Every day he grew stronger and learned more. He practiced the extraordinary gifts he was born with far away from his father, brother and the members of their gang. He worked at shifting to be lightning fast. He’d timed his brother and father, the two fastest of the bloodthirsty, power-hungry, brutal gang. He had to be faster than either of them before he dared defy them openly.
His fate was sealed unexpectedly—although looking back, he should have realized his father would order his death if he continued to talk against torturing the villagers and raping their women. What man ordered the murder of his own son? Benedek had learned there was no love in his family and no real loyalty. His older brother would have been happy had Marius been killed, allowing Boian to take over and rule.
He was ordered to meet his father and brother on the outskirts of the closest village just before dawn. Fawn giggled and cackled like a demon from hell when she gave him the orders. That should have been another red flag, but he always tried to get out of her company as fast as possible. The fact that she had cackled made him worried for the women in the village, and he hurried to the edge of the forest.
It was dark and damp in the woods, branches dripping with moss and raindrops. As he materialized, he spotted Ernst and Ciprian, two of Marius’ soldiers. A rustle behind him told him they weren’t alone. Alin and Sergiu were never far from them. That meant they were going on a raid for certain. He shifted his stance to ensure he could see all four men. Boian emerged from a tree trunk and strode straight to him. He had a grin on his face and cruelty in his eyes as he placed one hand on Benedek’s shoulder.
“You made it so easy, Benedek. Too easy. You always were too soft for our father. It wasn’t that difficult to whisper in his ear what a liability you are to all of us.” As he spoke, the long blade slid from his sleeve, and he slammed it deep into Benedek’s chest, purposely missing the heart as he twisted and pulled the blade free. Still grinning. Happy for once.
Simultaneously, the four others drove knives into Benedek’s sides and back over and over with the strength of their species, grunting as they did so. Benedek went down hard, blood spurting from his body from dozens of deep wounds.
“Stupid, ignorant coward. You were never my brother. These men are my brothers. Marius fathered each of them. You, however, he stole after he killed your parents. You were supposed to have extraordinary talents. He was bitterly disappointed. We laughed at his weakness with you. How he trained you. How he took so much time with you when he didn’t bother with us. Yet in the end, we’re the ones he listens to and counts on. All you ever did was embarrass him.”
Boian crouched down and stabbed his blade into the side of Benedek’s neck and then created a necklace, circling his throat. “You loser.Just the sight of you like this gives me more pleasure than anything I’ve ever done.” He stood up and waved to his brothers. “Drag him out from the trees so the sun will finish him if he doesn’t bleed out first. I’m going to celebrate. That little redhead is close to age. She’ll do.”
Alin and Ciprian caught Benedek’s legs and dragged him roughly over the rocky ground out from under the trees, leaving a trail of bright red blood in the high grass. Ernst and Sergiu hurried after Boian, laughing as they caught up with him. Alin and Ciprian cursed and dropped Benedek’s body.
“They’ll get all the fresh ones,” Alin complained. He kicked Benedek as he rushed away. Ciprian cursed again and hurried after his brothers.
Benedek hadn’t believed his father would order his death, but now everything made sense. He wasn’t Marius’ son by blood. He was so different and had been from the time he was first aware. Marius and his treacherous sons should have paid more attention to the gifts Benedek had than to what they believed his flaws were.
They didn’t think him ruthless. Or brutal. They didn’t believe he could match their ferocity. Marius had shaped a killing machine. Just because Benedek had a code of honor didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of vengeance or viciousness. He had it in him. He was a Carpathian warrior, after all. He’d been raised by a madman.
Marius just had never been able to control Benedek as he could his sons. And all of them should have taken notice of Benedek’s steel mind. When he decided on a path, he wasn’t swayed, no matter how difficult. He made up his mind he would live, and he would hunt. It would be easy because they believed him dead.
—
Benedek Kovak knew the men traveling with him were good, solid fighters. He’d known them for centuries. He had spent time in the monastery in the Carpathian Mountains. Nicu Dalca had been one of the residents off and on. If Benedek could claim to be close to anyone,it would be Nicu. The man was solid and steady, could always be counted on. They’d traveled together often, hunted vampires and destroyed demons and hellhounds.
Nicu had gray eyes that gave nothing away. His black hair was worn pulled back in the way many of the ancients preferred. He was grim-faced, worn from centuries of battling the vampire, killing friends and even family when it was necessary. He was lightning fast in battle and had a special affinity with animals. The beasts in forests and mountains guarded him, spied for him, always calling to him. Something in Nicu answered, and no matter how feral the animal, they became part of his pack.
If Benedek trusted anyone, it would be Nicu. He was a tremendous asset in any battle. On the journey to find his lifemate, Benedek was grateful to have someone so dependable. More, they had fought so many battles together, each was able to predict what the other would do. They also were able to speak telepathically on their own conduit developed from their time in the monastery. All Carpathians spoke telepathically on a common wavelength, but that meant vampires who were former Carpathians could hear what was said. The ability to speak freely with one another gave them an advantage when they were orchestrating a battle with several vampires.
The other three men traveling with them were familiar to him. Lojos, Mataias and Tomas Smolnycki were triplets and had traveled together for centuries. They wore their chestnut-colored hair long, in keeping with the ancients. Hair provided extrasensory information for Carpathians, much like the whiskers on animals. Ancients were particularly sensitive. The triplets’ hair color was at odds with their brilliant aquamarine-colored eyes. They could disappear into mist as fully formed Carpathians, impossible to see. They moved together in complete synchronization as one person. When fighting vampires, they were utterly silent, eerily frightening and scary intelligent, a formidable combination.
Tomas was distinctive in that he had tear-shaped scarring on theright side of his face from his hairline to his jaw. It was one of the many scars acquired in the centuries of battling the vampire. A web of scarring from Lojos’ left shoulder, down his arm and to his hand, declared that, over the centuries, he too had been in battles that should have killed him, yet he had survived. Mataias showed evidence of vampires trying to extract his heart from his chest by the scars on his back and chest. He had also lived. Carpathians rarely scarred, so it was saying something to all who met them—they had survived mortal wounds when most would have succumbed.
Benedek respected the triplets for their fighting skills and their loyalty to one another. Above all else, for him, he considered loyalty the premier trait that should be in a man’s or woman’s character. He knew his brethren believed their hearts would follow when they bound their souls to their lifemate. Benedek was no longer certain he had a heart. When he bound his lifemate, it would be to get his soul back.
Benedek had no idea what he would be offering a lifemate, but he knew she would restore colors and emotion to him. That wasn’t as necessary to him as ensuring he would have her complete allegiance. Just because a woman was his lifemate didn’t necessarily mean she couldn’t betray him. That was another hard lesson he’d learned over the centuries.
Women weren’t to be trusted any more than most men. Even if you did them a service, saved them time and again, they could turn on you for their own selfish reasons. Believing they would get favors from others if they gave you up when you were injured. Becoming jealous because they thought you were going to be the man for them but realizing you had no interest in them. Granted, most of the women he’d encountered were human, but Fawn had been Carpathian. He knew there were other Carpathian women born with the same madness.
He had a deep distrust of others, men and women, human, Carpathian, Lycan or Jaguar. The fact was that his tarot reading had cautioned him to trust in his instincts, his brethren and only those he knew to be friends. All else were to be considered potential enemies.That didn’t bode well when he knew he was facing a war with Lilith’s army. He’d encountered her demons and those she had recruited on more than one occasion. It was never easy. From the urgent demand in him to hurry, he was certain this war would be extremely one-sided, and if his lifemate was going to survive, he would have to get to her fast.
It was good that Safia’s Carpathian friend Aura knew exactly where he was to go. The four women guarding the gates knew one another and at times met to share information and help each other get through the long centuries without being around their people. That saved him time because he didn’t have to look for a direction.
That didn’t mean the going wasn’t slow. Airplanes malfunctioned. When they took to the air themselves, trackers followed them, setting them up for multiple attacks from vampires or demons. Even the human society seemed to be on the lookout for them. Sandu and Adalasia had discovered that when Sandu first found his lifemate. The men and women had murdered Adalasia’s mother to get her tarot cards. The cards were powerful, holding the blood of a Carpathian woman. They were capable of aligning, finding a way to overcome the weave of magic keeping the gates locked. Benedek and the others knew the problems with their private plane had been caused by humans as well as one with a demon implanted in him. With their ability to track with scent, they were able to ascertain who had sabotaged the plane.
A man by the name of Castello headed a society known as the Army of Nera, made up mostly of humans. They thought they were going to open the gate and control the beast behind it. Little did they know Castello had a demon in him, making him more than human and very familiar with the dark arts. The demon directed his every move. The Army of Nera used screech owls, rats and other animals to do their bidding. That was where Nicu was invaluable. If any animal, including a bird, was used against them, he could win them back with whatever that connection he had was—even if dark arts had been used.
They hadn’t slowed down, making their way fast each night towardthe small village of Nachtbloem. It was so small it wasn’t on any map. In fact, if anything, it was deliberately hidden from outsiders. To get to it, one could go by sea or fly to one of the airports within miles of the village. From there people used cars to find their way.
Benedek wasn’t about to bother with a car or a boat, since the plane had been breached. He trusted no one and didn’t want to be around anyone who might later be able to identify them. His soul was at stake. His lifemate could be killed at any moment. He had no idea how well trained she was in fighting demons.
For the first time, he allowed himself to think of the irony of that—his lifemate a demon slayer. If there was a Carpathian close to becoming something he shouldn’t, it was Benedek. She’d most likely cut his throat while he slept. If he had been capable of true humor, he would have laughed at the idea of the two of them being remotely compatible.
He stroked one finger over the circular scar that ran along his throat. He then touched the one on the side of his neck. He always wore a shirt that would cover the thin white evidence of his family’s betrayal. He had already faced having his throat cut once. Having his lifemate repeat that experience for him a second time wasn’t a pleasant thought. He didn’t want to meet her with that vision uppermost in his mind. He had to be positive about finding his lifemate.
