"Does he take blood the way a vampire does?" She winced at the question, afraid she was insulting him, but she needed to know. While trying to avoid the hunter's gaze, her glance fell to Ben, and she dropped quickly down to check on him. Ben's eyes were glazed over and he swayed as he sat on the ground. "Is he okay? What did you do to him?" she asked.
Dax answered, his diction without hesitation as if he'd always known her language. "He is perfectly healthy. He has minor cuts and bruises. Nothing worthy of your concern." When she looked unconvinced, he added, "I have put him into a meditative state to calm him. He was becoming quite agitated, and he could easily have hurt you or the others without intending to do so. But you are all perfectly safe now." As if that should put all her fears to rest, the hunter turned away and began speaking with Jubal in his ancient language.
She looked Ben over. He was breathing, and just as the hunter had stated, other than a few cuts and bruises, Ben appeared perfectly unharmed. But it was like the man was sleeping with his eyes open.
"I understand, thank you, Jubal." Clearly finished with whatever private conversation he'd been having with Jubal, Dax had changed back to English.
She didn't care if the hunter got angry, she couldn't allow Ben to be in such a state, not when he'd come to her rescue so often. "Let him go." She turned toward the hunter. "Let him go right now."
He released Ben so quickly, the unconscious man rocked forward, almost falling onto her. She put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, a little shocked that the hunter had complied so quickly.
Coming to, Ben looked like he had just awakened from a long nap. He actually yawned. "Wow, that was some dream." Ben smiled at her, totally relaxed as his gaze wandered to the half-naked, badly wounded man standing behind her. His smile faltered. His gaze traveled up Dax's impossibly torn body to his beaten and bloody face. Then Ben just froze, his mouth open, his eyes wide with renewed terror.
"Ben. Ben, it's okay." Riley grabbed his face with both hands, forcing his shocked gaze to hers. "It's over. Everyone's okay."
Ben gave a choked sound, like a scream pinched off before it could gain volume.
"He's not going to hurt us." She forced a smile. "Look. See?" She stood slowly and put a hand on the hunter's upper arm. Rock-hard muscle bunched beneath her fingertip and shook with a small tremor she would have missed if she hadn't been touching his skin directly. For a moment pain slammed into her, taking her breath. Just that fast it was gone, leaving her feeling slightly ill. "Everything's okay. You're okay. You're safe now."
"It would be much simpler and more effective just to keep him under my control," the hunter murmured close to her ear.
She shivered at the melting richness of his voice, then scowled, refusing to look at him. "Don't you dare. If you are one of the good guys, like Jubal claims, you'll leave him alone."
"If that is your wish, I shall, but your safety, palafertiilam, is now my first concern. The moment this human's fear puts that at risk, he will go back under my control. Does this please you?"
Riley drew in a deep breath. Even looking at him was difficult. What was it that pulled her toward him like a magnet? She needed to push him away from her, to get some perspective.
"My mother's dead, some ancient evil we were sent here to contain has escaped into the world and I'm standing in front of a man who can change from a dragon to a man, dodge bullets and control people's minds at will. Nothing about this situation pleases me!"
His eyes filled with genuine sorrow. "I am sorry I was not able to save your mother." He lifted one hand to the side of her face and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ears. "More sorry than I can express. I know what it is to lose someone you love."
Her whole body ached to lean toward him, to let him wrap those impressively muscled arms around her and envelop her in his strength. Riley fought the instinct, but it took considerable effort.
She allowed herself the luxury of looking at him, uncaring that she was so attracted to a being that clearly wasn't human. She saw pure strength, and power. She couldn't help but notice that. The way he moved was so careful and precise, so fluid and effortlessly graceful, like a giant, predatory jungle cat. When he stood still, his dark, burnished skin seemed to shimmer with flashes of iridescent scarlet, as if the dragon he had been was still there, waiting for its chance to be free. Her gaze fell to his chest. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and the rippling muscles that bunched beneath his skin held her attention captive.
As she looked down, she caught her first unobstructed view of his chest.
"Oh, my God." There was a hole over his heart, as if someone had taken a pickax to his sternum. The wound should have been gushing blood. With a wound like that, he should be dead. Instead, it was as if something had closed off the blood vessels, leaving only trickles of red seeping from the gaping cavity. She turned a horrified gaze toward the others. "He should be dead with a wound like that! How is he not dead?"
"Carpathians can be killed. It just takes a lot more than it takes for a human. They can control their heartbeat, their blood flow, the functions of their internal organs, just about everything," Gary explained.
"But Dax isn't going to last long in this state without healing," Jubal added. "This part is going to be hard for you to comprehend, Riley. Dax needs to pack those wounds with earth and he needs blood to replace all that he's lost."
"You mean he's got to suck someone's blood?" She took a half step away from the Carpathian. "He's got to drain one of us to survive?"
"Carpathians take only what is needed," Dax explained hastily, clearly making an effort to still the rising distrust in her.
"Carpathians have lived for centuries in harmony with humans," Jubal added quickly. "Please, there will be time to explain everything later. For now, we need to help heal Dax. If that vampire released from the volcano comes back-"
"He will," said Dax.
"-we're going to need the hunter at full fighting strength."
"Do not fear, sivamet," Dax said, and the soft, husky timbre of his voice ensnared her once again. "If it comes to it, I will die before allowing Mitro Daratrazanoff to hurt you, but it would be best for all if I faced him in full health."
Her gaze dragged back up his torso, pausing as it reached the terrible wounds gaping in his flesh.
"Can you really heal him, Jubal?" Her voice didn't seem like her own, and neither did her reaction. For reasons she didn't understand, the sight of the man's terrible wounds was almost more than she could bear. The thought of his pain horrified her on a deeply personal level-affecting her as viscerally as the sight of her mother murdered before her eyes. She couldn't bear the thought of this man suffering, and she didn't know why. She was certain that brief glimpse of agonizing pain had been his.