Nicu, I have need. I have found my lifemate and we are in trouble. I do not know where my quest will take me, but I am looking for brethren willing to accompany us on our journey. If you can travel with us, meet us at the caves.
Nicu Dalca was an ancient worn from the centuries of battling master vampires, chasing them across continents and having to kill childhood friends who had turned. Still, he held on to his honor, staying true to his oath. He had been in and out of the monastery, coming for a respite when the battles became too much but leaving to look for his lifemate when the call was strong enough.
He was leaner than some of the other ancients, but all muscle. Grimfaced, gray-eyed, with long black hair, he had a scar that curved from his left temple and eye. He was lightning fast in a fight. There was something in him that animals responded to. All animals. If he was in the vicinity, unlike most animals that ran from Carpathian hunters, recognizing they were predators, they responded to Nicu. They guarded him, spied for him, even the fiercest of them.
I will be there.
Nicu sounded a great distance away. That didn’t surprise Sandu. Nicu was restless, just as Sandu had been. More and more, he traveled away from the Carpathian stronghold. Sandu had been fairly certain he would welcome a dangerous journey and protecting a lifemate of one of the ancients.
Afanasiv Belan was a brother who could be unpredictable when it came to fighting vampires. He was a vicious, brutal strategist, well versed in magic, extremely intelligent. He could outsmart most master vampires when he chose. Sometimes, he simply chose to do battle, hand to hand, roaring through the skies as if he had a death wish—and he might well have.
The brethren called him Siv rather than his longer given name. His eyes were mesmerizing, a deep blue-green. His hair was blond, and he was considered by all the ancients to be a very dangerous man. Sandu called him brother and knew he would be a good man to have at his side if this journey was as dangerous as his lifemate’s cards seemed to think it was.
Siv, I have found my lifemate and there is trouble. The journey may be long. If you can get away and travel with us, and a few other of the brethren, meet us at the caves.
There is always trouble when one finds a lifemate, I have noted. I will be there.
Sandu found himself smiling. Siv was right. So far, each of his brethren who had found their lifemate had also found trouble. He had a strong foreboding that the beautiful woman in the other room who was taking far too long was going to be the greatest trouble so far of all of them. And wouldn’t you know, it would have to be his lifemate. The others would never let him hear the end of it.
“I am still reading your thoughts,” Adalasia said as she came out of the bedroom, her satchel in one hand. The other was up, fingers pushing at her hair as if that would help to tidy the wild, wayward fall. She’d put the mass of silk in a braid, but hair had escaped. “Your opinion of me is awful.”
He flashed her a smile. She was breathtaking, even with her hair disheveled. Especially with her hair a wild mess. She wore what appeared to be older jeans, ones she’d owned for a long time. They’d been washed so many times the blue was faded to nearly white. They fit her curves like a glove yet looked as if they gave her room to move. A simple tank top was under a loose jacket. The jacket had loops and zippers inside it. He knew she had weapons in those loops and closed pockets, as well as items she considered valuable to her. She wore the same boots she’d had on with her skirt.
“You ready?”
Adalasia nodded. “You have a place in mind for us to go?”
“Go out the back to the roof. I’ll take us from there. You’ve trusted me so far.” Sandu indicated the back door. Even though he’d acted as if she’d taken a lot of time to change and use her bathroom, in reality, it had only been under five minutes.
She moved very quickly through the apartment to the back door and, once again, stepped aside to allow him to scan for intruders. He indicated it was safe and she stepped through, waited for him to step outside, where he cloaked both of them while she locked the door.
“I’m going to pick you up. We’re traveling a different way. It might be uncomfortable if you choose to open your eyes. I’ve got you safe and you’ll have to trust that I do.” He didn’t wait for her agreement. He simply reached down and fitted an arm beneath her knees and one behind her back to lift her, cradling her against his chest. “Put your bag in your lap and your arms around my neck. You can push your face into my chest with your eyes closed.”