Chapter 23

Pierce actually felt Carissa tremble through his connection with her. Before he left the secret lair, she made him promise to share everything with her. She wanted to know what happened so nothing was kept hidden this time. Samuel wasn't pleased. He understood one of them needed to stay with her, but he protested the decision for Pierce to be the one to face Mikhail. However, when facing the Prince, the twins needed to be calm and rational, something Samuel even admitted might be an issue for him.

Now the reality was hitting Pierce hard as he stood in a room full of hunters, including Gregori who was protectively close to Mikhail. When the Prince broke the news about the SongMaker being away, Pierce felt like someone had just hit him in the chest. The twins had never even thought to ask if the ancient was still in the Carpathian Mountains.

How could we know? asked Samuel, He just found his lifemate and all those children. Why would he leave?

It is not permanent, replied Pierce. It sounds as if he went to visit someone.

Who the hell would he visit? This doesn't exactly help our situation.

Pierce felt Carissa's fear and tried to reassure her. It will be okay.

How do you know? she asked. The ancient you talked about is not there. How will they believe us when I see the Prince tomorrow evening?

Pierce could feel Samuel now holding her. Everything will work out, his twin soothed. Pierce, we may need to delay the meeting tomorrow evening. Tell Mikhail we need the SongMaker.

Oh, please. Gregori is barely holding himself back from attacking me as it is. If I tell him we refuse to bring Carissa, I might as well slit both my wrists and let the Dark One drink me dry.

Samuel ignored his twin's sarcasm. You have to at least try and explain the situation. Mikhail may listen to you.

"We know you are talking with your twin," said Gregori in a hard voice.

"Forgive me," muttered Pierce, "my concentration hasn't been the best as of late."

Mikhail gave a curt nod to him. "Come forward."

Pierce clenched his jaw. His feet felt like lead but he forced himself to approach the Prince. When Gregori slightly stepped forward, it was obvious that he'd gone far enough. "I mean no disrespect…"

"Really?" asked Lucian, one of the Dark Twins. "It appears to us you are reluctant to reveal something. You have much to answer for with what you and your brother did tonight."

Inside, Pierce cringed. The Dark Twins were definitely not going to understand their situation. Looking around the room, he knew very few of those here. He knew Jacques, brother to Mikhail who was looking strong despite the ordeal he'd suffered years ago. Julian was also present. While Pierce did not know him well, it was easy to recognize the identical twin to Aiden, who still lived in the United States. If it wasn't for the current circumstances, Pierce would have wanted to be introduced to all of them, as he probably managed quite a few of their investments.

Pierce cleared his throat. "The female is safe, Mikhail. You have my word."

"Your word," repeated Mikhail. His eyes narrowed. "I have your word she is safe despite the fact that I saw both you and your brother feeding from her."

"I know how it looked…"

"That's an understatement," said Julian. "Aiden said one of your companies took a nose dive and then you suddenly dissolved it. Rumors are flying about an unprecedented number of viruses unleashed into a number of servers in hundreds of corporations. Then you and your twin show up here with a special female you told no one about? What is going on?"

"Her name is Carissa."

Gregori's stare never wavered. "Who is she?"

"She was actually working in the city of Chicago at a travel agency. We had no idea she was practically right there in front of us. Samuel suddenly needed to return here and we found her when making plans."

"And why did Samuel suddenly need to return?" asked Mikhail. "You never even reached out to me."

Careful, whispered Samuel in his mind.

Pierce avoided the answer. "She was abducted by Morrison at the same time the viruses were spread to a number of various corporations. We believe they were targeting anything we owned."

Mikhail glanced at Gregori, most likely communicating on their own private link. The Prince drew a deep breath, as if trying to be patient. "You did not contact me," he repeated.

"We came as soon as we could-"

"That is not what the Prince asked!" snapped Gregori. "The information on Morrison, while important, can wait. You will answer as to why you and your brother did not inform us about the female and why you both took blood from her."

"Not just took blood," said Gabriel in a sharp voice, "but both at the same time at her throat."

"You could have easily killed her after such a long journey," reprimanded a male who Pierce did not recognize. He was stocky, with a similar build to Gregori.

Mikhail held up a hand. "Enough. It is obvious enough the twins did something wrong. Pierce, I have trusted you for years. What is your explanation to all of this?"

Pierce felt his heart racing and wasn't sure if it was really his own or from Carissa. He looked down at his feet, trying to remain calm under so much stress.

Tell them, urged Samuel.

"Carissa…is our lifemate." He finally said it, although his voice was very quiet.

There was complete silence for a moment, before Mikhail spoke again. This time his voice was in a more gentle tone. "She is your lifemate."

"No…"

"So she is Samuel's lifemate."

Pierce knew he had to be clear and raised his head high. "She is our lifemate."

Mikhail's eyes darkened while all the hunters looked at each other, unsure if they'd heard what Pierce had just announced. "What did you say?" the Prince asked in a harsh tone.

And so it begins, said Samuel with complete sympathy for his twin.

Pierce had enough at this point and was relieved to be admitting the truth. He met Mikhail's eyes. "Carissa is lifemate to both myself and Samuel."

"Impossible!" hissed Gregori. "There can be only one lifemate!"

"It's true," replied Pierce firmly.

Mikhail shook his head. "You are the most intelligent of our kind, Pierce. You know this cannot possibly happen."

Pierce stood his ground. "She belongs to both of us. Do you really think I didn't have the same reaction?"

Not really. You actually attacked me, Samuel reminded him.

Give me more time in this room and the same could happen here with them.

Gregori's eyes grew even more cold. "Then tell us the reason Samuel suddenly needed to return."

Damn. Pierce knew exactly where the Dark One was going with this conversation. "He had lost hope. I demanded he return to the Carpathian Mountains so we could see the children that had been found."

"And you were hoping the SongMaker would volunteer if one of them was his lifemate," filled in Gabriel. No one needed to guess that was his intention.

"Yes," bit out Pierce. "I know what you are all thinking, but he is not a vampire!"

Lucian folded his arms across his chest. "How do you know? We have been deceived countless times by our enemies and this may be a way to target Mikhail."

"Never. My twin would never do such a thing."

Julian raised an eyebrow. "Every unattached male is capable of turning."

"We share a soul!" hissed Pierce. He was angry at the attack on his twin. The shock on Mikhail's face was at least somewhat satisfying. "I feel everything he does! Not just a connection as a sibling, but everything. When he is gravely wounded, so am I."

Jacques, who had known Pierce long ago, spoke up. "You are saying if one of you were stabbed or shot, you feel the same pain?"

"No, the wound physically appears." That answer at least got the rest of the room talking in hushed voices.

"And how would you not have known this earlier?" asked Gabriel with a tone of obvious doubt.

"For years we have rarely used our hunting skills. We have never fought a true master vampire. Even when we did have the opportunity to serve justice, neither of us had serious enough wounds to notice in battle how the other suffered the exact same blows."

Mikhail looked at some of the other hunters, most likely sharing more private communication. His gaze returned to Pierce. "Close your mind to your twin and Carissa."

No, said Samuel. They mean to turn you against me.

You promised! cried Carissa. Do not shut me out.

Gregori growled a warning. "You will comply or you will be cut off from them in another way." There was no mistake in his tone. If Pierce did not close his mind, Gregori would take swift action on him. Honor was everything to Pierce and he could not lie about blocking Carissa or Samuel.

Pierce closed his eyes. I must obey our Prince. Before they could protest again, he swiftly closed his mind and raised his head to look at Mikhail.

"Vampires have been known to cast their same wounds on others," Mikhail said in a calm voice.

"It happened to my own lifemate when I was forced to bring justice to her father," said Jacques quietly.

Mikhail nodded. "Samuel is your twin and knows you better than anyone else. Have you considered that Carissa is really your lifemate, and he has found a way to manipulate the situation?"

"Of course I have. I gave myself every logical argument, Mikhail. But I swear to you this is real."

"Or he is making it seem very real," reasoned Lucian. "You must not underestimate our enemies."

Pierce remained stoic. "What vampire would share a female?"

"Today, our enemies are using new tactics never seen before," answered Gregori. "We have evidence of vampires working together, something which we never would have imagined. They now will go at great lengths to find a weakness of any kind."

Pierce hesitated. Gregori's logic made sense. He'd heard vampires were forming in small units. If they had mastered their dark calling enough to place aside their own personal sense of power, could it mean a vampire would find a way to go so far as to share a female? Pierce began to piece together Tyrell. The vampire had been trying to help Samuel escape from the lab. Was it because of the minerals Morrison had found or was it that Tyrell and Samuel had formed a dark bond? And it was Samuel who first even suggested they shared Carissa as a lifemate.

"I can see you are thinking things through," said Mikhail as he came forward.

Pierce stiffened. "How do you know I'm not the vampire?"

The prince looked at him with steady eyes. "You are no vampire. I see your soul, Pierce. And it is compassionate for your twin. But I think the truth is something you do not want to see. Samuel was already on the verge of turning. He is somehow using your lifemate as an opportunity to penetrate us."

It made sense, especially when Pierce thought about how he felt his world was turned upside down when he only heard Carissa's voice on the phone. Samuel may have used their connection to simply seek her out to start down a dark path. Everything seemed so logical.

So why did it still feel wrong?

Mikhail placed a hand on Pierce's shoulder "I want you to return to Samuel and Carissa. You will convince them that I am still skeptical, but willing to consider the three of you are lifemates. Then you will bring them before the council here tomorrow evening."

Pierce closed his eyes once more in despair.

Author's note: Reviews please?