And. She. Is. Fan-tastic!
She mentions in Dark Secret that she doesn't know how to keep a vampire dead for good.
Let me put it another way: she's been hunting for centuries and has had to learn everything herself. A more experienced hunter has never been around to teach her. Yet she's managed to survive for centuries.
She's seen a lot of movies.
But as she tells Colby in Dark Secret, there's only so much you can learn from Dracula movies.
She also calls Vikirnoff "Vik," which is hilarious.
Like I said, fantastic.
She's made her way into Romania, being drawn the the Carpathian Mountains. One mountain in particular. She's on her way there when she comes across some vampires. A fight ensues.
Meanwhile, Vikirnoff is lamenting his situation. Planning on killing himself as soon as he can. Wondering if it's already too late for him.
His psychic whining draws Natalya's attention and she tells him to shut up so she can concentrate on her battle. No, really, that's exactly what she tells him. He of course immediately realizes she's his lifemate and rushes to help in the fight. She's not entirely enthusiastic about his "interference," but they end up working together pretty well.
Unfortunately, they're also both injured fairly badly and can't complete her journey right away.
Vikirnoff re-educates her on the history of mages vs. Carpathians. He explains her birthmark, and she confides that many of her memories are missing.
Come to find out Natalya has been running from her Grandfather, Xavier, for most of her life. She just doesn't remember all the details.
See, here's the real story. Rihonnan was kidnapped by Xavier and forced to bare 3 children - triplets. Her son was indeed Natalya's father. Only, it wasn't the happy fairy tale Natalya always thought. Xavier wanted to use Rihonnan and her children for their blood - he's obsessed with mortality. He hates the Carpathians because they have it.
Natalya does remember some things during her dreams. Mostly fear of dear ol' Grampa. And her brother protecting her. Still, her brother told her hunters killed him and now she's in love with a hunter. That's tough to reconcile.
Only, it eventually comes out that her brother is the one attacking her, visiting her in her dreams to change or erase her memories.
I'm not so sure all is as it seems though. Everything on face value looks as if her brother did turn, she even sees him attack a child to drink her blood while reading a ceremonial knife her father left for her to find. She even throws a flaming sword through his heart.
I just think something is off. Like with Lucian and Gabriel (Dark Legend, Dark Guardian).
But. As far as this book is concerned, Razvan, her brother, is a traitor. The baddest of the baddies.
One important thing that happens that doesn't directly affect the Natalya/Vikirnoff story is Gabrielle. When Vikirnoff is injured in the first fight, Mikhal sends Jubal and Gabrielle to help them, and keep Natalya company while Vikirnoff is sleeping, often difficult for human lifemates. Natalya, showing her awesomeness yet again, has been keeping herself occupied by trying to make a flamethrower. Yes, a homemade flamethrower.
Anyway, while they're there, the society does what it does and Gabrielle is stabbed. The only way to save her is to convert her. Now, the glimpse of possibility between her and Gary in Dark Descent has continued to develop. However, if she's Carpathian, there's more pressure for her to be a lifemate. Now, I think that's silly, if she's a lifemate, that will happen when it's supposed to. There's no need to obsess. But appearances matter and if the unattached males even think they're missing out...it creates tension.
We'll see how this develops.
Strangely, with Natalya being a mage, and Jubal apparently having an affinity with mage weapons, you'd think the topic would come up. It doesn't.
I really enjoyed this one. Mostly because Natalya is so delightful. The interactions with the rest of the Carpathians are enjoyable too.
One of my favorites so far.
Dark Demon, Christine Feehan
No comments:
Post a Comment