Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142916 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 715(@200wpm)___ 572(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
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 toward the 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.
Benedek had the oath scored into his back, the oath he took to his lifemate. The one that said he lived for her. To find her. The one that every one of his brethren who had resided in the monastery had carved into their backs. But if he was truthful with himself, he knew he had lived for vengeance, not for his lifemate. He hadn’t believed in lifemates. Not the way the others had. He had believed it was his sacred duty to rid the world of monsters. He still believed that, even though he knew he was becoming one of those very monsters. Now, he didn’t know what he believed. He would have to wait and see.
If there was one thing Benedek had learned in his centuries of hunting, it was patience. The predator didn’t catch his prey if he moved too fast or too soon. He became invisible. A ghost in the darkness, blending with his surroundings. Stalking so silently and so slowly that even that movement was impossible to detect. Since the betrayal by his family at such an early age, he thought of himself as dead. He was walking the earth, hunting monsters, but his prey didn’t see him coming because it was impossible to see the dead.
Would his lifemate bring him back to life? He had mulled over that question while in the monastery. Was it even possible? It didn’t feel as if anyone could have enough light in them to strip away the darkness in him. He wasn’t even certain if when he bound his lifemate to him, she could restore his soul. The part of his soul he retained was tainted and tattered. He had thick scarring throughout his soul that could never be erased. Certainly, that web of scarring covered his heart, blocking all access to it.