“I wish I had known her,” Raven said sincerely.
“You would have liked her; everyone liked her. She must have tried to stop my father. The night of the storm, he went out with a group of outsiders. That’s when he must have killed my mother, right before he left the house. He probably was making certain she didn’t tell anyone or try to stop him. He was caught under a tree that was hit by lightning. He and the others were burned beyond recognition.”
“How terrible for you.” Raven swept a hand through her hair, a slow tunneling of her fingers through the heavy fall of silk, pushing it away from her face. Sexy. Innocent. A potent combination.
Mist streamed through the forest toward the house set back against the cliffs. It filtered through the iron gates and poured into the courtyard. The mist stacked into a tall, thick column, shimmered, connected, until Mikhail, in his solid form, stood in front of his door. Lifting a hand, murmuring a soft command, he released the safeguard and entered. Immediately he knew she was gone.
Eyes darkened to black ice. White teeth bared, gleamed. A low growl rumbled, was suppressed. His first thought was that someone had taken her, that she was in danger. He sent out a call to his sentries, the wolves, to aid him in his search for her. Taking a deep, calming breath, he allowed his mind to find hers, to zero in on her location. It wasn’t difficult to track her. She was not alone. A human. Male.
His breath caught in his throat. His heart nearly ceased beating. His fingers curled into two tight fists. Beside Mikhail the lamp exploded, burst into fragments. Outside the wind rose, whirled in tiny tornadoes through the trees. Mikhail stepped outside and leaped into the air, spread giant wings and hurtled through the sky. Far below him the wolves howled to one another and began to run in tight pack formation.
Mikhail glided silently to the heavy branches above Raven’s head. She was pushing her hair away from her face in her curiously sexy, very feminine way. He could feel her compassion, her need to comfort. He could also feel how cold and exhausted she was. The human was grief-stricken, no doubt about it. But Mikhail could smell his excitement, could hear the pounding heart, the flow of blood surging and pooling. He could easily read the man’s thoughts, and they were not all innocent.
Furious, more than a little afraid for her, Mikhail launched himself into the air, then settled on the ground a yard away, out of sight. And then he was striding toward them, a tall, powerful figure appearing out of the night, out of the trees. He loomed over them, menacing, formidable, the hard angles and planes of his face harsh and merciless. Black eyes gleamed with something dark and deadly. The moonlight reflected there gave an eerie red glow, even a feral quality, to his unblinking gaze.
Threatened, Rudy scrambled to his feet, making a grab for his mystery lady with a vague idea of protecting her. Although Mikhail was several feet farther away from Raven than Rudy, he put on a burst of blurring speed and his hand was there first, shackling her fragile wrist and yanking Raven behind him, locking her to him.
“Good evening, Mr. Romanov,” Mikhail said pleasantly, his tone so low and silky both Rudy and Raven shivered. “Perhaps you would be so kind as to tell me what you are doing at this time of night meeting in these woods alone with my woman.” As he uttered the last word, from somewhere close, a wolf howled ominously, the long, drawn-out note echoing a warning on the night breeze.
Raven stirred, but Mikhail’s grip on her threatened to crush her bones. Be silent, little one. If you wish this human to see the dawn, you will obey me. He is Hans Romanov’s son. What is in his mind is what his father planted long ago.
She paled visibly. Mikhail, his parents…
I am holding on to control by a thread. Do not snap it!
“Mr. Dubrinsky.” Rudy recognized him now, a powerful figure in his home village, an unrelenting enemy or a valuable friend. Mikhail’s voice appeared calm, serene even, yet he looked capable of murder. “We didn’t plan this. I came here because…” His voice trailed off. He could have sworn he caught sight of wolves lurking in the trees, their eyes glowing with that same feral quality as the hunter in front of him. One look at that merciless face and Rudy let go of his pride. “I was grieving. She was out walking and she heard me.”