Prologue
The shockwaves of violence shook the small community. Five men; all armed to the hilt with guns and archaic tools of superstition. The sun was high in the sky, the prime time to attack their self imposed enemy. No one would stand in the way of their objective; not human, nor psychic, and most certainly not the parents of the infant they stole from her crib.
The baby screamed her fear of the men, flailing her small arms and legs in a desperate attempt to escape them. The men skirted around the bleeding body on the ground. They would rather spend a little time making him suffer. The man gasped for air and grabbed at one of their ankles as they passed. "No." He said through the film of blood in his mouth.
The man kicked him away with a sneer. "Traitor."
"Let's go." The leader of the men said glancing at the sun high above them. "We have to get to the airport ASAP. Don't need to give these blood-sucking bastards a chance to catch up."
They sped through roads in their stolen cruiser. Pushing the limits of the car and themselves. The infant had exhausted herself from crying and fell into a fitful sleep in the backseat.
The men knew only one goal at that moment. To get to the drop off point before the sun set. An unknown presence urged them faster and faster as the sun started it's slow decent to the horizon. Demons seemed to nip at them, to chase their car as they raced against time. Fear grew in them but as much as the forest tried to stop them, they could not bring themselves to stop. They had to answer those insidious whispers. And the whispers demanded to have this baby.
They didn't even feel a breath of reprieve when they finally pulled into the small local airport. Only one plane was prepared to leave, a private jet with mysteriously lost paperwork. The pilot wasn't the usual face behind the controls but nobody seemed to notice. A man came out of the plane and met the other five on the runway. They handed the infant over to the new man.
He took the infant into the plane, not even flinching when he heard five simultaneous gunshots followed by the sound of all five men hitting the ground. He strapped the baby into a special seat and strapped himself into the co-pilots chair. "Let's get out of here before they blast us out of the sky." He said as mist startled rolling across the runway. The sun was still in the air but only just. The edge of the glowing orb had begun to warp and touch the horizon.
Clouds were building at an alarming rate. The pilot wasted no time to take off. The plane was pushed to go as fast as possible. To leave the Carpathian Mountains far behind them.
As the sun finally sank into the ground dozens of geysers of dirt exploded deep in caves and secret chambers all over the Mountain range. The mist grew darker and a storm swept up from nowhere to rage over the entire area. Everyone could feel the pure rage that rolled off of the mountainside.
Pairs of glowing red eyes streaked after the plane, desperate to catch it. But the pilot was heading west, towards the sun, and they couldn't pursue it through the harsh sunlight.
A beastly roar shook the mountains to their very core, beneath the roar a wail of despair.
Mist streamed into the house that still echoed with tremors of violence. The mist shimmered and three tall figures stepped out and into the open. A man with pained black eyes surveyed the room before kneeling next to the gasping man. A woman with long black hair and deep blue-purple eyes bit back a sob. The man spared her a glance before reaching out to grab her hand in his.
He pressed a gentle kiss to her hand. "We will get her back, Raven." He whispered, almost too low even for them to hear. "I swear it." Raven nodded, biting back her sounds of despair.
The man held onto her hand as the second man knelt next to him. The second man had slashing silver eyes and a grim look set on his stony face. He rolled the wounded man over and took in the six neatly placed holes in the man's chest. The man gasped again, struggling to breath through quickly flooding lungs. He turned his eyes to the first man desperately. "Mikhail! I…I'm sorry…I…c-couldn't-"
"Hush now." Mikhail whispered the command. "We know you tried. And we are grateful for that."
Mikhail exchanged a glance with the silver-eyed man. He will not survive, Mikhail.
He must, Gregori.
The silver-eyed man was silent for a moment. Then he must be converted.
The man coughed, "Oh…great…you t-two are…talking…talking t-to each other…right? Th-that can't…can't be g-good."
Mikhail spared the man a glance and put a hand on his chest, easing his breathing ever so slightly. "There is only one was to save you, Gary. But we must convert you to do so."
"The life of a Carpathian is not easy. Especially for our males." Gregori said quietly.
Gary coughed a bit and closed his eyes. They could tell he was listening to something. Most likely a sweet voice in his mind, begging him to survive. Gabrielle had made her attachment to Gary quite clear. Gary coughed again. "Alright."
Gregori nodded and swiftly took control of the situation. He seized Gary's mind with his own, keeping the man tethered to life. He instantly exposed his wrist and sliced it open with a sharpened nail.
As Gregori dealt with Gary, Mikhail straightened and wrapped a comforting arm around Raven's slim waist. She is alive my dearest. And we will get her back where we will never let her out of our sight again. His words were a butterfly's wings inside her head but they did little to alleviate the grief.
Dozens of voices rose in outrage at the kidnapping. Voices of family and friends, companions, artists and warriors, men and women. They all could feel the despair ripping at Mikhail and Raven. The knowledge had been shared and spread to all of their people. Almost as one voice they all swore to do everything within their considerable power to ensure that the infant was back with her parents safe and sound.
The infant's name was spread through the community. The stolen child, Jaxon Dubrinsky, Third child of the Prince of their people Mikhail and his lifemate Raven. Every second that ticked by, every heartbeat that passed was another moment that Jaxon got further away from them.