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Make certain each quarter of the soil you take to search, you leave behind the sacred spell so he cannot enter it. He is small to hide in this vast complex, Ferro cautioned.
Did you know you were sleeping so close to Elisabeta? Andor asked curiously. Ferro sometimes knew things others did not. He could have had a premonition that Sergey would try to strike at her.
I did so on purpose.
Andor took that as confirmation that Ferro had some kind of precognition that Elisabeta would be targeted by the master vampire. He moved through the earth, sifting it carefully, hoping if he did find the creature, if he couldn’t catch it, he could push it back toward Ferro.
We knew he would eventually make a try for Elisabeta. Tariq joined in the conversation. We thought he would have to wait until she was once more awake.
He calls to her, Ferro said. His foul voice permeates the healing ground. I think the creature is sending out signals in the hopes of waking her.
Maybe so, Gary said, but from what Lorraine described, the vile thing is more than a homing device and wake-up alarm. It has a stinger and can use its feet to slash at an enemy. I would imagine there is a poisonous substance on each of those feet or the end of its stinger.
I felt the lash of that stinger, Ferro agreed. It injected some concoction into me, or tried to, the moment I felt its body come up against mine. I knew it was something foul Sergey sent to try to get to Elisabeta. I moved fast, but unfortunately, the creature is like lightning and I was still partially paralyzed. My wounds were … grave.
Do you believe he wants to kill her? That he would rather she be dead than leave her to us? Tariq asked.
It is always possible, but I do not think so, Ferro said.
Andor had to agree with him. Sergey had had too much time to kill Elisabeta. When she’d been found in the cage, he could have chosen that moment to end her life, but he hadn’t. He had allowed the Carpathians to save her. Perhaps, at the time, he didn’t believe they would be able to free her from the cage. Her prison had disappeared and became part of the background, but with the aid of a young mage, they had found the correct spell to bring the cage back into the open and eventually they were able to free her.
Ferro, perhaps it would be wise to leave the hunt to others and allow Gary to heal your wounds properly, Tariq ventured.
Andor thought it was significant that Tariq was careful with Ferro. It showed the man was a good leader, very aware of everyone around him. Even by those who didn’t know him, Ferro needed respect given. It was his due and he wore that just as easily as he wore his skin.
Perhaps when I have found and destroyed this evil creature so there is no threat to our women and children, Ferro replied.
Andor wasn’t surprised by his response. Ferro would never consider himself or his well-being before the safety of others. He was tied to Gary and could feel the others’ concern, although Gary couldn’t feel it, nor could Sandu or Ferro. He understood better what Lorraine had tried to tell him. It wasn’t that they didn’t have emotions, no matter how old they were, there was a disconnect, which meant they couldn’t feel them.
Andor knew better than to try to dissuade Ferro from his decision. They all just had to do their part. He sifted through the dirt—and there was a lot of it.
Why is Ferro so sad? Lorraine’s voice caressed him, brushed him with the velvet of her voice, the silkiness of her growing love for him.
I do not detect sadness.
He hides it from even himself. You feel exactly what he feels, which is nothing, but go deeper, Andor. He is very sad. A great sorrow. I don’t like it. Do you think he plans to sit out in the sun?
He couldn’t imagine Ferro doing such a thing. As I said before, he plans to return to the monastery.
Andor couldn’t see Lorraine, but he knew exactly what expression would be on her face. He wanted to hold her. There is no stopping Ferro once he has made up his mind, csecsemõ.
How will he find his lifemate?
He no longer believes it is possible.
Of course, it is possible. You found me. Or I found you. Whatever. We found each other. If he secrets himself away, he will die of pure boredom.
Some of us have learned to meditate.
Meditation is for the birds. Seriously, Andor, I tried it multiple times and it doesn’t work. I found myself so bored I wanted to fall asleep. I may have.
It takes discipline.
I think monks lied about meditation and its benefits in order to keep the ones who liked to talk from chattering too much and driving the others crazy. I’m going to talk to him.
Andor had to admit to himself that for some reason, his brethren accepted Lorraine when they barely trusted anyone else. There were very few allowed into their circle. She had an influence on the other ancients. They certainly respected her. It was possible she might persuade Ferro to stay when no other could. On the other hand, if he knew he was too close to that edge of danger, of turning, then it would be far better for him to leave.
Don’t think that. Not even for a moment.
Sívamet, you have no way to understand how bad the torment can be. Ferro does not believe even should he find a lifemate that she would be able to live with him.
Do you know how utterly ridiculous it is to think that?
We are from ancient times when things were far different.
Yes, you are. Andor, you are from those times and we found each other. I’m modern. Dragomir is from ancient times, and Emeline is modern. You told me that lifemates complete their other half. That whatever one needs the other provides. How exactly can you or Ferro think that he would have outlived his lifemate’s needs?
His woman was intelligent. And right. He couldn’t stop himself, he shared her thoughts with Ferro. What do you think?
I think your woman is making you soft. Hunt for that hideous bug. Drive it toward me.
Still, for all of Ferro’s seeming rejection of Lorraine’s theory, Andor felt as if the ancient listened. At least it was out there, and maybe he would give the hunt for his lifemate as much attention as he was the reptilian creature Sergey had sent their way.
O jelä peje terád, Sandu’s voice snapped, on the common Carpathian path. That thing tried to sting me. I kicked it accidentally.
Sandu’s position was just to the right of Andor. He moved very slowly in that direction, feeling with his senses, not his eyes. A faint displacement of soil came from the right as if something very small slithered toward him. He went very still. It came closer and closer.
Sandu, make some noise. Petru, you, too. Just a little as if you’re trying to be sneaky.
I was sneaky, but that didn’t turn out to be such a good thing when I found it.
Andor suppressed the need to laugh. He was listening intently, feeling for the thing now. He’d been determined on driving it toward Ferro so the other Carpathian could capture or kill it, but now, he devised a plan to grab the thing. He was aware of the razor feet and stinging tail. He needed something besides his hands to scoop it up.
Sergey’s spy dug through the soil, coming right at him. In his mind, he created a thinly meshed screen that could snap down as the creature entered a small cage. When he was certain it was only inches from the long, thin cage, he froze.
Ferro, now, come toward me fast.
Ferro reacted instantly, pushing hard through the soil. Andor heard the creature hit the end of the cage and he slammed the mesh down to lock it in place. Got it. Coming to the surface. Lorraine, you stay far back. Andor burst through the dirt, the cage swinging from his hand.
The sound the reptile made was horrendous—a high-pitched shriek that could only be a warning to its maker that it hadn’t accomplished its mission. Andor silenced it immediately with a wave of his hand. It stared at him with malevolent eyes. Pulling back its lips to show wicked, needle-like teeth, it hissed at him. The sound was muffled, impossible to hear other than a scant foot from the cage.
Ferro emerged, his gaze on the snakelike rep
tile Sergey had sent. “It has feet, just as Lorraine said.”
They all watched as it began scissoring the feet back and forth in a frantic attempt to saw through the floor of the cage. “What is it?”
“I think a homing device,” Andor said. “I think the reptile is the delivery system and will do anything to get to Elisabeta.”
“Of course he wants Elisabeta.” Ferro turned from staring at the strange creature to Andor. “His greatest desire. He would not want to lose her. She has sustained him all these long years.”
When he turned, Andor could see the extent of his injuries. There were two that were clearly mortal wounds and needed repairing. He glanced at the healer. Gary was looking at the wounds, not the ancient. He knew healers had a difficult time being around the wounded without aiding them. Apparently, Gary was no different.
Andor studied the big Carpathian with concern. He had been torn up by the master vampire. The undead had definitely put up a fight for survival. He knew few ancients without lifemates would accept the help of another. Not unless the situation was so dire they had no other choice but help or death. By the looks of him, Ferro had chosen death, yet here he was, sitting in the middle of the healing grounds.
“I thought Gary had seen to your wounds,” Andor said.
“I did the best I could to get him back here,” Gary answered when Ferro remained stubbornly silent. “He went straight to ground.”
“Ferro, we have need of every hunter right now,” Tariq chastised, his voice mild.
Ferro flicked him a look.
“Do not be such a baby,” Andor snapped. “Big deal—a healer has to help you. I had three mortal wounds. You have only two. I doubt you will have nearly as much need of him as I did.”
“Stop whining. Your lifemate has turned you into an old man, wizened and soft.”
“Do not be jealous that I had much more severe wounds and yet suffered them stoically.”
“I thought the wounds on both of you were mortal,” Lorraine said. “Doesn’t that mean that both of you would die from them? How can one be considered more mortal than another?”
Gary shed his body and went into Ferro’s before the ancient could protest.
“They cannot,” Ferro said.
“Of course they can,” Andor said. “The master vampire I fought nearly eviscerated me. Believe me, having your guts ripped out is no fun.”
“Your guts were not ripped out,” Sandu pointed out. “And it just means you are slower.”
Lorraine’s ripple of laughter was worth making a fool out of himself with trying to distract Ferro while Gary healed him.
The nasty little creature’s feet hadn’t stopped moving the entire time and the claw marks on the cage floor were deep now. Andor shook his head. “You are not going to get away.”
The moment he uttered those words, the reptile stared at him in silence. The feet ceased to move. The tail with the venomous stinger on it whipped up and hit itself in the back. The mouth opened in a silent scream and the thing fell over on its side.
“It must have poisoned the ground,” Ferro ventured.
“I doubt it. It had one purpose, and that was to get to Elisabeta,” Andor said.
“She has to be Sergey’s lifemate,” Sandu said.
Ferro shook his head. “That is impossible.”
“Why would you say that?” Andor asked. “It fits. Why else would he target her even when she was a young Carpathian? She couldn’t have been more than a teenager when she disappeared. Her brother, Traian, was frantic by all accounts. Sergey must have had a reason for taking her.”
“I believe he did,” Ferro said. “She has gifts. But she is not his.”
“You can’t possibly know that.”
“I can, because she is mine. Elisabeta is my lifemate.”
20
Lorraine lay across the bed in the house Tariq had graciously lent them. Outside, the water from the lake lapped at the shore. The moon spilled her light through the open window right onto Lorraine’s very bare bottom. Andor had a difficult time keeping his mind on the subject she was so intent on talking about when just the sight of her gave him other ideas.
“I don’t understand. If he knew that Elisabeta was his lifemate, how could he possibly consider going to that ridiculous monastery where you were all locked away with no chance whatsoever of finding your lifemates?”
“As I understand it, Elisabeta’s cries were muffled beneath the soil, and he heard her voice then and knew when he went this last night into the soil to heal. He shifted his position to lie closer to her, in an attempt to give her comfort. That was why you felt such sorrow in him. He felt her pain. He shared that pain, more emotional than physical.”
Andor drew his hand down her hair, feeling the slide of silk in his palm. “He will rise with her and try to aid her. She hasn’t known any other but Sergey in all these centuries. She had only his company, his care. He told her what he wished her to know. He fed her. Took care of every need, and demanded who knows what in return. It will be a long road back for her.”
Lorraine nodded. “I know. She’ll be so frightened of everyone, having no interaction with others. I hope Ferro has endless patience.”
“He is her lifemate.”
“Are we going to stay here?”
“I think they need us here. Why?” He bent his head to slide his tongue over the nape of her neck, tasting her skin. She shivered and her hips squirmed, drawing his attention once more to her bare bottom.
“I’d like to help her if at all possible. I know her instincts will tell her to get back to Sergey, even if she doesn’t want to. She really will be so afraid. Once Sergey realizes she has a lifemate, my guess is, he’ll want to kill Ferro. They’ll both need friends.”
“You’ve given this a lot of thought.” He should have known she would. Lorraine had a lot of compassion in her. Others would just look at the surface, judging Elisabeta; they had no idea of what the real damage several lifetimes of living as a slave to an evil man would be, let alone a vampire.
“Yes. I feel like we’re a family. You. Me. Sandu, Gary and Ferro. I know that sounds silly, given they’re ancients and don’t feel the same about me. Us. Maybe you don’t, either, but I want Ferro to know we’ll help him in any way we can.”
He kissed her right in the middle of her spine and then added more kisses until he got to the small of her back. He loved her. It was impossible not to love Lorraine. “I think you are wrong about the others, sívamet. They have a deep respect for you. As much as we can call someone family when we do not know what that is exactly, they call you family.”
Those long lashes swept her cheeks and then her green gaze was steady on his face. “I worry that Ferro will overpower Elisabeta. Just looking at him can scare me, so you can imagine what it will do to her. Is he going to stay, do you think? Now that he knows she’s here and needs him?”
“I believe he will. It is difficult to say with Ferro. He goes his own way. Even if he stays, csecsemõ, this does not guarantee them a happy ending. She has to be pretty damaged and he is … different.”
“Then it’s more important than ever for us to stay and help them.”
He slid his hand down the smooth expanse of her spine. “You cannot interfere between lifemates. That is a sacred law in our world.”
She scowled at him. “I have no intentions of interfering. Guiding maybe, but not interfering.”
Andor found himself laughing. The real thing. The laughter spread happiness through his entire body. Joy had colors and they danced in the air around his woman. Her little scowl turned into a slow, beautiful smile that shook him.
“Tet vigyázam, Lorraine. Always. I had no idea I could love so much. It seems to grow with every rising. You bring me such gifts.”
She smiled at him, her heart in her eyes. “I love you more than I thought it was possible to love, Andor. She rolled over onto her back. “Kiss me. Right here.” She pointed to her mouth.
He kissed her eyelid
s. When he lifted his head, her long lashes fluttered against her cheeks so he kissed them as well. Then he left trails of kisses on either side of her mouth. He loved her mouth. The shape of it. The texture. That sweet fire she poured down his throat when she kissed him back. The scorching heat she surrounded his shaft with when she took his cock into her mouth and brought him pleasure beyond measure. The way she laughed, her white teeth flashing at him, teasing him, coaxing the joy that seemed to spread through him. Her mouth did all of that. That perfection.
He kissed her, cajoling her lips apart with the tip of his tongue until she gave him entry. At once, it was there, all of it, the beauty of her response, instant, fiery, her taste exquisite and just for him. All his. She kissed him back, her arms circling his neck, her body melting into his, giving him everything—giving him her.
He spent time on her mouth, letting the need for her, that terrible hunger, take him over. The brutal urgency swept through his entire body like a wildfire he knew only she could put out. He kissed his way down her throat, leaving marks of his possession because this rising was his. Theirs. She had risen fully Carpathian.
After keeping her in the healing soil for three days, he knew her body was completely, wholly Carpathian. She was strong. She embraced his world. His soul was intact, and that mattered to him. Living mattered to him.
He kissed his way to her breasts. He loved their shape and size. The feel of them. Soft, responsive. He made certain to take advantage of that fact, and spent time there as well. Kissing. Using his teeth and tongue. Waiting for her to squirm, her hips bucking. Her breathing changed, a ragged, labored sound that was music to him.
He kissed his way to the junction between her legs. She widened her thighs at his urging, and drew up her knees at his command. He loved that about her, too. She was always ready for him, always responsive and willing to go where he wanted to go. She made her own demands just as readily, stopping him to drag him up for more kisses, or holding his head to her breast. Now, her moans started, a soft melody of need.