You already can feel that you are growing into your own power, Elisabeta. When you learn to wield it, and you will, together, we will be unstoppable. He wanted her to know he wasn’t the only one with power. She was capable of stopping others from forcing their wills on her—even him.
“It is best that you meet with your birth brother, Elisabeta,” Lorraine said gently, addressing her directly. “I know it will be difficult, but with Ferro there, nothing could harm you. Andor and I will stay close in case you need us.”
Andor nodded. “Know that Traian searched for centuries for you. When others gave up, he did not. There was no trace of you. You simply vanished. The moment he heard the news that you were alive, that you had been rescued, he arranged, with his lifemate and young Josef, to travel here to see you. He wants only to know that you are in good hands. Tariq has assured him that Ferro is doing right by you and can protect you from the vampire.”
A little shudder went through Elisabeta’s body, but Ferro was in her mind and he felt her gather her courage—and she had it in abundance. She might be terrified to face the world that had passed her by as it had him, but she forced herself to do it.
If Tariq reassures him you are protecting me, why would he want to take me to this prince? I do not understand.
Ferro knew she wanted him to ask the question of Andor. He sent his brethren a faint smile. “My lifemate is logical. She wants to know why Traian would want to take her from me if he has been reassured by the prince’s choice to rule here.”
Andor sent him a small grin back. “She’s quick, isn’t she?”
“She’s in the same room,” Lorraine pointed out, making a face at them. “Elisabeta, men are annoying. I don’t know how you don’t find them so. Either I’m laughing or I want to kick them.”
“She means kiss me,” Andor stated. “She really likes kissing me.”
“I did, until you decided to start acting like Ferro, who thinks he’s some feudal lord in a castle and we should all bow at his feet.”
“Not everyone, Lorraine,” Ferro corrected with a straight face. “Only the women.”
He shared his amusement with Elisabeta, hoping his teasing of Lorraine would help his woman realize that it didn’t matter what others might be plotting or planning, their world remained theirs. He would see to her happiness and safety. Immediately, his little songbird relaxed in his arms. Her spirit slid against his, an intimate connection that was becoming more sensual in nature the more time they spent together, which would be every rising.
Without warning, a white-hot rage burst through his mind. At the same time he came to his feet, putting Elisabeta behind him, both Lorraine and Andor were also on their feet, facing the door, feeling that same threat as well.
“Sandu,” Lorraine whispered. “He does not feel. Why would he suddenly be experiencing such intense emotion?”
Ferro didn’t wait, waving toward the door, blasting it open, curling one arm around Elisabeta, clamping her to his side as he hurled himself outside and into the air. Andor and Lorraine were right behind him. They flew together straight into the middle of the yard in the center of Tariq’s compound, where Sandu towered over a young Carpathian male.
Sandu was a powerful ancient with broad shoulders and a thick, broad chest. He was tall, with long flowing hair tied back with a leather cord. His arms were corded with muscle and his thighs were twin, powerful columns. He was the kind of man others stepped aside for. Ordinarily, Ferro knew, Sandu wasn’t bothered by nuisances. Where a few of the ancients reacted to the rude modern-world behaviors, Sandu wasn’t one of them. It made no sense that he aggressively stood with his white teeth drawn back in a snarl as he faced the young Carpathian who looked no more than a teenager.
Josef had very pale, almost porcelain skin, made more so by his extremely black hair. It was spiked with the tips dyed bright, almost neon blue, something one might see in human teenage boys but never in Carpathians. He might look like a human boy, but he was in his twenties, had shrewd intelligence in his eyes and didn’t back away from Sandu as the ancient stepped close to him.
“You need to have patience when you’re learning this kind of technology.” Josef kept his voice very low, not in the least demeaning.
Ferro could tell the boy was being careful not to sound patronizing. It didn’t seem to matter. Sandu ripped the tablet from his hands, broke it in two and hurled it across the yard. It was such an out-of-character action for any ancient hunter that it shocked Ferro. He glanced uneasily at Andor and then at Gary, who had silently come up behind Sandu.
There was chaos in Sandu’s mind. A red haze that burned like a terrible fire. Ferro tried to reach him through the bond they’d established in the monastery. Andor tried through their soul bond. Gary reached out as a healer. Nothing seemed to penetrate that ugly churning mass, that need for violence.
Sandu stepped closer to the boy and Ferro’s heart sank. He would have no choice but to destroy the man he thought of as brother. Sandu had suffered too long and finally was turning. Around them, women and children were being hastily taken to safe rooms. The Carpathian males pressed closer, but this was Ferro’s task. No one else would touch his brother.
“Do not tell me what I should do. I have been alive centuries. I need only to take this from your mind. Why should I waste one moment of my precious time on pressing buttons and staring at a screen? You wish only to look superior.”
Ferro willed the boy not to respond. There were deep red flames in the middle of Sandu’s black eyes, burning out of control, reflecting the wildfire blazing through his body, raging through his mind.
“Sandu,” Josef began, his tone placating.
Ferro inched closer, knowing he had to insert himself between Sandu and the boy, and the moment he did, Sandu would defend himself. That was when he felt her. They all felt her. Gary. Andor. Lorraine. And most of all Sandu. Peace and tranquility surrounded all of them but encompassed Sandu, as if enfolding him in a cocoon of sheer serenity. Elisabeta flowed gently into Sandu’s mind through Ferro, using his path, her touch so gentle it was barely felt, and yet so powerful, she was breathtaking.
Each of those connected to Sandu felt Elisabeta’s compassionate, selfless giving. Her spirit was like a cool summer breeze, moving through the red haze in the ancient’s mind, clearing away the vampire-turning tendencies in the ancient and replacing them with peace. Somehow, in a short time, she managed to restore Sandu’s normal balance. His mind was once again free of all rage and chaos and he was able to think clearly.
Ferro looked down at his lifemate. She stood very still in the middle of the extremely wide-open yard, surrounded by houses, warriors, mostly strangers, but her entire focus was on Sandu. She didn’t see the night sky or the huge area that would have frightened her beyond measure. She saw only a Carpathian hunter in need and she reacted the way her gift demanded. He was extremely proud of and humbled by her.
Thank you, piŋe sarnanak. Sandu matters to me very much. He knew she would have aided any of the Carpathian hunters, but his brethren, Sandu in particular, he held in great affection, although he was only beginning to acknowledge that. He wrapped his arm carefully around her and pulled her under the shelter of his shoulder. It wouldn’t be long before she would realize where she was and how many others, including her birth brother, were staring at her.
“So, Sandu, I take it you are far too old to learn technology,” Dragomir said, his grin taunting. “I always knew your brain was a bit addled. Apparently, it matters little what songs are sung around the campfire in honor of a great warrior if one’s brain can no longer learn.”
Sandu narrowed his dark eyes at Dragomir. “O jelä peje terád. You try this demon tablet and see how you fare with it.”
The other hunters laughed, smiled or smirked as Sandu told Dragomir sun scorch you, swearing in their ancient language. Mostly, the humor was from relief that Sandu had been spared from turning, but now the doubt had been planted and he would be watched closely. Ferro knew he would have to monitor his friend at all times.
“We all have to learn it,” Gary said. “We can’t just know how it works and take the information from one another. We have to be able to use it if we need to. The Malinov brothers have been light-years ahead of us in the use of technology and we have to catch up with them fast if we are going to survive. They are attacking us on every front and they will win if we don’t get out ahead of them. Josef is our best hope to do that and we need to pay attention to him.”
“Who is brave enough to be next?” Sandu asked. “You, Dragomir? Or you, Petru? I see you, Isai, slinking away into the shadows.”
Josef held up his hands. “I will work with one of you next rising. I need to go through the rest of the system, or at least get through as much as I can before dawn comes.”
He does not show it, but he was very shaken by Sandu’s reaction, Elisabeta reported to Ferro.
Just the size difference alone would have been enough for anyone to be shaken, but the fact that Sandu had so much battle experience was enormous. He was considered one of the best hunters the Carpathian people had. The boy had to have realized that he had been very close to death, although not once had the knowledge shown on his expression or in his voice.
A man holding the hand of a woman with a cap of rich brown hair and cool gray eyes came toward Ferro and Elisabeta. Ferro recognized that this man had to be Traian Trigovise, Elisabeta’s brother. His eyes held piercing intelligence and also a determination that meant Ferro might really have to fight his way out of the compound if this man had his way. He wasn’t alone in that assessment of the situation. The brethren, including Gary, shifted positions, spreading out to cover the grounds and exits, giving Ferro and Elisabeta a clear path, if necessary, to escape.
“You were gracious, Josef, in spite of my brief outburst,” Sandu said. “I apologize for breaking your demon device, although I should have crushed the thing much sooner and been done with it when I realized it was making my head pound. Call, should you have need, and I will come to your aid.”