Free Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan Page A

have no choice.
    The entire time she’d been asleep she’d dreamt of poisonous silver piercing his heart. His beautiful blue eyes had grown ice-cold as they stared lifelessly at her. Accusingly at her.
    “You’re too late. Why were you late?” he’d asked her.
    It was a dream, sívamet. A nightmare only. You eased the pain for me.
    There can be no untruths between lifemates, she quoted him. It would be impossible to lessen your pain. The threads of silver remaining are still in your body burning just as severely as the ones I removed.
    Perhaps that is so, but it felt less. Your love kept me safe from the Moarta de argint—death by silver.
    Is that what they call this torture?
    It absolves the Lycan council from all guilt. They didn’t kill me. Essentially, I kill myself by moving my body constantly to try to get away from the pain and the silver works its way deeper. They can go to Mikhail with a clear conscience.
    That made her furious. How could the Lycan council sentence Dimitri to such a torturous death and then go to a meeting with the Carpathians discussing becoming allies with them?
    I’m going to remove more threads, Dimitri, but I won’t be able to get them all. I’m going for the ones closest to your heart.
    She didn’t wait for his reply. She entered his body as pure spirit. The hooks she’d tampered with had remained closed off. No new silver had dripped into his body, but the ones she’d left had made progress. She knew what to do now. Calling on her mage heritage, she again used her gifts to push the silver from his body.
Silver, silver, so deadly, so bright,
I summon earth’s power to stay your blight,
As you were created and formed deep within,
I command you, silver, to remove and ascend.
Silver threads that twine and harm,
I release your hold of snaking charm.
I call to you, silver, harken my call,
Retrace the path from which you fall.
Harken to me, silver, hear my command,
Remove yourself doing no further harm.
    This time she added a new element in order to lessen the pain of the burn for him. She’d been so exhausted and she’d just left him the night before. She’d been unconscious when she’d returned to her body, but she’d had plenty of time to think about how he was suffering.
Corydalis, Valerian, Meadowsweet all,
Cloak the pain that does now fall.
    The silver responded with the same reluctance, almost as if it was alive, moving backward, away from his heart, the tiny silver beads burning his skin as they pushed through pores to drop to the ground below him.
    Elation swept through her. The silver responded to her commands. She could see it moving backward away from his heart, as on the other end, it pushed through his pores and dropped to the ground in tiny little deadly beads. However, everywhere the silver touched burned him, both inside and out. This time she wouldn’t leave him until she was certain she had healed every possible wound on his body that she could reach before her strength gave out.
Aloe sweet aloe, green and bright,
I call to your essence, seeking what is held hidden inside.
That which is sticky and filled with balm,
I seek of your essence to heal what is burned.
Kathalai, ancient name,
I call forth your power to steal away pain.
    The elements were removing themselves at her command and the pain was lessened with the herbs. She managed to remove three more threads before exhaustion took hold of her. There were still several others, coming from his calves and his thighs, two from the hooks in his hips, but the silver from those hooks hadn’t progressed nearly as close to his heart as it had from the ones she’d removed.
    Can you manage this pain a while longer? I would take it from you if I could.
    You have kept me alive, csitri, and just touching minds with you has made me stronger. Where are you? This is a dangerous place.
    Those holding you, are they rogues?
    No. Lycans. You cannot possibly understand the danger they represent. They will not hesitate to fight