tactic. Humans, as a rule, went looking for their lost loved ones.
Fen made it a point not to look above him at the clacking branches. An attack could come from any direction. Was it possible Bardolf had lesser vampires under his control? That had become more and more of a popular thing for master vampires to do. They took newly turned vampires and used them as pawns, sometimes building a formidable army.
I saw no evidence of vampires massing here, Fen told Tatijana, but get word to the prince this night that there might be a problem.
Tatijana sighed. If I let the prince know what is happening, instead of waiting for them to find out, they’ll know I’ve been out on my own. There was regret in her voice. The tapping is growing faster. You’ll have to be careful, Fen, and block the sound. As the rhythm changes, the hypnotic affects really take hold.
I don’t feel it all. He was more than Carpathian and more than Lycan. Things that worked against other species didn’t work on him—which was why the Lycans had outlawed his kind.
Please be careful. Don’t get all cocky. I’m on my way.
He read the growing anxiety in her voice. She had more experience with mage traps than he did and she clearly was worried.
5
T atijana approached the house built into the side of the mountain cautiously. She was under surveillance. She could feel eyes on her, and when she scanned, allowing her senses to flair out, she knew she wasn’t alone outside the home of the prince. She had no idea of protocol and how one approached him, or even if he was accessible. She’d met him briefly, but both she and Branislava had been so weak and injured they barely knew what was happening to them.
She stopped a few hundred meters before she reached the large verandah. She had plenty of room to defend herself if need be. Spreading her arms out away from her body to show she had come in peace, she waited while Mikhail Dubrinsky’s second-in-command, and protector, looked her over.
“Tatijana of the Dragonseeker clan,” Gregori Daratrazanoff strode out of what appeared to be thin air. He looked impressive with his wide shoulders and glittering silver eyes. “To what do we owe this honor? We had no idea you had risen.”
There was no censure in his tone, but she knew he wasn’t pleased she was unescorted. He was a great believer in their women being protected at all times. She’d gleaned that much about him before she’d gone to ground to heal. He was an excellent man to protect the prince, but he was not her keeper.
“I’ve stumbled across something I think is important for you to know, if you don’t already. I actually hoped to see you rather than disturbing the prince, so I’m grateful you were close. There is a rogue pack of werewolves hunting in this area and they answer to an alpha by the name of Bardolf. He is a mixture of both wolf and vampire blood and very difficult to kill. Lycans refer to such a mix as the Sange rau. ”
“Bad blood,” Gregori translated.
Tatijana nodded. She was aware of time passing. Fen was on his own and wounded. She didn’t like leaving him so long. “Not only does his heart have to be removed from his body, but the silver stake must be inserted completely through the heart and then both body and heart burned. He can regenerate very quickly. It’s possible, but I don’t know, that he’s traveling with lesser vampires as well as the rogue pack.”
She turned to go, but then turned back. “An elite Lycan hunter by the name of Zev is staying at the inn. He fought them this night and was badly injured. I did my best to see to his wounds. I was forced to give him blood, although I didn’t allow him to know. MaryAnn and Manolito De La Cruz could be in danger.”
She hesitated. She had no idea what the Carpathians thought of mixing the blood of a Lycan and Carpathian. For all she knew they could consider it just as taboo as the Lycans. She had been told by Lara, her niece-kin, during one of the
Fen made it a point not to look above him at the clacking branches. An attack could come from any direction. Was it possible Bardolf had lesser vampires under his control? That had become more and more of a popular thing for master vampires to do. They took newly turned vampires and used them as pawns, sometimes building a formidable army.
I saw no evidence of vampires massing here, Fen told Tatijana, but get word to the prince this night that there might be a problem.
Tatijana sighed. If I let the prince know what is happening, instead of waiting for them to find out, they’ll know I’ve been out on my own. There was regret in her voice. The tapping is growing faster. You’ll have to be careful, Fen, and block the sound. As the rhythm changes, the hypnotic affects really take hold.
I don’t feel it all. He was more than Carpathian and more than Lycan. Things that worked against other species didn’t work on him—which was why the Lycans had outlawed his kind.
Please be careful. Don’t get all cocky. I’m on my way.
He read the growing anxiety in her voice. She had more experience with mage traps than he did and she clearly was worried.
5
T atijana approached the house built into the side of the mountain cautiously. She was under surveillance. She could feel eyes on her, and when she scanned, allowing her senses to flair out, she knew she wasn’t alone outside the home of the prince. She had no idea of protocol and how one approached him, or even if he was accessible. She’d met him briefly, but both she and Branislava had been so weak and injured they barely knew what was happening to them.
She stopped a few hundred meters before she reached the large verandah. She had plenty of room to defend herself if need be. Spreading her arms out away from her body to show she had come in peace, she waited while Mikhail Dubrinsky’s second-in-command, and protector, looked her over.
“Tatijana of the Dragonseeker clan,” Gregori Daratrazanoff strode out of what appeared to be thin air. He looked impressive with his wide shoulders and glittering silver eyes. “To what do we owe this honor? We had no idea you had risen.”
There was no censure in his tone, but she knew he wasn’t pleased she was unescorted. He was a great believer in their women being protected at all times. She’d gleaned that much about him before she’d gone to ground to heal. He was an excellent man to protect the prince, but he was not her keeper.
“I’ve stumbled across something I think is important for you to know, if you don’t already. I actually hoped to see you rather than disturbing the prince, so I’m grateful you were close. There is a rogue pack of werewolves hunting in this area and they answer to an alpha by the name of Bardolf. He is a mixture of both wolf and vampire blood and very difficult to kill. Lycans refer to such a mix as the Sange rau. ”
“Bad blood,” Gregori translated.
Tatijana nodded. She was aware of time passing. Fen was on his own and wounded. She didn’t like leaving him so long. “Not only does his heart have to be removed from his body, but the silver stake must be inserted completely through the heart and then both body and heart burned. He can regenerate very quickly. It’s possible, but I don’t know, that he’s traveling with lesser vampires as well as the rogue pack.”
She turned to go, but then turned back. “An elite Lycan hunter by the name of Zev is staying at the inn. He fought them this night and was badly injured. I did my best to see to his wounds. I was forced to give him blood, although I didn’t allow him to know. MaryAnn and Manolito De La Cruz could be in danger.”
She hesitated. She had no idea what the Carpathians thought of mixing the blood of a Lycan and Carpathian. For all she knew they could consider it just as taboo as the Lycans. She had been told by Lara, her niece-kin, during one of the
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