veriak ot en karpatiiak. kod alte han. by the blood of the prince. darkness curse it. what has she done?

swearing, he brought her wrist to his mouth, using his tongue and healing saliva to seal the vein and sweep close the wound.lara! come to me . it was a demand. and he was furious that she would do

such a thing.

what was she thinking? didn't she know what would happen?lara ! desperation was setting in. she'd been like a wolf caught in a trap, willing to chew off her foot, or end her life rather than be captured and held prisoner. he had lain beside her, angry, righteous, and all the time, she had been quietly ending her life.

he gathered her into his arms, rocking her gently as he shed his physical body to enter hers. she needed blood. fast. her body labored, her mind had already shut itself down to keep from brain damage. had she been human and mage without carpathian, she would already be dead.

he found her spirit, flinching from his light-from him.come to me, o jela sielamak. light of my soul, stay with me .

his arrogance had driven her to this. he hadn't seen her as a person, so much ashis . his savior, his possession, his to do his bidding. he'd been so sure of himself, so certain of his rightness. nicolas de la cruz, informing his brothers how they should handle their lifemates, so certain he knew best for everyone around him, after all, he was faster and smarter and had lived so much longer. and yet his own lifemate, the woman he had sworn to protect, to make happy, he had driven to this-taking her own life rather than submit to him.

he crooned to her, wooed her, soothed her as he gathered her spirit to him to prevent her from going so far he might not be able to bring her back. keeping her secure, he returned to his own body.

he had needed her to know who was in charge. he needed to establish his dominancy like some conquering warrior, to prove to her that when he said something she should listen because he knew best. this was his failing. he hadn't taken the time to know her, to understand her, or even to give her credit for keeping her word. she had chosen life for them and she placed herself in his hands for all time, trusting him. and he'd destroyed that trust-and them.

he hadn't seen her as someone separate from him, with her own thoughts and feelings. his family had been cursed "too" everything. too smart. too fast. too assured. too dark. there in the darkness of the cave, deep beneath the ground, holding the ice-cold body of his lifemate, he admitted the truth to himself.

he lengthened his nail and drew it across his chest, opening his vein. he couldn't even promise her he wouldn't repeat his mistakes, the darkness in him may have gathered strength over the years, but it had been there from the beginning. even with his lifemate close, it was a living, breathing entity inside of him and it demanded those around him go his way.i will fight my nature as much as possible, lara . he murmured to her softly as he pressed her mouth to the wound over his heart.i will be all things to you. come back to me and let me show you i can be what you need . he had only considered how much she must change to be what he needed. how had he been such a fool?

she didn't respond. not to the scent of his blood, and not to his coaxing words. in the end he had to resort to a command, wincing as he did so. how could she ever resolve living with one such as him? how could he protect her from his own nature? even now, when she so clearly chose death over living with him, he imposed his will on her.

juosz es olen ainaak sielamet jutta. drink and become one with me. live with me. i will never be perfect, but i will do all within my power to make you happy. drink and live. it was a command-a compulsion-and he put every bit of power he could summon into the directive because he was not able to let her go. he would choose life for her and spend the rest of the time they had trying to convince her

he had done the right thing.

her mouth moved against his bare chest. he was unprepared for the strange reaction of his body. the heat exploding into fire. the fullness in his groin. the burn of need in his veins. he threw back his head and absorbed the feeling, took it deep and held on to it. the call of one lifemate to another. his soul had called to hers and hers had answered. their minds sought one another, needing the constant closeness between them. now his body was calling, determined to awaken hers. where was his heart? did he even have one? was that part of the curse of the de la cruz family? maybe they really didn't have hearts-or maybe it was just him. although right now, right at this moment, he felt like his was breaking. he ached for both of them.

his life force flooded her starving body, organs and tissue and brain greedily reaching instinctively for nourishment-for life. he made certain he not only gave her enough to replace what she had lost, but enough for a formal blood exchange. their first true exchange and it was much needed. he had to find a degree of control to combat the darkness that had grown so strong over the last few centuries. his one fear had been that of turning vampire, becoming the most loathsome of evil creatures, yet now, with his lifemate to provide the light to his darkness, he should have been free of worry. without the formal blood exchange, even with the claiming ritual, until they met as one in body as well as soul and mind, he was a danger to everyone-but mostly he was dangerous to her.

nicolas cradled lara in his arms, close to his chest, still rocking. the sun had gone down some time ago and the night was on them. he had no idea when she had managed to harm herself or how long she had lain awake contemplating harming herself, but her spirit was a long way from her body.

"o jela sielamak. light of my soul, come back to me." she struggled and at first he thought it was to stay away from him, but then he realized her spirit was trapped elsewhere. she had drifted away on a sea of blood and wherever her spirit had roamed, past or present, or the shadow world, she was trapped in a web she couldn't get out of. without hesitation, he merged his mind fully with hers, following the path to find her and guide her back to the land of the living.