Chapter Eleven

"'Cause nothing stands between us here, and I won't be denied."

- Possession by Sarah Mclachlan

___

Night had fallen completely. They arrived back at Gregori's house in no time at all. The wounds on Izzy's face had healed marginally, but she had a horrible headache. That would take a little longer to heal.

Mikhail was waiting for them all when they entered the main hall. "You found the women?" He looked at Serenity and Izzy closely and relief leapt into his eyes. "That's good…"

Marach set down on her two feet and approached Mikhail. "It's been confirmed that these vampires have a mage on their side. The mage completely decimated the forest with an underground ice assault."

"Then it's good we have those with mage abilities on our side." Mikhail looked over the warriors crowded into the main hall, all of them staring back at him. "Gregori, do you have somewhere we can—"

"Follow me," Gregori responded. He led all of the away from the hall and down a hallway into a large sitting room. The furniture in here was considerably more conservative than the furniture was in the other room Izzy found. Well, conservative in that all of it was black.

Falcon was near the front of the line, pulling Serenity with him. Serenity went without protest, but she moved as though she were still in a daze, not even mindful of her ripped up shirt. The wound in her neck had healed, but she looked far from well.

As Izzy crossed the threshold of the room, a sick feeling engulfed her. She didn't know what to think about anything anymore. Neve, the person they all thought was the master vampire, was in fact a woman. And the mage in the forest…that was no doubt a woman as well. The mage had small, slender hands, and the voice that chanted that awful spell had been feminine. The only logical explanation was that this Neve…and the mage who attacked them, were in fact the same person.

More so…Izzy looked back at Serenity. Her older sister had begun to whimper softly, even as Falcon gently sat her down on a couch on the far side of the room. Her stomach knotted up even tighter. She knew Marach wouldn't lie to her, but something strange had happened. She didn't understand why Serenity went out there to meet Parn, or why Parn would blow himself up as a decoy. But when the vampire had attacked Serenity, Parn came to her defense. He screamed at the other vampire to leave her alone. If his goal was ultimately to use Serenity, either as food or as key to destroying the Carpathians, why would he give a damn whether or not one of his own allies hurt her?

I just don't understand. Izzy bit into her lower lip hard. "Marach?"

But Marach wasn't looking at her. He'd cut her off completely, only quietly discussing something with another warrior. Izzy felt the loss, even as he stood a few feet away, but she knew she deserved it. She was connected with him enough to sense his distress and panic over her reckless behavior. She knew the toll stress had on the body and she wouldn't wish that upon anyone, especially a man who was virtually bending over backwards to help her without asking for anything in return.

A paper tissue suddenly filled her vision. "Here."

Izzy turned her head and gaped. A very beautiful woman stood there, staring at her with concern. Even though out of all the dark-haired hunters there was one lone woman with blonde hair, this woman stuck out like a sore thumb. Vibrant red curls tumbling around her and luminous green eyes that immediately put Izzy at ease. As a med student Izzy could sense doctors from other people. This woman was definitely a doctor.

She smiled kindly and held the tissue a little higher. "For your mouth."

"Huh?" Izzy realized she tasted blood. She'd bit through her bottom lip. Even though it would heal momentarily, she took the tissue kindly offered to her. "Thank you, Miss…"

"Shea," the woman replied. "Shea Dubrinsky."

Izzy blinked as she dabbed the tissue against her mouth. Another Dubrinsky? Just how many of them were there? She didn't look anything like Mikhail, so…

"Mikhail is my brother-in-law," Shea supplied. "His younger brother Jacques is my lifemate." She indicated one of the males in the cluster who'd come to their aid.

"…I see," Izzy said, not really sure what else to say. "I'm Izzy Crane. Serenity is my older sister." She motioned to her sister sitting down. Several males were watching her closely, but she didn't seem to notice.

Shea held onto her smile. "Well, welcome to the Carpathians. They can be overbearing at first, but you can trust them. Trust us." She added.

Izzy nodded and managed a small smile. "Thank you." Her lip had healed, but blood had still soaked into the tissue. She looked around briefly and saw a small trash container slightly full of paper. Not knowing what else to do, she dropped the tissue into the bin and headed towards Marach. "What can I—"

Izzy stopped as she heard a sudden rustling of paper. She turned to see Shea quickly straighten, though she was tucking something into her pocket. "What?"

"What?" Shea echoed.

"Did you—"

"Did I what—"

"What?"

"What?"

Doublespeak. Izzy had seen it before, and Shea was using it to hide something. Izzy looked towards the trash bin and back at Shea. Shea stared back at her impassively, not a hint of guilt or embarrassment on her face. Did she take her bloody tissue?

"Shea." A man came to her side, sliding an arm around her almost possessively. "Mikhail has said he wants you to look at Serenity."

"Yes, of course." Shea smiled at Izzy. "If I can do anything to help your sister, I would be more than happy to."

"…Thank you," Izzy said reluctantly, her gaze dropping back to Shea's pocket. But the other woman simply walked over to Serenity, her apparent husband following close behind.

"So tell me what has happened tonight," Mikhail said authoritatively. "We know that Serenity left this house and met with the vampire in the woods.

"It was a bait tactic," Marach said. He was under the scrutiny of the room, and he knew he had to share in the blame for this. "There appeared to be quite a few vampires in this group. It looks like all of them showed up to ambush Isabel and Serenity."

"We managed to kill nine of them." Marach felt a sudden jolt as he recognized one of the twins of legend, Lucian Daratrazanoff. "Only a couple escaped, including the one who blew himself up, but it's uncertain whether or not he will live much longer."

"We were also attacked by a mage," Gregori said. "They were in the vicinity and summoned ice from the caves, no doubt Xavier's caves, to try and kill us."

"If a mage is involved, then these vampires are most likely involved with Xavier. This was all probably some elaborate ruse to lure Carpathians out to be slaughtered." Mikhail growled quietly in anger and disgust. "To lure two innocent women out to be preyed upon by vampires just to get to us…he is truly Xavier's ally."

But the mage wasn't a man. It was a woman. Izzy looked at all of them and wondered how they couldn't know that. Before she could say anything though, Mikhail continued.

"What I don't understand is why the vampire would blow himself up? If he meant to ensnare them to that area, he could've bewitched them. But to voluntarily do damage to his own body? And to do it with so crude a weapon as a grenade?! It makes no sense!"

"…He wanted to die."

Izzy jerked, and looked at her sister. Everyone turned suddenly, looking at the forlorn woman on the couch.

"He called to me earlier," Serenity said quietly. "He said he wanted to meet with me. So I went." She clenched her fists in her lap. "But I didn't…how could I know it was for something like that? That he wanted to die?! And me…he wanted me to kill him!"

Izzy thought of Serenity's hysteria at Parn when he held onto her hands. And her hands…the grenade pin had been around her finger. Did he…? Did he force her to pull out the pin?!

"I tried to stop him, I tried to reason with him, but he wouldn't listen to me!" Serenity's hysteria was rising in volume and Shea spoke to her soothingly. It wasn't working. "No matter what I said, he wouldn't budge! Oh…he wants to die! He wants to die!"

Izzy knelt down on Serenity's other side, rubbing her knee but not knowing what to say. Some of the other women began to converge around the couch, although they didn't know what to do either.

Marach watched all of this in silence. Watched Serenity sob and watched Izzy try to comfort her. All of a sudden, rage swept through him. He could sympatheize with this woman because he knew the pain she was suffering was all because of Parn. But she was crying for the bastard?! And she had no care about how that situation escalated?! And Izzy…she'd been injured trying to save her, but Serenity hadn't noticed. At all.

Before he knew what he was doing, Marach surged forward. He heard Gregori shout at him, but he ignored the healer. In an instant he was standing before Serenity and pulled her to her feet none-too-gently. Then he turned and slammed Serenity into the wall with such violent force he nearly dented the wall with her body.

"MARACH!" Izzy shrieked, jumping to her feet and running over to them. "Let her go!"

Marach ignored his lifemate for the time being, focusing solely on Serenity and forcing the woman to look him in the eyes. "All right," he sneered with a ferocity he hadn't known existed. "It's time you open your eyes and face reality. Parn is NOT!" He shook her slightly. "A good person! He is evil right down to his core! It is his entire fault that your entire life has been obstructed and yet you fail to see that!"

"Marach!" Izzy pulled at one of his arms. When that wouldn't budge she punched his shoulder several times. "Damn you, let her go!"

Several of the women started screaming at him for how he manhandled Serenity, but he refused to budge. "He failed you, Serenity, and no matter how much you hope for or how much you undermine us, he can't be saved! You need to face this and accept this! You need to think about the pain and suffering you have put your sister, my lifemate, through because of your actions! If you don't; if you continue to put my lifemate in danger for your selfish foolishness, I swear by any god in existence I will send you to the other side of the world with a mind wiped so clean you will NEVER know you had a sister OR a lifemate!"

"You bastard!" Izzy was trying to jump on him. "Let her go, Marach! Just let her go!"

"Listen to your lifemate, Marach," Mikhail admonished harshly. "Unhand her sister. You know she is not well and is very vulnerable."

Abruptly, Marach reopened the line back to Izzy. He could feel her anguish and rage at how Serenity was being treated by him and it helped to clear away his rage. He abruptly let Serenity go and took a few steps away from her. Silence swept the whole room, except for Serenity's heavy, ragged breathing.

Izzy pulled herself away from Marach and focused on her sister. Serenity looked so pale, and her eyes were swollen and face streaked with tears. "Serenity, I—"

Serenity suddenly tore away from the wall and darted for the door. Nobody thought to stop her as she fled from the room and ran with pounding footsteps down the hall.

"I'll handle this," Shea announced. She sent Marach a hard look before disappearing into the air, Jacques right behind her.

Izzy stared at the spot that Serenity stood. Tears burned at her own eyes and she wanted to sob and scream. What just happened? What could she do?!

She turned to look at Marach, but saw he wasn't looking at her. Rage flooded her mind then, and she advanced upon him. A hard shove to his unyielding chest was the only warning she gave him before she smacked him right across the face. It echoed sickeningly throughout the rooms, silencing soft murmurs throughout.

"Let's get something straight," Izzy snapped, jabbing a finger hard into his sternum. "Don't you ever, EVER put your hands on her again! I don't care what she did or what you stand for, but you don't ever manhandle my sister! Helping us unconditionally doesn't mean you can just beat her up when she won't lay around in a coma all the time for all of you! She's human and she has feelings, and she's feeling a level of pain that you will NEVER understand in your whole pathetic life! And if you do it again, then I swear I will never forgive you and I will hate you for the rest of my life!"

Marach turned his head and looked at Izzy with such a cold, hard stare that all of the anger in her faded in an instant. In its place was fear and she backed up slightly. "Marach—"

His hand shot out and gripped her wrist in an unwavering hold. He yanked her against him, ignoring her yelp of surprise, and held her tightly, possessively to him.

"Marach, don't," Gregori said. "Not here."

Marach turned the same cold gaze on Gregori, who didn't even bat an eyelash. "Then I'll take her someplace else." Before anyone could stop him he was flying through the house, forcing the front door open and taking off into the sky with Izzy in his arms. All Izzy could do was scream and hang on for dear life.

In their wake they left a room full of Carpathian hunters, all of them silent.

"…Should we just let them go like that?" Jaxon asked irritably, folding her arms over her chest. "He was furious with her. He might harm her."

"He won't harm her," Mikhail. "But he is angry with her. While I don't approve of his attack on Serenity, I can understand the reason behind it. He has taken both women under his protection and both women continue to undermine this protection. I can excuse Serenity because of her mental condition, but Isabel should understand all this danger that surrounds them."

"Now you're starting to sound like Gregori," Natalya scoffed in disgust. "He is only so lucky Destiny wasn't here, or Ivory. If either woman saw this they would've gutted him."

"I was ready to put a slug in his head," Jaxon said, brandishing her handgun.

"We will let his actions lie for now," Mikhail said. "Because we simply have bigger problems to take care of. Though disposing of nine vampires in one evening is an amazing feat, there are still more out there in this group. Let's not forget the mage that is with them. I don't think Xavier would be so foolish as to come here again so soon after the last battle, but anything is possible."

___

Izzy had no idea where Marach was taking her. All she knew was she was cold and she was afraid. He was furious with her. Who knew what he would do…

"You really believe that, don't you iubita mea? You believe I mean to do you harm."

His words were harsh, but his tone was full of hurt. It created a sharp ache in Izzy's chest. It really hurt him that she would think of him this way. And it hurt him that she didn't understand his reasoning with Serenity.

But…"You slammed her into a wall and you said horrible things to her! She's having such a terrible time and look at how you treated her!"

"Look at how I've treated her up to that point."

The ache began increasing, but Izzy tried to stay firm. He helped them greatly, true, but he still manhandled her sister without remorse. It wasn't something she could just ignore.

Suddenly, Marach began to dip towards the ground with blinding speed. Izzy hung on tighter, feeling like she was on an out-of-control roller coaster. But right then it was Marach who was out of control.

Marach landed on the ground with a loud 'thump', still holding Izzy closely to him. It took several minutes for the spinning in Izzy's head to subside and the sudden nausea to fade. She looked at their surroundings. It had to be somewhere deep on the Carpathian Mountains. Trees surrounded them, but she saw no light. She saw nothing at all but darkness…and a tiny house just in front of them.

Marach strolled inside, sweeping her over the threshold. It was just as small on the inside, with very little furniture. It wasn't even much of a house; only one big living room and two doors leading to the back. Marach carried through one of those doors. It only took Izzy a microsecond to realize this was a bedroom before he tossed her upon the bed.

Izzy lay there partially on her stomach for a moment as Marach closed the door behind them. Then, in the blink of an eye a dozen candles lit up simultaneously across the room. The first thing she noticed was that this room had a window, but it was heavily boarded up. The next thing she noticed was that the furniture, the side tables and armoire were as simple as the rest of the house. Only the bed seemed unique, and it felt very comfortable.

As she rolled over onto her back, she then noticed that Marach had taken off his jacket and was unbuttoned his black shirt. "What are you doing?"

Marach said nothing, simply peeling it away with ease and depositing it on the floor with his jacket. He was lean, leaner than she'd thought, but she saw the muscles she'd only felt just days before. Her heart began hammering rapidly and she swallowed. "Marach—"

In one fluid move he was on the bed, kneeling over her. Hands pressing down into the mattress beneath her shoulders, he stared down at her with an intensity and hunger she was unfamiliar with. A soft wave of heat rolled over her skin, just from that look, but with it came unease. "Marach…you said you would wait until I was ready." She looked away from him. If he decided to go forward, she wouldn't know how to fight him off. He was too powerful, and…a part of her wasn't looking to run away.

Still, she couldn't ignore what he did. "Do you think I'm going to sleep with you right this minute? After what you did to Serenity?"

Marach lifted his hand from the mattress and grasped hers. He pulled it up and pressed it right over his heart. Izzy tried to pull it away for a moment, but she stopped. The heart thudding beneath her heart was at an erratic pace. It was laboring way too hard for someone not under endurance. If he didn't calm down it might cause damage.

"This is what you do to me." Marach's tone was eerily quiet, his gaze steady on hers. "This is how I've been since I rose to rescue you. You're back, you're safe, but I haven't calmed down at all."

Izzy swallowed. Her heartbeat had tried to match his, even at his unhealthy pace. It'd been her warning, but she'd brushed it off for the most part.

"You, my lifemate, and Serenity…" he curled his hand around hers. "You have been unmindful of everything I've tried to do for you. I have helped you, because I want to save your sister and I want you to be happy again. I have told you both the dangers that exist out there, and you have experienced them firsthand, and yet you never listen to me. You recklessly throw yourself into a situation you cannot possibly help yourself in, and it is up to me to pick up the pieces."

"Marach…" his pain at her actions was now beating at her. Tears stung her eyes and she wanted to hug him, comfort him. But she couldn't afford to lose her resolve, not now. "Serenity—"

"Is hurting, yes, but she is not inept. She has enough awareness to know what is right and what is wrong. What Parn is doing to her is an unforgivable crime, and her faith in him is such that she ignores everything else going on around her." He leaned down suddenly to nuzzle her face. "She had enough awareness to save you from Fride when he attacked you, and to run away from him. She did neither of these things tonight, not even when you needed help. He is becoming her sole focus, and there will come a time that she will betray us to him."

"I don't believe that—"

"Then why didn't she save you when you were beaten? Why was the safety of that vampire who condemned her to her half-life more important to her than yours? Why is it that not even our greatest healer can get compliance from her? He is trying to restore her life, Isabel. I'm trying to restore both of your lives. But neither of you care about the sacrifices we're making." He leaned back up to look down at her. "And you don't care about my feelings."

"Marach, I—"

"When you knowingly disobey me, when you rush off into danger knowing I can't help you right away; that only shows you don't care."

"I don't have to obey you!" Izzy shouted. She tried to sit up, but he held her fast with a single hand on her sternum. "I'm my own woman and I don't take orders from anybody!"

"And because of that, both Serenity and you almost died tonight," Marach said harshly. "If the vampires hadn't killed you, then the mage would've."

"I would've been fine! I knew—"

"That I was coming for you."

Izzy stilled. She tried to protest, but deep down she knew he was right. She knew Marach would never allow anything to happen to her. And…she was overly confident in her own abilities. How else could she manage to convince herself that only she could save Serenity, and this escapade through Europe was the answer?

Marach wasn't finished. "We have only known each other for a short while, Isabel, but our souls know each other. And yet you continue to evade me. You won't get to know me and you refuse to see anything past your sister. It doesn't matter to you my own feelings. You told me I could never understand Serenity's pain." His eyes cast downward as he spoke. "I've lived for seven hundred years. My whole family is dead, and my friends are dead or have turned. I have nothing, dragă, except for you. Without you here I would still be in a dismal world of never-ending loneliness and regret, all in shades of gray." He looked at her again. "So I do know that sort of pain. I will never have to feel it again because of you, but when you continually cast aside my concerns and follow Serenity in her recklessness, it feels like a betrayal to me. I have stood by your side and will continue to do so for as long as we both shall live. But I'm here, Isabel. I have feelings, and you aren't acknowledging them."

Now the tears were spilling out. He was speaking in anger; he had to be. She knew it had to be stressful to keep a close eye on two women in danger, especially since one was suicidal. But she wasn't completely avoidant of his feelings. She felt guilty he did all of this for her and never asked for anything in return. All he wanted was her company, and she'd thought she was more than willing to give it to him.

Maybe they both were upset. So much had happened today, and Marach blamed Serenity for it. Izzy didn't blame anyone, and that just created more problems. But…Izzy couldn't hate him. She could feel his helpless grief, and his weakening hold on control. She had no experience with anyone as old as him, but she could see the agony he suffered all these years. It was heartbreaking, and it erased her own anger completely.

Slowly, she slid her hands upwards and linked her arms around his neck. Carefully she pulled him down into a hug. Surprisingly he came without resistance. He nestled his body on top of hers and slid his own arms around her back. Izzy found her own body arching upwards slightly, pressing closer to him.

"I'm sorry…" the words same out so soft and choked and she closed her eyes. "I do appreciate everything you've done for us, Marach. I really do. It's just that Serenity's my sister and I can't stand to see her this way. I know she'll never gain any happiness out of this, but I…" she swallowed before she continued. "I love her. She's very precious to me and I want what's best for those precious to me." Even you…it was a thought meant for herself, but she knew once it finished that Marach would hear it.

Marach leaned back up to stare down at her. He said nothing more, capturing her lips in a very intense kiss. It rocked Izzy, sending chills through all her nerves. They'd been in this position before, but this time it was different. She knew Marach wasn't going to stop this time. It terrified her slightly, but it also filled her with anticipation.

He could think away her clothes at will, but despite his own desire he concentrated on the fact that he needed to be slow. Her lack of experience in this showed with her awkward caresses that still sent hear across his skin. But he needed to be slow, especially now with everything so fragile between them.

So he used his hands. With his hands he slid them up and down her back and slowly to the front. He smoothed his hands over her breasts, rubbing and fondling them as his thumbs circled the areole of her nipples.

Fabric separated their bodies, but she could feel pinpricks of sensation. Each stroke over her nipples hardened them even more and created a greater level of sensitivity she was unused to. Little sounds escaped her throat and she sighed breathily, not thinking that this man was a virtual stranger to her. She knew him somehow; her heart knew him, her mind knew him…and now her body wanted to know.

He took his time. He did away with her shirt, finally seeing the body he already knew, but wanted to know much more. Lips caressed her skin, and he reveled in her soft sighs, suppress moans. Words like 'no' or 'stop' never occurred to her, verbally or mentally. Then he rolled her over onto her side, partially onto her stomach, to unclip the straps of her bra. She tensed beneath him, and her arms came up reflexively to cover herself. He smiled gently at this, pushing aside her hands as he rolled her back over. He didn't want her to be ashamed of him seeing her, but he sensed very little embarrassment from her, other than her own lack of experience.

But she was beautiful. She wasn't too pale or too tanned. She had no birthmarks or even superficial scars; all probably components of her regenerative blood. Unable to help himself, he kissed her full breasts, cupping them and touching them the same way he did before. But now nothing separated their skin.

Izzy bit into her knuckle, but even that couldn't stop the delicious jolts from reverberating her body. She was hot and tight with need, and she needed Marach. It was so sharp, this need, that she couldn't but feel vulnerable. She reached for him with her mind, and it gave her a measure of relief that his own need was so strong as well. Even stronger than her own…that in it of itself was surprising.

Hunger beat at him mercilessly. He wanted to take her body, and he felt his teeth ache with longing as he savored her breasts. He wanted to sink his teeth deep, to taste her, and he fought off the temptation as best as he could. He concentrated on the act of sex itself, without taking her blood, and heat began to pool deep within his abdomen. He wanted her; he wanted to join with her. But, more than anything he wanted her to accept him. To accept what existed between them.

Izzy showed a surprisingly low level of resistance as he fumbled with her pants. She tensed again as he drew them away from her hips, panties and all, exposing her true self to him. She didn't try to cover herself up this time, but she closed her eyes, even as her hips shifted to help him in removing her pants.

Marach had to take a moment, just a moment, to simply look at her. She was slim, although she didn't consider herself to be, and he sucked in a breath at her sheer beauty. But, he couldn't stay idle for very long. He fumbled with his own pants as he leaned back over her. His lips found hers again, as his free hand touched her. He the jolt in her thighs as he skimmed over them to her most private area. She tensed once more, but he kept her focus on the kiss, while his hand explored her intimately.

Izzy broke the kiss, trying to suck in a breath. A pooling heat had begun to form deep within her, and this strange need was becoming stronger. She wanted…something. Love or sex? But Marach…he could give both to her and it terrified her.

He could wait no longer. Free of the rest of his clothes he pressed over her smaller body and joined with her in one fell swoop. A sharp, tearing pain ruptured from within and she cried out. But, even stronger than the pain was the molten heat of their joining, the feel his mouth on her and the cradling of his hands in a comforting, erotic measure.

When he began to move against her, Izzy forgot about the pain. In its place was the ever-building intense heat. And…sensation. Feelings she'd never felt, electric and wonderful, spreading throughout her being. She couldn't escape it and she didn't want to. All she could do was lay there and bask in the glow of it all.

His mouth never let her skin. Temptation and hunger beat at him, even as pleasure sang through his body. When his mouth moved against the swell of her breast, his teeth ached and lengthened in response. This time, he couldn't hold back. Not now, definitely not now. Still, he tried to be gentle as he gave in and sank his teeth deep.

The pain was sharp, even sharper than their first joining. But oh…it felt good, too. Izzy ran her hands through his hair, digging in tightly as he drank deeply, his momentum never ceasing. She could deny him nothing. Anything he wanted he could have…because she also knew he would give it to her…

It felt like a very long moment, but he lifted his head, closing the pinpricks with a sensual sweep of his tongue. The heat inside her grew in wanton, even as her head became heavy. Her breathing grew thick, and the sounds she could longer hide rose in pitch, in volume. Then, a rupture of sensation rocketed her system. She screamed; she truly screamed and her body shook with the intensity of it all.

It was beautiful; so beautiful to see her wrapped in ecstasy. And he caused it, he thought smugly. Not thinking twice, he extended a fingernail and drew a thin line across his chest, over his chest. Izzy lay beneath him, exhausted and struggling to catch her breath. He lifted her gently into his arms, pressing her mouth over his wound. He was overcome with electric shocks, and the pleasure increased in volume. He groaned throatily as she drank his blood, cradled her to him closely. "Iubita mea…dragă…you are my love and my life…"

Marach knew though what was being risked by giving her his blood. She didn't want to turn, or at least wasn't ready to turn, but he was giving her enough blood to count for a second exchange. He would be more careful from now one. Yes…there would be more…

Izzy's mouth drooped away from his chest and he eased her back onto the bed, moving against her with such zeal that the familiar tremble broke out over her skin. She cried out in shock, in pleasure as she met her completion once more, and he could no longer hold himself. Trembling beyond his own control his clenched his teeth as he spilled forth, groaning into her hair the ecstasy wreaking his body.

In the aftermath they simply lay there. He turned their bodies so that they lay on their sides facing each other, bodies fitting together perfectly and heart rhythms beating in tune. Nothing was said between them, but when Marach kissed her lips she eased into it sensuously but tiredly, her body humming with the pleasure that had opened unfamiliar doors.

They both knew it was far from over, and they were far from safe. But for that short while, they could feel like nothing else mattered.

___

Shea calmly adjusted the settings on her digital microscope and looked at the adjoining computer monitor. "Amazing…" she felt like she'd said that single word at least a dozen times already.

Gary wandered over to her, looking at the 3-dimensional blood smear on the screen. "What blood are you testing, Shea?"

"A very unique type of blood. Here, let me show you something." She reached underneath the table and produced a bottle of bleach. She poured it into a glass beaker and then produced a syringe. She dipped the syringe into the bleach and took a couple of drops. "Now, watch." She carefully injected a single drop onto the glass slide. Right on top of the blood smear.

"Why would you inject bleach on blood?!"

"Just watch."

Both of them turned to the monitor, and Gabrielle quickly came over, her curiosity piqued. All three of them watch the bleach spread over the blood smear, staining the glass slide and burn the blood. Shea amplified the magnification. The first thing Gary noticed was that the red blood cells were shaped in a peculiar way. Once the bleach touched these cells, they began shaking. Then, all of a sudden they were mobilizing with lightning speed, going straight after the bleach. His jaw dropped as these red blood cells were overpowering the bleach, pushing the substance away from them, away from the fluid.

"Look!" Gabrielle shouted. They turned to the microscope to see bleach drip over the sides and onto the table. Shea quickly went about cleaning it up, not wanting her equipment to be damaged.

Gary looked back at the screen. All traces of the bleach were slowly disappearing, leaving nothing but the blood smear. Perfectly healthy blood, he might add. "W-What is this? Not even Carpathian blood reacts so quickly!"

"It's from one of the women Gregori is helping," Shea said, turning up the magnification. "He told me both sisters have regenerative blood and I wanted to see for myself. I mean, look at this." She motioned to the red and white blood cells. "I've attacked them with samples of the flu and other diseases, and they've fought them off effortlessly. And you just saw me attack it with a poison; it just simply pushed it out of there."

"But how is this possible?" Gabrielle asked. "Are the women human?"

"Yes, and that's the strange thing. Neither of them are psychic either, but both have lifemates." Shea typed into her computer, bringing up a properties screen. "I can't find a matching blood type for her, but this kind of show she doesn't need one. I-It…I've never seen anything like it. For Carpathians, serious injuries require outer healing, but these cells heal and regenerate all on their own. I would like a tissue sample as well, but I don't think she'll give one to me."

"How do you think they came across these abilities?" Gary asked. "Moreover, how in the hell did they avoid detection from the Morrison Center up to this point? Did Gregori say whether or not they were targeted?"

"Apparently their lives had been normal up to the point the older sister felt her lifemate turn into a vampire."

Gabrielle winced and hugged her arms to herself. "Poor girl. I can't even imagine what she's going through…"

"Gregori had to put her to sleep because we couldn't calm her down. I don't like it, but it looks like we have no choice but to keep her asleep for the time being. There's no way her lifemate could break any compulsion Gregori creates."

"And her sister…where is she?" Gary asked.

"Marach took her away, but I'm sure they'll be back on the next rising. For now, I want to test something very important with this blood. Gregori mentioned something to me about their blood rejecting it, but I want to make sure." Shea reached into her drawer and pulled out a corked test tube full of a red liquid.

Gary peered at it suspiciously. "Is that…?"

"Vampire blood."