Gabriel faded into the visible spectrum, his obsidian eyes going immediately to where the Marchioness even now sat enjoying the company of Colonel Savage. He knew that trouble lay on the horizon if this continued, but he could only warn her so far.

Rhaine did not react to Gabriel?s arrival, but he felt her irritation with him despite the lack of an outward reaction. Finaly gem like blue eyes paused on Gabriel and narrowed slightly.

?You are displeased?? His voice was black velvet, meant to draw her into discussion rather than trying to forcibly read her thoughts.

She nodded, ?Some people react slower than it?s smart. And you know who I mean.?

?You believe my reactions were too slow?? He knew she was speaking about the ?gift? Travanix had given the Marchioness.

?Why was Kitty?s faster than yours?? She shrugged. Her jab had landed and he didn?t care for the sensation.

?The malice came from the man, not the gift.? He should have suspected, and he hadn?t. He was losing his focus and that could be dangerous to those around him.

Rhaine remained nonplused, ?And you would accept a gift from someone who reeks of what you call malice? You know, after your chase after Kendrick, I would have expected less trust.?

Gabriel?s self recriminations were silent, but no less cruel, ?There was no trust at all. What did you discover??

Rhaine shrugged, ?First I had my suspicions without a chance to discover anything. Later on, got enough chances to take a better look.?

Gabriel gave her a brief bow, ?It would seem that I am in your debt for finding something before I did.?

She shook her head, ?No, if there?s someone you?re indebted to, it?s Kitty. She and Alain got the wretched thing away from your boss.?

Gabriel nearly flinched. Azjah was not so much his boss as his responsibility, and there are significant differences. He slid his eyes toward the woman known as Kitty, then focused again on Rhaine. ?So noted.?

Rhaine took a bite of cheese and washed it down with a sip of beer, giving a slight grin to Gabriel, ?No remarks on magic today? Or do you have other things to watch??

Gabriel shrugged, ?You have yours back. Care to explain the absence??

She shrugged slightly, ?It?s a long story really. Ended up in a couple of my bones broken.? She paused, ?More detail may be better for? conversation without extra ears. I don?t like too much information spread.?

Gabriel?s black eyes slid over Wil and Azjah then back to Rhaine, ?Long stories help fill empty minutes.?

Rhaine sighed as her voice dropped lower, low enough that only Gabriel could possibly hear, ?One of our officers decided to do a three-step intrigue involving information leak and framing me.?

Gabriel?s brow rose fractionally, ?Power play, or elimination of a rival??

?More like power play. Rivalry suggests conflict or competition.? She told him.

?Since you are still here, I presume you proved your merit?? He suspected there was far more to it than she was telling him, but he also knew not to push her too far.

She grinned, ?In a way.?

He studied her closely, ?Only in a way??

Rhaine nodded, ?I did spend a month magic-less.? That reminder nearly brought a shadow to her eyes, but she didn?t permit it to come to fruition.

?At a strong disadvantage,? Gabriel allowed as she spoke

Gabriel dissolved into mist and made his way through the streets of RhyDin, toward Dragon?s Gate. He wanted untainted blood this night. No drugs, no liquor, no, not tonight. Tonight he wanted healthy and vibrant blood. He skirted New Haven?s walls and threaded his way toward the water front. He could hear thousands of hearts beating tonight. Life, in all its complexity surrounded him. The thunder of so many hearts beating coursed as drum beats through his mind.

Hunger.

Sharp, biting, needful.

Blood.

Gabriel found what he was seeking in a young couple, blissfully oblivious to the darkness that even now stalked them through the streets. They kept to the shadows, and a cold smile lit Gabriel?s features. It was child?s play to bring them both under thrall, and as they stood in the deepest shadows awaiting him, he stalked them.

At first, they felt no fear, only the initial captivation used by Carpathian?s to call human kind to them, but Gabriel?s intent tonight had shifted, and with that shift, the desire to see what adrenaline laced blood ?felt? like.

The lure of the kill sang to him. Take their lives! It cooed to him.

He stalked them, letting some portion of their brains recognize what he was, and with that realization came terror.

The lure sang sweetly to him, kill them, take it all!

Lucien was playing with Sylviana, they had only just begun a game of hide and seek when Lucien felt Gabriel slam a psychic wall up between them. He went very still, forgetting that he was supposed to be ?hiding? from his daughter and he tested the wall. It was strong, but his twin underestimated how much Lucien had grown by finding his mate.

Lucien worked his way around the barrier as his daughter leaped upon him, ?that is not a good hiding place daddy.?

But while his arms hugged Sylviana to him, his mind was denying what he saw through his brother?s eyes.

*TOPAZ!* His call to her via their private communications was urgent. He had to get to Gabriel before the woman died, he simply had to.

With Sylvianna still in his arms and confused by his urgency, Lucien vanished with Sylviana to return to Topaz?s side, handing their daughter to her even as he vanished into the night to search out Gabriel?. Before it was too late.

Lucien flew through the night with all the speed he could muster. The mist overhead shielded him from a casual viewer, but the rate of speed would give him away to any vampyre in the area. He did not care. Gabriel needed him. He gave Topaz the images of what he?d seen, but didn?t convey how close the victim was to death?s door. If he wasn?t in time, he shook his head, he had to be in time, HAD to be in time.

His twin was so focused on savoring his potential kill that he hadn?t noticed Lucien?s presence, nor the fact that Lucien was tracking him based on what Gabriel?s eyes showed him.

Lucien found him and shifted as he landed into a great bear, swiping at Gabriel?s back. He needed to stop him from feeding, and right now, the best way to do that was shock and surprise. The grizzly?s massive claws raked deeply into Gabriel?s back, drawing blood and causing him to drop his victim.

Lucien heard the flutter of a weak heart beat, maybe?. Maybe

But the fight was on. Gabriel snarled and shifted into the same creature and charged his twin.

The bears clashed together as 1500 pounds slammed into another 1500 pounds. Claws six inches long ripped at the body of the other and teeth sought to rend flesh where ever it could be grabbed. Snarls echoed in the darkness as the victim lay where she?d been carelessly dropped. A slow trickle of blood seeping from twin punctures at her throat.

Lucien was in a fight for his life for what felt like eons, but were actually only seconds before Gabriel shape shifted into his human form, throwing both arms wide and dropping his head back, waiting for the kill. He WANTED Lucien to end it all. Gabriel saw images of a bear shedding giant tears, images child-like in their simplicity drove home the heinousness of his crime.

Lucien?s giant claws raked across Gabriel?s chest before he could stop the attack. Blood flowed as those daggers sliced through unresisting flesh, rending muscle and exposing bone. He shifted into human form and made to grab Gabriel, but Gabriel?s powerful shell kept Lucien from reaching him.

The brothers eyes met across a distance much greater than the few feet that separated them.

Gabriel wavered as blood poured from the five rakes Lucien had scored as a grizzly slashing at another grizzly, but the swift shift into human form had resulted in far worse wounds than the bear would have suffered, but then, that was what Gabriel had wanted. Death. Death at the hands of his twin was all there was left for him now.

He?d been lured to the brink of vampyrism, and had nearly plummeted over that precipice. This death was all that remained. Gabriel?s black eyes were locked with Lucien?s as he waited for death to claim him.

Lucien was beating against his shields, and Gabriel did not know how much longer he could hold his brother at bay, but he would hold him off as long as he could.

He staggered, dropping to one knee as he weakened. His focus narrowing to that shield as everything else around him slowly covered over in blackness and void.

Gabriel was so focused on maintaining his shield that he was oblivious to the arrival of Topaz and Sylviana, but Lucien felt them arrive. But he was working to bring down Gabriel?s shields before it was too late. He sent images of the woman to Topaz, *see what you can do for her, please*.

Gabriel?s head dropped and the shield wavered. Lucien leaped then to get to his brother. And sent a call to Ariel. It would take several of them to pull Gabriel back from this.

The moment the shield dropped from around Gabriel, the sentient magic moved in on Gabriel to work as Topaz had requested earlier. But there was little blood left to keep inside the body.

Topaz breathed a sigh of relieve when she saw Ariel and the male Carpathian. Dominic was the older man's name, she took that information from Lucien's mind. Now Lucien had the help he needed to take care of Gabriel and she could take the woman to Le.

"No, Sylviana, come back here!" Topaz moved to catch up to the little one, who had made good use of her parent's distraction. Now she was tugging on Gabriel's pant leg to get his attention.

"You're a mess. Me help clean up." The toddler told him with all the authority she could muster before her mother could snatch her up.

"No, no, no!" She fought her mother, tears of frustration over her efforts of escaping her mother not being successful already burning her eyes. "Down! Me help! Uncle Gabriel!"

"We have to get this woman to Aunt Le. Daddy is helping Uncle Gabriel." Topaz held onto her struggling daughter while she prepared the still unconscious woman for transport.

"Me stay with Daddy!" Sylviana protested with her bottom lip stuck out and quivering.

Topaz wanted to be with Lucien with every fiber of her being. She felt everything he did, the weight on his soul, and the tears rolling down his cheeks, and it tore at her. Sylviana tore at her, too, fighting her the entire way to Le's hospital for them to turn around so she could be with her dad and uncle.

Only the certain knowledge that for now Gabriel's continued existence was depended on that this woman would live gave her the strength to continue her way to Le's hospital. Once she had transferred the woman into Le's care though there would be nothing, absolutely nothing, that would keep her from returning to Lucien's side.

From the shore of Atrebla Lake the portal to Hy-Breasil looked like a sturdy and expansive dock, well-supported and reinforced and wide enough to drive two carriages abreast. It really resembled a bridge, except that it extended only about twenty meters into Atrebla Lake and then stopped. A bridge to nowhere. Or, in this case, a bridge to elsewhere. There was a slight breeze blowing along the shoreline, and the night sky was brilliant with stars, as only high-altitude skies can be.

"We made it." Topaz announced to Sylviana as they stepped off the bridge to Hy-Breasil with their charge. The place was always busy, even now in what must be the middle of the night. Hopefully that meant that she would not have to wake up Le. She paused to take a deep breath and then resumed to direct the floating, unconscious, and barely breathing woman across the genetically manicured lawn toward the main building.

The grassy sward, swept in-between the two long wings, all soft tan around and under the rich redwood of the support beams and the gently-peaked roof, wide eaves with cantilevered overhangs shadowing the long windows of the sprawling two-story building blended into its surroundings: lush grass? flowering trees? a spaceship parked on the side lawn?.

Topaz wondered what had brought Tyranny?s Favor from its accustomed landing pad by Le Amon?s residence. Occasionally Brigid Atreides, the starship?s pilot, parked directly at the medical center to deliver patients or cargo.

A security guard was lounging near the altar stage on the lawn south of the main entrance. An aged orc (which was of itself unusual), Nakuth had fought in the Paladin Wars on his home world for long, bloody uncounted years. Brought through the teleporting altar of one of the Lady?s temples, like almost all other emergency patients, he had been a security guard ever since his healing was completed fourteen standard years ago. Now his tough form had grown a little paunchy, and he had developed a fondness for Ertali chocolates, and his former comrades would no doubt have been shocked to see Lukuth dandling an elf-child on his scarred knees while telling highly-censored war stories to the rapt patients in Pediatrics.

He waved at Topaz, who waved back as she mounted the low steps up to the big double glass doors of the entrance hall.

Actually, neither the security guards ? all of whom were former soldiers who had been healed here ? nor Brigid?s starship were really necessary at all. Le?s medical center treated anyone or anything, from any planet or any dimension, who mounted the altar in any of hundreds of temples of the Lady scattered across this and other worlds. And the only other means of ingress to the dimensional bubble that was Hy-Breasil were the flight portal, high overhead and only opened on request, and the causeway which opened on the east shore of Atrebla Lake near the Beacon and which always had a couple of security guards on duty. Admittedly they were usually enjoying coffee and doughnuts. But who would be stupid enough to attack the most renown ? and nonpartisan ? healing center in the sector? Ah, well, better safe than sorry.

Topaz was about to direct them past Administration to the internal teleport lifts when Shamus O'Flynn stepped into their way.

"Greetings, Commander. Sylviana." The leprechaun managed to squeeze in a bow. "Looking good and who might this body be? May I direct you to the morgue?"

Topaz paled visibly and for a moment she lost the woman's heart beat. Indeed, the woman's heartbeat and breathing now only existed because Topaz made use of her Carpathian abilities and controlled both - a difficult and very taxing task because she had absolutely no connection to this stranger. But she simply could not allow the woman to die. Anyway, Shamus was a lab-tech, and while unexcelled at fine-tuning calibrations in phenomenally sensitive equipment he was not a doctor or nurse, Topaz told herself and put aside his assumption that the woman was already dead.

"Not a body, Shamus. I've no idea who she is, but she's important. Is Le upstairs?"

"Doctor Amon is in surgery. Follow me." He winked at Sylviana, who had been surprisingly quiet ever since they had arrived at Hy-Breasil, and then led them down the hall past pediatrics and presumable toward the surgery rooms with unexpected speed.


Le Amon was in a hurry to get from one OP to the other to take care of the most recent emergency. She had no idea what made her look down the corridor, but what she saw made her pause.

"Topaz! What a surprise. And you brought Sylvy ..." Usually she would have greeted the pair with hugs, but Topaz didn't usually bring a patient along. Instead she checked the woman's vitals. "Vampire victim?"

"That depends. If she dies, Gabriel will, and he'll likely try to take Lucien, Ariel, Dominic and Azjah with him, and if Lucien dies ...." Topaz trailed off. Le knew enough of Topaz's new family to put two and two together and she did not appear to listen too closely, instead ratteling orders and instructions to the doctors and nurses now busteling around them. In no time at all the woman was on a high-tech gurney and hooked up to mobile machines.

Le turned to look at Topaz when her team was ready to wheel the woman away, "You can stop with the magic now."

"Will she be okay?"

"Have someone at admin give you a com unit." Le refused to say one way or the other while the odds remained uncertain.

Despite being in the bubble dimension of Hy-Breasil at the time and dealing with the physical discomforts of being that far from Lucien, she felt Lucien becoming energy and light and entering his twin's body in order to heal what he may.

She should be there, Topaz thought, to lend Lucien her strength, to be close enough to touch, and to observe. If ever there was anything she needed to learn and get good at in a hurry, this healing from the inside out was it. This healing was likely the last opportunity for her to get a start on that before she would be the one called upon to patch up Lucien.

But she was just leaving Hy-Breasil. Traveling, even at supernatural speed, took time. As much as she wanted to - needed to be with Lucien, she would miss too much if she waited until she got there. And she had Sylviana with her. So turning into light and following Lucien may not be an option even once she did make it back to his side.

"No stop, mommy. Help Daddy." Sylviana protested when Topaz touched down on the shore of Atrebla Lake.

"We're out of time, darling. We have to help from here." Topaz sat down tucked the little girl into her lap. While she did not like the idea on taking Sylviana's mind along, it was the only way to ensure that the girl
didn't wander off on her own. "You have to be extra good and remain absolutely unnoticed, like when we played. Do you remember?"

Sylviana nodded. While she usually had the nearly none-existent discipline of any child her age, she knew how to behave when mommy took her on 'telepathic rides' and that those adventures were over abruptly when she so much as mentally blinked.

"I mean not just subtle, but truly unnoticed. We cannot be distracting Daddy even in the slightest." Any distraction to Lucien at this time would be bad for everyone concerned. In order for Topaz not to be a distraction, she would surrender directional control and she couldn't be entirely certain that she would be able to pull away quickly enough when Sylviana was about to blink. "I mean it."

"Promise." Sylviana said solemnly, out loud and on their private telepathic channel.

That would have to do, Topaz thought and, hoping that Sylviana could keep her promise, she took firm telepathic control of Sylviana. She blanked out any thought other than supporting Lucien before she completely merged their joined minds to Lucien's.

Topaz capped her surprise before it could fully register. What she was met with upon merging with Lucien was not at all what she had expected, nor was she prepared for the disappointment. While Lucien definitely needed and accepted her strength, she could 'see' nothing, nothing at all. That, along with only vaguely sensing what Lucien was doing, didn't allow her to learn anything about healing from the inside out as light and energy she didn't already know.

It was done.

The healing was completed. Gabriel would live. For now.

"You've been very good, Sylviana. Now we go to Daddy." Topaz stood up, easing up on the telepathic connections but continued to send Lucien warmth and love. "Are you ready?"

Instead of answering Sylviana nodded and started to turn to mist. Topaz quickly supported her girl in the transformation, and then they were on the move.

'I'm on my way to you now, Love.' Lucien needed to feed, and she wasn't about to let some stranger take away her privilege of providing for her mate the first time he was in need in what must have been enough months to fill a year or more.

"Lucien! No! What are you doing!? Stop that." A moment ago he was hungry, ready to accept her help, and now he was feeding. While on one hand she was happy that he no longer had to suffer hunger, that he permitted someone else to do what she was supposed to and that he rejected her help stung painfully. "One moment you're weak as a kitten and in need of me and then this stupid prince of yours comes along and you forgot that you have a mate. Oh, this is just the last straw. That inconsiderate dolt. I'm so calling him out. Can't he happy with just stuffing Gabriel under some dirt? Does he have to use every opportunity to rub in that I'm not good enough for you, not even a decent Carpathian? Couldn't you have waited just two more moments and just for once count on me? The one good thing to come out of this and you have to ruin it. A moment ago you were perfectly willing to let me come along to dinner. And what do you mean you can't in front of your daughter and batteling my wishes? I thought we were supposed to be as one. You can't be one with anyone if you keep running off on your own."

One didn't need to pause for a breath when communicating mentally so Topaz ranted on without pause until she and Sylviana solidyfied near the group of Carpathians.

The night's stresses had been wearing her down. She had been hurrying to get to Lucien's side and he had given up on her without a second thought. The knowledge hurt, and while the angry words masked her pain she did nothing to mask her feelings from Lucien.

Gabriel?s world was a swirling, churning mass of confusion. Blood, he?d wanted the blood of the woman, in fact he had wanted it laced with as much adrenaline as he could coax from her, and he had terrorized her.

The rush, oh the rush had been the first true feeling he had had in more centuries than he could recall. More. There had to be more!

And then his brother had come. Tearing her from his grasp and picking a fight unlike any they had ever had.

Confusion.

Pain.

Memories flooded back as Gabriel relived the moments of the fight with Lucien, shame flooded his veins and he?d opened himself up for the kill. He needed Lucien to end his torment.

The claws had raked deeply and Gabriel remembered shutting Lucien out. Feeling his life ebb as the wound bled freely and profusely.

The world narrowed and then faded.

Blackness had claimed him, death beckoned. He reached for it.

Then he had been pulled back from the brink of darkness. Ancient blood, magical blood had flooded into starved veins. Veins that now retained the fluid, and he felt Lucien?s presence within his tormented body and reaching for his very soul. Anchoring Gabriel in this world.

He fought it. He did not want to remain. He had lived far too long, and temptation had nearly won tonight? or had he killed the woman? He didn?t know. He couldn?t sense her presence.

Just as he felt Lucien?s essence depart, he had one last coherent thought before his heart and lungs shut down, and he was sent into the sleep of his kind. He?d not stood any chance of defense, it had come so sharply and so strongly.

Gabriel?s breath was a soft whisper of sound as it ceased.

Lucien turned obsidian eyes on his mate, and hunger flared in those depths, ~I shall always be hungry for you.~

~Good. I just might be a tad hungry, too.~ She warned him with a teasing grin.

Sylviana made her way back toward them with the butterfly perched atop her wrist, where it sat with the brilliant jewel toned wings gently splayed and the long, black legs clutching to the tiny wrist, but it did not offer to take flight.

~It is not shame of how I feed Topaz, never that, but I feel the revulsion of many to the though of what I must do, and I do not wish you or Sylviana to face such if there is no need.~

~Others, strangers may feel so, but Sylviana should not learn revulsion at feeding.~ Topaz was curious, and even more so because Lucien kept this part of him from her for so long.

The news that the woman was being cared for was good, but the lack of news troubled him. How seriously had Gabriel pushed the limits? He glanced at the male who had been with her, ?He will need to have his memories of tonight changed.?

Ariel glanced at her brother with a nod, ?I?ll take care of that.?

Dominik lifted a brow at her, but remained silent. Lucien however stifled a snarl, he didn?t want his sister touching the human male, but it was not a thing to ask his Prince to do either.

She made short work of altering the male?s memories, and in minutes, the man was walking toward his home, oblivious to the events of the evening, and with any luck, by the time he called his lady friend, she would be home and also missing any memory of tonight.

Lucien watched as Mikhail vanished with Gabriel, an unreadable expression on his features.

He turned then, pulling Topaz and Sylviana to him, hugging them ferociously enough that Sylviana wriggled between them.

His voice held the strain of what had just happened, not just the healing, but what he?d learned inside his brother as he held him in this world. ?We are going to have to keep him from seeking his own sustenance. He is too close, and the lure is too strong.?

He stared at the stars as they began to fade in the predawn light, ?He has tasted the power of fear?? His voice trailed off at that. Even Mikhail is uncertain whether we can hold him with us now.

Lucien?s black eyes held Topaz?s a moment. ?We cannot wait until tomorrow and risk that she awakens and remembers tonight. Where will I find her??

"We will find her." There was no need for them to suffer separation for the duration of this task. "She's at Le's hospital. If we have to wake up Le we had better bring some extra strong coffee."

?We will not require Le, we only need to know where the woman is, I can alter her memories with no further assistance from your friend.?

"Of course you can. I did not mean to imply otherwise." While Topaz had been to Hy Braesil often and she could find her way to Le's quarters and office with her eyes closed, she had no idea where in the vast complex the woman was kept.

?Shall we then?? Lucien wanted to find out how much the woman remembered, and contain the damage as soon as possible.

"As soon as you are able to move." His eagerness to be off made her smile. It could not possibly be evening again already and the early summer sun was bound to be bright especially over the lake. "How much longer will Sylviana remain asleep?"

Lucien gave his daughter a ?push?, ?Long enough to go take care of this.? He kissed Topaz and shifted into a Barred Owl, allowing her to lead the way.

With a soft chuckle Topaz took to the air. While the reason was not a happy one, she loved and enjoyed every moment she had with just Lucien and this trip to Hy Breasil and back would gift them with exactly that.

Need.

Relentless, insatiable need.

Azjah woke several times on the flight to Rigel with a sense of compelling need. But she couldn?t tell from whom, nor a need for precisely ?what?. And several times while she was awake, the sensation would threaten to swamp her in its intensity. Yet the source of these sensations was not aboard the Star Dragon.

Whomever it was, the urgency left her edgy. And they were very far away.

The Rhydinian sun crossed the clear blue skies as though nothing were amiss. The normal path unaltered as that golden orb remained blissfully unaware that with its setting, new trouble would walk the night. Time did not stop in this world. It progressed ever onward, and that golden sun began its slow, inexorable descent toward the horizon.

The soil deep beneath the Palazzo was rich. Its healing properties had been augmented and improved for the sole purpose of rejuvenation and healing for each of the Twins. It has painstakingly been transported from Auriga. Gabriel had been put into the ground to heal. His body had done just that during the days that ensued after his brush with becoming Vampyre.

The body was ready to awaken with the setting of the sun. The body knew precisely where the sun was in the sky. The Need waited for the moment when the sun slipped beneath the horizon.

Gregori woke prematurely. Silver eyes snapping open even before his first breath, or the first beat of his heart. Sentience beneath him elicited a slow hiss as he realized that Gabriel was very close to awakening. He drew a breath as his heart began to beat. The sun still too high in the sky for him to be fully prepared to send Gabriel back into the depths of oblivion, but he strove against the lethargy. Time was running short

The Prince had been right to worry. Gregori had not expected his brother to be this strong this soon. With great effort, Gregori sent the soil upward away from his body. He still had an hour before the sun vanished. He sent his thoughts toward Gabriel, who still lay confined in the ground lower still.

The Need reached toward Gregori. It sought to draw him in, to engulf him.

The sun sank ever lower and shadows lengthened over RhyDin, and an unnatural stillness settled over the Palazzo. Not even crickets disturbed the silence after the rain stopped.

Far beneath the Italianate home, Mikhail worked steadily to unravel the wards.

Further still, beneath the Palazzo, the Need wrestled with Gregori even as it sought to pull Gabriel from the compulsion that kept him unable to rise.

The sun dropped below the horizon, and twilight had arrived. With the gloaming, The Need broke free from its confinement.

Hunger washed over Gregori and Mikhail like never before. It swamped them, consumed every cell of their bodies. Need for blood more potent than ever crashed into both males with devastating effects.

Mikhail dropped to his knees as Raven?s previously silent presence gasped from shock.

Gregori slammed up a wall against the consuming hunger, but The Need was older and more powerful than Gregori expected. It smashed against Gregori?s barrier, crumbling it into useless bits of psionic residue. It lashed at the center for hunger in both males brains. Driving all else from their minds but the single demand for the blood of life?.. all of it.

Gabriel?s compulsion failed shortly there after. His black eyes snapped open in the earth as his heart beat once. Then twice, and he drew his first breath in days. Rich soil erupted as he rose from his place of rest. Hunger. It was the first sensation as he shifted into mist and streamed from the cave.

A heart beat somewhere above him? then two?. Three? there was life in the house above them. Compulsion drove him toward the sound of those living beings.

Inside the sealed tomb a single eternal flame burned a deep red color. A lone figure remained prone and unmoving atop what appeared to be a very comfortable bed. Every luxury to be imagined surrounded the figure. But the figure was shrouded in black. No features could be seen. Black shroud, black veil, and the darkness clung to the figure as though part of the female herself.

No others were inside the chamber. No movement. No sound. No life.

Le Noir has lain thusly for thousands of years. She is trapped in a form that will not allow her to move. The form will not allow her to exercise power beyond the slowly growing ability to project her thoughts. If her jailers suspected Le Noir?s awakening, they would all be very afraid.

Le Noir?s thoughts however are terrible in their implication. Terrible not only for the males she invades, but terrible for all life.

Imagine if she were to fully awaken?..

Ariel felt the wash of insatiable hunger when Gabriel had been awake, but since he had been sent to sleep, it had not troubled her. When the Need slammed into her this time, she let out a yelp that startled her customer in the show room of her art studio. Her hand went protectively to her stomach as she excused herself from the front, leaving a student to answer the patron?s questions about any of the pieces in the show room.

She made her way to her work office and collapsed onto a chair before sending her mind out toward Gabriel, but it was not Gabriel that she reached. At least it was not a Gabriel that she recognized.

A roiling blackness met her search for her brother. It was cloying blackness that sought to ensnare her and she slammed up a barrier before severing her search for Gabriel.

After taking a deep breath, she tried Gregori, and was met with the same darkness. Only this time the blackness recognized her and sought to engulf her in the same driving need for blood and death.

Ariel was terrified, and as she retreated once again, she heard the echoes of female laughter. The psionic barrier bowed as the blackness tested her defenses. Ariel clamped down on her rising terror. She thought about life and sunlight, of watching the sun set, seeing the bright rays spearing the sky.

The blackness vanished as quickly as it had come. Gone.

She exhaled slowly and sank into her chair.

Mikhail spun around as Ariel made her presence known. There was a feral need in his eyes when he spotted her. He instantly attacked Ariel. Teeth and claws ripping as Ariel instantly dissolved into mist and fled. She couldn?t hope to go toe to toe with Mikhail, escape was her only hope.

Raven screamed, and that brought Mikhail up short for a moment, but it was long enough for Ariel to escape from the Palazzo. Ariel put the house hold humans of the Palazzo under a compulsion to leave. Vacate the house immediately.

Inside, Dyson felt the compulsion to go. He shook his head, but the feeling wouldn?t go away. Finally he sent word to those who remained that they were on holiday for the time being, they should not return until called, but that they would all be called back to work. The old Major Domo then packed a bag and locked the house. Once on the curb, he frowned, just where was he going to go?

Ariel could see the last human in the house debate going back inside. She couldn?t allow that to happen, so she materialized in front of Dyson, ?Hurry, you must be away from here. Have you no family to visit??

Dyson frowned, ?No mistress Ariel, I have none, and no place to go. Why? Why must I leave?? He knew the Carpathians well enough to know she wasn?t playing some kind of hoax on him.

Ariel gave the house a nervous look, ?Dyson, trust me this one time and believe me that it is for your safety that you need to leave for the time being. ? She knew that at any moment, Mikhail could come after her, she needed to hurry. ?I have a spare set of rooms above my shop, go there and enjoy some time for yourself. I will get word to the Marchioness.?

Dyson gave her a reluctant nod and climbed into the Murcialago. Soon he was gone and Ariel perched in the top of a nearby tree. Who would know more about Le Noir? Who could tell her how to combat her? Who or what were the oldest and most experienced in habitants in RhyDin?

Ariel cringed, ?dragons? came her whispered realization. She didn?t really know any dragons, with the possible exception of one who called himself Tass, but would he be willing to help her? Would he tell her even if he knew? There was no choice but to seek for him and try. Tonight could see the irrevocable loss of several Carpathians if she didn?t hurry.

Byron was buried deeply into the ancient texts of the French National Museum archives. There had been a huge increase in the vampyre population in the early 1600?s, and he wanted a look at the writings of the times. He hadn?t been in France at the time, but he knew several Carpathians had been sent to hunt them when it had happened.

The unusual thing about sending the hunters was that many of them turned vampyre in the process. Could there be clues in the archives regarding that huge group of new vampyre? Some of that time period?s best hunters succumbed to the lure of vampyre.

He found a diary in the archives, held by the library because it was unusual that a woman had written it, and that it was alleged to be a rare work of fiction from a time that was so dominated by Christian religious writings alone. The author had titled and signed her diary: La Belle Mort, The Beautiful Death.

What Byron knew was that Belle Mort was still very much a presence in Paris. She was one of the Fontaine de sang. She was one of the oldest sources of vampirism in Europe. Could he find her? Byron committed the words to memory. If anyone would know, Le Belle should.

"We are what we are. But you have not answered my query. If, in truth this Le Noir is about, why do you seek me through these means? Had it not been I who touched on that unprotected link, what do you believe would have happened?"
Ariel paused, the blood lust had not affected any of the females, only the males so far, ~I do not believe I am in danger from this thing. It attacks only our males with the blood lust. Therefore, nothing would have happened. If it is The Mother of All Darkness, she is focused on male Carpathians alone."

"And do you not think that she would seek to manipulate you? As I stated before, there are other ways of destroying."

~She is capable, but so far has not. But we deviate now, I had hoped given the dragon kind's great longevity, which eclipses even Carpathian, that you may know if the Darkness stirs once more. She was imprisoned centuries ago, but what I feel from my brothers is not in their nature. It is darker, more violent, and will cost them their souls.~ She shivered, the idea that she could lose these three to Le Noir was too awful to dwell on.

There was a slight shake of his head. It was sometimes astonishing the arrogance that some of the older races brought forth in their presumptions. Even his own...

His voice came softly, as if there was great weight that bore down upon it. "It is likely that this Le Noir, Lillith, does move once more." Perhaps not all of the story, but it would confirm the worry that she held, and give her enough of a measure to do what she needed, if she could.

Ariel went absolutely still. ~Do you know how she was imprisoned before?~

?Vous me pardonnerez si je dis que je suis choqu? pour vous voir ici chasseur.? The honey smooth alto voice whispered into Byron?s ear as he sat atop the roof. The most gorgeous woman he could have imagined materialized beside him, undaunted by his presence on holy ground as she asked the Hunter to pardon her shock at seeing him here.

Byron fought the urge to launch himself at her and put a permanent end to her days.

?Il est tr?s dur pour vous ? l'ignor votre chasseur de mani?res.? She gave him a throaty laugh as she felt his struggle.

Byron mastered his impulses, ?La Belle Morte?? He really didn?t need to ask, he knew from the waves of power she finally allowed to roll off of her form. She was the epitome of a master vampire, and he wondered briefly if she tried to roll him, would he be able to stop her?

?Oui, je suis celui que vous cherchez.? She turned dark eyes on Byron as she acknowledged that she was the one he sought. ?Qu'est-ce vous recherche, chasseur??

It was a logical question, what did he want. His kind only sought her kind when they engaged in mortal combat. ?I have come under truce Belle, with information you may need to have in exchange for information I know you have.?

She raised an elegant brow at him, ?Quelle connaissance cherchez-vous??

Byron knew he would only get one shot at this. ?You were here when Le Noir was imprisoned. She awakens Belle. She awakens and hunts even now.? Byron watched Belle?s features closely.

?Vous savez que c'est s?r?? Her attention was locked onto Byron as she asked if he was certain of his facts.

?Oui, She wakens and she will come for those who imprisoned her Belle.? He drove home the point that Belle would be on Le Noir?s list of those to punish.

Belle studied him for several minutes. ?Ces nouvelles sont tr?s mauvaises.?

Yes, this was very bad news thought Byron. ?My question for you now is how did you ensnare Le Noir the last time??

Mikhail?s reason warred with the driving desire for blood. His reaction to Ariel?s presence remained a troubling thought buried behind the consuming need. But Raven?s scream dragged him from the blood lust and just millimeters away from the precipice he was so willing to go over, long enough for him to foggily realize that what he had nearly done was wrong.

He glanced through the wards at Gabriel as he struggled to regain himself from the shroud of blood lust that ensnared him. His oldest and closest friend remained completely held in the grip of this blood lust, and was intent upon escaping his prison with all possible haste.

Something in the back of Mikhail?s mind told him that Gabriel could not be allowed to get out of these rooms.

Raven felt his dim awareness and she reinforced his thoughts, quietly adding her own to his in an effort to keep him with her and not let him slip completely into the abyss if she could help him in any way. Raven could feel the darkness recede slightly, and Mikhail returning. Someone had to be able to reach Gabriel, the question was whom. Ariel might be able to, but she dare not return to the Palazzo, not with Mikhail holding on by a thread.

Shea was with Raven, and it was Shea to reached for Ariel.

Byron?s rest was disturbed as Ariel insistently sought to rouse him half a world away. She managed at length to wake him and the full light of day was something he was so very aware of above him. The lethargy of day threatened to drag him back into the sleep of his kind until Ariel relayed what had happened with the black clad female. He committed the images to memory, vowing to seek out Belle before the appointed time. This was imperative; finally there was an image to go with the feelings and sensations. Belle should know from them if they were really dealing with Le Noir or something else.

He rose as the sun began its slow descent toward the horizon. Belle could not waken yet, but he had found a likely location. It was not that the exact spot was pinpointed, but what Byron found were the ?absence? locations that created a periphery around one location. Belle was too old and too powerful to give herself away with a void, but those who protected her gave themselves away with their blank places.

Byron flew into the heart of the normal spot and found a building that would suit Belle. It was a grand mansion in the style of the French aristocracy; it was just the sort of place that Belle would want to call home. He landed atop the roof to wait. As the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness fell, Byron felt movement deep within the house. ?Belle? Meet me on the roof top.? Byron sent out a call for her partly as a courtesy, and partly be keep those around her from swarming to attack him.

Belle?s ability to hide her thoughts faltered briefly as she wakened to hear Byron right above her. For a Hunter to know her resting place was a very bad thing. It meant she had to move now, for once their truce was over, she had no doubt that he would come seeking the lives of those around her, and perhaps even her own existence might be forfeit. ?Hunter, how nice of you to come early.? She materialized on the roof beside him. ?Something urgent brings you out so early??

Byron nodded, ?Yes, there is new information; one of our women has seen a black cloaked figure that shoved her out of touch with her own brother. I hoped that would be the image that would tell you for certain whether we are dealing with Le Noir, or not.?

Belle took the image from Byron?s thoughts, and if it was possible for the vampire to pale, she did. Her voice was barely audible even to Byron, ?That is Le Noir. She has awakened, it is true.?

Byron reached for Ariel and Raven, giving them the confirmation that they were in fact dealing with the Mother of All Darkness.

Belle settled with an elegance born of centuries of practice. ?M. Justicano, vous savez que mon aide me placera dans le p?ril s?rieux. Particuli?rement si nous ?chouons, ou si nous sommes trop en retard pour l'arr?ter Le Noir ? sa prison.? She sat in the night watching Byron as she spoke.

Byron nodded, he knew they were all in grave danger if Le Noir broke free of her prison, and those who attempted to keep her there would suffer her malice first. ?Yes, but we are all in grave danger if Le Noir escapes, and Belle, she knows you were there for her first imprisonment, so you will be one of her first targets. It is in your best interest to assist us now, before she can escape.?

Belle gave him a flicker of a smile, ?Oui, le noir a un trempe terrible. S'il y avait une autre mani?re, je ne vous aiderais pas. Mais, elle a tourn? son attention sur vos personnes, et il me semblerait que vous ?tes dans le danger le plus imm?diat, pas I.?

Byron glanced at the velvet black sky above them, ?You are correct, for the moment she is focused on my people, but she will come after you Belle. What do you want from us as the price for your knowledge?? He turned black eyes on her then.

Belle reached for Byron?s arm, and he forced himself into stillness rather than pull away, ?I want the Hunters to leave my city and my cadre alone for the next century.? She watched Byron as she spoke.

Byron flinched, to knowingly walk away from the heart of one of the oldest vampire groups in Europe for an entire century seemed an abomination, but he was not really surprised by her demand. ?Is that all?? He watched her, knowing she was playing some kind of cat and mouse game with him, but at this point, only she knew what the goal was.

Belle?s fingertips walked lightly up Byron?s forearm, ?Aucun mon cher, celui n'est seulement le commencement.? Her eyes glittered in the faint starlight, but the darkness poses no disadvantage to either of them. ?I desire a meeting with your Prince when he is freed from her grasp, and that he will grand me one boon.?

Byron stilled. ?What boon would you ask of our Prince? You know that I cannot promise you anything on behalf of our Prince.?

Shea stirred in Byron?s mind then. She would advise Raven of this request and see what the Prince?s mate had to say about that.

?Mon ami,? Belle smiled, ?I would have my boon or you will not have my help.? It was a mirthless smile that she gave him as they sat there, negotiating the price of Belle?s help for hours. ?Surely the continued existence of you Hunters is reason enough to pay my price.?

Byron winced, if Belle was looking at this problem that way, her boon from their Prince would be huge. Raven touched on his thoughts, *We do not know enough to secure Le Noir, we need her Byron.* Byron schooled his features when he looked at Belle, ?You will have your meeting Belle, AFTER Le Noir is once more safely bound.?

Belle smiled and revealed long, very sharp canine teeth, ?Then we are in accord.? She offered Byron her hand, which he very aristocratically took and almost brushed with his lips in a kiss to seal their accord. ?We must join our forces quickly, tonight if possible,? Belle told him abruptly. ?Time is leaving us weaker and Le Noir stronger. Where may we meet your fellows to coordinate our plan??

Time was fleeting and every moment lost allowed Le Noir to grow stronger. The Aurigans pooled their resources and their power. Gregory joined in from distant lands only he knew the location of.

Their chant resonated through the Aurigan links. Drawing each member of their people together, focusing their strength toward the one goal of reinforcing the jail that housed Le Noir.

Their song rippled through their bodies and their minds. It drew power and strength before they turned the focus onto Le Noir.

Blackness shot outward toward them all, but they were too many, and she was spread too thin for her power to break anyone's concentration. Fury echoed through the blackness. But as the chant continued, the power of that fury receded, slowly.

Raven suddenly felt her mate, solid and whole of mind joining the chant. They had pushed Le Noir back, away from the Prince, who even now added his power to the song that wove the wards around the Mother of All Darkness.

Finally there was silence. Nothing fought against the spells. Nothing touched and tainted the thoughts of the males. Le Noir was once again sealed away.

The Palazzo was silent in the deep reaches of the basements. Gabriel fled to the wilds miles and miles from humanity. Memories haunting him of the battle he had nearly lost. That darkness threatened to consume him even now where he lay deep within the ground of the desert.

Gabriel was only dimly aware of the passage of time. The days blended one into another as he remained where he was. Now and then he would sense the beat of a heart, or the fleeting hint of consciousness. Days or months, he did not know which, passed before hunger forced him from his resting place.

He reached for Ariel and felt her tremble. He had become a monster, even if he had not become Vampyre. He let her go, closing their communication path tightly before he rose into the night air. He needed to feed.

Lucien was present in his twin?s thoughts, remaining silent and watchful. This would be the test. Could Gabriel feed without the desire to kill? He waited as his twin searched the desert for a meal.

Gabriel found a group of hikers camping on the edge of a canyon. Their campfire and laughter drew the Aurigan to them unerringly. With practiced ease, Gabriel drew them all into his thrall and fed lightly from each one. It was not enough, but Gabriel did not dare sate his hunger, and chose to err on the side of too little rather than too much. Reluctantly, he left them sitting around their fire in good health and with no memory of his presence among them.

Lucien stirred then, ?Gabriel, if you have need, you know I am here.?

Gabriel gave a wry laugh, ?I knew you were there, thank you.? He winged his way further into the desert, ?I cannot return to the city Lucien, it provided too much temptation. Tell the Marchioness that the time is close when I shall need her to fulfill her promise to me.?

Lucien frowned, ?What promise? She is not in RhyDin Gabriel, she has returned to Rigel for an unknown length of time.?

Gabriel stopped in mid flight, hovering above a dry creek bed, ?Who is with her since you are here and so am I?? His vows to protect her had taken root deeply, but he had assumed that Lucien watched over her while he was sleeping. Clearly if she was gone and Lucien and he were here, his expectations were false.

?The Prince sent Dominik with her; he felt she should go while you slept.? Lucien did not know how his twin would take that news. Gabriel never trusted the Seekers. Magic users with his own powers have been avoided and shunned for many centuries.

?I will go to Rigel then.? Finality was in his tone and words as he turned his flight toward the city. ?She took the Dragon?? Gabriel would have to find another vessel to get him to Rigel, but he would commandeer whatever he could. The Seeker needed to be moving on and not in the company of his human.

?Gabriel, perhaps we should take you home to Auriga first.? Lucien knew a moment of uncertainty at letting his twin go directly to the Marchioness. What if he could not control the blood lust?

?She will fulfill her responsibility to me Lucien if I cannot control the demon that shrieks for release inside of me.? Gabriel answered his brother with confidence. ?She knows how to do what must be done.?

?I will advise Baumann that you are coming then.? Lucien knew he could not stop his twin; this was something he would do as his responsibility to protect her was as strong as his need for blood. Lucien fervently hoped the Marchioness was up to the challenge she would face if Gabriel could not control his demon within.