Free Dark Curse by Christine Feehan Page A

larger body blanketing hers.
    She tried to roll, but he caught her wrists, preventing her from using her hands to weave spells, slamming her arms above her head and pinning her to the floor. "Lara, look at me."
    She went absolutely still beneath him, her eyes unfocused. Her body was ice cold, alarmingly so. Nicolas didn't hesitate. He thrust his mind into hers, following her along the path of her memories.
    The smell of decayed blood was strong. The scent mingled with decomposition of rotting flesh. Then he heard the screams. Moans. The continual cry of someone in agony, not just physical, but tormented mental agony. Nicolas ventured down the ice-cold hallway. It opened to a large chamber. Overhead the ceiling was high and long columns reached from floor to ceiling. Splashes of red cut through blue and sprayed across the left wall where a man was chained to the floor. He was naked, convulsing, his eyes glowing with madness while tiny white parasites fed on his flesh. Nicolas recognized him as one of their bitterest enemies—Razvan, grandson of Xavier, the oldest and most powerful of all mages.
    Chained beside Razvan was what was left of a woman lying motionless, her face set in rigid horror, her mouth open wide as if she'd died screaming. The parasites fed on her while Razvan desperately tried to beat them off of the body. His hands were bloody from pounding the ice. He looked up abruptly and Nicolas followed his tortured gaze to the tow-headed child with streaks of red in her hair huddled in the corner, her fist shoved in her mouth to keep from screaming. He was no judge of the ages of children, but to him the little girl appeared to be no more than three or four. The child's eyes were on the woman's face and she sobbed softly.
    Momma.
    Everything in Nicolas stilled. Deep down rage began and fought its way to the surface. He wanted to grab that child and rush her to safety, but all he could do was save the woman he was holding in real time. He caught Lara's face firmly in his. No child should ever have been subjected to such a thing.
    " Avio siel , my soul, come back to me." He whispered the command to her, burying a strong compulsion along with the order itself. "You are safe, Lara. I am your lifemate and I will always protect you to my last breath."
    Her cloudy, almost opaque gaze shifted to his face.
    "Yes. Look at me. Focus on me. Let me lead you back."
    In the ice cave of her memories, he didn't wait for the child to respond to him. With exquisite tenderness he lifted her, covering her eyes, burying her little face against his chest, soothing her with his voice as he turned his back on that horrific scene and walked out.
    Lara's long lashes fluttered. The wild, pale blue of her eyes darkened as she looked at him. She drew a breath. Nicolas eased back, pulling her into a sitting position. She looked around her, alarm creeping into her expression.
    "Did I hurt anyone?" She ducked her head, refusing to meet his eyes.
    "No one was hurt." He kept his voice low and soft, reassuring even as he caught her chin with firm fingers and forced him to maintain eye contact. "No one here would ever harm you."
    Her heart beat too fast. He laid his palm over her breast, sending warmth into the glacier cold of her body and slowing her heart to match the even, steady beat of his. She struggled to draw breath into her lungs and he bent his dark head so their breath mingled until hers slowed to a more relaxed, effortless flow of air. Her gaze remained locked with his and he had the impression of tears, but none formed in her eyes.
    "I will block the smell for you." Gregori, do not look directly at her, there is something about your eyes triggering a childhood memory . "You should have told me it was bothering you. As your lifemate, it is my duty to protect you from such things."
    "I'm a big girl, all grown up."
    She had felt him then, in her memories, carrying the child that was her from the ice cave. She had felt his comfort and now, even