“Based on the intelligence Elisabeta has provided for us, we don’t believe Sergey is necessarily the mastermind behind the plot to bring Mikhail down. With his older brothers dead, we think Sergey’s cousins, Cornel and Dorin, are working behind the scenes to carry out the original plans. Both are gifted, as were the older Malinov brothers.” Tariq paused, his gaze sweeping around at the men and women sitting at the table in the room.
Josef followed his gaze and then came back to rest thoughtfully on the leader. “They’re planning a major bloodbath, aren’t they?” There was resignation in his voice. “It has to be a diversion. What are they really after?”
The boy was really too smart.
“Sergey hopes to lure Elisabeta there, and Cornel hopes to lure you.” Tariq was honest.
Traian shook his head. “Josef can’t go near that place.”
Josef frowned. “Excuse me, Tariq, but that doesn’t make sense. We have to break this down. If those psychic males were planted at the club over time and not just since Sergey took over, then there was no way of knowing that he would lose Elisabeta. Cornel would have no way of knowing I would make a trip from the Carpathian Mountains to the United States. If a plan was made by the Malinov brothers for the vampires to create a diversion, then it was for another reason altogether. Elisabeta and I are merely additional reasons now.”
That kid is worth his weight in gold, Petru said. He is right.
There was a stunned silence. Traian inclined his head in a show of respect toward Josef. “You never cease to astound me. Tariq, what do you have that the Malinov brothers would want that they would risk exposure to the world for? Not only exposure to the world, but the retaliation of every Carpathian hunter coming after them?”
“I can’t imagine.”
“You have lived here for a very long time. You have been in the States longer than any other Carpathian and lived among humans the longest,” Traian reminded.
Tariq shook his head. “I’m sorry. That’s all true, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. I have no idea why they would target me, other than I represent the prince here, and that’s recent.”
“Elisabeta?” Traian turned to her. “Do you have any idea what the Malinov brothers were after?”
As usual, when asked a direct question in front of so many people, she shut down, withdrawing into the safety of her mind merge with Ferro. Ferro mentally bared his teeth at her birth brother. He knew better than to put Elisabeta on the spot like that. There were too many people in the room, too many eyes on her. Too many ways for her to be wrong.
There is no wrong answer, piŋe sarnanak. Traian may be your brother, but he is a thoughtless lout and his lifemate will spend centuries teaching him how to be kind before she ever allows him in her bed again.
Not only did he allow his beloved woman to hear him, but Sandu, Andor and Dragomir heard as well. All three of the ancients looked at Traian and Joie. Red flames flickered in the deep black of Sandu’s eyes.
Strangely, Tariq and Gary had gone silent, and once again Ferro got the very uneasy feeling he’d had almost from the moment he’d brought his lifemate from the rich healing soil that first rising when he’d claimed her. He flicked them a quick gaze. There was nothing to be seen on either face, but he hadn’t expected there to be.
I apologize, Elisabeta, Traian said immediately. It was thoughtless of me. I was thinking only of solving the mystery. I know you’re tired and probably frightened by all of us. I have to ask you again, though, do you have any idea what the Malinovs may have wanted from Tariq? Did you overhear them talking? It would have to be something extremely important for them to risk so much. Sergey might not even know or understand what they were talking about.
I do not . . . She trailed off.
Cornel and Dorin would know. Sergey is fixed only on getting you back. That is all he thinks of. Cornel and Dorin would know what their cousins were after. They would know the importance of it and would seek it as well.
Ferro.
Ferro knew his lifemate deliberately addressed him alone.
I need time to think about this. There were so many conversations. So many things said, and this is important, so I have to really give myself time to sort it all out.
“Elisabeta will need time to think about this, Tariq. She does not want to rush an answer. In the meantime, we can discuss the fact that the danger to Elisabeta and Josef is very real and we need to keep a close watch on them. Josef, will you be able to work on the club’s computers remotely?” Ferro asked.
Deliberately, Ferro engaged with Tariq, pushing just a little to see if the leader really wanted answers to the question Traian had proposed.
Josef was slow in answering. He shrugged casually. “I’m not certain. I have to go over the programs here first and wipe everything clean and reinstall them. Julija needs to work with me just to make certain the magic isn’t lingering behind in the computers. In the meantime, everyone, including your security people, has to stay off their computers. If they took laptops or tablets home, they need to wipe them clean and start over. If they have families, they should make certain they do the same with those computers, and someone should check their children or spouses to make certain no one is infected.”
Ferro had the feeling the boy was hedging a bit. He was leaving himself an opening to go to the club. He didn’t think it was because Josef was foolhardy, it was more he thought he needed to serve the Carpathian people in whatever capacity he could.
He does not believe he will ever be a decent hunter of the vampire, does he? he asked Gary, deliberately engaging with him, trying to feel his way. That threat to Elisabeta was definitely back, yet Gary was still the same, still felt calm and matter-of-fact.
No. I’ve seen that in his mind many times. His genius lies with technology, although he is skilled in healing and he does have many skills in fighting already. He’s been in battles with werewolves and vampires and done very well.
He is alive, that is saying a lot about him if he managed to remain so after a fight with either. Ferro regarded the boy, trying to think ahead of him.
Elisabeta’s gentle essence filled his mind, her soothing nature creating that sense of peace she always brought with her. He glanced down at her and found she was looking up at him with her dark, beautiful eyes. His heart clenched hard in his chest. He tightened his fingers around hers and brought their clasped hands over his heart. He loved her with every part of his being. More than he thought possible. More than he knew love existed in the world.
He has been told often that he will never make a great hunter of the vampire. That he is too slow. Too thin. His body type too wrong. There is another who is close to him, one he admires, who says vicious, cutting things to him to make him feel less, and he believes it because he feels different and apart from others. He has been made to feel that way for many years.
Ferro felt a sense of protection well up for the boy. Where are those who should be caring for this boy?
His parents are dead. He did not believe his adopted parents wanted him until they came for him when he went with Skyler to find her lifemate and took him back from the werewolves. Elisabeta had found that information in Josef’s mind.
Why would he think his adopted parents did not want him? Ferro had no idea why he was pursuing the matter. It wasn’t like he was in the market for taking on a boy like Josef. He didn’t know the first thing about young kids—especially modern ones, and Josef was definitely modern. Ferro considered himself a throwback to the old days.
They have a son. He was or is very jealous of Josef— at least it feels that way to me when he says the things to Josef that he does. I have no real way of reading him unless he was here. I feel sad for him as well. The misunderstanding of youth when parents are not paying close attention can be brutal.
Ferro didn’t know about that. His parents were long gone from the world and it was difficult to access any real memory of his childhood. He did know they had instilled a sense of duty and hono
r in him.
“We have to go to the club and identify those males working for the Malinovs,” Maksim said. “The club is quite large. We’ll need several of our most sensitive to move through the floors as quickly as possible and scan.”
“The Malinov brothers will have provided them with some kind of shield to prevent us from reading them,” Tariq pointed out. “If it was going to be that easy, we would have discovered them already.”
Ferro knew that was true. Elisabeta, these male psychics working in the club, if we go there and are in another form, moving unseen, as we were in the forest, would they be able to detect our presence the way the newly made vampires were able to do?
If they are close together, I think they will, although they will not know you are there for the specific purpose of finding them.
“When we were hunting Sergey and the other master vampires, the newly made vampires could detect us when they were together,” Ferro told the other hunters. “It has something to do with the psychics being close to one another and their gifts specifically blending together. However it works, they can detect our presence, even when we’re unseen. Elisabeta thinks it will occur the same way in the club if the males are close to one another, although they will not know the reason we are there.”
“You have their names, right?” Josef asked.
“Naturally. They applied for the job, interviewed and got it,” Maksim said.
Josef put his laptop on the table and opened it. “This is clean, you don’t have to worry. If you have the names, I can check them against the ones in the database of the Morrison Center. They tried to wipe some of them, but I have all the original data and receive it as it comes in. I might not get all of them, but we can get most of them. That should cut down on a big part of the search.”
Ferro liked the kid more and more. He was also beginning to think there was more to technology than he’d given it credit for.
Tariq pulled up his laptop. “This isn’t clean,” he said. “But I’ve got our secret weapon, Elisabeta, if she doesn’t mind once more helping me out, so I can send these names to you.”
“Just lend me your laptop,” Josef objected. “I can do the work on yours and then wipe it, and if Elisabeta doesn’t mind, she can work on me instead. She’s getting used to the mess inside my brain.” He sent Elisabeta a small smile.
Elisabeta smiled back at him and nodded her head. “There’s no mess, Josef.”
Ferro was shocked that she spoke aloud in the room filled with so many others. Apparently she shocked all of them as well, but no one reacted or brought attention to the fact.
Tariq pushed his laptop across the table to Josef and they all watched as his fingers flashed across the keyboard. Ferro hadn’t thought it possible for anyone to type that fast.
Ferro, what is it that the Malinovs wanted more than anything else? Elisabeta asked.
Ferro frowned. What was it the Malinovs wanted? They were reputed to have had many fiery debates all night and close to the dawn with the De La Cruz brothers, Astors, their cousins and so many others before they turned vampire. They were always riling against the prince and discussing how he didn’t deserve to rule the Carpathian people. They felt they could do a better job. That others could do a better job. They claimed the Dubrinsky lineage had a defect that ran deep and would bring disaster to the Carpathians if they didn’t do something soon. They achieved quite a following with their persuasive arguments and fiery rhetoric.
Power? To rule? They wanted to become the prince. To have what the Dubrinskys had.
Elisabeta was silent. They could all hear the keys clicking as Josef sat hunched in his chair, his fingers flying madly over the keyboard. Ferro had eyes only for his lifemate as her mind turned over the puzzle set before her.
Ferro suddenly felt the stillness in the other ancients so connected to him—to Elisabeta. They were aware she was putting the pieces together. Like Ferro, they knew how astute she was.
The prince of the Carpathian people cannot want power, Ferro. He has to be selfless. He has to be a vessel for his people.
That is true, Elisabeta, but not everyone understands that concept. Many rulers, in fact most rulers, are just the opposite. They do not serve their people; they expect their people to serve them.
Again, there was silence. This time, Ferro realized even Tariq was aware, through Gary, that Elisabeta was considering what the Malinov brothers were after. He didn’t want to influence her thinking one way or the other, and he hoped the others wouldn’t make the mistake of asking her questions. Elisabeta had her own way of getting to the right conclusions. She had spent centuries observing the brothers, more time than anyone else. They hadn’t known she was there, so they hadn’t been guarded.
Was Tariq born around the same time? Or was he older than them?
It was nearly impossible to tell any Carpathian’s age. Tariq was born after we were, but before the Malinov brothers. He knew them. He knew Vlad’s oldest son. He knew many of the Carpathian people. He came to the monastery once.
Again, Elisabeta fell silent. This time, Tariq flicked a quick glance at Gary, and Ferro knew immediately the two men were communicating telepathically and no one else was privy to what they were saying, not even Maksim, Tariq’s partner. Another prickle of unease slid down Ferro’s spine, and this one was fierce. Often it was that first acting on the awareness of danger that saved one’s life.
There was no real reason to think that Elisabeta could be in any kind of jeopardy, but he wasn’t about to take risks with her. All along he had had a vague impression of danger toward her, and now it was definitely defined and emanating from Tariq’s second-in-command. Gary. A man Ferro trusted.
He stood up, all flowing muscle, his arm around Elisabeta’s waist, bringing her up with him and sweeping her casually behind him so he was shielding her body from those at the table but making it seem as if it was an automatic gesture.
“We will return when Josef has finished with his work. It is a little close in here. Elisabeta needs to feed after removing the infection from so many, and she’ll have to work on Josef.”
He took two steps toward the door when Tariq and Gary both rose as well. At once those in the room went on alert.
“I believe Elisabeta still has to work on Tariq,” Gary said smoothly. “She was interrupted. We can follow you outside.”
Tariq shook his head when his guards rose. “You stay.” There was complete authority in the leader’s voice. “I wish to have a quiet word with Ferro and Elisabeta.” He gestured toward the door.
Ferro couldn’t think of a good reason to keep from going out in front of him. He pulled his lifemate around his body. Stay directly in front of me and walk straight out the door and down the hallway to the outside door. Open it and go outside. Don’t stop moving for any reason.
Elisabeta didn’t question him. Alarms were shrieking at him. On their private path he felt the stirring in his mind—his brethren as uneasy as he. Ferro? What is it? Petru asked the question all the brethren wondered.
I have no idea. Has Tariq alerted his guards against you?
No, they are as uneasy as we are. They do not know what he is up to, but they do not like him unprotected. Isai gave the answer.
Ferro made a sound of disbelief in his mind. He has the healer with him. Gary has the knowledge of every battle fought by every Daratrazanoff in the entire lineage. I hardly think Tariq is unprotected.
If you have need, we will come to your aid. That was Sandu, always ready to stand with him. Is Elisabeta in danger?
That was the worst of it. Ferro felt danger, but why would Tariq, or even Gary for that matter, threaten Elisabeta, who had gone out of her way to aid them? That made little sense. All along, from the moment of her first rising, there had been something Gary, at least, had known that Ferro didn’t.
His lifemate followed his instructions to the letter. She walked briskly down the hallway, straight to the door leading to the courtyard.
“I would
prefer to talk inside,” Tariq said from behind them.
Ferro didn’t slow down. “Elisabeta is uncomfortable inside. I told you, she needs to be out in the fresh air.” He pushed air at her back, urging her to open the door before either Gary or Tariq held it shut on them and he was trapped in the narrow hallway with little room to fight their way out.
She yanked the door open and stepped outside. Ferro was right on her heels and he whirled around the moment he had room to face the two men emerging from the house. Elisabeta, stay behind me. If necessary, trust only the brethren. I do not know what goes on here, but I feel a threat to you. I am uncertain why. You should be safe here with both these men, but I do not feel as if you are. Can you read either of them without their knowledge?
They would know the moment Ferro touched their minds. He wasn’t going to risk an all-out battle with two experienced ancients like Gary and Tariq when Elisabeta was in such close proximity.
Perhaps. I would have to be very careful. Gary is . . . difficult. He is closed off. Tariq is more open but right now he is watchful and much more like the brethren than I have ever seen him. He is very dangerous right now, Ferro. I do not know why he is upset, but he is very upset.
“Elisabeta is asking you questions. Private questions, Ferro, and those questions are about me.” Tariq made it a statement. “Specifically, about the prince, the past and about me.”
“We asked her whether she could figure out what the Malinov brothers might want from you—want enough that they would be willing to expose themselves and the Carpathian people to the humans in order to get it. Now, because she needs to ask questions to get information pertinent to solving the puzzle, you are all but threatening her.” Ferro pushed back at both of them, daring them to deny it.
Gary and Tariq exchanged another long look and clearly another brief telepathic consultation.
Elisabeta assessed the two Carpathians carefully. They are both very unhappy. Uneasy. They are uncertain whether they can trust you, Ferro, because you have never sworn allegiance to the prince.
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