Pater was drawing closer, making his way stealthily down through the caves to the chamber where she rested. Destiny could feel his evil presence spreading through the mountain, a soft rumble of protest from the soil, from the insects and cave dwellers. The shadow lengthened, grew, a feeling of impending doom that began to invade her mind with insidious strength, shaking her confidence.
The poison was doing its work, overcoming the antibody defense she had set up and breaking down her body’s ability to fight. Tiny droplets of blood began to seep from her pores.
Destiny closed her mind to everything but the problem within her. Nicolae must be protected at all costs. This thing, this trap that had been set for him, had to be destroyed. She could think of only one way to do so. Carefully weaving her spell, she called on the earth’s minerals, looking for what she needed. Sodium carbonate. Lots of it. She could neutralize the acid in the system and break the glycerin down naturally; neither was toxic alone. She prepared a drink using the mineral water, making certain it was the exact temperature of her body.
She had to fight to ingest it, to keep it in her body when everything in her rebelled. Once again, she entered a bodiless state in order to direct the sodium carbonate mixture where she needed it. She watched it closely as her only hope raced to do as she bade. If it didn’t work, she intended to wait until the vampire was upon her, raise her body temperature as high as she could as fast as she could, and detonate the bomb, taking him with her. She would not allow him to get his hands on her. The chemicals touched, mixed. She knew the precise moment when she’d won.
Nicolae sighed with relief. Vikirnoff’s presence disappeared.
The vampire was still coming and she was still weak. But she was a hunter. Destiny held the compound in her body as long as she could stand it, then expelled it as quickly as she could, crawling to a corner to be violently sick.
She turned her head when a soft slithering betrayed the intruder. “Pater. How nice to see you’ve taken your true form. The scales suit you. I’m very impressed with the reptilian head. It screams success. Bet you drive the ladies wild in that form.”
There was little room to maneuver, and Destiny doubted she had the strength to shape-shift. She sat back, looking at the huge beast as it smirked at her, the cold, dead eyes triumphant. “You think you’ve won some sort of victory, but you don’t know me. And you don’t know Nicolae. You will never live through this.”
The vampire retained the body of the beast, but the crocodilian head contorted, wavered, solidified into the head of a man. It was an ugly amalgamation, Pater’s head attached to the neck and body of a dragon-lizard. He flashed his jagged teeth at her, not bothering to sustain an illusion of beauty. “Neither will you live, my dear. I gave you a chance to join us. More than one chance. They will never accept one such as you. Never. If the hunter takes your blood, lifemate or no, it will strengthen his dark side. What is the use of suffering, only to be cast aside? What do you think the Prince will do when he sees you? And what of Gregori? Do you believe they will accept you into their keeping? Allow you to associate with their women?”
Her heart fluttered. The truth of his words was like an arrow piercing her heart. Sharp. Lethal. Terrible. She would always be an outcast. Always. Even Nicolae’s brother recognized her as such. She glanced away from the beady, accusing eyes, ashamed.
Keep looking at him, Nicolae said. It matters little to me what the Prince or Gregori or any other thinks. And it should matter little to you. This evil one is a vampire and he lies. He is using the oldest trick in the book on you, undermining your will to fight him.
It was a stern reprimand, and she took it to heart. The scrape of a claw on rock warned her, and she locked her gaze with the vampire’s. At once she felt power and strength moving through her. Enormous strength. The power was astonishing.