Dark Nights Page 14

  She could see farms scattered, with great haystacks and patches of gardens struggling for life. Sheep dotted the mountainside along with some cattle and goats. A herder’s cabin sat here or there in the remote places higher up on the mountain and more than once she saw stray dogs poking around looking for food along dusty roads.

  Old ruins of a castle and a monastery along with numerous churches came into view. The country was beautiful and intriguing. Horse-drawn carts were no more than flatbeds in many cases with rails and car tires. The beauty of the countryside overwhelmed her as well as the simplicity of the villages.

  I love it here, she admitted. You were lucky to grow up in such a beautiful place.

  She looked up at him and her breath caught in her throat. She was half terrified and half fascinated at the shape Traian had assumed. He had the enormous wings of a huge owl, yet human arms held her against the soft, feathered breast. The feathers tickled her skin, and sent a shiver down her spine when she realized it was all too real. She closed her eyes trying to keep her heart rate normal, certain he would notice the difference if she didn’t. She was so aware of his every breath and couldn’t imagine that it wasn’t the same for him.

  I have been unable to see beauty in my surroundings for some time. Traian looked around him. You are right, it is beautiful. Thank you for giving me such a gift.

  Joie took a cautious peek around her once she had calmed her accelerated heartbeat. She was flying through the air with a man who could shift shape. Astral projection was cool, no doubt about it, but this—this was amazing. The sensation of the wind in her face, the way Traian could drop down low and skim the lakes and gorges. Everything, even the leaves on the trees were amazingly clear.

  I think you’ve given me a gift as well. I never thought to experience such a sensation. It’s far better than jumping out of an airplane.

  She felt his heart leap in his chest.

  You jump out of planes?

  With a parachute of course. I just don’t leap out and pray I’ll find a soft landing. Soft laughter bubbled up. Traian flew across the night sky, faced vampires, and shifted into birds, yet he was obviously disapproving of her jumping out of airplanes. How very ludicrous was that?

  You are a bit on the medieval side, aren’t you?

  Perhaps. There was no apology in his voice. Your need to do dangerous things has got to be curbed, Joie. You have no idea what you have saved me from. I cannot begin to convey to you how necessary it is that you live.

  Joie frowned. He was very somber. She could feel the utter sincerity in him. He was taking a roundabout way to the inn just to allow her the amazing sensation of flying and to really see his homeland. He might be a little on the medieval side, but he was also very kind and thoughtful.

  He was turning her inside out and she didn’t really have time to consider what was happening to her. She simply let him overpower her with his blatant sexuality, with the intensity of his personality, and the fact that like her, he was a warrior. He was strong enough to stand up to her and she could respect that—and him. She knew she had a strong personality. She automatically took charge in nearly every situation.

  Jubal, like her father, was far more laid-back. He would never run in a fight. He was always calm and reasonable and then he got the job done. Gabrielle was fierce in a lab. She was adventurous enough to go with her siblings and parents to high mountaintops and down into deep caves, but she was not aggressive in the same way Joie was.

  I’m going to drive you crazy, she confessed to him.

  I am well aware of that, Traian replied, amusement filling her mind.

  She couldn’t help but laugh too. I’m not certain I want you running around in my brain. The laughter faded. You know I nearly committed myself to a hospital because I kept hearing your voice. It was really disturbing when I couldn’t stop it.

  Traian frowned. It was that foreign to you? Even when you are able to speak to your brother and sister telepathically?

  That’s entirely different. We’ve always been able to speak to one another, but not anyone else. We just thought it was a Sanders sort of thing. My mom and dad can do it too.

  It could be considered arrogance to think that only your family was capable of telepathic communication.

  Joie found herself laughing again. I suppose you’re right. I definitely take it for granted in our family. We’ve always been that way.

  Both parents?

  She tried not to hear the suspicion in his voice, or feel it in her mind. He really had a prejudice toward mages. Yes, both parents. And we’re entirely human. I can show you my birth certificate and all my really bad school photos.

  I would be interested in seeing your bad school photographs, just because I am interested in everything about you. I cannot imagine you looking bad, especially as a little girl. You have grown into a beautiful woman.

  He said it so matter-of-factly, Joie couldn’t protest. Like most women, she felt far from beautiful, but it was nice to know he thought she was. She turned her face up to his and smiled. Thank you. I’m glad you think so.

  Lights from the inn lit the ground below them. Traian dropped to earth some distance from the building, where the shadows were deep. Music spilled out of the two-story building, floating out in all directions. People mingled on the wraparound verandah and on most of the balconies, some dancing, some talking, and others pressed close to one another.

  “The festival,” Joie said. “I forgot about it. Look at me—I’m a mess.”

  “You look beautiful to me,” Traian objected. “Which room is yours?”

  “Second story, third balcony on the left.” She grinned at him. “Are we floating?”

  “Is the window locked?”

  “That wouldn’t stop me. I have second-story skills.”

  His eyebrow shot up. “I am very impressed. I am a hunter and I am certain those skills could come in handy.”

  She narrowed her gaze, locking her fingers behind his neck. “They come in handy for a bodyguard. I do have a business, and I’m known to be one of the best.”

  “I’m sure you are.” He took her into the sky fast, enjoying the way she clung to him, tightening her arms and gasping as he shot up.

  Don’t you laugh at me.

  I’m not laughing.

  I can feel you laughing. You know, it isn’t normal to fly through the sky.

  It is normal for me.

  The balcony floor felt solid beneath her feet. She let go of his neck immediately. “Great, I would have to do this with a hundred people around.”

  “They cannot see you. I have shielded us from their eyes.”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “We’re invisible? Sheesh. Is your life easy or what? I wouldn’t mind being invisible in my line of work. No wonder vampires are afraid of you.”

  “They fly, and they can cloak their presence as well.”

  Joie pushed open the door to her room. “How perfectly charming of them. Where do they come from?”

  Traian followed her into the room. She heard his heavy sigh and turned around to face him. He definitely looked troubled, and very reluctant to answer her question.

  “I’m not going to like your answer, am I?”

  “Vampires are Carpathians who have chosen to give up their souls for a brief moment of power, the thrill of the kill—a rush if you will. Our males lose their emotions and the ability to see in color after the first two hundred years of existence. Some earlier, some later, but all of us eventually lose everything we hold sacred if we do not find a lifemate. Only one woman, the light to our darkness, can return those things to us. For several centuries now, our race has few women and fewer children. We are on the verge of extinction. There is little hope, and more and more of our males are turning.”

  Joie tried to take in the enormity of what he was saying. “There is only one woman who can restore colors and emotion for every male? Just one?”

  Traian nodded. “Only one. We can search centuries for her. If we miss one another, or we hunt and kill too long, the need to feel emotions, whatever that is, becomes too tempting and many succumb. Our choices are to turn vampire, or allow the sun to take us.”

  It was a brutally grim destiny. Joie removed her harness and carefully placed her climbing gear on the floor beside the closet. She removed her crampons and boots, grimacing a little as she saw the mud she’d brought in with her. She needed the time to digest what he was telling her before she managed to meet his gaze. There was compassion in her eyes.

  “How terribly sad for all of you. So you and the other hunters are forced to police the vampires. Even if they were once boyhood friends . . . or family.”

  He nodded, astonished at the wealth of understanding he read in her expression. She clearly saw what others did not: deep below the surface, every destruction of a childhood friend or cousin had cut pieces out of his soul until he feared there was little left. Yet her understanding, the compassion washing over him, changed something. He felt it, felt the first healing touch and the power a lifemate wielded.

  She stood there in her filthy clothes with mud smeared all over her face, and she was beautiful to him. A lump the size of his fist rose in his throat, and he turned away from her, afraid of allowing her to see the emotion threatening to choke him. How could she possibly understand what she meant to him?

  “I’m sorry, Traian. I know I can’t begin to understand what it must have been like, but I feel the weight of it in your mind.”

  More than that, she felt how alone he had been. The intensity of his pain shook her. His life had been stark. Ugly. Bleak. She caught frightening glimpses of scenes in his past. Terrible battles that lasted for hours. Severe injuries. Death all around him. No one to comfort him. No one to care.

  Joie closed her eyes briefly, overwhelmed by longing, by the need to wrap her arms around him and just hold him. Very slowly she removed her outer jacket. Although they hadn’t heated the room, after the cold of the mountain, she found it almost too warm indoors. She tossed her gloves on top of her jacket.

  “It is almost dawn, Joie. I will need to go to ground. I have lost too much blood and the wounds on my body require healing. There is no other way to do it quickly and the separation from me may be difficult for you. You will need to stay in this room where you will be safe.”

  “What do you mean, difficult?” Joie couldn’t help that her voice was filled with suspicion. Traian didn’t just throw things out there for dramatic effect. Clearly he was warning her about something she had yet to experience.

  “The pull between lifemates is very strong. You will not be able to reach me telepathically and yet your mind will insist on reaching for mine. You could, if not prepared, believe me to be deceased. My heart will cease to beat and my breath will still in my lungs while the rich soil of my homeland heals my wounds and rejuvenates me. It would be best if you allow yourself to sleep through the day. You are exhausted as are your siblings, who, by the way, are very anxious to reunite with you.”

  “I don’t think I’ll have any problem sleeping the day away,” Joie assured him. “I’m almost too tired to take a shower, and man, do I need one.” Exhaustion had definitely set in.

  “I can take care of that.”

  Joie didn’t know what she expected—perhaps for him to throw a bucket of water at her, but she ended up clean with a wave of his hand. It wasn’t as satisfying or as soothing as she found a very hot shower was, but she did feel clean. She sank down on the bed and passed her hand over her face.

  “Do what you have to do, Traian. I’ll survive.”

  “I will put heavy safeguards on your door and windows. No one will be able to penetrate those safeguards without you opening the door for them,” he warned.

  “I thought vampires couldn’t be in the sun.”

  “That is true, but do not ever think they work alone. They create puppets of humans, servants to do their bidding. They promise them immortality, but in the end, these puppets go insane and live off the flesh of mortals. They cannot be saved. They are abominations of nature with rotting flesh and brains. They will only do as their masters command. You cannot allow yourself or your siblings to fall into their hands.”

  Joie considered a smart-ass reply, but pressed her lips together. Traian’s world was fraught with more danger than she’d ever faced. It had become a way of life for him. He looked at her as if she was everything to him. While it was exhilarating and a little sexy, it was also very frightening. How could she possibly live up to his expectations?

  “If you can put safeguards at my door, can you do the same for Gabrielle and Jubal?”

  “Of course.” He glanced out the window. “I really cannot stay much longer. I will be here when you awaken. Give me your word that you will remain here waiting for me.”

  Joie nodded. “If that will give you peace of mind, Traian. I’m tired. I just want to see my brother and sister and know that they’re all right.”

  Traian crossed the room to stand in front of her. He reached down to take her hand and draw her close to him. “I know you are afraid of what is between us. In truth, for me, it makes perfect sense. Lifemates are natural to us, but it is not the same for you. If you wake without me, promise me you will not try to run from this. It is overwhelming for you. I want to be with you and see you through the fears of such a permanent and fast bonding, but I have no choice. I must go to ground before the sun is high.”

  Joie nodded. “I’m not going anywhere, Traian. I’m pretty good at facing things I’m afraid of. I’ve got Jubal and Gabrielle with me. We’ll be fine.”

  He cupped her face in his hands and lowered his mouth to hers. His mouth was a hot temptation, masculine and demanding. She felt her body going boneless as everything feminine in her reached for him, responding to his kisses. Joie reached up to circle his neck with one arm, leaning into his strength, still a little shocked that she could respond without inhibition to this man she barely knew.

  Sivamet—my love, he whispered. At long last I have found you.

  When he lifted his head, his dark gaze roaming her face she laughed softly and shook her head. “Technically, I found you.”

  His smile warmed her. “So you did.”

  Joie! Jubal’s voice was very demanding in her head. Gabby and I are coming to your room right now.

  Joie’s laughter spilled over. “I’m going to have to report all these voices running around in my head. I’ll let my brother and sister in and you get out of here. I’ll see you when I wake up?” It was definitely more of a question than a statement. Her heart stuttered a little at the thought of him leaving. She wasn’t a clinging woman, yet the thought of him going away made her body react physically. She kept her smile firmly in place. She would not be a baby and beg him to stay with her. Jubal and Gabrielle would be there any moment.

  Traian kissed her again. “No matter what, do not go downstairs without me and know that I will come for you.”

  Joie swallowed the unexpected protest rising and nodded her head. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry and her heart felt like a stone in her chest. “Be safe,” she managed.

  Traian glanced out the window toward the dawn streaking across the sky, kissed her again, and slipped outside onto the balcony. He raised his hands and began to weave a pattern, chanting softly, concentration etched into his face.

  I will safeguard the rooms of your siblings and then I must go. Your brother and sister are at your door. You will have to allow them in.

  She glanced at the door just as someone knocked on it. When she turned back, Traian was gone. Joie took a deep breath and with a trembling hand opened the door to her siblings. Jubal swept her up in his arms and Gabrielle put her arms around both of them. They held one another for some time. Joie remembered to kick the door closed after a few minutes of a long group hug.

  She looked over her brother and sister for scrapes and bruises. “You both got out unscathed.”

  “We fought a vampire,” Gabrielle declared, her eyes bright. “Jubal killed it and the darn thing has my ice axe.” She gave a delicate shudder. “Not that I want it back after sinking the spike into its head.”

  “Oh, my God, you fought one of those evil things and actually managed to kill it without Traian?” Joie was shocked. “They seem invincible.”

  Gabrielle sank into a chair, trying to cover a yawn. “It was Jubal’s bracelet. It doesn’t like vampires.”

  Jubal held out his arm for Joie’s inspection. With him dressed in a tee and jeans, his arms bare, the thick metal just looked like an ordinary bracelet. “This thing bears our family crest, Joie. And it kept me warm in the caves as well as lit the way and also cut out and burned the heart of the vampire. I have no idea how it happened. I didn’t direct it, the blades jumped out and began spinning and the metal warmed up as it unlinked from my arm.”

  Joie studied the innocent-looking bracelet. It would take a strong man with large arms to wear such a thing well. It looked as if it had been made for Jubal.

  “The staircase we went down was long and winding and carved of ice. At the bottom was a wall of symbols and stars,” Jubal said. “The secret password to open it was actually the Draco constellation.”

  Joie’s gaze jumped to his. “What are you saying, Jubal?”

  “I don’t know, Joie, but this is a pretty big coincidence that the bracelet came to me, bears our crest, and that the secret to the way out was the Draco constellation.”

  Jubal’s tone was matter-of-fact. Jubal rarely got upset or too excited. Gabrielle and Joie often joked that he’d never have a heart attack.

  “Do you think Dad’s family is somehow descendents of mages?” Joie could barely manage to voice the question. Had she not seen vampires and the other extraordinary things she’d witnessed through the long night, the question would have been ludicrous.

  “I think there is a possibility,” Jubal acknowledged. “We were always drawn to this region and Dad didn’t want us coming here. I think he has his secrets and maybe the tales he told us were truer than we ever suspected.”