Dark Song

by Christine Feehan

  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.