Music blared, the lights spinning dark purple and blue as Josef sauntered into the underground nightclub, his gaze arrogantly scanning the crowd. Women turned to look as he passed them. Like all Carpathians, there was a magnetism to him that was blatant in the fluid way he moved. He was dressed in black leather pants, a black shirt with cord laces going up the front. He appeared confident, sexy, charming and very modern as he walked briskly through the first bar straight toward the second one.
Behind him, two couples had also entered, talking together, their faces obscured by their costumes, the men taller, holding hands with their partners as they cut through the crowd going toward the second bar. Barack and Syndil, two members of the Dark Troubadour band, legends in the Carpathian community, were dressed in black, taking in everything and conveying the information to the other Carpathians as they followed Josef. Dayan, another band member, and Corrine, his lifemate, also followed, dressed in black, their makeup impeccable, impossible to be recognized as Carpathian as they moved through the crowd, picking up the strains of thoughts as well as conversations.
The underground club was designed to appeal to the goth crowd. It was very popular with both the goth and goth-vampire cultures. The full basement beneath the large nightclub had been renovated into three bars, each looking like a series of caves, one leading into the next. All had well-marked exits, but the interiors were dark and lit mostly with wall sconces that looked like old-fashioned candles so that flames flickered on the walls of the caves.
Each bar was quite large and shaped like a cave, the sides appearing as if carved from the inside of the bowels of a mountain. The walls seemed so real, glittering with rock that had strains of minerals and even gems running through them. In a few places water appeared to leak in steady trickles that created dark curved streaks playing through the “dirt” of the walls. Rocks jutted out here and there, giving more dimension and realism to the feeling of a cavern.
Colors pulsed through the bars, dark purple and blue, a bruising heartbeat that vibrated the floor and walls and bodies of those inside, connecting them together. It became a singular experience to attend the club, one to be repeated, almost an addiction, a need to return again and again to find others accepting of differences so many felt.
The feel in the club was quite different than Ferro expected. It wasn’t the men drooling over the women, looking for a quick lay. It wasn’t even a bunch of depressed crazies coming together to hang out, staring into their glasses of alcohol. These were people of all ages, dancing to different types of music, dressing the way they wanted, accepting one another the way they were no matter age, gender or preference for partners.
Ferro was with a contingent of Carpathian hunters scattered around the underground club, unseen, a part of the walls, impossible to detect by the human psychic males that had been placed in the nightclub systematically over the last few years. Tariq had been shocked that so many had been. Seventeen of his servers had been identified by Josef as actually working for the enemy.
Tariq had looked at the work schedule and discovered that all were working this rising, that they had traded shifts with others to be certain to be on, which only proved Josef was correct. One other had also traded shifts, making him appear suspicious, so they added his name to the roster, bringing the number to eighteen.
They couldn’t have any of the human psychics working close together and take a chance that their combined gifts would give away the fact that many of the Carpathians were in the club. Fortunately, the building was four stories high with a club on each floor. Each floor had a different type of dance music playing, creating a different atmosphere. The center of each floor was open so one could look down and see onto the dance floors of the clubs below it—all but the underground cave, which was kept extremely private.
The underground club added an additional working environment that had to be covered. Not only was the nightclub enormously popular, crowded and always busy, but Tariq employed quite a number of workers for each separate club. Tariq simply shifted the workers around.
Woman is approaching me, Josef announced. Definitely human. Her mind is protected. She has to be Sergey’s.
Ferro and each of the other Carpathians reached out very gently in an attempt to try to scan the redheaded woman walking boldly up to Josef. She was short, with large brown eyes and a generous mouth.
She looks a little bit like Skyler did when she was younger, Josef said. He nearly groaned. I think of Skyler as a little sister. How am I supposed to flirt with this girl?
It’s called acting, Dayan said. We all know you’re good at that. Anytime you’re around the prince you put on a good show.
Ferro would have given anything to ask questions about the kinds of things the kid did when he was around Mikhail. Any of the Carpathians could have broken through the shield erected in the woman’s mind, but Sergey would have known and immediately been alerted.
Elisabeta, can you tell if Sergey was the one to place the barrier in the girl’s brain, and if so, can you push past it without his knowledge? Ferro asked.
Elisabeta was hidden, Julija and Lorraine close to her, along with Blaze, Maksim’s lifemate. Ferro had an aversion to the women being anywhere near action that could be as intense as this battle might prove to be, but they needed Elisabeta close and they wanted to keep the humans safe. Cornel and Dorin intended to start a bloodbath right there at the nightclub for a diversion no matter what. To save lives, they had to take the risk.
Yes, her name is Linda. She was protected by him, but it was easy enough to move past it. Her orders are very simple. She is to get him to take her to the third bar and go to a specific table in the far back near the exit. They are waiting to take him there. Linda will distract him while they come up on him.
Does she know about the plans for the vampires to hunt in this bar or the ones upstairs?
No. She has no idea. They did not warn her to leave.
Of course they hadn’t. Ferro wasn’t surprised. Once she did her job, she would be of no more use to them. More than likely they would throw her in the van, or whatever means they used to transport Josef, and take her as well for her blood. They wanted to feast this rising. The vampires were looking forward to it.
I can call Sergey to me, Elisabeta offered.
Not yet. I have to know where Cornel and Dorin are. Where their servants are. The hunters have to stop them, Elisabeta. Then we will go after Sergey. He is the least of our worries for now. We protect Josef and the humans.
She was silent a moment. This is not the best place for me to be, Ferro. If I were higher up and not so closed in, I could give exact locations for you, just as I did when I could tell you where Sergey was. You want me safe. I understand that, she added before he could protest. But you also need all these people safe. That is our true purpose as Carpathians. You just stated what we were to do. Let me move locations. You, Sandu and Gary can escort Lorraine and the others with me. Every Carpathian warrior can stand by if need be, but I am telling you I will be far more valuable to you if I am where I can be useful.
Ferro tasted fear in his mouth. He had known all along it would come to this. When he had first woken, that moment even as his heart had taken its first beat, he had known Elisabeta would be in terrible danger. There was Josef, his arm slung around Linda’s neck, sauntering slowly through the third bar toward that back table where he knew a trap waited for him. An ambush.
Josef. A kid with more courage than he should have. Elisabeta. His woman, terrifying him with her bravery, knowing she was facing the Malinov brother who dared to deceive her centuries earlier, kidnapping and keeping her in a cage, mentally and physically torturing her. Ferro had to have that same courage. If they could do this, then he could as well.
Josef, delay reaching that table until I let you know it is safe to do so.
Josef whispered in Linda’s ear. She shook her head, but he just laughed a
nd turned them, heading toward the actual bar where people were lined up to get drinks. Ferro waited until Josef was at the bar, engaging with others around him. Dayan and Corinne had come up behind him. Barack and Syndil had hemmed Linda in on the other side, making it just a little difficult for them to move. Syndil immediately began talking with Linda. Her voice was very mesmerizing, enthralling Linda so that she barely realized minutes were slipping away as Josef waited patiently for his turn instead of calling for a drink as he could have.
Ferro immediately hurried to the second cave and the middle of the wall where the women waited unseen and impossible to detect, protected by not only the Carpathian warriors but Julija’s mage magic. Julija alone would have been a force to be reckoned with, but the combination with the Carpathian ancients should have put Ferro’s mind at ease. It should have, but Elisabeta was his world, so it didn’t.
“Where do you need to be?” He knew exactly what she was going to say before she even said it.
“The rooftop.”
Out in the open. Exposed. Of course it would have to be the rooftop. He looked in despair, first at Lorraine and then to Andor, Lorraine’s lifemate. Andor knew. Isai, Julija’s lifemate, understood the danger as well. The rooftop was where the vampires could strike easily with just about any weapon. The two ancients had joined him to escort the women to their new location and then weave safeguards around them.
“Is there a second choice?” Isai asked.
Elisabeta looked at Ferro. For the first time, he silently willed her not to answer. If she couldn’t do it on her own, as she normally couldn’t, then maybe he would have every reason to justify keeping her safe—but he knew better. He knew he wouldn’t.
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 through 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.
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