Dark Song

7

Josef arrived with Traian and Joie, and he’s already begun to work on updating the programs for Tariq,” Andor said. “He brought tablets for the brethren and is going to be giving lessons.” Andor smirked. “Sandu is first. You know how resistant he is to learning actual technology. He does not mind in the least picking it out of someone’s mind, but to use it on a computer, no way.”

Lorraine laughed. “As if you’re any different. And Ferro won’t even look at a computer.”

“What is the need when I can look into the mind and get the same information?” Ferro asked. “I learn how to use one, and retrieve the information I am seeking at the same time.”

Lorraine rolled her eyes. “You need to come into this century, Ferro. And why isn’t Elisabeta allowed to speak for herself? You introduced us and yet she hasn’t spoken a word. Andor told me that ancients do not always want their lifemates to speak with other men. We’re family, right? Andor is your brother and I’m your sister, so what’s with the old ways?”

Ferro shrugged his shoulders, no expression on his face. He looked down at the woman he held close to him. Elisabeta was tucked tight against him, his arm around her, nearly swallowing her, making it almost impossible for Lorraine and Andor, positioned on his other side, to see her clearly. He had set up the chairs deliberately for Elisabeta’s comfort, not for that of their visitors. So far, Elisabeta hadn’t given any indication that she wished to engage with the couple. Until she did, he was going to shield her.

Lorraine gave an exaggerated sigh while Andor coughed behind his hand, amusement lighting his eyes. She glared at her lifemate. “Don’t encourage him. Elisabeta, really. Ferro only acts like he’s tough. He’s really a sweet teddy bear. A little gruff sometimes, but he would never, under any circumstances, hurt you. If you want to talk without his permission, go right ahead. If he glares at you, I’ll kick him in the shins for you.”

Ferro not only heard the ring of truth in her voice but knew she had the audacity and courage to back up her threat with action. More, the smallest sound escaped Elisabeta, just in her mind, but he could swear it was a girlish giggle. That pleased him to no end. He knew his larger-than-life warrior-sister would bring his submissive lifemate a completely different perspective, one he wanted her to see. He had no idea Elisabeta would find Lorraine as amusing as he did.

“You, I cannot put over my knee, but my lifemate, I assure you, I can, and will.” In his mind, he made certain that he was rubbing Elisabeta’s bottom sensuously, massaging her buttocks, not in the least hurting her. To Lorraine, he sounded archaic, as if he would spank his lifemate, but he didn’t want his little songbird to fear anything in the way of punishments other than what he’d told her would happen—his kisses.

Lorraine leapt to her feet and paced across the room, all restless energy. “You horrible brute of a man. Don’t you dare threaten that poor defenseless woman.” She stalked right up to him, both fists clenched at her side. “I really am going to kick you in the shins. She needs care, not threats, Ferro.” She drew in air, clearly struggling to calm herself down. “I understand that you’re as old as dirt, but seriously, do you have any idea what she’s been through?”

“Lorraine,” Andor cautioned. “She is his lifemate. That means that they merge minds, just as we do. He knows everything that has happened to her. You are reacting as a human and thinking with your human mind. Think as a Carpathian. Lifemates must provide what the other needs. Ferro knows exactly what his lifemate needs.”

Ferro narrowed his gaze at his brother. You do not need to ruin all my fun.

Lorraine’s hands went to her hips and she stood in front of him for a long while, just staring down into the expressionless mask he wore. “You are such an ass, Ferro. You purposely let me believe you were forbidding her to talk to us just so you could see my head explode, weren’t you?”

“I do not believe you will ever find your Zen, woman. You jump to a conclusion before all the facts are in. My woman needs time to process things, including new people. Now she most likely thinks you are insane, although I did try to prepare her by telling her you are a hothead.”

Lorraine’s eyes narrowed on him. “You did not just call me a hothead.”

“It was difficult trying to get her to understand what that means, although now I’m certain she knows.” Ferro kept his tone droll.

Lorraine burst out laughing. “You’re so impossible. Elisabeta, I love this man like a brother, but I want to wring his neck most of the time. I hope eventually you can come to accept me as a sister in spite of the faults Ferro believes I have.” There was vulnerability in Lorraine’s voice, even though she was smiling.

Beside him, Elisabeta stirred. Ferro threaded his fingers through hers, hoping to give her courage. He could feel that she wanted to speak, but she was so timid.

I would wish you to reassure her if at all possible.

Ferro felt her steeling herself, gathering her courage.

“Ferro admires and respects you so much, Lorraine. He speaks very highly of you always and told me he regards you and has affection for you as his sisar. For an ancient without a lifemate to bind his soul to a woman, especially a human woman, it is a sign of the highest esteem.”

Tears shimmered in Lorraine’s eyes. She blinked them away rapidly and then turned to her lifemate as she quickly went back across the short distance to throw herself in the chair beside Andor. He immediately held his hand out to her and she took it as if catching a lifeline.

“Thank you, Elisabeta. That’s the nicest compliment. Ferro would never have told me he thought any of those things about me.”

“There is no need,” Ferro said. “You should have that confidence already.”

Lorraine shook her head. “Ferro, you, Andor and the others have all the confidence in the world. Women aren’t the same way, at least the ones I know. We try to be confident, but we need a little reassurance now and then.”

“You are Andor’s lifemate. That is enough,” Ferro decreed.

Lorraine made an exasperated sound that caused Elisabeta to give Ferro another little girlish giggle in their merged minds.

“Just because you decree something doesn’t make it so, Ferro,” Lorraine argued.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Do not listen to her nonsense, minan piŋe sarnanak. When I decree something, it makes it so for you. I set the rules and you must follow.” He knew rules made Elisabeta comfortable, where as they would really make Lorraine’s head explode. Just to make her really crazy, he kept going. “My word is absolute law to you.”

Lorraine removed her shoe and threw it at him all in one motion, proving she’d been working at the techniques Andor had been giving to her since he’d converted her. Ferro stopped the missile in midair, not taking a chance that it would come near Elisabeta.

Andor burst out laughing. “They are like this all the time, Elisabeta. We will have to be the sane ones. If Julija and Isai are around, it only grows worse. Julija takes Lorraine’s side, and Ferro taunts them all the more.”

Ferro didn’t have the relationship with Julija that he had with Lorraine, but for Elisabeta’s sake, he knew he would need to develop one. Something. She had to know that in the end, he had his lifemate’s best interests at heart.

I will tell them, Eisabeta assured. I do not like them thinking you are treating me in a way that is considered bad when you are really taking good care of me and doing what I ask of you.

“My woman worries that you and Julija think badly of me when I am protecting her. I do not care what others think, only what she thinks. I do not want her upset, Lorraine. Everything is new to her. Everything. She must learn the smallest thing that even children take for granted, and she has taken on this daunting task. I do not want anyone to make her feel less because she does not know something or because she has need of me to shield her while she takes the time needed to get used to a different world. I would ask that you and Julija aid her in this, not make it more difficult by expecting her to take on the modern rules of society, which she cannot possibly comprehend all at once.”

Lorraine stilled, as if realizing he was reprimanding her as gently as Ferro knew how.

“She can barely breathe in the open without fear. She must learn to walk, and it goes without saying all the skills of a Carpathian must be learned. She does not know how to see without looking through the bars of a cage. Making a decision has never been done. These are things she has to conquer. Expecting her to know people she does not remember, such as her birth brother, is ludicrous. She was tortured for centuries and she never gave up my soul. She has immeasurable courage and a stubborn streak a mile wide. You do not have to fear that I would ever look down on her or treat her in a way that was disrespectful to her. I ask that you would not, either. I need you to be a sisar to her. To aid me in guiding her through this time so she knows she is not alone. It is important to me.”

Ferro had never really asked anything of anyone, and yet he found, for Elisabeta, he was willing to ask quite a lot of anyone he trusted. He wanted her to have female friends. He had thought quite a long time over the choices there in the compound. Julija was the first choice simply because she had sacrificed so much just to give Elisabeta the opportunity to escape. She had laid her own life on the line. She was truly Elisabeta’s first real friend.

Lorraine was his choice because he trusted her. She would guard Elisabeta as carefully and as fiercely as he did. She made him laugh, and she would make Elisabeta laugh. Other than her penchant for trying to modernize Elisabeta too fast, she was a perfect selection. He also knew Lorraine put his relationship with Elisabeta at the most risk. If she influenced her too heavily and his lifemate eventually became like her, they would cease to be compatible. Still, he knew Elisabeta needed Lorraine in her life.

Emeline was his third choice as a female friend for Elisabeta, and he wanted to find a way to bring her to the house. Dragomir kept Emeline and their daughter very close to their home. She was the most like Elisabeta in personality, and Ferro wanted to show her that it was okay to be different. That everyone was different and each relationship was their own.

“Of course I would be happy to help Elisabeta if she’ll accept my friendship,” Lorraine said. “I know I can get all about women’s rights, Ferro, but in the end, I really am all about sisterhood. I believe that whatever is right for a woman, whatever she chooses, I can support as long as it really is her choice.”

“You do understand Carpathians are not human, Lorraine,” Andor said gently. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “We do not have choices. Not the male. Not the female. Or should I say, very few real choices. Once we are tied together, there is no way to break those ties. We are committed to one another’s happiness.” His thumb stroked caresses back and forth over her knuckles as he brought her hand to his chest. “Our laws and customs are very different from human ones and it can be difficult to remember that.”

“I am aware of that,” Lorraine admitted. “It is hard to keep it in mind sometimes, especially around certain ones, like Ferro.” She sent him a quick apologetic smile. “He never changes expression so it’s hard to tell when he’s teasing me, and he does act all feudal with Elisabeta.”

“Even so, mica, should Ferro act the part of a feudal lord, it is what his lifemate requires or he would not do so.”

There was such tenderness in Andor’s voice when he addressed his lifemate as he beautifully and gently pointed out the truth of their ways to her, that Ferro felt he needed to find a way to get that particular tone for his woman.

I like the way you speak to me, Elisabeta said. And I like that you call me your songbird. She struggles to understand the ways of the Carpathians and he is gentle with her.

Perhaps I should stop teasing her.

She likes that from you. She needs you to act like a brother, to feel as if she has family surrounding her. I can sense that she lost so much.

His woman had so much empathy for others. He could feel her reaching out to Lorraine, soothing her. They all had lost so much, not in the least, Elisabeta.

She lost her entire human family before meeting Andor.

“Traian is insisting that he meet with his sister, Ferro,” Andor said. “He has gone to Tariq and Gary and made his appeal to them. Gary has explained that she is very fragile and you are introducing the world to her slowly. He is claiming his rights as family.”

Ferro shrugged, in no way perturbed. “When she is ready, we will meet with him.”

“He has indicated that he wishes to take her back to the Carpathian Mountains where she might be near more familiar things.” Humor crept into Andor’s voice. “Apparently your reputation has preceded you and he worries that you might have, over the centuries, turned into something— how shall I put this delicately—beastly, no longer fit to be a lifemate, especially for one as delicate and fragile as Elisabeta. He wishes to take her back to the prince and have him decide.”

Elisabeta drew back, her breath catching in her throat, terror roaring to the forefront. Can he take me from you? Can he do that?

Breathe, sívamet. No one will ever take you from me. Very casually he lifted Elisabeta out of the seat and into his lap, his arms settling around her shivering body.

“I have a certain reputation for a reason, Andor. Should anyone try to take my lifemate from me, the ground would run red with their blood. I will never give her up as long as she wants me. I have given her my word of honor and I will keep it.” Deliberately, he was very calm and matter-of-fact about it. He felt that way because it was a fact of life, but he needed his lifemate to know he meant it. “Her brother will understand and be reassured once he meets me. He is only concerned because he cares so deeply for her.”

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.”

That was a huge promise, and one not lightly given by one of the brethren. Josef had earned not only Ferro’s respect, but that of Sandu.

In spite of his modern appearance, Josef was well versed in Carpathian etiquette. He bowed in a courtly manner, showing he could be as elegant and old-world as the ancients. “I accept your astonishing offer, although it isn’t necessary. I have thrown my share of tablets.”

Every Carpathian could hear lies, and Josef wasn’t lying. Ferro liked him all the more for his confession. Sandu gripped the boy’s shoulder for a moment and then stepped away from him, turning as Tariq and Maksim came up on either side of Josef. Ferro didn’t like that Tariq had once again put himself in harm’s way by stepping between Traian and Ferro.

Now that Sandu was safe, Elisabeta’s gaze shifted around her. Ferro felt her instant retreat. Her vision shimmered, wavered, as if her eyes couldn’t focus properly on the large area her sight encompassed. Her body began shivering uncontrollably. He wrapped his arm tighter around her, pressing her front to his side, his large body nearly hiding hers from the others.

You are completely safe. The brethren are here with us. Sandu will never allow anything to happen to you, not after what you did for him. You saved his honor. Andor and Lorraine are close. Do you feel them? Julija and Isai are to our right. Julija is not only Carpathian but mage as well. We have the ability to go back to our home, stay and talk, or leave this place. Your brother has only your best interests in his heart. Feel that flowing from him.

She moaned in his mind and he knew immediately she had made as many decisions as she was going to make for this rising. She’d come through when no one had asked it of her and she hadn’t even realized that saving Sandu had been her choice alone. In saving Sandu, she had saved Josef and she had also spared Ferro from having to kill his friend and brother.

This decision will be mine to make, piŋe sarnanak. You will abide by what I decree. She was back to needing firm guidelines and he would provide them.

“Traian and his lifemate, Joie, have come a long way to see his birth sister,” Tariq said. “Traian, this is Ferro, Elisabeta’s lifemate.”

Ferro inclined his head. “I realize you would like to speak with her, but she does not do well out in the open. It is too much for her. I invite you and your woman back to our home. I am taking her there now. Tariq and Maksim can show you the way if it is your wish to spend time with her.”

Ferro didn’t wait for an answer. Abruptly, he swung his lifemate into his arms and took to the air. He felt the brethren rise with him. They were silent, unseen, but he knew they were there. Niceties mattered little to him when his lifemate was near to having a breakdown.

You gave us a miracle, sívamet. How did you know you could pull Sandu back from turning? I have never seen anyone come back once they were that far gone. Even the healer could not reach him. None of us could.

For a moment he didn’t think she would answer him, but his question distracted her enough that her mind turned the query over and over as if it were a puzzle she was trying to figure out. That kept terror at bay. Something was at work there, Ferro. Something beyond Sandu and his dislike of modern technology.

He knew what that something was. Sandu, like the ancients from the monastery, no longer even heard the whisper of temptation to feel for one moment that rush when they killed. All of them had thought that was the worst, but when the whispers stopped, and there was only the terrible void, they knew the danger had increased tenfold. No one but a hunter who had survived centuries on their honor alone would know what it was like to fight every minute of every rising, especially without hope. Sandu had ceased to hope.

He took her straight to their home and immediately set the room for company. “You have done this several times, minan piŋe sarnanak.” He ran his hand down the back of her head and then dropped his fingers to the nape of her neck. “Should Tariq and Maksim accompany them, and most likely they will in order to prevent them from in any way misunderstanding me . . .”

“Why would they misunderstand you?”

Her dark eyes looked straight into his. She rarely did that, and his heart clenched hard in his chest. He began a slow massage. “I am not an easy man, you know that. If I do not like something said, I do not use diplomacy. I am trying to learn, just as you are, but I have not lived among even my own kind in centuries. Tariq will counter what I say so there are no misunderstandings, especially with your birth brother.”

Ferro was unsure what he expected, but faint amusement lighting her eyes was definitely not it. She reached a trembling hand up to his mouth, the pads of her fingers very soft as she traced his lips.

“You like to look very scary to everyone.”

Deliberately, he captured her fingers and bit down gently, staring down into her beloved face—and it was beloved now. He didn’t see, in spite of how he had tried to keep his heart guarded, how he was ever going to be able to do without her if she could no longer tolerate him.

I am scary. He tried to make her laugh.

Ferro had left the door open and Maksim strode in first, followed by Tariq and then Traian and Joie. Behind them were Gary, Sandu and Benedek. Ferro waved them to the chairs he had formed in a semicircle facing the chair he was in. Sandu sat at his right, Benedek at his left. Gary closed the door and lounged against it, but not before Petru had drifted in unseen. He was secreted somewhere in the room, at Ferro’s back, making certain Elisabeta was safe. Saving Sandu from turning vampire had cemented her position with all the brethren whether or not she was Ferro’s lifemate.

“Elisabeta will not always talk,” Ferro said. “I do not force her to do so. She has been forced enough these last centuries. If you ask a question and she wishes to answer, she will, or I will do it for her.”

Traian’s eyebrow shot up, but he refrained from speaking.

Joie frowned. “How do we know if you’re the one answering the question or she is?”

Silence followed her question. Tension filled the room. Ferro didn’t speak, nor did he deign to look at her.

It was Gary who broke the uneasy stillness. “You cannot insult the honor of an ancient warrior, one who has lived by honor alone for centuries, and expect his cooperation. I think this meeting is over before it has begun.”

Joie instantly shook her head. “You misunderstood me. Or I didn’t word my question correctly. I meant, when Elisabeta wants to give her brother an answer, will you indicate to us that she is the one answering?” She leaned toward Ferro. “Please forgive me for the unintended insult. This means so much to Traian, and I was trying to get clarity only.”

Ferro inclined his head toward the woman, studying her without seeming to do so. She was a smart little thing. He could see she was far more than what she wanted people to see, and that made her dangerous. Traian and his lifemate were used to working with one another, and did so with ease. He wondered if, when in telepathic communication, their energy would be barely detectable. Ferro shared his conclusions with his brethren, warning them to do as little as possible in the way of talking to give nothing away to either of these two.

Are you willing to answer your birth brother’s questions? Do you have any questions for him? He knows things about your past that might be important to you. Deliberately, Ferro enticed his lifemate, wanting her to make a connection to her Carpathian roots. She didn’t identify as a Carpathian. She didn’t see herself in that light as of yet. He wanted her to have the confidence that came with knowing who she was and where she came from. He also wanted her to see that she had a family that cared for her.

Elisabeta’s fingers dug into his arm. I will listen to him. He is sad. Very sad. He weeps inside and she is filled with sorrow for him.

Ferro knew that Elisabeta was naturally compassionate, but he hadn’t realized the full extent of her gift. It was becoming clear to him that she could read the emotions of those near them. She didn’t need to be in their minds. That would mean she could read intent as well. It also meant that her need to help others would always have to be checked by him so she didn’t overextend her strength.

“I will, of course, indicate which of us is answering your question.” He gave his answer to the couple aloud.

At once the tension eased in the room.

“I searched for you, Elisabeta. I do not want you to think I abandoned you. When I met my lifemate, I was still searching,” Traian said. “You vanished so completely. There was no trace of you, no sign of violence. Nothing. No path to you.” He shook his head. “I am sorry I failed you.”

Elisabeta sat up a little straighter, shaking her head and then pressing back against Ferro, her fingers once more digging into his forearm as if he were her only anchor. Ferro felt the sharp eyes of Joie penetrating the shadows. She was watching Elisabeta’s every reaction; the tiniest detail would not escape her. She noted that Ferro massaged the nape of her neck and shoulders. The intimacies he gave to his lifemate in order to give her the necessary courage to face the terrible challenges she had to overcome were for the two of them alone, but he wasn’t going to cease giving them to her because Traian’s lifemate had piercing eyes.

It was never his failing. No one was ever going to find me. Sergey hid me from even his brothers, and often I was in the same place with them.

Ferro repeated what Elisabeta’s response was verbatim. “I wish I could give you her exact inflection because she has a way of speaking that makes you understand exactly what she means. Hopefully she will become comfortable enough that she will be able to talk to you.”

“Do you know why she is afraid of us?” Joie asked.

Ferro nodded and kept his voice matter-of-fact, no accusation, although he wanted to let them both know that they had added to Elisabeta’s fears. “You both made your intentions very clear when you arrived. You did not like the fact that I am her lifemate and you made that known. She fears that you will try to force her as the vampire did and attempt to separate us. I have assured her that I would fight to the death for her, but she has lived in terror for so many centuries that she cannot conceive of another way of life. She wakes every rising with such fear I must coax her from the ground. She is extremely courageous and comes to me when I call to her, but her new fears have only added another layer of terror for me to wade through.”

Traian frowned and leaned toward his sister. “I want only to know that you are safe and happy, Elisabeta. That is all that matters to me. I want to be in your life, of course, but your safety and happiness come before all else. After centuries of not knowing what happened to you and fearing the worst and then knowing it was even worse than I ever imagined your fate could be, I want only to protect you. Wrapping you up in a cocoon is not what you need, and that is what I would want to do. I see your lifemate appears to know what you need, as lifemates are prone to do.” He said the last reluctantly.

He pressed his fingers to his forehead as if his head hurt. “I wish you could talk to me. I need to hear your voice. I need to be reassured that it is your will that you stay here and not someone forcing you. I don’t mean to sound insulting, I just have for so long been searching for you, and giving you up without knowing . . .” He trailed off.

Merged as he was with Elisabeta, Ferro felt her shivering but gathering her courage, determined that she would speak to this man she couldn’t find in her memories because each time she reached for him, pain flashed through her, causing some kind of near seizure in her brain. Sergey’s work, which Ferro tried to repair, was a scar on her brain that was centuries old and difficult to remove. He flicked a quick glance at the healer. Gary nodded once, indicating he had felt Elisabeta flinching away from her past memories.

“It is difficult for me to speak,” Elisabeta said, her voice so low it was a mere thread of sound, although soothing and soft, spreading through the room in that peaceful way she had.

Still, Ferro caught the underlying notes of distress. He was certain anyone paying close attention would hear them as well.

“Ferro is my choice. He stands for me when I cannot do so myself, no matter what I ask of him, even if it is abhorrent to him, even if it makes him look bad to others. He does it for me. I do not want to be with any other. I would like to get to know you, but in truth, when I try to remember . . .”

Ferro slid his hand gently over her face, feeling the tears in her mind, feeling the dampness on her lashes. “The vampire has made it impossible for her to recall her past without pain. The healer and I have not been able to address this adequately but will attempt again on the next rising. That particular scar is deep and may not be removed entirely. We have been taking things as slow as possible, giving Elisabeta as much time as she needs to learn the steps of survival. Simple things we take for granted, such as regarding the space around us without looking through the bars of a cage. She has to learn the things Carpathian children learn as toddlers. She is very determined, and if you are patient with her, she will be very happy to establish a relationship with her family.”

Traian reached for Joie’s hand. “I would welcome that opportunity no matter how long it takes.” He glanced at Tariq. “Is there a place for us here?”

“Of course. We have several guest homes.” Tariq stood. “Ferro, thank you both for allowing us to visit with you.”

Ferro inclined his head and waited for them all to leave so he could once more be alone with his lifemate. “I am very proud of you, Elisabeta. You handled the entire night far better than anyone could expect from you.”

“I am tired.” She laid her head back against his chest and closed her eyes, exhausted, both mentally and physically.

Ferro didn’t need to be told twice. He took her to the sleeping chamber far beneath their home and opened it, floating them both into the rich healing soil.