Nicolae reached out, laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “She will survive.”
Vikirnoff was silent again while water dripped continually from the walls of the cave. Finally he nodded once, then swept his hand over the earth to open it a short distance from where Destiny lay surrounded by rich soil. “The undead has gone to ground. I suspect he will flee the area or at least pull back to regroup. Her friends are safe for a time.” He floated across the chamber to lie in the earth.
Nicolae watched the dirt pour over his brother, watched as the surface smoothed and settled as if undisturbed for eons. He set safeguards at the entrances to the cave and up along the steep, narrow chimney. Nicolae would take no chances with Destiny in his care. He set an intricate safeguard over his brother’s resting place, one that for the first time would alert him should Vikirnoff rise first.
Nicolae lay in the dark, rich soil beside Destiny’s body. Still uneasy over the shadows in Destiny’s blood, he decided another thorough inspection was warranted. Once more he shed his own body to become light and energy, entering hers to check the repairs he had made, to meticulously go over the cells where the vampire had injected his poison. He inspected her blood, wanting to see if his ancient blood was slowly fighting off the vampire’s tainted sludge. Her blood was different. He felt it, sensed it, but no matter how carefully he searched, he could not find the poisonous bacteria. At times he had the sense that something was there with him, aware of him, but he found nothing to substantiate the feeling. He was gratified to see the blood flowing much more freely in her veins. Some of the long-term internal damage had been healed. It gave him hope that there would be a way to cure her completely. Finally he gathered her close to him and allowed the soil to pour over them, his lips brushing her cheek as the earth enfolded them into its care.
Destiny woke fighting. She knew she wasn’t alone the moment awareness came to her, still deep beneath the earth as the soil opened above her. Her heart began to beat, and air found space in her lungs. She felt the body next to hers—hard, muscular, male. Strong. Too strong to fight, but she tried anyway. She was on her side, and the instant she became aware she turned, the edge of her hand slamming down with the force of a hammer toward the throat she knew was close to hers. But it was no longer there.
As her hand passed through empty air, Nicolae shackled her wrist, brought her hand gently to his throat to rest over his pulse. “You are safe, Destiny. Always safe with me. Each rising from this night until the end of our days, you will never wake alone or at risk. I will be here.”
Destiny wrenched her arm free and launched her body out of the earth, her heart pounding so loudly it sounded like a drum in the confines of the cave. She landed some distance from him, fully clothed, her hair neatly braided and her gaze moving continually, restlessly in all directions.
“Where’s Vikirnoff? He has not risen?”
Nicolae took his time rising, deliberately pausing before he clothed himself so she could get a good look at his sinewy body. He swept his hair back, using human means, securing the thick mass at the nape of his neck with a leather thong. “Are you nervous, Destiny? Surely not. You cannot be nervous with your lifemate.”
Destiny tried not to stare at the perfection of his masculine body but she couldn’t stop. He had incredibly broad shoulders, a narrow waist and hips, long, lean legs and well-defined muscles. He was fully aroused and quite casual about it as he dressed.
She began pacing, quick agitated movements that betrayed her inner conflict. “I can’t be with someone all the time. I need space.”
“There is a world waiting outside this chamber, Destiny.” Nicolae gestured toward the entrance. “The night is waiting.”
Her hand went to her throat. The ragged tears were healed. Her skin was without a single blemish. Her heart was beginning to settle down again, finding the exact rhythm of his. She forced a small smile, a brief curving of her mouth, yet her blue-green gaze continued to jump around the cave. “I think this might feel like my first one-night stand.”