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)
Organs reshaped with the fierce fire of a blowtorch. It was impossible to shoulder all the pain, but Benedek and the others did their best as her body convulsed and seized. The transition was so violent Tora and Fenja wept and Benedek didn’t blame them. Dawn crept toward them when Silke was finally far enough into the conversion that Benedek felt it safe to send her to sleep and put her into the healing ground.
Exhausted, the hunters and Tora found resting places close to one another, something rarely done. All felt as if they needed to protect the newest Carpathian woman when she rose.
Chapter
21
Aromatic candles and the flickering flames in the fireplace were the only lights in the room. The small table Silke used to read the cards was made of ancient wood and had been in her birth mother’s family for hundreds of years. Fenja had told Silke that the table had been made centuries earlier when Tora had given blood to the tarot cards, giving them the power and wisdom to see into whomever touched them.
Silke loved that little table. The cards felt at home there, as if they knew that piece of furniture had been made specifically for them. Although she knew it was necessary, she felt a great deal of trepidation reading for the men who had come to her village in their time of greatest need.
She looked across the room to where Tora was seated. Tora didn’t want a reading. She feared what the cards might say. Now that she wasn’t needed to guard the gate, she could go out into the world, visit the places where Carpathians lived and perhaps find her lifemate. She told Silke she feared that fate. She’d been on her own far too long to be a partner to someone, yet she longed for a family of her own. Still, even knowing the cards would give her clues, she refused the reading.
It was Mataias who sat across from Silke. She liked him. He was different, but then, wasn’t everyone different? He didn’t look at all nervous, when she had such anxiety she was trembling inside. Outwardly she remained composed, but inwardly she was a mess. Benedek, so tuned to her, realized and stepped up to stand directly behind her, his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
Mataias gave her a reassuring smile. “Whatever you see is going to be fine, Silke. I need the reassurance that somewhere in the world is the lifemate I’ve continued my existence for. Just knowing she is still in this world and I have the chance of finding her gives me added strength.”
Mataias is telling you the truth, Silke, Benedek confirmed. It matters little the danger he may face, only that he knows his woman is somewhere in the world waiting for him.
It has been my experience that few women these days sit around dreaming of their man. Especially if she is human. None of you should count too heavily on that fairy tale.
Benedek burst out laughing and shared Silke’s observation with his brethren.
Lojos mock-scowled at her. “I’m certain my lifemate has been dreaming of the day I claim her.”
Tora made a single sound of derision. She and Silke exchanged a long look and both burst out laughing.
“If she is a modern Carpathian woman, like her human sisters, she may well be running in the opposite direction of her arrogant lifemate,” Tora told the men.
“Only because she knows she has no business fighting vampires,” Tomas said. “He’ll put a stop to that immediately.”
Tora rolled her eyes. “He might think he can do that, but in this day and age, women have choices.”
“Not lifemates,” Lojos disagreed. “Human or Carpathian, they have to live under the same law. There is no choice.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you Neanderthal.” Tora glared at him. “I hope your lifemate is the most modern of all women, not some babe you can shape with your silly ideas of men ruling. It won’t happen.”
“The lady is protesting,” Mataias said, “but I think a bit too much.”
Tora snapped her fingers in the air and the glass of water in front of Silke slid across the table to dump into his lap. At the last moment, Mataias halted the water in midair.
Benedek laughed. “All of you remember this moment when you’re rushing around the world looking for your lifemates. You’re searching for trouble.”
“Is Silke trouble?”
Benedek looked at his closest friend. Nicu sat in the shadows, his hooded eyes seeing everything. “Silke is always going to be trouble,” Benedek said.
“Is that true?” Nicu asked Silke.
“Absolutely,” Silke said. “I wouldn’t want Benedek to get bored.”
She turned her attention back to Mataias. They had managed to calm her nerves and she could breathe normally. She handed him the cards, knowing the goddess card wouldn’t react to his presence the way she sometimes feared when others touched the cards. Mataias was known to Tora, and it was Tora’s blood allowing the cards to stay fresh and to judge the one seeking answers.