Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
I’m sorry. Petru must be the one to reveal what you should know. He’s your lifemate.
What if he’s not, Aura? Does it feel to you that I’m compatible with him? I will admit that, physically, we have powerful chemistry between us, but nothing else. Not one single thing.
Was that the truth? She didn’t know. She thought something had been growing between them, but now she knew she didn’t know him at all. He was capable of turning humans into puppets.
Is he capable of making me feel things I wouldn’t normally feel?
Aura hesitated again before answering. These are unfair questions. What he is capable of doing and what he does may be two very different things.
In essence, that meant that Petru could plant suggestions or emotions in her mind. What in the world was she supposed to do with that knowledge?
If I left, went to my older sister and her husband, and asked them to take me across the Sahara, would he be able to find me?
He can find you anywhere in the world, Safia. He has taken your blood. You must be calm when you face him. I can’t keep flying in circles. His brethren have grown restless, which means he has. If we force him to come after us, he will have the upper hand.
Safia wanted to laugh, but she was afraid she would turn hysterical. Petru Cioban already had the upper hand. There was no question about that. He’d made her his prisoner. It was one thing to know you were raised to have an arranged marriage with a member of one’s tribe. She would have done so willingly.
Now she was told there was a prior claim by a man outside her tribe, and her family owed him a debt of honor. She still would have been willing to marry him and learn his customs. It would have been heart-wrenching to leave her family, but she would have fulfilled her duties with honor. But this was too much for anyone to ask.
I will do my best not to punch him in the face when I see him. You can take us home.
You’ve always had an atrocious temper.
She did sometimes. Rarely. Only when it was really warranted. Mostly, she kept her anger to herself while she worked at trying to understand the other person’s point of view. Maybe that’s what she needed to do. Ask questions. Get answers. See if there was something in his culture that would make him think a woman should have three men spying on her when she was having a private conversation with her friend.
Aura’s soft laughter slipped into her mind. You’re making yourself angry all over again. Using the word spying isn’t helping.
Safia’s sense of humor kicked in. Aura always found a way to make her laugh. I suppose you’re right. I swear, I’ll try to listen to him. Do you know a reasonable explanation?
I don’t know Carpathian ways. My mother wasn’t very forthcoming. I told you, I know more about your culture. I have picked up a few things from the other guardians, mostly things pertaining to the beast behind the gate, but not a lot.
Aura set the two of them down right at the front door. They both smoothed their clothing, Aura making certain they looked their best before opening the door.
Amastan, Gwafa, Izem and Petru were inside the family room waiting for them. Benedek, Nicu and Lojos sat at the back of the room, each beside a window. The rest of the family were nowhere in sight, which didn’t bode well as far as Safia was concerned.
“Azul, Yelli. Azul, Aura,” Amastan said. “It is good you are home.”
Both murmured the customary greeting back to him and the others. Azul meant “close to the heart” and was the way they welcomed those coming into their home.
“Aura,” Petru said. “Lojos will see you safely back to your home. There is much to be discussed this night, and then I must speak to you.”
His voice was gentle, but there was an underlying note of command one didn’t dare disobey—or at least Aura didn’t. He was clearly dismissing her. She gave a short nod of her head, spun around and left without another word. Lojos rose much more leisurely and followed her out.
Safia’s nails bit into her palms as she curled her fingers into fists. Petru didn’t have the right to tell her friend to go when this had been Aura’s home her entire life. She knew her eyes blazed fire at her grandfather and father. What was wrong with them that they permitted such a thing?
You are angry with me.
How very perceptive of you.
“Come sit, Safia. We have been discussing the wedding and marriage. Petru has explained that certain rituals must take place immediately in order for everyone to be safe.”
“That’s just the thing, Jeddi,” Safia said, keeping her tone even. She crossed to the chair closest to the fireplace and as far from Petru as she could get. “I have some concerns that haven’t been addressed. From what I understand, each male has only one lifemate. That lifemate must be compatible with him. I’m terribly afraid a mistake has been made. I’m not in the least compatible with him. I don’t think we can go through with a marriage when I know it’s wrong.”