Thanks again for reading. Please let me know if you're enjoying the story. bambers;)

Chapter Twelve

For a split second Julian thought to go after Rafe, but as he listened to the fading sounds of Genevieve and Riordyn's heartbeats, he swiftly went into action. If he and his brother couldn't save them, Rafe would be lost as well. Although he feared what Rafe might do, whom else he might hurt now that he believed himself without hope, he couldn't dwell on it. He needed to focus all his energy on the two people who could bring Rafe back from the brink of madness.

"They need blood, Aidan," he uttered, and hastily rolling up the sleeve of his shirt, he cut into his wrist with one sharpened fingernail. With blood spurting from his veins, he held his wrist to Riordyn's mouth. "Take what I offer freely, cousin, in order that you may live."

"What if he is already vampire, Julian?" Aidan asked, concern evident in his voice as he, too, sliced open his wrist and held it to Genevieve's mouth. "You risk much when we already know he was so close to turning."

"I don't believe him to be vampire," Julian replied, digging though the rich soil with his free hand. "He was marked by a vampire in the same way as I was, and just as I deserved a chance to find a lifemate, so does he."

Mingling the healing soil with his own saliva, he worked to pack it into Riordyn's wounds. He worked tirelessly to save Riordyn, and continued to do so long after Aidan had closed his own wound and gently put Genevieve to bed to rest. Riordyn fought him at every turn, willing his own blood to seep through the healing soil packed into his wounds. He wanted to greet the dawn, but Julian couldn't allow it, not while Rafe still believed he had killed his brother and Genevieve.

You cannot heal me, Julian, Riordyn murmured in his mind, Take me outside so I may walk in the sun just once before I die.

If it is your wish to greet the dawn I will not stop you, but I need you to live long enough to save both Rafe and Genevieve.

I am dying because of my brother – what would make you think I would want to save him?

You've lived all these long centuries alone and apart from our people, hating everyone but Rafe. You sacrificed the time you could've spent searching for your own lifemate to protect his. I do not believe you would die now and let your enemies win.

Do not remind me of my own stupidity. A lazy grin pulling at the corner of his mouth, Riordyn's eyelids fluttered open briefly. I warned him he would not survive the taking of her blood again. I even tried to prevent it, making an exchange with her myself in the hope that your healer would show up and heal Rafe before he attempted to complete the ritual.

"You made an exchange with her?" Julian said aloud in sudden alarm. When Riordyn gave a subtle nod, Julian looked to Aidan who had unknowingly completed the third exchange with Genevieve. "We have a problem, Aidan."

"Rafe should be here for her," Aidan replied, heading toward the entrance to the tunnel. "I'll find him and bring him back."

"No," Riordyn spoke up, "his mind is too poisoned, you bring him back here right now and he will kill her."

"He's right, Aidan," Julian said, heaving a weary sigh. "He believes himself vampire. The only one who can heal him is Gregori, and he won't be here until a day after tomorrow. We both need to feed and then take care of her ourselves."

"You're forgetting that if he does believe himself vampire he could do something unforgivable if we don't find him."

"He will fight his instinct to kill," Riordyn rasped, struggling to push himself upward into a sitting position. "If he does not, I will be the one to find him and end his life – not you."

"We can't risk the lives of innocent people on the off chance your brother might fight his predatory instincts," Aidan argued, baring his lengthen incisors and glaring at Riordyn.

"I don't give a damn about innocent people; the only person I care about is my brother." Slowly he got to his feet, and staggered the distance to where Aidan stood. Baring his own fangs, he snarled, "You try to hunt my brother down – I will find you and I will utterly and completely destroy you."

"We will do what needs to be done," Julian interjected, understanding Riordyn's need to protect Rafe as he would do the same for his brother, yet at the same time could not allow him to threaten Aidan. "If he turns vampire, Riordyn, we can do no other but to stop him by whatever means necessary. My brother will not fight you alone."

"I've never backed down from a challenge." Riordyn drew himself up to his full height, an inch or so taller than Julian, and drew in a shaky breath. The color drained from his face as blood continued to seep from the wounds on his back and chest, but he refused to back down. "Come on, Julian," he coaxed, taking an unsteady step toward Julian, "I've taken your blood. I'll always be able to find you – and your lifemate."

Cursing under his breath, Julian looked to his brother. Aidan warned him against giving his blood to Riordyn, now he feared he'd made the wrong decision. He'd wanted to believe he could save his cousin from the dark mark of the vampire, and without any real thought he'd put Desari's life in danger.

"If you give me your word you will greet the dawn once Rafe is found and cured, neither Aidan nor I will go after him," he stated calmly, melodically, although every ingrained instinct screamed for him to put an end to Riordyn's life before he could turn. "If you do not agree, I will hunt you down myself and make certain you never hurt anyone."

Riordyn remained silent for what seemed the longest time, eyeing Julian. Even if he had every intention of greeting the dawn, Julian knew he wouldn't like the idea of being forced into it. Finally he gave a curt nod. "I have no hope of finding a lifemate so I will agree to your terms." He opened his mouth to say more, snapped it shut, and looked toward the bed when Genevieve let out a soft moan.

"R-Rafe," she whispered breathlessly, stifling an anguished cry. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she curled into a ball, and continued to cry. "Wh-where is he?"

Julian, Aidan, and Riordyn hurried to the bedside to comfort her. Riordyn slumped onto the mattress and gently gathered her into his arms.

"I am going to find him and bring him back to you, csitri," he murmured, brushing his fingers through her hair. "You will not have to go through the conversion on your own."

"Conversion?" Her green eyes narrowed in confusion.

"You're going to be one of us." He grazed his fingers along her cheek. "It will be painful, but when it is done, you will be Carpathian."

"No." Lips quivering, she shook her head. "Where's Rafe? I need him," she cried, eyes wild with desperation. She pushed out of Riordyn's arms, and dragged herself to her feet. Swaying slightly, she grasped hold of the bedpost for support. "I have to find him."

"You need to stay here. Riordyn will find your lifemate," Julian said, trying to help her back into bed. Soon the conversion would begin, and they couldn't afford to have her wandering around in the forest when it did.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Genevieve swatted his hands away, and stumbled toward the tunnel. Her head was spinning, making it nearly impossible to walk a straight line much less run away from the three Carpathian men chasing her, but she had to find Rafe. She raced through the darkened tunnel, only pausing a moment when she realized she could see everything clearly. The rough stone walls embedded with quartz and other crystals glittered as water dripped over them from the ceiling above. Up ahead the passageway forked, leading in two separate directions, and standing at the entrance of one of the two tunnels was Riordyn.

"Don't make me chase you, Genevieve," he called out to her as he leaned casually against the wall. Folding his arms across his chest, he grinned. It faded quickly to be replaced by a pain-filled grimace. "I need to keep my strength up to face my brother, and you're definitely not helping matters."

"Let me go with you," she pleaded, fearing if she didn't go with him, she'd never see Rafe again. The last thing she'd said to him was that he'd ruined everything they could've had together, and she needed for him to know it was a lie. "I have every right to go with you. He's my lifemate."

In a blink of an eye, he was standing in front of her. Eyelids fluttering, he wobbled unsteadily, and reached out to brace a hand against her arm. He trembled from loss of blood, but still somehow managed to look like a fierce deadly predator.

"He's dangerous, love," he murmured, and cupping her chin with his free hand, he lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "He believes himself to be vampire. I won't be able to protect you when you begin to turn, and the distractions you'll cause will more than like get us both killed."

"I feel fine, Riordyn," she argued, swallowing down her fears of what might happen to her when she turned. And the truth was other than a slight dizzy headache, she did feel fine. "If the two of us are looking for him, we'll find him faster."

"That would require me helping you down from this mountain which I don't plan on doing."

"I'll climb down myself," she replied with a defiant lift of her brow and tilt of her chin.

"Good luck with that," he chuckled, and sweeping her up in his arms, he raced through the tunnel to the mouth of the cave. Waving a hand at the almost sheer drop to the ground far below, he laughed again. "I haven't the strength to fly you to the forest below so unless you suddenly sprout wings of your own, looks like you're stuck here until I bring Rafe back."

"You can't –" her words died abruptly, replaced by a scream as he took a running leap and dived over the edge, plummeting head first toward earth.

Eyes wide, heart lodged in her throat, she watched him continue to freefall. At what seemed the very last moment possible, he transformed into a massive owl, spread his wings and took to flight. Even from where she stood at the edge of the cave's ledge, she saw he was having trouble staying aloft. As the owl flapped it expansive wings, trying to stay above the trees, bright red splotches appeared on dark feathers of its back.

Genevieve moved a little closer to the edge of the ledge, and peered down, trying to judge if she could make it to a small outcropping of rocks several feet below. She leaned out, grasped hold of a sturdy branch and was just about to swing down onto the rocks when someone wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her back into the cave. Jerking free of his hold, she swung around to glare at Aidan.

"We have to go after Riordyn!" she snapped, glancing back and forth between the two Carpathians. "He's hurt. If he faces his brother on his own, Rafe might kill him."

"I promised we wouldn't interfere," Julian said, studying her carefully. The more he watched her, the more puzzled his expression became. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine," she gritted out through clenched teeth. "Rafe and Riordyn are the ones you should be worrying about, not me!"

"That's the problem," Aidan interjected, slowly circling around her, "you exchanged blood three times, you should be starting the conversion."

"What if she can't be converted because of the poison in her blood?" Julian said, and now he, too, circled around her. "We should make Gregori aware of this."

"I've already contacted him," Aidan replied. "He will try to heal her blood once he arrives."

"Maybe you and I should try to heal her?"

"I was thinking the same thing."

"We'll need to feed first to regain our strength, and then we can begin," Aidan said, the two of them talking about her as if she wasn't even there.

"No one's going to try anything on me until Rafe and Riordyn are back here safe and sound," she huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "If the two of you won't help me, I'll go after them myself."

"Genevieve," Julian said in a soft melodic tone, "the best option we have to help both of them is if we heal you. If Rafe were to take your blood again, it would more than likely destroy him, and in doing that it would kill Riordyn as well. If it is truly is your wish to help them then let us try to draw the poison from your blood."