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)
The giant sea centipede rolled over as the outside structure of the beast collapsed in on itself. She waited until the creature was completely eaten by the flames before she released the net and freed the cloud.
CHAPTER
10
Petru is talking to my grandfather right this minute, Aura,” Safia said. She put both hands on her hips and glared at her friend. “I ought to strangle you. I wasn’t in the least prepared for him.”
Aura smirked. “I don’t think it’s possible to be prepared for one’s lifemate. You see the others. They have the same traits.”
“Not exactly,” Safia denied.
Aura kept looking at her, and Safia couldn’t help the blush stealing up her neck and into her face. “Will you stop?”
“I haven’t said a word,” Aura denied.
“He’s very different than I thought he would be. He was with me when I went after the demons, but he didn’t try to take over.”
Aura’s eyebrow shot up. “He didn’t?”
Safia shook her head. “No. He stayed quiet in the background and so did his friends. They didn’t interfere at all. He said they were learning from me.”
Aura narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Did he take your blood?”
Safia’s heart skipped a beat. “Yes. Isn’t he supposed to? Maybe you should explain to me the customs so I don’t get myself into trouble, Aura. I don’t like surprises.”
“I need to check the gate. Why don’t you come with me? I’ve wanted to show it to you for some time. I’ve been guarding it alone, and it would make me feel easier if you checked it over. We can talk there.”
Safia had wanted to examine the gate. “I was there and closed the portals where the demons were slipping through. I also consecrated the ground. Lilith can’t send any demons through from there even if she tries. Same with the harbor itself. I’ll let my brother know I’m going with you.”
“Are you going to let Petru know?”
Safia frowned. “I don’t have to answer to him yet, and I’m not looking forward to it. I’ve had freedom for most of my life. It’s going to be a difficult transition trying to fit into his world. Fortunately, he disappears during the day like you do, and that will give me some freedom.”
Safia told her youngest brother she was going with Aura to do some training and they’d be back in an hour. Aura was waiting just outside the door to lift her easily and whisk her through the air to the caves near the harbor. Before, Safia had closed her eyes. Now she took in the way Aura traveled, impressed by the efficiency of covering ground so fast.
The cave looked exactly the way it had when Safia had left it. She examined the floor and walls to ensure she hadn’t missed any thin places in the dirt, but everything looked intact. There were no fresh scratches. Her safeguards had held against Lilith’s invasion. Aura led her farther down the corridor toward the partially hidden gate.
The fencing was tall, as if a giant resided behind it. The wood was very dark, solid and thick, from an ancient tree, without any insect holes or cracks. The gate was quite beautiful, although very plain, but it didn’t need any adornments. Safia could see thick weaves of safeguards shimmering around the gate and across the fence. She recognized Aura’s weaves. This was far more complicated than the ones Aura normally used, even to guard Safia’s family farm.
“Do you see those thin places in the wood? It’s a pattern, every few feet in the safeguards, as if someone has been picking at my weaves. It can’t be a vampire because they wouldn’t know my work. Under the safeguards, if you look closely, you can see the wood has little indentations. This is ancient wood. It’s impervious to almost anything.” Aura sounded very anxious, when few things worried her.
Safia moved close to the gate and inhaled deeply, taking in the various scents. “Aura, this leads directly to the underworld. What exactly are you ensuring is staying behind that gate?”
Aura nodded. “He was once a great Carpathian hunter. Maybe the greatest we’ve ever had. When a Carpathian has been too long in this world and continues to hunt the vampire and make kills, something happens to him. He changes.”
Safia heard that little warning note in her voice, and icy fingers crept down her spine.
“Don’t get me wrong, all the hunters are dangerous. They live under harsh, brutal conditions, but they can live too long. The ancients . . .”
“Such as Petru and the ones he travels with,” Safia interrupted. She wanted clarification. She wanted everything out in the open. Answers.
Aura nodded. “Petru has lived far too long. This beast behind the gate would be nearly impossible to destroy. It would take many of our greatest hunters to kill him should he escape. He is there because he sacrificed his life in order for his family to escape the underworld. He had not yet found his lifemate and was looking for her, holding out hope. Some of the ancients refuse to suicide, believing they are betraying their lifemates in doing so. But if they stay alive too long, they risk becoming what this Carpathian ancient became.”