Dark Prince (Author's Cut Special Edition) by Christine Feehan

Author:Christine Feehan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2011-03-08T05:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Raven woke sobbing, her hands curling around Mikhail’s neck, clutching him to her, hot tears spilling onto his chest. He dragged her closer protectively, holding her as tight as he dared without crushing her. She seemed so fragile and light, so ready to fly away from him. He let her cry, his hand caressing her hair with soothing strokes.

When she began to quiet, he murmured softly to her, tenderly, in his own language, words of reassurance and hope. Eventually she lay, worn out and exhausted, in the sanctuary of his arms. “It will take time, little one, but give our ways a chance. There are wondrous things we can do. Concentrate on the things you would enjoy. Shape-shifting, flying with birds, running free with the wolves.”

Her small fist jammed into her mouth to stop a strangled sound somewhere between fear and hysterical laughter. Mikhail brushed the top of her head with his chin. “I would never leave you to face any of this on your own. Lean on my strength.”

She closed her eyes against another wave of hysteria. “You don’t even understand the enormity of what you’ve done. You’ve taken away my very identity. Don’t, Mikhail! I feel your protest stirring in my mind. What if you woke up no longer Carpathian, but a human? No longer able to run free and fly? No special powers, no healing earth, no more ability to hear and understand animals? Everything that was ever the essence of you would be gone. To survive, you had to eat meat.” She felt his instant revulsion. “You see, the very thing Carpathians consider disgusting. I’m afraid. I look into the future, and I’m so terrified I am unable to think. I hear things, sense things. I . . .” She trailed off before making any admissions. “Don’t you see, Mikhail, I can’t do this, not even for you.”

He stroked her hair with loving fingers, trailed a caress over the soft skin of her face. “You have known for a short time. Your sleep was deep and undisturbed.” He did not tell her she had been given blood twice more during her sleep, that her body had gone through the rigorous change, ridding itself of all human toxins. He felt she had to absorb certain aspects of their lifestyle slowly. “Do you wish us to seek eternal rest?”

Her fist thumped his chest. “Not us, Mikhail, me!”

“There is no you or me. There is only us.”

She took a deep calming breath. “I don’t even know what or who I am anymore.”

“You are Raven, the most beautiful, courageous woman I have ever known.” He said it sincerely, stroking back her silken hair.

Her body went tense, almost rigid with wanting to deny his tranquil statements of fact. “Can I exist without blood? With juice and grains?”

His hand found hers, and he laced their fingers together. “I want it to be so for you, but it is not. You must have blood to live.”

She made a sound, a small denial, hunching away from him, withdrawing into herself.

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