Dark Slayer - Christine Feehan [45]
Realizing he had little hope of escape, kept starving and weak, Razvan used his waning strength to shed his body, leaving it vulnerable to Xavier’s attack. Ivory saw the exact instant Xavier entered into that shell and left pieces of himself behind. Now they knew the time and the how, but they still had to find the small pieces of Xavier and find a way to extract them.
Ivory began to chant softly in the Carpathian language, sending the words vibrating through both Razvan and Gregori.
I call to me all that is good to aid me in my desperate plight.
Sky send to me the purest light.
I plead for the song that I may sing to reveal that which is evil buried within.
Light of sky, burning bright, find that which is dark and make it light.
Evil one, I call forth the blight you left behind.
Light burst through Ivory and she directed it into Razvan’s body, allowing it to seek out the darkness left behind. The light swam into his bloodstream, rushed through his mind and heart, and sought to go deeper into the very essence of his soul until Razvan’s being was entirely illuminated. In his mind there was a dark scar, a very small ridge that Ivory recognized. There was one in his heart, one pumping through his bloodstream and the last in his soul. Four. Heart, mind, body and soul. No wonder Xavier managed to possess Razvan’s body at will. Even with that, Razvan had fought back for centuries.
Razvan appeared splintered, as if he’d been broken apart and put back together wrong. Ivory’s breath rushed out in a long, slow hiss. She had been in pieces, her body filtering through the soil, struggling to pull itself together, so fractured she couldn’t even knit her skin and bones back together evenly. This was worse than mere flesh. This was the very essence of who Razvan was. As each point of darkness was revealed, Ivory attached a thread of white light, anchoring it so that all of the pieces could be kept connected.
Ivory knew without Gregori having to tell her that she had to provide the light to repair the fractures to Razvan’s soul and drive out that small splinter of evil. Words were powerful, the truth and rightness of them to bring his fractured mind together. They could tune sound to the true rhythm of Razvan’s body to restore balance and push the fragment of evil from his bloodstream. But the heart . . .
I do not know how to love, healer. There was despair in her voice. I lost that emotion a long time ago. He will be lost because of me.
There are all kinds of love, Ivory, and you are capable of all of them. He is a warrior first. Love him for that. He is a man alone who fought for all those around him and did not succumb to darkness when others embraced the darkness with far less to drive them. Love him for that. Find what you have to give and it will be enough when he’s never had anything.
Ivory took a breath and steadied herself. The healer’s faith was convincing. She felt herself settle. This was a battle for a man’s sanity, for his very soul, and they would win because they had to.
When we chase out the pieces of Xavier, the splinters will need to find a host. Gregori spoke to both Razvan and Ivory.
Something in Gregori’s voice made everything in her go still.
Long ago, I experimented with the forbidden and broke our laws. I have a need to understand how things work and I violated our sacred laws to find out.
The confession was given freely, but Ivory knew it was more than that. Gregori not only wanted to warn them what to expect, but he was also giving Razvan and Ivory a piece of himself because he knew so many terrible things in Razvan’s life. It was a great risk for Gregori to admit such a thing