Terry shook his head. «I can't stand it, Lara. If you don't take them out now, I'm going to rip them out. I really can't stand it.»

She nodded her understanding and reached beneath her jacket for the knife on her toolbelt. «Let's get it done then. Gerald, get in the backseat on the other side and hold Terry's shoulders.» More than anything, she didn't want Gerald where some of the tainted blood might spatter onto him. The tiny microorganisms were dangerous to everyone.

Gerald obeyed her without question and Lara studied the first snake head. The hybrid was part plant, part living animal and all frightening. It was meant to take over a person, no matter what the species, and bring them under the dark mage's control. It hadn't been just Carpathians and humans he had tortured, but his own people as well. No one, not even his own family, was safe, as Lara could attest to.

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, slamming the door on memories that were too painful, too frightening to remember when she had such a complex task before her. She had rarely used her healing abilities on anyone else in the last few years. In her childhood, she'd made the mistake several times, traveling with gypsies. She'd knit broken bones. Healed a wound from a blade that would have killed a man. Removed harmful bacteria from children's lungs. At first people would be grateful, but inevitably they would come to fear her.

Never show that you are different. You must blend in wherever you are. Learn the language and the customs. Dress the way they dress. Speak as they speak. Cloak who and what you are and never trust anyone.

She liked Gerald and Terry-very much. They'd worked together for several years, but she'd been very careful never to intrude on either of them, or to show them that she was different in any way.