Dark Promises (Dark #29) by Christine Feehan Page B

environment, and he was willing to give that to her. She loved him for that. She loved him because he was a kind, gentle,
protective
man. But she couldn’t have him. She couldn’t save Aleksei if she clung to her safe world. If she clung to loving Gary.
    She took another deep breath. “I’m sorry, Gary,” she whispered. She had to let him go if she was going to save Aleksei and herself. She didn’t mind dying, but she couldn’t live with Aleksei’s death on her conscience. She couldn’t. That meant she had to let Gary go to his own fate, and she had to try to figure out her own.
    Gabrielle stood up slowly and followed Aleksei out into the center ofthe monastery grounds. She didn’t hurry. There was no point. She knew he would be waiting out there for the sun, and it would be a long wait. The sun wouldn’t rise for several hours.
    She felt the other ancients watching. She couldn’t see them, but she knew they were there. Her stomach clenched. Knots formed. Terror kept her from breathing, but she forced her body forward. She knew the ancients had surrounded Aleksei—from a distance—but they were there to destroy him if the dawn didn’t. He had been telling her the strict truth.
    She walked straight to him and sank onto the ground beside him. Close. Her thigh touching his. Just that small brush of her leg against his sent a shiver of awareness through her. She saw his body jerk and knew he was just as aware of her.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” he demanded. “Get back inside and put yourself in the ground.”
    His voice was scary. The look on his face was even scarier. She shook her head and stayed.
    â€œI will not allow this, Gabrielle. I am capable of forcing your obedience, as you well know.”
    She lifted her chin and looked at him, really allowing herself to see him for the first time. Up close, he was all male. All hard edges. In a way, a very scary way, he was striking. She couldn’t imagine anyone fighting this man and coming out on top. He appeared extremely lethal, and she was very certain he was every bit as deadly as he appeared. Still, she looked him straight in the eye.
    â€œI’m your lifemate, Aleksei, whether or not you or I like it. That means you don’t get to sit here and wait for the sun without me. Whatever happens to you, happens to me. I’m willing to do this if it’s what you want to do. With the mistakes I’ve made, I think you deserve to make that call—but know, whatever you decide, it’s for both of us, not just for you. As your lifemate, it’s my right to make the decision to follow you, wherever you lead.”
    She made the statement quietly. Firmly. In a low tone, so that he had to listen to hear her speak. She meant what she said and she knew he could hear it in her voice. It was the first time in her life, outside the laboratory, that she had ever been confrontational, scared out of her mind, butdetermined.

5
    H ave you got him?” Andre asked. “We cannot lose him. What happened? How could this happen? She was not his lifemate. This is not supposed to happen.”
    â€œGary lost everything all at once, just as if he had lost his true lifemate,” Mikhail explained. “Colors and emotions are gone. All. At. Once.”
    â€œDo you have him?” Andre asked again.
    Gregori jerked his head. “Not without Mikhail. He’s strong. I did not expect this.”
    â€œWe did not factor in the possibility that a human’s love can be as strong as that of a lifemate. We do not see it that often,” Mikhail said. “But this loss is from the ancients, not from the loss of a lifemate. It happened far too quickly. We were saved such an event because we lost emotions and color over a long period of time, so we barely realized they were fading over those two hundred years. To have everything wiped away in a moment would send a man insane.”
    Gregori shook