Dark Curse by Christine Feehan

males reacted violently.
    You cannot, Mikhail , Gregori said. We cannot chance the tainted blood anywhere near you. The parasites sense your presence as it is. They swarm to whatever side is closest to you in the hopes of contaminating you .
    We will need your blood to aid us , Nicolas added with a flick of his dark gaze toward Gregori.
    Gregori sighed as he allowed Nicolas to pull him to his feet. He is not a baby, Nicolas. He's a grown man who knows the Carpathian people cannot exist without him. If he is destroyed, our species will die out. As much as we want to believe someone else could take your place, Mikhail, you, as well as our enemies, know it is not true .
    Not necessarily , Mikhail objected. Savannah carries my bloodline and she is carrying twins. Raven carries my son, although she is having problems again .
    We cannot take chances. Lucian, Gabriel or Darius can easily take my place as your second, but there is no other male to fulfill your position . There was an edge to Gregori's voice.
    It was evident to Lara that they had had this discussion many times. She found the conversation very interesting and it helped to take her mind off the ragged tear in Mikhail's wrist. He had swept his tongue across the wound, but she could still see teeth marks and faint smears of blood. Her stomach lurched and bile rose. Her body temperature dropped abruptly.
    There is my brother, Jacques . Mikhail's voice had grown quiet, matching that edge to Gregori's voice.
    Who still does not trust his mind without that of his lifemate. There can be no risk to you, Mikhail . Gregori flicked him a glare. Do not give me grief over this again, Pops .
    Mikhail choked and took a step toward his second who just happened to be his daughters lifemate. Terry's face twisted into sudden malevolence and he flung himself at the prince, growling, spittle running down his chin. Gerald seized his shoulders in an effort to restrain him, but Terry was amazingly strong for someone so injured, fighting free and leaping with outstretched hands, already curved into claws at Mikhail's eyes.
    Nicolas waved his hand at exactly the same moment Gregori did. Lara whispered a shielding spell, her hands weaving a complicated pattern. Terry slammed into an invisible barrier. Teeth rattling, eyes spinning in his head, he rammed his skull over and over into the shield protecting the prince.
    Gerald staggered across the bed, trying to control him, but Terry punched at his face, still growling like a rabid animal. Gerald fell back across the bed and Terry resumed head-butting the invisible wall to get at the prince.
    Lara reached for Terry's mind in an attempt to calm him. She touched his mind gently, in reassurance. At once a boiling ball of parasites reacted to her presence, twisting and thrashing in a frenzy of venomous need. One moment she was in Terry's head, the next she found herself thrown out, a hard male shove sending her careening out of Terry's brain.
    She spun around to glare at Nicolas. She was beginning to recognize his touch. He didn't spare her a glance, his entire attention on controlling Terry. She glanced over at Gregori. The healer actually had Mikhail pressed against the wall, but the concentration on his face indicated he was with Nicolas, restraining Terry.
    Terry lay back on the bed, eyes unfocused, but his body calm, no longer fighting. Lara let her breath out slowly. Gregori motioned to Mikhail to leave and Mikhail flicked one look at him. He wasn't going anywhere and it was evident on his face—in his eyes.
    "Get to work," Mikhail ordered.
    Gregori shrugged his broad shoulders and once more, using pure healing energy, entered Terry's body.
    "What's going on?" Gerald asked, scrambling off the bed and moving around the Carpathian healer toward Lara.
    Nicolas glided, cutting off Gerald's route. "You have blood all over your shirt. You should go take a shower."
    "He's right, Gerald," Lara agreed. "It isn't safe. Burn your clothes. Anything you were