sorry about the long wait; i had some proofreading issues...and AP work and whatnot...still...here's the newest chapter! enjoy

Chapter Five

“...though the girl was afraid, she never ran. Instead, she faced the dragons in their crystal cave, never backing down, though her heart filled with fear. And, seeing her bravery, the dragons granted her one wish; that she find her way home.”

Avery gaped at her mother, mesmerized by her magical tale. “What happened after that?” she asked, inching as close to her mother as the blankets would allow.

Aislin smiled wistfully and her pale blue eyes drifted from her daughter's eager face. When she spoke, her voice held just a trace of dreams lost. “The little girl grew into a young woman and met a young prince as graceful as a cat. And when she was sixteen, she was gifted with a son as gentle as a summer's day. And, though she felt she was unready for such a task, she loved him dearly.” She turned her eyes back to Avery, her smile wider now. “Many years later, when the young woman was not nearly as young, another child arrived, a girl as beautiful as a storm cloud.”

“But what happened to her prince?”

This time, Aislin was quiet for a long moment, eyes dark with grief. “He disappeared into the night, called by the angels themselves. He watches even now, I think, protecting those he left behind.”

Avery smiled contentedly and snuggled deeper beneath her covers. “I hope he comes back for you, Mommy,” she said sleepily. “So that you can laugh without being sad.”

Aislin stared at her daughter for a moment. “Me too, my darling, me too.” And then she kissed the little girl on the forehead before slipping quietly from the room.

Avery woke to find herself in yet another unidentified bedroom. She sat up with a groan, mild curiosity taking hold of her. The room was lavish, as the one in Savannah's home had been. The only difference was that this room seemed geared towards a younger inhabitant. Gray eyes looked about, noting the stuffed animals lying about the room. Avery smiled slowly as she spotted a worn—but well-kept—wolf resting on a nearby nightstand. It was apparent that this room belonged to someone else.

A soft sound had Avery turning her head but she relaxed when she spotted the delicate young woman standing in the doorway, her similar gray eyes not quite meeting Avery's.

“I'm sorry,” Avery said quickly, jumping from the bed. “I didn't mean to intrude.”

“It's all right,” the girl answered, her voice as fragile as her appearance. “You were sick.”

Avery took a step towards the young woman and stopped suddenly, feeling an all-too-familiar sensation flood her. There was something different about this, however. Though Avery expected to be overwhelmed by the darkness which seemed ever-present amongst the Carpathians, she was not. Instead, the black encroaching upon her mind seemed more like a shadow, as if she were glimpsing only a vague imprint of what existed in the males. Tiny, minuscule threads reached out to her and for once, Avery was not afraid. Pain laced the threads but she did not shrink back. Instead, she felt the strange urge to take hold of the shadows, to help the tragic girl before her.

Frowning, Avery moved closer, noting how the girl seemed to shrink into herself. Avery forced herself to relax, to smile. “I'm Avery,” she said, voice soothing. She surreptitiously took hold of a thread. “You must be Skyler.”

Skyler nodded, feeling odd. Despite her nervousness around strangers—or even around people she knew—Skyler felt calm near this other girl, relaxed. Dark memories, ever close to the surface, dimmed, as if they were nothing more than mere dreams.

“Gregori and Savannah brought you here after you fainted,” Skyler explained in a near whisper. “Gabriel and Francesca, my adopted parents, agreed that you should stay for a while.”

Avery was barely listening to Skyler's halting explanation. Instead, though her hands stayed limp at her sides, she took hold of those strange threads and began to weave them into an intricate pattern of knots and braids. She wanted to help Skyler, to lessen her pain in some way, and this was all she could think of. If only those slivers of shadows could be trapped, surrounded by goodness, then perhaps the haunted look in Skyler's eyes would fade.

When the other girl said nothing, merely stared off into space, Skyler moved cautiously forward. As soon as she took a step, however, Avery snapped to attention, storm-cloud eyes lighting in pleasure. “It's nice to meet you, Skyler,” she said sincerely. “But I really should be leaving.” Though she had successfully finished her pattern with the shadow-threads without any incident, Avery couldn't be sure her magic would keep quiet. She couldn't put anyone in danger.

Skyler gave a small frown. “I think you'll have to talk to Gabriel about that,” she said slowly.

A slender brow rose and Avery's smile fell. “I'm nineteen,” she said simply, “and where I come from, that generally means I don't have to ask permission.”

“Though your age involves quite a bit of freedom, I admit, Gregori and I feel that it is guidance, not solitude, you need.”

Avery turned her eyes to the woman standing in the doorway. She was unlike the other Carpathian women but still just as beautiful. In comparison to Savannah and Raven, this woman seemed ageless, full of authority and strength, though still incredibly delicate. This, then, was Francesca.

“Why?” Avery demanded. “Am I to be kept in a gilded cage, to be kept from polluting the world with my corrupted power? If so, then I would rather be imprisoned in a place less dangerous to others.” Her voice was impassive, full of neither malice nor sorrow.

“Is that what you believe?” Francesca asked gently. “That you are to be kept in a cage?” A hand settled on her shoulder and the woman reached up to take hold of Gabriel.

Avery shook her head. “I just want to understand why I can't leave. I don't want to hurt anyone but I will if I stay here!”

As energy began to ripple around the young woman, Gabriel gently pulled Skyler closer towards him. Without seeming to move, he placed himself in front of his lifemate and daughter, protecting them in case Avery became dangerous.

“We would like to help you to learn how to control your abilities,” he explained. “Gregori placed you here so that I could prevent you from hurting others—and so that Francesca could monitor your health.”

Avery was quiet a moment as she contemplated Gabriel's words. After a moment, her shoulders slumped and she nodded reluctantly. She couldn't win against them, especially when the Carpathians held so much more power than her. But, in reality, she was tired of being alone. If she could coexist with someone without hurting them, then she would be content to stay.

“All right,” she conceded hesitantly. “But I can't take up Skyler's room.”

Francesca sent Avery a warm smile and held out a hand. “I'll show you where you can stay.”

Avery stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before clasping her own pointedly behind her back. “Thank you,” she said softly, gray eyes sliding away from the beautiful face.

The Carpathian woman let her hand drop and turned towards Skyler, smile still in place. “Would you like to come with us and help see Avery settled?” she asked gently.

Skyler hesitated a moment before nodding. Almost without thought, her hand drifted to the wolf beside the bed and she clutched it to her chest, as if the simple toy gave her strength.

Over the girls' heads, Francesca and Gabriel shared a silent look. It was the first real time they had seen Skyler seem at ease around a stranger—as at ease as she had ever been. Though she clutched at her wolf, Skyler didn't hold herself rigid as she usually would have. Perhaps Avery's presence was already having a positive effect on the younger woman.

As the group trouped through the house, Avery's eyes moved over every surface, trying to memorize the layout of the place in case she needed a quick escape. I'm dangerous, she thought darkly, eyes lighting on what was obviously a nursery. A little girl slept quietly, beautiful in her dreams. I could hurt them without thought, without warning. She sighed softly. She really should have gone when she had the chance. But, in the course of a single night, they had taken over her life; there was little she could do about it. And Avery was beginning to feel at home.

They led her to a cozy bedroom just down the hall from Skyler's. It was decorated in fiery tones, reminding Avery of her favorite show, Avatar: the Last Airbender. She smiled as an image of the hot-headed Prince Zuko flashed through her mind. Her eyes settled on an old-fashioned canopy bed, deep red fabric partially veiling covers of the same shade. A dresser stood nearby, made of Italian ebony. But what caught Avery's attention was the small television set sitting atop the dresser.

“You watch T.V.?” she asked Francesca, turning to frown at the Carpathian woman.

Francesca laughed softly and then nodded. “While we don't often watch television ourselves, many of the other children who come to visit enjoy it.”

“Oh.” Avery walked further into the room, stopping only when she noticed the bags set along one of the walls. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“Not at all,” Francesca replied. After a moment she turned and led Skyler out of the room. “We'll let you get settled, dear; just find me if you need anything.”

Avery glanced back. “But it's almost dawn.”

“Gabriel and I will be up for a bit longer. But if you need anything after that, feel free to ask Skyler anything.” After a moment, Francesca looked back. “A man named Gary will be by shortly with some of the other children,” she said. “Your arrival just so happens to coincide with the day we host.”

“Host?” Avery was lost. Francesca just admitted that she and Gabriel were going to bed and now they were hosting something?

Skyler took a tentative step forward. “Gary is one of the humans who takes care of the children. Because there are so many of us scattered about, we switch houses, just to keep things fair.”

“I see.” Avery moved to turn but then a thought occurred to her. “Um, just how many children and caretakers are there?” she asked.

“Gary Jansen and Jubal Sanders, along with a few servants of other families, serve as caretakers,” Gabriel said from behind Francesca. He had appeared from the shadows, startling Avery just a bit. “And now that Cullen Tucker and his wife, Lisa—the sister of Dayan's lifemate—we have more than enough caretakers for the number of children we care for.”

Francesca smiled and nodded. “There is little Jennifer Wentworth—Dayan's daughter—Joshua Houton, and our own daughter, Tamara, as well as Jacques' and Shea's newborn son. We also have the children Sara and Falcon saved—three girls and four boys, all under the age of ten.” Her eyes turned soft. “It is truly a blessing to have so many children within our community again. Our women often have trouble carrying to term and the strain can be enough to keep them from trying.”

Only eleven children, twelve if Skyler were counted, out of which only six held the hope for their people and only two were full blooded Carpathians. The fight for the Carpathian's continued existence seemed nearly hopeless. Fortunately, a few of the women had become pregnant and everyone's hopes were once again set on the shoulders of the young Carpathian females.

“So few,” Avery murmured sadly. “And your males come closer everyday to being lost.”

Francesca nodded as Gabriel gently squeezed her hand. “Yes. However, there has been good news,” she said. “Savannah, as well as Tempest, Desari, and Jaxon are expecting.”

A small smile flitted across Skyler's face. “Savannah's having twin girls.”

Francesca laughed. “And won't they be a handful for Gregori!”

Despite their light moods, Avery frowned. “Isn't there something that can be done?” she demanded. “Can't you do something to figure out why the population isn't growing?”

Gabriel stepped into the room. “Shea, Gregori, Francesca, and several others are all working hard to find a solution.”

“We have found a way to help our women conceive,” Francesca offered. “Shea found that our soil has been adversely affecting our systems and Syndil, one of our women, has been working diligently to purify the soil in our resting places. But the problems go deeper than that. Shea fears there might be something—a left-over affect from the Black Plague, perhaps—which is affecting our ability to bring our children to term. And we have been unable to provide natural sustenance for our children once they are born—although, Shea and I have been able to work around that as well.”

“You fear there may be nothing you can do to stop this deterioration,” Avery guessed shrewdly. Francesca nodded. “Well,” Avery said after a moment, “I should probably get settled in; after all, I'll have to be up early if I'm going to help with the little ones.”

With those parting words, Gabriel, Francesca, and Skyler left the room, urging Avery to get them should she need anything. Avery made small shooing motions with her hands and when her room was finally emptied, she shut the door and leaned up against it with a sigh. Vampires—or Carpathians, rather—seemed to have just as many problems as humans. Maybe more.

Avery crossed the room and bent down to rummage through her packs. She eventually pulled from their depths a few of her favorite movies. She went over to the T.V. and turned it on before placing one of the DVD's into the player. As the first strains of “Dawn” sounded, Avery climbed into bed and settled down to watch the courtship of sensible Elizabeth Bennett and the illustrious Mr. Darcy. She was asleep before the first ball, comforted by the familiar movie.

it's a bit short, i know. still, please review!