“They have a code. They believe they owe it to their lifemates to remain on earth searching until they find them. These men secreted themselves in a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains to keep from going insane or turning. Each battle, each kill, brought them closer to the brink, so it seemed a good idea to lock themselves away. Your lifemate did that. He’s considered extremely dangerous, Silke. He’s powerful and has gifts many other Carpathians don’t, and most hunters have tremendous talents. Already it is whispered that should he turn vampire, few, if any, could defeat him.”
Silke found herself frowning, still trying to puzzle out Tora’s concern. She wasn’t certain what Tora was trying to tell her. It was very unlike Tora not to be direct, especially with Silke. They were very close. Silke tended to follow where Tora led, trusting Tora to show her the things she needed to learn to better defend their people. More than that, she allowed Tora to take the lead because she loved and trusted her. Tora had never let her down.
“Justice, the beast we guard, was Carpathian.” Tora frowned. “IsCarpathian, or has remnants of his Carpathian code. Gaia would never stay with him otherwise. Gaia was brought to the underworld as a child. An exchange was made with Xavier, the high mage. I think Lilith wanted her for her ability to talk to animals. When she couldn’t mold Gaia to her likeness, she allowed demons to terrify her. Gaia hid in the beast’s territory, inside the gates with him. He protected her and made it known she was under his protection. That was how their friendship began.”
“Again, he sounds like a hero to me.”
Jagged lightning ripped through the sky, sizzling and crackling as almost simultaneously the roar of thunder shook the forest and ground. The strike was directly overhead, yet it never penetrated the canopy. Ground to sky, the energy couldn’t build because the heavy layers offog were impenetrable. As if the lightning were dozens of swords and spears, the bolts rained down, seeking an entry.
The veil held despite the relentless battering. The lightning bolts couldn’t penetrate the mysterious fog that covered the forest.
“You would think they would recognize the touch of a Carpathian,” Silke said. “If Lilith has vampires at her disposal, and I can’t imagine that she doesn’t, why don’t they recognize that the forest is protected by a Carpathian?”
Tora gave her an enigmatic smile. “I was a young woman when the Battle of Baduhenna took place. Over the years I have learned many, many things. It seems that most Carpathians trained under the high mage, Xavier. The spells they learned to safeguard, even using just one weave that is familiar to vampires, would quickly identify a Carpathian, but I had no such experience. Everything I learned was through trial and error. My weaves are natural, all about the earth. I learned mainly from nature and all the creatures I came across from the time I was a child.”
“You never talk about your parents.”
“I was very young when they passed. My father hunted a vampire, and he was killed.” Tora’s voice was very matter-of-fact. “The vampire followed the trail back to my mother and me. My mother defended me, but he would have killed us both if it wasn’t for your ancestors. A group of women heard my screams, and they came running. My mother knew them and was able to tell them how to aid us in defeating the vampire. It was your ancestors leading the way fearlessly. They took me in and raised me when my mother succumbed to her wounds.”
Silke knew the battle and death of Tora’s parents had happened centuries earlier. Tora acted stoic about it, but Silke sensed her underlying sorrow.
“I’m so sorry, Tora. It’s never easy to lose one’s parents. I didn’t know mine, but if I were to lose Fenja, I know I would never get over the loss. I’m so happy it was my family that took you in. You’re my sister. I love you very much.”
They didn’t often express their affection for one another, although they showed it in the things they did for each other.
“This Carpathian warrior who is your lifemate,” Tora blurted out. “Like I said, he’s one of the ones that had been in the monastery. He’s lived longer than I have. I’m told he’s extremely dangerous. Even other Carpathians who were in the monastery are leery of him. He has developed gifts that would make him nearly impossible to defeat in battle, just the way Justice has developed them.”
“What are you saying, in plain language? Do you believe the man I’ve been promised to is like the beast you and the others have kept behind the gates?”
Tora frowned and rubbed her chin. “I don’t know. No one knows, only when you live so long and fight so many battles, something happens to you. It isn’t vampire but more like demon. Not the type of demon Lilith commands. One with all the knowledge of centuries of battles. Scary strong.”
Silke stared at her friend for a long time in utter astonishment. Then she burst out laughing. “You’re telling me the soul I guard could very well belong to a demon. I’m a demon slayer. He’s supposed to be my husband. I guess that’s very fitting. If he gets out of hand, I’ll be the one who is supposed to take him down.”
“It isn’t a laughing matter,” Tora scolded.
“It is. You really need to see the irony of a demon slayer having a demon as a husband. Sheesh, Tora, what could be funnier than that?”
Chapter
2
Benedek Kovak had few people he trusted. Safia Meziane had read tarot cards for him, and with the knowledge that his lifemate was alive and in danger had come the warning to trust only his brethren, only himself and his instincts. He was not to trust anyone else. He had very good instincts honed over centuries of living and encountering just about every conspiracy and betrayal possible.
That lesson had started when he was a young Carpathian. His parents stayed separate from the Carpathian community. He knew his father, Marius, didn’t like taking orders from the prince, or anyone else for that matter. He had sworn his allegiance to the prince, but he hadn’t really meant those vows. Even as a young child, Benedek had known there was something wrong with his family structure. His code of honor didn’t match that of his parents or his older brother, Boian. He had learned early on to be careful around his mother. It wasn’t until he was much older that he realized the woman raising him—and despising him—was not his birth mother.
Carpathian men didn’t cheat on their lifemates. Not ever. There was an unbreakable bond between the man and the woman. His father and Fawn, the woman he called mother, were not true lifemates, although they lived together as if they were. Over time he had learnedthat there were a few men and women who were afflicted with a disease that kept them from finding their real lifemate. They would be attracted to various women or men and would feel as if they had the right to them—human or Carpathian. Marius was one of those men. Fawn was one of those women. Marius’ eldest son, Boian, was the exact same way.
From his toddler years, Benedek had exhibited extraordinary abilities. Marius acted as though he favored him, was proud of him, and spent hours each night training him. Benedek learned discipline and technique for battles with vampires. He had no idea his brother and Fawn resented him, or the time and attention Marius bestowed on him.
He was well past his “teen” years when he realized his father and brother were ruthless killers. If they had killed while taking blood, they would have become vampire, but they were careful not to kill that way. His father took him along on his raids of the villages where he coveted some woman or some prize, or felt as though he’d been slighted. Marius and Boian reveled in the fear they created. They were high on their power and cruelty. They weren’t the only ones.
Marius and Boian held sway over several other Carpathian males who followed their lead, helping them raid and torture perceived enemies. If anyone dared to fight back or cross them in any way, the consequences were brutal. The one rule was they couldn’t kill while feeding.
They were nowhere near the prince of the Carpathians, and they made certain to be friendly with any passing hunter, unless that hunter had spoken to villagers who complained about them. Then the Carpathian hunter was attacked and murdered. The death of Carpathian hunters was inevitable, and no one came looking for the deceased. That practice only increased Marius’ feelings of power and narcissistic superiority.
He seemed to have been born without a conscience, and as he aged, his craving for power only grew. He was envious of the princeand wanted that same power for himself. His idea of ruling was by terror. The more blood he shed, the more the villagers gave him whatever he or his men wanted. He brought Benedek up in that environment. If he questioned the things his father and brother did, he was ridiculed and beaten. Fawn always backed Marius and Boian, even knowing her husband raped other women or took them as mistresses for a short time. Later, Benedek realized Fawn killed those women, not Marius. Her sickness had progressed to the point where no female was safe if they were near Marius.
Benedek was told Marius wanted him to take a young Carpathian woman for his wife. He told him repeatedly that arranged marriages were normal. Boian had brought home a Carpathian woman and “married” her. The woman suicided. Boian didn’t seem to care. When he found her, he laughed and said there were more where she’d come from. The behavior sickened Benedek. He knew he wasn’t yet strong enough to challenge his father. He was certain he could best his brother in a fair fight, but with them and their gang, it would never be a fair fight. If he snuck off to find help, he would leave the villagers completely without aid. Many times, he’d managed to save lives just by being present.
