Кристин Фихан - Dark Song

“I agree he shouldn’t be involved in battles,” Traian said. “Josef is . . .” He glanced at Joie, a little at a loss for words. “He never seems settled. He travels extensively. He lives for a short period of time with his adopted parents but he never stays long. He seems restless. They think of him as difficult. His best friend, Skyler, says he’s lonely and lost at times.”

Ferro nodded. “I would agree with her. I would like him to stay here, even for a short while. The brethren would work with him on his skills. He could work with us on catching up with technology, minus the infection.”

Traian narrowed his gaze suspiciously. “Is there something you know that I do not in regard to Josef?” He looked from Elisabeta to Ferro. “I like the kid and I feel responsible for him. If there’s a problem, I’d like to know about it.”

Elisabeta took a breath. Her hand came up to her throat, her fingers stroking for a minute, as if she were coaxing words to come forth. “There are memories in him that are disturbing. Things that have made him think less of himself.”

“There is no place in our world for jealousy.” Ferro gestured toward the children flying the dragons. The sounds of laughter drifted down from the sky, blending with music and the conversation of the adults. His gaze followed the rainbow dragon little Jennifer sat on with Josef’s arms tight around her, sparkles falling all around them. The little girl clung to him, laughing so hard she looked as if she might fall right off the back of the dragon. Josef didn’t look in the least uncomfortable with glitter adorning his hair as the child scattered more of it into the air.

“That is so,” Traian agreed. He didn’t push Ferro to get on with it. He simply waited to see where the ancient was going with his observations.

“When jealousy is continually displayed to the point that it undermines the confidence of a sibling or adopted sibling, it could be a potential problem later on. The Malinov brothers were very jealous of the Dubrinsky family. They were also jealous of the Dragonseeker lineage. Xavier was jealous of the Carpathian people’s longevity. Jealousy leads to darkness, Traian.”

Ferro kept his eyes on Josef. The boy whispered in Jennifer’s ear and then the rainbow dragon swung its head around and dove over the brown dragon. The little girl giggled hysterically and tossed handfuls of glitter into the air over Danny and Andor. Danny laughed and pointed, covering Andor as best he could. Andor laughed with him and indicated they needed to try to get away because his twin was coming at them from the other direction and there was no doubt she had just as much glitter as Jennifer. The orange dragon was trailing sparkles like a rainbow.

There was no jealousy there. The children played and laughed together. Another dragon, this one green, leapt into the air from the ground. There was a young girl of about twelve or thirteen, with a wild mane of hair, on its back, ducking under the trails of glitter to follow after Josef and Jennifer.

Bella and Lourdes, now adept at flying their dragons in spite of their young ages, also rose, although seated behind them were Tomas and Lojos. Already both Carpathian hunters were doused in glitter. Neither seemed to mind as they rose into the air on the backs of the red and blue dragons. Emeline flew a golden dragon with brilliant emerald eyes, her daughter, Carisma, in her lap as they took to the sky with the other dragons. Dragomir flew protectively beside his wife and child in the form of a black dragon.

Laughter, music and glitter swirled in the air along with the powerful sweep of dragon wings. It was such a different sight than Ferro had ever seen, and sharing it with Elisabeta was particularly enjoyable. He could feel her happiness spilling into his mind. I love this, Ferro .

I do, too, Elisabeta. There are a few things to like about this modern century after all .

I didn’t realize dragons were part of the modern century .

He shared her laughter, although his face was an expressionless mask. His joy was for his woman alone.

Traian sat for a long time in silence, watching the aerial show above them, as did many of the other adults. Joie held his hand, her head tipped back, but her gaze was on Ferro’s face, and then it shifted to Elisabeta.

“Elisabeta, is Josef at risk? Has someone deliberately put him in harm’s way?” She asked the question very softly.

Ferro felt his lifemate go very still inside. She shifted her entire being into him, allowing him to shield her.

“That calls for a conclusion Elisabeta cannot possibly give you. Perhaps if you word your question another way, she will be able to answer you directly. Otherwise, you will have to be satisfied with my interpretation.”

“Yes. Of course. Josef seems very lost to me. Have you discovered a reason for this, Elisabeta, when you were working to rid him of this infection? Did you come across information that might aid us in helping him gain self-esteem?”

Elisabeta moistened her lips. She glanced uneasily up at Ferro.

You do not have to answer, piŋe sarnanak. I can do it for you . She was very uncomfortable.

This is invading Josef ’s privacy. He would not want these things exposed. He did not even say this to his best friends, Skyler or Paul .

“She is reluctant to reveal anything she found in his mind that he has chosen not to tell anyone himself. She regards that as an invasion of privacy, which it is.”

Joie nodded. “That is true. I would not want you to reveal anything in my mind, so I perfectly understand. I have to ask one more thing. Do you believe he is at risk because of what you found in his mind?”

Elisabeta bit her lower lip and once more glanced up at Ferro. He takes chances. Too many, Ferro .

“You already know the answer to that, Joie,” Ferro said gently, not putting pressure on his lifemate. “You and Traian would not be watching him so closely. Traian was not happy that he insisted on setting himself up as bait, yet he couldn’t deter him. You both are already worried about Josef.”

“But we don’t know why he’s the way he is. No one knows with perhaps the exception of Elisabeta,” Joie said. “And you, Ferro.”

“You cannot ask us to reveal his secrets when you would not want us to reveal yours,” Ferro said.

Traian nodded his head. “He is right, Joie. As much as we would prefer to know, we have no right to invade his privacy. I do wish you could come to the Carpathian Mountains, even if it was for a little while, Elisabeta, and see home. You might not remember it, but it truly is beautiful. I want to show you all of our old haunts, the places you used to love to go.” He sent a quick smile to Ferro. “She loved the forest.”

“She still does,” Ferro said.

“I loved the memories you shared with me,” Elisabeta said. “I will treasure them, Traian, and take them out often and examine them.”

Her brother smiled at her. “I’m grateful you’re alive and I could give you back some of home. Showing them to you in my mind isn’t the same as walking trails with you in the mountains or forest.”

“I do love being in the forest,” Elisabeta admitted.

“As far as Josef is concerned,” Traian continued, “it might be best to leave him here.”

“Mikhail wanted him escorted home,” Joie pointed out.

Traian sighed. “That is so, although leaving him gives us an excuse to return to see Elisabeta.”

Elisabeta turned her head to look at her brother. “You never need an excuse to come to see me, Traian.”

“Or perhaps Elisabeta and I will escort Josef back to the Carpathian Mountains,” Ferro said. “We can bring him to you. That would give her a chance to see these places you speak of, Traian.”