Feehan Christine - Dark Song

Ferro wanted to wrap Elisabeta in a silken cocoon, and at the same time he wanted to become what he was born to be, the fierce predator, hunting the master vampire until he found him and destroyed him. Such a vile monster couldn’t remain on earth where, eventually, as his power grew, his insatiable cruelty would demand more and more victims.

Without Elisabeta, the decomposition of his body would begin to accelerate quickly. The memories of emotions would already be fading. If he didn’t have access to her, not even short visits to threaten her, he would unravel and become desperate to reacquire her. It was no wonder that he was stepping up his terrorization tactics. It was Sergey who was becoming frantic, but how could Ferro get Elisabeta to see that she was the one with the power?

Sergey had beaten her down for centuries, making her so dependent on him, taking all power away from her. She was Carpathian and yet she didn’t know how to do what even a young human child could do, let alone a full-grown Carpathian woman. Ferro had been told that as a young girl, Elisabeta had the reputation for bringing peace to the Carpathian males. Ancient hunters would often visit the Trigovise household just to be in the same room with her to get a respite from the terrible emptiness of their lives. She had no idea of the gifts she held because Sergey had made her feel as if she were nothing, and yet he had targeted her, kidnapped and imprisoned her for those gifts.

How is it possible he is getting to her? Can you see in her memories where he is getting in? This does not answer the question of how he is getting around the safeguards .

I am well aware of that .

Ferro could see that Gary was moving backward through Elisabeta’s memories, trying to find where Sergey could have planted something of himself in her to allow him to penetrate the defenses of the ancients inside the compound.

No matter how hard either of them tried not to see the ugliness of Elisabeta’s life in order to spare her the humiliation of having others see things she didn’t want seen, there was no getting around it when shuffling through the years of her life. Ferro found he couldn’t be as detached as he thought he could be. He’d had centuries of no emotion. He could switch emotion off to hunt, and yet he found when it came to his lifemate, it was nearly impossible not to feel.

His gut churned, knotted, an unfamiliar sensation that made him very aware the woman was getting inside him, a dangerous thing for him when he might have to leave her and go to the monastery after she gained her independence. The ties between lifemates couldn’t be broken. He knew that. He understood what they were, but he also knew he wasn’t the same man born to be Elisabeta’s lifemate any more than she was the same woman. They had both changed over the centuries. He had to provide her with what she needed because everything in him demanded he do so. Once that was accomplished, he would not be what she needed.

He stayed merged with Gary as they moved through her memories, and while Ferro was wrapped up in emotion, unable to distance himself as he should have, the healer remained completely without feeling as he searched to find where Sergey was able to break through the safeguards. He was positive Tariq’s second-in-command was searching for more than that, but if he found anything, it wasn’t anything Ferro could identify.

At once he found himself back in his own physique, weak, disoriented, a little shocked that he had all but been thrown out of Elisabeta’s body. He had gone from pure spirit back to his own ego, thinking of himself in that moment and the consequences of his actions. That had been enough to send him back to his own physical form. At once, Sandu was there again, giving him blood, as traveling as spirit depleted him.

Gary hadn’t returned, and immediately Andor shed his body and entered Elisabeta to guard her while the healer continued to sift through her memories.

Ferro? I can feel your sorrow .

Elisabeta’s voice was like a breath of fresh air, a cool breeze moving through his mind, clearing away all doubt and the deep sadness that always took him when he thought about losing her after centuries of searching for her. He felt her fingers on his face, brushing along the lines carved deep there from centuries of wear, soothing him as nothing else ever could.

I am here with you. I may be afraid of everything, kont o sívanak, but for you I will always find the courage needed to walk by your side, if that is what you decree, for as long as you want me .

She sounded humble. A gentle woman, turning him inside out because all she thought of was him. There was no thought in her mind for herself at all. He knew that was a major part of her gift. She had to have been that way as a child, to be able to bring such peace to the ancient warriors.

She called him “strong heart” and yet, after looking at what she had endured for centuries, often the worst of her punishments on his behalf, guarding his soul, he thought his little songbird should be the one called kont o sívanak , strong heart, not him. She filled his soul with light, sweeping the darkness in him aside just with the brightness in her.

I will always want you with me, he assured her. That was the strict truth. Lifemates didn’t lie to each other.

What did they see in my memories? Is he there? Inside me? Her voice trembled, but she continued stroking caresses on his face and in his mind.

How did one answer that? He closed the wounds in Sandu’s wrist, politely murmuring his thanks, and shifted Elisabeta in his arms, holding her much more firmly to him. Sergey had been her entire world. The vampire had made it that way, ensuring there was no one else for her to talk to or interact with. Julija was really the first person she had ever connected with, and Sergey had held Elisabeta captive for centuries before that happened.

He is there in your memories, but I saw no evidence that he left anything of himself behind. Do you recall him casting spells? He has slivers of the high mage, Xavier, in him. He would have access to Xavier’s spells .

A little shudder ran through her body, but she had calmed. He realized it was because she was no longer thinking about the others in the room, or the healer examining her memories. She was focused on Ferro and the sadness that had swept through him. She was still trying to find a way to alleviate the dark melody that played repetitively through his mind. Ferro was still connected to Gary, a presence in his mind, staying very still but watching closely, just as Andor was.

He is not very good at casting spells, but he practices. It scares him because there are severe repercussions when mistakes are made, and he makes many mistakes .

Ferro considered that. If Sergey had access to Xavier’s spells but didn’t have the ability to actually cast them properly and was afraid of the consequences if he reproduced them incorrectly, then it was doubtful he used a spell on his favorite toy. Elisabeta had become necessary to Sergey. He had developed a need for her. Although Elisabeta had been his prisoner, in more ways, he had been hers.

Her breath hitched in her throat and her head tilted toward his. He looked down into her dark eyes. What do you mean, Ferro?

He liked that she wanted to enter into a discussion with him. She had a good mind. Sergey had convinced her she couldn’t use it.

He was totally dependent on you all those centuries. He may have had his brothers around him, but remember, they had turned vampire. They no longer had emotions. He felt emotions only through you and he didn’t share you with anyone. He was afraid to and for good reason. The others felt he was less than they were. Only you had the knowledge that he was more. Only you could see that he was the strategist capable of biding his time to take the ultimate prize. He became dependent on the way you brought him peace. On the way you made him feel. He will be losing his mind now, unable to function without you .