Dark Song

14

Tariq and the ancients immediately carried out their supposed exodus from the compound. Ferro noted that Lojos didn’t go with them. He remained a short distance from Ferro and Elisabeta while Ferro fed his lifemate. Charlotte, Blaze, Lorraine and Julija had come to join the tight circle of those waiting to be rid of the infection.

Julija wove a spell, her voice murmuring softly in the night as her hands moved gracefully, creating illusions—Ferro, striding purposefully with the other warriors, taking to the air once outside the gates. Gary and Maksim close to Tariq as they took to the air following a different scent Sergey had laid down. Lorraine and Blaze clearly were there to guard the group while the others waited for Elisabeta to clear them of infection.

Elisabeta worked fast, trying to get through as many of the security guards as possible in the shortest amount of time. Gary tried to help her, but the burns didn’t react at all to the Carpathian way of healing. The lighter scoring showed the strange little speck with the hook upward, and he could deal with removing that. The medium scoring had the hook sideways and, taking his time, he could get the speck to move to him, but no manner of work could get the one embedded into the brain to release itself.

Elisabeta has to be right, Ferro. The infection is to turn all of us against one another, but it is also for introducing this little tiny suggestion into whoever it comes into contact with. Big or little. Old or young. It does not matter the sex. The more implanted with the suggestion, the better his chances that one will succeed, and all Sergey needs is for one person to open a way into the compound for him and his army, Gary said. Someone will have to check my brain for this nasty hooked speck. Josef, for certain, will have this branded into him. Tariq, to keep the gates from being opened from the inside, what do you propose?

It mattered little that Elisabeta had worked so hard to stop the infection and clear the brains of the terrible burns. She may have kept the ancients from turning on one another, but every single person who had been touched by the infection could potentially betray the entire compound. Maybe all of them at once—including their leader. If there were any they had missed and weren’t watching, it would be easy enough for the gates anywhere around the massive compound to be opened from the inside and the vampires invited in. It was far too big of an acreage to be kept safe if those inside were determined to open it to their enemies.

They could try to safeguard the gates from the inside, but every entrance and exit would have to be safeguarded, and Sergey would know what they were doing. Ferro was proud of his lifemate. Around her, the discussion raged on, but she simply went about her work, taking care of Charlotte and then Amelia and Danny. She was swaying with weariness as she replenished her blood, refusing to take it from Ferro, thanking Lorraine when she volunteered to give it to her.

You need to be one hundred percent for the coming battle, Ferro. If I take small amounts from others, it will not be so draining on any one person.

His woman. The voice of reason whether he liked it or not. Josef was going to be next, and both of them knew by the way Gary had described him that the burns were going to be bad. The boy looked in a bad way. His skin was drained of color, his eyes bloodred. He clearly knew exactly what was going on and fought his need to explode into rage. Tiny beads of blood seeped out of his pores, indicating his tremendous inward fight. His two guardians, Traian and Joie, appeared quite anxious.

“Elisabeta,” Traian said softly. “This boy is a good being, amazing and selfless. He has already done things at his age that few can say they have done. I fear this infection is taking a great toll on him. He just got to this place. I want to stay here and get to know you, but I feel a great responsibility to our people, who need him, and also to his family. If he is being targeted and you feel it is unsafe for him, we will escort him home.”

Ferro would never have allowed Traian to put such undue pressure on Elisabeta had he had any inkling that her birth brother planned to appeal to her. Already she took on far too many sins and guilt that didn’t belong to her. Guilt rode hard on her slender shoulders, guilt that didn’t belong there. Traian didn’t understand just how difficult things were for his sister, and Ferro knew the Carpathian tried. He wanted her to be fine. Healed already. Carpathians could heal bodies so easily and they were used to doing so. One couldn’t do the same when the damage was done over centuries to a mind.

Elisabeta’s gaze flicked up to Ferro’s eyes as if asking for guidance. He realized she did that often when she felt helpless and at a loss for how to respond. “We will do our best to assess the situation,” Ferro answered for her.

Gary led the way into Josef’s mind. Ferro’s breath hissed out of his lungs. The burns were much worse than Gary had led them to believe. Elisabeta didn’t falter.

You should have warned her, Ferro told the healer with a hiss of displeasure.

I wanted to see what her reaction was. How she decides on the best way to handle this and what her conclusions are. This makes no sense at all to me, Gary admitted. Had I warned her, I could have tainted her response.

Ferro couldn’t feel a difference in Elisabeta. There was only kindness and compassion. Her genuine need and willingness to help Josef. She sent the boy waves of reassurance and that gentle caring breeze that tugged at the horrendous vivid slashes of what looked to Ferro like a solid wall of crimson, bloodred paint.

He is not alone in this battle, Ferro. There are two others, an ancient warrior and a young woman belonging to Mother Earth. I feel them in him. They are a great distance away, but they have forged their strength to his.

The moment Ferro heard his woman say Josef was not alone in his fight to keep from exploding into violence, he and the other ancients moved to surround Elisabeta with their protection.

Gary, is it possible Sergey set a trap for her?

Give me a minute. Josef has powerful friends. They cross oceans for one another. I will feel them if I get close enough.

Ferro had a moment of near anxiety while he watched as the thick wall of vicious red, woven so tightly together, refused to even thin in the least. Elisabeta didn’t seem to notice. That slight breeze never changed but continued to flow gently toward the violent painting, changing angle occasionally to come in at one corner and then another, all the while providing Josef with her calming serenity. It was impossible to feel anger and hatred in the face of very real compassion.

The ancient is Dimitri and his lifemate, Skyler. Josef and Skyler are childhood friends. Josef helped Skyler save Dimitri’s life and then when all was lost, he helped Dimitri save Skyler’s life.

Even a hunter who cared nothing for rumors, legends and the outside world had heard the story of the three young ones who had defied all odds and had gone into the very heart of werewolf country to save Dimitri from death by silver, a sentence passed on him unfairly to start a war between Carpathians and Werewolves. Josef, Skyler and Paul, the human nephew of the De La Cruz brothers, had prevented that war.

Elisabeta, can you remove such a deep scorching? Gary asked.

Yes, of course. There was complete confidence in her voice. It will take time. Sergey will attack before I am finished.

Ferro felt her hesitation. She turned to him alone. We will need to be under some kind of shelter where we cannot get out. Josef will try to reach a gate or entryway just the way all of those that have been infected will try. Gary included. I have no way of knowing how hard any of them will fight to reach their goal. I can only surmise that the deeper the hook in the brain, the more they will try to open the compound for the vampire and his army to enter. You can put him to sleep, but there are so many others, and we may not know all of them.

She gave Ferro the information as if she knew he would know exactly what to do. He relayed the supposition to Tariq. We need to set up our warriors at every entrance to stop anyone who might try to open those accesses to the vampire, he concluded. Anyone with deep burns, like Danny, Amelia and Josef, needs to be locked away or put to sleep until we can see if they need to be controlled. That includes any of the humans in the security force that Gary feels were particularly heavily burned.

Take Elisabeta and Josef to the house Dragomir and Emeline shared. We can safeguard it so Josef can’t leave. Hurry, though, Ferro. The illusion Julija wrought was extremely good. Already I can feel an unease in the night creatures. The stone dragons in the courtyard are beginning to rumble, their bellies glowing with fiery coals in preparation to fight the vampire. That only happens when the vampire draws close, Tariq said.

It wasn’t difficult to scoop Elisabeta’s body into his arms while Traian took Josef. They hurried with their charges across the courtyard to the house Dragomir and Emeline had lived in until their daughter had been born. To Ferro’s surprise, Lojos paced along behind them. Trailing after him was Joie, Traian’s lifemate. She looked very small, someone others might overlook, but there was something about her, and Ferro had been too long in the world to be fooled. The woman was lethal, and if Lojos was a threat to any of them, there was no doubt in his mind that the Carpathian hunter would be dead before he could carry out that threat.

Tariq and Charlotte went with Danny and Amelia to the safe room, where they were locked in. Genevieve took Lourdes and Bella to a second safe room and again, they were locked in. The older couple, Mary and Donald, followed suit.

Tariq was the ultimate general sending his best warriors to the gates to prevent anyone from opening them from within. Isai and Julija stayed at the main gates to defend them. Together they held extreme power. Warriors spread out. Security guards were placed in defensible positions.

He is coming, Elisabeta announced. Her calm was gone. She pulled abruptly out of Josef’s mind. She staggered and threw back her hand to catch herself before she went down. Ferro caught her around the waist, holding her upright.

I am sorry, Ferro, I cannot do this while he is close. I cannot concentrate. I am leaving this poor boy in a terrible state and it is not right, but I cannot . . .

Terror was building beyond anything he had ever experienced with her. It filled the room so there was no way to shield the others from what she was feeling. Her body shivered continuously, her hands rubbing up and down her arms as if trying to peel the skin from her body. Ferro very gently stopped the movement with his hands.

Josef will feel nothing. I have made certain of that. He is frozen until the time you are able to heal him.

Aloud, to steady her, he spoke matter-of-factly. “We knew he would come, beloved. This was the hope. We wanted to draw him to us. I know it is frightening, but all those with the scorching will be watched so that they do not betray us.”

They are programmed. You know he has succeeded in doing this.

Ferro nodded, his hand moving up to the nape of her neck, a gentle, soothing massage. “Yes, Elisabeta. He has programmed even our ancients to betray us, to open our gates from the inside, but we are aware of this, thanks to you. Tariq has given orders and all who carry the burn marks will be contained.” Deliberately his eyes met Lojos’s.

The ancient immediately understood what Ferro meant and the repercussions. “I have the scorching,” he admitted.

Ferro inclined his head. “That is so. Even had Elisabeta removed the burns, we believe the programming would still be there. That is speculation only. We do not know for certain.”

Lojos turned his attention to Elisabeta. He bowed from the waist, a courtly, elegant gesture from centuries earlier. “Forgive my continued suspicion, Elisabeta. I am from another time, when one questioned everyone and everything. Ferro’s word should have been good enough.” He raised his gaze to the warrior. “What would you have me do?”

“We are weaving a safeguard to hold Josef inside, but we may need your fighting skills,” Ferro admitted. “The healer said the burns were light, so although you are showing signs of having to fight against the tendency for violence, you are winning that battle. You know what you are up against. The warriors at the gate will prevent you from opening them should you try.”

Traian and Joie stood to one side as Ferro walked with a very reluctant Elisabeta out of the house and onto the porch. The safeguards were woven so that Josef, should he manage to break free of the frozen state he was in, could not escape the house.

Ferro, he is so close now. He whispers to me. I hear him.

Ferro could hear him as well. A dark, ugly voice, like nails on a chalk-board, a high-pitched note that scraped at the walls of Elisabeta’s mind, trying to force its way inside. When Sergey could not break through the barrier Ferro had constructed, the vampire became enraged and began throwing himself at the shield, battering at it, desperate to bore his way through. He was so determined that Ferro had a clear image of the vampire’s surroundings and was nearly able to pinpoint his exact location before the creature realized he was throwing such a tantrum he was putting his life in jeopardy and pulled back.

“He is about six miles away,” Ferro reported. “His pawns are close to the gates. We should know if we were right about the programming. At any moment we should see if those with the small specks Elisabeta found will try to walk to the gates to open them.”

As he spoke, Tariq, who had joined Gary after helping Charlotte put his children in a safe room, peeled off from their circle and both began to walk briskly toward the front gates, striding with great purpose. He neither looked left or right. Maksim called out to Tariq but he didn’t look up or miss a step. Ferro waved his hand toward both men, sending out a command to stop them both in their tracks.

Elisabeta, how long do you think the command to open the gates will last? Sergey is directing them to obey him. He had to stop trying to get to you in order to give the command to those with the branding in their brains. Is it a lasting command or a temporary one?

It was an impossible question to answer. How would she know the answer? Still, he asked her for two reasons. She needed to concentrate on something other than the terror that was reducing her into a ball of nothing but sheer nerves. She wanted to curl up in the fetal position and disappear. The other was, Elisabeta really did know Sergey better than anyone else, probably better than he knew himself. If anyone could anticipate his every move, she could. She might actually guess the right answer.

Her moan was her only response. He caught her thick braid at the nape of her neck. Elisabeta. I need you to stand with me. Now is the time we must fight against this madness. I need an answer.

He poured command into his voice. She understood and responded to absolute authority, and he gave that to her. He felt her stiffen. Snap to attention. Her mind, chaotic and fearful, cleared. Became once more sharper thinking. Intelligent.

It will be momentary. He rules by fear. He believes all will obey him once he gives the order. No one will dare disobey his given command. They will continue to try until it is done.

Thank you, piŋe sarnanak. It is important we do this together. Stand with me.

Once again, to give her courage, he swept his hand down her braided hair as he walked the two of them closer to the gates. She straightened her shoulders, wrapped one arm around his waist and kept pace with him. Only he knew the cost to her. Her body shook terribly with each step, but she kept her head up and she didn’t falter.

Around them, his brethren gathered, fanning out in a semicircle to take in a wide area behind them. Tariq and Gary stood frozen, while Sandu joined them at the forefront, waiting for the first wave of Sergey’s pawns. These would be the lesser vampires. They had learned his “cannon fodder” were newly made vampires in the form of human psychic males, eager to be turned so they could have the same power as the vampires they chose to serve. They would expect the gates to be wide open because Sergey had said they would be.

The human security force had weapons designed specifically to kill the vampires, and they were stationed along the top of the fence in safeguarded positions where they could defend the compound yet not get taken prisoner by the enemy. With the safeguards woven so tightly, it was nearly impossible for even a stray arrow or bullet to slip through to injure or kill one of them, yet they could fire their unique weapons at the vampires at will.

Ferro released Gary and Tariq so they could participate in the upcoming battle after Julija had woven safeguards to prevent anyone from inviting vampires into the compound.

Hold fire, Tariq ordered Matt, head of his security team, as the first wave of vampires approached the gates. Hold your men steady.

He clearly was still fighting the compulsion to open the gate. Julija countered the impulse in Tariq and Gary with a spell, helping to ease the need to obey that vicious hook in their brains.

It was always unnerving to see newly made and starving vampires coming all at once. They were hideous creatures with twisted faces, once handsome, some still partially so, but most decomposed and rotting in places, as they weren’t experienced enough to hold illusion through the desperate starvation they’d awakened with. Hair fell out of scabbed scalps, so only a few long stringy strands hung oily and loose. Teeth were pointed and jagged, the thin lips drawn back from shrunken gums. Maggots crawled on them, wiggling over the rotting flesh as they rushed forward, eager for blood promised to them—the rich satisfying blood of an ancient.

The newly made vampires were so frantic they would take any blood. Sergey had kept them in the ground for a longer period of time so they would wake starving. He wanted this killing frenzy, this madness, a desperation that would ensure they would kill and devour every living creature they came into contact with.

Sergey needed a bloodbath, the insanity of a chaotic seige, so he could slip in and reclaim Elisabeta. Once in the compound, he knew he could find her unerringly. He had lived with her scent, her soft, soothing presence, and he would never be able to live without it. She had been the one to give him the small details that allowed him to defeat his brothers. They had intelligence, but he had Elisabeta, his secret weapon, and he needed her back. He couldn’t continue without her. He had relied on her for all those long centuries and he didn’t know how to move forward without her.

He is furious. Do you feel him, minan päläfertiilam? Ferro asked Elisabeta to keep her grounded with him. Do you feel his fear that he has already lost you? You are too important to him. Do you know why? He cannot continue without you. He needs you. You are powerful. That is why he kept you starved and under his control. That is why he made you so weak and unable to care for yourself, made you so dependent on him for everything. You are much more powerful than he is, and he knows it.

“Hold steady,” Tariq ordered both aloud and then again telepathically to his security force protected on the walls. “Let them come close and think the gates will open for them. Stay sharp that those of us programmed will not obey the order to allow them inside.”

You plan on going out there to hunt him. Elisabeta made it a statement.

Ferro could not deny it. As long as he is alive, hän sívamak, he will continue to come after you. He cannot help himself. You are a necessity to him, just as blood is.

Ferro could feel her turning over the things he said to her, trying to absorb them, trying to believe them when her mind held such terror for the master vampire.

The terrible growls and snarls of the lesser vampires could be heard as they approached the compound, groups of them coming at the various entrances, some on the ground, some in the air, some clones, others very real. All had the same intent. The hunters were used to seeing those hollow, starved faces, nearly caved in, with sockets for eyes, but Ferro was a little surprised at Tariq’s human security force. They were stoic, waiting for the signal before they began to fire their specially designed weapons at the vampires.

The moment they did, the ancients dissolved into mist, taking to the air, while Julija wrapped her arm around Elisabeta, taking Ferro’s place as he streaked into the sky toward the wooded area by the lake where Sergey had stayed while his army had prepared to take the compound.

Tell me where he is, Elisabeta, Ferro ordered, staying merged with her, making it an order so that she didn’t have time to dissolve into terror because he was no longer physically with her. We do this together. He kept his voice calm and matter-of-fact.

Straight ahead. Can you feel his anger growing? He is concentrating on opening the gates of the compound again. He cannot understand why he was not obeyed.

Ferro went very still. At the same time, the other hunters tied to his soul— Andor, Gary, Dragomir and Sandu— did as well.

Piŋe sarnanak. Ferro strove to keep his voice extremely calm. He didn’t allow any emotion into his mind. Deliberately, he used his nickname for her so she would feel at ease, as though any question was not one of great importance. How do you know he is trying to open the gates and that he does not understand why he was not obeyed?

He moved toward the woods, taking the straight route over the lake. The fog helped to hide movement in the mist. Sandu and Gary were on his right, Dragomir and Isai on his left. Benedek and Petru circled to the east to try to get behind Sergey’s position. He would have other, much more experienced vampires guarding him, most likely master vampires. He wouldn’t be alone. His desperation wouldn’t make him careless—yet.

Maksim, Siv, Nicu, Val and the triplets remained at the compound with Tariq, Traian and Joie to ensure no gate was opened and everyone there would remain safe while they hunted Sergey.

I just know. Elisabeta sounded puzzled. Ferro? Do you not know this?

He felt the tiniest bit of alarm spread into her mind, as if she were doing something wrong. It was the last reaction he wanted from her. If she had that great of a connection to Sergey, they could use it to destroy him.

I have long hunted vampires and little else, Elisabeta, he replied gently. It was no real answer, but he knew it would soothe her.

He was nearly across the lake and he could feel the threat emanating from the woods ahead. It was dark and still in the trees. There was no wind, no breeze whatsoever, no sound of any kind other than clacking that sounded like tree limbs rubbing against one another. Insects had ceased all noise, as if cowering away from the unnatural beings hidden near them. No mice or lizards scurried in the leaves or rotting foliage.

I do not have your empathy, nor can I, while hunting, move through your mind to find what I would need to tap into his actual thoughts.

Could she do that? Ferro didn’t break away from her, but it took his centuries of discipline to keep away excitement.

There is no need, then, Ferro. I will tell you what he is going to do before he does it. He has abandoned his plan of storming the compound. He knows he cannot get inside and is leaving those he regards as his pawns to their fate. He realizes it must be a trap and that you are coming for him.

Ferro had Gary share that knowledge with the other hunters unable to hear Elisabeta.

He is directing those he has set up to guard him to remain, and he is fleeing with two other master vampires. He told those remaining that you are coming and will be there any moment. They are expecting you.

Anxiety was in her voice, in her mind. Ferro couldn’t believe she was able to know exactly what Sergey was saying to his “soldiers.” He couldn’t hear the vampire and he was merged with Elisabeta.

Ferro, they know you are coming. They will ambush you. There was a catch in her voice.

Which direction is he fleeing?

He should have reassured her. She was worried about him. He had been hunting and fighting vampires for so many centuries without emotion, without thought for his safety. He hadn’t considered that she would be concerned for him.

This is what we do, sívamet. Believe in my ability.

He is heading south, but do not go in that direction. He will circle to the west and head for the mountains. You can get ahead of him if you make for the . . . She broke off, trying to form an image in her mind and send it to him.

Gary shared the image with the other hunters of the mountain peaks of Cuyapaipe Mountain. He referenced the exact location he saw in Elisabeta’s mind.

Do you know this place, Ferro? I do not. I see it in his mind. He has a lair there. I cannot yet see the exact location. Now there was frustration in her voice and mind, as if she were failing him.

This is more information than I counted on, Elisabeta, Ferro assured.

On the private path between brethren, Dragomir asked what all of the hunters were considering. Are you certain we should do as she believes and go west rather than follow his trail to the south, Ferro? You are merged with her and yet you cannot read Sergey’s thoughts. Not one of us, not even Gary, can do so. How is it she can?

I will go west, Ferro declared. He believed Elisabeta could tap into the vampire’s mind. He had no idea how, but he was certain she was actually able to. He didn’t want to miss this opportunity to at least make a try for him. If he didn’t succeed, he would at least disrupt him, make him all the more vulnerable so the vampire was even more likely to make mistakes.

I believe her as well, Gary said. I will go with Ferro.

I will go with Ferro, Sandu said.

Petru and I will join with Ferro, Benedek added. Sergey will have more waiting to guard his lair.

The rest of us will engage with those here in the woods and destroy as many of his army as possible, Isai decided after a brief discussion. Then return to the compound. The more we take from Sergey, the better for all of us. Good hunting.

Do you recognize the image of the mountain peaks? Ferro asked Gary.

The healer had spent the most time in the region in comparison to the other ancients. All of them had been in the mountain range when they had rescued Andor, but most of that time had been spent fighting off vampires while trying to heal his mortal wounds enough to get their fallen brethren back to the compound.

It is very near the same area the human family camped and Sergey used them as bait to draw us in. All of us thought he wanted to use Lorraine as a substitute for Elisabeta.

Ferro turned that over in his mind, sharing the information with Elisabeta and his memories of Andor’s injuries and the fight to keep him alive.

This was when we bound our souls together. The healer could not find Andor when he went to the tree of life to retrieve him. Lorraine wanted to go. She was human, not yet tied to him. It was the only way we could think of to give the necessary strength and yet keep her safe as she traveled in that world.

Ferro and the others streaked toward their destination, determined to get ahead of Sergey and the other master vampires traveling with him. He wanted to keep his lifemate calm and reassured that the other hunters and he were safe and not worried in the slightest about the coming battle. There was no reason to be. He had already slipped into that place where he could shed emotions quickly again when need be, which meant he would have to disconnect from Elisabeta when the battle started.

She is very brave, Elisabeta conceded.

You were in the healing grounds, sleeping, Elisabeta, when Sergey baited this trap for us. We had no idea that Lorraine was never going to be enough for him. His ultimate goal was always you. Did you have knowledge of this place by the lake where he set his trap or that he planned to use another woman to barter for you? Again, Ferro was casual about it.

There was a very long hesitation. Ferro stayed very quiet as he streaked across the night sky, hoping he wouldn’t have to prompt his lifemate to answer him when she was so clearly reluctant.

I know of this place by the lake. He favors it. Many humans like to camp there. I have not seen the way to it, but I know of it.

There was guilt in her voice. Too much guilt. Ferro didn’t like that, nor did it make sense to him. He broke the connection between Elisabeta and the others so that only he maintained a merge with her. Whatever was said was private between his lifemate and himself.

Did you know that he planned to use another woman to barter for you? A lifemate of a Carpathian, he added.

She stayed silent, retreating from him. That wasn’t a good sign.

Elisabeta. I am asking you gently, and I do not wish to make this a command to answer, but it is important to me. We have trust between us. I want us to maintain that trust.

You will not like the answer.

There will be times you will not like my answers, but I will answer you when you ask me questions and I will do so truthfully. He wrapped her up in his arms from the distance, letting her know that whatever her answer, good or bad, he was her lifemate, her partner, and they would work through the answer.

There was great reluctance in her mind as she reached for him. Before you slept in the healing grounds with me, protecting me from him, when they insisted I had to wake to feed, I would hear him. Now, I am aware, I summoned him. I swear, Ferro, I did not realize I called to him.

I am well aware you did not, piŋe sarnanak, he assured gently. No one blames you, least of all me.

I see into his mind sometimes, especially when he is calling to me. He had planned to take this woman—Lorraine, as it turns out. He bragged about it. He told me how he had harassed all of you, wore down the ancient hunters until they were low on blood and one among them was so far gone he would most likely die. I saw every move he planned and I told him it would not work. He was very angry with me.

Ferro found her assessment of Sergey’s battle plan interesting. She had been proven correct, but how had she known? She didn’t know any of the ancients, and Sergey had shown her that most of the hunters were wounded or had given large amounts of blood in order to keep Andor alive. She was belowground most of the time, sleeping, kept that way in an attempt to heal her body and mind after her centuries-long ordeal.

Sergey’s brothers were considered very intelligent by all accounts. I did not know them, but I had heard of them from Zacarias De La Cruz. Of all of them, the younger brother, Sergey, was not put in that same category of genius. He was considered of average intelligence by everyone, and his brothers, even while growing up, sometimes were cruel to him. At least, that was what Zacarias conveyed to the other hunters. Would you say that is a fair assessment?

There was a long silence as Elisabeta considered what Ferro had asked her. The longer the silence played out, the more he could almost feel her squirming. She didn’t like the conclusions she was coming to at all. She wanted to withdraw totally from him and yet, at the same time, she didn’t want to let go of the merge, afraid of losing him in the upcoming battle with the master vampire.

Below him, city lights were so bright it seemed impossible to see the stars as he circled around the tip of the city, making his way toward the mountain range and the lake to get in front of Sergey. He didn’t understand the need for so many artificial lights. All the technology that humans relied on so much—it just seemed to him that they tied themselves to it, and now, Tariq and the prince were asking all Carpathian people to do the same. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? He thought there should be more of a balance. Clearly, the Malinovs had learned to use technology while the Carpathian people hadn’t done so as quickly, and that had allowed the vampires to pull forward in the war between them.

Elisabeta. I require an answer.

He felt her sigh. Sergey’s brothers were very cruel to him, as often as possible. Throughout the centuries, from the first of my captivity, they would say ugly, demeaning things to him. He was pushed aside and treated as less than the others always. He had a place in their planning, but was not allowed to speak. If they did ask his opinion, they laughed at him when he gave it.

He knew she had deliberately skewed what he’d asked her. She’d jumped on Zacarias’s assessment that Sergey’s brothers were cruel to him, confirming that they had been. She knew that wasn’t what he was asking.

Ferro remained patient. Minan hän sívamak, is Sergey every bit as intelligent as his brothers? More so? Or far less so?

If the Malinov brothers were as smart as everyone said they were, how could they be so deceived by Sergey? The De La Cruz brothers were considered geniuses, and yet none of them had considered Sergey anywhere near the threat of his older brothers.

Elisabeta’s tears were unexpected, drowning him in sorrow. Please do not ask me these things, Ferro. What does it matter?

He stroked his hand down her hair the way he did to comfort her. Sang his song for her in their merged mind. You know it matters. I need this information. You know him better than anyone. I think you know him better than he knows himself. He has a vision of who he is. He has made that illusion in his mind his reality, but it is falling apart because you are not there to keep it real for him. I need your honest assessment of him, sívamet.

Again, there was a long silence. He had the impression of extreme anxiety. Of her chewing on her lower lip. Her fingernail. He heard Julija whispering softly to her. Elisabeta assuring her she was fine. He waited her out, knowing she was working up her courage.

Sergey’s brothers were very good at thinking far into the future. They planned every battle in minute detail. He reacted to everything they said and did, and they knew it. The only memories I have from my childhood were memories of our friendship. I did not know if he planted them, but I doubt that he did. They followed too closely to the way his brothers treated him. He would come to the house and sit on the porch. I would talk to him and soothe him after they were particularly ugly to him. He was already approaching a point where he was losing his emotions, but their barbs still struck. I was very young, not more than sixteen. A child, but I could bring peace to him. I felt bad for him.

Ferro understood why Sergey had made his plan to take Elisabeta with him once he realized his brothers were going to voluntarily turn vampire. They would expect him to choose their way. If he didn’t, they would kill him. In his mind, he had no choice, so he plotted to take the one person he knew could make him feel better and subject her to the life he was terrified to lead with the brothers he feared.

I had forgotten that Sergey did not always understand what they were doing. I was very afraid at first. He kept me away from them. One day, they came unexpectedly and he had to hide me. He was almost euphoric that they had no idea I was there. They talked openly in front of him—and me. He made me repeat everything they had said. I caught all of their inflections and hand movements, every nuance. Every detail. I could tell when any of them was misleading him or one of the others.

Ferro held himself very still at her innocent revelations. Sergey wasn’t the genius. Elisabeta was. Sergey’s brothers had laid out their plans and strategies far in advance and set things in motion. Those plans were most likely already in play, with or without Sergey, but Sergey wasn’t going to plan the meticulous battles that his brothers were able to, not without a general like Elisabeta.

How is it that Sergey ended up with slivers of Xavier and his brother, Vadim, and yet he is nowhere near their intelligence? How did he become the last brother standing?

Ferro was in the mountains now, flanked by Sandu and Gary. Benedek and Petru had come in from the east, careful not to move against the wind or disturb any of the owls or insects in the trees, all most likely servants and watchers for Sergey.

He has slivers of all of his brothers, Elisabeta told him in a small voice. He can access them for their ability to plan battles or use technology. He can use the ones of Xavier to call upon mage spells if he needs them.

Ferro had to revise his thinking. All of us believed that Sergey was the genius all along, that he devised the plan from the very beginning, but he was scared. He was more than scared, he was terrified. That was why he took you with him. You brought him not only peace but courage. You listened to the brothers, Elisabeta, their plans. You heard them, and you helped Sergey get through those centuries by coming up with ways for him to strike back at them.

Yes, she admitted. They were horrible. He was, too, but not like them. I knew he did not have the ability, even if he had the slivers of his brothers in his mind, to fully access and understand what they were talking about, not without me to explain, and I often misled him. When things did not go right, I took my punishment and acted innocent, as if I had no clue what went wrong.

Ferro turned the information over and over in his mind. Sívamet, were you going to tell this to me?

I have only just begun to realize it. The vampire kept me in such a state of terror that I believed him to be completely invincible. In some ways, I still do. I can barely overcome that way of thinking. Sometimes I am very clear, and other times I feel like a child huddled in a ball of terror on the floor.

Ferro could understand that. The more she grew in confidence and strength, the more her mind cleared. The infection and strange speck left behind in the brain to open the gates was most likely done by one of the others, and now Sergey just thinks it is one more thing he does not understand without you, is that safe to say?

Yes. I have never heard or seen such a thing, though. Not even a whisper of it. If it was planned, it was never done around me. Sergey had to have known about it, but he did not share it with me, which was unusual.

You gave him the idea to talk his brothers into sharing a tiny piece of themselves to aid him in understanding their plans? Ferro wanted to make certain he was very clear on that.

Again, there was a hesitation. Yes. It was long ago, Ferro. Centuries earlier. Xavier and the Malinovs were so treacherous. I thought I could at least manipulate Sergey a little bit.

This is good news, not bad news, hän sívamak. Sergey will be unraveling the longer he is away from you. I am coming up to the lake and woods and do not want to put too much energy into the air. Stay quiet until I have need.