Corinne found herself smiling. “Thanks for cluing me in. I guess I won’t be ratting you out after all. He probably just wanted an excuse to pound on you.”
“Most likely. He has a certain reputation – a myth, you know – but he likes people to believe he is the bogeyman. Do not let his severe frown get to you. How is your daughter behaving?”
Corinne smiled at him. “She seems very strong, kicking quite a bit.”
“That is the answer I wanted. You gave your lifemate quite a scare. Do not do that again.” He made it a decree, as if everybody obeyed him. She suspected everyone probably did.
“Is your breathing any easier this evening?” Gregori asked.
Corinne studied Gregori’s handsome face. There was a definite resemblance between Desari, Gregori and Darius. ‘Gregori is the lifemate of Savannah Dubrinsky. Do you recognize the name?’ Dayan wanted to remind her that Gregori was taken. He owed the healer much, but he couldn’t shake the notion she might find him attractive.
‘Of course I do. Savannah Dubrinsky is a famous magician. In any case, you are the only man I find remotely attractive,’ Corinne assured him, secretly amused. She thought he was the handsomest, the most charming and romantic man in the world. How could he possibly be concerned she might look at anyone else? ‘You’re very silly.’ It didn’t occur to her in that moment that she was easily reading his anxiety.
“I am going to check the baby,” Gregori said, deliberately bringing her attention back to him. “She is strong and she wants to live. She has rare talents, much like you have. She is very precious to our people.”
“You have to save her, no matter the cost.” Corinne didn’t look at Dayan. She sensed the strength of will in the healer, his complete determination to save her daughter.
Gregori’s silver eyes shimmered for a moment like molten mercury, and then he shook his head. “There will be no trading of life, Corinne. You have a lifemate. We will not lose either of you. Each couple is needed. Both you and your baby will be saved. Dayan will not allow otherwise. You must believe that completely. Your daughter is very aware of you and already is bonded. She will not want to trade her life for yours. And we cannot lose her either. There will be no trade.”
Corinne watched him closely. He was breathing deeply, regularly, then seemed to go into a self-induced trance. The same trance she had observed in her bizarre dream. She glanced up at Dayan. ‘I was really in that cave, wasn’t I?’
He sighed audibly. ‘Do you really want the answer, honey?’
“Corinne,” Darius said very calmly, “your heart is beginning to accelerate rapidly. Breathe and keep it under control. You must be aware of your heart rate, and when it begins to quicken, you need to relax and focus to bring the rhythm back to normal. You are capable of doing so. You must start believing.”
Corinne immediately obeyed, suspecting there was a hidden compulsion in the softly spoken order. ‘Don’t put me off this time, Dayan. I was in that cave.’ She kept her eyes steadily on Dayan’s.
His black eyes became aggressive, trapping her stare in their dark mystery so that she couldn’t have looked away from him even if she’d wanted too. ‘I do not wish to alarm you, honey, and each time we speak about what I am or what is happening, your heart gets jumpy. If you are certain you want the truth and are ready to accept it, then I will give it to you gladly.’
She tilted her chin determinedly. ‘I always want the truth from you, Dayan. Without that between us, we have nothing at all.’
‘I agree with you.’ He took a breath, counted to ten and let it out slowly. He was careful to be a shadow in her mind, ready to erase any revelation that might be too difficult for her to accept. ‘The cave you were in is deep below the surface of the earth, below the mountain formed of fire and ice. It is a place of power, and we needed such a place to perform the healing ritual. The candles were made of herbs and compounds known to promote healing through aroma. The healing ritual was conducted by the two healers, their lifemates and my family. It was a large gathering. While we were attending to you, two other members of my family, Syndil and Barack, were rushing to aid Cullen.’