Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

Adalasia nodded reluctantly. “You’ll have to help me get it down. Just the thought of it makes me feel nauseous, Sandu.”

Teagan immediately placed a tall glass of what appeared to be a refreshing strawberry-and-orange drink on the table on the other side of Sandu. He infused it with the necessary nutrients before waving his hand to put his lifemate in a receptive state so she was able to drink the liquid and keep it down.

He handed the glass to Teagan as he brought his lifemate out from under his control. Adalasia blinked a few times and looked from him to the empty glass. Teagan waved it away.

“Thank you,” Adalasia said simply, “for making me feel accepted and at ease. This is all so frightening to me. I have my own enemies, and now I’m facing Sandu’s as well. I appreciate that you’ve offered your friendship so readily.”

“I’m very happy you both came to visit us. We don’t get that many visitors,” Teagan said. “Still, I need companionship more than he does.”

“Csitri.” Andre murmured the endearment softly.

She leaned into him. “I’m very happy here. My grandmother and Fane visit often. My grandmother is so happy with Fane, and it’s about time she has her own life. My sisters come to visit with my nieces and nephews. There’s Gabrielle and Aleksei—they come sometimes. They live the closest to us, but she is very involved in her work. She’s amazing, and I love to help her with her research when she needs it. She’s brilliant. But still”—she smiled at Adalasia—“it’s nice to have a woman visitor to talk to.”

“I would want the occasional visitor,” Adalasia said supportively.

“I do love it out here. There’s great climbing. As in boulders. I enjoy climbing, although Andre thinks I’m a little crazy, since I can simply float to the top of a boulder, but that isn’t as fun to me as figuring out the path to actually climb it.”

“You can float to the top of a boulder?”

Teagan laughed. “I could. I don’t. I like puzzles, and when I climb the face of a boulder, that’s what it is to me—a puzzle. I have to work out how to get up to the top.”

“She’s my little daredevil,” Andre said. “If you only knew half the things this one does to make my life terrifying.”

Sandu didn’t think he was joking even though Teagan laughed. Her laughter was contagious, and it was impossible not to smile, even under Andre’s watchful, piercing blue eyes.

Teagan shook her head. “He fights vampires and doesn’t break a sweat, but he says I make his life terrifying because I like to climb boulders even though he knows I can float down to the ground if I fall. Does that even make sense?”

Adalasia looked more at ease than ever, settling back in her chair as if Andre wasn’t quite as scary as he had been just minutes earlier. “No, not really. Are there vampires here, too, Andre?”

“I’m afraid they are trying to establish a foothold in as many places as possible. They like the wilds just as we do. We live on the very edge of civilization. Like us, they need blood to survive, so they try to prey on the towns and farms we protect. They have no idea we are in the vicinity. We try to keep a very low profile, so we always have the element of surprise.”

“How do you keep those closest to you from suspecting you are Carpathians? You can’t possibly be awake during the day, right?” Adalasia glanced at Sandu, her fingernails biting into her palm. “Wouldn’t it be better if one of the couple is awake and alert during the day?”

Sandu felt the tiny hopeful note in her mind. She didn’t want it there, but he was her lifemate, and it might not be in her voice for everyone to hear, but it was definitely in her mind.

Andre shook his head. “That would cause so many major problems, Adalasia.” His voice was as gentle as Sandu had ever heard him.

“You would believe your lifemate was dead to you, and you would not be able to stand it. You would suicide, and he would follow you.” Andre stated it as fact—and it was. “You are too far in our world and too far committed to Sandu as your lifemate. He cannot do without you. You cannot do without him. He is not fully anchored, and for long centuries, too long, he has been fighting the temptation to turn into the very vile, evil monster we destroy. Without you, he is still vulnerable—and will be until you are fully in the world with us.”

Andre did sound like the mentor now. A wise monk, attempting to guide her along the path by telling her the truth of what could happen to her lifemate and even to her if she wasn’t converted.