Chapter Two

"In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony."

- Eva Burrows

___

"I want to help her so badly. Please, let me help her. Give this vacation and me a chance to save her state of mind…"

Marach stirred. Something was disturbing his sleep. A quick assessment of his injury found that he wasn't fully recovered. So why was he awake? No...Someone was speaking to him, but how? He had gone to ground to heal his wound.

Distress beat at him mercilessly. It was confusing because he was supposed to feel nothing, as an unclaimed Carpathian male should. And yet, for quite a while he'd been plagued by distressing waves of sorrow and hopelessness. Now…now he could place this feeling. It was who had spoken. A woman was feeling it.

It took a great amount of self-control to keep Marach in the ground. A woman…if this was the case, then this might be his lifemate. That which he'd waited all this time for. It had to be. Why else would he be feeling some strange woman's sorrow so profoundly?

But…he couldn't help her. Even whilst buried in the ground he could sense that she was far, so far away. He recognized that he'd felt her distress overtime. Unconsciously he'd beckoned her to him. His body, his soul had called out to her without his knowledge and tried to pull her to his side. He wanted to ease that suffering and yet he didn't know how. Only now he could plainly hear her voice. It was beautiful, and yet so sad.

Come to me. It was a blatant order, but Marach kept the compulsion as soft as possible. She couldn't possibly hear his words at their distance, but she could feel the need, the compulsion to come. Come to Europe and find me. Come to me…

He went back to sleep, only to be awoken sometime later; he didn't know when. But he knew. She was there. Not necessarily in the country, but she was on the continent. That was closer than she'd been before. Come here. You must come to me. Come to me and find me. I will help you, as you will help me…

It was gradual; it took such a terribly long time. Marach kept drifting off to sleep and waking up. He never knew how much time passed but each time he could feel her getting closer and closer to him. Sadness still radiated from her, but with that was excitement. She was on an adventure, or something, and wanted to have fun. But she was barely having any. Whatever—whoever was causing her pain had come with her. He reached out with his mind, wanting to connect with her. But he was too weak and she was still too far away.

But he could…ah; there was familiarity in this pain. She knew the person hurting her very well. A relative…sister? Her sister was hurting her? Marach frowned and reached out further, even though it was costing him much-needed energy. Her pain was becoming intolerable and it infuriated him that someone of her blood was causing this. He reached out, looked—there. The connection to her sister. They weren't necessarily psychics, and a stab of worry coursed through his body. Something was peculiar about these two, but it wasn't a psychic ability. No matter; he wanted to stop her pain and if it meant distancing her sister from her, so be it.

He entered the link between the two and quickly withdrew, unable to catch his breath. His lifemate was feeling a great deal of pain, but it easily paled in comparison to this sheer emotional agony. Something, something horrible had happened to the sister. He was inwardly glad she was not his lifemate; such misery would drive him insane. How could his lifemate stand it?

Come to me, he ordered her more fiercely. Come to me and bring your sister if you must. But more than anything you must come to my side as quickly as possible. I cannot come to you. I cannot protect you yet. But come to me immediately.

Marach froze. Wait…the vampires. Cassander and Parn would be coming after him once Cassander healed from his injury. If they knew his lifemate was on the way, they could go after her. No, not could…they would and will be coming after her, and no doubt her wounded sister.

Listen to me. He kept his tone soft, his compulsion gentle. You must come to me right away. But you are not safe. You won't be safe until I fully heal. Watch yourself and watch your sister. Arm yourself as best as you can and never leave your group alone. If anyone tries to push at you as I am, ignore them. Listen only to me, because you are mine.

Marach left his compulsion with her and pulled back into himself. He was exhausted and still wounded. He needed a greater amount of time to heal and the urgency to hasten healing was enormous. She had come; his lifemate was finally on her way. She was carrying an unnecessarily large amount of emotional baggage, but she was here. She was real and she was coming to him.

___

"'Sensory testing involves an accurate understanding of the anatomical pathways of sensation. All modalities of sensation travel by the peripheral nerve and sensory root to the spinal cord or via the cranial nerves to the brainstem. The fibers for pain and temperature sensation enter the posterolateral aspect of the spinal cord, travel cranially for a few segments and then cross to the opposite anterolateral spinothalamic tract'."

A loud burst of laughter startled Izzy out of her studying trance. She sighed heavily and closed her textbook, Essential Neurosurgery by Andrew H. Kaye. The other people in her tour group could be so obnoxious, especially when they got drunk. It was embarrassing at times to have to be around them.

She glanced across the table. Serenity was sitting silently in front of her, staring down at her uneaten plate of food. "Aren't you hungry, Serenity?"

"…Not really," Serenity said quietly.

"Well…how about taking a couple of bites? You'll insult the hosts if you don't touch anything."

Serenity said nothing to this, but she reached forward and picked up her fork. She reluctantly ate a few mouthfuls and that allowed Izzy to relax a little.

Thirty days. That was how long their vacation was. Paris, France to Athens, Greece, ten countries and twenty-five cities. It was very fast-paced and busy, and Izzy preferred it that way. So long as it was busy there was less of a chance of Serenity wandering off on her own. It'd cost Izzy a fortune to book this tour at the last minute, and their parents had paid a great of it. She hoped and she prayed that this would be the incentive to help Serenity.

Only…it didn't seem to be working. Serenity didn't care about Paris or Vienna or Milan or Berlin or anything in the tour so far. She traveled as though she were in a trance, reacting to nothing and no one. She no longer cried uncontrollably, but her eyes were always red as though she were on the verge of tears.

Izzy knew Serenity creeped the other twenty tour members out with her silence and forlorn nature. She was also the only one out of them who continued to wear long sleeves and sometimes sweaters, even though it was summer. But it was the only thing that could cover up her scars and fresh injuries. It was still disconcerting though. Even now, in this willowy town in eastern Romania, the tour group sat apart from Izzy and Serenity in this tiny restaurant. Serenity, who liked being in groups, didn't react to them or engage in them. She was almost acting like a child being forced into a difficult task.

Serenity…Izzy clenched her fists into her lap. Less than a week was left in their trip and Serenity showed no signs of improvement. Why can't you at least try to be happy? I've gone to so much trouble to help you, spent more money than I can afford, and none of it seems to matter. Oh God…I want my sister back…

Izzy relaxed her hands and brushed her copper hair out of her face. No…it wasn't fair to be so hard on Serenity, especially since she wasn't having a good time, either. Ever since they touched down in Paris there's been this…urgency deep inside her. She was very happy with the fast-pace, because it meant they could keep moving. But she didn't understand why. She wanted to enjoy each city she was in, and yet as each day past she became more anxious. More and more the urge to go further east came to her until it was nearly an unstoppable force. At times when she wasn't praying for a miracle for Serenity, one thought possessed her: Get to Romania, quickly, go to Romania. By why? This was one of the tamer countries on their tour and the country itself had never really interested her. So why was it so important that they get to Romania?

Well, they were there now. Izzy thought this would ease some of the anxiously, but being there in the country only made things worse. It was as though the feeling of movement consumed her all the time; that her mind kept saying Go go go. But go to what? What was here for her? She didn't speak the language and all she wanted to do was help Serenity.

She rubbed her other hand on her thigh and her fingers encountered a cylinder object. Somewhere between the Austrian and Hungarian border she had this horrible feeling that Serenity and she were not safe, not even in their large tour group. Once they passed over into Hungary she found a shop that sold self-defense items and bought herself and Serenity each a can of pepper spray. She felt so silly for wasting her money like this and she knew she would have to get rid of both before they flew home. But it gave her a measure of comfort and it stopped that terrible feeling.

The other Americans in the tour began talking and laughing loudly again and Izzy rolled her eyes. She opened her textbook to the end of the chapter. "Want to quiz me, Serenity?"

"…Sure," Serenity said disinterestedly, though she held her hands out for the textbook.

Izzy smiled at her sister as she handed the book over. "Thank you. Remember how I use to quiz you like this?"

"Yeah." Serenity looked down at the pages. "How do you test for proper coordination in the upper limbs?"

"The finger-nose test," Izzy said proudly.

"Mmm-hmm. What is fasciculation?"

"Unnatural contractions of muscles fascicles in the calves."

"Mmm-hmm. What are the muscles in the lower leg called?"

"Wasting."

"Mmm-hmm. What is an accessory nerve?"

"Pandora's Box," Izzy said suddenly, looking at her sister intently.

"Mmm-hmm. What is—"

Izzy reached across the table and grabbed the top of the textbook. "Serenity, you aren't paying attention to me."

Serenity started slightly, her whole body tense. She sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, Izzy."

"…Serenity, are you enjoying yourself at all?" Izzy asked miserably.

"I'm trying, Izzy. I really am. I know you gave this a lot of thought and I know you've spent a lot of money on this. It's just…" Serenity shook her head. "It's too hard for me." She pushed the book back into Izzy's hands. But Izzy wasn't expecting this and it caused her cup to knock off the table and into her lap.

"Ah!" Izzy jumped up and looked down at herself. Her face turned crimson at the sight of the wet stain all over her pants. She looked at her sister, speechless.

Serenity stood up too and walked around the table. "Oh God Izzy, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

"I-It's okay," Izzy said uneasily. She handed her textbook to Serenity and tried to mop up the mess on her pants and on the table as much as she could. "Just—look I have to go clean up. Don't go to the inn without me, okay?"

"Okay," Serenity agreed, sitting back down. "I have your textbook, after all."

Izzy smiled a little at this. "That's right. Stay here and give me back my textbook when I come back, okay?"

"Sure. It's already dark out; I don't want to go outside by myself."

Izzy was inwardly very reluctant to leave Serenity alone at the table, but having a huge wet spot on her pants, even at night, was something she couldn't live with. She headed into the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

As she dabbed at her pants with paper toweling, Izzy realized her hands were shaking. Her arms were too. Her teeth started to chatter and she realized her whole body was shaking.

"Oh God…" tears welled up in her eyes and she dropped the wet paper towels. She slid to the floor and curled her knees up to her chin. Wails were struggling to burst from her throat but she held them down as best as she could. Still, she couldn't stop the tears from spilling out.

Stress…it was so hard to be strong for Serenity. Izzy thought she could do it effortlessly, but with Serenity not helping her at all—and nobody around to help her—it was becoming very tolling. This was the most alone Izzy had been on the whole trip. She'd stayed by Serenity's side the whole time, watching her sister very carefully, trying to prevent another suicide attempt. They sat together on the buses and trains, they slept in the same bed, and Izzy wouldn't leave any place without her. She knew Serenity was still sitting at the table, but Izzy was so scared that Serenity would get up and leave, and try to kill herself again.

I can't do this. I can't do this…How could she think she was strong enough to do this on her own? She should've brought her parents with them. Nobody should have to shoulder so much responsibility alone. She wanted to get to the root of Serenity's problem, to make her sister feel better again. But Serenity wasn't feeling better, no matter how hard she tried. What else could she do?

All of a sudden, a sudden rush of warmth flooded her mind. Gone was her sorrow and stress. In its place was strength…determination. Izzy raised a hand to her head in confusion. "What the…" Just moments ago she was filled with hopelessness. But now…now she felt stronger. That she could take on this terrible task of keeping her sister alive.

Izzy took a deep breath and let it out. "Get it together," she told herself. She stood up and finished dabbing up the mess as best as she could. Whatever took her pain away, she wouldn't take advantage of it. She felt better now, so she wouldn't wallow in self-pity.

"Just do it!"

Izzy stilled as she exited the bathroom. English. She heard it quite clearly. Almost no one in this town spoke English, or at least the people she had seen.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw two dark-haired boys struggling amongst themselves. They grumbled to each other in both English and a combination of other languages.

She couldn't help but smile. She was inwardly amazed that children so young could be linguistics. Maybe it was true that the younger a child was the easier it was for them to learn a new language? They were adorable and Izzy could sense something peculiar about them. Most of all she could see what both were struggling with. A single white flower.

"Why don't you do it?!" the younger boy whined.

The older one glared at him. "Because it was your idea! Now hurry up and do it before she leaves!" he shoved the flower into the younger boy's hands and shoved him roughly away from him.

In Serenity's direction.

Izzy raised a hand to her mouth to hide her smile as the young boy gulped audibly and took baby steps towards Serenity. Serenity had gone back to sitting still and staring downward, this time at Izzy's textbook. At least most of their tour group had retired for the night.

The boy reached Serenity, but began stammering. Serenity didn't seem to notice him, just looking downwards. Izzy stepped forward, ready to help this little boy out.

"E-Excuse me!" the boy squeaked loudly.

Serenity should've jumped in surprise. Instead, she turned her head to look at him. "Yes?"

The boy blushed and stammered for a few moments. Izzy could see the older boy hiding his face in his own hands from embarrassment.

"D-D-Don't be sad!" the boy finally managed to get out. He quickly shoved the flower at Serenity. "Here! This is f-for you!"

Serenity stared at the flower blankly for a moment. Her lips quirked up slightly and she took the flower from him. "Thank you, young man."

The boy positively beamed at this, but Izzy's heart was still heavily. Serenity had reacted to the child, but her expression…it wasn't a real smile, not even close.

The older boy suddenly rushed forward, brandishing three white flowers and presented them to Serenity. "That's nothing! Here, let this cheer you up!"

"What are you doing?!" the younger boy wailed, shoving the older boy roughly. "Don't copy me!"

"Ha! You're just embarrassing yourself!"

"No, I'm not!" the boys started grappling right there in the middle of the restaurant, knocking into the empty chairs around them. Patrons surprisingly pointedly ignored them, while Serenity stared at them with a gaping mouth.

Izzy groaned and threw a hand over her eyes. Kids…

"Travis! Jase!"

The boys stopped fighting immediately. Izzy looked up to see a very serene and beautiful woman standing right over the boys, her hands planted on her hips. The mother. Thank God.

Travis and Jase broke apart and stood up. "S-Sara!"

"Acting this way in public and in front of other people…you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!"

Izzy looked at the woman, Sara. The two boys called her by name. Not…mother?

"I-It's not what it looks like!" the old boy pleaded. "Jase was bothering this lady and I had to stop him!"

"You told me to give her a flower, Trav!" Jase wailed.

"That's enough!" Sara scolded loudly. "Just wait until Falcon hears about this!"

Both Travis and Jase blanched. They rushed forward and grabbed her coat. "Don't tell him! Don't tell him!"

Izzy took this opportunity to hurry to Serenity's side. "That was sweet," she giggled at her, looking down at the now four flowers her sister held.

Serenity shrugged. "I suppose so…"

Izzy felt disheartened, but she didn't let it get to her this time. She grabbed her textbook and helped Serenity stand. "Here, let's go back to the inn."

Sara was finished lecturing the two boys and turned to them. "I'm so terribly sorry for my sons' behavior."

Izzy smiled at her. She couldn't help it. There was something so genuine about this woman that she couldn't be mad, even if she tried. "It's really no problem. Boys will be boys, after all."

Sara looked down at Travis and Jase. "What do you say?"

"I'm sorry," they both grumbled.

"…It's fine," Serenity said quietly.

Sara looked up to say something to Serenity, but froze. Izzy felt her heart jump into her throat as the other woman gave her sister a very long, searching look. It made her feel uncomfortable. "Thank you again and good night," Izzy said hastily, grabbing Serenity's arm and pulling her towards the door. Serenity allowed herself to be partially dragged away.

They were through the entryway and halfway out the door when they walked headlong into another person. Izzy immediately jumped back and knocked into Serenity. "S-Scuzati-ma!" her Romania was atrocious. She would be inwardly relieved to move on to Greece, where she vaguely knew the language.

"It's really no problem, Miss."

Izzy stiffened. English again, and very fluent. She looked up and was floored to see almost a giant of a man standing in the doorway, sizzling with power and intensity. He was handsome too; Izzy didn't think such people really existed.

But how did he know they were tourists? And spoke English?

The man continued talking to them. "And I would like to apologize for my sons' behavior. They tend to get a little carried away when they're not watched."

Izzy felt her jaw drop. Those were his kids? But…how did he know there was even a problem? He wasn't there to see it!

The man's eyes drifted over to Serenity, and he looked at her in silence for a very long time. Serenity seemed very indifferent to the scrutiny the two strangers gave her, but it made Izzy on edge. She grabbed her arm and turned towards the man, who was blocking the door. "We'll be going now. Thank you, sir."

The man continued to stare at Serenity, but he side-stepped to let them through. It didn't seem like a simple side-step though; it looked as though he glided across the floor. "Have a good night. Keep to indoors." There was something strange about his tone, but Izzy brushed it off. Why would they want to go anywhere outside tonight anyways? This was but a small town and the mountains weren't too far away. It would be dangerous to wander around, especially since neither of them spoke Romanian.

"Tomorrow we're here for another day and then we start heading for Bulgaria," Izzy reminded Serenity. "Are you excited?"

Serenity jerked her shoulders up slightly in a shrug. "I guess so."

Izzy tried not to sigh. "I'm excited, too." It's not much, but it's a little better than it was before…

___

Falcon calmly squared his shoulders, watching his lifemate as she forced their sons to apologize to the restaurant owner. Once that was all over with he went over to walk in stride with her as they headed out of the restaurant. "I expect better behavior from you both." He put only a little bit of force behind his words and kept his tone gentle.

Jase grumbled and kicked a rock. "We only wanted to help that lady!"

"The blonde American woman?" Sara asked.

"Yeah!" Travis chimed in, seeming to be happy Sara wasn't yelling at them. "She was so sad and we wanted to cheer her up! Too bad Jase had to be an idiot about it!"

"I'm not an idiot!" Jase yelled. "You made me go over to her and then you went over there yourself! You act like you're so much better than me, but you're just a chicken!"

"What did you say?!"

"Enough," Falcon reprimanded them. "Boys, just get in the car with the others."

Travis and Jase took off for a run at the mini-van parked nearby. Five other children were sitting in there waiting for them.

"How come Trav and Jase got to walk around?!" Emma rolled down her window to complain to them. "I wanted to have fun too!"

"Sweetie, Travis and Jase are going to be punished," Sara said gently, resettling her into the car. "So you really didn't miss anything."

Falcon waited for the two boys to get settled into the car before he spoke. Sara—

I know, Falcon. She gave him a sideways glance. Something is different about them. And they've come all the way out here. You don't think they're looking for something, do you?

I don't really know what to think about them. Falcon reached out to take her hand. I was sensing something odd in the air, but I didn't realize it until now that it was the blonde woman. He rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. I touched her mind. She seems to have suffered a great trauma.

I touched her mind, too. I don't think I've ever felt such profound sadness in my life. Sara sighed and looked into the car. Travis and Jase could sense it too and that's why they approached her. They really meant no harm by their behavior.

Falcon smiled in sympathy and pulled her close, brushing his lips over her hair. He hated to see her in distress. I know.

"Sara, can we go now?" Chrissy asked anxiously.

"Of course," Sara said aloud. She gave Falcon a small smile and opened the passenger door. They could get to their home much easier than this, but traveling in such a way with the children helped to keep questions at bay. I know it's none of my business but what do you think happened to her? Her emotions were a little too much for me; I couldn't even begin to pour over them.

I think there's a reason these two came all the way out here. And we can both sense that there's something odd about them, but they don't seem like psychics to me. Of course, recent events have proven that it doesn't necessarily take psychic blood for a Carpathian male to find his lifemate in a non-Carpathian woman.

So you believe they are lifemated?

Anything is possible. But…Falcon climbed behind the wheel and turned over the engine. If this is the case, then we have more to fear from the blonde woman than we thought.

Sara looked at him quickly. "You mean…?" she hadn't meant to say the words out loud and she knew the children would be confused. But if Falcon was meaning what she thought he meant…

Falcon pulled out of the parking spot and began driving. If the blonde one has a lifemate, then I'm afraid he's already lost to her. He has died…or has turned.