Chapter 2

Carissa found herself sitting on one of the steps she was walking down just moments ago. She was edgy and distracted, strangely sensing something awful was going to happen. And she knew it was Tyrell. She glanced down at the palm of her hand where he'd left a mark almost five years ago. He swore with his blood that he would not harm the innocent. Yet Carissa couldn't shake the notion of Tyrell headed toward a dark path. When he was far away, it was hard to connect to him, and she prayed he heard her voice each time she sensed him teetering on the edge of losing his control.

"There you are," said Samuel.

She looked up to see one of her lifemates looking at her with concern. As always, Samuel was breathtaking to look at and she often wondered if she'd ever get over feeling jealous when he even glanced at another woman. Today he was dressed in tight jeans and a loose button down silk shirt. The collar was open and she could see the heavy muscles of his chest. Any woman would kill to have him. Most likely, he had more than his share of them in his past.

Samuel leaned against the rail of the staircase, giving her a little shake of his head when he could tell what she'd been thinking. "You are the only one for me."

"And me," added Pierce as he strode into the hall. "Exactly why are we gathered here at the bottom of the stairs?"

"She appears stuck." Samuel's eyes gleamed. "The steps do lead up, you know…to the bedroom."

Carissa gave way to a smile. "Actually, I was coming down the steps."

"Pity. If it's too much work to go back up them, I could carry you."

"Samuel," said Pierce with an annoyed tone, "you're not helping."

"Lovemaking is always a way to get her mind off things."

"But only for a short time."

"Speak for yourself. I could pleasure her for a very long time."

Carissa gave a loud sigh. "Really? You both have to argue about that?"

Samuel let out a short laugh. "I wasn't arguing, just stating a fact."

His twin frowned at her. "We are worried about you. Tell us what is going on."

"Nothing," she said, standing. "I really need to get moving. I have a phone interview with a candidate for the VP position of TravelGlobe."

"Who would ever think our lifemate would grow such a small travel agency into a Fortune 500 company that needs a VP?" asked Samuel with a smile.

She headed down the remaining steps but Pierce caught her arm. "We're not finished talking about this. We can feel your sadness, Carissa."

"We'll talk about it later, please? Now that I look at the time, I'm really late."

He reluctantly let go of her as she hurried down the hallway to the office area they had designed within their home. They built this home especially for her, high in the hills, but overlooking the city. It was the perfect location for their new life, allowing her to have a real home while also being an entrepreneur. They found she had a great number of skills in helping them with watching and growing so many of their businesses which provided wealth for their people. She had been so happy and fulfilled.

But something had changed.

It has to be him.

Samuel scowled. We are all she needs.

Of course we are. But have you forgotten? It's been nearly five years. His time is at an end.

She never knew we gave him a time period.

Pierce placed a hand on his twin's shoulder. "We have to tell her," he said softly. "You know she feels through his connection that he is beginning to lose his battle with the darkness. The last time Tyrell visited, there was almost no hint of emotion."

"And that was some time ago," agreed Samuel. "What do you propose we do? Reveal he was given a time period of five years and now it's time for the Dark One to hunt him down?"

"I prefer a softer approach," he replied dryly.

"She's too attached to him anyway," muttered Samuel.

Pierce arched an eyebrow at his brother. "So despite the fact he saved us, Carissa, and our Prince, you have no care at all that he dies?"

Samuel pulled away, walking in the opposite direction toward their large living room. Reaching the window, he looked out into the night. "He was a vampire; a traitor. His crimes cannot be forgiven. It is…better this way."

Pierce came up behind him. "It sounds almost like you need to convince yourself." When Samuel turned to look at him, Pierce nodded. "Fine, I have to convince myself. How many labs has he found and destroyed? He has gotten further than any other Carpathian with trailing Morrison, himself. Think what he could do if he lasted a while longer."

"And then what? He regains his honor?" asked Samuel. "You heard what Mikhail said those years ago. He is in constant conflict with himself. Carissa brought something out in his soul, but it will never be enough."

"What if one of the children is his lifemate?"

"No, I can't believe the SongMaker would not have said something by now."

Pierce slowly smiled. "Armando has been rather busy, you know. Between teaching the children, becoming a father, and conducting experiments on his blood with Shea, I'm not sure if he's had even a moment to think about the situation."

"I guess that's true," conceded Samuel. "Not to mention I heard he has his hands full with Viktor."

"Has he still not told him that Anya is his lifemate?"

"No," replied Samuel with a sigh. "Something about ensuring that she is truly ready. Maybe we should reach out to Mikhail and inform him of how this is impacting Carissa."

"Agreed. In fact, maybe it's time to return for a visit to our homeland." Pierce looked out into the night. "She may end up needing more than just us to comfort her if Tyrell is at the end of his time."

He was hungry.

Again.

As night descended and Tyrell broke through the ground, he transformed into a black hawk. Flying through the cold wind, he finally sighted a small town. Two women were leaving a local bar, and as he flew over them, the sound of their laughter reached his ears. He circled, then landed on one of the rooftops.

One was brunette, the other blonde. Something stirred within him. Was it hunger for their blood? Or something else?

He transformed into mist and as they turned down another street with no one around, he swirled around them. The women stopped, unsure of what was happening, but still laughing with a drunken gait as they practically tripped over each other. He took human form a few feet away from them.

The women stopped and were obviously surprised to see him. "Did he just appear?"

"Wow, I had even more than I thought," said the brunette.

"Yeah, but we both saw him appear."

"Then we both had too much."

The blonde approached first. "I have to say, you are very attractive. I don't normally go for guys dressed all in black, but God, that long hair…"

"Yeah, I wish I could get mine to look like that," added the brunette.

The chatter annoyed him, and before he could think about what he was doing, he grabbed the blonde's throat. She choked, but he held her easily. And before the brunette could scream, he captured her mind and forced her to walk closer.

As Tyrell dipped his head to the blonde's neck, he could feel her pulse racing. The fear she felt was an addictive feeling. He was so powerful. He could simply have any female he wanted.

Even Carissa.

The dark voice in his head made him pause. He would not listen to it. Carissa belonged with the twins. She was not his lifemate.

The Prince has always lied about the females. He chooses who is allowed to have a mate.

Once more he was having doubts about what he was doing. He wanted to take down Morrison, but he also hated the fact that he was destined to be killed for his past crimes. He scoffed at the thought.

Crimes that were committed because the Prince gave you no female.

Untrue. A real lifemate is controlled by something deeper, he argued with himself. He was not physically attracted to Carissa. There was a difference.

Do you honestly think the SongMaker, the oldest living Carpathian, would not share how to manipulate such chemistry? What of Mikhail's favorite, the Dark One, mating with his daughter? It is the Prince. You are a fool to think otherwise.

Tyrell closed his eyes, fighting the darkness, but weakening.

You could take Carissa with you to the Carpathian Mountains. Pretend you are facing an honorable death. Then force the SongMaker to reveal what can manipulate her chemistry to match your own.

The female he was holding made a garbled sound. Tyrell slowly opened his eyes and looked down. She was suffocating from his grip on her neck. He'd been squeezing it so hard, it was a miracle he hadn't broken it.

He forced himself to let go.

The woman fell to the ground, gasping for air. The brunette just stood there, completely captured by his mind. Tyrell waved a hand and both of them forgot everything. His feet were like lead as he pulled himself away from them. He was weak and needed blood. But he was beginning to realize just how much the darkness was overtaking him.

Would he even realize the moment he lost control? He did not recall much of anything of the exact moment when he turned vampire so many years ago. He had no recognition of the very fact he turned.

Perhaps he needed to make the journey to find the Dark One now, before it was too late.

Then suddenly there was a soft whisper in his mind. "Please," was all he heard from a female's voice he did not know. At that exact moment, a sharp pain struck inside his head. It was so intense, it nearly brought him to his knees. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the outside of a brick building, hoping his head would stop hurting.

In the distance, he heard a scream. He recognized it was one of the females he'd just left and tried to return to them. But the pain was slicing through his head, making it difficult to concentrate. Another scream made him drag himself along the wall and he finally managed to look around the corner.

A vampire was sinking his fangs into the blonde's neck. The brunette was at his feet, her neck obviously broken. Before he could think if it was darkness or honor, Tyrell broke through his pain and attacked the vampire. The vampire's eyes widened in surprise as Tyrell struck its face and it dropped the female. She tumbled to the ground and Tyrell could sense it was already too late for her. Her neck was completely sliced open and her eyes turned lifeless.

The vampire let out a low hiss and slowly straightened as blood poured from a wound to his cheek. He was by far shorter than Tyrell and had jet black hair. With dark eyes, he had yellow teeth with blood still on his lips from the dead woman. His voice was rough and grating. "This is my domain now."

The pain had finally eased from his head and Tyrell frowned at the vampires words. "Now? Are you saying you just now claimed this domain?" The vampire was circling to the right, and Tyrell warily watched him.

"Why do you care?" he sneered.

It was then Tyrell noticed the scent of blood, but not from the dead mortals or the vampire's wound. "Where else have you been?" asked Tyrell in a low voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about. If you want this city, come and try to take it from me."

"Another time, perhaps."

"Of course, since you are obviously too weak to defeat me."

The darkness in Tyrell surfaced and he knew his eyes grew heated. "Do not test me, boy. I am far older than you. It would take nothing for me to strike you down."

The young vampire wisely backed away, as if sensing Tyrell was not an enemy he should provoke. "Then what do you want?"

Tyrell sighed with impatience. He'd forgotten how young vampires were so easily distracted. And annoying. He withdrew the test tube of blood taken from the scientist.

The young vampire let out a low hiss. "Where is she?"

Tyrell narrowed his eyes. "This blood, it belongs to a female you know?"

"She's mine!"

The vampire had just confirmed this particular blood was special, most likely a psychic. "Answer me. When did you last feed? Where was she last?" When he didn't answer, Tyrell tilted his head. "I am tracking down Morrison. Surely you have heard they are taking our females for experiments. I found this blood with one of their scientists."

He finally answered in a dark voice. "She was by the large river, not far from here. I sensed her one night and found she was completely alone. But when I approached, I knew I was being watched."

Tyrell raised an eyebrow. "She was baiting you?"

"There are rumors that it is not only females being captured by these scientists, but us as well."

That was certainly no rumor as Tyrell knew that information first hand after being captured himself. "You are saying, they are using her to find us?"

"It would be the only way to lure us, would it not?"

Tyrell frowned. He was baited by the strange minerals, not any special female. But perhaps this meant Morrison still did not have that substance. "And you escaped from their trap."

The vampire scoffed. "Easily."

He found this very hard to believe, but decided to humor him. "I see. And where was it they were going to take you? Did you see into any of their minds?"

"You just want her for yourself."

Tyrell crossed his arms over his chest, his long black trench coat blowing with the wind. "If you want her, why do you not go and find her?"

The vampire laughed. "If you want to try and find her, be my guest. Even as an ancient, I highly doubt even you could take her."

"I could care less about the female," he replied in a smooth voice, "I only seek revenge and want to destroy the lab."

"South from here, there are large hills, hidden within a forest. The lab is there."

"In the middle of a forest," he repeated with heavy sarcasm.

The young vampire smirked. "As an ancient, surely you can figure it out. I leave you to your revenge, old one." He turned to mist, streaming into the sky, and leaving Tyrell to deal with the dead bodies.

Tired and still hungry, Tyrell slowly opened the earth to bury the women. When he looked at their faces, he knew he should have felt…something. Remorse? Sadness? But there was nothing. As he lowered them into the ground to be hidden for all time, Tyrell absently rubbed his forehead. The pain he felt was like nothing he experienced before. And the female's voice he heard, it was not Carissa.

He looked at the test tube of blood. Was this a new trap? Was this how they trapped his kind with a female that managed to penetrate their minds from a lab hidden somewhere?

Tyrell closed the earth, once again feeling nothing. The darkness was so close to consuming him. If he kept going, would he be able to hold out, or would destroying one more lab place him over the edge? He was lost and unable to think straight. Desperately, he closed his eyes, and pictured Carissa…

Tyrell.

He straightened as she whispered his name. He reached out to her. I need you. Feel me…

I am with you.

Tyrell opened his eyes. She was so far away and so faint, but her voice still helped clear his mind. Gathering the last of his determination, he transformed into the hawk once more, and flew out into the night sky.

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews; I will try to write when I can - hopefully will post a new chapter every few days. Any of your thoughts will help me write faster! -Anne