On the other hand, Dimitri would not survive without Skyler. Now, more than ever, he needed her.
I'm sorry I got you into this, Dimitri. Centuries ago, he hadn't a clue what caused the change, although even then he'd suspected. He should never have gone to Dimitri, but the fight to stay honorable had become nearly impossible.
I went into it with my eyes open. You explained even then what the danger was in exchanging blood. I have to talk to Skyler about this, but before I do, I have to figure a few things out.
Don't make her decision for her. Tatijana was adamant that she had the right to make her own choice, and I have to believe that's true.
Skyler's young.
But she's powerful. And intelligent. Your instinct is to protect her, but don't just discount her because of her human age. She's not yet Carpathian . . . Fen broke off.
There was the real dilemma. Fen hadn't even considered the real problem. Skyler wasn't Carpathian. She was human. She hadn't been converted. If Dimitri converted her with his mixed blood, what would happen? Could he even convert her? Would it work? They didn't have an answer to that question. As far as they knew, it hadn't been done.
Now you see.
Still, there are ways around that. Gabriel or Francesca? Fen suggested her parents. He knew even as he made the suggestion that it wouldn't work. If Gabriel was already insisting Dimitri couldn't claim Skyler until she was much older, he would never aid Dimitri into bringing his daughter into an unknown, uncertain world. Okay, not either of them, but someone will help us. Perhaps Bronnie. She's Dragonseeker and I know Skyler has Dragonseeker blood in her. Isn't her birth father Razvan?
That would be a possibility. There was a grain of hope in Dimitri's voice.
There's always a solution, Dimitri. When you're too close to the problem and it involves someone you care about . . .
Love, Dimitri corrected. I love her with everything in me. I'd rather meet the dawn then expose her to something dangerous.
I hate to be the one to tell you: she was exposed to danger long before you knew she was your lifemate. The moment Gabriel and Francesca adopted her, they brought her into our world. Fen frowned. How did you manage to hold silver with the wolf already in you?
I burned my palm the first time I tried to use it, so I just coated my hands. That way Zev and the others wouldn't suspect anything.
That was Dimitri. Smart. No fuss.
We're making the approach, Tatijana warned. Do you want to change shapes just in case? We're very close to where I felt the warning.
Chapter 17
Fen touched Tatijana's mind. She didn't know. Didn't realize. The dragon had flown high into the misty clouds surrounding the upper part of the mountain. The dread was there, a feeling of revulsion, the need to leave. Tatijana had spent her life deep under this very mountain, in the ice caves of her father, Xavier, the high mage. She had never seen the outside of the mountain, only the inside. The mage spells were still intact and working to keep every species away from Xavier's laboratories.
He signaled to her to take her dragon to the ground. Dimitri, you know what this place is, right? The ice caves where she was held are below.
I knew that, but how did you know?
In the old days, Xavier was considered a friend to the Carpathian people. We all studied with him. That was how we first began weaving safeguards. I studied with him for years. No one had any inkling he was plotting against us, Fen explained.
I'm only a century behind you. I studied with him as well, Dimitri said. It was shortly after that he kidnapped Rhiannon of the Dragonseekers and killed her lifemate. Of course we didn't know Xavier had committed such treachery for some time.
Dimitri settled his dragon beside Tatijana's and Fen leapt off, landing in a crouch.
I cannot imagine Abel choosing to set up a lair in the caves of Xavier.
What of Bardolf. Although . . . do you think Bardolf would have been affected by the warning emanating from the mist? He would have no idea just how dangerous that entire labyrinth of caves really is.
Dimitri shifted into his own form as did Tatijana. Fen went to her immediately and put his arm around her. He leaned in to brush a kiss over the top of her head.
"Did you feel it?" she asked.
"Tatijana, there is every possibility that Bardolf might have chosen those caves to retreat into. Look at the mountain. Really look at it. Those caves were your prison for centuries." He held her while he delivered the blow, his mind firmly in hers.
For a moment she rejected the idea, her mind trying to protect her from the memories of the torture and death of so many she'd been forced to watch.
"Breathe, sivamet," he encouraged. "We're here with you. Xavier is long gone from this world and can't hurt you. You don't have to go in with us to check. You can monitor us from right here."
Tatijana had heard the screams of the dying, felt the weight of the dead-so many; Xavier had never discriminated between species. The only things that mattered to him were immortality and power. He thought himself above every other species and he wanted to rule. He wanted for himself the gifts each had and would stop at nothing to get them.
She had been forced to feed her blood to Xavier for centuries. When she and Branislava grew too strong and even keeping them anemic didn't help, Xavier kept them encased in ice in the form of dragons. They were his laboratory wall decorations, forcing them to watch every heinous crime he committed against humanity, Carpathians and every other species. They were helpless to stop him.
He had possessed the body of his grandson and violated women, impregnating them in order for him to find new sources of Carpathian blood. If the child was deemed unsuitable, as in Skyler's case, he sold them into a life of misery or simply abandoned them. He kept his grandson prisoner as well, torturing him with the foul things Xavier used his body for.
Tatijana could hear her own silent screaming and abruptly stopped, knowing her distress would pull Branislava to her. She had to gain control. Fen was right. She was safe-but he and Dimitri wouldn't be if they went into those caves. Xavier might be gone, but his traps and evil spells remained behind. She knew every mage spell ever conceived by him, as did Branislava, as well as where most of the traps were in areas visible to where she'd been held, but Fen and Dimitri wouldn't know.
She lifted her chin. "I'll go."
Fen slipped his hand down her arm until his fingers tangled with hers. "Perhaps you could fly your dragon for us and keep guard, just while we explore the outer caves for signs of Bardolf. If he's not there, there's no need for any of us to enter what was Xavier's domain."
She didn't know if it was being cowardly, but, relieved, she took that way out. "That makes sense. But, if you think he may have gone in, give me your word that you will call to me right away. There can be no untruth between lifemates. I need to face this with you, if Bardolf has gone in. With you and Dimitri, I know I can. If you leave me out and something happens to either of you, I would for all time feel as if I caused it through my cowardice."