They came to a small clearing. A large tree had fallen, the trunk lying across their path. The opening had provided room on the forest floor for shrubs, ferns and flowers to grow in abundance. Branislava flung out her arms and turned in a slow circle. The moon fell across her wealth of red hair, the light setting it on fire.

“What are you doing?” Zev asked.

“Living,” she replied, still spinning around like a ballerina. “I’m living right here in this perfect minute. I have you, this beautiful spot, the moon and the night air.” She inhaled deeply, drawing the scent of the forest and her wolf deep into her lungs. “What could be more perfect than this one moment?”

He stepped close, his arm circling her waist, yanking her to him hard, his feet already picking up the rhythm of a dance, moving to music the night provided. “Making love to you is always perfect. Kissing you is definitely perfect. Dancing with you is sheer perfection.”

He held her close, listening to the moaning wind playing them a melody of string instruments. The heartbeat of the Earth became their drum, providing a steady beat. He moved her around the clearing, their bodies in perfect synchronization, flowing like water over rocks, gliding first one way and then the other.

Branislava felt his body move against hers, that rippling of sheer power as his roped muscles played beneath his warm skin. She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling as if she were floating in the clouds. There were moments of perfection and she wanted to recognize and capture each one and hold it close to her heart. She knew, better than most, that there was evil alive and well in the world and it would raise its ugly head soon. She needed this foundation with Zev, these perfect moments to add to their arsenal of weapons. She had to become a weapon just as Zev was already. They needed to be unstoppable.

“Can anyone join in?” Dimitri whirled Skyler right into the clearing, and then pulled her tightly against him, his smooth footwork guiding her over the twigs and leaves. “We heard your music calling to us and couldn’t resist.”

Branislava smiled contentedly. Dimitri still carried the scars of his brush with moarta de argint—death by silver. Somehow, Skyler had managed to force the terrible burns to fade almost to invisibility. Still, Dimitri was quite handsome, and he held Skyler in such a loving, intimate, protective hold that they looked as if they were one as they danced around the clearing. Branislava felt their love pouring from them both, as if it were so great neither could contain the emotion.

Fen and Tatijana dropped down unexpectedly from above. Zev didn’t so much as flinch, so Branislava knew he had been aware of them close by. Fen waved his hand and more instruments joined in, adding to the music of the night. He pulled Tatijana into his arms. She fit perfectly beneath his shoulder and they began to dance.

The rhythm at first was soft and dreamy so that the men could hold their women close as they moved around the small clearing as easily as if it were a ballroom.

Before long, another couple showed up. Darius Daratrazanoff strode up, his lifemate, Tempest, beside him. He carried a child that could be no more than two. They moved together without a word, their son between them, as Darius whirled Tempest around beneath the moon. The child’s soft laughter only added to the beauty of the moment to Branislava.

“Are we having a party?”

The question came from a group of Carpathians. Branislava vaguely recognized them. They made up a traveling band called the Dark Troubadours.

“Hey, Andor,” Julian called to Darius and Tempest’s boy. “Can we come and dance with you?”

Andor waved happily at him, breaking out into a huge smile that lit his dark eyes—Daratrazanoff eyes.

“Do you mind?” Desari asked Zev and Branislava. “This looks such fun.”

Julian Savage and his lifemate, Desari, moved gracefully together. She was sister to the Daratrazanoff men. Beside them, Barack and Syndil danced close. Emerging from the trees already moving to the beat, Corrine and her lifemate, Dayan, arrived with their daughter, Jennifer. Clearly she was a child of music. She began whirling and twirling and shaking her bottom to the rhythm.

“No party,” Zev said, “just holding my woman and doing a little dancing, but you’re all welcome.”

After a few minutes of dancing with Corrine, Dayan sank down onto the large tree trunk and drew his guitar to him. His fingers danced over the strings and music poured into the night. Barack immediately joined him, playing bass. Syndil listened to the heartbeat of the earth and then called drums to her, joining with the earth to add in her rhythm. Corrine and Jennifer danced together, whirling around the small clearing, the sound of Jennifer’s laughter joining with Andor’s.

Razvan danced Ivory right out of the forest, his eyes filled with laughter—something one rarely saw in him, unless they stumbled upon a private moment between Ivory and him. She clung to him, laughing with him, her gaze only for him.

Desari began to sing, her voice rising with the wind, the notes pure, the pitch perfect. The song was one of joy and laughter, adding to Branislava’s perfect moment.

Branislava looked around her at the people she loved. Her nephew Razvan, who had been so horribly tortured by his own grandfather, Xavier. Ivory, who had been betrayed by Xavier and chopped to pieces by vampires in league with him. Fen and Tatijana, her beloved sister, trapped with her in the wall of ice there in Xavier’s laboratory. Dimitri and Skyler, a young woman made by Xavier through Razvan’s body and then sold into sex slavery by her great-grandfather.

There was joy here and true happiness. Xavier and his brothers were pure evil and yet somehow, good had triumphed here, and her perfect moment proved it.

Look at them all, Zev. These people, most of them, are our family. Xavier tried to destroy them all, everyone here, really, and yet we can come together like this, in fun and laughter, an impromptu party with no real reason except you love me enough to dance with me because you know I enjoy it.

Zev kissed the junction between her neck and shoulder. I would dance with you anywhere, Branka, and enjoy every single moment of holding you.

Happiness welled up. That was the wonderful thing about Zev. She knew he was telling her the truth. He would dance with her anywhere simply because she loved to dance. She glanced at her sister, held so close by Fen. Fen was a good man and she already thought of him as a brother. The way he looked at Tatijana was beautiful. Tatijana’s gaze met hers and they smiled.

“I love her so much, Zev,” she whispered against his chest. “I wanted so much for her to escape and to be able to live life, to dance like this whenever possible and to find a man who loved her above all else. I believe my wish came true.” Satisfaction edged her words.