Dark Blood(108)

Gregori reached out and took his lifemate’s hand. “They’re intelligent and have good spirits, all three of them. It will be an adventure raising them, but they’ll be fine.” He kissed her hand. “We’ll be the ones with gray hair.”

Zev laughed. “I was just telling Branislava that we needed to have twin girls.”

Fen and Tatijana sank down beside them. Fen gave a snort of derision. “You’ll be the only Carpathian with gray hair.”

Since Fen’s hair was streaked with a very impressive silver, Zev couldn’t help but laugh at his statement. “Wait, you’ll be the one with quads. Has it ever happened? Four little Dragonseeker girls all with a penchant for revenge.”

Dimitri thumped his older brother’s head. “That would be suitable punishment for you.”

Skyler winked at Branislava. “I’ll bet we could make it happen, too.”

“I’d help,” Gregori volunteered.

“Hey,” Tatijana protested. “I’d be the one carrying them. I’d be a balloon.”

“But cute,” Fen said, pulling her close. “Very cute.”

Mikhail held up his hand, and the dancers immediately stopped dancing as the music faded. He stepped into the middle of the clearing, a smile on his face. “We have a newborn. Sara and Falcon have a beautiful—and healthy—baby girl.”

A cheer went up and Branislava found herself yelling with the others. She hugged Zev close. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this night’s fun,” she whispered.

“They have chosen the name Isabella for their daughter. Isabella Sara,” Mikhail announced.





16


Branislava stared into Arno’s room, her heart sinking. She should have known Xaviero wouldn’t wait long to strike at them. The Lycans were under lockdown and watched at all times, so who had committed such a terrible crime?

“At least we had last night together,” she whispered to Zev, and reached behind her to make contact with him. She needed to feel her rock, her anchor when the world around her spun into madness.

The night before had been perfect, and even later when they sat around Mikhail’s home, they had discussed the three mages only very lightly, as if all of them knew they needed to take a brief respite from touching too close to evil.

Zev started to move her out from in front of him, his arm pressuring her to step behind him, but she shook her head.

“Not yet, Zev. Something isn’t right, and I need to figure out what’s wrong before anyone enters. Skyler was bringing a meal to him and discovered the body. She didn’t go in or touch anything. She said when she started to step through the entrance to check, her skin crawled and inside she felt jittery.”

“Arno’s obviously dead,” Zev pointed out. “There’s a silver stake sticking out of his chest. Skyler’s young. Of course she felt jittery.”

“She may be young, Zev, but she’s sensitive to any magic and there’s magic here. Black magic. Evil. I can feel it.”

“The moment the other council members find out Arno is dead, they’ll want answers,” Zev insisted. “They’ll expect me to have them.”

“I’m just asking for a minute to assess the situation,” she insisted, biting back a snappish tone. She was already nervous, fearing she already knew who had been there and why.

Zev immediately brought his hand to the nape of her neck, fingers easing the tension out of her. “I’m sorry, Branka. I had no right to take my emotions out on you. Arno has been my friend for many years. I liked him very much. He was a very wise man and he never jumped to conclusions. Even when his own beliefs said one thing, he tried to keep an open mind and really listen and give credence to the other side of issues. He leaves behind a loving family who counted on me to keep him alive.”

She leaned her head against his chest in an effort to comfort him, even as her restless gaze searched the room. Floor to ceiling. All four walls. The room looked untouched, and if it hadn’t been for Arno’s body in the exact center, his body in a pool of blood, laid out with his arms and legs spread wide and a silver stake protruding from his chest, she might not have been so cautious.

She raised her arms outward and drew symbols in the air.

I call upon Thurisaz, that which reacts,

I call upon Kenaz, that which gives vision and insight,

I call upon Algiz, that which gives protection and safe harbor,

I call upon Ansuz, that which reveals what is unseen.

Immediately runes appeared all over the walls, climbing high, up to the ceiling and spreading across it. Her breath caught in her throat. “Zev, he used blood. This is a very dangerous spell. Until I can undo what he’s wrought, we don’t dare enter.”