Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

He took his time, pushing out the parasites that were already replicating and doing their best to do as much damage as possible to his heart and lungs as fast as they could.

Adalasia gasped and leapt back across the room as she saw the loathsome, vile parasites the undead had transferred into Sandu’s body in his attempt to kill him. The blood he had pushed through his pores, which was now in puddles on the floor, contained so many of the creatures that she was clearly horrified. She raised her eyes to his.

“He put those in you?”

Sandu waved his hand toward the window, and it opened on his silent command. “It is normal. He didn’t have time to push many into my bloodstream. We surprised them, and the battle went our way very quickly. Master vampires are not normally so easily defeated.”

She couldn’t pull her gaze from the disturbing creatures in the pool of blood on the floor. They looked as if they were devouring the blood and growing fatter and larger as they wiggled and rolled mindlessly.

“Adalasia, you must move back even farther, away from the window. Go all the way to the door on the other side of the room and keep your eyes closed with your hand over your eyes. I have to incinerate them.”

She shuddered, still not moving or lifting her gaze to his, as if she were hypnotized by the parasites. “How are you going to do that? We’re in the house.”

“I can control the lightning sword. You have to move back, ewal emninumam, so this can be done immediately. I have to make certain I am clean with another inspection before I feed and return to you.”

Her gaze jumped to his. “Lightning sword?”

“You saw us wield the lightning,” he reminded her, keeping his voice low and gentle. She was trying to process quite a lot of their world all in one night.

“Yes, in your mind. At a distance. It feels like a dream, Sandu.”

She moved then, across the room, down two steps and across the sitting room to the door he had indicated. She wrapped her arms around her middle, heedless of the bloodstains his wounds had left on her clothing. Sandu couldn’t bear to see them on her and removed them, but she didn’t seem to notice, she kept looking at the vile worms growing fatter on his blood.

Adalasia was very pale, leaning now against the door, looking as though she might run if she had the strength. She wasn’t afraid enough of him or his teeth to run. She wasn’t afraid enough of being part of his world to run. She wasn’t even afraid enough of the undead to run, but the parasites the vampire had in his toxic blood horrified her.

Sandu had no choice but to shield her as he built the storm. It wasn’t as if she refused to close her eyes and cover them; it was more that she was so fixated on the bloated parasites that she couldn’t look away. Almost as if she were spellbound.

Adalasia. He spoke her name sharply in her mind.

She blinked several times and then looked at him. Relief poured into him.

“Turn around, face the door, close your eyes and cover them now.” He was still going to shield her, but it was possible the vampire had set some kind of trap in his parasites. Adalasia hadn’t yet been caught in the web, but he wasn’t taking chances that it might happen. When she hesitated, he commanded it and put a “push” into the order.

His lifemate obeyed, and he summoned the white-hot spear of lightning to incinerate the parasites and blood. He added his clothes to be burned just to be safe before releasing the spear. Once more, he checked his body, inspecting every organ to ensure he had removed the parasites from his system before he clothed himself and then released his lifemate from his command. To be extra safe, he removed her clothes, incinerated them and replaced them with clean, fresh-scented ones.

Adalasia turned slowly, one eyebrow lifted in a replica of the exact look she had shown him earlier. “You took over my will.”

“Yes.” He stood up and stretched his body carefully. He was weak. He really needed more blood.

“That wasn’t very proper, Sandu, not without asking permission.”

“I do not ever need permission to protect my lifemate.” He had bound her without her permission, and he had already had one blood exchange and intended to have a second one—for her protection. That was the way of his people. He felt no remorse. He not only had the right; it was his duty to her. He intended to explain that very carefully to her when he explained coming into his world. He knew being part of his world meant something very different to her than it did to him.