Disclaimer: I own nothing but the characters I created, the rest it's all Christine Feehan's.
Author's note: I must apologize for the time it took me to write this chapter, I just happened to have a writer's block, but it's finally here, so enjoy…
AN2: Again I must repeat that I think the time line is like this, dark demon happens somewhere on 2006; months after DD comes Dark Celebration at Christmas time 2006, and then a year after Dark Celebration, Christmas 2007, and take in notice I've not read dark possession nor dark curse, though I'm eagerly awaiting for Dark Curse, so between Dark Celebration and Dark Curse, happens to exists my story.
Chapter 8
"While you were sleeping"
(Revised After reading Dark Demon)
December 23rd, 2007
Carpathian Mountains
Who are you?
That's probably the hardest question to answer ever; can you tell for sure why you are here, what truly embodies the essence of your existence? Very few people can, and Tristan was not one of those people…
"I feel like I've made a series of mistakes regarding Mandy and Maria." Tristan mentioned as he sat next to Mikhail and Gregori. They were meeting to discuss the so called Christmas celebration. "Do you think I could do something to make it up to them?"
It was Gregori who spoke first. "You don't need to do anything but keep them safe; it's a waste of energy. Women are far too complicated to try to understand them, much less please them."
Then it was Mikhail who had to intervene. "No wonder my daughter cries constantly; you are extremely callous, and blind beyond belief." The prince reprehended Gregori; as he obviously questioned the way he treated Savannah, it seemed as though he would never be perfect enough for his precious daughter specially now, that they were expecting twin girls.
But The Prince continued nonetheless. "It's important to see to all of their needs, not just safety; I'm sure there's still conflict between you, no joining it's easy, let's not forget you aren't exactly typical either. I believe a gift, maybe jewelry, or flowers, even the smallest gesture can make a difference."
Tristan had to agree with him; he and Mandy were the cardinal opposite of every other Carpathian couple, but in essence they were the same. "I just want to—I don't know, make her understand how much I care for her. She's still a little guarded about us, like she refuses to believe we were truly meant for each other." Like the fact that she refused to admit she loved him.
"It's not that, I believe she's confused because she still doesn't understand her nature. How could she submit to you, when she hasn't even submitted to her true self?" Gregori mentioned, as a casual observer; he had seen the extend of her powers, Amanda was something of a rare combination of mage, Carpathian and cat and all that power was overwhelming her, besides that, she had the psychic ability to predict the future, and anyone could see that had to be the hardest gift to bear.
"That's true." The prince agreed begrudgingly. "But putting all that aside, the best thing you can do for her is to have patience, she's still young, and new to everything Carpathian, in due time, all the conflicts, both internal and external, should be resolved."
"I haven't thought about that, but that's true. I should just let her explore her powers… but I can't. You know the visions have deathly consequences, she could die for good, and I can't accept that… I intend to take her away, at least until she's learned to control them." Tristan admitted with a tinge of shame.
"That is a necessary precaution; no one can tell you its wrong. It's what any mate would do. But we meant her other powers, like shape-shifting, waving spells and healing the earth, I have an inkling that she may have that talent we so desperately need, some dragon seeker women have it." The prince mentioned, as he remembered a conversation held the previous season.
"And I'm sure she doesn't want to go away." Gregori mentioned, remembering how at ease Amanda was with his own mate, Raven and everybody else.
"Which is the conflict at present; she wants to stay, she refuses to leave until Natalya, and Colby get here. According to the Lamia Ovis, they are all related. But this family encounter could unleash great dangers, as you know, I'm not so sure Razvan is dead, and all of his girls in one place might be too much of a lure to let it go." Tristan paused, remembering the memories the Grimoire had unleashed.
"He tried to kill her once—Razvan I mean—when Mandy was just a baby he killed her parents, and left her wandering around, if she hadn't been so smart, she would've died under the blazing sun." Tristan said as he envisioned the tiny girl crawling under wood planks, sinking into the soil, just to avoid a horrible death.
Tristan continued, "I may have an agenda regarding the dark mage, but I'm not willing to risk everything for revenge… not now at least. I'm a father now; I have to think about Maria Celeste. If something happened to Mandy or to me, she'd be orphaned. So I better just avoid the unnecessary risk."
"How old was she?" Gregori asked puzzled about the display of intelligence.
"About three years old, she still slept on a cradle, but she talked fluently, and ran fast." Tristan replied, thinking about how scared she must have been back then.
"That's a very strong survival instinct." The prince said, thinking that most Dragon seeker girls had been like that, unrelenting and brave beyond believe. "I'm extremely pleased you finally found each other. And I pray to God you have many healthy daughters. I'm sure she'll do fine, if she survived so much already, how hard could it be to overcome her fears now?"
"You should just keep a close eye on her. She's smart, and that usually means she'll try to change your mind, even when you know you are just trying to keep her safe." Gregori said as he sighed mentally; he was petrified of having twin girls, the thought of it made him shake, women were far too complicated for his taste. "Meanwhile, we still have to discuss how to approach the threat currently lurking at the inn, I'm positive there's something amiss with them."
As if he had been summoned, Jacques sent a message to his brothers.
I've sensed people lurking at the inn, humans, they reek of gun powder; I think they are soldiers. Jacques mentioned to Gregori and Mikhail through the private path.
Are they dangerous? Mikhail asked.
I think so, I believe this could be the people that Amanda saw in her vision;, they could be tracking us from several places in America. Gregori replied thinking about the different organizations that had attacked Darius and his crew back in America.
What do you suggest we do? Jacques questioned.
Contact them and question them, now is not the time to play innocent around anyone. Mikhail ordered to his son in law and brother.
I'll be on my way. I'll ask Tristan to come as well; he remembers the vision better than I do. Gregori said, and then he severed the communication with Jacques.
ZZZ
How do you want to approach them? Tristan asked. Gregori, Jacques and him were preparing to seize the group of suspicious people at the inn.
We should take cardinal points approach, I'll do southeast, Jacques, you should do north; you should try the wolf disguise, Tristan you take west. I was told you could take the form of a falcon, that one could be very useful.
I can, so far it's the one I can do back and forward faster.
That's great; we'll do the wolf approach. You must keep the mind channels open and be aware that they might try poisonous darts, even a mage between them. Jacques said, thinking of previous ambushes.
What do we do if one of us gets caught or injured? Tristan asked, unfamiliar with the procedure.
We'll abort the mission and go at once to the fallen member, the unit it's the most important thing, if you need help, do not hesitate to ask it, I've got Darius and Barack on backup, should we need more plenty of Carpathians we'll come.
I've got it. So when do we leave?
Gregori checked the time, it was seven thirty at night, fully dark already, but he thought people were still too alert to use momentum against them.
We'll attack at the hour of the rat. That was approximately around eleven at night.
We'll, we are ready then, meet me here at ten forty-five. Gregori said as he made sure they were all in accord. Both Carpathians nodded and left.
ZZZ
As the night grew darker, and the animals stirred in their hides, the Carpathians began the chase…
The vampire-hunters were not expecting them, they had thought vampires could not detect them if they masqueraded as innocent tourists, but the Carpathians were onto their scent, and they already knew a threat was near.
Gregori was the first to make contact, he went straight to the female; she was alone on her room, just watching TV, but she was practically expecting an attack, she tried to get her gun, but the Dark One was faster and deadlier than any weapon.
He read her mind; there were seven of them, one female and six males, he read their names and interests through her. They were from something called "The pilgrim mission", a group of soldiers trained to search, kill and retrieve supernatural beings to study them, all medically enhanced to endure vampire strength.
They acted as backpackers, but they were carrying all the equipment required to hunt down and kill Carpathians, from tranquilizers and heavy manacles to stakes. They were also linked to some sort of military establishment and they had semi-automatic guns, three bazookas and several pounds of C-4 explosives, it appeared they wanted to devastate the entire Carpathian reservation.
The female was psychic, blonde, petite, huge blue eyes, quite beautiful, about thirty years old, too innocent to understand her role; she had tracked someone to the mountains, and led them to the prince, and the rest of the Carpathian race.
Gregori immediately thought she was meant to find her mate among his race, because she had walked through the carefully erected guards like she was one of them; so he enthralled her to follow him into the secured areas of the forest, and sent her deeply into sleep as soon as he could, she'll not wake up unless he needed her to, she shouldn't witness what was about to happen to her group.
Gregori as well as the other Carpathians moved through the inn silently, they were two wolves and a falcon chasing after the leader of that take-over operation.
They found two of them playing cards, the soldiers thought it was odd to see such a large bird standing on the rail, but before they had time to pull out their guns on Tristan as the menacing falcon, Jacques came into the room and took mind control of them, using their own guns against them.
Through those two soldiers, Jacques found out they were after a girl, an experiment lost to them. They had been sent to retrieve the girl, and kill as many vampires as they could; destroying the lair's ground with the explosives before they returned.
The woman they carried with them would help them locate the girl, and made sure she was the one they were after; after all, she was her mother.
ZZZ
As the male Carpathians reduced the threat, Amanda slept deeply inside the welcoming soil, replenishing her strength for the dire times ahead of her…
After all the soldiers were killed, Gregori took the woman out of the soil and awoke her in presence of Mikhail and Tristan.
Deeply inside the caverns, Tristan thought he was having some sort of magic hallucination, or maybe that his eyes had stopped working, because that woman looked exactly like Celeste McBride, his first love, wife and mother of Maria Celeste.
"Woman, you must explain to us how you were able to go through our safeties so easily." The prince asked her.
"I felt no barriers." She said very simply, looking at the prince eye to eye.
"Why are you here?" Tristan asked her.
"Do you have a name?" Gregori asked her as he scanned her for hidden weapons.
"You already know my name, Redman, and you also know exactly why I'm here." She said addressing Tristan in a very intimate manner.
"I'm very sorry, but I haven't had the slightest idea." Tristan lied, thinking she couldn't possibly be her, Celeste was dead and gone.
"Oh, you don't know me?" Celeste taunted as she walked closer to Tristan, wrapped her hand around his neck, and kissed him roughly. He wanted to pull away but his need to prove it wasn't her was stronger. "Does that refresh your memory, dear?"
"Tristan, this is unseemly. We must stop this nonsense, this woman wanted to kill us, she can't go unscathed." Gregori warned Tristan, as he placed his bulk in front of the prince, just in case the woman decided to attack Mikhail.
Tristan pushed her away from him violently. She tasted of chemicals, of drugs used to enhance her performance, and gun powder; she was with the society all the way. "You are dead, I felt you dying on my arms. That bullet went through your brain!" Tristan said, confronted with the impossible circumstances.
"Science is very advanced," Celeste mentioned as she bared a large scar on the back of her head. "I came here for the little Satan's spawn. As you know, she's an abomination; we were studying her to determine why she was born a vampire."
"Tristan, we can let her roam free, she's a menace to our woman and children." The prince said as he tried to convince Tristan she had to go away with her memory completely erased.
"I think we've heard enough of this." Gregori said menacingly. "There's only one thing to do with her…" He was about to say kill her but the prince was against it; the woman had seen too much, but she was above all things innocent, she had been brainwashed, Mikhail could see that plainly.
"Tristan, you must explain what happened to her, and keep her somewhere safe until we can decide what to do." Mikhail said, meaning she should be kept away from any other Carpathian, if she hurt any of the females or the children she'll be killed in a second, Gregori would see to that.
"Of course my prince," Tristan said as he cuffed her, and walked her to the surface, he intended to take her to a clear on the woods. "You and I are going to have a very long conversation." Tristan said menacingly as he pulled Celeste's arm violently next to him, so she could walk as fast as he did.
Tristan shuddered to think this cold, cruel woman could be the one he loved so dearly, and he trembled to imagine she had let them torture Maria, perhaps even torture her herself. "I can't imagine what happened to you, but you are not going anywhere near my daughter. I can hardly recognize you." Tristan swore as he pulled Celeste deeper into the woods.
Gregori followed them in the shape of a wolf, preoccupied with the outcome of such reunion. The prince went back to Raven, she was anxiously waiting for his return, worried about the horrible threat they had just dodged.
ZZZ
"Oh, look at me weeping!" Celeste said cruelly. "You are an even bigger abomination than she is; I should've killed you when I had the chance, now I'm sorry I didn't. Now … I have to bear your mark on me for the rest of my life!" Celeste said as she bared her right shoulder. "You made me a whore, a slave and your fucking food supply, I can't believe I let you do that to me for ten years!"
Tristan could not speak, she had been completely and thoroughly brainwashed by the pilgrim mission and the society, twisting everything private, emotional and sacred to them into an aberration.
The truth of it was; that she had loved him so much she begged him to drink of her. He did so several times, but he never let her taste his blood, afraid of making her a vampire. But she adored him so, and they had amazing and mind-blowing sex, and she also enjoyed playing BSDM games. She always wanted him to dominate, and he enjoyed pleasing her, even if games sometimes got carried away.
But that was all before baby Maria Celeste was in the picture, the minute he knew she was pregnant, he stopped drinking from her, he even refused to have sex with her, afraid of hurting the infant.
"You are in no position to jest here, Celeste. One tiny wrong step and you are dead again, so you better cooperate and listen to what I have to explain to you… or I'll kill you myself." Tristan warned her as he tossed her against a rotting tree root, and shook her for good measure.
"Boo Hoo, look at me shaking! You'd never kill a woman; you've got too many scruples, Redman." Celeste teased him as she tried to pull away from Tristan.
"And don't you ever call me that again. I resent it, not after you just thrashed everything we lived together, and gave our daughter to those monsters. You can't call me pet names ever again!" He said with a face turned into a mask of pure rage.
"Fine," Celeste whispered cheekily.
"Judging by the amount of explosives, and weapons you had, you intended to kill us all, didn't you?" Tristan asked her with deep concern.
"That was the plan." Celeste admitted.
"I can't believe you didn't look for me sooner …I grieved for you for over three years! I would've rescued you from that hell in a second."
Celeste looked down in silent acceptance, she knew he had missed her, but the first part of her training inside the society, was to avoid all contact with the outside.
"I'm not vampire, and my—our—daughter it's not an aberration, or an abomination or anything other than precious. We are called Carpathians not vampires, we need blood to survive but we do not kill to live." Tristan said, overthrown with the idea of Celeste been his enemy. "That's what true vampires do, but we … are not born evil, or deranged, we only lose sanity in time when the emptiness of our barren existence overcomes us."
And Celeste still remained silent.
"You can't go back to the society; our prince thinks you are meant to be here among us… that you could be someone's lifemate." Tristan admitted painfully, if only she had been his true lifemate, things would have been so different.
"What's that?" Celeste asked, genuinely curious about it.
"Do you remember how wolves and storks pair up for life?" Tristan asked her as she raised her chin to look into his aquamarine eyes with authentic interest. Tristan noticed just how blue her eyes were, he had never seen them in true color before. "So do we; us Carpathians, we find a lifemate and stay with that person for the rest of our lives, we have children, we love, and most importantly we don't become vampires because we are anchored to that person."
"Was I yours?" Celeste asked painfully.
"No, you aren't. I've found her here, recently." Tristan paused to check she was still deeply asleep, it petrified him to think about what he would do when she noticed what had happened. "We are raising Maria Celeste together, and I need to know you won't hurt her."
"She's a bloodsucker, just like you are. If I could, I'd kill you both." Celeste said with bravado. "In fact, I was sent here with a team trained in creating fires, I was meant to find her, take her back and kill all of you afterwards."
"That was the vision she saw, thank god she has such an amazing gift." Tristan said; noticing Celeste didn't follow him he continued. "My lifemate is psychic, she can see into the future, she knew you'd try to kill us, and she told us, so we could stop you."
"Oh, she's a gypsy fortune teller then? Does she have a crystal ball and a turban, or is she into tarot?" Celeste said cynically. "I could care less! She's a fucking aberration, just like you, freak of nature!"
Her words hurt him like daggers straight into the heart. He had loved her deeply; to think she was so jaded by those human hunters was unbearable pain.
Little did she know that the Carpathian Mountains were packed with single males, and all them hungered for a mate…
"Kill me! I dare you to, I won't become one of you kind ever, I'd rather slit my throat with a pocket knife!" Celeste screamed as she tried to break her cuffs.
"Stop don't you see she's hurt? Unleash her!" A male voice ordered Tristan angrily, he was tall, brunette, well built, eyes as black as night. "My name is Lucas Kresinski and this woman is my lifemate, I've seen color now that I've heard her voice."
Tristan smirked cynically, and raised his arms in surrender. "By all means brother, take her, though I must warn you she has sworn to kill any, and all of our kind. She's a vampire-hunter, and we happen to have a past together."
"That is of no consequence to me, she's the light of my dark, I'll see to her needs." Lucas said as he undid Celeste's binds; she immediately shoved him away, and ran away from them.
Lucas remained behind, staring at Tristan as he pondered if he should go after her. "What kind of a past?" Lucas asked with fear.
"We were married for ten years, we have a daughter together." Tristan said and as Lucas paled visibly he continued. "She's not my lifemate, I thought she was dead for the past three years, she'll tell you all about it… if you can find her." Tristan said meaning she had run into the darkest part of the woods.
"We'll have to talk further, brother." Lucas said as he morphed into a puma and ran full speed after his lifemate.
Lucas Kresinski was a Russian hunter, relatively young for Carpathian standards, but still over 300 years old, he had lost sight of colors nearly a century ago, since then, he had served the prince every time he needed it, and whenever a vampire was near his home, he had killed it. He was strong, cunning and every bit as alpha as any of them.
But Lucas' heart filled with dread to think his chosen lifemate was a vampire hunter, a woman already taken by another Carpathian, and more to the point a member of the dangerously cruel, and deathly society. He thought she had to be a blessing in disguise. Although it wasn't all so bad, she was gorgeous, blonde, petite, huge blue eyes and a body so curvy it made his heart race just thinking about her.
It was a dare, if Lucas could tame this wild woman, claim her as his own, make her change her mind about his race; he would have an amazing lifemate… of course that was if he managed to find her before dawn.
Finally, Lucas found her essence and followed her into a cave, she was hiding between the wet crevices of several rocks inside a smaller grotto, trembling with fear and cold, he could smell it on her; she was petrified of him. He thought it wouldn't be easy but he would manage it.
Gregori watched both scenes with concern, every new couple was a blessing, but he doubted he had seen the end of that argument, Amanda for one thing would be livid, and just to think how hard it would be for Lucas to change that woman's mind made the dark one thank God for his lifemate.
Savannah had been difficult, but as virginal as white snow when he decided to take her, and of course, he would've never had it any other way, but as time went by he noticed how couples seemed to struggle harder just to accept the fate of each other. Gregori wished his unborn daughters an easy future, because the dark one, sure as hell, would kill whoever dared so much as to look at them the wrong way.
ZZZ
TBC… don't forget to review me!
The mean kitten
ZZZ
You could be happy
By Snow Patrol
You could be happy and I
won't know
But you weren't happy the day I watched you go
And
all the things that I wished I had not said
Are played in loops
'till it's madness in my head
Is it too late to remind you how
we were
But not our last days of silence, screaming, blur
Most
of what I remember makes me sure
I should have stopped you from
walking out the door
You could be happy, I hope you are
You
made me happier than I'd been by far
Somehow everything I own
smells of you
And for the tiniest moment it's all not true
Do
the things that you always wanted to
Without me there to hold you
back, don't think, just do
More than anything I want to see
you, girl
Take a glorious bite out of the whole world
ZZZ
Author footnotes:
The hour of the rat- This was a system used in old Japan before actual watches began to be used, the twelve divisions were denoted by the zodiac signs of Junishi. The hours went in this order with their approximate time; the hours were divided like this:
Rat 11pm to 1am
Ox 1:00-3:00 AM,
Tiger 3-5:00 AM,
Hare 5-7:00 AM,
Dragon 7- 9:00 AM,
Snake 9-11:00 AM,
Horse 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM,
Goat 1-3:00 PM,
Monkey 3-5:00 PM,
Rooster 5- 7:00 PM,
Dog 7-9:00 PM,
Boar 9-11:00 PM.