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)
The moment Ferro was in the clear sky, he turned back to streak toward the lake.
How is it we felt overwhelming sorrow when we are ancient hunters and have no emotion, Elisabeta? Sandu asked.
Ferro could almost see his lifemate wringing her hands anxiously. He surrounded her with warmth. You can answer me and I will relay the information, or just answer all of us, piŋe sarnanak, he said gently, more to remind the ancients that she was fighting centuries of submission to Sergey, of never speaking to any being other than the vampire.
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.