"I am sorry, little one, that you had to endure such a thing." He carried her into his house and made for the library. Raven could hear soft words in his own language muttered under his breath. He was swearing, and it made her smile. "What does that mean?" He blinked down at her. "Sorry," he muttered. "Literally, 'Shadow take you.' That old woman is evil." "She isn't evil, Mikhail, she's twisted, fanatical. It was like touching the mind of a burning crusader. She believes what she's doing is right." She rubbed the top of her head against the rigid set of his jaw. "She is beneath contempt." He spat the words. "She is obscene." Very gently Mikhail deposited Raven in the comfort of his armchair. "She came to test me, to bring a priest into my home and try to outwit me. Her brush in my mind was clumsy and inept. She uses her gift to mark others for murder. She read only what I allowed." "Mikhail, she believes in vampires. How could she possibly think you're a walking corpse? You have unusual gifts, but I can't see you murdering a child to keep yourself alive. You go to church, you're wearing a cross. The woman is nuts." She rubbed at her pounding temples in an effort to relieve the pain. Mikhail loomed over her, a dark shadow holding one of his herb concoctions in his hand. "And what if I was a mythical vampire, little one, holding you captive in my lair?" She smiled up at his serious face, absorbing the pain in his brooding eyes. "I would trust you with my life, Mikhail, vampire or not. And I would trust you with the life of my children. You're arrogant and sometimes overbearing, but you could never be evil. If you are a vampire, then a vampire is not the creature of the legends." He moved away from her, not wanting her to see how much her total, unconditional acceptance meant to him. It didn't matter to him that she didn't know what she was saying. He felt the truth of her words."