Dark Wolf(53)

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."