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Gabriel came running as his wife's voice rose an octave. His heart jumped to his throat as he saw Francesca on the floor cradling Skyler in her arms. The girl was sobbing.
"What is it? What happened?"
His wife lifted worried eyes to him. "I found her on the floor. She's hysterical. Something about Dimitri."
"He's turning," Skyler sobbed, clutching at Francesca's dress. "He's turning…"
"Hush," Gabriel soothed, bending over her. The eyes he turned to Francesca were dark with concern. "There must be some explanation."
"He's turning Gabriel ! I can feel it !"
"Calm down, we'll get to the bottom of this. It'll be all right …"
An explosion knocked Gabriel off his feet, sending him sprawling bodily over his wife and adopted daughter. As he rolled to a crouch, fangs lengthening, preparing for battle, he saw that the explosion had taken out the entire wall of his living room. Through the cloud of dust he saw the outline of a moving figure stepping through the threshold . As the cloud cleared he found himself staring at a young girl in jeans, long-limbed as a colt, with dark hair and disturbingly familiar blue eyes. And on the floor ---
"Dimitri !" Skyler cried out and scrambled to her feet to go to him.
Gabriel made a grab for her, restraining her forcefully. "Wait ! This could be a trap! It might not be him."
Their visitor turned to him. "You're right. It's not Dimitri. Not anymore. He's turning. Thanks to the lot of you."
* * *
Gregori straightened and looked up at his brother. He had materialized within seconds of the explosion, had been instantly aware of what was amiss. "He's definitely turning," he said to Gabriel, his voice grim. "She's not lying about that."
"And why would I lie?" said a long suffering voice just behind him.
Gabriel ignored her. "How long does he have?"
"Not long. Hours. Maybe minutes."
Aleksandra moved in front of Gregori, arms crossed. When she spoke her tone of voice did not reflect the fact that she was a teenager facing down two ancients, each of them at least double her size. "Satisfied?" she said to Gabriel.
The tall Carpathian ran his hands through his hair in agitation. "There's got to be some way…"
"We do have choices." The youngster seemed remarkably calm given the situation. " We can take his head off. Or Skyler accepts him as a lifemate. As in now. "
A small whimper drew their attention. Skyler, Francesca's arms wrapped around her, turned her face into her adopted mother's shoulder. Gabriel shifted distraught eyes to Dimitri's sister. "I can't force this on her."
A sudden swirling mist and a clap of power from behind Aleksandra made everyone turn. A figure materialized. It was Jaxon, sword raised, a look of utter shock on her face. There was an audible gasp as everyone, including her, realized she couldn't move.
"Put your weapon down," Aleksandra said mildly to the newcomer. "I'm not a threat to you. This isn't about you." An unseen force moved Jaxon away and settled her gently to the floor.
Suddenly Lucian's lifemate could move again but her first instinct was to reprise her attack in a charging rush. Gabriel called her name, telling her to stay back, but no sooner were the words out of his mouth when Jaxon was re-frozen, this time in mid-stride.
"Put your weapon down," Aleksandra repeated, an edge to her mild tone. "Before I rethink my not being a threat to you."
Jaxon's face went red with fury and the moment she was released she threw herself at the younger girl once more.
And missed completely as Aleksandra sidestepped so quickly and neatly noone even saw her move. Jaxon went sprawling and launched herself at the girl yet again. This time Aleksandra uttered a sigh and made the tiniest flicking motion with her forefinger, no more than it would take to flick away a bug. The blond woman literally went flying across the room and landed on the sofa on the opposite end, her breath knocked out of her. Aleksandra's eyebrows lifted just a bit and her reaction was audible to all on the common Carpathian wavelength.
As if.
Then she was turning back to Gabriel like nothing happened. She didn't notice – or didn't care --- that everyone was gaping at her. She didn't even seem concerned that Lucian had appeared, radiating waves of fury. "You were saying?"
Gabriel shook his head a little to clear it. He staved off his brother's rage with a raised finger, a gesture that spoke silently of the urgency of the matter at hand. Lucian backed off at once, though not without brushing Aleksandra's mind with his anger. To his shock, the girl flicked off his mental touch as easily as she had his wife's physical attack. She didn't even spare him a glance.
Gabriel spoke. "I can't force Skyler to accept Dimitri as her lifemate. She's been through too much and she's too young. She needs more time to get used to the idea."
"She's had plenty. Much more time than most."
Gabriel fell silent, knowing it was true. His gaze swung over to his beloved daughter, who turned her face into Francesca's shoulder again. He found himself shaking his head. "It has to be her choice."
Aleksandra's blue eyes, so much like Dimitri's, narrowed. "Let me put it this way. Do you really want a vampire warrior of my brother's battle calibre? Let me assure you he will be an outstanding vampire."
Gabriel swallowed. The only Carpathian warrior with a more fearsome reputation was Lucian, who himself was silent, soothing his humiliated wife. But he had made a promise to Skyler. He and Lucian both. With difficulty, he shook his head again. "It has to be Skyler's choice."
The girl's eyes flashed but she didn't bother to argue further. Taking a calming breath, she turned to Skyler. "Well?" she said softly. "What's it going to be, papa's girl?"
Skyler wavered under the icy blue gaze but she found her voice and her resolve. "I don't want to be forced to subjugate myself to a male. To anyone." Her gaze skittered to Dimitri's still form and her face crumpled for a moment. "He's so strong, so powerful, and I'm not. I'm not ready."
"You don't get it, do you?" Aleksandra raged. "What, are you dense? There is no time left. He's turning, damn you! You would curse my brother for eternity because you can't even fake a backbone? Stop whining and take a stand !"
Both Gabriel and Lucian closed in with a growl. Aleksandra did not move a finger but suddenly the legendary Daratrazanoff twins were immobile, unable to move anything but their eyes. Suddenly all in the room were immobile, except for Francesca and Skyler. Aleksandra's eyes flashed blue fire.
A moan came from the body on the floor and everyone's gaze shifted to Dimitri. Or what used to be Dimitri. His face had already begun to change, the jaw narrowing, the brow becoming more prominent, his other teeth approaching the length of his fangs. His visage rippled once more and he writhed, straining his chains to breaking point, an unholy keening issuing from his throat. Aleksandra went to him at once, her hand unsheathing a short sword noone had noticed at her hip, hidden in the leg of her jeans. Everyone gasped, realizing her intent.
"Choose, Skyler!" she roared.
Every ugly thing ever done to her flashed through Skyler's mind. Being subjugated. Controlled. Abused. Skyler turned anguished eyes first to the figure on the floor then to Aleksandra's unforgiving gaze. The pull she felt from the lifebond was fierce … but her memories were fiercer. Deeper. She had sworn to herself never to be that helpless again. Never ever to be in a position where she had no choice, no say. It would drive her back into the dark place. "I can't. I won't. Gabriel and Lucian promised me I would never be forced into this. I'm sorry…"
Francesca's eyes were full of horror, knowing that her daughter, with those words, was not only damning Dimitri but herself as well. She tightened her arms around Skyler, raising her hand to shield her daughter's eyes from the sight of her lifemate being beheaded by his own sister. Aleksandra, all her attention on her morphing brother now, raised the sword above her head. Time seemed suspended for a moment as she held it there, her expression unreadable, her mind closed to everyone. Then as the beast breaking through her brother shrieked she brought the blade down in a blinding arc.
All in the room staggered back as suddenly it seemed there was lightning without light, an explosion with no sound, a colossal wave of energy undulating from where it shouldn't have. Skyler screamed and Francesca held her tight, rocking her, squeezing her eyes shut as the light-that-was-not-light flared to sickening intensity and the wave of energy swelled with such force it knocked her over. Knocked everyone over.
Just as quickly, it faded . Everyone could move and they all felt the energy die off abruptly, almost like someone had flipped off a switch.
Skyler kept screaming in Francesca's embrace and Gabriel crawled to her, wrapping strong arms around them both.
"I can't feel him!" Skyler shrieked hysterically. "I can't feel him, Gabriel!"
Behind them Gregori had gotten to his feet and was walking with slow steps to where Aleksandra was on her knees beside her brother, her head down, hands braced on the floor as if to keep her upright. He frowned. Something wasn't right. He stooped beside the girl, took in Dimitri's still form. The warrior's features had returned to normal and he looked almost like he was …
Gregori gasped. Sleeping! Dimitri looked like he was sleeping and, by the gods, his head was still on his shoulders! He reached out and placed his hand on Dimitri's chest, finding a heartbeat steady and strong. He turned in shock to the girl, who raised glazed eyes to him. Her cheeks were streaked with bloody tears and she wiped at more blood flowing from her nose. "Will somebody shut her up?" she said wearily as Skyler continued to scream in the background. "She's giving me a headache."
It was a moment before a stunned Gregori could speak. "What have you done?" he said hoarsely. "What have you done?"