All present stared at her in horror of what she had to do, what she had become. Raven tried to move forward but something in Rayn's eyes made her stop. He eyes were filled with both despair and rage, neither was giving in and Rayn stood there, fighting a battle against the tears.
"Sweetheart-" Lucian started.
"DON'T! Do not EVER call me sweetheart out of pity." Rayn said through clenched teeth.
"I am sorry."
"Do not apologize. It shows weakness." Rayn said, masking her face to block out emotions. Her eyes hardened to look like black ice.
"What would you have me say then?" Lucian asked.
"Nothing. I would not force you to say anything you do not mean. All I ask is that when you do speak, you use the truth."
"Spoken like someone who has seen the horrors of men." Rayn turned to see a woman enter followed by a few others.
"I have seen far too much. More than I ever wanted to see and more than once it tempted me to seek the dawn but I knew there was still much to do, and I had to carry on." Rayn said softly to the females.
"I am Maryann and this is Savannah, Solange, Skyler, and Natalya." Rayn bowed to each of them in turn. "We are Lifemates of some of the men here."
"They don't keep you at home where it is safe and warm?" Rayn asked, sarcasm dripping from every word. If it offended any of the females, they did not show it.
"They sometimes try but in the end they see to our happiness first and sometimes forget everything else." Maryann said and smiled at the men.
"I would love to stay and chat but there are more evils in the world to go destroy." Rayn said and turned for the door.
"What is your name?" Raven asked suddenly.
"My name is of no consequence." Rayn said as she continued on.
"Why is that?" Gregori asked from the corner. Rayn paused, her hand on the cool doorknob, and she turned slowly to look back at them. Raven was shocked to see tears glimmering in Rayn's eyes. Rayn's whole face changed, it softened and became almost childlike.
"Because I don't matter." Rayn said softly and left the room quickly. She was headed for the front door when she heard Raven call after her. Rayn ignored her and sped up. She saw the night through the open door, it beckoned to her to seek safety in the folds of its shadows. She almost made it but the door swung shut before her and two arms grasped her so she could not mist. Rayn struggled as the tears continued to flow.
"Be still little one. No one is going to harm you." said the man holding her.
"Then let me leave. I need to leave."
"Not tonight. Tonight you will stay here." Rayn looked up to peer into his face and silver eyes flashed at her. His face was emotionless but his eyes held something she had not seen in so long. Instead of pity or contempt she saw sympathy. This paused her struggling as she was led back into the other room. He sat her on the couch and went to stand by Mikhail. All the while she never stopped staring at him, he was the first man she had known that cared or at least act like he did.
"What is your name?" Mikhail asked, his voice allowed for no argument but she did anyways.
"Why do you wish to know? Why is my name so important? What will you gain by knowing it?" Rayn asked curtly.
"I will gain the knowledge of your name." Mikhail said shortly. Raven hid her smile with her hand along with several of his hunters. Mikhail ignored them all and stared at Rayn.
"My name is Rayn. Rayn Silvain. I hardly know much about my heritage, I do hope you will understand." She said, sarcasm sewn into the last part.
"Where do you come from?"
"I herald from everywhere."
"Are there any family members left to you?"
"I do not know."
"Where do you live now?" Rayn glanced at Raven then at the silver eyed man, shame apparent on her face. Gregori nodded encouragement to her as if he knew what she was thinking and he knew what was causing her to hesitate.
"I do not live in a house. I sleep underground during the day and most of my nights are spent traveling and tracking."
"Then that is something we will help you with." Mikhail nodded to his men and most of them left. The only ones to remain were Mikhail, Raven and three others. "This is Lucian, Gabriel, and Gregori. He said pointing to each in turn. They each bowed to her in respect and She nodded to them with a smile. "They will help you in anyway."
"That is kind but I do not need help. I have carried on through life alone and will continue to do so. A sharp pain shot through her abdomen and started to spread.
"Shit!" Rayn thought. The parasites were left alone too long without her killing some of them off and they were multiplying past her endurance. She had to find a way out. She kept her face an emotionless mask.
"You may not want the help but I'm sure you will need them in some way. They will protect you while you are in our lands."
"That's nice. I have to go." Rayn said suddenly and stood. She tried to make it to the door but the pain was getting unbearable. She stumbled and fell against the wall and misted. Gregori started when he saw the smear of blood where her head touched the wall.
She shot through the house, hoping she could make it to the safety of the forest but it was not to be. The pain grew and she lost the image in her mind. She shifted and fell, she skidded and rolled into a large tree. Her sides heaved, trying to breathe through the pain. She curled into a ball and as the tears flowed down her cheeks, she slowly tried to kill the parasites bit to her horror there were too many. There was no way she could kill them in time. She pushed most of the pain aside and crawled towards the sound of running water. She found a pool of water that was cool and welcoming. She slowly sank into it. The water lapped at her and she tried to ignore the rising pain. There was a rustling in the bushes and undergrowth but she was too weak to react. She simply watched as Gregori came into the clearing, followed by Lucian and Gabriel. Mikhail brought up the rear.
"You are hurt." Gregori said. Rayn, through heavy eyelids rolled her eyes.
"The pain usually passes but there are too many." Rayn said softly, knowing she could not lie to this man, to do so was probably fatal.
"What?" Gregori asked as he lowered himself into the pool to fetch her. Whem he reached to her she went to him willingly; there was no more energy to be prideful.
"Parasites. I usually can keep them at bay but I went too long before doing a sweep. They multiplied too much and there is nothing I can do."
"You know, we, although being men, have some talents. Killing parasites is something I excel at."
"I thought it was being insufferably arrogant." Rayn said with a small laugh. That laugh turned into a squeak as the parasites spread farther. Gregori laid her down on the soft grass and the other three males stood around in a position that would be perfect to attack any enemies that approach. Gregori entered Rayn and he gasped at what he saw, her insides were scarred after so many years of parasite wounds. He quickly did a sweep and killed most of them and she joined in to help. Together they cleaned her bady of every parasite. And when Gregori left her he was grey and had to take blood from Lucian. Gabriel extended his arm to Rayn who politely declined.
"My father said to not take blood from a Carpathian unless he is your lifemate and sometimes even then." Rayn said softly. The men exchanged a glance andsaid nothing.
"Is this why you tried to leave my home?" Mikhail asked.
"Yes." Rayn said softly.
"There was no need. All you had to do was tell us and we would not have almost lost you." Mikhail said.
"Oh, so I should just go crawling to you with every problem I have? You can just make all the evil go away can you? Well hell I guess I had it wrong all those years. Damn I better go get my dress and heels so I can at least look good when my caveman returns right?" Rayn asked, a fiery rage burning in her eyes.
"No. I just-" Mikhail stammered.
"God, I can not do anything right around you can I? Well fuck you then." She screamed. Rayn misted and left, hoping to never have to return, but like is her life, it did not happen the way she planned.