Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

Solange nodded at him. Thank you for standing with us.

Petru added to the information they were collecting on the intruders. I did not see these men, but in the village, there was talk of them. They came by boat and they had supplies. The supplies were not all in the way of food. Mostly, they had weapons. The ones that watched them said they didn’t recognize all the weapons they carried. I made certain I was not seen so I could follow the ones that had the most information, and I took it from their minds.

Sandu felt Adalasia wince. She still wasn’t on board with the way Carpathians so casually extracted information they needed simply by taking it. They took blood and opened a pathway if they really wanted to delve deeper or if they wanted to monitor the individual from a distance.

We do not have to torture anyone for information, he pointed out.

Adalasia turned her dark eyes on him, and he had to resist grinning at her.

Just wanted to say it was much more civilized.

Now you’re just being smug. She kicked him, but very gently.

The images Siv sent filled their minds with containers sitting on the rickety pier. Behind them, giant Victoria amazonica were in the shallow water, basically giant green lily pads. Tied to the pier were several crude fishing boats and two modern ones.

The two fishermen from the village sat “guarding” the containers. The two men looked all around them, clearly searching for the men who had come upriver. One stood guard while the other peered into the containers. His eyes went wide and he spoke rapidly to the other. The two hurried away from the pier, clearly afraid of the contents.

There were all kinds of guns and ammunition, but it was the strange weapons Sandu had never seen before that intrigued him the most. What are those?

Jubal made a small sound in the back of his throat and then looked at Jasmine. He set her aside and stood up, pacing across the room, putting distance between them.

Some of those are more recent inventions to kill vampires. You point and shoot, and the bullet incinerates the heart. He turned to face the Carpathians, his brows drawing together. Where the hell would they get these?

They clearly aren’t on the market, Dominic pointed out, as calm and steady as always. Where did they come from?

I invented them with Gary. The two of us. We needed weapons for the kids and women when they couldn’t go to ground, just in case the undead sent their puppets. These were only in the Carpathian Mountains and . . . Jubal trailed off.

Dominic and Solange continued to look at him. Jubal shook his head and looked away from them as he paced restlessly back and forth across the room.

Sandu caught guilt laced with anger. Jubal Sanders was very angry. Whoever had taken those weapons and given or sold them to those men, he regarded as a traitor. He had an idea of how that particular weapon had gotten into their hands and was worried about others.

Jasmine got up and went to him. “Jubal? What’s wrong?”

He didn’t stop pacing, nor did he look at her. “Sweetheart, I’m going to go out there and see if I can find these jokers.”

“Jubal.” Dominic said his name softly. “We just had a talk about responsibility. And self-sacrifice. This is not the time to blame yourself for what others do. You know better. That is a gut reaction.”

Jubal shook his head, for the first time not taking advantage of Jasmine’s closeness. She wrapped both arms around his waist as if she were holding him to her—and maybe she was. It did stop his pacing, but he didn’t put his arms around her. He just stood there in the center of the room, looking torn.

Sandu had no idea who could have betrayed Jubal, but it was someone close to him, someone he cared about, and the cut was deep.

“I suppose you’re right, Dominic, but it’s difficult not to. These men have the capability to kill you and Solange. To kill all of you.” Jubal looked directly at Sandu and then Nicu. “The weapons were to ensure Falcon’s children survived when the Carpathian adults were in the ground. Vampires would send their puppets after the children. At times, the children would be attacked during the day, when they had little protection. We were teaching them to fight back, and these weapons were a way for them to survive a puppet assault. We were working with the women as well to use them against a vampire attack.”

“Can’t vampires compel obedience from humans?” Adalasia asked. Sandu could see she was trying to get Jubal to get beyond his shock and anger at the betrayal, his need to sacrifice himself in order to make up for the actions of another. He tightened his hold on her hand, pressing her palm deeper into the muscle of his thigh to let her know he appreciated her.