Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

“His spirit is no longer in his body. He has no memory of what happened to the shell he was in after he left it. Which way?”

Adalasia took a deep breath and forced calm. Balance. Very slowly, she once more touched Sandu, this time with care. The moment her mind slid against his, she felt his awareness of her. His rejection of her.

You cannot be here.

At least he knew her. The relief was tremendous.

Ewal emninumam, it is too dangerous for you. You are fully alive, a beacon for those evil who would delight in your destruction.

She had a direction on him now. She ignored his warning and indicated to Luiz which path through the forest they should take.

Can you stay where you are, or is it too dangerous for you to stay in one place?

Luiz had picked up their pace. Now that they knew approximately where Sandu was, they wanted to get to him as quickly as possible.

I am surrounded by old “friends,” the undead I destroyed who have waited here before moving on to the next life. They were waiting for me. They have been promised a portal to the other world, a way out of the shadow realm, if they take me to the Cave of Fire. They are determined to take me there.

Adalasia relayed the information to Luiz. She knew the guardians were close, very small shadows in her mind, listening to the exchange between Adalasia and Sandu. They didn’t give their presence away. Should Sandu be taken and tortured beyond endurance, they wanted the element of surprise in order to gather enough power to bring Luiz, Adalasia and Sandu back.

“He is too weak to fight them. They cannot be killed, already dead, while he is still half alive. You hold his soul in your keeping, and they sense this. Tell him to stall as long as possible.”

Sandu, my guide, one of the De La Cruz brothers, asks that you stall as long as possible. He doesn’t want you to put up a fight, or at least not one that will take your true strength. If you must be taken to the Cave of Fire, so be it. We have a plan. The Old One has a plan.

Just in case someone could penetrate their shields and actually listen in on their intimate pathway between lifemates, she didn’t utter Danutdaxton’s name or say “dragon.” Sandu didn’t answer her, and she bit down hard on her lower lip to keep from calling out his name.

“Can we take to the air? Wouldn’t that be faster?” Anxiety colored her voice.

Luiz cast a glance over his shoulder. He was jogging now, his feet barely skimming the ground. She followed his example, not allowing her heart rate to increase or her breathing to change.

“Not yet. They clearly are expecting you to follow him. They will have set traps for you, Adalasia. You are new to the world of Carpathians, but you must look with more than your eyes and the love in your heart if we are to succeed. This is a world of illusion, but those illusions can be deadly.”

There was no reprimand in his tone. None in the expression on his face, but she still felt embarrassed. She was forgetting every single thing she’d been taught because she was so focused on Sandu’s condition. She was terrified for him. She had the examples all around her of ancient Carpathians going into a battle without emotion. They concentrated on the fight at hand. She’d been taught to put aside ego and pride, to allow her brain to fully function so it could sort through problems at a rapid pace.

“Sandu said the vampires he destroyed were promised a portal, Luiz. Someone has done that. Nera commands an army of demons for Lilith. Nera could have promised the vampires the chance of going through the portal in return for aiding her.”

Several paths meandered off the main one they traveled on. Without thinking, Adalasia tapped him mentally on the left shoulder, indicating for him to take the tiny ribbon of a game trail. It was darker through a grove of trees covered in spiderwebs. She felt the movement of hundreds of the arachnids as they began to stalk the two living Carpathians.

She swept her sword from under her long coat and held it up high as she jogged, the flames running up and down the blade, flickering and pulsing in various colors of red and orange.

“Hear me, evil ones. If even one of you dares to drop down on my companion or me, or if a web is thrown over us, I will set this entire grove on fire. It will burn every single one of you. None will escape.”

As a threat, it was very decisive. She would set the entire grove ablaze if even one dared to drop on them. She was done with being inactive. She didn’t know who the spiders belonged to—this place or Nera—but she didn’t care. She kept moving fast, staying right behind Luiz, not changing her breathing in the least.