Chapter Ten

"Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible - not to have run away."

- Dag Hammarskjold

___

Izzy watched Marach close the door behind him, but she knew deep down that they wouldn't truly be alone in this conversation. The Carpathians inside the bedroom would probably hear their every word even if they went outside and talked in the car.

Marach regarded his lifemate carefully. Grief emulated from her like a pulse and it broke his heart. But he knew she didn't want comfort right then. What she wanted was answers…and he would give them to her. "What do you need, iubita mea?"

"Marach." Izzy took a deep breath and let it out. "Can we really not save Parn?"

Marach was expecting this, and he knew this was the reason Izzy wanted to speak to him separately. It humbled him that his lifemate sought him out for answers instead of one of the three ancients present. Still, it was difficult for him to answer the question. Not only due in part that his lifemate wasn't hoping for this answer, but also it was a reminder that this was the younger brother of his once closest friend. "I'm sorry, Isabel. As I've stated before, Parn has given up his soul. He is essentially what you humans might refer to as a zombie, but he's not a mindless creature. We cannot simply up and look for his soul and return it to his body."

"But…" she looked helpless as she stood there staring at him and Marach once again had to fight down the urge to take her into his arms. She needed comfort, desperately, but at the moment his answers was what she wanted more. "I-I seen some of your memories, Marach. I've seen you participate in ceremonies where you heal the sick. And you just don't close a wound with magic; some of these people had just died and you—or rather, Gregori—went out and retrieved their soul. Why can't you do that now?"

"Because in most of those cases, the person wasn't really dead." So she had been reading his thoughts and memories. That pleased him immensely, but he couldn't rejoice now. "You've heard of the light at the end of the tunnel? These souls were still in that passage to the spirit world. A Carpathian who willfully gives up his soul isn't as simple as this. The soul is left wandering through the passage, through the spirit world for eternity. That is their condemnation for their crime, that they wander without any rest for the soul."

"But what if you find the soul?"

"It is an impossible feat, dragă."

"But why?!" she snapped anxiously.

"Because if a living soul wanders too far into the spirit realm, that soul will be lost as well."

"Oh…" Izzy closed her eyes and tried to will herself not to cry. On the whole, Parn mattered very little to her. It was because of his idiotic mistake that Serenity was suffering now, and would continue to suffer for the rest of her life. She was by no means his champion, but if he were saved…then Serenity…

"Isabel." Marach breached the short distance between them and cupped her face. "Trust in Gregori. He is an ancient and knows many things about our people. There's nobody our Prince trusts more than him. He will save Serenity—"

"By giving her the illusion of a normal life!" Izzy cried, unable to contain herself any longer. She pulled away from him. "She'll be living a lie!"

"Would you rather she live in destitution and misery forever?" Marach asked calmly, his tone soft.

"Marach!" Izzy wrung a hand through her hair helplessly. "There must be something we can do to save Parn!"

"There isn't iubita mea. If there was, I would've done so already. There's no way to save a vampire."

"How do you even know?! Have you ever tried to save a vampire, or do you guys just kill them all on sight?! If saving the soul of one of your own is possible, why is it so impossible to try and fetch a lost soul?!"

Marach faltered. He had no answer for her, simply because he'd never thought of it. From the time he could walk he'd been taught that vampires were pure evil and needed to be destroyed immediately. He didn't know of procedures or anything else beyond his teachings. He didn't know how to answer her.

"Do NOT give your lifemate false hope, Marach." Gregori's voice was suddenly in his head and he flinched. "Take it as my word that vampires cannot be saved. I can assure you in the centuries before our near extinction—and even afterwards—that we certainly tried. We do not enjoy having our numbers so slim, as you might know. But it is impossible, Marach, and DON'T let on to allow your lifemate to think otherwise."

Marach was mindful of the warning, but he was also mindful of the tears in his lifemate's eyes. Not knowing what else to do, he finally breached the distance between them and pulled her into his arms.

"…There isn't anything, is there?" Izzy said mournfully. "There's really nothing you guys can do for Parn?"

He inhaled the scent of her hair. "I'm so sorry, Isabel. We are not bloodthirsty killers, as you accuse us of. Had we some way to just 'cure' vampires, we would already do so. We never want to wish a half-life upon a person, but there's nothing we can do. The man we see as Parn is no longer Parn; just merely a shadow of his former self. Killing him is a tough decision, as is with all vampires, but we need to keep this world safe from them. In death we can hope they retain their honor."

Izzy moaned in dismay and buried her face into his chest. "Serenity…this is so hard, Marach! How can I look her in the face and tell her the one who's promised to her can never be with her?!"

"I shall be there with you. You will never have to do such a thing alone."

Izzy found herself clinging to him tightly, pressing herself tighter against him. "I'll do anything I can to help Serenity and bring her life back on track. I just…I can't bear to see her in anymore pain and she's putting her faith blindly in Parn!"

"Then have her trust in your judgment. Parn will try and play on her broken feelings as much as possible. We have to stop him before he does serious damage."

Izzy nodded reluctantly before she pulled away. She could feel his distress at the situation. He didn't like that they had to kill Cassander and Parn. Both had been very close friends to him and it was disheartening that they became vampires.

"Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Izzy started, and turned to see Savannah standing there. One of her daughters was tucked into her arms, while Sara held the other. "N-No, not at all."

Savannah smiled at her warmly as she approached Izzy and Marach. I'm sorry we weren't properly introduced earlier, and I'm sorry for my husband's behavior. I'm Savannah Dubrinsky Daratrazanoff. You've met my daughters, Anya and Anastasia."

Izzy furrowed her brow. "Dubrinsky?"

"I'm Mikhail's oldest child."

"Oh." Izzy looked down at the baby in her arms. "I didn't mean to intrude upon them."

"Oh, don't worry about that! Your sister and you are here to get help. You aren't our prisoners." Savannah's brow furrowed slightly. "Although, I do want to ask Gregori about that chair…"

"His back broke it," Izzy said flatly. Marach snorted out a laugh and covered his mouth.

Savannah got the joke and laughed as well. "And I bet he didn't even notice!"

"Didn't notice what?"

Izzy didn't see Gregori approach. He was just suddenly there, lifting his daughter from Sara's arms. Izzy screamed and jumped towards Marach. "D-Don't you guys know how to make noise when you move?!"

"We don't. That's what makes us good hunters." Gregori cuddled his daughter close to him with such a tenderness and intimacy that made Izzy's heart melt. Despite being really, really strange, Gregori seemed like a good father to his children. He certainly wasn't shy in showing his feelings for them.

"Really, really weird, dragă?" Marach repeated her musings back to her. "Well, there is no such thing as normal…"

"Marach, we need to talk," Gregori announced. He handed his daughter back to Sara, though a flicker of reluctance crossed his face.

"Is it about Serenity?" Izzy asked. "Then I want to be in on it."

"It's not necessarily about her," Gregori said. "We need a plan for mobilization, so this will be a job for the hunters. Do you have fighting skills, Isabel?"

Izzy felt a little irritated, but she couldn't tell a lie in this; and Gregori would probably see through it anyways. "…No."

"Feel free to look in on your sister. I'm certain your lifemate will fill you in on the finer details of our plan." Gregori looked to Marach.

Marach nodded. "I'm coming." He swept down and kissed Izzy on the forehead. "I won't be long, iubita mea."

Izzy didn't like being left out like this, but she knew they would discuss things beyond her understanding. "I want to know everything later."

___

Izzy was wide awake, even as dawn approached. She lay beside Serenity in the wide back, stretched out on her back and staring at the ceiling. These hours were abnormal to her; sleeping the day away and staying up all night. Well, the staying up all night thing wasn't too abnormal as a med student. But sleeping all day? She enjoyed soaking up the sunshine and the night depressed her. She knew it was impossible for her to become a Carpathian; there was too much she would miss as a human.

And yet…the thought of being with Marach didn't annoy her as much as it did just days before. She'd known him for such a short period of time, but there wasn't anybody she knew who was so honest with her. He didn't sugar-coat anything or lie to put her at ease. He told her the cold-hard truth, but he surrounded it with comfort so she could cope with it better. And the way he treated her…he treated her like his most precious possession and yet he didn't act impulsively. He knew she was uncomfortable with his sudden intimacy and so he kept his distance. For now. But Izzy had a sinking feeling it wouldn't last much longer. Surprisingly, such a thought didn't alarm her. It had her pulse quickening and her blood warming her body. It was anticipation of such a thing that led her emotions, not fear.

Izzy turned to look at Serenity. She was still caught in the deep sleep Gregori had put her under. Marach had told her everything of the meeting he had with Gregori, Mikhail, and Falcon. They were all greatly concerned about Serenity's state of mind. Izzy knew it wasn't their first time dealing with half-life lifemates, but Serenity was inadvertently giving them a lot of trouble. Mikhail had put out a call for all the hunters in the region to come and have a formal meeting, not only in dealing with this situation, but the apparent existence of a mage on the vampire's side, and their apparent vampire leader Neve. If a mage was with them, then they were most likely aligned with some individual named Xavier.

"Who's Xavier?" she had asked.

And Marach had bit off a curse before he responded. "Our mortal enemy. Remember what I have told you of the plight of my species? For the most part, it's his entire fault."

Xavier didn't seem like anyone Izzy wanted to meet and so she hoped that there was no mage on the vampires' side.

But…most of all, their stances haven't changed. Parn had to be killed, and though he was only second priority behind the supposed mage, he'd been pushed highest on the list because of his connection to Serenity.

"…Marach?" she called to him. She knew he was getting ready to sleep, but if she waited any longer she would lose this chance.

"What is it, Isabel?" he didn't sound impatient with her. That was a bit of a relief.

"Can you have Gregori wake Serenity up? I want to speak to her."

Marach hesitated for only a brief moment. "All right, I will."

"Thank you."

Marach reached out for Gregori. "Gregori, could you lift the sleep compulsion on Serenity? My lifemate would like to speak to her sister."

"That is not wise," Gregori responded. "Serenity is very unpredictable in her state. And there's no telling whether or not Parn is watching her, waiting for the compulsion to lift."

"It's nearly dawn. Parn would've had to go to ground by now. Please…Isabel loves her sister and it pains her to see her this way. Even for a little while, can't they just talk together?"

Gregori was silent for a long moment. "Begging is unbecoming of a Carpathian hunter."

"This has to do with my lifemate. Pride means little to me if she can get some measure of relief."

Gregori said nothing more. But Serenity came awake with a light gasp.

"Thank you, Marach!" Izzy quickly sat up and looked her sister over. "How are you feeling, Serenity?"

Serenity didn't sit up. Once the confusion left her face, sadness crossed it and it broke Izzy's heart. "I don't know, Izzy…"

"Hey…" Izzy reached out and rubbed her arm. "Everything's going to be all right, okay? They really will help you, Serenity."

"By killing Parn." It wasn't a question, and her voice was full of scorn.

"Serenity…he is a vampire," Izzy said carefully. "I don't know what he has said to you, but Marach and the others have had these experiences before. Parn doesn't mean well by you."

"What kind of experiences?"

"Lifemates." It was still hard for Izzy to say that word. "Marach has told me lifemates are two halves of the same soul. When one of them loses their soul—either through vampirism or dies—the other is sentenced to a half-life. I…I think there's sufficient enough proof that you…" she couldn't go any further.

"And you know all of this because Marach is your lifemate." Serenity was staring at the ceiling. Izzy wished her sister would look at her.

"…Marach seems to think so," Izzy offered. "And I can't deny that there's something between us that I've never felt with anyone else."

"So that's why you're in love with him."

"Serenity, I'm not—" but Serenity gave her a hard stare. It stopped Izzy dead and she choked on a breath.

"Why, Isabel?" she asked suddenly.

Izzy rubbed a hand through her hair awkwardly. "I don't have an answer for you, Serenity. Who knows why Parn gave—"

"No!" Serenity snapped viciously. "Not that! Why don't you believe me?! Why are you siding with some guy you've only met?! You've never taken anyone's side over mine before! Why can't you trust me?!"

Her words and derision tore right through Izzy. It was a side of Serenity she'd never seen before. She felt light-headed and tearful. "Serenity…"

"Izzy…" Serenity looked back at the ceiling. "If only you could understand him! Oh, his pain beats at me! He feels it every waking moment and nobody cares! Not you, not these people, nobody! They just see him as a monster that needs to be destroyed!"

"Serenity, please stop!" Izzy burst out, unable to take her sister's tangent. "Just listen to yourself! I haven't betrayed you! You're the one who won't listen to my judgment! He is a bad, bad person! Stop making him into something he isn't! Don't you see what he's doing?! He's driving this wedge between us! I'm going to bat for the both of you as best as I can! I begged Marach to spare him, but he told me there's nothing they can do! Just listen to me!" Izzy grabbed her shoulders and forced Serenity to look at her. "I've tried and I'm trying. But championing yourself for Parn won't save you in the end. Gregori and the others have saved people like you before. Just trust in them to save you!"

Serenity stared up at her for a long moment. Izzy took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.

Finally, Serenity said, "How do you know?"

Izzy stilled. "What?"

"How do you know that Marach is telling you the truth? How do you know he's not the one manipulating you?"

Izzy stared down at her for a long moment. But, the answer came a lot easier than she thought it would. "Because he wouldn't lie to me. I just know he wouldn't, and…I would feel it if he did."

Serenity sighed quietly. "It's the same with me." She broke free of Izzy and rolled over onto her side, facing away from her sister. "I can feel Parn when he speaks to me. And believe me; he tries to lie to me at times. But I can see through his lies. Everything that he's told me about himself, the pain, everything…it's all true."

Izzy didn't know what else to say, and she could sense Serenity didn't want to talk to her anymore. She slowly got up from the bed, but she ran for the bathroom. She slammed it shut, but she was choking on sobs before it closed all the way. She collapsed in a heap on the floor, biting into her fist to muffle her cries. Why? Why was everything like this? She brought Serenity there to help her, but now she was emotionally further away from her sister than she'd ever been in her life.

"Isabel…" the tears abruptly stopped as warmth and love once again engulfed her senses. "My lifemate, my love…do not distress. You are going to make yourself sick. Trust me, iubita mea. Trust in us. We will help you both no matter what. And I shall help you no matter what it takes."

The tears were gone, but Izzy still felt discontented. "Marach, what can I do? Serenity is withdrawing from me, even more so than when she continually tried to kill herself. How can I…?" the question wouldn't come. She was so tired, physically and emotionally. Everything was so draining…

"You are tired, dragă. Please, get to sleep. Serenity has fallen asleep as well."

Izzy jerked at this. "Gregori put her back under?"

"No, she went to sleep normally. But don't worry, she's being monitored. Please…rest yourself, mind and body."

Izzy sighed heavily, but she quickly nodded. "All right, I will. Thank you, Marach. It really means a lot to me what you're doing for us."

"Enough, Isabel. You have thanked me enough. I would rather I mean a lot to you more than my actions."

"But you do mean something to me." And Izzy realized she meant it; she wasn't just saying it. Marach had become a very important person to her in such a short period of time. He was demanding and invasive, but he was a constant source of comfort. It were as though he wouldn't tolerate her being anything but happy, and he did everything he could to make her feel better. It made her feel bad that she couldn't do anything for him in return, when he was doing so much for her.

"I need nothing but you, iubita mea. You are my whole life. I need nothing else."

It sounded too good to be true. But she heard the truth behind his words, and the surge of emotions she felt in response only relayed her feelings more and more on the matter.

Serenity was still curled on her side when Izzy reentered the room, only now she was genuinely asleep. Izzy found it odd that Serenity even felt sleepy after being asleep for whole days at a time, but she didn't push it. She climbed into bed beside her and spooned behind her sister, holding her tight. Serenity was so thin; even at her most stressed during med school Serenity had a healthy weight and appearance. She truly wasn't taking care of herself and it showed.

"I love you," Izzy murmured, hugging her tighter to her. "I love you so much…"

Serenity was asleep, but Marach heard a stir in her mind. He quickly linked the two sisters together so Izzy could hear it. She was drifting off to sleep, but she thankfully heard what Serenity had thought.

"I love you, too…"

Unfortunately, sleep didn't come easy to Marach. Merged with Izzy, he saw his lifemate have horrific nightmares. All of them involved Serenity. Many of them involved the two suicide attempts she'd walked in on; the first finding Serenity unconscious in a bloody heap in a bathtub full of hot water, and the second finding Serenity sitting on the floor of her bedroom, calmly ripping her arms open as though it were an everyday routine. The rest were of losing Serenity in some way, mostly to a vicious Parn. Marach never had dreams, and the images conjured up by Izzy's psyche disturbed him. Knowing she wouldn't have an easy night, he meticulously wiped each nightmare away, lulling his lifemate to a peaceful REM sleep.

Then…things got interesting. He blamed it on being in her mind so much. But when he pulled himself out of her head she'd started dreaming again. A real dream, not a nightmare. And he was in it. And they were… intimate.

It was in a room of sorts, with some eclectic items littered throughout the room. It looked like natural sunlight was illuminating the room, although it predictably didn't hurt him. He turned and found himself sitting on the wide black couch in the room. He was shirtless, Marach noted with a tinge of surprise, but he was still wearing his pants. Izzy was lying on the couch, partially clothes. Well, she'd been wearing a button-down shirt and it was now open, but she was otherwise clothed.

It was just kissing, that's all it was. But Marach noted the way she trembled beneath him, and the way she sighed whenever his mouth his left, or the way his hands caressed her. She was completely uninhibited, but then again she had nothing to lose in a dream.

His hands rubbed her in a massaging motion, swirling over her shoulders and face. She shivered when he ran his fingers through her hair, fingernails scraping against her scalp. When she opened her eyes to look at him, the lilac orbs had deepened, darkened, into a dreamy, heated gaze.

When his hands moved down to her breasts, Marach knew he had to leave. Seeing him cupping them in an upward motion, and the way her body arched into it, only reminded him of his need for her. But it appeared she did find him quite important…to have such a dream about him.

I've left quite an impression on her, I see, he thought amusingly to himself. He double-checked and saw she was no longer hugging Serenity. That made him feel a little bit better, considering the dream she was having.

It certainly gave him a few…ideas that he entertained himself with as he went to sleep himself.

___

Izzy came awake slowly. She felt…strange, even though she went to sleep naturally and woke up naturally. Her sleep had been eventful, marred with nightmares that kept abruptly cutting off, finally ending with a…interesting dream. No, no, she wouldn't think about it. Not now and not ever again.

But… she opened her eyes to the sudden awareness that she lay alone in the bed. She was wide awake in seconds, shoving aside the covers. "Serenity?!"

She wasn't in the room. A quick check of the bathroom showed that it was empty as well. Maybe she was somewhere in the house? But something told Izzy to think otherwise.

She ran to the window curtains and whisked them aside. It was dusk, and she could still see rays of sunlight over the forest. She looked down over Gregori's property, even though she knew Serenity was probably still inside. She wouldn't wander off in the woods by herself…would she?

Izzy got her answer in the way she didn't want to. Sunlight caught a head of golden blonde hair amongst the dark forest dark. It was Serenity…and quite a distance from the house!

"MARACH!" she screamed his name both aloud and mentally as she ran to get her coat.

"Isabel, stay put!" at once Marach was there, his tone authoritative. "The sun is still out; it's too early to arise. Do NOT rush off into danger!"

"Serenity's outside in the woods! Something might happen to her!" Izzy shoved her coat on and took off out of the room and down the hall.

"Our only saving grace is that it's too early for the vampires to arise. But you mustn't—ISABEL!" he hollered when she burst through the front door and outside. "Get back inside! I cannot allow you to wander off and put yourself in danger again!"

"Then don't 'allow' me anything! I'm an adult; I can make my own decisions! And I'm DECIDING on going after my sister!" Izzy picked up the pace after Serenity, tearing through the trees to get to her. "Serenity! Wait!"

Marach cursed violently beneath the earth. The sun was setting, but not nearly fast enough. It still wasn't safe to rise yet.

"Stay calm." He was startled to hear Mikhail's voice. It was strangely soothing. "The vampires will surely not rise before us, and our warriors are in the area. We'll get your lifemate and her sister back as soon as possible."

"I know." Marach didn't know what else to say. He could only lie there and curse Izzy and Serenity for their carelessness, in light of everything they'd gone through up to this point.

Izzy was exhausted from running, but she finally got a glimpse of Serenity. Keeping her sister within view, she allowed herself to slow her pace a little. If she collapsed she wouldn't be of use to anyone. And Marach certainly wouldn't let her hear the end of it.

"There's a lot you will never hear the end of, iubita mea."

She ignored the sting of his words and kept going. Finally, the trees suddenly broke off to reveal a wide clearing of grass and rock formations. Serenity hesitated on her current path, and broke off to enter the clearing. Izzy followed her, wondering what was going on. They were far from Gregori's house now and she no longer saw any rays of sunlight. She suddenly felt horribly exposed out here like this and she cursed herself. No, she needed to keep an eye one Serenity…and whatever it was she was doing.

But Izzy didn't know what to do. The sun had already set, but night had yet to settle. Serenity walked clear across the clearing, not caring of any dangers that may lurk around her. Izzy wanted to race after her sister, but something in her told her to keep her distance. She swallowed thickly and began to emerge from the trees. "Marach?" she called out again.

"We're coming." It was a clipped response.

There was a 'whoosh' of air and someone fell a couple of feet in front of Serenity. Serenity didn't flinch, but she stopped walking. Izzy stopped in her tracks, even as she knew whomever Serenity was meeting probably meant her harm.

The person straightened and Izzy slapped a hand over her own mouth to stop herself from making any noises. It was Parn. All of the filth and blood was completely gone. He looked very clean and he wore fresh clothes. He was quite handsome overall but Izzy looked away. Marach warned her that vampires created illusions to lure people in. For all she knew, Parn really was still filthy but was presenting this clean visage to not alarm Serenity.

Izzy wanted to rush to her sister's aid, but her feet wouldn't move. Her body wouldn't move. She was helpless to stop any assault this vampire would lay upon Serenity.

Only…Parn didn't attack her. He approached Serenity very carefully, taking baby steps little at a time. He was speaking to her, but they were too far away for Izzy to hear. She wished she had some sort of enhanced capabilities so she could hear what they were talking about.

Parn's demeanor was very odd. His tone seemed to be soft when speaking to Serenity, but very rarely did he look her in the face. The times he did he winced and looked away, as though he were in pain. He had a noticeable twitch to him, too; his hands were dug deep into his arms, but they trembled constantly. Sometimes it was light tremors, other times it was violent.

Serenity spoke to him earnestly, though her tone was also soft. At times she tried to reach for him, but he stepped out of the way. Izzy wanted to know what her sister was telling him, and a cold knot of fear welled up inside her. Was she revealing secrets to the vampire?!

"Marach, Parn has Serenity!" she cried out desperately.

"We're coming." Marach's voice finally responded to her, and he sounded positively furious. "Do NOT engage the vampire, no matter what he does!"

"But—"

"I'm warning you, Isabel. You don't want to make me any angrier than I already am!"

"What are you going to do?!" she snapped at him, her eyes never leaving the pair several feet away. "Throw me over your knee and spank me?!"

"The thought is tempting!"

Whatever Izzy wanted to say in response, it died before she formulated the thought. Serenity's stance suddenly changed. Parn looked no different than he had before, but Serenity began trembling. She shook her head back and forth furiously and started backing up, her hands raised in alarm and defense.

But this time, Parn didn't keep his distance. He surged forward and grabbed both of her hands in his. Serenity tried to frantically pull her hands free, shaking her head no, even as Parn calmly pulled her hands towards him. He spoke to her in his usual calm, pressing her hands to his chest, and for the first time held her gaze steady. Serenity was growing more and more hysterical as the seconds ticked by, and she started screaming loudly, loud enough for Izzy to hear. "No! No, no, NO!"

Izzy couldn't bear it anymore. Ignoring Marach's cry of fury she left the shelter of the trees and rushed towards Parn and Serenity. "Let her go NOW!"

Serenity twisted her head around, her beautiful face streaked with tears. "Izzy?! What are you doing here?!"

"I followed you!" Izzy snapped, coming to her side. She glared murderously at Parn. "You let her go right now or I'll make you sorry!"

Parn stared at Izzy in silence. His expression was…strange. Peaceful, calm. But now it was filled with annoyance and rage. "You are Serenity's sister?"

Izzy shot Serenity a hard look before boldly stepping forward. "I won't tell you again! Let her go!"

Parn hissed at her and Izzy shivered involuntarily. "Gladly." He abruptly released Serenity and jumped away from the sisters.

Serenity stumbled backwards and suddenly screamed in horror. "Parn!"

Izzy grabbed her sister and then noticed something around her index finger. It was a metal ring of sorts, far too big for any of her fingers. Then she noticed a notch at the end of the ring and quickly looked at Parn. She noticed the bulge in the left chest pocket of his white shirt. It was round…almost like…

"GRENADE!" she shrieked. She slammed into Serenity and they both fell to the ground as a loud explosion ripped through the air. She heard and ominous 'thud' on the far side of the clearing, joined by several more smaller thuds. Something wet hit the back of her neck, and a searing pain erupted from the spot. Reflexively she pulled the item off, burning her fingers, and saw a small fold of flesh.

A sharp, horrible pain suddenly erupted from her back. She gasped and her body arched. This was a burning pain; it was a piercing pain. Shrapnel pierced her back!

Intercostal! Lumbar! Lateral sacral! Arteries were flashing through her mind. Anyone of them could've been pierced as she gingerly felt along the small of her back. Bile rose in her throat as she found the piece. It was small, but it was painful. She didn't know how her blood would fare against an arterial tear, and she never wanted to know. But the blood flow from the wound seemed very minimal, not gushing. Should she risk pulling it out? But it wouldn't close up as long as it was in there.

"You didn't hit an artery, dragă." Izzy was very relieved by Marach's assurances. "But you're still hurt. Get Serenity and get out of there."

Serenity groaned beneath her in delirium, but her eyes snapped open. "Izzy, what—"

"Grenade," Izzy grunted, nursing her injury. She wasn't a doctor yet, but she knew the risks involved with a puncture wound. But she decided to take the risk. Her fingers were sticky with her own blood, but the shrapnel wasn't that big.

"The shrapnel pierced a vein, not your artery, and so it will take longer to heal than a superficial cut. But yes, you must pull it out or you can't heal it."

With another grunt of pain she pulled it free. She glared at it briefly before throwing it aside. "Parn had a grenade on him. Are you all right?"

"Y-Yes, I—" Serenity stilled and the color drained from her face. "Parn!" She quickly sat up, nearly knocking Izzy aside. She was covered in scratches and patches of burns from Parn's blood and body pieces, but she didn't seem to notice any of them. "Is he all right?!"

"I don't know!" Izzy fumed in frustration. Her wound was slowly but surely closing. "He was holding the grenade when it went off!"

"Oh, my God!" Serenity stumbled to her feet, looking around the clearing frantically. "Parn! Parn!"

Izzy slowly stood up and surveyed the area. She felt sick all over again. Shrapnel littered the ground and pierced the trees. Pieces of flesh were scattered over the grass. Blood was everywhere.

And…not too far away Parn lay on his back, unmoving. A tremor of horror overtook her when she looked him over. His flesh and clothes were burnt and singed, and blood covered him as it covered the grass. His right arm was missing. His whole right arm. A quick search of the area and Izzy saw the burnt appendage ten feet away from his body.

Serenity choked loudly on a sob, covering her mouth as she stared at him. "Parn…"

"Serenity." Her body was aching, but Izzy reached for her sister. "I'm so sorry—"

Parn came alive with a horrible, wheezing gasp. His body jerked upwards, and contorted in pain. Then he relaxed against the grass, his breathing labored and shallow.

"H-How…" Izzy couldn't help but gape. "He's still alive!"

"Isabel, get out of there." Marach's harsh reprimand echoed in her head.

"Why did he have a grenade, Marach?" she asked him instead.

"I'm not certain, and we Carpathians don't need to rely on human technology to defeat a foe. But he's still alive, and even as injured as he is he's still a danger to you. Get out of there now! I sense something sinister in the air!"

Izzy could feel it, too. The air was growing cold, even if it was summer. And dark…it was night now, but she felt an encompassing dark cloud over the forest. Her own nausea rose, in addition to panic. "Serenity—"

But Serenity was no longer standing beside her. Her sister had started walking across the clearing as though she were in a daze. More importantly, she was walking towards Parn. "Parn…Parn…"

"Serenity, get back here!" Izzy snapped, starting to advance on her sister.

"Good evening, ladies."

A sinister voice ripped through the air and Izzy stopped in her tracks. She quickly looked upward and all around as terrible wisps of mist floated down from above the trees, from inside the trees, and even from the ground itself. She covered her own neck as the wisps quickly whipped around the both of them. Izzy choked as they wrapped around her body, thrust between her legs. They did the same with Serenity, but Serenity wasn't paying attention.

Thankfully, the wisps of mist stopped tormenting them. But they form a large circle around Izzy, Serenity, and Parn. From the wisps bodies began to emerge, all of them men. Izzy saw their red eyes, their sinister laughter, and the pure evil that emulated from them, and she didn't need to be told twice they weren't allies "Marach…"

This time, Marach didn't answer her.

"Well, well, well," one said, surveying Izzy with intense scrutiny. "Two lovely females for the taking."

Izzy looked around herself frantically, trying to find an escape. She found nothing but more bodies. There had to be ten or twelve of them, and they closed ranks all around her.

Serenity still wasn't paying attention to this very apparent danger, her eyes on Parn. "Parn…"

"How do we decide who gets a taste first?" another asked, a dark tongue flicking across his bloodstained teeth.

"Well, to be polite Parn should've had a bite," the first surmised, looking at his burnt ally with mild disgust. "But he is injured, after all, and no doubt not too far from death…"

Fear and shock raced through Izzy. That was it; this was a trap. Parn deliberately lured Serenity out her to be fodder for his vampire buddies! He must've known that Izzy would follow Serenity!

"N-Nobody's getting a taste of me!" Izzy snapped, trying and failing to find some courage. "I already have a lifemate!"

Laughter ripped through the ranks. Soon all of the vampires were laughing at her. Izzy swallowed thickly and started inching towards Serenity, who was still walking towards Parn.

"Lifemates?!" another one howled, slapping his thigh as though Izzy had told a very funny joke. "What are lifemates, anyways?! Slavery! Who wants to be tied down with such a handicap?! Power that you can taste and feel on a daily basis is so much better!"

"How would you know?!" Izzy snapped. She tried to keep all of the vampires in her peripheral view, but it was impossible. They kept shifting around the makeshift circle they made with their bodies. "You obviously haven't found your lifemate, so what makes you think the power you have is better than the power of a lifemate bond?!" She had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but she knew she had to buy time. Serenity wasn't helping one iota and Marach wasn't responding to her.

"This is a waste of time!" another snapped impatiently. "This is exactly why I hate women; they think they know everything and they never shut up! Binding and gagging…that's about the only thing you can do with them!"

Izzy glared at him coldly. "I doubt your experiences with women happen outside of raping them, so I'll take that as a compliment. It is rather pathetic that that's the only way you can really prove yourself as a man or even have sex with a woman."

Some of the vampires laughed, but the one she'd insulted looked absolutely furious. Before Izzy could blink the side of her face exploded in pain. The vampire had punched her in the face, and now she was reeling from the powerful force behind it. She stumbled wildly, and another violent shove sent her sprawling onto the grass.

One of the vampires suddenly looked skyward. The evil confidence eased from his face, replaced with…fear. "Hunters! They're coming, and it looks like it's a lot of them!"

"The Dark One!" another shouted, taking several steps back. "He's with them!"

Several of the vampires took off into the sky to avoid the Carpathians in pursuit. Meanwhile, a figure jumped into the clearing and landed next to Parn's body. "Ai nenorocit idiot!"

It was Cassander. He began cursing violently down upon his severely wounded younger brother in both Carpathian and Romanian, waving his arms wildly. "You're worthless! Completely worthless!" To Izzy's horror, Cassander began kicking Parn's body! "What was the damned use blowing yourself up?!"

Parn tried to wheeze out a response, but he was too weak to be audible. That, and Cassander was screaming too loudly. "Look at your arm! Look at your arm!" he stormed over to the severed arm and picked it up as though it were an ordinary object. "You had better hope Neve can reattach this!"

Parn's mouth was moving, but Izzy couldn't hear him. Whatever he said only seemed to make Cassander angrier. "Don't think I'll cover for you this time!" Then, he hit Parn with the severed arm. "I'm telling Neve the minute we get back! And to hell with you with whatever she decides!"

Izzy stiffened and she suddenly grew cold. It was as though the chill in the air was seeping into her skin. Neve? She?! He just referred to Neve as a woman!

"Women cannot become vampires, you see, only the men do."

"If I don't kill you today, you can be assured that Neve will!"

It didn't make any sense. If Neve was a female, how could she be the vampire behind all of this?

As Izzy tried to sit up, though, a body fell on top of her and she knew such questions could be answered later. It was the same vampire who knocked her down. She obliged him by returning a punch to his face. It barely fazed him and he punched her again, and she saw stars.

More and more of the vampires were trying to leave and shadows came from the sky. The Carpathian hunters were upon them. But Izzy was too busy trying to fend off the attacks of the vampire on top of her. They punched and kicked at each other, but she couldn't deny he was stronger. Blood was running down her face from her nose and her mouth, new wounds opening before the old ones faded. She tried to fight him off as best as she could, but her head swam as he punched her in her temple three times in a row. "Serenity! Serenity!" she screamed for help.

It was as though Serenity couldn't hear her. She stood frozen, staring in horror at Cassander and Parn as the older brother hefted the young brother up, severed arm and all. "W-Where are you taking him?!" she asked quietly.

Cassander glared at her coldly. "Keep your mouth shut if you want to keep your life!"

"But—"

One of the other vampires jumped behind Serenity and grabbed her. He ripped the fabric of the back of her shirt off and sank his teeth into her neck. Serenity screamed in pain and began to struggle violently.

"NO! DON'T HURT HER!"

Izzy blinked. What?

"AAAHHH!" the vampire abruptly let Serenity go, shoving her violently to the ground. He arched his head back and screamed in pain. "Ah! It hurts! It burns! It's burning me!" his fingernails dug into his throat, as though he were trying to rip it out. He stumbled a couple of steps and dropped to his knees. He began vomiting blood onto the grass, his whole body shivering. His teeth seemed to chatter as he retched, continuing to dig into his throat, drawing blood. "Burning—AGH!"

Izzy forgot about the vampire she was fighting, and the vampire himself seemed to have forgotten he was angry. He was as transfixed on the vomiting vampire as she was. Then, he glared down at her murderously. "What have you done?!" as if acting on a thought, he leaned down and licked a drop of blood from Izzy's chin. He suddenly hissed in pain and scrubbed at his mouth with a filthy sleeve. "Poison! Your foul blood is poison!"

Suddenly, he was off of her and flying across the clearing. Before his body impacted the ground a bolt of lightning impacted his chest. Izzy watched as the force of the bolt reverberated his entire body and caused it to implode from the inside out.

She was pulled to her feet with little effort. Marach's face filled her vision as he looked at her closely. "Look at me. Are you all right?!"

"I…" Izzy was completely sore and her face felt as bloody and raw as it mostly likely looked. She suddenly clung to Marach and burrowed close to him, not thinking of the blood that would soak his shirt. "I'm so sorry. I-I…thank you for coming!"

"What made you think I wouldn't?" his tone was now calmer and he hugged her protectively to him. All around him Carpathians were landing in the clearing, engaging the vampires that had tried to escape. He looked towards Serenity, who was partially sitting and partially lying on the ground. She had a gaping wound in her neck, but it was slowly closing. A Carpathian Marach knew as one of the Daratrazanoff brothers killed the vampire who bit Serenity, while Falcon knelt over her. There was blood everywhere, Parn's blood, but the brothers had fled.

"You'll be okay," he said soothingly to Izzy. He leaned back to look at her. The blood had started to fade, along with the bruises and cuts, but hurt was evident in her eyes. "Isabel? I'm sorry I closed myself off to you. When I realized the situation my mind became a mass of fury. I knew you were afraid and I didn't want to scare you anymore than you already were."

Izzy nodded stiffly. "I don't mind…" Truthfully, though she'd been surprised he closed himself off to her, what had hurt her more was Serenity's complete lack of help. She'd fought hand-to-hand with a vampire, and it was a very one-sided fight, but Serenity had been more concerned about Parn, someone she didn't even know, than her own sister. It was a hard pill to swallow.

Marach looked back over the area. Only a scatter of vampires had gotten away, including Cassander and Parn, and the rest had been destroyed. Hunters littered the area, mostly males but one or two females, cleansing the forest of the vampire presence. He sought Gregori, but the Dark One was surveying everyone, not looking at the two sisters. While their running off had lured many vampires to the area, it'd been a very unnecessary risk. Marach had a lot to answer for, for not properly watching his lifemate.

I am to blame…but I'm not the only one. His gaze slid over to Serenity.

"What happens now?" Izzy asked. She was shivering where she stood. She was probably in shock over the situation.

"Now we head back and review what has occurred," Marach responded. He reluctantly let her go and started towards Gregori.

The air had become chillier. Izzy rubbed her bare arms uneasily, wondering what was causing this. The Carpathian males surrounding them didn't seem to notice the sudden drop in temperature. Even Serenity was trembling, though it probably had more to do with the trauma of the situation.

Something caught Izzy's eye. She turned her head and looked up to one of the trees. In the darkness, she saw white. Someone was sitting on a high branch, wearing a bright white cloak, hood pulled over the face. And…this individual was watching them. From deep within the cloak, a pale slender hand began to rise.

"Marach—" Izzy began, but she didn't have time to finish. As the air grew progressively colder, a beautiful voice floated over the wind, speaking lyrically.

"Ice, consume all that is warm/

Shards, from the Ice caves fresh/

Descend upon the vermin in their false human form/

Rip, tear, pierce the flesh."

A loud rumble suddenly erupted in the air and the ground began to shake. Suddenly, everyone was moving. Marach grabbed Izzy tightly in his arms. "Hang on!"

They launched high into the air. Izzy saw Falcon grab Serenity and take off after them. They were barely off the ground when horrible shrieking noises ripped through the air. Izzy screamed as gigantic ice spears shot up from the ground and high into the air. All over the forest area these things tore through the trees and in some cases some forest animals, trying and failing to pierce the Carpathian men who eluded them.

It last a few short seconds, but it could've been for an eternity. Izzy gaped at the carnage left behind. Frozen, massive icicles covered a wide radius of the forest, reaching higher than the highest tree, ruining everything in their paths. But, they didn't get any of the Carpathians.

"Let's go," Marach said grimly. "This is a job only the Dragonseekers can fix."

He flew after the other males, clinging to Izzy tightly. She hung onto him, unsure of what else she could do or say. Everything had happened so quickly and she was in a jumble. More than anything, she thought of Serenity, just yards ahead of them being carried by another man. She believed in Parn's innocence, and had innocently met him out here. That he had lured them out for an ambush must've hurt Serenity deeply, but Izzy was bothered by many more things. By how the vampires reacted to drinking Serenity's blood, and her own. By the grenade that Parn had worn. And the revelation that Neve wasn't a vampire or even a man.

No…it was that simple sentence that confused her most of all.

"NO! DON'T HURT HER!"

Because it hadn't been Izzy who had screamed that.

Parn did.