Dorin shrugged, looking bored. “I don’t pay attention to the dating habits of silly little Carpathian teens.”
Cornel hissed his displeasure right before Sergey raised his hand and slammed it toward Dorin, pushing not only air but something unseen and violent that tore open the master vampire’s chest, driving him backward and down off the dais, toward the group of newly made vampires. Lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth, the vampires slithered forward fast on their bellies, extending claws toward Dorin as he staggered on the uneven surface. The master vampire caught himself and viciously kicked the closest newly made vampire in the head, smashing in his teeth. He whirled around to face Sergey, his chest repairing itself, fury in every line of his body.
Cornel glided between his brother and Sergey, the move smooth and practiced. “We should go to the lair in the city, Sergey, where I can access the computers. I am certain there will be a file on young Josef and his preferences for females. For several years he has been friends with two humans, a male and female.”
“Find them,” Sergey snapped.
Cornel shook his head. “The female has been converted. She is related to several powerful Carpathian families and is the wife of Dimitri. He is both wolf and Carpathian. The male friend is the nephew of Zacarias De La Cruz. He is in South America. It would be better to find his preferences and provide him with the exact girl to meet here. She can lure him out for us.” Cornel kept his voice soothing.
Dorin hesitated, kicked at the newly made vampire on the floor who was already hastily retreating, and then the master vampire made his way back up the dais, putting Ambrus Balog between him and Sergey. Through the entire encounter, Ambrus had been silent, watching for the most part, his red-rimmed eyes on Sergey and then darting around the room, dropping to the floor to find the agitated newly made vampires and then back to Sergey again.
“We need to get Elisabeta,” Sergey snapped. “This boy can be taken anytime, but we need to get her back immediately. If we need to move back to the lair beneath the city in order for you to understand why the infection isn’t working then we should go now, before we lose the night. I want her back next rising. I’ve waited long enough.” There was a distinct threat in his voice.
The vampires on the floor were back to their whining again, the obnoxious high-pitched sound that seemed to shred the insides of Ferro’s ears. Evidently, he wasn’t the only one the noise bothered. Cornel once again lifted a hand to silence them, but Ambrus shook his head.
“No. Wait.”
The dirt floor rose and fell as something alive skittered beneath it. At the same time the walls undulated like a giant snake coiling and uncoiling.
Cornel stepped close to Sergey. “Dorin, lead the way. Sergey, follow him. I will be right behind you. Ambrus, guard the rear. Sedrick and Edward, you stay close behind Ambrus. The others can follow or not. We will be sealing the corridor, so keep up if you want to get out.”
Ferro had no idea what had tipped the newly made vampires off to the ancients’ presence, but whatever it was, the master vampires were fleeing, and if the hunters wanted to engage them in battle, they had to do so immediately.
Dorin didn’t hesitate. He whirled around as Cornel swung his arms into the air and created an opening just behind Sergey’s throne-like chair. Dorin dashed down the narrow corridor followed by Sergey, Cornel almost directly on his heels.
Ferro, Gary and the other ancients started after them, just as Sedrick and Edward leapt forward and the newly made vampires jumped to their feet, attempting to push each other out of the way as they had to go down the narrow hallway single file.
16
I’ll teach you the words, and show you the way;
You’re strong on your own but tell me you’ll stay.
Get out of there now. Do not follow them. It is what they want. Go up, toward the ceiling. Elisabeta’s voice burst through Ferro’s mind, tormented. Frightened.
We are hunters, Elisabeta. We are here to kill the vampire. In contrast, he remained steady and calm as he streaked with his brethren after the master vampires down the very narrow passageway.
That way is a trap. An ambush. You will not get close to them. Please, kont o sívanak, I would not deceive you in this. I have seen the preparations. You would not escape. All of you must go back to the meeting room and go up to the ceiling. They know you are following and they lead you into a trap.
Ferro felt her heart as if it were that of the wild songbird he always called her, beating out of control. Her warning had been heard by the others merged with him. He believed in his lifemate. So far, she had never steered him wrong. He doubted if her fears for his life would have allowed her to suddenly overcome centuries of submission so that she made up her warning just to force him away from his prey.
Immediately he halted his forward momentum and signaled the others to follow his lead, waiting for Ambrus, Sedrick, Edward and the newly made vampires to pass below them. In their frenzy to run, he was certain whatever had tipped them off would most likely elude them just long enough for the five ancients to get out of the underground lair, if Elisabeta could show them a safe way out.
Do not get caught in the corridor. Once in the meeting room, be very still and do not speak. Hurry, they will close the doors and you will be trapped. There are so many poisonous guards in place at the entrances and exits and along the walls, ceilings and floors of the corridor. Her anxiety showed in the quaver in her voice, but she was very clear in her instructions.
They streaked down the corridor before the last vampire was through the opening, so that when the door slammed shut, they were on one side and the vampires on the other. Back in the circular room, they drifted toward the ceiling, careful not to touch anything. Behind the closed doors, an agonized shriek signaled one of the newly made vampires had been unwary, or not fast enough, and was caught in one of the traps made for anyone pursuing the master vampires.
On the ceiling, toward the left side from Sergey’s chair looking toward the center of the room, there is a root. It looks like a small loop, almost pushed into the dirt. Do not talk to each other if you can help it. Do not expend any energy. There are terrible, vile creatures in that room, and any energy not known to them will now unleash them.
Ferro could still feel her anxiety. She wanted them out of there fast. He knew that once the master vampires realized that whoever had been secreted in their meeting room hadn’t followed them, they would be returning. The ancients weren’t opposed to being outnumbered in a battle, but going up against seven master vampires and a few starving pawns inside a small room fraught with poisonous traps was suicide. More, Ferro didn’t believe that Sergey wouldn’t have other vampires, the ones each master vampire would have to serve and protect them, close by.
The plan was to get information and then separate Sergey from the others and kill him. The last thing they wanted to do was have the slivers of his brothers and Xavier find homes in other master vampires. It might still be doable to kill him, but first they had to get out alive from the lair that had become a trap. Ferro’s woman was going to ensure that happened. He had every faith in her.
The five Carpathian ancients searched the ceiling of the meeting room. It was a large room and there were numerous roots sticking out of the dirt. Some of the roots had fine hairs on them, and even getting close to them in the invisible form they were in sent chills through their molecules. Other roots were twisted and gnarled, graduating from smaller, elongated limbs to thicker ones. Some looped back into the ceiling to disappear out of sight, while others hung down. Looking for that small little loop almost pushed into the dirt was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The five ancients quartered the area, each taking a section of the left side of the ceiling to search. Benedek found the very small root nearly buried in the dirt. It was a twisted loop of braided wood about two inches thick, marbled in color so that it blended in with
the dirt. He stared at it from every angle, sharing the image with the others and with Elisabeta.
That is the correct one. You have to grasp it and pull straight down. Be certain to pull straight and be to one side. There will be a hole you can float through. Do not touch the sides or you will trigger the guardians. The webs are very hungry. Their tentacles are always looking for prey. Movement prompts an immediate response. Noises. Drift through very quietly. When you all have gotten through the door, let it fall back naturally into place.
Thank you, Elisabeta, Ferro said. There was a still fear in her, but she was sticking with him, refusing to give in to panic as she might have those first few risings.
You will be in the forest, Ferro, and the vampires have taken over that section of the forest. Many of the servants sleep beneath the trees. That is why so many of the trees have become diseased. The moment Sergey and the others know you have eluded them, they will send word to cut you off so they can trap you between them. They have alerted the guardians already.
Ferro indicated to Benedek to open the trap door so they could drift through. Cornel will be the one to realize we have escaped their ambush in the corridor.
Cornel or Ambrus. Ambrus is cunning, like a wild animal. Cornel is much like the older Malinov brothers. He develops strategy quickly and is fluid about it. He can change battle plans on the run, Elisabeta answered.
Elisabeta was a wealth of information on their greatest enemies. Ferro waited as first Gary, Petru, Sandu and then Benedek successfully floated through the square hole created for an escape into the forest. He streamed up slowly in mist form. As he passed into the forest, he again felt the oppressive weight of hopelessness settling on him. There seemed to be nothing to breathe but sorrow. Even in the form he had chosen—and it fit with the gray veil covering the trees—that bleak, depressing burden seeped into his pores and found blood and bones where there were none, making it nearly impossible to think.
At once Elisabeta’s cool, soothing breeze was floating through their merged minds, carrying the familiar scent of orange and lime mixed with a hint of Italian bergamot, sandalwood and vetiver. Her presence gently blew the burden of sorrow away, sending it drifting through their minds, allowing it to dissipate so they could see the complicated weave of spells creating the overwhelming melancholy that was another trap to hold unwary victims for the vampires to feast on.
There was no doubt in the ancients’ minds that they could have worked through the spell, but it would have taken time and the master vampires might have been on them, along with their army sleeping beneath the trees, before they had finished working it out.
That spell is the combined work of several master vampires that you feel. Both Dorin and Cornel wove the base of it and the others layered their weaves over the top.
Ferro took the time to study the spell, although he could feel Elisabeta’s anxiety. She wanted them to leave the forest as quickly as possible. The ancient hunters knew that if they could identify the magic being used by each specific vampire, it would give them further insight into that creature and his fighting ability. Did he pay attention to detail? Was he sloppy? Precise? Was he old-school or modern? Did he use a combination of both? Did he find his own magic?
Will you be able to identify the creator of each strand?
Yes. Elisabeta practically hissed it. Ferro, get out of there. He is coming.
All five of the ancients went still. Ferro felt their silent question to him. How did she know that when they didn’t? There was nothing yet in the forest to herald the arrival of the master vampires. No shuddering or even welcoming. Sergey’s spies, the crows and owls, remained somewhat lethargic within the gloom of the gray mist. He didn’t have an answer, but if she was right and the master vampires were already on their way, the ancients couldn’t be caught in the middle of the forest surrounded by an army of vampires. They had to choose their own battleground.
Which way?
They will expect you to go out by the lake. It is closest, and that is the way you had to have come in. He has already alerted his servants to be waiting for you and to search that entire area for any signs of hunters. He does not want to alert his spies in the forest in case you are still inside. That is a break for us. Go north. Move as quickly as you dare without triggering the guardians. They hang from every tree branch. You cannot disturb them.
North meant deeper into the forest. Can we go above the trees?
No. Anxiety rippled through her voice. Sheer terror. Ferro, please, do not try that way. It is cut off to you. All Carpathian hunters take to the sky or go to the ground.
He had to soothe her before they lost her to a panic attack. The forest had become a labyrinth of traps for the unwary hunter. They would have to return with a large faction and remove all snares so any campers wouldn’t be caught.
We are moving to the north, piŋe sarnanak. There is no need to be upset. It was simply a question. You know Sergey’s traps better than any other, and we are grateful that you do. He kept his voice very steady and calm, soothing her as they made their way carefully, following the direction in her mind.
She was very precise, weaving her way through the trees, and the ancients saw immediately there was a pattern to the “back door” escape route set up by the Malinov brothers. Ferro had never really run across it before, but he still recognized it from Zacarias De La Cruz sharing information. The brothers favored a certain flow they could move quickly through when running from hunters. They wound through trees, moving forward ten feet, and then abruptly veered right two feet and backtracked another two before moving forward ten, veering left and backtracking two to move forward ten. They repeated the pattern for several yards and then changed it, varying the forward movement by six feet and one foot left and then one foot right.
Elisabeta guided the ancients through the forest, careful to keep her soothing fragrance moving gently through their minds so their brains were always sharp and clear, free of the heavy burden the master vampires’ spell had woven over the forest. Long webs dangled like Spanish moss from the trees, looking innocent and even beautiful, when in fact, the deadly tentacles waited for any unsuspecting bird, insect, rodent or man to approach too close. Elisabeta showed them how the vampires moved beneath or through each of the webs without disturbing the deadly predators so they didn’t have to slow down as they moved quickly.
Ferro kept their fast movement from displacing the air around them. He ensured the same with his energy, as did the other ancients. Knowing exactly what could trigger the ever-starving webs made it much easier to do the things necessary to speed through the trees. Elisabeta directing their way so they didn’t have to worry about when the pattern was changing increased their ability and would give them an advantage if they made it out of the forest and could double back on those pursuing them. He was careful to keep that thought from his lifemate, knowing it would distress her unnecessarily.
You are at the very edge of the forest. This is where you go up, Ferro, but there is only one way out or in here, unless you can open the path through the webs. If you do that, Sergey will know immediately. There is a thin, scraggly tree between two much larger ones. The trunks of the larger ones are twisted and blackened. You must be extremely careful. Servants sleep beneath them. The roots are tangled and looped above the ground. Look to your right.
He saw the trees. All three were covered completely in the gray webs. The thick threads draped artfully over every branch, and stuck in the sticky centers were decomposing birds, squirrels and various other rodents. There were bones, feathers, leaves and twigs caught in the gray veils as well. Below, on the ground, the root system was blackened and formed cages. Human skulls and bones were strewn inside the twin cages.
I see them, minan piŋe sarnanak.
Without touching the web, go straight up the scrawny tree and out into the sky. Use it like you might go up a chimney. A guideline only. Do not touch a
branch, a leaf, a twig. Nothing at all can brush against any of the three trees or those webs. The entrance at the top is small. She sent the image to the five of them, showing the vampires ascending to the sky from the forest floor, moving straight up in mist form, but no more than an arrow of molecules.
Elisabeta’s anxiety was higher than ever in spite of him calling her his little songbird. Normally, the familiarity of his loving name for her kept her very connected and calm, but this last trap had to be very deadly for her to be so filled with terror when they were this close to being free of the forest.
We will take extra care, sívamet. Gary will lead the way out. Sandu, Petru and Benedek will follow. I will bring up the rear. Stay merged with all of us and allow us to see the images so we make no mistakes.
Ferro felt that as long as she was actively aiding them, Elisabeta would keep from succumbing to the mind-numbing panic. The fact that she seemed to know exactly where Sergey was at all times would be extremely helpful. He wanted to know how she knew. He turned that puzzle over and over in his mind. He was merged with her, and yet he hadn’t found anything to signal an alarm, nor had any of the others.
The five ancients couldn’t wait to be out in the open, where they could turn the tables on the master vampires, so smug in their belief that they were safe in their numbers and with their army of servants hidden beneath the forest. They might only be five, but they were ancient hunters, and they had more battle experience than any of the vampires could conceive.
The moment Ferro was in the clear sky, he turned back to streak toward the lake.
How is it we felt overwhelming sorrow when we are ancient hunters and have no emotion, Elisabeta? Sandu asked.
Ferro could almost see his lifemate wringing her hands anxiously. He surrounded her with warmth. You can answer me and I will relay the information, or just answer all of us, piŋe sarnanak, he said gently, more to remind the ancients that she was fighting centuries of submission to Sergey, of never speaking to any being other than the vampire.
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