Dark Desire

Chapter Fourteen

Shea stared out the window of the cabin into the driving rain. The droplets looked like tiny silver threads streaming from the gray sky. She shivered for no reason and crossed her arms protectively across her breasts.
"What's wrong, Shea?" Raven asked softly, not wanting to intrude.
"Jacques just cut himself off completely from me." Shea swallowed hard. All this time she had been so certain she needed her freedom from the continuous bond between them, but now that Jacques had withdrawn, she felt almost as if she couldn't breathe. "I can't reach him. He won't let me."
Raven sat up straighter, her face going very still.
Mikhail? Leave me for now,
heordered. Raven caught the impression of fear for Jacques' sanity, the swirling, violent rage that had welled up in the Carpathian males just before Mikhail broke the mind contact with her. She cleared her throat cautiously. "Sometimes they try to protect us from the harsher aspects of their lives."
Shea whirled around to face her, eyebrows up.
"Their lives? Aren't we bound to them? Haven't they done something to irrevocably bind us to them so that there is no way to leave them? It isn't just their lives. They brought us into this, and they have no right to arbitrarily decide what we can and can't know."
Raven swept a hand through her blue-black hair. "I felt the same way for a long time." She sighed. "The truth is, I still feel the same way. But we persist in judging them by our human standards. They are a different species of people altogether. They are predators and have a completely different view of right and wrong."
Raven shoved a hand through her hair, frowning as she did so. "I wanted to wait to have a baby. But Mikhail has been noticing differences in Gregori, and we both knew he needed some hope to continue. It worries me, though, because I still have such a hard time fitting into their world."
Shea crossed the room and sat on the bed beside Raven's chair. She could hear the fear in the woman's voice, and something in her instantly responded. "At least there are two of us now. We can gang up on them."
Raven laughed softly. "It's such a fight all the time, maintaining any kind of control in my life with Mikhail. I have this feeling he's only going to get worse with this pregnancy."
"And you're obviously going to have the healer on your back," Shea pointed out. "He's more daunting than Jacques' brother."
Raven sighed. "I wish I could say that wasn't true, but he's going to be horrible, really horrible. I can't blame him, though."
"I don't understand what he meant exactly, but I could tell it was imperative I take good care of you."
Raven tucked her feet beneath her. "Carpathians rarely have children. There's something that prevents them from having a female child when they do conceive."
Shea's mind instantly focused on amassing data. "Can you tell me more?"
Raven obliged. "About eighty percent of all children conceived are male. No one knows why. Only about seventy percent of pregnancies are carried to term. Most miscarry, and it isn't even within the first three months. It can happen at any time. Of those children born, only a handful survive the first year. Again, no one knows why. The last female child to survive was born over five hundred years ago." Raven sighed. "The men are desperate. Mikhail and Gregori have a theory that only human women with true psychic ability can make the change and have the right chemistry to be a lifemate. Even if they're right, you can see the magnitude of the problem. Without women and children, the species cannot survive. The males turn vampire because they have no hope."
"Perhaps it's nature's way of population control. They're able to live so long," Shea mused, more to herself than to Raven.
"The species will be extinct soon if they can't find out what's wrong," Raven said sadly. "Gregori is a great man. He's given so much to his people and suffered for so long. He deserves a better fate than turning vampire and being hated and feared by the world. Out of respect, Mikhail would never allow any other to hunt and destroy him, yet doing so himself would be agony. I'm not even certain anyone could actually destroy one such as Gregori alone. It would be a terrible thing for Gregori to be hunted by the very people he protected and healed."
"Gregori must have researched the mystery of why there've been no female children for centuries. Surely he must have found a reason after all this time. At least he must have a few ideas." Shea itched to come up with a hypothesis of her own. She suddenly wanted to talk to Gregori, hear all the data he had collected over the centuries.
"He certainly has worked on it. Maybe it will help for the two of you to get together and hash it out," Raven said tactfully. "But you know, Shea, none of the information on our people can fall into the wrong hands. Any documentation on our race can be dangerous. For the good of our people, you must destroy all your research."
"It isn't as if I came up with any data on Carpathians, Raven. I never even considered such a race of people. I was looking for an answer to a blood disorder. I knew people in this region had long been accused of being vampires. I think a lot of legends have a grain of truth in them somewhere, so it stood to reason something was going on here. That and the fact that my father was from this area made me decide to come here and see what I could find out. Honestly, Raven, there's nothing in my records to indicate a separate species of people with the kind of power these Carpathians wield. Everything is purely medical."
"It's still dangerous to us. If it falls into the hands of these so-called scientists, they might figure things out." Raven put a hand on Shea's arm. "I'm sorry, I know your records probably represent years of work, but, really, the work was for yourself, and you have the answers to your questions."
"The work was for all those people who have the same blood disorder as I do."
"It isn't a blood disorder, and they don't need a cure. They're a totally separate species, not human, and they have evolved into a very efficient species. They work hard and contribute much to society, but they would never be accepted by the human race. If you want to do medical research, then research a real problem, like why we can't carry babies to term. Why our babies die. Why our women don't conceive female children. That would be an invaluable service. Believe me, all Carpathians would be eternally grateful. I would be grateful." She put her hands protectively over her stomach. "If I do carry this baby to term, I couldn't bear to lose her after her birth." Raven suddenly sat up straight. "I bet you could do it, Shea - find the answer for all of us. I bet you could."
"Do something Gregori has failed to do after all these years? I doubt it. He seems very thorough to me." Shea was skeptical.
"Gregori was the one who came up with the idea about human psychic women, and I'm certain he's right. You and your mother support his theory. He also thinks there's something in the Carpathian woman's chemistry that makes it nearly impossible for the female chromosome to beat out the male."
"Wouldn't you know he'd think it was the woman," Shea sniffed contemptuously. "More than likely the men determine the sex, just like in humans, and they just can't produce girls." She grinned at Raven. "The men bring about their own destruction."
Raven laughed. "Mikhail would never let me speak to you again if he could hear us. He thinks I'm too independent and disrespectful already." She shrugged carelessly. "It's probably true, but it's a lot of fun. I love the way he gets that pained look on his face. He's so cute."
"Cute? I'll bet he likes that description." Shea got up and restlessly paced the floor. She was feeling uneasy without Jacques' touch and didn't want Raven to notice it. He had withdrawn only a short time ago, yet she felt uncomfortable, more than simply uneasy. She longed for the comfort of his mind touch. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should destroy these papers. I'd hate to think that disgusting Don Wallace would find a way to use them against anyone. That man is a sociopath. I mean it, Raven, he's truly sick."
Reluctantly Shea began to gather up reams of paper and carry them to the fireplace. Her notebooks she hesitated over. She had collected a tremendous amount of folklore, beautiful stories really, along with scientific data. She hated to lose them. Taking a huge breath, she tossed them into the hearth as well and threw a match in after them.
She had to fight back tears. They seemed to burn her eyes and clog her throat until it was nearly impossible to breathe. And she knew it wasn't just losing the papers; it was Jacques' absence from her mind. She felt utterly alone, desolate. She found it harder and harder to concentrate without his presence.
When had she become so needy?
She hated the feeling of emptiness, barrenness. Where was he? Maybe something had happened to him. Maybe he was dead and had left her completely alone.
"Shea!" Raven said sharply. "Snap out of it. You aren't alone. Nothing is wrong with Jacques. It's amazing his silence is affecting you so severely when you've only been out of contact a short time."
Shea rubbed her arms, suddenly cold. Her stomach was rebelling, and it was still hard to catch her breath. "I guess it's because Jacques never leaves me. He can't take being alone."
Raven's eyes widened. "Never?"
Shea shook her head. "I thought it would drive me crazy at first. Most of the time I didn't recognize it, but he would know things I was thinking, and I would realize he'd been in my mind the entire time. He was alone so long, he needed constant contact with me to keep him sane."
"This must be terrible for him," Raven said. "To break contact with you, he must be in the middle of something big. Mikhail is blocking me out, too, and so is Gregori. But don't you worry, we'll be fine together. And we would still know if something were to happen to them."
Shea powered up the generator so she could turn on her computer. She felt very uneasy, restless, even alarmed. "Raven, you don't feel something is wrong, do you?" She typed in her password and waited for her files to appear on the screen.
"No, but I'm used to touching Mikhail occasionally for reassurance and letting him go. We've been together long enough to develop a kind of routine. I touch him, and whether or not he allows me into his mind, I know he's there. You could try that."
Shea concentrated for a moment on giving the commands to destroy her data. With a sigh she paced back to Raven. "It's not that kind of uneasiness. It's something else. At first I thought it was because I wasn't touching Jacques' mind, but I don't think so anymore. I have the feeling something evil is watching us."
Raven sent her mind seeking, scanning the surrounding woods carefully. There were deer a mile away. The three Carpathian men were even farther afield. "Rabbits, fox, wolves several miles out, but nothing scary that I can detect," she assured her softly.
Shea picked up the shotgun and cracked it open to make certain it was loaded. "I feel almost sick, Raven. Something's out there."
"It's the separation from Jacques. The first time it happened with Mikhail and me, I almost didn't make it through the night. Honestly, Shea, separation is very difficult at the best of times, let alone in the morning hours when we're growing weaker and we know the men are in danger. We may have been human, but we are their lifemates. Naturally we miss their mind touch."
Shea wanted to believe her, but, just as she had felt an evil presence in the forest, she felt they were in danger now. She looked at Raven. This woman was important to all of them. Shea had promised Gregori she would keep Raven safe, and she was not about to be unprepared. "Maybe," she agreed softly. Nevertheless, she walked to the door, opened it, and stepped onto the porch to survey the woods.
Nothing. The rain drove down harder, and in the distance Shea could hear the rumble of thunder. Lightning flashed in the sky. She found herself shivering, and her finger absently sought the trigger on the gun. Annoyed with herself, she went back inside, set the shotgun beneath the window, and worked at controlling herself. Her behavior was unacceptable to her. She could not believe she needed Jacques so much that she would be physically ill and have such an impression of danger because she was without his mind touch. Shea did not want to think it was an illusion, a trick of her mind, yet it seemed the lesser of two evils.
"You're very pale, Shea. You need to feed," Raven said carefully, knowing from her own experience what a touchy subject it could be.
Shea swallowed hard. She was dizzy with weakness. Maybe that was what was wrong; maybe it had nothing to do with Jacques. "I know. I just can't face it yet. I know I have to come to terms with it eventually, but it's still all too new."
"You can't see yourself biting someone's neck, is that it?" Raven laughed softly. "I can't do it either. Yuck. Well..." She blushed, a faint pink stain spreading across her creamy skin. "Mikhail has a way of making it..." She trailed off.
Shea found herself blushing, too. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Jacques seems to have that same way about him." Her hand curled around the stock of the gun again, and she tried to quiet the pounding of her heart. Her mouth was dry with fear.
Shea stole a glance at Raven. She was curled up peacefully, almost serene. Silently Shea cursed. Something was terribly wrong; she knew it deep within her, yet she couldn't explain it adequately to herself or to Raven. "Have you ever tried to leave Mikhail?"
Raven glanced up, startled. A soft smile curved her mouth. "You can't leave your lifemate. One, he knows what you're thinking, and two, he can find you wherever you are. Besides, you can't be away from him for very long - it's too uncomfortable, both physically and mentally. If you left Jacques, what you're feeling right now would not stop, it would only get worse. You can't leave him, Shea. You have to learn how to live with him."
"I know. I don't really want to leave," Shea admitted. She was close to tears. The feeling of dark malevolence was becoming stronger, yet she still couldn't explain it. She felt very mixed up. She wanted Jacques close to her, but this world was so frightening and bizarre. She was completely out of her element.
Raven immediately jumped to her feet and put an arm around Shea, misunderstanding her distress. "He doesn't hurt you, does he?" She was examining the faded bruises and wounds on Shea's neck. "He did this, didn't he?"
Self-consciously, Shea put a hand to her throat to cover the marks. "He didn't mean to. He doesn't always know what he's doing. But he isn't the type of man to abuse a woman. I'm in his mind enough to know that. I'm not a woman who would take it, either," She let the other woman hug her, needing the comfort.
"It's just that I'm afraid all the time. Afraid of everything. That isn't like me at all. And I cry. I never cry." Whatever was stalking them was very close now. She wanted to scream for Jacques.
"You've been through a traumatic time, Shea, and so has your body. You're worn out, and you need sustenance." Raven released her and took a step away. "Gregori is a great healer. I know you think he could be the vampire - it's there in your face when you look at him - but he would give his life for you, for me, for Mikhail. He's a great man. He could help you so much if you'd let him."
"He's the scariest man I've ever met," Shea admitted. "If I had a child, a daughter, I would not want that man to be her husband."
"But then, you don't know that much about lifemates. If my daughter is his lifemate and chooses him - and it will be her choice, despite what my husband and Gregori think - she'd be the safest woman in the world. And once she learned to manage him, the happiest."
"You have more faith than I do."
"That's because I've known them longer. Give yourself some time, and for heaven's sake put that gun down. There's nothing out there," Raven admonished. "You're just nervous because Jacques isn't with you."
Lightning crashed close, and the cabin shuddered beneath a deafening roar of thunder. Raven swung around and paced to a chair. "Something's going on for sure. That's one of ours doing that."
Shea's hand went to her throat. She could not shake the feeling of impending doom. She turned to Raven. "What do you mean, one of ours?" Why had she agreed to stay and protect Raven? Something evil was watching them, and she couldn't ferret it out. Jacques,
where are you?
"The lightning and thunder," Raven replied easily. "One of our males is upset."
"Great. Tantrums, that's all we need," Shea said moodily. Jacques hadn't answered her. Where was he? Couldn't he feel her need?
Raven laughed. "They are great for that, aren't they?"
The door banged open, the wood, so recently repaired, splintering. Shea swung around, instinctively taking a stride to place herself between the entrance and Raven. Framed in the doorway was Don Wallace, a scattergun in his hand, an older man behind him. Shea heard the maniacal laughter of the two men and saw the malice and loathing in their eyes.
Jacques!
Shescreamed his name even as the orange blossom burst from the muzzle of the gun. The wicked stings hitting her arm and shoulder spun her around, and she reeled into Raven. Raven took the main burst of the gun and was flung backward nearly into the wall. Shea landed in a pool of blood. It was everywhere, beneath her, on Raven's chest and stomach, leaking onto the wooden floor. Raven was still and lifeless, her face white, her pulse nonexistent when Shea tried to find it.
Don Wallace seized her by her hair and dragged her away from the body. He was laughing as he contemptuously kicked Raven's leg out of his way. "I knew I'd get you, Doc. Small world, isn't it?"
Jacques! My God, he 's killed Raven! Gregori! I'm sorry, I couldn't save her.
Shea was fighting, kicking and punching, and didn't even realize it until Wallace hit her repeatedly in the face.
"Shut up! Stop that screaming or I'll knock you out." He hit her twice more. "Damn vampires think they're so smart. It was so easy, wasn't it, Uncle Eugene?"
Shea was sobbing uncontrollably, almost immune to the pain of Wallace dragging her by her injured arm. Warmth stirred in her mind. Shea
? We need you to look at the man holding you, look around the room slowly and picture everything exactly the way you see it.
Jacques' voice was calm and unruffled, no hint of rage or anger, simply a cool wind of logic.
We are all three linked and can aid you. Raven is dead! They shot her!
shecried hysterically in her mind, afraid to move or call further attention to herself, lest she endanger Jacques in some way.
Just do as I tell you, love. Look around the room. Study your enemy and picture every detail in your mind so that we can see him.
Jacques was tranquil, breathing steadily and slowly to help her control her own breathing.
Blockout everything else. What they say does not matter. What they do does not matter. Give us the data we need.
Shea took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to do as Jacques had instructed. It was difficult to overcome the horror of Raven's violent death, the loss of the all-important baby. She blocked out the sounds of the malicious laughter, the sexual threats and innuendoes. Wallace was standing over her, one hand twisted in her thick mane of hair, the other hand deliberately digging into the bloody wounds in her arm. She pushed aside the pain of her injuries, the throbbing in her face.
Shea opened her eyes and looked first at Raven's broken body. The blood lay like a thick red pool around her. Her blue-black hair lay across one cheek like a shawl. Shea made herself move on. Her gaze swept the room, settled on Eugene Slovensky. He was kneeling beside Raven, examining her to assure himself she was dead. He stood up, backed away two feet, cleared his throat, and spat at the body. He reached behind him for a canvas bag and yanked it open. Gleefully he seized a thick, pointed stake and held it out for her to see.
"Spawn of the devil," he whispered insanely. "Bride to the one who killed my brother. You die this day while he sleeps unaware. I am fortunate that the Vulture hates you and the one that created you as much as I hate you both. I don't know why he wants the other female alive, but again, our wishes coincide."
"Not quite, Uncle Eugene. We keep this one for ourselves. You promised we would kill the Vulture like the others this time," Don Wallace protested.
Slovensky lifted the stake higher, poised it over Raven's breast. "This gives me more pleasure than you will ever know."
"No!" Shea attempted to launch herself at Slovensky, unable to bear the thought of them defiling Raven's body with a crude wooden stake.
Focus!
Gregori snapped, his voice so powerful, even over the distance, that it brought Shea up short, where all Don Wallace's slaps and punches had hardly fazed her.
Shea stared at Slovensky, the picture etched in her mind. She saw the glee in his face, the hatred, the sick, perverse pleasure he was deriving as he held the stake aloft above Raven's body. Then suddenly she saw his expression change from pleasure to alarm. His face grew crimson, then a dark shade of purple. He coughed, and blood trickled from his mouth, his nose. He coughed again, and his arm fell to his side, the stake dropping from nerveless fingers.
"Uncle Eugene?" The grin faded from Wallace's mouth. He took a step toward his uncle. "What is it?"
Slovensky tried to speak, but the only sound that emerged was a wheezing groan. More blood bubbled up around his mouth. Red foam dribbled onto his chin.
Shea looked away, her stomach lurching.
Look at him!
Gregori made his order impossible to ignore. One of the most powerful ancients alive, he forced her compliance without a qualm, holding her mind focused exactly where he wanted it. Jacques and Mikhail had thrown their strength and power squarely behind him.
Shea's terrified gaze returned to the older man as bidden. He was gray, his body swaying unsteadily. Suddenly he fell to his knees.
"Damn it, old man!" Wallace sounded scared. "Don't do this to me. What the hell is wrong? Are you having a heart attack?" He didn't go near his uncle. In fact, he backed up, dragging Shea with him, looking wildly around as if afraid they weren't alone.
Slovensky was strangling, choking on the blood pouring from his mouth, literally drowning in it. He clutched his throat, trying to pry imaginary fingers from around it. Then his hands went to his heart as his chest began to literally rip open.
Shea cried out but could not look away with Gregori forcing her to obey his command. Then suddenly, as Slovensky's heart exploded violently out of his chest and he slumped forward, face down onto the floor, she was released.
Wallace made strange sounds, little mewling noises interspersed with curses. He dragged Shea to her feet, forced her with him toward the door. Her back was to him, and for a moment Shea was curiously thankful. She had never killed or injured another human being in her life. She had taken an oath to save lives. Every instinct in her was to go to Raven, see if there was anything she could do. Even to go to the sick old man and try to aid him. Killing was utterly out of her realm.
You did not kill him,
Jacques said soothingly.
I was the instrument you used, she protested. As Wallace dragged her outside, the light hit her eyes, and she cried out as a thousand knives seemed to pierce her skull.
Look at this man, his hand on you, anything I can use, Jacques ordered gruffly. He could feel her horror, her reluctance.
I can't, Jacques. I can't think.
Itwas true. Her mind was consumed with grotesque images of blood and death.
This time it was not Gregori who took charge. Jacques gripped her mind in a hold of steel, forcing her compliance. He was far stronger than she had ever imagined him to be, and supremely confident in his abilities, even in the morning hours. The Carpathians men were coming closer, too. Even with the burden of protecting Byron, they were moving rapidly as a group toward the cabin.
Mikhail reluctantly split off from the rest of them, Byron a dead weight in his arms, his path away from the forest and toward the cave of healing. But his concentration on his wife and child was total. He had no room for any other emotion. He kept their waning life force flickering in his mind, held them locked to him, giving them no chance to die before the healer was there to aid them.
Jacques concentrated his venom on the man who had so cruelly tortured him, who now had Shea in his loathsome hands. His hatred was all-consuming, complete, and he focused it and aimed it through Shea. She could see the red haze of killing desire, the need and hunger for it, the pleasure he took in it. He aimed and focused on the only part of Wallace Shea could see.
Don Wallace felt a sudden burning sensation, glanced down, and saw his arm smoking. It burst into flames, red and orange. The smoke whirled up, shaping itself into a malicious, laughing face. Wallace knew that face, had created every tormented line in that face. He screamed and shoved Shea away from him, slapping at his arm with his other hand to try to stop the fire racing up his flesh. He could smell himself charring like so many of the victims he had enjoyed torturing.
Shea fell heavily, clutched at her arm, wanted to remain lying on the ground with her eyes closed tightly. The compulsion to turn and face Wallace was too strong. She sat and stared at him helplessly.
Don Wallace found himself floating in the air, his scattergun on the ground below. The flames died as suddenly as they had begun, but his arm was a mass of charred flesh. Still screaming, he struggled with his one good hand to pull his revolver out of his shoulder holster. He was horrified when it seemed to take on a life of its own and slowly pointed itself at him. His own finger found the trigger and compulsively settled over it.
Shea made a sound in her throat. This was a scene from a horror film, yet she couldn't look away. A huge black wolf burst from the underbrush, running flat out. It leapt into the air, its gleaming jaws closing around Wallace's leg. Bones snapped like twigs as the wolf pulled the man to the ground and thrust its fangs at his exposed throat.
Shea was released from the mind hold and scrambled to her feet, rushing at the wolf tearing at the struggling man. "Jacques! No! You can't do this!" For one bizarre moment the wolf turned its head to look at her, and time stood still. She recognized Jacques' icy eyes and felt his triumph raging in her mind.
Gregori yanked her arm as he emerged from the woods running, still half wolf, half man, changing as he ran. "Come on, we have no time. Damn it, Shea, I need you. You are a doctor, a healer. Come with me." He did not release her arm, and she was forced to sprint with him up the steps into the cabin.
Gregori shoved Slovensky's body out of the way with a boot. "Listen to me, Shea. We will have to do this together. Raven has shut down her body as much as she dared. Mikhail is keeping her and the child alive, but she is very weak, and the child is in trouble. You have to repair the damage done to Raven, and I will save the child."
Shea was shocked. "She's still alive?" She attempted to back away from Gregori. "I only know human medicine. I have no knowledge of how you do what you do. I might kill her."
"It is in you. Healers are born, not taught. You can do this. I will instruct you as we go. We have no time to argue, Shea. I cannot do this alone. Mikhail says Raven will lose the child in another few minutes. She has to allow her heart and lungs to continue, but her blood will pump out. And life will cease for all of them. Raven, the child, and Mikhail - we will lose all of them," he reinforced. His eyes challenged her. "Do you do this with me?"
Shea was trembling, but her chin went up. "Tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
Gregori nodded approvingly. "You have to block out everything you are. Everything. You are light and energy, nothing more. Once you see yourself as light, you can enter the body and find the worst wounds. Heal from the inside out. The most important thing will be to first stop all bleeding, then repair damage to vital organs. It is very difficult, and you are weak. You will need to feed at some point. Jacques will return to supply you when he is done with his work. You cannot fail us, Shea. I know you can do this. If you need my help, I will be in your mind."
There was no point in protesting that she could not do this thing he expected of her, somehow become light and energy. She had no choice but to try. Gregori believed she could do it, and she had to believe it also. She owed Raven and her child a chance at life. In any case, she was first and foremost a doctor. It was in her nature to heal.
"We do it together," Gregori instructed softly, his voice a cool, soothing balm in the chaos of her mind. She could feel herself respond to that beautiful pitch, the tinkle of silver, the purity of goodness. Shea sank to the floor beside Raven's still body, closed her eyes, and sought a calm place in her mind to center herself. At first everything seemed to intrude, but somehow Gregori was there with her, showing her how to adjust her thoughts and refocus. First the room seemed to drop away, then time and space. Her heart jumped wildly at the odd sensation, but Gregori's soft chanting allowed her to remain calm and float above the earthly chaos. Gradually her body diminished, becoming smaller and smaller until all that remained was her soul. Light and energy. Power.
"We go together. Keep your attention on Raven and her wounds. You cannot think of yourself or what could happen. Believe in yourself. If you begin to falter, reach out to me." Gregori's powerful light seemed to bathe her soul with trust and warmth.
She found only the healer in him. All else was pushed aside.
There was so much selflessness, so much purity of soul, Shea could only marvel. She followed his lead without reservation. He was the very epitome of what she had always striven to be. A true healer, with a gift so rare and precious, she felt humbled in his presence. Later she could remember that Gregori was a powerful ancient, that he could make anyone believe and see anything he wanted.