said pater had done.

no, you are nothing like pater. you have fought every inch of the way for your honor and your integrity and for the welfare of others. blood does not make up who you are, destiny.

i can't bear to have vampire blood running through my veins. destiny ducked her head, ashamed for thinking of her own discomfort as she heard velda's soft weeping and the murmur of inez trying to console her. velda had lost everything, and destiny still had nicolae. would always have him.

please help her, nicolae.

nicolae waved his hand toward the older woman, respect and admiration in his expression. "i thank you for saving my lifemate at such a cost to yourself. i give you the only gift i have, distance from the one who would have belonged to you." he bowed low, a courtly salute of honor. his spell wouldn't take away the terrible sorrow - velda would grieve for her lifemate - but he dimmed the emotion enough to make it more bearable.

he gathered destiny into his arms.

it is over. even wounded, he was a powerful enemy. seeing velda face to face shook him. i hope there will be a semblance of peace for velda with what i have wrought.

"put her to bed, inez," nicolae said aloud. "velda, you will sleep and heal."

nicolae carried destiny out into the cool of the night. the breeze had taken the stench of the vampire and carried it out to sea. the air was clean and fresh with promise. nicolae soared through the darkened sky, taking her back to the cave. anger smoldered deep in the pit of his belly, mixed with fear and relief.

"you took a terrible risk, destiny." he buried his face in her hair.

"was gregori able to heal you completely? is he certain?"

"he did, at great cost to his strength. he is anxious to get started on healing you."

she brushed her hand over his face, lingering along the seam of his lips, pressed tightly together in a frown. "he doesn't think he will be able to heal me, does he?" her voice wobbled alarmingly.

"he will heal you. it will take time. maybe more than one session, but he will do it." nicolae tenderly stroked the hair from her face with gentle fingers as he settled into the darkened cavern. he waved his hand to light the waiting candles.

"poor velda. she recognized pater as her true lifemate. what a terrible tragedy. a waste for them both. and for a moment, he recognized her. i saw it in his eyes. he felt something. with her speaking to him, looking at him, he felt something."

his fingers wiped the tears from her face. "she showed tremendous courage. he would have killed you." he brought her hands to the warmth of his mouth, kissing her knuckles lovingly. "when a carpathian male turns, the tragedy of it is that there might be a woman waiting somewhere, or in some other time. pater should have held on to his honor. velda is an extraordinary woman. in the end, she did her best to free him."

"he would have killed her," destiny said sadly.

"he would have had no choice. the undead cannot see themselves: their reflection in a mirror provides too much of the truth; the eyes of a lifemate reveal an unbearable reality."

gregori and savannah joined them. "your friends are safe in their homes and have no memories of what transpired. the lifemate of the vampire will know, of course, and i did not remove the memories of the priest or mary ann delaney. mary ann has psychic ability and should be persuaded to visit the carpathian mountains as the guest of our prince. i hope that you will invite her when it is convenient."

she knew gregori was concerned that there might be a carpathian male who could be saved. destiny clutched at nicolae, unashamed that she did so. she was tired and shaky and feeling terribly vulnerable. the idea of her tainted blood was repulsive to her. "can you get rid of the vampire's blood?"

"i am certain that i will be able to do so, but i ask that you donate blood first to allow us to examine it. it might be useful to us. the colonies seem to spawn the infestation. who knows what can be done once we understand what is going on?"

"feel free, take as much as you like," destiny offered. "i'm tired and want to sleep." it was the only safe thing to do. the thought of those hideous creatures living inside her sickened her as nothing else could. she felt unclean, and nothing nicolae or gregori said would ever make a difference. "if you can't heal me, gregori, don't let me live. i don't think i could bear it, knowing what's inside me."

"a carpathian endures," gregori said softly. "as your lifemate endured all those centuries of darkness. you will endure."

destiny reached for nicolae, framed his face with her hands. "you gave me hope and dreams and everything good i've ever known. thank you for that."

nicolae kissed her, his mouth so tender it brought tears to her eyes. they glittered on her lashes as he sent her to sleep.