The healer was undaunted, moving unerringly toward the thick clots of infestation. To Destiny’s horror, something thin and black moved within the pulsating mass. Tiny creatures, living parasites. She wanted to scream and scream. The need was so strong, she pressed her hand to her mouth to keep from diverting the healer from his task. Those hideous creatures lived inside her, she knew, and she had infected Nicolae. The idea was repulsive. Disgusting. She had lived with the creatures for years, never fully realizing how abnormal they were until she saw them infesting Nicolae’s body.
Nicolae stirred. His heart beat once, twice. The horrible wriggling creatures massed as if eagerly awaiting the movement of blood.
Your distress is calling to him. Calm yourself. Gregori connected through the mind merge Destiny had with her lifemate. He can do no other than come to you if you need him. You are Carpathian, woman, not vampire. Do not allow him to awaken.
The voice, more than anything else, calmed her. She forced air through her lungs, beat away despair and horror, soothing Nicolae back to the Carpathian sleep. Her fingers bunched in his hair, her only lifeline to sanity. She couldn’t think about what lived and squirmed inside her. What she had passed to Nicolae. Unclean. She was unclean.
Focus! The voice was firm. I need your help with this.
Destiny would do anything to rid Nicolae of the tainted blood. She pushed her revulsion and emotions as far from her as she could and concentrated on the bright light. Gregori was moving steadily toward the series of thick clots. The ugly masses erupted with swarming tiny black wormlike parasites. Several attacked, throwing their wriggling bodies at the light as if they might consume it. The hideous things hit an invisible barrier and were instantly destroyed.
Pandemonium broke out. Light exploded, a laser show of bright white, obliterating everything in its path. Time passed as the healer meticulously began to hunt the parasites and destroy them, herding them inevitably toward the ancient blood lying dormant in the veins. As he chased them, Gregori obliterated colony after colony.
Destiny couldn’t believe how long he worked, examining every inch of Nicolae to ferret out the infestation. The healer had to examine every artery, every vein, networks of blood vessels.
It was then Destiny became aware of the chanting of familiar words. Savannah and Vikirnoff lifted their voices in the age-old healing ritual. The light was fading, blurring around the edges and turning almost transparent.
Gregori’s spirit emerged from Nicolae’s body. The healer was swaying with weariness, so pale he was nearly gray. Destiny bit her lower lip as she watched Vikirnoff offer his wrist to the healer. She knew Nicolae’s brother was offering his life. He had no lifemate to anchor him to the world. Giving Gregori his blood would create a bond between them. Gregori could easily track him should there be need. It was a selfless act, and one that unexpectedly rugged at her heartstrings.
She sat quietly, rocking back and forth, stroking Nicolae’s hair, not wanting to look at Gregori or his lifemate. Destiny hadn’t known the ugly truth about her blood. Nicolae had been infected only a couple of risings. She had been infected for long years. She had never realized that the parasites had been passed to her from the vampire who had taken her as a child. She hadn’t known what was normal and what wasn’t.
The healer was not finished with Nicolae, and yet he was already swaying with weariness, his great strength drained. It seemed an impossibility that he could heal her after so many years of being infected.
Gregori took a great deal of blood, leaving Vikirnoff weak. Destiny saw the ancient warrior stagger as he turned away.
“You must feed well. Nicolae will need your blood,” Gregori instructed.
“I will go quickly, but perhaps you should wait for my return before going in again,” Vikirnoff suggested. “I do not want to leave you and the women vulnerable to an attack.”
“I do not think I have time to wait if I am to do this thing. His brain and every organ must be cleansed.” Gregori sprinkled the rich Carpathian soil over Nicolae, opened his palms and placed some in his hands. “Return as quickly as you can,” he urged.