He felt her sudden determination. He knew what kind of courage it took for her to answer them, to do what she was doing, defying her captor and leading them through his traps. Others would never know, but he saw into her, knew the horrific details, the cruelties Sergey had put her through over those long centuries.
You do have emotions; they are inside of you. That is why my gift works on you and I can bring you peace for a short while. You cannot tap into those emotions anymore. When you find your lifemate, she provides that pathway and it is once more open to you. That is the simplistic version.
Ferro glanced down at the trees below him. The canopy was covered in those same sticky webs, although these appeared much finer, more fragile, as if they were real spider webs. A Carpathian hunter would not realize they were a deadly, poisonous trap set by master vampires to ensnare him. If he survived the web itself, the vampires would feed on his rich, ancient blood for a long time before the hunter saw death.
How would they know this? They were Carpathian and they lost their emotions. They feel only the rush when they kill or when they hurt others. They can feed off others’ pain, Benedek asked. I know the Malinovs were intelligent, but that seems far too sophisticated for them to figure out. Do you know how they did it?
Ferro already knew the answer. Elisabeta’s compassion for Sergey in the early days had often had her giving him things to contribute that she thought wouldn’t hurt anything or anyone. She was innocent. A child. She had no idea of the depravity or cruelty vampires could conceive.
You were a child, Elisabeta, he reminded. A baby. You had no idea that anything you said to help Sergey when his brothers were shoving him around would result in a poisonous web to capture Carpathian hunters.
And human campers, she added in a small voice. Do not forget them.
We will take this entire trap down, kislány sisar, Petru assured. No one knew that the Malinovs were capable of such horrendous crimes. Their own sister was betrayed, chopped into pieces and strewn across a meadow for the wolves to devour. Instead of hunting the vampires, mage and the weasel of a Carpathian who had conspired against her, they betrayed her even further and turned vampire in some pact, as if that would honor her.
Petru had called Elisabeta “little sister.” He’d struck exactly the right note. Matter-of-fact, not in the least accusing, and giving her a story she couldn’t help but be interested in.
Their poor sister. That’s so awful. I have only vague memories. I cannot hold on to them. She sounded frustrated.
Ferro took up the story. She hadn’t yet realized the five ancients weren’t on their way back to her. Ivory was her name. Draven, the prince’s eldest son, was to inherit the mantle of authority, but the rot of the bloodline was in him. The prince didn’t order him destroyed as he should have. Draven wanted Ivory, although she wasn’t his lifemate. He didn’t care. The prince, thinking to protect her, sent her to Xavier, the high mage, to school. He wasn’t aware that Xavier had his own agenda and was plotting to take down the Carpathian people. Draven, the prince’s own son, entered into a conspiracy with the high mage. In exchange for a Dragonseeker woman, Draven would provide the mage, Xavier would turn over Ivory. Rhiannon had a lifemate. He was killed and she was taken prisoner. Ivory did survive the terrible things done to her. Mother Earth accepted her and, over time, centuries, healed her. She hunted the vampire with a wolf pack and eventually found her lifemate, Razvan. That is another story I will tell you some rising.
Below was the lake, the surface shining a dark silver. The clouds drifted in a lazy pattern, allowing the sliver of a moon to peek out and reflect below on the surface. A slight breeze skipped across the top of the water, creating small waves that lapped gently at the shore, creating an idyllic, inviting scene.
What are you doing? Ferro. He is there. Right there. Waiting for you. The newly made vampires are there. He has leashed them. He knows they are his only warning system. You have to leave before they sense you.
Ferro and the other ancients stilled, not moving at all. They had no idea how close they were to Sergey’s newest pawns.
How do they sense us?
A small sob escaped. You have to come back. Just come back.
He poured steel into his voice. Elisabeta. I need you to help me. Tell us how they know when hunters are near. Answer me at once.
There was a moment he didn’t think she could overcome her terror, not even when he fell back on giving her a command. He resisted sending her waves of reassurance, which was what he found he needed to do more than anything else, but it wasn’t what she needed. Gary, Sandu, Petru and Benedek were merged with them, and she would forever view a panic attack as cowardice if they saw.
The psychic males, when they are newly made, pool gifts when they are close to one another. It happens when they first emerge. That allows them to be far more sensitive to any other with energy such as yours. You are using a different form, and that form produces an altered power source no matter how dim. Together, they can feel it.
Are the master vampires aware of this phenomenon? Ferro asked before any of the others could. He used his gentlest voice to make certain she knew he was not accusing her of anything.
There was no way any of the vampires, no matter how intelligent, could have guessed that. Cornel hadn’t known; he’d silenced the whining vampires. It had been Ambrus who had eventually paid attention to the continual moaning of the newly made pawns, and even he had taken time to work out that a possible threat was close. Elisabeta had said Ambrus was like a wild animal, and that went along with the way he had puzzled out the strange communication.
No, they have no idea.
Not even Ambrus?
He knew eventually something was in the room with them but not what, only that the newly made vampires were uncomfortable and feeling alarmed. He is animal enough that he acted on that warning.
So, they are uncertain that hunters have followed them.
Elisabeta was silent for a moment. Ferro was patient. He tried to follow her wherever she went, but as far as he could tell, she simply went blank, disappearing into her own mind, a refuge she’d retreated to over the centuries when Sergey’s cruelties were too difficult to bear. As he attempted to follow her, he was aware that Gary silently attempted the same thing, even though he was on a different path. Elisabeta had shut him out, closing every pathway almost automatically, as she must have done when Sergey tried to get into her mind.
Cornel and Dorin urge caution. Sergey is angry that Ambrus disturbed him from his lair when clearly there was no threat. Cornel wants to wait before leaving to go to the lair beneath the city, and when they go, he wants their servants to go with them to protect Sergey.
Ferro sighed. She clearly hadn’t retreated. She had a way of reaching Sergey and getting into his mind. He didn’t understand how it was that he, as her lifemate, couldn’t find that path and follow her.
Does Cornel believe Sergey can really lead them?
No. He does not care who leads as long as he can direct the leader, at least that is my impression of him. I cannot always read his thoughts.
That was a revelation. Elisabeta, you never have said you can read thoughts.
She was silent for a moment. Did I do something wrong? You read thoughts. I did not realize I would be doing anything wrong.
You did nothing wrong. If I scan someone’s mind or take their blood and force them to take mine to tie us together, then I can read their mind. The way you do it appears to be something very different. His lifemate was truly extraordinary and she didn’t even realize it.
I spent centuries watching these vampires. Every expression. The way they move. The things they say. Eventually, I knew the way they think. That allowed me more and more to read their minds, I suppose.
Ferro could feel the restless buildup of tension emanating from a small grove of trees independent of the forest about sixty yards
from where the five ancients had stopped moving.
Sergey grows impatient, doesn’t he? he asked Elisabeta.
Yes, he is insisting they leave to head for the lair in the city. He does not want to wait for the lesser vampires’ servants. He does not like to wait, he never has. He feels it makes him look small. He says clearly there are no hunters close. He is insisting Sedrick and Edward go out in plain sight, walking beside the lake. They are to take to the air and see if that draws anyone out. If it does not, he will send the whining, simpering newly made vampires next. I am quoting him.
Elisabeta clearly didn’t want the ancients to think she would refer to the victims in such an uncompassionate way. Ferro sometimes found himself swamped with love for her at the most unexpected times. She was incredible, guiding the hunters through the traps and now waiting with them to see what Sergey would do. At the compound, she had Julija and Lorraine with her, shielding her from so many curious eyes watching her.
You must be very careful that the newly made vampires do not come in your direction, Ferro. If they alert, Ambrus will know you are close whether or not Sergey believes it. He will call all the servants out, and it is an army of them. They will be hungry and the five of you are ancient. Your blood is the most prized of all.
They were all very aware of the truth of what she was saying. We will go higher, into the clouds, drifting slowly so there will be nothing to trigger an alarm. Elisabeta, I am counting on you to let us know if there is the least concern. We will stop moving if you warn us.
Ferro again wanted to give her a task so she wouldn’t panic. He knew any movement near seven master vampires was extremely dangerous. Elisabeta had spent centuries around them. She would know that just as well as all five hunters. The five ancients began their ascent just as Sedrick and Edward emerged from the small grove of trees. Edward hung back a little on the pretense of adjusting his clothing to make certain he looked fresh and clean.
Sergey is very fed up with Edward. He wants Cornel to discipline him. He has noticed that Edward takes the lion’s share of all victims’ blood and runs from a fight. Cornel agrees with him and said he has waited for Sergey to give him the go-ahead. He has something special planned for Edward to learn his lesson.
The effort to keep Ferro and the others informed was taking a toll on Elisabeta. He could feel her worry that she might make a mistake and they would pay the price. She paid strict attention to the vampires now, staying more and more in the place of retreat in her mind where Ferro couldn’t follow. The situation was suddenly very unsettling to him. He found he didn’t like her being there. He wasn’t certain if she was safe or not. He had no way of knowing, and there, in the middle of danger, he couldn’t ask her.
Piŋe sarnanak, it is more important that you stay safe for me than for us to have this information. If you are not safe, retreat now and stay in the compound. We will do what we always do and I will come back to you when I am finished. That is a command. His heart ached. His soul ached. She had to obey him in this one thing. This could not be the time for his little songbird to decide it was time to fly from her cage and soar free.
Why would you think I am not safe? Julija and Lorraine are with me. I am merely getting information for you.
Does Sergey have a way of detecting your presence? If he had a heartbeat in his present form, it would be accelerating so fast it might burst in his chest.
Not unless I want him to know.
The relief was tremendous. We definitely do not want him to know. Ferro was adamant on the subject.
The two master vampires, Sedrick and Edward, took to the air and were gone without interference. Only the sound of the waves could be heard lapping at the shores of the lake.
They are sending out the newly made vampires. Are you high enough that they cannot detect you?
Ferro hoped so, but they had no way of knowing what the range was.
Do not move, Elisabeta warned, her voice tight. None of you.
Below them, coming out of the forest from various directions, looking like gray, shadowy wolves, the newly made vampires emerged, slinking apprehensively on hands and knees or bellies. There were only six left and they were quite a distance from one another, something Ferro hoped would help raise the odds in their favor. Each crawled or dragged itself to the lake and then stood, stumbling as if drunk. One raised his head a few times, looking skyward, but the clouds continued to drift and he shook his head as darkness engulfed him and twice he went to his knees.
They were more bait for the hunters, but Ferro thought it was a little insulting that Sergey and the other master vampires would think such easy victims would draw them out when Sedrick and Edward hadn’t managed to do so. Now the newly made vampires were trying to take to the air, running and leaping, falling flat on their faces. They were human, not Carpathian, and they had no idea how to fly. No one had ever shown them. They’d woken starving, disoriented and mostly terrified, a condition the master vampires would enjoy to the fullest for as long as they could.
Ferro, Gary, Sandu, Petru and Benedek watched impassively the terrible spectacle below, but all of them could feel Elisabeta’s silent weeping. Her compassionate nature couldn’t stand the horror of what these once-human men were going through. It had been their choice, through greed, to join with Sergey, but she wouldn’t think or care about that; she would only see their suffering. He felt the rise of her need to aid them, to soothe and comfort them, that giving nature, her gift that she sometimes felt was a curse—as it was at that moment.
Do not, Elisabeta. That is a command. If you must break our merge to hold back aid to them, then do so now. Ferro detested that he had to use what to him amounted to the same tactics that Sergey had for all those centuries, taking Elisabeta’s free will from her.
He had always thought he would be the kind of lifemate who would want his woman under his command, but the more he saw what that kind of life of total submission had done to Elisabeta’s true nature, the more he knew he didn’t want that. Not for her. She was beautiful inside and out, whether she knew it or not. She was strong and powerful. She was gentle and compassionate. She was intelligent. She was a partner. He wanted that. Yes, he wanted, even needed, to stand in front of her and protect her—he would always be that kind of man—but he would never want to suppress her true nature.
An extremely large owl flew from the grove of trees, talons extended, digging into the back of one of the vampires as he fell over. The vampire was lifted into the air, kicking and screaming. The others, on the ground, lifted their heads to look as the owl took their companion over the lake and dropped him into the very center, where he sank beneath the murky waters like a stone. He might drown, but he wouldn’t die. Vampires didn’t die, not like that.
There was a distinct snicker coming from the grove of trees, and a rustle of leaves told Ferro one of the master vampires—it sounded like Addler Astor—was hidden in the trunk of the tree right on the very edge of the grove. The owl wheeled in the air and dove at another of the cowering vampires now desperately trying to take to the air, their only way to keep from being targeted for amusement by the master vampires.
Cornel is disgusted and wants Sergey to put a stop to this. He says it will prevent the hunters from coming in to take the bait.
Cornel knew no hunter would believe that, in chasing master vampires, they would accidentally stumble across such newly made vampires unable to fend for themselves.
He and Dorin insist they call some of their servants to escort Sergey and the rest of them to the lair beneath the city so Cornel can use the computers to see what went wrong. Sergey is ignoring him, but that is what he does when he gets stubborn. It is Addler who has one of his servants playing with the newly made vampires. He does things like that to incur favor with Sergey. Sergey can be very cruel, and he enjoys cruelty and even admires it in others. Addler knows that and feeds that vile streak in Sergey as often as he can.
The vampires scrambled in all directions, looking up at the sky, watching for the owl as it dropped out of the darkness, having already selected its next victim. Addler’s high-pitched giggle gave his position away. He was definitely the master vampire hidden within the tree trunk at the very edge of the grove.
Do you know Sergey’s exact location, Elisabeta? It suddenly occurred to Ferro to ask. She had known where he was going and pointed the ancients in the right direction.
There is a tree, a large one in the center between five others. Addler is directly in front of him, although Sergey is higher, so he has good visibility of the lake and the surrounding area. Cornel is to the right. Dorin to the left. Directly behind him is Ambrus. Do not ever make the mistake of discounting Ambrus.
Each time Elisabeta mentioned Ambrus, Ferro not only could hear but could feel her nervousness. That told him that, although she admired Cornel, and Dorin’s intelligence, Ambrus had a cunning in battle that was frightening to her.
The owl approached again in attack formation; razor-sharp talons extended as it came straight at the vampire standing awkwardly frozen, motionless onshore. The mouth of the newly made vampire was open wide as he screamed, but he still didn’t move. The other vampires dove for cover, although one did manage to make it into the air. He took off into the night, triumphant, presumably following the coordinates placed in his head by one of the master vampires.
The owl struck the frozen vampire hard, knocking him to the ground, ripping the flesh from the bone, shredding his face from eye to chin, removing it completely.
Elisabeta made a single sound of pain and sorrow. Before Ferro could order her to leave him so she would not continue to see the cruelty the vampires were displaying toward their newly made brethren, she began reporting the conversation between Sergey and Cornel. Her voice was tight and dripped with tears, but she held herself together.
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