Dark Celebration (26 page)

Music filled the small confines of the room, spilled out into the hallways and drifted outside. Antonietta Scarletti-Justicano turned her head toward the sound. Two pairs of footsteps approaching. She sniffed the air, easily distinguishing the familiar scent of Josef and the unfamiliar scent of his companion. Female… young… and very distraught. It took a second to get past the girl's radiating fear to feel Josef's matching alarm. She lifted her fingers from the ivory keys and turned toward them.

"Josef? What's wrong?"

Skyler realized instantly Antonietta couldn't really see them. It was almost unheard of for a Carpathian to be anything but perfect physically. She tried to recall what she knew of Josef's aunt. She'd been a famous pianist before Byron had claimed and converted her and she'd been blind most of her life. Skyler moved closer to her in an attempt to make it easier for her. "I'm Skyler Daratrazanoff, Francesca and Gabriel's daughter." She didn't make the claim often, but she loved saying it out loud.

"It's lovely to meet you,
cara,"
Antonietta said, her voice as musical as her fingers. "Please tell me what is upsetting you both."

"A vampire attacked Skyler," Josef burst out.

Antonietta reached out toward her. Instinctively, before she could stop herself, Skyler stepped back.

"I'm all right. Dimitri killed it."

"And then he touched her. Licked her." There was disgust in Josefs voice. "We barely got out of there alive. He had a wolf pack with him and the wolves would have killed us."

Byron
! Antonietta summoned her lifemate immediately. "Josef, are either of you hurt in any way? Have you called Gabriel?"

"No!" Skyler protested. "Please don't do that. Neither of us is hurt. Vampire blood splashed over my hands and burned through my gloves. Dimitri was healing the burns when Josef saw him. Josef misunderstood."

"I didn't misunderstand him baring his teeth at me, Skyler," Josef snapped. "You didn't see him. There was death in his eyes when he looked at me."

"He saved my life," Skyler declared.

"Your heart is pounding very fast and loud," Antonietta pointed out. "I think you were far more frightened than you wish to admit."

"Of the vampire," Skyler insisted.

A tall handsome man strode into the room. "Vampire?" He glanced from his nephew to his lifemate, and circled Antonietta's waist with his arm.

At once Antonietta could see the others in the room. Most of the time, when she wasn't tired, she could see shadows on her own, enough with her other heightened senses to know who and what was around her, but sometimes she simply didn't bother. She was used to a world without sight, and unless Byron provided her eyes for her, it was difficult to continually remember and maintain her vision.
A vampire attacked this young lady and Josef seems to think Dimitri, her rescuer, then behaved inappropriately, although she claims he was healing her hands
.

Byron immediately reached out to the other Carpathians on their common telepathic path of communication to spread the news of a vampire attack. Gabriel's answer was sharp and instant. "Your father is on his way," Byron announced aloud, even as he reached for Skyler's hands, grasping her fingers before she could pull away and raising them up for inspection. Old scars crisscrossed the skin, running up her forearms in what were obviously defensive wounds. The sight of such abuse on a young female sickened him. On the backs of her hands were newer marks, recently healed, faint, but telltale.

Skyler jerked her hands away, visibly trembling. "I told you, he healed the burns." She put her hands behind her back, out of sight. "It was awful."

Gabriel materialized in the room without preamble, reaching for her, yanking her against him, his hands sliding over her checking for damage. "You have a lot to answer for, Skyler Rose."

"She's had a terrible fright," Antonietta said, interceding.

"Some stranger was all over her," Josef said, frowning in disapproval. He drew himself up to his full height. "I followed her because she was acting funny and a vampire attacked her. Before I could do anything…"

"Such as call for me?" Byron interrupted. "I don't recall a summons or a cry for help."

"I did not get one either," Gabriel said, retaining his hold on his daughter. "The threat of a vampire getting his hands on you, Skyler, is enough to put gray streaks in my hair. What were you doing out in the open without protection? You were warned earlier that you were in danger, yet you chose to ignore it? You ignored a direct order from your mother and me."

Skyler clung to him. It the midst of such a chaotic world, he was a tower of strength—always and ever her rock. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
I couldn't stop myself from going to him. There was such pain. I know pain and I couldn't be the cause
.

A slow hiss escaped him. His fingers stroked a caress even as he buffeted her from his fatherly anger. Part of him wanted to shake her hard, the other half wanted to hold her to him and comfort her, keep her safe.
You did not think to confide in Francesca
—
or me? You could have asked us for help in dealing with this, Skyler
.

Was there hurt in his voice? Was she destined to hurt everyone who mattered to her? "I'm so sorry," she said aloud a second time. "I couldn't think clearly." It was the truth—and the only excuse she had to offer.

"Tell us exactly what happened," another voice said. Skyler looked up to see Mikhail and Lucian standing close. Both looked grim. "If Dimitri assaulted you, Skyler, you must tell us," the prince added.

"
No
!" She shouted the word, a surge of adrenaline rushing through her bloodstream. Everyone was staring at her, crowding close. She could barely breathe, barely speak. "He tried to help me. Why won't you listen to me?"

"If you value your lives," another voice interrupted, "you will leave my lifemate alone. I can feel her distress radiating through the forest and yet you surround her, pressuring her to tell you tales you should be asking of a hunter." Dimitri stood tall and straight in the open doorway. His long hair blew in the slight breeze and a few snowflakes dotted his head and shoulders.

Gabriel pushed Skyler toward Antonietta. "I believe I will take you up on your explanation," he told Dimitri through clenched teeth. "Antonietta, if you would be so kind as take my daughter into your kitchen and make certain she drinks something sweet such as orange juice. It must be natural."

"Gabriel," Skyler protested.

Go with her. It is my duty and privilege to ensure your safety and I intend to do just that. We will discuss this later.

"He saved my life," Skyler said defiantly, looking around at the room filled with Carpathian hunters. "He saved my life."

Antonietta ignored the small automatic hesitation on Skyler's part and put her arm around the girl. "I think your man can hold his own with this group."
Be on his side, Byron. Please. He seems so alone
. She flashed a confident smile at Skyler. "I can see when I work at it. I won't give you something like olive oil to drink instead of orange juice."

Skyler went with her, but halted in the hallway leading to the kitchen. She looked back, her troubled gaze meeting Dimitri's.

It will be all right
, lyubof maya,
go with the woman and let me make things perfectly clear to these men
—
and your father
.

Please don't hurt anyone
—
or get hurt. I couldn't stand that
. She glanced at Gabriel. He was watching her—not Dimitri, and he had a frown on his face. She was disobeying him again. She ducked her head and turned to follow Antonietta.

We will come to an understanding, Skyler, your father and I. I thank you for defending me. And stay away from the boy. He is jealous and capable of starting trouble he cannot conceive of.

Skyler didn't know what to say to that. Josef had acted jealous, but he wasn't enamored of her. She thought it more likely he was lonely—just as she was—and he didn't want to lose a friend.

It was dark in the kitchen and Antonietta forgot to turn on the lights, so Skyler tried to do so unobtrusively. "Gabriel's really angry with me this time. I did go off like an idiot, but my mind was so foggy. I could only think about getting to the wolf."

Antonietta pulled orange juice from the cooler. "The wolf? Or Dimitri?"

Skyler frowned, rubbing at her temples. "I don't know. I thought Dimitri, but I followed the cry of the wolf."

"And Dimitri wasn't the wolf?"

Skyler shuddered and shook her head. "The wolf appeared to be trapped in a steel claw, the leg bleeding. I wanted to help it, but then it changed into something hideous and Dimitri came and fought it."

"That must have been terribly frightening." Antonietta conveyed the information to Byron so he could tell the others. "It doesn't sound right to me," she informed Skyler. "Here, sit down. You're still shaking."

Skyler pulled out a chair and sank into it, shocked that her legs were so rubbery. "I tried to resist, but I didn't call Gabriel or Francesca for help and I should have."

Antonietta sat opposite her. "It sounds a bit like a compulsion, don't you think? But how could a vampire have targeted you? He would have had to have access to your mind—your thoughts—in order to trap you with something familiar to you."

"Earlier, I tried to trace a surge of power. It came from the direction of the hotel, so we all thought it was someone there, but whoever was using energy caught me, and maybe they touched my mind enough to know I love wolves." She bit at her lip. "And that I was worried about Dimitri."

They did not believe a strike would come so soon
—
or that it was a vampire. They believed someone from the human society was baiting a trap for her
—
at least that is the explanation they are giving her lifemate. He is angry and rightly so. He has the right to demand she be protected at all times, sheltered more than any other if they refuse to allow his claim at this time. Mikhail has no choice but to accede to his wishes
. Byron exchanged the information with Antonietta, knowing she didn't like to be kept "in the dark" over anything. For so long her family had kept secrets from her. He refused to do so. His lifemate would have whatever knowledge he had at all times. He sent her warmth and love, reassurance that the child wouldn't be harmed.

I can feel her growing fear, Byron. They all need to be gentle with her
. She nudged the glass of orange juice closer to Skyler's hand. "Drink. You'll feel better."

Skyler sent her a small smile. "You're easy to talk to. The others just bellow and no one really listens. Josef was brave to interfere, but he isn't exactly telling the truth. He isn't lying, but he's making it sound as if Dimitri was doing something wrong."

Deep inside, she shivered, remembering the feel of Dimitri's mouth against her skin, his tongue stroking velvet caresses over her wounds. Heat rushed through her veins, sent awareness into her deepest feminine core. Tiny sparks of electricity skipped over her skin and her breasts tingled. She blushed, grateful Antonietta couldn't see very well.

"Do you like Dimitri?" Antonietta asked.

"He confuses me. For one moment he seemed the most gentle man alive, and then he was like a demon, dangerous and ready to kill in an instant."

"When he was fighting the vampire?"

Skyler shook her head. "I think I could have been okay with that, but no, with Josef. Josef is—just Josef. He's sweet and funny and way smarter than anyone gives him credit for. He would have fought for me and Dimitri is—big, strong. You saw him. Still, Josef thought to rescue me."

"He should have called Byron and you should have called Gabriel," Antonietta pointed out.

"I know."

"Josef is going through a difficult period in his life. He spends far too much time interacting on the internet instead of with people. He needs better social skills. Meeting you and Josh after so many months of continual communication—it was like he had friends already."

Skyler found Antonietta more difficult to read than most, but she was certain the conversation was about her and the way she hid from life as well as being about Josef. "Well, at least I won't have to worry about the vampire. He's dead now, so I'm safe and everyone, Josef included, can breathe easier." She hoped the fact that Dimitri had destroyed the threat to her would keep Gabriel from being so angry.

She is very certain the threat to her is gone
, Antonietta shared.

I very much doubt it. She was definitely targeted and this is the second time. Dimitri said the vampire had to have turned only a month or so earlier, that he hadn't grown into his powers. Most fledgling vampires are used as pawns by one far more powerful. We know they are in this area, and no fledgling would try to take on so many Carpathians. He was sent by someone else testing the waters.

Antonietta's hand fluttered gracefully to her throat.
Then young Skyler is in more danger than ever. Surely someone will tell her. It is unfair to allow her to think she is safe. Really, Byron, I would want to know
.

No doubt they will tell her when this mess is settled. I would not want to go up against Lucian and Gabriel, especially when they are united, but Dimitri has grown into a force to be reckoned with. He has taken on the Daratrazanoff brothers and invoked his rights. He wont back down at all, or give any concession. He blames Gabriel for allowing Skyler to be in danger, and truly, Antonietta, what can Gabriel say in response? It is his sole responsibility to keep her safe, as his daughter and certainly as Dimitri's lifemate. Whatever has taken place over the centuries, it has shaped Dimitri into a strong, lethal warrior. He means to force an order from Mikhail
—
or take her with him
.

She's too young
—
too hurt. She needs time to heal, Byron
.

I think Dimitri is aware of that. He's not pushing his claim to bind her, only that they comply with his every wish.