Dark Slayer - Christine Feehan [162]
The chamber went silent. Only the sound of breathing filled the room. Savannah struggled away from her father, her desperate gaze on her lifemate and their daughters.
Gregori closed his eyes and then opened them to look down at the tiny infants lying beneath the palms of his hands. Slowly, with great care, he lifted his hands away. His twin daughters stared back up at him with enormous, solemn eyes—eyes that had seen far too much already. Their skin was a healthy pink. Their fragile limbs kicked and pumped the air. Both breathed on their own. His breath burst from his lungs and his body sagged in relief. His silver gaze met Savannah’s violet one. She cried out, her joy bursting through the room.
Gregori sank to his knees beside Ivory, reaching for her, not bothering to wipe the crimson tears from his face. “Her spirit is lighter. We can help her fight for life now. There are no words to give thanks. None.”
She rolled over and looked up at the ceiling. “Razvan?” She was nearly translucent. She needed him desperately. Razvan. She couldn’t face this crowd alone, not feeling so weepy and vulnerable.
He was there in an instant, reaching to draw Ivory into his embrace. Take my blood, fél ku kuuluaak sívam belső—beloved. As she wearily accepted and buried her face against the warmth of his neck, Razvan looked over her head to the prince.
“The night is nearly over; Ivory must go to ground. The ritual has drained her of strength.”
“You are welcome here,” Mikhail said.
“Thank you, but no. I will take her home where she can rest. We will return when she is stronger. In the meantime, Gregori must teach the ritual to some of your most gifted people so they can protect themselves until the life-form in the uncontaminated soil has a chance to spread and we can destroy Xavier and his unholy factory.”
“But—” Mikhail began a protest.
Razvan swept his arms around Ivory and simply took her away, flying them from the chamber.
19
Razvan woke with the pack curled around him and Ivory cuddled into his body as if she sought shelter there. He opened the soil so he could look up at the stars on the ceiling, a sense of peace stealing over him. This was the moment he loved. Waking in the early evening when the prisms of the gems embedded in the opening allowed the moonlight to spill into the chamber and across Ivory’s face.
He ached every time he looked at her. One small smile from Ivory was enough to make his soul soar. One touch wiped out every memory of the torture and depravity of his past. He had no idea how she did it, or why, when he was with her, the world was such a different place, filled with laughter and beauty and things he’d never dreamt of.
Raja stirred and lifted his head, rubbing his chin over Razvan’s arm in greeting. Razvan sank his fingers into the deep fur, a miracle in itself. Already his heart had accepted each of these creatures with their separate personalities. Who had ever dreamed of burying a face in soft fur and having a wolf guard and try to heal wounds?
Take the pack into the next room. I wish to be with my mate.
Raja’s answer was a smile, his tongue swiping along Razvan’s arm, a rare gesture for Raja. Razvan greeted each wolf as they woke and watched them lope into the next room, leaving him alone with Ivory. He turned toward her, his arm sliding around her waist, his body close as he studied her face again. The shadows and hollows, the exquisite bone structure. Her hair spilled out of the thick braid and his fingers itched to pull out the weave and spread that silken mass everywhere. He loved her mouth. She rarely smiled, but she had a mouth made for smiling—and loving.
There was no