Dark Tarot (Dark Carpathians)

Sandu, I am in the foyer. If you have need of blood, I have fed well this night, Siv said, using the path of the brethren.

It was not uncommon for the brethren to hunt for one another. Usually the gatekeeper of the monastery hunted for the others to keep them from having to go out and be tempted.

Thank you, brother. I will be there immediately.

His lifemate was back to giving him her distrustful look. He felt her withdrawal, arms going around her waist, her back to the wall as far from him as she could get.

“I will only be a few minutes, Adalasia. My brother has ensured I do not have to hunt this night for more blood. We will continue this discussion when I return.”

Adalasia watched as Sandu simply disappeared. One moment he was sitting in the chair across from her, and the next he was literally gone. She hadn’t even blinked. She looked down at the floor. There was no blood on the floor. Not one single drop. Those hideous white wiggling parasites that had repelled her were thankfully gone. The window was once more closed and locked. She looked down at her clothes. Not one drop of blood. Not one. Okay, then.

You do whatever you have to do tonight. I’m going to take a bath. A very long one.

Reading about legends and monsters and seeing journeys and futures in tarot cards was definitely not the same thing as living with them. She needed a little time to process what the hell was going on. Some things didn’t seem real, even though she’d witnessed them.

Thank heavens, the water pouring out of the taps was steaming hot. There was even, to her shock, her favorite bath oil sitting right there for her to use. She pulled her hair up on top of her head to keep it from getting wet and stripped off the clothes she’d worn, grateful for the radiant heating on the floor Jaxon and Lucian seemed to have.

She left the lights off and lit the candles she found in the room. Six large ones smelling of her favorite scents. Oranges, roses, lemons and sandalwood. There was a hint of cedar. Everything she found comforting. Sinking down into the hot water made her groan, not realizing how the tension had managed to make her muscles so sore. This was perfection. She laid her head against the little cushion attached to the back of the tub and closed her eyes.

Sandu. At once she thought of him. It was odd when she had wanted him to leave her alone so she could think things through, but now that he wasn’t in her mind, she felt bereft. Alone. More alone than she’d ever been. She put her hand up, spreading out her fingers, looking at her fingernails.

She had been lonely for so long, not realizing how alone she felt even when she had her parents, until Sandu had come into her life. Was it because she had been born over and over protecting his soul, as the history in her family indicated? Had she lived lifetimes searching for him? Had she been lonely those lifetimes because she had never found him, even though she married and had a child? She only knew that each time she tried to school her mind to stay focused on processing his abilities— and his flaws—she found herself wanting to reach out to him.

“I’m not a needy person,” she murmured, resentful that she wasn’t coping the way she thought she should be. She wanted Sandu to see her as someone strong. Someone he could depend on. That was part of the reason she had wanted to take time for herself. She needed to process everything so she could go forward with courage to face what was necessary. She also wanted to be his partner. If he refused to treat her as a partner, how could she trust him with her secrets? He would share what was hers with his brethren and cut her out of the journey.

Sandu believed this was his path alone for some reason. She knew she was fulfilling a family destiny. This was their appointed task. She had stated several times it was their journey together—and it was. She couldn’t succeed without him. He couldn’t succeed without her. If she couldn’t convince him, they would fail, and all would be lost.

Sandu had believed, when he felt such an urgency to leave the city of San Diego and his friends behind, that it was because he no longer could take being around humans without his lifemate to anchor him. He had been conditioned for centuries to believe he would be tempted to turn vampire if he battled and killed too often after so long. She knew it was their close proximity, the pull between them that had him so restless. She woke up feeling it as well, that need to leave, to start her journey. She had laid out her cards, over and over, seeking to find help, seeking to find answers, knowing he would come, fearing his arrival and what he would bring.