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)
Ferro waved his hand casually toward the door and the heavy oak swung open. A tall warrior strode in. Elisabeta kept her head buried in Ferro’s chest, her hand over her eyes, but she opened her fingers just enough to see him. His hair was a true black with strands of gray, much like Ferro’s only not quite as long. His shoulders were wide and he looked very muscular. His eyes were brilliant sapphire, almost startlingly so. She recognized him from Julija’s description. This had to be Isai, her lifemate and one of Ferro’s brethren from the monastery.
He came straight to Ferro’s side and reached out. Ferro’s arms abandoned her for one moment, reaching toward Isai, clasping forearms in the way of the Carpathian warrior greeting.
“Sívad olen wäkeva, hän ku piwtä,” Isai greeted.
May your heart stay strong, hunter, Elisabeta interpreted. Ferro was her lifemate. His heart was very strong. She called him kont o sívanak—strong heart— for a reason.
A faint stirring of what could have been amusement brushed a velvet caress in her mind. My fierce little protector.
A little shiver crept down her spine that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the strange way he made her body and mind feel. The fingers of one strong hand had gone to the nape of her neck and he massaged there, a slow, deep movement that eased the tension from her in spite of the fact that Isai was towering over the two of them. Ferro didn’t seem concerned. He was more relaxed than ever.
“Julija,” Isai called and turned toward the open door and held out his hand.
Elisabeta’s heart beat very fast. At last. Her friend. The woman who had risked everything to save her. She started to sit up straighter, but Ferro’s arms tightened a fraction in warning.
Wait until she is in the house and the door is closed behind her. You can sit up straight but stay on my lap in the shelter of my arms.
That was a clear order. It was also Ferro looking out for her. He was leery after she had revealed that Sergey had managed to speak to her before her lifemate had slept above her in the healing grounds, adding the weave of his safeguards over the others. She had thought the master vampire invincible, wholly powerful. It hadn’t occurred to her that something other than Sergey’s power had been the reason he had been able to reach out to her every rising until her lifemate had come to her. Now, with Ferro’s reaction, she wasn’t so certain.
She waited quietly, still on the outside but a mass of nerves on the inside. Her gaze was riveted to the door. A small woman with delicate features, dark eyes and hair, and a curvy figure came into the room, taking Isai’s outstretched hand. She recognized Julija immediately. The only thing different about her was the deep scar on her where Sergey had deliberately ripped at her throat in order to kill her. Or if not to kill her, then at least to prevent her from speaking to her lifemate.
Julija’s gaze was fixed on Elisabeta and she broke out into a wide smile. “At last. It’s wonderful to see you, although it’s very dark in here. Don’t you want some sconces lit?” Julija was mage-born and excelled at spells. “I can provide some beautiful ones that are quite dim, Elisabeta. They won’t hurt your eyes.”
Elisabeta couldn’t help the small little shudder that ran through her mind at the idea of the others coming. They would see her clearly. Stare at her.
“No,” Ferro said firmly. “I do not wish others to look upon my lifemate until we have a chance to bond. We have business to discuss or no one would be invited to speak with her this rising.”
Elisabeta was a little shocked at the sound of Ferro’s voice. He didn’t sound like the same man at all, so much so that she had to sneak a quick glance up at his face to make certain it was really him speaking. His expression could have been carved from stone. He looked remote. Not at all the gentle, kind warrior who had been so patient with her. Where his voice had held command before at times, his tone had always been firm but gentle. There was no trace of that now. He was in charge and no one dared cross him.
Julija took a step back toward her lifemate and glanced over her shoulder at him, lifting her eyebrow as if to say “I told you so.”
Ferro gestured toward the chairs across from them. “The others will be here very soon. Already they are on their way. Isai, Elisabeta has indicated to me that a short while ago she told your lifemate that Sergey was speaking to her each rising when she woke to take blood, trying to force her to communicate with him. Time is lost for her. It is possible your lifemate can help with the timeline.”