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)
Elisabeta didn’t want her lifemate to have to take on a master vampire’s wrath. Sergey would never give her up and he had an army at his disposal. She knew his cruelty. Ferro had proven to be a kind man. She wasn’t certain if he could match Sergey’s ferocity in battle and she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Ferro didn’t try to reassure her, nor did he reprimand her for not believing in him. He didn’t seem to have any kind of ego at all. She felt him moving in her mind, a more forceful presence than he had been, but not necessarily one that was taking her over. He was still gentle, but she felt him searching, making certain Sergey hadn’t left anything of himself behind. She knew mages could take small slivers of themselves and plant them in others to use them as spies. Some vampires had learned how to do the same. Sergey held the dark mage, Xavier, within him as well as his brothers. That gave him access to their knowledge, although, on his own, Sergey had never accessed those slivers.
“I am going to build a shield in your mind that he cannot penetrate. If by some miracle he managed to slip past all the safeguards woven by the warriors here as well as my brethren, he will not be able to get to you.”
She moistened her lips. She had to confess to him. “When I was in the healing grounds, before you came to me, he spoke to me every rising. He wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t make him stop. He told me to come to him or he would kill everyone harboring me.”
Silence met her disclosure. His body didn’t change in the least. He didn’t stiffen. His breathing didn’t change in the least, his hands didn’t tighten on her, but she was very tuned to him and she knew he definitely hadn’t expected the revelation.
Ferro’s hands came up to her hair again, stroking those gentle caresses, as if they not only soothed her but, in a way, brought him a type of peace as well. “That changes things a bit, sívamet. Anything to do with this vampire, or any of his suspected servants, you are to tell me immediately.” He poured command into his voice. “Immediately. First thing.”
“I’m sorry.” Clearly that oversight had been a mistake. She hadn’t wanted to think about Sergey let alone talk about him. She detested that she hadn’t said anything to Ferro. She had told Julija sometime earlier, when they had spoken in secret, but since then, she hadn’t communicated with anyone. Now she felt guilty and very distressed, almost as if by not telling Ferro, she had betrayed him in some way.
“There is no need to be upset. I did not think there was a possibility so I did not ask you or give you an order. That is my failing, not yours.” He was silent again. “You disclosed this information to Julija?”
Again, there was no inflection in his voice, but she had the feeling he condemned her friend for not telling him.
“She was sworn to secrecy. I spoke to her only on the condition that she never let anyone know I was communicating with her.”
“This was a matter of your safety.”
There was no threat in his voice. No understanding, either. A shiver went down her spine and she was uncertain why. She was suddenly very, very uncomfortable and a little afraid, not for herself but for her friend.
“What did the vampire say to you?”
Ferro’s arms slipped around her body, holding her closer to him when she shivered almost uncontrollably. She couldn’t stop the trembling. She never should have told him about Julija, although it hadn’t occurred to her to keep anything from her lifemate.
“He said to come to him or he would kill everyone. He repeated it over and over each time I was awakened to feed. I didn’t want to open my eyes and rise even to get blood. It was terrifying to hear the things he said, and his pull was very strong. I was so afraid all the time. I didn’t know what was expected of me. And I knew there were children close. He was especially cruel to children.”
“What stopped his calling to you?”
“You, I think. Once you began sleeping close to me, I couldn’t hear his voice anymore.”
Again, there was a small silence while his hand moved in her hair and his arm remained locked around her, giving her strength. “That’s interesting,” he said finally. “I wove safeguards around the two of us, but you had safeguards around you at all times. I wonder what the difference was. Or is. I have to speak with Tariq about this.”
Her heart jumped. Did that mean he was going to leave her? Or would she have to go with him to face the unknown leader of the compound where the children were protected and she’d brought danger? There was no way he couldn’t hear her heart pounding. His hand slipped from her hair to massage the nape of her neck.