hem. she wanted comfort. she needed it. she deserved it.

rafael wanted to gather her into his arms and hold her forever, but he had to find kirja and destroy him. he would only have a scant hour or two to find the vampire's hiding place before his own lethargy would take over. he hardened his heart against the weariness in her. you will remain beneath the ground as i have commanded and go back to sleep and heal properly. it was a decree, a command delivered with hard authority. he issued the order and followed it with a hard push, one that sent her sinking into sleep, but not before he heard her curse him soundly.

in spite of the gravity of the situation he felt the warmth of joy spreading through him. so this was what it was to have a iifemate. the calm, bleak emptiness of his previous life had been replaced by a roller coaster of emotions. love yes, but also aggravation, worry, the fiery clash of tempers, and an incredible wanton desire. at least, now, he always knew he was alive.

he circled slowly above the ground where colby lay, looking for signs of kirja burrowing through the earth, but as always with the ancient vampire, there was no sign of his passing. rafael shifted into his human form as he dropped to the ground, running his hands over the ground, feeling for a vibration, feeling for the telltale signs of the undead.

his fingers curled into a fist. he might just introduce colby to how pleasurable a punishment could become after this mistake. he had to kill kirja. the vampire would take his revenge and she had eliminated rafael's chance of easily trailing the creature back to his lair.

an owl hooted, a soft cry in the night. the sound beckoned to him, an unusual call from this bird of prey. not a near miss, not satisfaction, but a calling. wary, he raised his head and looked cautiously around. even with his acute vision, it took a few minutes to spot the large owl tucked high in the branches of a fir tree several yards away.

rafael straightened slowly. it was no indigenous owl in the tree. the bird regarded him from his position high in the branches. it wasn't nicolas-he was with paul and ginny, helping to get them ready for the move to brazil. he would put them on the private jet and get them out of the country, using his hypnotic voice to get them through the red tape quickly.

"you may as well come out of the tree and tell me what you are doing here."

the raptor immediately spread its wings wide and spiraled down, shifting before it touched the ground. a tall man with wide shoulders stood regarding him. "i have not seen you for far too many years, rafael." he stepped forward and gripped rafael's forearms in the familiar gesture of one warrior greeting another.

"vikirnoff von shrieder. i thought you had long ago met the dawn."

"i have often thought of doing so, but i had my brother to watch over. nicolae has found his lifemate and now my time grows short. i have one last task to complete before i rest. what of you? what of your brothers?"

"riordan has also found his lifemate. there is hope with the knowledge that some human women can be converted. my lifemate, colby, is human."

"i was drawn to this place by the sound of the earth screaming, yet now there is no evidence of a vampire."

"he has vowed to kill colby. i must destroy him. he has managed to take the blood of her younger brother and reaches out to use him against us." as he spoke, rafael continued to search along the blackened terrain for hints of the vampire's passing.

"then i will hunt with you. it will be like old times." vikirnoff reached up to pull his nearly waist-length hair to the nape of his neck, securing it with a leather tie.

"colby carries the mark of the dragonseeker. she is a descendant of that lineage." rafael sent his senses deep into the earth, stretching first north, then west where the fertile soil might draw kirja to heal.

"we thought the dragonseeker line long gone from us. a good alliance between two powerful houses. the prince will be pleased." vikirnoff scanned the skies.

"how is it you came to this place, vikirnoff?"

"i am following a woman. nicolae and i, through accident, became aware that a master vampire had put out the word to his pawns that this particular woman was necessary to him. i have been trailing her with the intention of warning her and protecting her." he pulled a photograph from his pocket. "have you seen her?"

rafael reached for the picture but vikirnoff retained possession of it, holding it up so rafael could see it. his thumb moved in a small, involuntary caress over the beautiful face. "i am certain i am close."

"she was here, tonight, talking in the bar with colby. colby said this woman, natalya shonski, told her a hunter would kill anyone bearing the mark of the dragonseeker. she is not only running from the vampire, but from you."

"she, too, bears the mark of the dragonseeker clan? why would she believe such a thing?"

both men cast for signs along the ground. they laid their hands over the earth, willing the soil to give them news. they listened to the wind, to the rustle of the leaves in the trees. even the insects and night creatures usually told tales, but there was no lead to the vampire's trail. it was as if he had vanished into thin air.

"if what she said is true, rhiannon had triplets, two girls and a boy. they are not children of her lifemate, but of the wizard xavier. he held her captive for some time, no one knows how, but she somehow managed to join her lifemate in another world, leaving the children behind. or it is possible-even more, probable-that xavier murdered her after the children were born. xavier hated all carpathians. he would have raised his children to fear us." rafael shifted his focus to the south and then to the east. "this young woman you seek is a direct descendant. she has been long in this world, avoiding our people." he pushed his hand through his hair in utter frustration at finding nothing, no sign of the vampire. "deus! this is getting us nowhere. where would kirja hide?"