Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

If we are right and Lilith needs both of us to force me to use the cards, then whatever they do will be directed at our brothers, not you. They might try to wound you to slow us down, but they will try to kill them, she cautioned.

Sandu wasn’t certain how Nera and her army had gotten ahead of them, but this didn’t feel as though the undead lay in wait for them. If a vampire was anywhere close, Dax would have known and been hunting it. This was his territory, and he was aggressive in his protection of the people in it. The moment a rumor surfaced that sounded anything like a vampire could have been in any of the villages, farms or communities around his territories, Dax took swift action.

Once Adalasia had disappeared into the mist, unable to be detected in the cloud coverage, Sandu sent word to Danutdaxton that their enemy had gotten there ahead of them and laid a trap for them. They would handle it, as they were uncertain of what they were facing. He didn’t expect an answer from Dax, and he didn’t get one. The ancient Carpathian hadn’t seen or heard from him for centuries. He had a lifemate to protect. He wasn’t about to risk her for five unknown Carpathians who could easily be the undead trying to draw him out. Sandu would never have answered, either.

The lack of sound came first. Every insect ceased the incessant calling. There was no movement, no rustling of leaves. No fluttering of wings. It felt as if the very earth held its breath. Sandu had faced many horrific things in his life over the centuries, and that ripple of unease that he felt under his feet, as connected as he was to the soil, gave him insight into what was coming his way.

Trees trembled and the ground shivered, as if an earthquake had begun small and grown in strength. Insects burst from the ground, large black beetles with pinching claws, until the forest floor was alive, moving with them. Giant ants crawled up the trees, covering the trunks, building bridges from one limb to another, devouring everything they came across. Spiders jumped at birds and monkeys as they abandoned trees to try to get ahead of the ants.

Far off, the sound of ghostly baying could be heard. Not that of a wolf but of dogs, baying together in unison. The earth shook harder and the trees swayed. Sandu coated his body in hyssop oil as he floated above the forest floor to keep the crawling bugs from reaching him. They were a mere nuisance in comparison to what they would face in a few seconds.

I can get rid of the bugs Nera sent, Adalasia informed him.

Do not give away your presence, even in my mind. We don’t know how she got ahead of us. One of these hounds will no doubt try to pull me to Lilith, forcing you to follow. If that happens, I will need you to stop it long enough for the brethren to kill it. Then you can deal with the insects.

He didn’t like that much of a prolonged communication with her. They were missing something besides the blood connection, something Nera was able to track Adalasia with. He wasn’t taking chances with his lifemate, not in the midst of what could be a true firestorm. She didn’t answer, an acknowledgment of his concerns.

He manufactured the necessary arrows, shields and weapons, coating them in the vats of hyssop oil he suspended in the air around him and proceeded forward in the clouds of mist toward the enemy, using the trees as shields although he knew that would never stop what was coming his way.

The eerie sounds grew louder. Sandu lifted his hand to shift the wind slightly so that it would carry the scent of their enemy to them. At once, the sulfuric, foul stench of rotten eggs and burning brimstone told him he had been correct in his guess as to what Nera had chosen to throw at them. He had to give the information to Adalasia just in case.

Hellhounds. Hard to kill. Sometimes they have more than one head. They must be shot in the eye to kill. A throat shot will slow them down but not kill them. You cannot get the saliva or blood on you. Do not let their claws or teeth touch you.

More than using actual words, he let the images flow to her, so it wasn’t as if he was actually talking to his lifemate. She would be observing and learning as he and the brethren fought the hellhounds. He knew Adalasia was correct. One would come for him and try to drag him back to the gates of hell with it, while the others would try to kill the guardians. Nera thought she had an advantage here in the cloud forest. He was missing something, and he couldn’t afford to miss anything.