“But?” Lorraine asked. She was tied to Gary soul to soul and she could read him just as well as the others tied to him.
“I don’t like it, Lorraine.” Gary gave her the respect due her, telling her the truth. “Would you mind if we replay exactly what happened so all of us could see?”
She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, giving away the fact that she was nervous. That wasn’t characteristic of her. She also tried to pull her hand out from under Andor’s. He pressed her palm tighter to his thigh. I am with you, sívamet. No harm can come to you in this place.
I know. It’s just that when we were out there, in the mountains, even with vampires and puppets coming at us, I didn’t feel different from you. Here, I do.
He detested that, but he didn’t object. He tried to go over every reason she might feel that way. She was surrounded by male Carpathians. All were hunters. All held power. Only three had lifemates—not counting him. It came to him then. They had continually used the word human to differentiate the psychic males, putting humans on one side and the Carpathians on the other. Of course, she would wince each time that word was used.
You are my lifemate, Lorraine. We belong together, no matter which of our cultures is chosen. It is the two of us together always. Know I stand with you. If you open your mind, you will see that Ferro, Sandu and Gary stand with you as well. The other brethren will. I believe, in spite of what might be a danger to the compound, Tariq, Maksim and the others will hold you as one of theirs, no matter human or Carpathian.
They all say the word human with disgust. All of you look down on us.
You are wrong. There are humans living in this compound and they are loved and respected. A human security force has aided Tariq more than once in fighting for those he loves. They are respected. Gary was human and he was revered by our people. Did we have respect for Adam and Herman? No, sadly, they were traitors. They were willing to trade your life for immortality.
“Lorraine?” Tariq prompted. “Does our seeing this battle upset you?”
She took a deep breath. Andor felt the way she steeled herself to answer. He’d felt it before. He saw that Sandu came alert. He’d felt that as well. He glanced at Gary. The man looked impassive, but he had moved closer to Lorraine, just as Sandu had done mentally.
“Tell me how to do it.”
“You have to open your mind to your lifemate, and he can replay it for us all.”
She glanced up at Andor. He leaned into her. I am extraordinarily proud of you, hän sívamak. You handled that battle as if you were a warrior with years of fighting experience.
Yes, until I made that mistake and ran out from under the ceiling you’d constructed to prevent the very thing that happened.
Was that what worried her? That everyone in the room would see her mistake and blame her for the fears they were now dealing with? Sívamet, few would have had the courage you displayed. You were fighting for your lifemate. He let her hear and feel the pride he had in her.
She just nodded and closed her eyes. Those long feathery lashes fanned her cheeks, drawing his immediate attention. She took his breath with her bravery and he was just now registering that, aside from the fact that no matter what, to him, she would always be the most beautiful woman in the world, she was probably considered beautiful by the human world as well.
He took the fight from her mind and replayed it for the others, using their common telepathic pathway. Tariq lifted a finger when it was over and did a short spin. Andor replayed the sequence a second time. When the scene reached the part where Lorraine ran out to confront the vampire and the crows swooped down on her, Tariq held up his hand and Andor instantly paused the unfolding events.
All of them studied the birds surrounding her. The crows were close, wings outstretched, some striking her, but no other talon or beak was close to her.
“If they were attacking her, wanting to harm her, as they should have been,” Tariq said, “more than one bird would have used its beak. Definitely their talons. Beaks and talons do the most damage. We’ve seen attacks from the vampire’s creatures before. They shred flesh whenever they can. They look to do the most mutilation possible.”
Siv nodded his assent, studying the frozen moment in time. It was difficult not to want to shield Lorraine from all the warriors’ scrutiny. “Andor, show us the next frame and stop. I want to see the bird that actually attacks her. Or more precisely, what the rest of the flock does when that one crow approaches.”
Andor felt Lorraine shudder. He slipped his arm around her stiff shoulders. She tried to hold herself away from him. He understood. The others watched what happened to her with eyes that had seen so many battles, and they were unemotional. He could tell her repeatedly that they truly couldn’t feel, but she couldn’t experience that and to have them watch what had transpired—her personal nightmare—while so detached had to be difficult for her.
Andor wrapped his arm around her in spite of the way she stiffened. He pulled her beneath his shoulder, his thigh touching hers, their chairs not a paper’s width apart. He wanted the physical closeness with her. More, he wanted the intimacy of the two of them, mind to mind.
Sívamet, I know this is difficult. Touch me. My mind. Slide into me and feel me surround you. These men seek to maintain your well-being. They do not want to take the chance of anything harming you.
They seek to find whatever Sergey left behind in me, if anything, just in case I’m a threat to them.
His breath caught in his throat. It is not like that at all. Regardless of what he left, you are no threat and they know it. Do you really believe Ferro and Sandu would abandon you? Or that I would? Even if Sergey planted half of himself in you, we would fight for you.
There was a moment of absolute stillness, and he knew he’d made a terrible mistake. The rest of the warriors around the table knew something happened. They all looked up, their gazes no longer turned inward to study the replay.
“What is it?” Tariq asked.
Everyone could hear Lorraine’s accelerated heartbeat and her shallow breathing. They could feel the raw burning in her lungs as she tried, unsuccessfully, to pull in air. She began to struggle, as if she might free herself from him, but Andor held on tight.
“Csecsemõ, take a breath. Feel me breathing and breathe with me.” He locked her to him and then took her hand and placed her palm over his heart. “Feel my heart beating. Slow down and let your body follow mine.” He willed her to listen to him. In her mind, there was chaos. Fear mounting to terror. All he saw was a jumble of puppets feeding on children. Tears swam in her eyes and dripped off her lashes.
“What is it?” Tariq asked again. “How can we help?”
“I have to leave. I have to go.” She struggled against his hold.
Andor knew he couldn’t let go of her. She was far too skilled in martial arts. If she actively fought him, he would have to subdue her in other ways so she wouldn’t get hurt. “Lorraine.” He spoke her name with the command and power of centuries of being a predator. “Stop this right now.”
She subsided immediately, succumbing to the power and authority in his voice.
“Now, breathe with me. Let your heart follow mine.” He knew it was a panic attack and whatever he’d said to trigger it had to be discussed. “Whatever you are afraid of, I am right here with you. I can help.”
Lorraine shook her head, but her breathing was beginning to get under control and her heart was already following the lead of his.
He let her calm while the others waited patiently. Gary and Sandu had moved even closer, as if by their presence she would feel safer, but Andor knew this wasn’t about her safety.
“Talk to me. Tell me what is wrong.”
“You said even if he left half of him behind in me, you would stay. You and the others. The way you said it, you meant it.”
“I am your lifemate. Noth
ing would induce me to leave you.”
“The brethren would surround you, Lorraine,” Sandu explained. “Sergey will not get you.”
“I would work until we got to him,” Gary said. “It would not be the first time, although had he actually splintered himself in half, he would be greatly diminished and easy to vanquish so there is no chance he did that.”
Her breath came out in a little sob. “But he can put something of himself into me. That’s what you’re saying. Just like he did the psychic males. He can make me do things to hurt others . . .”
“Stop.” Andor said it in the same commanding voice. “You keep forgetting to breathe. First, Lorraine, think logically. No matter how hard any of the vampires or the psychics tried to get inside your mind, you were able to resist. Even if that crow planted a sliver of Sergey into you, and we didn’t find evidence of it, he could not make you do something to harm others. Your shields wouldn’t allow it.”
“But if he’s in me . . .”
“Puppets are not made that way. There is blood given by the vampire. There are . . . other things given. You cannot be made into a puppet.”
“I just want to go away from here.” There was panic in her voice. “When we came in together, I heard the sound of children. I know there are several people here.” Her gaze jumped to Dragomir’s face. “Your lifemate is pregnant. Do any of you really think I would stay when you so obviously believe me to be a threat?”
“No one thinks you’re a threat, Lorraine,” Tariq countered, his voice gentle. “We all have seen the way you fought with Andor and the others. You’re needed here. Your skills as well as that fierce determination. We want our women to learn those skills, and you would be a tremendous asset. I know you have been learning combat since you were young.”
“It isn’t the same.”
“It is,” he countered. “It is a skill set. A mind-set. Once the muscles remember those moves, battle experience can be drawn on, but not until then.”
The other warriors nodded, and Lorraine’s protest died on her lips.
“We are trying to discern what Sergey is up to,” Tariq continued. “Vadim, his brother, planted slivers before, but in the end, that weakened him and I believe Sergey wouldn’t do that to himself. He needs his strength to run his army, to hold them to him. If the conversation you had with Jannik is anything to go by, I would say there is dissention in the ranks. Please stay and let us figure this out together.”
Andor could see why the man was a leader. He didn’t order Lorraine. He appealed to her logic and her belief that the women and children as well as the men should learn to defend themselves. Tariq was speaking with total sincerity, which came through.
He is a good man in an impossible situation, Andor added. He believes it is necessary for all the women to learn to fight the vampire, but some of the men still oppose him. We are ancients and most come from a time when women were cherished and protected.
We can be cherished and protected and still learn to defend ourselves should we end up in trouble.
He had to admit, that snippy little note in her voice sent blood rushing just a little too hotly through his veins. “Are you ready, Lorraine?” He didn’t want to wait and let her think too much on whether or not slivers of vampires were hidden in her body somewhere.
She nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry I freaked out.”
He would ask her later what freaking out was. It was a term he was unfamiliar with. He pushed the fight scene into everyone’s mind and paused it just as the large bird flew right at the back of Lorraine’s skull. Talons dug into her back, holding the crow to her while the beak slashed deep. The picture was frozen in their minds.
Andor, like the others, studied it. Crows surrounded her, cutting her off from escape. Cutting her off from the vampire she had rushed out to stop before realizing it was a mistake. They were in the air, the entire flock, circling her, wings outstretched, talons ready, but not one other actually appeared to be attacking her.
“They are herding her,” Siv said. “Straight to him. The big one.”
“In some way, they are also protecting her from the vampire,” Sandu noted. “The one on the ground.”
Nicu nodded. “Look at it closely. The vampire was furious. She had bested him, and he has been around for centuries. She should not have had a chance against him. He had been careful, I suspect, to keep from killing her and that gave her the advantage. When she took it, see his face? His eyes? How contorted he appears? She burned him. Nearly killed him. A human and a woman at that. He wanted to kill her and had every intention of doing so. Look where some of the birds are.”
The others were silent. Tariq drummed his fingers on the tabletop. “They dove at him, while the others separated them. He wasn’t supposed to kill her.”
Beside him, Lorraine tensed up again, but she didn’t say anything, just listened to them discussing the battle. Andor didn’t blame her for feeling upset. He wouldn’t want Sergey to put a splinter of himself inside him. Anything vampire was vile. Having something that could be an asset to the undead inside one’s body, where the vampire could spy, was sickening.
“Okay, now go one frame further,” Tariq said.
Andor had to have that interpreted for him. Tariq was very at ease in the modern, human world. Andor had only been involved with them all a short time. He was still trying to play catch-up. He looked to Gary, who, in another life as far as Carpathians went, had been human.
“Freeze it the next movement.”
Andor complied, and they all once again studied the rather large bird as its beak drove down into Lorraine’s skull. At the same time, its talons scraped the skin of her back open and the wings beat hard to keep it in place so the beak could do damage, stabbing deep. The wounds on her shoulders and back were almost superficial, and compared to the curved, wicked piercing of the beak, they were nothing. The healing had to be done to her skull.
“She was targeted, but I saw nothing in its beak. If it had something, the transfer was made from the mouth to her skull,” Tariq said. “Is that agreed?”
The warriors nodded, all in agreement. Andor had been very careful to watch. “Did anyone see that crow before the battle began? You all flew over the area repeatedly in order to spot the enemy. I looked at the flock of crows often, but never saw one that size.”
“I was in the forest with them,” Sandu said, “and I didn’t see it.”
“We took the form of a crow and sat among them,” Dragomir volunteered. “That large one would definitely have caught my eye. It was not there.”
“It was somewhere watching,” Andor said. “That had to have been Sergey. He directed the entire battle, and we didn’t know.”
“All of you are ancients and yet you didn’t sense his presence. That doesn’t bode well for us,” Tariq said.
“There would have been no way to know who was there and who wasn’t,” Dragomir said. “That explains the master vampire. Sergey knew we would have sensed his presence had he not brought that kind of powerful vampire with him. He was the ultimate sacrifice.”
Gary nodded. “Ferro had no trouble ferreting out his trap. He told me he knew the undead he fought couldn’t have been a master vampire for too long because, although he did wound him and the wounds were severe, the fight didn’t last long at all.”
Tariq sighed and drummed his fingers again on the table. “Another sacrifice in order for Sergey to be there at the battle. He was determined to orchestrate it and participate when the time was right. A master vampire and four lesser vampires was a huge sacrifice. He was up to something that was very important to him.”
Gary nodded. “I think it best if we try again. This time each of us will trade places. Sandu, you take the brain, I’ll take arteries and veins. Maksim, you take her organs, and this time we will add Dragomir. You inspect her bones.”
Andor felt Lorraine’s instincti
ve retreat, but she didn’t protest. This time she leaned into him. What if they don’t find anything? Should we leave? I can tell that all of you believe he planted something in me.
We know what a sliver looks like. Dragomir and Gary have dealt with them. Every ancient has seen them and at one time or another had to remove them. If it is there, they will find it. Have no worries. There are four of them looking.
Andor wanted to reassure her. If they found nothing, he didn’t want her panicking and deciding she had to run from them. He wasn’t going to allow her to leave the compound until he knew she was safe. Until he knew what Sergey had done to her, or what he wanted from her, Andor wasn’t about to let her set one foot out of the safety area.
He joined with Sandu so when the ancient shed his body and once more slipped into hers as nothing but pure spirit, he could see and feel as well what they encountered. The light from Gary was so bright and hot it illuminated every part of Lorraine’s body. Dragomir and Maksim added to that white heat. Sandu was even more meticulous, worried now, as were all the others.
After watching the crow attacking his lifemate, there was no doubt in Andor’s mind that she had been specifically targeted. Knowing that Sergey had sacrificed a master vampire so the ancients wouldn’t detect his presence made the entire thing even more worrisome. More than anything, Andor wanted to convert his woman and get her into the healing earth. He knew her skills in battle would triple just from becoming Carpathian.
As carefully as Sandu inspected every fold of her brain, every valley and hill, the slopes and shadows, he found nothing that even faintly resembled a splinter. Andor knew slivers were tiny and could embed in the tissue, so that it appeared to be part of whatever it attached itself to. Still, even wriggling to fasten itself to the surface, the sliver had to be lying on the exterior and there would be a tiny dark spot, as if the tissue was in shadow whether light shone on it or not.
Andor had found more than one, always a mage sliver, in the centuries past that he had searched someone for them. He knew Sandu was well aware of exactly what to look for, as were the others searching through Lorraine’s system.
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