Chapter 4

The opening to the cave was dark and damp. It posed not to be a problem for Cat and Addrick because they could see perfectly even in the darkest of places. Addrick took no chances though. There was something definitely off when he lowered Cat and himself into the belly of the cave. There was a soft dripping of water in the distance and the pattern of the fall made you want to join along by tapping your finger. It took a great concentration for Addrick to stay focused on his task.

Very slowly he inched his way forward while holding Cat's hand in his own. The walls shined like polished gems and the dripping was starting to get louder. "Cat, tell me how far into this cave did you actually go?" Addrick probed the question to her, fishing for an answer he was looking for.

"Actually I don't know how far I went in. When I opened the cave my head started to feel a bit fuzzy and I think I had lost my train of thought." Cat took a couple of more steps behind Addrick following his every movement. "I almost didn't remember where I was when my dad called for me to come home. When I turned around to go back to the entrance, that's when I found the stone. So I scooped it up and hurried back to the entrance. Why do you ask?"

Addrick stopped short and smelled the air around him. He was starting to remember what his dad had told him about booby traps of the mages and ancient vampires. They had a technique to hypnotize their victims using a pattern of water drips. Cat, stay focused on the sound of my voice and don't listen to the dripping water. We shouldn't be here.

What's wrong? What do you sense that I don't? She was a bit worried now. She knew this look that Addrick was wearing. What could be so wrong about an ordinary cave? She started to try and solve the puzzle when her head started to fuzz up again. The water was getting louder in her head and all she wanted to do at that moment in time was walk towards the sound. Her body started to move deeper in the cave and her eyes turned cold with a glazed stare.

Addrick tried staying focused to the uncertain danger around them and not the sound of the water when he felt Cat pull on his hand. Cat, where are you going? But he received no answer. She was still pulling on his hand when he looked at her face and realized she was in a trance. Great, Cat. The one thing I ask you to do and you go and not listen.

He scooped her body up and cradled her against his chest. He only took one step towards the mouth of the cave when he heard a low warning growl deep in her throat. Addrick looked down to see his best friend with flames and anger in her eyes. She jumped out of his arms and began her quest to enter deeper into the cave.

Oh no you don't, Cat. We need to get out of here. He grabbed for her arm again when she flared around and grabbed a fist full of his shirt underneath his chin.

"Let me pass." Her voice was dark and husky. A surge of strength burst through her and she threw Addrick against the closest wall.

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Back at Catharine's home, Nicolae laid with Elena resting in his arms. They had truly out done themselves this rising and couldn't seem to find the energy to begin the normal events of the evening. Yes their daughter had truly given them the best gift in the world.

A flutter of uneasiness came over Elena and she sat up slowly, clutching the blanket to her chest. She looked around the room and felt a shiver run down her spine.

What is wrong, love? Nicolae said as he sat up beside her and caressed his hand against the small of her back.

"Something is not right, Nicolae… I can't put my finger on it but I feel cold like there is a blank void in my heart."

That struck Nicolae a bit odd so he merged fully with her and closed his eyes. Panic raced through his blood stream as he scrambled to his feet and dressed himself in the way of his people. He knew that feeling. It was the same feeling he felt when he was hunting the vampire. Only this feeling had overwhelmed someone very close to him…his only child.

He was racing for the door to their bed chamber when he sent the call for Catharine. He got no answer but felt the cold void in the place of his daughter. Elena, get dressed and stay here. Stay alert and keep calling out to Catharine, and do not answer any call for any reason if you get that feeling again.

What's wrong, Nicolae? Where is my baby? Nicolae paced back to his lovely lifemate and placed both his hands around her face. Catching tears with his hands, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"I will bring her back, love. Make no mistake about that."

She knew what he said was as good as done. So she wiped her face clean and dressed herself with the bravest face she could. Keeping pace close behind Nicolae wasn't hard as he hurried to the front door of their home. And then she watched as he dissolved into mist and trailed off in the direction of where he last saw Catharine. She sent up a silent prayer and began calling her daughter through their mind connection.

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Nicolae flew past trees and open fields searching for his daughter. Her mind was in trouble, but he couldn't follow the cold voided path. She was going to be in so much trouble when he got her to safety.

This wasn't making any sense. He formed back into his physical form and stood firmly on the ground. The edge of the hillside he stood on was the exact spot he traced the void too, but he couldn't get a feel for anything else.

Damn it, Catharine. Tell me where you are this minute. He still had no answer. Now he knew she was in trouble. She would never disobey a direct order from him no matter how hard she tried. It just wasn't in her nature.

He scanned the ground below his feet and searched for any sign of her. He couldn't detect any life forms below the ground and nothing was making sense to him. He ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration and paced back and forth trying to find a trace of her through the night sky. That was when a bright green ponytail caught his eye and he bent down to pick it up. He examined it and knew it was hers. Now he knew she was here somewhere, but where?

He called out to Gregori and sent him the information he had gathered thus far. Gregori replied within seconds and hurried to Nicolae's aid.

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Addrick was completely shocked. Cat had seemed possessed and he wasn't able to reach her on any level. He had no choice but to call for his father for help. He was going to be in so much trouble, but he hated to think of what kind of trouble he would be in if he didn't call for him.

Father, I need your help. A shiver ran down his spin as he raced to pin Catharine from movement. He knocked the wind out of her, as he rushed her face down to the ground, and felt his heart breaking. He couldn't stand to hurt her, but he had no choice in the matter. She was out of control and he had to brace her until he got some help.

Addrick, I am on my way. Catharine's father is with me now and we need to know where you are. I can't sense you or Catharine anywhere.

Addrick sent his father the information about the cave and the location right before Catharine started to bite and dig into Addrick's arm with her incisors. Hurry, dad! I can't hold her much longer!

No sooner did he say the words, Cat had silenced and stilled under his touch. She was shivering from the damp cold of the cave and she had no idea where she was. The taste of blood swarmed her mouth like a warm honey and a heavy weight was on top of her, pressing her chest into the ground. She couldn't breath and a new wave of panic and nausea washed over her as she feared about who was on top of her.

Addrick sensed her presence in his mind and he leaned down close to her face. "Cat? Is it you?" He held his breath and waited for her answer.

"Of course it's me you big oaf! Get off of me before you crush my lungs! I can't breathe!"

He let go of his grip on her and pulled her up to the safety of his chest. "I am so sorry, Cat. Something strange happened to you and I thought I lost you." He was close to tears when he heard voices coming towards the back of the long cave. "Cat, stay behind me and merge yourself fully with me now." His command was sharp and stern. He could not lose her to the weird possession again. She just wasn't strong enough to fight it off herself. Gripping her hand tightly he started to back both of them up to the opening of the cave when two young vampires rounded the corner to face them.

Addrick and Catharine froze in their place and watched the cold beings stare at them. At least they looked as if they were staring at them, because the one on the left started to scan the immediate area and sniff for some kind of intruder. It was odd that they didn't come towards Cat and Addrick with an attack. Addrick tilted his head to one side and continued to move to the side of the cave wall.

Not once did the creatures look at either Catharine or Addrick as they moved. They almost acted as if they couldn't see or sense their presence at all. Addrick sent the new information to his father and shared his sight so his father could see what he saw.

Gregori shared his sight of the events with Nicolae. This was completely out of the nature of the vampire. They would have attacked the two by now. Addrick, don't move. We are right above you now.

Addrick obeyed his father and pinned Catharine to the wall behind him as he placed his body as a shield in front of hers. The vampires didn't even sense the movement. This was just getting stranger and stranger by the minute.

The being on his immediate right hissed and spit through his blackened teeth. He pointed to the ceiling of the cave and signaled his partner. "Hunters." The word was a warning and they sped back deeper in the cave to avoid a conflict. They obviously sensed Catharine's and Addrick's father, but why couldn't they even sense or see them when they were right out in the open and in front of them?

The mouth of the cave opened up and Gregori called out for his son. Both Addrick and Catharine came through the opening before it was closed back up. The adolescents laid on their backs as their fathers' looked down at them expecting some answers.

Nicolae gathered his daughter up and searched her for damage. When he was sure she was ok he grabbed both her forearms and shook her gently. "Why did you not call for me?! When we get home you have a lot of explaining to do."

Nicolae and Gregori looked at each other and thought the same thing. They had to find out what was going on with their children and their new discovery. Their find was certainly no coincidence, and they hand to solve the puzzle before they were placed in an even greater danger then they were already.

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Elena sat at the kitchen table with Savannah, waiting for their children and lifemates to return home. They had received word that everyone was ok and that they would all be coming back to Nicolae's home to counsel their kids.

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours when they heard footsteps on the front porch. The door creaked open and two heads peered in. Both women jumped to their feet and ran to cuddle their kids in their arms. Not once in their lives had they thought about a vampire putting the lives of their children in danger. They all thought that vampires had been long gone from these mountains. It would be a death wish for any vampire to come to the Carpathian Mountains. There were simply too many hunters here to protect the Prince.

Elena gripped her daughter's face and kissed her out of frustration. "I want you to take Addrick to your room and wait for your father and me to call for you."

"But, mom, I need to explain myself…It was all my fault. Addrick had nothing to do with this." Catharine was panicked now. She didn't want to get Addrick into trouble for something she coaxed him to do.

Addrick placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head for her to stop. It warmed him immensely to known that she was willing to take the fall for him, but he would never allow her to do such a thing.

"Addrick, I think it is best if you join Miss Catharine upstairs. Her parents and your mother and I need to have a talk." Addrick wouldn't dream of disobeying his father. He knew people were intimidated by his father, and that he struck fear into the hearts of most people. But since Addrick was a small child, he couldn't help but admire and look up to his father as a hero. He had already learned so much from him through everyday lessons and even through punishments like this.

"Alright, dad." Come on, Cat lets get upstairs before our parents embarrass us more. She turned to face him and he draped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her as they headed for the stairs. Both Addrick and Catharine could feel their parent's eyes staring at them as they ascended up to the upstairs corridors.

When the two were out of sight both Nicolae and Gregori turned to their lifemates and shared the same expression. Savannah was the first to speak. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should separate them to find out if what we suspect is in fact true. It might just give us the time we need to hunt out the old mage caves, because it seems we have an underground colony of vampires in our own back yard." Gregori spoke to everyone, looking for any kind of input, but found none. Elena wiped a stray tear away from her face and shook her head.

"I don't like the idea of separating them. It would break Catharine's heart to lose him…but I think you may be right Gregori. They are becoming too attached to one another and the separation will only confirm if what we suspect is actually true or not." She started to weep softly. "How do we tell them?"

Gregori was silent for a moment. He walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness. "We don't tell them anything. I will send Addrick to an area outside of Rome, and then explain to him the importance of solitude during his time there while he is on assignment." He walked back over to his lifemate and placed his hand at the nape of her neck to massage the tension away.

"Then after the threat is gone from our lands here, you should think about sending Catharine someplace in Rome. If I am not mistaken, I think I remember her talking about her dream to go to a college." He looked to Nicolae to confirm.

Nicolae glanced at his lifemate. "He is right. If it is meant to be then they will find each other again…and then we will know for sure. Right now their relationship isn't healthy. Catharine is of age now and already our males are anxious to meet her. If she is a match to any of them we will have a big problem separating those two." Everyone in the room looked up at the stairs and just wished for more time. But their time was up and their children were indeed grown.

Savannah grabbed Gregori's hand and headed towards the stairs. "Now all we have to do is break the news to them."

(Author's note.)

Wow! i am so glad everyone is likeing it so far! Thanks for all of your reviews. While typing up this chapter i thought up some yummy and very interesting plots. Unfortunatley i can't reveal them till later, but i left some great clues!

Hope you all enjoy!

Faithfully Submitted,

Ashley