Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

“That was the case for Luiz and Gary. Luiz became a De La Cruz, and Gary a Daratrazanoff. Zev was different in that he was already Dark Blood, a Carpathian. He had a lifemate from the time of his birth. He was unaware of it because he was also Lycan and raised in the Lycan community. It is difficult to understand how the blood works in Lycans and Carpathians.”

Luiz was suddenly back in his own body, his skin showing that same grayish tinge. He cleared his throat several times but didn’t cough. Nicu instantly became light and energy, entering Luiz to ensure the coating was gone and there was no bacteria or poison clinging to him. When he was certain, he returned to offer the De La Cruz his wrist.

Adalasia noted that Luiz was careful not to take too much from Nicu. Nicu needed to feed as it was. Both men would have to hunt before they could go to find Sandu in the shadow realm.

“His body is clean,” Luiz said. “He is far from us.” He turned his strange golden eyes fully on Adalasia. “You are going to retrieve him from this place?”

“Absolutely, I am,” she said, pouring conviction into her voice. She kept every hint of defiance out of her tone. She was no child to be told what she could or couldn’t do by these men. Sandu was hers. Her lifemate. She was getting him back from wherever he was.

He nodded. “I will return shortly and I will accompany you.” He made it a decree.

He was on his feet and gone so fast, she had only blinked and there was no sign of him. She looked to Nicu. “Is that a good thing?”

Nicu nodded slowly. It was impossible for her to tell if he really thought Luiz escorting her to the shadow realm was really such a good idea, but Benedek returned and Nicu left to go hunting fresh blood.

Stay close to me,” Luiz ordered.

Her escort didn’t need to remind her. Adalasia wasn’t about to get lost in this strange place. At first glance, it appeared to be the rain forest where they had fought the battle with Nera’s demons. The trees rose up above them, but the trunks weren’t right. They were twisted and cracked. The branches reached out, limbs not pointing toward the sky but rather each stretched toward the unwary as they walked on the narrowing trail through the dark gray mist.

Her heart began to pound and her mouth went dry. There were vines on the trunks and in the branches, just as there were in the rain forest they’d battled in, but these had a dull green, almost sickening tinge to their leaves. Snakes curled around the woody vines and stared down at them. Lizards and spiders followed their progress, moving on the trunks and in the vegetation on either side of the trail.

“Slow your heart,” Luiz commanded.

Adalasia was embarrassed he had to remind her. She might not have been Carpathian long, but she had trained to fight demons. As far as she was concerned, this realm was all about demons, and she needed to pull herself together and have just as cool a head as Luiz did.

She hadn’t had any trouble finding a way into the shadow realm. Sandu was her other half. He may have given her back his soul, but she was fully connected to him. They were bound together by the ritual he had imprinted on him before his birth. She had only to reach for him, to let her spirit connect with his, and she was pulled into the shadow realm. She knew instantly they were in the exact spot where he had gone down. She recognized it. She would never forget it. Only now, the trees and landscape were very different from the last time she’d seen it.

Riley had carefully renewed the plant life, but once again, the ground appeared scorched, the dirt and debris rotted and burnt. Where before, there was a vitality to the forest, everything around her appeared dull, the colors not just muted but almost lifeless, as if all the verve had been sucked out of them.

Peering up through the canopy, even the sky looked different, the rolling clouds darker and more ominous. They spun gray masses of threads that looked like sinister webs reaching toward the earth rather than actual rain. Everything looked as if it was a threat.

Lizards and rodents scurried away from them. Frogs on the trees rose up to look at them just as the snakes were doing. Were Nera’s spies here as well? It was possible, but she couldn’t think about that. She had to concentrate only on finding Sandu and bringing him out of this realm.

She reached for him again. At once, she felt agonizing pain, and she had to break away for a moment to collect herself. “Why would he feel pain when you healed his body?”