Author's Note: I am so so sorry it's taken me so long to update. My computer crashed. I was told i would need to wipe the entire hard drive to fix it. It was cheaper to just buy a new CPU. So anyway, I got a new computer, but I had lost all my previous work. All my files, all my stories, gone. It's horrible. Luckily most of it was already uploaded, but there are still some things I'll never get back. I finally got my new computer earlier this month and for the most part, I've been trying to reconstruct lost files and figure out what i still have in hard copies or on CD-ROM. I just started typing this up last week. So it is with my deepest regret that it took me over two months to upload chapter 8. As it turns out, this chapter is not the conclusion of last chapter. I had planned on it, but when I realized that the second half of what I was going to write seemed to take away from the drama of the first half, I decided to move the rest to another chapter. So as it stands, this next very emotional chapter is all Skyler's take on what happed in chapter 7. I really intend for her and Dimitri to be a secondary storyline in my fanfic, not only because Dimitri is Zohra's uncle, but because I love the dynamic Skyler's character brings into the fold. I can guarantee you will be seeing a lot more of them in the chapters to come. There is one more thing I would like to mention and I actually hesitated to put this in here. But seeing as how it is my fic, I reserve the right to do almost anything I want. So here it is.
This chapter and many more following express religious views which are entirely my own and do not reflect the views of Christine Feehan nor the administrators.
I use my Christian faith in a lot of my writing and this is not an exception. Many chapters beyond this may stir some contraversy in some readers. If you insist upon continuing, I urge you not to pass judgment until you reach the end. My goal is not to offend anyone, but to express morals. You will need to read to the end to discover them. So with that being said, I give to you the latest installment in my fic Dark Salvation. Enjoy.
Chapter 8
"I love you Skyler." Skyler was forced awake by a terrifying sense of foreboding. Dimitri's declaration of love sounded more like a final farewell.
"Dimitri," she whispered. A great sense of urgency seized her and pushed herself to sit up. Groaning, she clutched her head as spots danced in front of her eyes.
"Skyler!" Loving arms surrounded her and she looked up to find Francesca kneeling at her side. "What are you doing awake? You need to lie back down; your body needs to heal."
Skyler psychically reached out to her lifemate only to find empty space. Desperately she tried again and again. Finally she got through only to find him physically exhausted and ready to collapse from lack of blood. He would lose that battle if he continued. Tears fell from her eyes as she sent him a desperate cry. Dimitri, you'll die if you keep this up. Please, stop this and come back to me. I can't bear to lose you." But her words met an empty space.
"Don't leave me," she cried aloud. Skyler looked around to find herself in their underground safe room. Tamera slept in a small crib in the corner, completely oblivious to the dangers outside the safeguarded chamber. Skyler met her Carpathian mother's gaze. "Why are we down here? What battle is going on above us?"
"Dominic has returned. He seems to have gone mad. Your father made me promise to keep you girls safe while he joined the other warriors."
"I can't just lie here while Dimitri gets himself killed!"
Again, Francesca held her closely. "Dimitri will be fine. You need to rest. Even if you were a fighter, in your weakened state, you'd only be a hindrance."
Skyler pushed Francesca away with a strength she shouldn't have been capable of. "I'm not losing him," she exclaimed as she pushed herself out of the bed. "Not yet."
As Skyler ran out the door, Francesca silently cursed herself for not setting safeguards on their side of the door. After placing a few more strong safeguards around Tamara's crib, Francesca ran to stop her ever-determined daughter from getting herself killed.
-----------------
When Skyler emerged from the underground chambers, she discovered not a battle, but a war. It was a bloodbath. Dominic had returned and he had indeed gone mad. The rage powering his attacks was so incredibly great, she nearly collapsed from it. But she stood her ground, for she saw beyond the front lines, a body lying in a pool of blood. Broken and beaten, he hardly resembled his former self. Countless scratches covered his body and his beautiful face looked like it had met with a sledgehammer. But there was no denying who this man was, for it seemed as if an iron weight had settled itself upon Skyler's heart. "Dimitri," she whispered.
Skyler wanted to hate Zohra for bring Dominic here. In his berserker rage he had all but slaughtered the love of her life; and yes Dimitri was the love of her life and would be for all eternity. She wanted to hate Zohra so much. But Skyler was incapable of hate, especially toward one so much like herself. The call of a lifemate was inescapable, and Zohra had only followed her heart to save the soul of an honorable man. It was that very same call, which prompted Skyler to run straight across the room, dodging every attack unintentionally thrown her way, to kneel beside her beloved. Her soul screamed for its other half. At the same time, Zohra's desperate cry reached her ears and her heart. No, she could not hate Zohra. The worst she could muster was pity. Skyler looked down at the mangled body of her lifemate. He wasn't breathing! Ignoring the massive amounts of blood, she ripped off what was left of his shirt and pressed her ear up against his chest. No heartbeat! Carpathians had been known to stop their hearts to help with healing, but Dimitri looked to far gone to accomplish it.
"No," she whispered as sobs racked her body. "He can't be dead. Not now. I need him here with me. I love him. I never got the chance to tell him. He can't die! I won't let him!" As Skyler felt the room shake and the wind howl, as the very roof was ripped from the house and nature itself seemed to scream of death, she wrapped her arms around Dimitri and held him close. Skyler looked up, and in the middle of this bloody war, she shouted at the heavens and prayed someone was listening.
"You can't have him! I won't let you take him, you hear me. You claim to be a loving father! Well let me tell you something, God! Neither one of my earthly fathers were very loving and I've pretty much given up on you! But if you have any shred of tenderness in you, if you care at all that this one man is the only person on this entire planet who's ever brought me joy, you will let him live! He's taught me to love again. I tried to keep it safe but he's stolen my heart anyway. I promise I'll accept his claim when the time comes. I will be ready by my eighteenth birthday. I'll accept his claim now if it will keep him with me in this life, just don't take him from me! Please."
By now Skyler was soaked in Dimitri's blood. It was no longer flowing but much had covered him. None of this mattered to her. The battle meant nothing. Dimitri was the only thing that mattered. Skyler couldn't imagine a world without him in it. She caressed Dimitri's battered face and kissed his brow. "Vivre pour moi, mon amour. Don't you leave me."
It was then a flash of light encompassed the room and a great stillness settled over the battle. The fighting had ceased, and the warriors seemed dazed. Zohra's voice pushed past the haze of despair and lifted the weight right off of her heart. "He's alive, Skyler. He merely shut down his heart to stop the bleeding." It seemed her lifemate had not been too far gone after all.
Skyler turned to meet Zohra's gaze. The half-Carpathian seemed bathed in light, almost like an angel. "Thank you for that." Zohra nodded her head in acknowledgement.
Skyler didn't know if God had answered her prayers, but still she had made a promise. She had vowed she would be ready for Dimitri's claim by her eighteenth birthday, and she would not let him down. There had to be a way to love him fully. She would find it.
Francesca made her way to her daughter's side. She grabbed onto Skyler and embraced her like she'd thought she was dead. "Don't you ever do that to me again."
Skyler met her mother's gaze. "Save him."
Francesca looked down at her daughter's lifemate. He seemed beyond repair. "I'll do my best." As she reached to carry Dimitri to the underground chambers, Skyler grabbed her arm.
"No. You'll do better. He must live. I made a promise to one day love him in every way he deserves. I don't intend to break that promise."
Normally Francesca would have scolded her daughter for being so obstinate, but the call of a lifemate was a powerful thing, and Skyler gave much more of her heart than most. She just nodded, and after making sure Skyler followed behind her, rushed to tend to the fallen warrior.
As Skyler stepped around the still dazed warriors, she felt a burning at her hip. Her mark, it felt like it was on fire. She clutched at it with one hand and struggled to stay upright. It was then Skyler noticed the glow emanating from both Zohra and Dominic. She looked to see Natalya also clutching her hip. A presence seemed to invade her mind, threatened to gain control. Skyler built up her psychic defenses. Yet as she struggled to push back the burning pain and push the intruder out of her mind, she discovered she knew two things to be absolutely true. The first, what Zohra and Dominic felt now was not just the pull of a lifemate, it was the need to save a species. The second, this presence in her mind was something so ancient and so pure, no living being could have preceded it. She had no hope of winning this battle, and whatever it was, it needed her for a greater purpose. Armed with this new knowledge, and with the utmost faith in Francesca's ability to heal Dimitri, Skyler gave in to the presence.
Soon, Skyler knew one thing and one thing only. The dragon must not die. No Dragonseeker had ever turned. Dominic would not be the first.
Vive pour moi, mon amour. (French) -- Live for me, my love. Skyler grew up in Paris, so I thought I'd put a little French in there.
Well that's pretty much it for chapter 8. I have pretty much the whole of chapter 9 finished in my head, so I should have it uploaded much quicker than my past chapters. For my loyal readers, the contest to name Sara's baby is still on, so keep those names coming. Please review.