Total pages in book: 183
Estimated words: 167196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 167196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 836(@200wpm)___ 669(@250wpm)___ 557(@300wpm)
For the first time, he really felt her trepidation. She’d been nervous, but this was real fear. She had to force herself under control to keep from fighting him. “Tell me what you’re going to do. It will help me.”
“We’re going to move through the air.” He spoke matter-of-factly. She stiffened, and the fingers linked at the nape of his neck tightened. “Look at me, Adalasia.”
She had courage. Her eyes met his. “What are you?”
“The cards warned you I had certain powers. I do. You aren’t as afraid as you should be. Somewhere you’ve heard of someone like me.”
“But you’re not real. You were never supposed to be real,” she whispered.
“I’ve got my arms around you. Do I feel real?”
“Yes,” she agreed faintly. “But if you can take to the air like . . . If you can do that and you’re real, then the other things I read about, the legends, the blood, the ground, are they true?” Her whisper had grown to the softest of threads. She was on the verge of flight. Of fight.
Had someone written about Carpathians? A written record couldn’t exist. Not if they were to survive. They had to stay secret. More than once, Carpathians had been hunted along with vampires until so few were left they were nearly extinct. It hadn’t helped that other species had waged war to stamp them out.
“We are going to take one crisis at a time. You believe in your tarot cards. We have a journey to take together, ewal emninumam.” He couldn’t keep the caress out of his voice. The last thing he wanted was to frighten his courageous woman. “I believe that is what was revealed to us. I cannot harm you. It is an impossibility, nor can I allow any other to harm you. Think of me as your guardian.”
“What does ewal emninumam mean?”
He smiled down at her. “Sweet goddess. Now close your eyes.”
She turned her head into his chest and closed her eyes tight. Sandu didn’t hesitate but took to the night sky. He would share the night sky with her once he got away from the city. The blaze of city lights could easily drown out the beauty of the reality of the stars and moon.
You’re a blend of all the elements. Earth. Air. Fire. Water. She whispered into his mind. The magician wields so much power because he understands the true meaning of above and below. You do, don’t you?
He was Carpathian. He was elemental. He was of the earth. She sang to him, called, healed him when he was wounded. Cared for him when he sought solace in her arms. Yes. He answered her.
You can bind with elements.
He felt her struggle to understand. Did your cards tell you this? I am more than your magician, Adalasia. Much more.
She moved in his arms. It was subtle. She didn’t lift her head from his chest, but she did shift as if she might try to put distance between their bodies.
You didn’t say if you can bind me to you. There was real fear in her mind.
You did not ask this question. You stated that I can bind elements. I asked if your cards told you this. You did not answer me. He had distracted her. He felt her frown.
The magician card is always present in my readings for myself or for you, but no, it is there in the history. We are playing word games here, Sandu. Can you bind me to you in some way?
You already know the answer to that question, or you would not be trying to scare yourself, Adalasia. You are the keeper of my soul. Are you aware that you are?
She was silent for so long he wasn’t certain she would answer him. He let her be as he moved away from the sprawling city. San Diego was deceptive in that it didn’t appear to be as large as it was. He preferred the mountains, and he especially preferred to be as far as possible from cities.
The San Bernardino National Forest was three hours away by car, but far less than that when flying straight and rapidly. Eight hundred thousand acres of forest and cave systems gave Sandu a feeling of being home. He could set up safeguards and protect his lifemate from any trouble— human, vampire or otherwise—while he slept beneath the soil.
I am not sure what you mean.
There was both truth and untruth in Adalasia’s carefully guarded words.
Have you heard the term lifemate? Was that used in this history you refer to that is no more than a legend?
Again, she fell silent for some time. I am going to open my eyes. I don’t want to continue this conversation right now.
She was honest enough to avoid something that was upsetting to her. He much preferred that to her lying to him.