For finding the army of vampires and directing our hunters to them, it has to be the roof. There are so many of them, and so many different directions you need me to find them in. From there, I can find the master vampires as well. Elisabeta gave her answer to Ferro alone. There are safer places, but those places will limit me. I do not wish you to be so uneasy, beloved. I will do whatever is your preference.
Her courage astounded him, as did her audacity. Sun scorch the woman; she was manipulating him and it was working. He couldn’t very well be a coward when she was a shining example of female daring.
“I will take Elisabeta to the roof. Lorraine and Julija do not need to be with her there. In fact, they might be of more use in the club.”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. “You are not in the least good at telling lies, Ferro.”
“I said might,” he pointed out.
He took his lifemate in his arms. She could fly. She might even want to fly, but he needed to hold her as he took her out of the cavern and into the night air. His brethren could deal with their lifemates, decide one way or the other what they were going to do, but right now, he was going to let himself just feel the soothing comfort of his woman’s gift.
Elisabeta surrounded him with her serenity, heightening the night’s deceptive illusion of peace with her familiar and haunting fragrance, the one that now stayed with him even when he was away from her. Above them the moon had begun to slip into its next phase. Clouds drifted lazily across the deep midnight-blue-colored sky so that a slightly wider sliver of a silver curve peered down at them. A sea of stars, each trying to outshine the next, surrounded the moon as the gray clouds floated almost languidly. The clouds were deceptive; already the predicted storm was moving toward them.
Her breath caught in her throat and she pressed her face into his shoulder. The vampire servants are spread out, Ferro, moving through the city, all heading this way.
Numbers? At once he was all business, a full Carpathian hunter, setting his lifemate on the rooftop, his two brethren joining him with their women.
They began to weave their safeguards over the top of the building, an intricate web with Julija adding in her strand of magic and binding it tight every few strands over and over as they shared information with the others as quickly as possible. They couldn’t leave Josef waiting too long or Sergey would become suspicious.
Each of the master vampires has ten servant vampires. That is all they can seem to sustain at any one time without things beginning to go very wrong. There are seven master vampires somewhere close, so you are looking at seventy of them coming to you. Do not forget those unfortunate newly made vampires. They will be the most aggressive, the bloodiest and the first they will send in.
Where are the ones looking to acquire Josef? Are they servants? Do you know who they are? Ferro asked.
He was already on the move, taking one side of the building while Isai, Andor and Julija each took a different side, all four continuing to weave the safeguards as they hurried to the underground cavern. Once there, Julija broke off and returned to the rooftop, slipping through the magic loop she’d left for herself and then pulling it tight behind her to enclose herself inside.
Edward Varga waits at the exit with two of Cornel’s highest-ranking servants. Varga knows if he shirks his duty in any way, he will be punished in a hideous way. Cornel has stressed to all of them that Josef cannot be harmed. He is to be alive and in good condition.
Ferro was grateful that Cornel had no idea that Elisabeta could tap into Sergey’s mind. Everything was shared with Sergey. Leaving him alive was difficult but necessary. Elisabeta could feel where the others were, but she would know exactly what was being said or what orders had been given as long as Sergey lived.
Josef, let her take you to the table. Move slowly. Stop and start. Keep talking to others around you. We are going to move on their army as they head toward the nightclub and begin to take them out one by one, coming up on the ones in the rear, Tariq ordered. Dragomir, you take your men and start the hunt to the west.
Fane and Aleksi, two brethren from the monastery, had answered the call, bringing their lifemates as well. Both ancients were hunting with Dragomir. They were fast and deadly, and few could best them in any battle. They needed that kind of firepower this rising.
Maksim, you take your men and hunt to the east. Get in behind them. Elisabeta has established a grid for us. Take the last man on the grid and move up. The clouds are thickening slowly so they seem natural. I don’t want Cornel to worry too early and make a run for it.
Andre, a Carpathian male who had come and gone from the monastery bringing the brethren news and blood, joining them when he needed to be away from hunting and killing, was a brilliant addition to the hunt. He was the equivalent of an entire wolf pack. He’d brought his lifemate with him, the granddaughter of Fane’s lifemate. Both fierce women were in the compound, helping to protect the children there if need be. He was very close to the triplets.
Julian Savage, one of the legendary Carpathian twins, lifemate to Desari, singer of the Dark Troubadour band, was known for centuries for his skills in battle against vampires. Just his name alone would send vampires scuttling out of a region if they knew he had entered it. Both men had joined with Maksim to clear out as many of the servants of the master vampires as possible.
Valentin, your men must hunt to the south. All of you will have at least seven to try to destroy before they reach the nightclub. That does not give you a lot of time, Tariq added.
Darius Daratrazanoff was a force to be reckoned with, like all those in his lineage. He was by turns a healer or a master hunter. He had been cut off from all Carpathians as a very young child with the responsibility of several young children, and he had risen to the occasion, keeping them safe and raising them as best he could, without the knowledge of their culture. He had finally met his lifemate. Tempest was at the compound with their twins, Aniko and Andor, under heavy safeguards while the Carpathians hoped to strike a huge blow at the vampires.
Afanasiv Balan spent more than a century in the monastery with the others before he had to leave, unable to keep from battle hunting after so long doing so. He wore the vows carved into his skin as they all did and came back often to ensure he stayed strong for a lifemate he had yet to meet. He was a fierce hunter, very skilled and fast.
Petru, take your men to the north. All of you be aware of the five newly made vampires that will be turning up somewhere. If Cornel or Sergey is so lax as to allow them to come through the city, they will be unable to resist preying on anyone, man, woman or child, they come across. The servants each of the master vampires has will be anywhere from close-to-master-vampire status to centuries-old vampire, so battle experienced. They would not have one serve them with less skill.
Ferro knew Petru had wanted to remain with those at the nightclub, not head a team of warriors going after lesser vampires. Still, there were at least ten for each team to kill, and they had only spared three men to hunt them down. Lojos, the last of the triplets, and Nicu Dalca, another ancient who wore the vows of the brethren on his back, had preferred to stay and protect the nightclub and the number of people inside it. Nicu was deceptively slender but all muscle, and moved like lightning in a fight. The teams were formidable, there was no doubt about that.
Ferro couldn’t monitor them. That wasn’t his job. Ensuring Josef’s safety was. He watched the woman carefully. She was all over Josef, touching him, laughing, whispering into his ear. Trying to sit in his lap. Kissing him repeatedly. Ferro narrowed his eyes. He had excellent vision, but the table was low and he wasn’t at the right angle to see when she kept squirming around.
Linda is up to something, Josef. Be very careful. Watch her hands. Can any of you see what she is up to? Elisabeta? Can you delve a little further into her mind without Sergey becoming aware of your presence?
Ferro didn’t like to take his lifemate’s attention away from aiding those in the streets. An army of vampires moving thr
ough a city where there were innocent humans, blood running in their veins, hearts beating a terrible temptation continuously. Still, unease was growing in him. He suddenly had the desire to come out of the wall, straight at Linda, and tear her away from Josef.
Is it possible that Josef is a distraction? That Cornel knows about your connection with Sergey and has prepared for it?
As always Elisabeta took her time deliberating before answering him. Any other time he wouldn’t mind, but right at that moment, when the redheaded Linda was clearly using her every move to seduce Josef, squirming on his lap, kissing him passionately, running her hands through his hair, down his back, and all over his body, his alarms were screaming at him.
Barack, Syndil, can you stop by Josef and Linda’s table with a drink for them and interrupt? Or at least see what she’s up to? I do not have a good angle from here. The waiter closest to that table is one of those working for Sergey. He is watching the couple very closely. In fact, he’s paying more attention to them than he is to his customers.
We can deal with him, Dayan offered.
Corrine suddenly appeared directly in the waiter’s path while his head was turned toward Josef and Linda’s table. The waiter ran right into her, the collision much harder than expected, throwing her to the floor and sending him sailing over the top of her. He somersaulted, smashing both legs into the edge of the wall. He screamed, as did Corrine. Heads turned toward them. Josef stood, nearly dumping Linda off his lap, hurrying across the short distance to crouch down beside Corrine and run his hands lightly over her legs and arms looking for injuries. Linda tapped her foot, one hand on her hip, looking annoyed. The waiter continued to scream, writhing in pain.
Both legs broken. They’ll have to delay whatever plan they have for a few minutes while he’s taken out of here, Dayan said, satisfaction in his voice. That should give our teams in the city time to do some thorough hunting.
Linda is very frustrated. She wants to go home. Her head is hurting but she cannot leave without accomplishing her task. She does not even remember why it is so important, only that she must get Josef to be so enamored with her that she can inject him with a syringe filled with a chemical the vampire gave her. The vampire was an Astor, not Addler but a different Astor, so it has to be the cousin that came and went upon occasion. He was younger. He did not like to be around the Malinov brothers and refused to give them the kind of allegiance they desired.
I need his name, Elisabeta. He tried not to push her, but Carpathians such as Tariq, Gary and the triplets, the ones who spent time in the Carpathian Mountains or around humans, might recall the names better than any of the ancients who had been locked away in the monastery.
Again, there was that slight retreat.
Minan piŋe sarnanak, I thank you for the information and the infinite patience you have with all the demands we keep putting on you. I know you must be tired.
She was aiding the four teams in the city, helping them hunt, showing them where the enemy was as best she could, giving them locations on a grid while they were moving.
Cornel cannot know what I can or cannot do, Ferro. He is not aware of me even when I touch on him. I can always tell when someone is becoming aware of my presence. There is a slight change in their energy. It is much like an automatic reflex. We can control our heartbeats, our breathing, but even with all those things, those gifts, there is always that one moment when a change takes place in the body. When we become aware.
Ferro could tell she was choosing her words carefully.
I am not talking about the outside tells that I read, although they give people away easily as well, but these are very subtle in the mind. You are extremely good at reading them, you just do not always recognize that you are reading something you do not like. When you called to me with your song that first rising, drawing me from the earth, you already knew something was wrong. You already felt it and you were wary. You are tied to Gary and you read his unease over me. Instinctively, you moved to protect me without fully knowing what caused you to begin to separate yourself from those who lived here in the compound.
How could he know that you can do the things that you do when you were not fully aware of your gifts?
I knew I could read others, Ferro, I just never shared those things. Gary is an ancient from a powerful bloodline. His ancestors poured themselves into him, all of them. They reside in him, both a blessing and a curse. By tying his soul to yours, when you recognized me as your lifemate, little by little he began to recognize traits in me.
Before you even came to the surface as my lifemate.
Ferro didn’t know why, but it bothered him that Gary would recognize her brilliance and perhaps want to crush it before she could even find her power. Or before Ferro had the chance to recognize she was truly in danger from someone he considered a friend and ally. Did that make him the worst lifemate ever born?
Hän sívamak. She whispered “beloved” in his mind, surrounding him with her loving serenity that only Elisabeta could provide. His woman. She made him feel as if he was her only focus when she was providing information through Lorraine and Julija to Tariq so his teams could wipe out the servants of the master vampires.
Ferro, his name is Robi Astor. He is a second- or third-generation cousin. There was triumph in her mind in the remembering. Excitement and confidence. I did not see him often. He did not like being around any of the Malinovs. He did consult with Cornel because Addler would report to Sergey or Cornel would. He was intelligent, and much less flamboyant than the other Astors. I thought he was very smart to keep his distance from the Malinovs. They would have considered him a rival. Anyone with a true brain was considered an opponent and either had to be shown to be less than them in a very decisive way or killed.
Ferro was so proud of her sharing her thoughts with him. She pulled up memories from so long ago, analyzed them and gave him the results. She’d come such a long way in only a few risings, already believing in herself. It was there all along, she just needed an environment to thrive. He was going to ensure that was never taken from her. Never.
Too many of the servants are beginning to disappear, Ferro, and the master vampires are noticing. Cornel is becoming concerned. They are discussing launching their attack on the nightclub right now. Elisabeta went from triumph to fear in moments.
20
Now tell me this and tell me true;
Say you’ll choose me, as I chose you.
Ferro wasn’t about to wait for Cornel to decide to launch an all-out war on Tariq’s popular nightclub. The paramedics had already taken the waiter from the underground bar, and the music was once again pounding a bruising heartbeat through the club, signaling to everyone to start up the fun. Josef slung his arm around Linda’s neck and started to walk her toward the dance floor.
She halted and stamped her foot, the syringe hidden in her clenched fist at her hip as she posed, pouting. “I just want to be alone with you. Is that too much to ask?”
Josef leaned into her, one hand wrapped around her wrist, controlling the fist clutching the syringe. He put his lips next to her ear. “Yeah, babe, especially when you plan to drug me and let your friends cart me off in their waiting chariot.”
Linda’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream. Josef smiled, holding one finger up, shaking his head and drawing the finger across her lips. Abruptly all sound was cut off. She looked panic-stricken as she attempted over and over to cry out. Nothing emerged from her throat, not even a simple croaking noise. Josef grinned at her and escorted her to the table, sitting down and pulling her onto his lap.
What is the signal that Linda has Josef ready for transport? Ferro asked Elisabeta.
She is to open the exit door herself.
Ferro had been certain she would be taken or killed right there. There would be no advantage to the vampires in sparing her. She was a pawn, nothing more, a pretty girl they had picked up and programmed, thinking she was Josef’s preference when it came to women.
Ferro didn’t think Edward Varga was much of a master vampire. He was planning on leaving the pathetic monster to Josef’s guardians. Somewhere, hidden out of sight just on the other side of the exit, were Traian and Joie. Traian wasn’t in the least bit happy that vampires had tried to kidnap his charge right out from under his nose.
Dayan and Barack will aid Traian, destroying Varga and his servants when Varga attacks you, Josef. You let them handle the master vampire. You can hone your skills on a lesser servant or perhaps a newly made vampire at a later time when I am with you, but not a master vampire. There is no need to prove anything to anyone, least of all to yourself. You are too valuable to our people to lose in a battle where we have many warriors available. Do you give me your word of honor that you will do as I have said?
I have no intentions of losing my life to a vampire, Josef said immediately, shedding his appearance even as Linda became Josef sitting at the table, slightly slumped in his chair, looking a bit drunk. Josef, now looking the part of a redheaded woman, stood, leaned down and brushed a kiss on the forehead of the man, glanced toward the wall and gave Ferro a cocky wink.
He is very clever, Elisabeta observed.
Ferro sighed. I am centuries old, Josef, not born yesterday. You take one more step toward the door without giving me your word and you will not take another.
Josef halted abruptly. I’m not stupid, Ferro. I have no intention of fighting anything. I’ll open the door and let Dayan, Barack and Traian do all the work.
Dark Song Page 39