Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Ferro felt her heart as if it were that of the wild songbird he always called her, beating out of control. Her warning had been heard by the others merged with him. He believed in his lifemate. So far, she had never steered him wrong. He doubted if her fears for his life would have allowed her to suddenly overcome centuries of submission so that she made up her warning just to force him away from his prey.
Immediately he halted his forward momentum and signaled the others to follow his lead, waiting for Ambrus, Sedrick, Edward and the newly made vampires to pass below them. In their frenzy to run, he was certain whatever had tipped them off would most likely elude them just long enough for the five ancients to get out of the underground lair, if Elisabeta could show them a safe way out.
Do not get caught in the corridor. Once in the meeting room, be very still and do not speak. Hurry, they will close the doors and you will be trapped. There are so many poisonous guards in place at the entrances and exits and along the walls, ceilings and floors of the corridor. Her anxiety showed in the quaver in her voice, but she was very clear in her instructions.
They streaked down the corridor before the last vampire was through the opening, so that when the door slammed shut, they were on one side and the vampires on the other. Back in the circular room, they drifted toward the ceiling, careful not to touch anything. Behind the closed doors, an agonized shriek signaled one of the newly made vampires had been unwary, or not fast enough, and was caught in one of the traps made for anyone pursuing the master vampires.
On the ceiling, toward the left side from Sergey’s chair looking toward the center of the room, there is a root. It looks like a small loop, almost pushed into the dirt. Do not talk to each other if you can help it. Do not expend any energy. There are terrible, vile creatures in that room, and any energy not known to them will now unleash them.
Ferro could still feel her anxiety. She wanted them out of there fast. He knew that once the master vampires realized that whoever had been secreted in their meeting room hadn’t followed them, they would be returning. The ancients weren’t opposed to being outnumbered in a battle, but going up against seven master vampires and a few starving pawns inside a small room fraught with poisonous traps was suicide. More, Ferro didn’t believe that Sergey wouldn’t have other vampires, the ones each master vampire would have to serve and protect them, close by.
The plan was to get information and then separate Sergey from the others and kill him. The last thing they wanted to do was have the slivers of his brothers and Xavier find homes in other master vampires. It might still be doable to kill him, but first they had to get out alive from the lair that had become a trap. Ferro’s woman was going to ensure that happened. He had every faith in her.
The five Carpathian ancients searched the ceiling of the meeting room. It was a large room and there were numerous roots sticking out of the dirt. Some of the roots had fine hairs on them, and even getting close to them in the invisible form they were in sent chills through their molecules. Other roots were twisted and gnarled, graduating from smaller, elongated limbs to thicker ones. Some looped back into the ceiling to disappear out of sight, while others hung down. Looking for that small little loop almost pushed into the dirt was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The five ancients quartered the area, each taking a section of the left side of the ceiling to search. Benedek found the very small root nearly buried in the dirt. It was a twisted loop of braided wood about two inches thick, marbled in color so that it blended in with the dirt. He stared at it from every angle, sharing the image with the others and with Elisabeta.
That is the correct one. You have to grasp it and pull straight down. Be certain to pull straight and be to one side. There will be a hole you can float through. Do not touch the sides or you will trigger the guardians. The webs are very hungry. Their tentacles are always looking for prey. Movement prompts an immediate response. Noises. Drift through very quietly. When you all have gotten through the door, let it fall back naturally into place.
Thank you, Elisabeta, Ferro said. There was a still fear in her, but she was sticking with him, refusing to give in to panic as she might have those first few risings.