He sorted through her memories quickly, going to her childhood, trying not to see those nightmare times and the things done to her by depraved men. He had the urge to hunt them down, one at a time, and dispose of them.
I believe my uncle Lucian and my father have already done so, although I'm not supposed to know. There was humor in her voice.
He followed the memories down to her toddler years. There was her mother. She looked hauntingly like Skyler. A beautiful young girl, barely a woman herself. Her laughter was so like Skyler's. She sat beside her young daughter and absently began to make the rain dance, just by flicking her fingers toward the drops.
The two of them-mother and daughter-sat together very close, on a narrow plank with a single blanket which her mother had wrapped her child in to keep her warm. There were bars on the window and a chain around her mother's foot. Skyler's mother entertained her by creating music with the rain. She even whispered little rhymes to her daughter, helping the little fingers make the rain dance as well.
This, then, was where Skyler's gifts had begun to be so powerful. She'd been trained by the games her mother had played with her. Small insects suddenly poured into the room. Skyler stiffened, but she didn't cry. Her mother thrust her behind her, a finger to her lips.
"No matter what happens. Say nothing. Don't ever speak to him. Don't ever let on you can do anything at all extraordinary. Promise me. On my life, promise me."
The little toddler nodded her head solemnly.
A man burst into the room. Not Xavier, but someone Dimitri recognized from long ago, someone who seemed to lurk in the rooms where Xavier taught his classes to the more gifted. He strode into the room, lifted his hand and knocked Skyler's mother so hard she fell across the bed. He caught Skyler and dragged him to her.
"You little brat. This is the last time I come here. If you can't give him what he wants, you and your mother will be sold." He withdrew a knife.
Dimitri watched Skyler's mother, unable to bear seeing the toddler as the knife sliced through her little arm. She made no sound at all. Not one, as if she was mute. Skyler's mother tapped her thigh and danced her fingers toward the drops. She was the one to make a sound, drawing the mage's attention. When he turned, the drops of rain crept in through the bars on the windows and mingled with the blood seeping along Skyler's cut.
My mother saved me from Xavier, Skyler told him. He didn't think the Dragonseeker blood in me was strong enough so he sold us. I didn't speak, so they thought me useless to them.
Even as a toddler Skyler had impressive control. What baby wouldn't cry when an evil stranger cut across her arm with a knife? Dimitri wondered how that could be, but then when he went to examine the child, he realized her mother had taught her to retreat into a place in her mind no one could follow. It was how she kept her daughter safe.
"Who is that bad man?" Skyler asked her mother.
"He is mage, baby. Never go near a mage."
My mother warned me to keep me away from mages. That memory was so vivid when you pulled it up, yet I buried it deep. I want to remember everything I can about my mother. She pressed her head back against Dimitri. He made her feel safe when she looked into her memories. Thank you.
"Razvan, forgive me for asking," Skyler ventured, "but do you remember anything at all about my mother?"
He looked regretful. "Xavier possessed my body. I could see and hear what was taking place, but I couldn't interfere. I was pretty far gone by that time. Seeing what he was using my body for was worse than physical torture. I couldn't help the women he seduced. Of course he made certain they were fertile. I knew what was in store for them and their children, but I was completely helpless to stop it. Mostly the women ran together because, to stay sane, I tried to separate myself."
Skyler nodded. It was understandable, when terrible things were being done to her body, she had retreated into her mind in order to save her sanity, but still, she had wanted to know more about her mother. She retained glimpses of her, small little vignettes that at times she feared she'd made up.
Dimitri nuzzled the top of her head. She was real. She loved and protected you as best she could. And then Gabriel and Francesca came into your life and now Razvan and Ivory. You are loved, csitri. Very loved.
"One thing I do remember," Razvan said, "was how excited he was to find your mother. She was a powerful human psychic. Extremely powerful. He couldn't believe she was human. He said she was descended from the Incas and the line was extraordinary and very pure. He raged for months over the fact that the child produced was useless to him, and he wanted to punish your mother and you for disappointing him."
Skyler took a deep breath. Xavier had found a perfect punishment, selling them into the sex-trafficking world. She closed her eyes briefly, snuggling deeper against Dimitri. He felt solid, a wall of muscle and sinew, always to be counted on.
"Life certainly changes, doesn't it?" she asked her birth father. "One moment you feel there is no hope, no way out, and the next, the entire world opens up for you."
Razvan reached for Ivory's hand. "That is the truth, Skyler. You and your friends achieved the impossible rescuing Dimitri. If we manage to avoid a war with the Lycans, it will be a miracle-and due to you. Had he died, Mikhail would have had no forgiveness."
"I had no idea he sent out a rescue party," Skyler admitted.
"Although," Dimitri said, "you should have known Fen would come for me."
Skyler nodded. "But he would have been too late. You couldn't reach out to him." She traced the burn along his forehead, the links that had prevented him from telepathy-other than with her. She'd been lucky they had such a strong connection or she would have lost him. "I have good friends. Paul and Josef came with me without a thought for their own safety."
"We have good friends," Dimitri corrected. "I'll never forget what they did for us." He looked over at the two young men, sitting side by side in the circle of warriors discussing the upcoming escape from the collapsing shelter.
Josef looked happier than Dimitri had ever seen him. Josef hadn't expected any family members to come for him, and the fact that both his adopted father and uncle had come immediately had an impact on him. He'd run free, going his own way and often stirring up trouble with older Carpathians. It hadn't occurred to him that in spite of his differences, he was loved.
On the other hand, Paul had known the De La Cruz family would come if he got in trouble. They worked with him, teaching him how to fight vampires, working on the skills needed to run their impressive empires-many cattle ranches-in South America. They relied on him to keep his sister Ginny safe while they were in the ground. Paul was part of their lives and under their protection.
Dimitri sighed, looking at the grim faces of the Carpathians. They knew the little fortress was disintegrating, and the Lycans knew it as well. He, like the others, could feel eyes watching them. He could detect the wolves in the swaying branches of trees as well as the brush along the edges of the forest. He didn't see how they could avoid a fight.
"We should join the others," he said. "They're planning our escape out of here. Lycans are difficult in that they come at you as a pack and they're lightning fast. If we're supposed to avoid killing any of them, as Mikhail wishes, retreating without actually fighting is going to take a miracle."
Skyler leaned toward Ivory again. "I'm so excited and happy that you offered us such an amazing gift as the wolf pups. I really look forward to having them."
Ivory nodded. "Razvan and I discussed it for a long while. I knew better than to save them. We can't have Carpathian wolves running around without control, but it threw me back to the time when I returned from the hunt and found my pack annihilated by the vampire. For a few minutes there, I'm not certain I was entirely sane. I exchanged blood before I thought about what I was doing. Then I couldn't just leave them. Razvan was understanding and helped me with the conversion, but both of us knew, we couldn't keep that many wolves. Our pack is established. These four need their own."
Dimitri found himself smiling. His body hurt like hell and already, even with the transfusion of ancient Carpathian blood, he was exhausted, but the thought of the wolf pups being a permanent part of their lives was exciting.
"Do you think that with my mixed blood, my wolf so close at all times, such a part of me, that the pups will take to me?" he asked.
Skyler sobered. "I didn't think of that. We'll both be mixed blood at some point."