she woke to the knowledge that she was whole and clean and her blood was free of the vampire, but the scars remained in her heart and mind. she woke to find she was deeply in love and she was at peace. there was no pain on awakening. there was no agony, only a sense of hope and the looking forward to her life. she lay very still and let the sounds and scents of her world fill her with joy.

destiny knew exactly where she was. home. and home lay beside her, his body curved protectively around hers. her bottom fit snugly into the cradle of his hips, and she could feel him, already awake, already aware, his body hard and aggressive, even as he lay so quietly. his hand cupped her breast possessively, yet he was still, savoring just waking up and holding her. nicolae. her everything.

he moved then. his mouth on her shoulder, his lips soft as he feathered kisses over her skin.

i thought you would never wake up.

the voice of an angel. her angel. nicolae. destiny smiled as the silk of his hair brushed her bare arm and fanned across her breast.

you should have called to me.

deliberately she used their private telepathic ability. she loved the intimacy of speaking with him mind to mind. she loved the feel of his hands on her body. at his urging she turned onto her back. above her head the stars spread across the cave ceiling, sparkling like gems.

she laughed softly. first roses and now stars. he knew she loved the open night sky and had provided her with a blanket of stars, even deep beneath the earth.

"i love the sound of your laughter." his hands moved over her body possessively, caressing every inch of her. his mouth followed, feathering kisses and teasing nips and lapping at her with a hot, erotic tongue.

his lovemaking was slow and thorough, wickedly designed to bring her to climax over and over. he made love to her as if they had all the time in the world. he took care to inspect every secret place that might bring her more pleasure.

destiny returned the favor, losing herself in the beauty of his masculine body. her hands and mouth wandered everywhere, telling him without words what he meant to her. when he entered her, she cried, so that he leaned forward to find out what tears of joy tasted like.

for the first time she wasn't afraid of exchanging blood and initiated the ritual, driving him into a heated frenzy of desire. they ended up exploding, imploding, flying so high and then free-falling until they could only lie for a long time together, hearts beating wildly, struggling for breath, sated and happy.

destiny pushed a shaky hand through her hair. "you can do that anytime, nicolae. you're very good at it."

he propped himself up on one elbow. "i am most grateful you think so."

"don't go fishing for compliments, because you aren't going to get any. how long was i in the ground? i know time has passed. i don't sense the presence of any of the others close to us."

"gregori wanted to start back to our homeland as soon as possible. he felt it important to give the prince the news of vampires forming some sort of organization. he also thought the blood was an important find. no one has ever analyzed vampire blood. we all knew it was toxic, but no one imagined it created an environment to spawn a separate life-form. of course, we still do not know for certain. the vampire that took you as a child might have somehow been infected by something else. or the infection could have been a result of the poison injected into you. gregori feels it is important to find out. in any case, we know for a fact it is completely different from what was found in alexandria's body. gregori contacted aidan, who said there was no such damage. gregori wants to find out the significance of the difference."

she ducked her head. the thought of the tainted blood still repulsed her. "i'm glad it's over. i hope they get rid of that blood; it sickens me to think of it inside me... inside you. i had no idea. i saw the lesions and felt the pain of it, but i never once suspected something living." she shuddered, "they reminded me of maggots."

"most were microscopic." he didn't share with her the condition in which the healer had found her body, and it was significant to him that she didn't look at his memories. it had taken the healer two risings to ferret out every trace of the tenacious blood and reshape her organs and tissue. they had nearly lost her on two occasions.

it had been gregori's tenacity and nicolae's sheer will that had saved destiny's life. gregori had worked a miracle, and nicolae was forever in his debt. savannah had lent her considerable strength and blood along with vikirnoff and nicolae. carpathian soil had been packed around destiny and she had been left in the ground for nearly a week in the hope of renewing her strength and vitality. in the end, both nicolae and gregori were in awe of destiny's ability to live and function with her body in such condition.

"where's vikirnoff?" destiny didn't want to ever think about vampire blood again. she felt as if she'd been granted a miracle. it was enough for her.

"we thought it best that he start his search for the poor woman being hunted by the vampire organization. it took years for me to find you. we are hoping he finds her before the undead does."

destiny sighed. "i wish him the best of luck. are you worried for him?" she tunneled her fingers in his luxurious hair. "he's well able to care for himself."

nicolae turned his head to kiss her fingers. "i know he is. often when a hunter close to turning is given a job such as this, it allows him more breathing space. he does not have to kill, and the call of the darkness is not so loud." he stood up, donning clothes. "come on, the sky is beautiful tonight."

destiny followed him, grateful for the ability to fly. it was her favorite pastime. she laughed aloud. it had been her favorite pastime.

nicolae caught her thought, and there in the air, as they burst from the cave, he pulled her to him and kissed her until the world spun out of control and they were forced to break apart. the wind blew in their faces and scattered the stars as they made their way to the neighborhood destiny loved so much.

they stood together in front of the church. destiny gazed at the building for a long while. it had been a refuge to her; now it was an old friend. "i love this place, nicolae. and the people. i know you would like to go back to your homeland, and i'll go with you... i will... but this will always be my favorite place to live. and the people here will always be in my heart."

"we do not have to live in my homeland, destiny. in truth, it has been many centuries since i have walked in my mountains. a visit will be enough for me. perhaps, when you are ready, we can go for a short vacation."

her face lit up. "then you would be willing to make this place our main residence?" she had dreaded leaving the people who had become so dear to her.

"i find myself very fond of this neighborhood, and in particular, a certain chamber filled with various pools. we will have to find a suitable house and establish a home so we can blend in."

"that would be perfect, nicolae. and i will go to the carpathian mountains with you. gregori and savannah were wonderful and very accepting of me. i can hardly be a coward and refuse to visit the prince. we owe them both so much."

"no one would ever call you a coward, destiny," he said decisively.

she stretched, raising her arms toward the moon and sparkling stars. "i think we should visit velda. and it would be good to know how the doctor's death affected our friends after all the problems he caused them." she liked the term "friends." she had never thought to have any, and she cherished each of them.

with her dark hair blowing in the wind, enfolding her body like a living cape of silk, he thought she looked like a mysterious, ethereal witch worshiping nature. she turned her head to look at him, and at once he was drowning in her blue-green eyes.

"i worship you," she said softly. "i shouldn't and i don't want you to let it go to your head, but for this one moment in time, i do."

a slow smile curved his sculpted lips. "i do not think there is much of a chance of anything going to my head." nicolae held out his hand to her.

destiny shook her head. "i was so absolutely certain the culprit had to be a vampire. for so long i had it in my head that what i had become was a monster and humans were good unless something evil such as drugs took hold."

his hand curled around the nape of her neck, his fingers beginning a slow massage. "monsters come in all shapes and sizes and species. not all carpathians turn into vampires. they are just people attempting to survive. as all humans are simply people struggling to live the best life they can. you were robbed of your childhood, destiny, but you are a survivor, and you managed to carve out a life for yourself."

she leaned into him. "you were always there for me, nicolae. i always had you." she turned up her face, blatantly inviting his kiss.

he bent his dark head to hers and took possession of her mouth. the earth beneath their feet shifted. his arms wrapped her up, strong and tight, and drew her against the hard length of him.

"i'm afraid you can't do that sort of thing here," father mulligan pointed out as he came out of the church and regarded them with a twinkling eye.

"don't you ever go to bed?" destiny asked him as nicolae reluctantly broke their kiss. "isn't there a priest curfew or something?"

father mulligan's eyebrow nearly shot up into his scalp. "my dear child. a priest is like an angel without wings, one who may be called upon at any time of the day or night."

destiny burst out laughing. nicolae felt his heart turn over. there was no sound as beautiful as her laughter. "you are terrible, father. would you like to come to velda's house with us? we'd like to make certain she's all right."

"of course i'll come. i've been visiting daily. velda took to her bed, and no one seems to know how to help her."

"maybe i'll be able to help," destiny said.

they followed him in silence down the block to turn onto velda's street. "you look much happier, my dear," father mulligan said. "it's good to see."

destiny slipped her hand into nicolae's. it wasn't all that long ago she had come to the church, ashamed of what she was, thinking herself a monster, and the priest had left the doors unlocked for her. "it's good to feel happy." and at peace. she would never be rid of the trauma she had suffered, but she could accept those memories as a small price to pay. she had a life. she had a home and friends. and she had nicolae.

inez opened the door to them with a small, falsely cheery smile. "velda is still not receiving visitors," she greeted. "come into the kitchen and sit down. i'll see if i can get her to come out of her room."

"let me go in," destiny said. "i think i can help her."

inez hesitated, then nodded, leading the way through the small but neat house. velda was sitting in an armchair, staring out the window with blank, empty eyes. she didn't look up when destiny entered and closed the door behind her.

"velda. please look at me." destiny knelt in front of the chair, took the weathered hand in hers. "you are not alone. you will never be alone. you have inez and nicolae. and you have me. i can barely remember my mother. my childhood was hell. most of it was violent and frightening. i have no social skills. no trust. i don't know how to express my feelings to anybody. you accepted me and gave me hope when i couldn't accept myself. don't go away from me so soon. i need you here with me." she stated the facts sincerely. "i do, velda. i need you."

velda blinked back tears and pulled her gaze from the empty future stretching before her. she looked at destiny's face. "child, you're such a wonder to me. i look at your aura and it is light and beauty. you have no need of a burned-out, empty old woman. your life is all ahead of you, and mine is behind me."

"you're a woman of courage and compassion and most of all, wisdom. i have a great need of you, and so does this community. please, velda. allow nicolae to help you separate more. it won't take away the pain, but it will lessen it so that you can bear it. stay with me now when i need you so much."

velda studied her face for a long time before sighing softly. she patted destiny's cheek. "take me to this miracle worker, dear. if i am to survive, he will have to work some kind of magic. i feel empty and lost."

nicolae? are you listening? help her now, while she consents. she knows it is manipulation but she can't bear the pain.

there was a small silence.

it is done. she will remember, but the pain will be even less. her love for you is great enough to sustain her.

destiny felt her love for nicolae so strongly, she couldn't contain it. it spilled from her mind and into his so that, sitting in the kitchen, he was shaken by the force of it. he wanted her, wanted to be alone with her. wanted time with her.

he held out his hand to her when she entered the room with velda, standing as he did so out of respect for the older woman. he bent to kiss velda's cheek. "it is wonderful to see you, velda. i hope you are better?"

she nodded, managing a smile. "thank you. i appreciate your help."

father mulligan had risen too. "i did call mary ann," he told destiny, indicating that her friend had arrived. "nicolae said you wouldn't mind."

mary ann hugged velda and destiny. "he said it was a town meeting."

they sat around the table and talked long into the night. nicolae and destiny listened quietly to the story of the doctor's unexpected confession and suicide. blythe was already home with harry, although she was very withdrawn and refused counseling. mary ann was hoping eventually she would come to her. helena and john paul were once more together and seemed happy. tim and martin said little about what had happened, but father mulligan was keeping a close eye on them.

destiny looked around the small, comfortable kitchen, listened to the murmur of voices, inhaled the scent of tea as inez served the others. she studied nicolae's dark, sensual features.

have i told you lately that i love you? because i do, very, very much.

her heart was so full, she was afraid it might burst. she had never dared to dream she would have a home and a family. she had never conceived of having friends. life might never be perfect, but she had nicolae, and he would always understand those terrible moments when the memories crept out from behind the doors in her mind. he would be there to hold her and help her.

you are my everything, nicolae.

have i told you that, although i enjoy all these wonderful people, i have had enough of visiting and i want to go home and spend the rest of the night making love to you?

a very good idea. destiny was in complete agreement.

there's this one thing that you do...

they stood as if by mutual consent, hands linked, murmuring a hasty goodbye, and hurried out. when father mulligan looked out the window, all he saw was a comet streaking low across the night sky.