"Many years ago, when our current prince was still young, his father sent many of us out in the hopes we could stop the spread of evil. I was fortunate that my family was sent together. It made it easier to endure being so far from our kind, so far from our homeland. We made this our home." He squeezed her fingers as if for courage and started to let go.

Juliette tightened her grip, tugging until he looked at her.

"I'm strong enough to help you. I'm keeping you out of my mind, but I can let you use my strength."

"You do not have to, Juliette." He liked saying her name, was pleased she wanted to aid him, but he was not the gentle man she believed he was in her mind. He was far more ruthless than she knew, and he had no intention of allowing her to escape him. "I would not want you to expend energy you cannot afford."

He was warning her. Juliette felt a chill go through her body, but she chose to ignore it. He was drooping with pain. His wounds seeped and wept and every now and then, in spite of his efforts to shield her, she glimpsed the torment he was in. "I don't mind. I'm just sitting here anyway." She gave him a tentative smile. "How did they manage to capture you?"

His expression darkened. "I heard a cry for help on the common telepathic link all Carpathians use. When I followed the cry back to its source, I found a vampire, not a Carpathian. Unfortunately it was impossible to tell that he was vampire until it was too late. I was injected with the paralyzing formula and drained of blood to keep me weak." His gaze settled on hers, stayed there, a hypnotic, mesmerizing stare. "You are not shocked to hear of my species. You were frightened of me because I took your blood in such a manner, and for that I apologize, but the fact that I needed it did not fully surprise you. How is that?"

She was silent for a moment, weighing her words carefully. She felt him in her mind, seeking answers, but he was not nearly at full strength and the poison was hideously painful. With her brain patterns so different and the strength of her protective walls, he simply waited for her spoken answer. "When I was a child we often spent long periods of time in the jungle. At night my mother would build a camp-fire and we'd tell stories. She told us of a great people, Carpathians from the mountains in Europe with extraordinary skills and gifts. They were blood-drinkers."

"How did she know of them?"

"Our family goes back hundreds of years. Apparently my ancestor met a small group of Carpathians here in the jungle." She looked at him steadily. "Five brothers. They were said to have a vast cattle estate and human family to work their lands while they slept beneath the ground during the sunlight hours."

Juliette waited for a response to her revelation, but Riordan only stared at her for a few more moments in silence, then simply withdrew, pulling back into himself. He moved outside his own body, gathering himself into a ball of pure energy. It was fascinating to observe his healing abilities. She stayed merged with his mind, watching him not only break down the chemical compound so he could view each separate element and identify it, but also send the information to someone else with a warning to pass it on to the prince of their people and as many of their hunters as possible.

Sending the information over a distance was draining and Riordan faltered.

Where are you? The demand was strong in her mind. Male and frightening, it carried a command, a hypnotic draw that was very powerful and sent shivers of fear down Juliette's spine. Riordan. I feel your pain.

Riordan hesitated. Do not come to me. I will be able to push the poison from my body and replenish myself.

Juliette found herself holding her breath. She didn't want to meet the man behind that voice. There was a merciless, ruthless, frightening quality to the voice.

She felt Riordan touch her with his mind, a reassuring, caressing stroke.

I will not allow you to be recaptured. You were sent to check out the research lab to see what they were doing.

The Morrison research laboratory was a front for a vampire controlling the human society that hunts our people. I have destroyed the building. The animals they captured on pretense were allowed to go free. I will come home when I have healed.

Where is the vampire?

He is hunting us. Riordan broke off the communication and glanced over at Juliette. "My eldest brother is very exacting about our staying alive."

"Families are like that. My sister will probably be worried about me. I need to get back home." She watched his face, hoping to read his response, but his sculptured features went carefully blank.

Riordan stared down at his arms. She felt the gathering of his strength. Very slowly the poison began to respond, moving with reluctance as he shepherded the damaging compound toward his pores. Some of the droplets oozed through his skin, golden, thick liquid carrying the ability to paralyze his race.

Juliette pulled a small plastic container from the bag hanging around her waist. She leaned forward and pressed the lip of the container to his arm, capturing as much of the liquid as possible before she screwed the lid on tight. "This might come in handy if your people need to study this."

He leaned against the boulder, his head back, fighting for air, his strength gone. Juliette immediately opened her mind to his, sending him as much of her remaining strength as she could give. She knew the jungle, better than most, every rustle in the undergrowth, every sound the birds made. Something evil was stalking them, and the jungle was alive with the news. In her present state she couldn't escape, but she had no doubt Riordan could fight if given the strength.

He wasted no time removing every drop of the toxic compound as quickly as possible. The moment he was certain he had gotten rid of all of it, he dunked his head into the stream, rubbed the cold water over his arms to scrub off the thick, sticky residue. Riordan spun around and reached for Juliette, dragging her onto his lap, cradling her against his chest.

She felt a jolt through her body, an electric shock as their bodies came into contact. Her mouth went dry. "What are you going to do?"

"Exchange our blood. Your blood will help me get us somewhere safe where I can heal, and my blood is ancient and will restore the strength you have so generously given to me."

"Will it tie us together?" Her voice might have been an invitation, but her palm went up in a defensive gesture, fingers splayed wide against his chest.

"Yes." His strong fingers slid over her chin, pushed stray tendrils of hair from her shoulder. "But we are already tied together." He bent his head, his face buried in the warmth of her soft, vulnerable neck. The water from the small stream was cold as it dripped from him, down her skin, cooling the heat from the oppressive humidity.

A soft moan of pleasure escaped as his teeth sank deep. She settled deeper into his hard frame, moving with restless urgency as her blood went thick with heat. Her lashes drifted down, her hands sliding limply into her lap.

"I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul and my body. I take into my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness and welfare will be cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me for all eternity and always in my care." Riordan spoke the words in a black velvet voice.

Juliette felt his voice vibrate through her body, touch her deep inside. Somehow his words brought them together, skin to skin, organ to organ so that they breathed with the same lungs, shared the same heartbeat, possessed the same soul. He flowed through her, a dark temptation, learning her secrets, sharing his. Kissing her until her body caught fire and ached for his. There were hot blood and flames licking at her. She shook her head, suddenly caught by the ritual of the entire thing. A ceremony as old as time.