Feehan Christine - Dark Song

Again, he did not look away from her. She heard a moan escape and she quickly cut it off, pressing her forehead into his chest, unable to continue looking into his eyes. He couldn’t possibly understand the terror sweeping through her.

Elisabeta? he prompted.

She couldn’t say the words. She wanted to, but she couldn’t get them out.

Make the decision for me, Ferro. If you decree it, I will follow your lead . She wanted to curl up into the fetal position and just disappear.

“I would ask that Andor, Gary and Sandu once again silently observe by joining with Elisabeta.” You will allow my brethren to merge with you in my place .

They cannot protect me from him . They couldn’t. She didn’t care how powerful he thought his ancient brethren were, they couldn’t stop the master vampire, not when he was coming for her. Only Ferro could do that.

Nevertheless . Ferro made it a decree. “Before they do, every ancient in this room, with the exception of me, together must weave the strongest safeguards to keep Sergey out. Do not leave a single loophole. Once that is done, the three of you who are bound with me, so I know that you will guard my lifemate, will merge with her. I will leave until summoned to return. In the time I am gone, we will see if Sergey manages to find his way to terrorize my lifemate.”

They cannot stop him from getting to me. Only you can do that. You have to stay with me. If you are not with me, he will come . She couldn’t help pleading with him.

Elisabeta found her fingers were twisted into two fists in his shirt and she was astonished at her audacity. She would never have thought she could possibly have taken such liberties, but Ferro didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed proud of her. When she tried to pry her fingers loose, he brought up his hands to cover hers. As always, he was exquisitely gentle.

Then we will know how he comes and we will be able to stop him, Ferro stated calmly. You will do this, lifemate, because I have asked it of you .

The rules. The guidelines she understood. That discipline she’d had for hundreds of years. She closed her eyes. She could do this if she had to. She could endure as she had for centuries.

“That makes no sense,” Maksim said. “How could he possibly get in if we all weave such strong safeguards?”

“We have woven them around the compound,” Tariq pointed out.

“I see where you’re going with this, Ferro,” Gary said. “It makes perfect sense.” He stood and nodded to the others. “Before it is too much for Elisabeta, let’s hurry.”

Elisabeta wanted to tell him she was already at her limit; still, she gathered her courage. This wasn’t for herself. Ferro, you said I could ask anything of you .

Yes, piŋe sarnanak .

Please have Julija leave. I do not want her here. That is the one thing I ask of you. With you gone, I fear Sergey will come and he will strike at me through her. She carries a child, and he will harm that child .

Ferro leaned over her and pressed a kiss on top of her head. “It is Elisabeta’s wish, Isai, that you remove your lifemate for her safety while we conduct this experiment. I would ask that you honor her wish.”

Isai rose immediately and held out his hand to Julija, who stood reluctantly. “Are you certain, Elisabeta? I would help you through this.”

“She is certain,” Ferro said. “This is difficult for her,” he added when Julija continued to hesitate. “I ask that you go.”

Julija nodded and went with Isai from the house. Elisabeta didn’t look at her. She couldn’t. She already felt abandoned by her lifemate. The moment Julija and Isai were gone, the remaining Carpathian males immediately began weaving safeguards.

Ferro continued to hold Elisabeta while her mind went crazy with all sorts of possibilities that this was the moment when the axe was going to fall and she would see what was really in store for her. Was it possible that this was one of Sergey’s many cruel tricks? He’d played so many over the centuries he’d held her. Was Ferro an equally vicious master and now was the moment when he would reveal his true character? She couldn’t stop the thousands of likelihoods from pushing forward.

Very slowly Elisabeta uncurled her fists from Ferro’s shirt and forced herself to sit up on her own. She could only try to prepare herself against the pain that was going to come. It was already creeping into her mind and heart, stealing in like a thief. She was familiar with the feeling. So many times, over hundreds of years, she had tried to make herself numb, to not feel anything at all, but for some reason, that wouldn’t work for her.

Minan piŋe sarnanak, I do not blame you for trying to protect yourself. You do not know me, and so far, you have chosen not to merge too closely in my mind. I can only reassure you that you are my true lifemate and I have bound us together with the ritual words. Those ties are sacred and cannot be broken. They not only affect you, but me as well. I meant every word I said to you. I am not abandoning you or playing some elaborate hoax on you. I am searching for a way to protect you from this monster. We will see if he can slip through the safeguards the ancients have woven without me. If he dares come, sívamet, you have only to reach for me. Call to me and I will be there with you .

Ferro sounded so sincere. So strong. So real. How did one know the truth? She had been deceived all her life, and she had lived long.

“We are ready, Ferro,” Tariq announced.

Ferro tipped her chin up and leaned his head down to brush his lips across hers. My brethren will protect you, and I will come the instant you call to me. That is all you have to do, Elisabeta. Simply call to me if he comes. I will drive him away .

She couldn’t answer. She didn’t know how to answer. She felt his withdrawal and then she was alone. He was gone from her mind, and she’d never felt so isolated as she did in that moment. She’d been alone for hundreds of years and with him only for that rising, and yet having him merged with her, even staying in the background, made her feel safe. She hadn’t known how much he was giving her until he was gone.

His physical presence was gone as well and she found herself sitting alone in the chair. She kept her eyes closed tightly and her hands clenched so tightly on the arms of the chair her knuckles hurt. She knew when his brethren merged with her, but it didn’t alleviate the terrible emptiness she felt. They shifted almost as one to the back of her mind and stayed so still she couldn’t feel them in her. She didn’t want to feel them there. They weren’t Ferro.

Her heart began to accelerate. She tasted fear in her mouth. Thunder roared in her ears. There was no understanding the passage of time because each second without Ferro was like years moving at a snail’s pace.

The sound of ugly laughter crept into her mind, one slow note at a time, as if the sender wanted to prolong the agony of suspense. The noise was grating and harsh, scraping deliberately along nerve endings, a vile, sickening sound meant to hurt—and it did.

He fears me, Elisabeta. Your magnificent lifemate runs like a coward from me, leaving you behind to face your punishments. You have accrued so many now with your stubbornness. Your friend Julija. The mage. I will tear the child from her body first and feed it to my puppets while you watch. While she watches, knowing you caused her the loss by your stubborn behavior .

Sergey sneered and threatened by turns, his voice quickly deteriorating more and more into a growling animalistic noise that could barely be recognized.

Elisabeta put her hands over her ears to try to drown out the ugly threats that kept getting worse and viler if she could even make them out, but it was impossible because they were coming from inside her head. In desperation, she reached out, hoping her lifemate had told her the truth.