Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

“I was tempted as well,” Adalasia admitted. “And shown things that were disturbing to me. Women offering themselves to you and you taking them as if it was your right. For one terrible moment, my mind was confused, but then I saw the oath carved into your back, and everything was right again. My mind was clear. I knew what I was seeing had to be an illusion.”

Sandu floated from the rich soil, cleaning and clothing himself as he did so. He sat beside Adalasia in the cave. The cave was small, but the soil was healing. The guardians and Adalasia had provided strong safeguards. He could feel them, the tight weaves each of his brethren had added for his safety and that of his lifemate. He had chosen well, the guardians for their journey. He owed them much.

“So many helped me bring you back, Sandu,” Adalasia said. “If Dax’s dragon hadn’t protected my spirit from the heat, I’m not certain I could have withstood that fire. The guardians and Luiz De La Cruz had the necessary strength to pull us back to this realm. You were so weak and, quite frankly, so was I.”

Sandu reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I recognized the power of the De La Cruz, but not specifically that brother.”

“Manolito turned a Jaguar male, and Zacarias took him before the warriors to ask that he join their family. At least, that is what I understood,” she replied. “I was focused on you. Everyone was trying to heal your body, to drive out the bacteria. It seemed to be eating your body faster than any of them could keep up. He arrived and immediately offered to help. He is very . . .”

“Powerful,” he supplied, and brought the tips of her fingers to his mouth. He studied her face over their joined hands.

“I was going to say ‘disturbing,’ but I shouldn’t when he helped us, and at such a huge risk to himself. He didn’t have to, and he didn’t ask for anything at all in return. I don’t know why I feel so uneasy around him when he did nothing but good for us.”

“Just as I have a demon dwelling in me, the De La Cruz family has always had a darkness in them from the time of birth. They have fought valiantly to contain it, but that shadowing has never left the eldest brother, Zacarias, even though he has a lifemate. Luiz, if he was accepted by the warriors, would have all the darkness of their family poured into him through those warriors. You are of the light, Adalasia. You have trouble with the demon in the guardians and in your own lifemate. It is easy to see why you would be uneasy in the presence of Luiz De La Cruz.”

He rubbed the back of her hand over his jaw, finding comfort in just touching her. The light from that little sliver of the silver moon shone over his woman, casting a bluish tint into the black of her hair. There was worry in her eyes when she looked at him. He found it in her mind as well, but her face was soft with love. She didn’t try to hide that raw emotion from him, and he was grateful. He needed to feel it.

“I caught glimpses of what was behind the gate, Adalasia. At least I think I did. It is so difficult to know what was real in that realm and what was illusion. There was so much pain. Sometimes I could barely see, my vision shimmering gray and black with just the edges able to make out some of what was around me.” He kept his voice low, once again looking around the cave, up to the sky and then down to the earth, a little fearful of speaking aloud.

“I sealed us from Nera’s spies, above and below,” she assured him. “They can’t get to us. The guardians, Dax and even the Old One made certain you were safe. Whatever you need to say to me, no one else will hear.”

He used the edge of her hand to rub his forehead. Adalasia’s touch was every bit as soothing as her voice. “They dragged me to a gate and wanted me to open it. They said if I didn’t, you would be tortured for eternity. They showed me you burning in flames, demons lashing the flesh off your bones with fire whips. They tortured you in front of me for what seemed like years. I had no idea of time passing. I knew you guarded the gate just as surely as you had guarded my soul.”

He would never get the images of her torture from his mind. Not in a thousand years. Longer even. Lifetime after lifetime, he would have those images branded into his mind. Watching her being tortured was far worse than the agony he’d been subjected to. Carpathians didn’t dream in their paralyzed state, yet he had replayed those images several times and had to come close to the surface to assure himself she was there beside him in order to rest easy again.