Dark Blood by Christine Feehan Page A

how or why of things back then. They knew nothing of bloodlines or DNA. How she became a mixed blood is anyone’s guess, but if her parents were so skilled in combat, she probably was, too. She most likely fought and hunted alongside her husband. When wounded, he gave her blood.”
    He, too, was beginning to believe in the possibility of solving the mystery. Some of the ancient warriors in the sacred chamber had been of the Dark Blood lineage and had recognized him. They knew the history of his grandmother, and that meant that somehow she’d made her way back to them.
    “She gave birth to a daughter,” Fen said. “And that daughter was your mother.”
    “Were there any other children? Did you have uncles? Aunts?” Dimitri asked, hope in his voice.
    “My father never mentioned any other, but he was a secretive man. I doubt that he knew anything of my mother’s family. I asked him and he just shrugged and said my mother didn’t talk about them—ever.” Zev shrugged. “I honestly thought maybe her family had gone rogue and my father and mother had been too ashamed to talk about them.”
    “If you really are a Dark Blood,” Fen said, “Mikhail needs to know.”
    “It would explain why Branislava is his lifemate,” Dimitri added. “His blood called to hers. Her soul is the other half of his.”
    At least, in the Carpathian world, he might be able to offer her something besides the detested mixed blood his people viewed him as.
    I do not need you to be anything other than who you are. I see the heart of you. I see your character. It matters little to me what bloodline, if any, you are from. You do have the heart of a warrior and a great capacity for kindness. You are both fierce and compassionate. Both good qualities. There is no deception in you and I admire that tremendously.
    His heart leapt at the compliment. No one had ever said anything like that to him, let alone the most beautiful woman in the world. She could make the blood sing in his veins with just a smile, let alone such a tribute. She definitely was the kind of woman that could bring him to his knees much easier than he would have wished.
    Her soft laughter brushed against his mind. His stomach did a slow somersault. He loved the sound of her laughter.
    I’m beginning to grow too fond of many of your traits, Branka. It would be difficult to go back to the emptiness of my life without your laughter and the sound of your voice.
    It doesn’t take much to make you happy.
    He recognized teasing when he heard it. There was a secret brightness in her that pulled at him like a magnet. For an alpha like him, the idea that she didn’t show herself to others was even more of a draw for him. Everything about her was feminine, yet he knew deep inside that she was a woman who would walk beside him, fight beside him and go through every hardship laughing with him, if he won her love.
    I am your lifemate.
    That doesn’t mean you have to love me. I want your love, Branislava. Being my lifemate is wonderful, but that tie represents something else to you, and when we’re together I don’t want it to be out of duty.
    There was a small silence. She walked back to the bed and sank down beside him. Or floated. He wasn’t certain which because there was no hint of movement even on the mattress. She slipped her hand into his.
    Don’t ask Mikhail to have the ancients release you from our spirit weave.
    If I die . . .
    I won’t let that happen. We’re tied together.
    “Branislava.” He said her name aloud.
    For me, Zev. I’m asking this for me.
    Branka, if things go wrong, I would take you with me to a place I have no knowledge of. I wouldn’t know if I could protect you or not.
    It was Branislava who brought his hand up to her cheek. She brushed her satin skin over his rough palm.
    If things go wrong, I know I can pull you back. You’re too strong to let anything take you as long as I’m tied to you. I absolutely know that about you. That’s what the