Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

“She might be able to tell you where in this big world your lifemate exists. When you were born a De La Cruz, at that time, your lifemate was also born into the world. Or at least, your soul was given into the keeping of another. She may not have been born at that precise moment, but she holds the other half of your soul. It isn’t easy to find her. It is possible to miss her, even knowing she is born into the same century.”

Adalasia twisted her fingers together. Sandu’s revelation to Luiz was unexpected. She hadn’t offered the man a reading because he was so powerful, and she didn’t know if the cards would cooperate, not when he held so much darkness in him. She had felt guilty about it, but then Luiz just disappeared before she had made up her mind or she could ask Sandu’s advice.

“That is not why you called me back.”

“No, I had to ask you what you may know of my family,” Sandu conceded. “But Adalasia’s tarot cards are extraordinary. They have great history behind them and have endured for centuries. The blood of my family has kept them intact. We would like to repay you in some small way for your kindness to us.”

“While bringing you back to the house, I had time to examine my memories. I had to delve deep to find what you are seeking, Sandu. You do come from an old and very respected line. There were trackers, families that were essentially nomads, those covering wide territories, pursuing vampires who would escape or deliberately leave the countries Vlad had assigned hunters to. Your father, Domizio, was one such nomad, Sandu, an exceptional tracker. He preferred the wildest country, far from civilization and people. He was a trailblazer. He fought on his own against the undead and taught you the skills necessary to do the same from a very early age. It was said he taught his daughter, Liona, as well.”

Luiz fell silent again, as if going inside his head to acquire more information. Adalasia felt true excitement for the first time. She glanced at Sandu. I think this is it, honey. I think he really knows something.

I’m almost afraid to hope. Did you notice he hasn’t said he would allow you to give him a reading? He is afraid to hope, even though he knows he must have a lifemate holding the other half of his soul.

Adalasia had noticed. How could she not? The guardians had taken their time to make up their minds to know. She knew Luiz was doing the same thing. He was giving Sandu what information he could before deciding if he would ask Adalasia to read the cards. In any case, not everyone believed in the reading of tarot cards. They thought the cards were a parlor trick or, worse, some kind of device from the devil. Luiz had been in the human world before he was Carpathian. He might have his own opinions of tarot cards.

“Domizio and Madolina traveled mostly through what would now be Italy for several years. Eventually, Domizio decided to utilize three households, mainly because he liked having his family close to him at all times. There appeared to be some problem, a drawing of the undead toward the eastern end of the country.”

“Do you know where they were after I left the family? Where Liona was?”

Adalasia slipped her hand into Sandu’s. He had always been calm and very relaxed, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other if they found the answers to his past. She knew differently now. He cared what happened to his sister and parents. He didn’t like that he had no memories of them.

Again, Luiz was silent for a time. A small breeze fluttered through the open walls, touching Adalasia’s face. She couldn’t help but look at the De La Cruz brother. He was incredibly charismatic in a very rugged, intense way. There were lines cut deep in his face. His eyes were striking set against his darker skin. He looked remote. More than that. Set apart. She thought Sandu looked that way. The guardians did. But Luiz took the look to another level altogether. Her heart went out to him.

As if he knew what she was thinking, his gaze shifted and suddenly settled on her face. The stare was piercing. Focused. That of a jungle cat. It should have been uncomfortable, because there was no doubt that Luiz De La Cruz was pure predator, but she felt safe around him. Even with the heavy burden he carried of that terrible shadowing of darkness, he had incredible honor, an iron will.

This was not a man who would succumb easily to the emptiness of centuries of warriors he now carried, as if he’d lived all those lifetimes. He had spent his life standing for women and children against others in his species determined to make them prey. He hadn’t changed his fundamental character. Instead, he’d strengthened those traits when he became a De La Cruz. He had taken on their code of honor, adding it to his own.