Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
The owl struck the frozen vampire hard, knocking him to the ground, ripping the flesh from the bone, shredding his face from eye to chin, removing it completely.
Elisabeta made a single sound of pain and sorrow. Before Ferro could order her to leave him so she would not continue to see the cruelty the vampires were displaying toward their newly made brethren, she began reporting the conversation between Sergey and Cornel. Her voice was tight and dripped with tears, but she held herself together.
Cornel is arguing for a compromise. He wants Sergey to allow each of the master vampires to bring seven to ten servants with them.
Seven to ten? There were seven master vampires if one counted Sedrick and Edward. If they weren’t bringing all of their servants, that meant the Carpathians were outnumbered by far more than they had counted on. The Malinov brothers had planned their coup for centuries. They’d had a tremendous amount of time to find a way to get other vampires to follow them. No one had ever thought it possible.
They will call some to go with them, but not all, because they do not want a bloodbath in the city. That would draw too much unwanted attention. Cornel still wants to draw Josef to the underground club using a woman he would be attracted to. At that time, he would bring more servants to feast.
Ferro had wanted to kill Sergey. That had been his primary mission. Now, for the safety of the Carpathian people, as well as the humans who had thrown their lot in with Tariq and were helping to guard the children and even the Carpathians, the ancients had no real choice but to get the information back to the compound. With Sergey and the other master vampires traveling with such a large army, they wouldn’t be able to attack without the vampires becoming aware that they had overheard their plans and even knew their numbers. It went against the ancient hunters’ code to leave the master vampires without killing a single one of them. It was almost painful to let them go.
Ferro studied the exodus of vampires, the way each of the master vampires and his servants left the forest. Ambrus was the last to leave and he kept circling above the twisted trees with their dank, gray netting of poisonous webs. He showed the suspicion of a wild animal. At one point he even put his nose to the ground and sniffed and had his servants do the same. Eventually, he gave up and took to the air, heading in the same direction as the others.
He will come back. Do not move, Elisabeta warned.
Ambrus returned a few minutes later, swooping out of the sky and dropping low to examine the earth again. He quartered the area, using his heightened sense of smell. Finally, satisfied, he followed the others.
You cannot clean up the forest or clean out the lair yet, Elisabeta cautioned. Not if you do not want them to know you have been there.
That was also a blow to Ferro, but the safety of the compound had to come first.
17
A symphony of power rolling through the land;
You and I together, here we make our stand.
Ferro sang his song to wake his lifemate, to bring her to him. He had woken, his first thoughts of her, his woman, his true purpose now, where before his life had been consumed by hunting—and killing the vampire. Now, the first awareness was of Elisabeta. The joy of her. The compassion in her. The soft sweetness of her. Just . . . Elisabeta.
She had become his everything. His center. His world. He had always held such a misconception of lifemates. Maybe it was just him—or perhaps all males did. He had never thought to ask Isai or Andor what they had considered before they found Julija or Lorraine. Ferro had believed he would be Elisabeta’s center and she would devote herself completely to him. He would carry out his work hunting the vampire and return to her when he was able. It had never occurred to him that the power of lifemates meant he would never want to be without her. Again, it was possible that it was Elisabeta’s power over him.
The moment he was aware, even before he opened his eyes, he felt joy in just being. In the miracle of knowing she existed. He found her to be the most amazing, multifaceted creature on the face of the earth. She held so much talent, so many gifts, was so giving and yet was so selfless and thought so little of herself or for herself. She was a complex, wonderful puzzle he knew he would never completely understand in the time they had to share together.
He had hunted for fresh blood, taking enough for both of them, as he did each rising. There would come a time soon when he would have to teach her to be more self-sufficient, but there were so many other lessons, and she was pushed to her limit as it was. She never protested, but he could feel her struggling at times and he felt he walked that fine line of trying to shield her and letting her take those steps on her own.