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."He isn't here.""You don't understand," Lara said."He's here.He locks himself into things, into elements.He can travelthat way.You don't know him."Nicolas moved cautiously to wrap his arm around her.He was worried about her and it showed on hisface."Lara, monsters always appear larger and much more indestructible when you are a child.He mayhave been here recently& ""I smell his tobacco."Natalya inhaled, shook her head and shrugged."If he is, Lara, he's hiding from us."The men were cautious as they made their way across the open floor.Natalya and Lara followed, bothwatching above and around them.The water dripped monotonously.As they approached the archwayleading to the next series of open caverns, they could see just inside the entrance.Water sprayed fromthe ceiling, the droplets falling into a series of pools.Each pool was a bit lower than the first and eachwas a different color.Tiny frogs croaked, the notes mournful.A dark red stain dripped down from the ice and dropped intoone of the pools, staining it a deep crimson.Several of the frogs stuck to the side of the wall, longtongues dipping in the blood, licking at it as it ran down.Although there was no breeze, each pool ofwater rippled slightly, as if something lived in them.The scent of blood and bodily fluids was heavy in theair."This is it," Lara said."This is what you've been looking for, Nicolas.He mutates them here.He'sexperimenting with extremophiles and this is where he tests and corrupts them for his own purpose.We've found his laboratory."Chapter 18Standing at the entrance of the laboratory, watching the light spray of icy water come down from theceiling to feed the pools, Nicolas felt his gut tighten.If Lara was right, and Xavier was experimenting with microbes, then it was the mage who had virtually brought the Carpathian people to near extinction andnone of them had ever suspected the extent of his true treachery all those centuries ago.As if sensing hisneed, Lara slipped her hand into his.He closed his fingers tightly around hers and drew in a deep,shuddering breath."Without you, Lara, he might have succeeded."Vikirnoff looked over their shoulders."Is that spray natural?"Steam curled over several of the pools, as if they were somehow warm and the icy spray created afoggy condensation.Droplets froze on the walls and congealed in the trail of blood."It appears so," Lara said, "but you can't trust anything in these chambers to be what it appears."She held out her hands, palms out.The spray from the ceiling was so fine, it appeared more mist thananything else."It's ice," she said, "tiny particles of ice.""There has to be a purpose for it," Natalya added.She also put her palms out to test the "feel" of thespray."Are you getting anything?"Lara frowned."Yes, I feel Xavier's hand in this.There appears to be subtle influence in the mist, but Ican't tell what it is yet.Why can't you feel it?""I can in the outer chambers, but it was difficult," Natalya said."But in this room, I wouldn't have evenbeen able to tell you Xavier had been here." She looked around."And I have to say, this is creepy, like inthose spooky old movies where the mad scientist conjures up mutated zombies.These are all vats withextremely disgusting gunk bubbling in them."Nicolas stepped into the room, waited until the mist touched his face and arms before signaling theothers inside."It's cold, but I expected that.""The room isn't cold," Lara pointed out."In fact, that pool over there is steaming.I'll bet it's fed by anunderground volcano.Xavier's tapped into something hot.""Wouldn't that kill anything he's trying to grow in here?" Natalya asked."Extremophiles are called just that because they live in extreme conditions." Lara looked around theroom."And it looks to me as if he's testing every condition.Hot.Cold.Acid.Blood.Salt.Minerals.Youname it, he has it in here.This is his breeding program.""Why all the frogs?" Vikirnoff asked.Lara approached the little creatures, ignoring Nicolas's restraining hand.Again she placed her hand justinches from them."They're male.All of them."Nicolas's jaw tightened."This is where it started then.He found a way for the microbe to force maleoffspring and suppress female."Lara indicated the first pool."See those stalks with that gelatinous mass, the tiny black specks wigglinginside? I'm betting those are all male.He's still working at perfecting his methods, I see." Things can always be improved.The hated voice whispered in her ear and Lara spun around, eyeswide with terror, expecting to see the mage standing behind her with his smug expression and hishate-filled silvery eyes.She drew in a deep breath and pressed a hand to her thudding heart.He had always said that when heinjected something into Razvan's body.The memory poured into her mind, the image vivid and sharp.Razvan fighting, sweating blood, her mother crying while Razvan writhed and convulsed on the ice floor.Bile rose.She was going to be sick.Nicolas pressed his hand against her stomach, his mind merging with hers.I am here.He cannot harmyou, Lara.You are not the little helpless child anymore.He poured strength and love into her mind."I'm sorry.I can do this.We have to do this.I want to find my aunts." Lara lifted her chin and manageda faint smile."Be careful in here.I don't trust anything." Her chest felt heavy and she pressed her handagainst it hard as she took another nervous look around.He was there.Maybe not physically, but Xavierpermeated the room.His evil nature seemed permanently pressed into the layers of ice.She took another deep breath to steady herself and forced her body closer to the tanks.One was filledwith fluid and when she sniffed it, she drew back horrified."I think this is amniotic fluid.Where would heget that?" The one beside it was blood.The blood coming from above ran steadily into the pool.Denseclusters of organisms floated in both pools."Where's that blood coming from?"Nicolas stepped closer and sniffed it."That is from the deer the bats took down earlier, but look at theother trails, Lara.This one has two separate blood trails.They are older, but the blood is Carpathian."Natalya waved them to the corner wall."This is Razvan's blood.It's not as old as those trails and it alsogoes into that pool.""How old do you think Razvan's blood trail is, Natalya?" Vikirnoff asked.She shook her head."Not very old.A day or two
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