soon I will have no choice but to allow the child to slip away. I dare not risk Raven. She says no, but I cannot take chances with her life."

"If we can aid you in any way," Lucian offered. "We are more than willing."

Mikhail nodded. "The women gather now. There is much magic in the old ways. Syndil is providing the richest soil and Shea has come up with a strengthening drink to aid their bodies in gaining nutrients they seem to be lacking."

"There is some reason to believe that Xavier has a hand in this," Nicolas said, raising his voice so all could hear. He related the small cracking open of the door to Lara's memory. "We hope she will remember more when we go to the ice cave. Perhaps there is a piece of the puzzle that we can find in time to help."

"Xavier's lair is dangerous," Lucian said. "If he is alive he would not have abandoned it completely. He had too many of his secrets stored there." He looked at his brother. "As a healer, Gregori, what kinds of things could he have done, centuries ago, that would cause our women to have these problems?"

"The fact that the problems changed over the years leads me to believe that whatever Lara saw could be real. First we noticed the lack of female babies," Gregori noted. "The precedence occurred over a long period of time. Because our women as a rule only give birth every fifty or so years, no one noticed that the male count was rising as the female count dropped."

"His first attempt?" Lucian asked.

"Perhaps," Mikhail mused. "We would have to talk to Shea about the way he could have influenced the sex of the children, but many of our people were attending his school. In those days, Xavier was a trusted friend. He set up the safeguards for us, weaving strands of magic with natural energy to protect the places we rested. No one ever guessed his jealousy of our longevity would lead him to commit the atrocities that he has over the centuries."

Gregori shrugged broad shoulders. "His jealousy has led him down the path of madness."

"He is entirely evil now," Nicolas declared, "if he wasn't already before."

Natalya stood suddenly, touching her lifemate's arm with gentle fingers. "I'm sorry, but Raven has summoned me. I must go to her."

Mikhail's face was drawn and tired as he looked at her. "I appreciate whatever you can do to help us, Natalya." He pressed his fingers to his temples. "She has asked that I do not interfere with what they are doing."Gregori's face was pale as well. "They want Natalya right away."

Natalya nodded. "Yes, they are calling for me and of course I'll go. Whatever it takes, all of us are behind you."

Vikirnoff brushed a kiss across the top of her head and squeezed her hand as she took her leave. "Natalya isn't always comfortable within a group."

"No one is comfortable right now," Mikhail said. "This is a heart-breaking situation for everyone. If Raven and Savannah cannot keep these children, do you think any of the women who are now pregnant will feel as if they have the chance to carry? And the ones who are not, do you think they will chance the heartache?"

"They will not have a choice, Mikhail, if our species is to survive," Lucian pointed out. "All of us feel the pain of the loss of our children, but we cannot give up or give in to that heartache."

Mikhail's eyebrow shot up. "I did not realize you and your lifemate had suffered the loss of a child, Lucian."

"All losses diminish us as a whole."

"Words give little comfort when one suffers the loss of a child who is not only the best part of you but part of your beloved lifemate as well," Mikhail agreed, "but we talk with our child. We encourage him, love him, suffer the pain when he is hurt because Raven's body is rejecting him. He is as real to us as if we were able to hold him in our arms. Raven has lost a son once already. Now there is another and she is losing him to an enemy we cannot see or fight. Each rising he slips farther from us, inch by slow inch and we are helpless to save him. Do you think I want this for my lifemate? Or for yours?"

There was a small silence. Gregori stirred. "We are asking that everyone weigh in with these matters because if we do not have answers soon, our species will not recover."

"You are a healer, Gregori," Destiny said. "Do you think our women should continue to try to have children when we have been unable to resolve these problems? Wouldn't it be better to wait until we know what's wrong before we subject our hearts, minds and bodies to such trauma?"

"Our problem is very simple, Destiny," Gregori answered. "If we do not have children, we die out. Every hour we wait to have female children, we lose more of our males. Yes, it is a tragedy and is a terrible thing that our women must risk losing a child, but our men are without hope. No one can continue without hope."

"It seems a useless sacrifice to get pregnant knowing the child will die, just to give false hope to a male. In the end, he has nothing anyway," Jaxon pointed out. "If we cannot safely have children, maybe the solution is to look in another direction. Why not put together a database of female psychics as Dayan mentioned? We could find a way to check them out, record their voices, have our males listen and see if there is a possibility that they can find their lifemates that way."

Destiny nodded. "We're not utilizing modern technologies for our searches."

"If you create a database, our enemies will have their targets laid out before them like a feast," Lucian objected. "Do you think the moment word got out, as it would, that we have stored names and locations of potential lifemates our enemies would not move on that as fast as they could?"

Nicolas frowned. "There has to be a way to protect the database. It does not sound like a bad idea."

"Our enemy thought of it before us," Destiny said. "They have a psychic research center called the 'Morrison Center' in the United States. I'm betting they've established them everywhere. The women go to the center, are tested and then they are targets for murder. The database already exists."

Several of the men without lifemates exchanged long looks of complete understanding. One stepped forward. Nicolas had seen the man once, years earlier, but only when he had passed through the Amazon forest chasing a vampire. Like most males without emotion or color, he had been solitary and rather curt when they had met. His name was Andre. Nicolas had tracked him and found evidence that the man had been wounded in the ensuing battle, but he was long gone from De La Cruz territory.

Andre gave a stiff bow toward the two women before addressing the others. He stood tall and straight, his face a chiseled mask, his eyes hollow. "If there is a database already of potential lifemates, I say we take it over. We have all accumulated wealth through the years, we can buy them out legally, or hack into their system, or just walk in and take over those running the place by using mind control. Once we have control, we turn the site into a fortress."

"It is a calculated risk," Lucian said. "The more we expose ourselves the chances of discovery are greater. The world of computers and modern technology-with cameras on every cell phone and nearly every public place one goes outside of these mountains-raises the danger to all of us."

"I am more than willing to take that chance if it increases the odds that even one of us will find a lifemate. We cannot afford to wait to give our protection to these women," Andre declared.

There was a note in his voice that told Nicolas he was asking permission and most likely would go after the database whether it was okayed or not. Judging from the looks on the other males without lifemates, Andre would have a lot of help.

Gregori started to speak but Mikhail forestalled him by moving into the center of the circle. He looked around the chamber filled with many single males, men who had given their lives to sustaining a dying species.

"This opportunity is far too important to pass up, whatever the risk. In any case, if these women are in danger whether they are true lifemates or not, they need our protection. I will meet with you next rising to discuss this issue and come up with a plan of action."

Andre again gave a small bow toward the women and slipped toward the back of the chamber where he obviously was more comfortable and less exposed.

Mikhail, many of our males are desperate. They could abuse this situation, turning into stalkers of these women if we are not careful. This could become a huge problem, Gregori cautioned.

I am well aware of that. But it is a sound idea and one, once voiced, that cannot be taken back. These men are indeed desperate and they will go to whatever lengths it takes to acquire this list of potential lifemates. If we control the list, we can protect the women.

So be it.

"Once this information is acquired, however we do it, we have to make certain the guardian will stand against any and all who would force them to give it up." Mikhail took a careful look around the chamber to ensure everyone understood him. "These women are targeted for murder. We do not want to expose them to any more risk than they already are under."

"It's all part of the master plan to destroy our species," Nicolas said. "If our enemies can successfully eliminate our women and children, and all potential lifemates, all hope is lost and a good portion of our males will join their ranks."

"Do we pull back and protect ourselves by calling everyone back to the Carpathian Mountains?" Gregori asked. "We have a better chance of protecting our own by gathering together. Our enemies' numbers have increased and they are now running in packs." He indicated Nicolas. "We've had disturbing news all of you should hear, including reports of the vampires trying to open the shadow world so their dead can join their ranks against us."

Nicolas revealed the plot his brother Manolito had uncovered when he had awakened still partially in the shadow world after the attack on Shea. "The Malinov brothers have made an alliance with Xavier. We do not know if Razvan is part of their conspiracy or if he is a prisoner at this point. With the parasites Xavier developed, the vampires appear to recognize one another and yet can hide their presence from us. We can no longer trust that we can so easily detect an enemy."Gregori nodded. "The enemy has corrupted many of the jaguar-males. We'll be asking Zacarias and his brothers to act as emissaries and try to get those not already lost to join with us."

The silence in the room was broken only by the humming crystals. The news wasn't good. Mikhail eventually stood. "Many of you may have heard that Manolito has found his lifemate. She is lycanthrope. That species has always gone their own way, but they wield a lot of power and would make a tremendous ally. We need to locate them and send someone to convince them to join with us."