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Mist drifted through the trees TheAround the erous time, this cycle of the moon, especially when the round a foot or so high, winding in and out of the trees as if alive The es to the shadowy figures that preyed upon the unwary

Tatijana of the Dragonseekers woke beneath the earth with layers of dark, rich healing loa her Vital nutrients, rich inti too light, too trapped, too exposed And hot So hot Above her, she sensed the guardians Watching over her, they said, and it was probably true, but she'd been a prisoner for so long-she'd been born into captivity-and she trusted no one other than her sister, Branislava Bronnie lay sleeping peacefully, very close to her, her only comfort

Her heartbeat grew louder until it was thunder in her ears She couldn't stand being trapped beneath the earth She had to get out, to find freedo of the world She'd lived underground her entire life, deep in the ice caves, never seeing or speaking to anyone other than those who tortured and tried to terrorize her She knew no other life, but that had changed-or had it?

Had Bronnie and she exchanged one cold, frightening prison for a silken cage? If so, their wardens had round to recover She hardly knehat it was like to be in her real forons could h earth fairly easily

Bronnie, she whispered into her sister's mind I know you need your sleep I will continue to explore our neorld and come back at daith new information

Branislava stirred in her ht protest as she had each ti

I need to do this

I will coh she was in Tatijana's mind

Tatijana knew Branislava would force herself to awaken, although she wasn't truly healed inside, where they both needed it They'd done everything together-been through the worst together They'd never actually been apart, even when encased in ice, when they could only stare at one another They still had telepathic communication

Not this time, Bronnie, I need to do this for me She whispered the words as she did on the occasions she awakened to explore their neorld She always gave Bronnie reassurance that she would be careful

No one would ever i she er with each passing night Power ran through her body and with it, confidence She was determined they would stand on their own and be beholden to no one

Tatijana didn't kno to tell her sister she didn't want to live under the rules of another They were Carpathian Dragonseeker Thatto the prince of the Carpathians and to all the others Theeither Bronnie, or her She could not live under the rule of another She just couldn't do it She didn't want anyone telling her what to do ever again, even if it was for her own good She rose when she wanted and explored her neorld on her own terms

Tatijana made up her mind that she would find her oay, learn her oay, make her own mistakes Bronnie was always the voice of reason She protected Tatijana from her impulsive nature, but noTatijana needed

She sent her sister love and war into the appearance of a blue dragon was easy-she'd been in the form for centuries and the structure and shape felt more familiar than her own body

She burrowed deeper, going into the earth rather than rising where her guardians would see her She'd already dug a tunnel, and she h the packed soil She'd chosen to exit several kilo place in order to ensure Branislava's safety and to uardians would have no idea she'd risen early The blue dragonwhen necessary, packing any dirt that had collapsed as she hurried steadily toward her goal

Tatijana eed in a deep forest She was very careful to scan the earth above her before the blue dragon poked her wedge-shaped head out of the hidden entrance She surfaced in the iant htly, just enough to give them the appearance of monsters

Tatijana had known real ray didn't alar Her eyes were terribly sensitive, but other than that, the world felt as if it was hers and with the fog covering the ground, her eyes didn't even burn

She shifted to her physical for, a pair of soft cotton pants that allowed her freedom of movement She'd chosen a blouse she'd seen on a wohts earlier She'd followed the wo so she could reproduce it at will Everything seee to her, but that was part of the excite, not just pulling information from another's mind

Shewrapped around her legs and h clouds She re that was still very uncohed her down and felt very foreign on her body

The wind rushed through the trees, kicking up leaves and swirling an to rise froht at the forest's edge that she could see Music poured fro, but this ti just to hear those beautiful notes She norlean more information to share with her sister

This place called to her every rising now The feeling was so strong it was nearly a compulsion She had resisted for a few days, but she couldn't stop herself another night She drew closer to the building The ere lit with that sah the thicktoward it

The Wild Boar Tavern sat on the very edge of the forest, surrounded on three sides by heavy brush, trees, and plenty of cover for anyone needing to hide quickly Providing shelter and camaraderie as well as easy exits should the law happen to venture near, the tavern offered regulars comfort by the fire, warh, no place for the tienerally avoided the place No one asked questions and everyone was careful not to officially notice anything

Fenris Dalka caht, so why did he feel such a fool sitting at the bar, slowly nursing a beer, pretending to drink it like he often did? He huffed out his breath and kept his gaze forward, using the e point, he could see every corner of the tavern as well as the door He'd scoped out the perfect place to sit so there, he just stood over theot up and vacated his seat

Fen kneas intierous looks to his advantage He was tall enough, but it was his broad shoulders and thick chest, his roped arlacier-blue eyes he used to look right through someone into their soul that usually intimidated people He rarely had to speak and he preferred it that way The regulars knew him and knew to leave him alone

Music played in the background and laughter occasionally rang out, but for the most part, the patrons spoke in hushed whispers Only the bartender ever spoke to Fen when he entered A few of the regulars lifted a hand, or nodded, but erous as he was Aonly his brother and always hunted or hunting He was even more ruthless and brutal than the whispers said

His hair was long, very thick and distinctly silver with black strands woven into the waves falling down his back Most of the time he secured it at his nape with a leather cord to keep it out of his eyes He had large hands, and his knuckles were scarred There were scars on his face, one up near his eye and another that ran from his eye halfway down his face There were farhimself, every battle and every victory was stamped into his bones

Whispered conversations were easy enough to listen in on with his acute hearing, allowing hiht was different He wasn't here for inforether different this time

Uncoers over the handle, gripping with his fist and forcing hilass He wasn't ahe couldn't understand-and he didn't understand the urgent need that kept hi

This was a tavern for the lawless For clandestine s He and his brother had discovered the tavern when he'd first arrived back in the Carpathian Mountains It had been necessary to find a safe place, out of the here they could spend tiht know either of theer brother was safe No one could know they were brothers No one could ever associate the two of the's life on the line-so to do So ht him dead-and for his brother's protection that falsehood had to remain

He knew every face in the tavern Most had been coer than he had The newest patron was the most suspect He had arrived in the area only a couple of weeks earlier He had the stocky build of a hunter-a woodsman-yet he dressed htly Anyone could see by the way he ht He was definitely armed He went by the name of Zev, and clearly he was new to the area He hadn't disclosed his business, but Fen would bet his last dollar, he was hunting someone He didn't look like the law, but he was definitely pursuing someone Fen hoped it wasn't him, but if it was, he took every opportunity to study Zev, the way he moved, which hand he favored, where his weapons were carried

Zev wore his hair longer than usual, just as Fen did His hair was a deep chestnut color and very thick, ray and watchful, always , always restless, while his body renificant that no one in the bar had yet challenged him

The wind picked up, rushing through the trees, capricious and playful, pushing branches against the sides of the tavern so that they creaked and scraped, a heralding of danger if one could read the inforlanced through theinto the dark forest

The ers, winding in and out of the trees, closeting the forest in a thick veil of gray He needed to go-now-he had only five days before the full ave him two days to find a safe place to ride out the threat to him The three days before the full moon, the full erous for him Yet he didn't move from the barstool, not even when self-preservation screamed at him Every hair on his body was raised, both in alarm and extended as antenna to catch the smallest of details

He saze drawn to the e of the color spectruray he could see He couldn't tell the difference between yellow, green or orange, they all looked the saray or black, but he could detect blue What he lacked in his abilities to distinguish color, he , sense of sht

Her scent reached him as she opened the door A woman The woman Was she bait to catch him? If so, he was hooked That scent of hers-fresh earth, the forest, wild honey, of dark secret places and the night itself, drew hi on and off to the tavern for the last week Three visits, and yet he was already under her spell

She'd captured hih the door He'd never seen a wo She literally stopped all conversation the moment she entered, but she never see and naive, far too innocent-looking to come unescorted to a place like this one

He'd heard the whispers of solared at her, aware that the er had the attention of the ain, the woman seemed completely unaware She walked with confidence, but she see her-and they were predators The only reason she hadn't been attacked so far was because he'd made it very clear she was under his protection When one of the men had started to make his move on her, Fen had stood up That was all He just stood up

The man subsided instantly and no one had dared make another move, but it was only a matter of time From what he heard, three conspirators planned to follow her when she left the tavern and Fen wouldn't be around to protect her Well, that was unfair Two conspirators and one friend trying to talk sense into them He could have told the to their friend was the better idea, but he didn't bother He rolled his shoulders slowly, opened and closed his fists, stretching out his fingers and looking down at the hands that could be such deadly weapons He needed the exercise

He watched her in the mirror He'd seen her try a drink each time she came in, one she'd obviously seen someone else drink, and each time she lass, shook her head and moved away froain she see herself in the music Fen was certain she came to the tavern only because she loved the music

She never spoke, not even to the bartender, and Fen wondered whether or not she could speak Her skin was porcelain white, as if she never saw the sun Her hair was beautiful, falling far past her waist, long enough that she probably could sit on it, as if she'd never cut it in her life She wore it in a braided rope that was as thick as his wrist The silky fall was a color he couldn't quite define, but when the light hit it just right, the color seeh it could just be the way he perceived color

Her eyes caught at hi at them, and as she danced, she suddenly lifted her lashes, her eyeshis in theWoo dry His jaw didn't ache and his canines didn't grow sharp He was always-always-in control And yetHe heard thunder roaring in his ears, and breathed deep, calling on centuries of discipline

Emotions dulled and disappeared in time What little he felt, he felt as the other, not in this forot what it was like to be in his present for into her eyes, he found he couldn't look away She mesmerized him Captivated him He didn't trust her He didn't trust his unfae reaction to her

A gust of wind hit the tavern hard, blen the chi fell fro to an abrupt halt, but flahtly Fen swung his head toward theThe thickitself around the tavern, enclosing the entire building in a giant glistening spiderweb

The wo his attention back to her She stared at the fire, as if every bit as mesmerized by it as he was by her Sheher closely in theflames, almost as if the lenses were multifaceted, reminiscent of the cut of a diamond She stepped closer, too close The fireplace was open Mountains of ashes glowed, flarily Fen slipped off the barstool

She slowly extended her hand toward the flaht into the center of the fire Hearound and catching her wrist, pulling her hand back away from the flames before the flames could blister her soft skin

For a ht hi his mind, which shocked him Who was she? What was she? He held his barriers effortlessly and kept his touch gentle, taking care not to convey a threat of any kind She relaxed and he inhaled the scent of her, his head near her shoulder, so that the thick braid of silky hair brushed his skin and her fes She s he didn't-and would never-have

"It's hot Fire will burn you," he said softly,certain no one else in the tavern would hear

She was intelligent, he could see that, but sos she'd never experienced and had no knowledge of Amnesia? Trauma? There was no other explanation Everyone knew about fire, and her lack of knowledge just made her all the more vulnerable

She turned her head slowly to look up at hihtly, a puzzled expression on her face Up so close, she appeared ethereal, mysterious, her skin silky s in his life

"Your skin will burn," he explained patiently "It would be extremely painful to you"

She continued to look at hies She just looked at hi far too much attention Every time she moved she had the eye of everyone in the tavern and he didn't want anyone to think she was easy prey because of her lack of knowledge of the most basic necessities such as fire In the end, there was nothing else to do He pressed her arm down to her side, stepped around her and extended his hand, palm down, into the flames

She watched, her eyes widening as his skin blistered and the scent of burning flesh rose She caught his arm and jerked his hand from the fireplace

"Do you understand?" he asked, showing her the dae

She turned his hand over, her pal, yet he still felt her energy vibrating through his skin Soothing coolness slid over the blisters She lifted his pals, the air trapped there He couldn't move or even speak as she bent her head toward his palhtly, barely there, a slow brush that actually made his hand tremble and his knees just a little weak Worse, his body reacted with a hot surge of blood, rushing and pooling in wicked demand