Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Safia heard the clear warning in Aura’s tone. “You’re saying Petru could turn into a monster.”
“Absolutely he could. Even those traveling with him would not be able to stop him easily. He would kill many before, or even if, he could be destroyed. I don’t know what happens to these ancient hunters, but I do know it is very hard on them to be without their lifemate.”
“Is there a way to stop it from happening?”
“He must bind you to him. That is the only way,” Aura explained. “You hold the other half of his soul. He is all darkness. You are his light. Once your souls are woven back together, he cannot turn. In our culture, when that ritual is performed, and you consummate what you refer to as a marriage, he is safe unless something happens to you.”
“That’s why he says we have no time to get to know one another.” Safia stepped even closer to the gate, looking under the safeguards to examine the thinning wood. It was a very systematic thinning.
“He doesn’t dare wait. He cannot afford to. Should something happen to you, he knows he would scorch the earth.”
“This wood hasn’t been touched by a tool, yet it’s pitted every few feet.”
Aura moved up beside her to peer at the gate. “I thought maybe demons were digging at it, but there aren’t any scratch marks.”
“If the beast you guard against was once Carpathian, is it possible he uses his mind to wear down the wood?”
Aura peered down at the pits in the wood and slowly nodded her head. “Yes. He could do that. He isn’t a vampire. He’s not wholly Carpathian. He’s more beast than man now, but I’ve heard him speak the Carpathian language. Not to me. He doesn’t converse with anyone but Gaia. She was a young Carpathian child given to Lilith by Xavier, a mage, in exchange for something foul. She grew close with the beast and stays of her own free will with him. They aren’t lifemates, but she tries to keep him from getting any worse than he is.”
“Why does Lilith want control of him?”
“Like I said, he is very powerful and dangerous. If she could make him do her bidding, she would have the ultimate weapon. Even she fears him.”
Safia turned to face her friend. “What else should I know about the Carpathian culture? I can tell you’re withholding something important from me.”
“I didn’t say anything about your lifemate because I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. There was so much mystery. I was a child when the seer set everything up, and my mother wasn’t that forthcoming with information, especially once my father died. She stayed with me, but she was only half in this world. I didn’t know if I was supposed to educate you on Carpathians or not. I wasn’t told. When I realized you hadn’t been told anything, it was very alarming to me.”
“It wasn’t fair.”
“No, it wasn’t. But if I interfere between lifemates, that wouldn’t be right, either.”
“Why would talking to me about your world be interfering?”
Aura moved away from the gate, back up along the narrow corridor toward the larger chamber. “Now that Petru is here, he will expect to be the one to answer your questions.”
“Am I to have no other friends or family to talk to? Is that the way it works in your world?” Safia trailed after her much more slowly.
Aura half turned to send her a small smile. “Honestly? I’ve lived with your family far longer than I’ve lived in the Carpathian world. I’m more Imazighen than Carpathian. At least in my heart. Maybe in my mind. The grandmothers and mothers in your family have shared more wisdom with me than my mother ever shared.”
Safia heard the note of sadness in Aura’s voice, and it wasn’t the first time. Her life had to have been very difficult and at times extremely lonely. Aura had lived one lifetime after another without any of her people other than her mother around. By Aura’s admission, her mother had lived her life with one foot in another world.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more, Aura. I should have paid more attention. I did think of you as one of the family. My best friend, my sister. You always seemed happy, but I should have made sure. It was selfish of me not to think about you.” She was genuinely upset with herself. She loved Aura, and the thought that she hadn’t considered her more disturbed her greatly.
“Don’t be so distressed, Safia. I know you love me,” Aura said. “You’ve always shown me that you do, more so than anyone else ever has.” She turned fully around, hiding her expression. “In the end, even more than my mother.”
Safia’s heart ached for Aura. As a rule, Aura closed off her emotions from everyone, but she was sharing with Safia, making herself vulnerable. Safia pressed a closed fist to her chest where her heart felt so painful, a physical reaction to the empathy she felt for Aura.