Mikhail nodded. “I gave this great thought. The only ones among us who actually witnessed the fight between you and the one you call
Sange rau
are here in this chamber. I thought it was important to know more about what we’re actually dealing with. There are many questions that have come to mind.”
“May I ask why we are having this conversation here in this sacred place rather than the convenience of a house?” Tatijana asked.
Gregori turned his piercing stare on her.
Her chin went up, Tatijana refusing to be intimidated. Fen could have told him her Dragonseeker blood didn’t seem to allow her to be overawed by anyone, not even her own lifemate.
Fen could have told her why. Mikhail Dubrinsky was no one’s fool. He’d thought long and hard over the problem of the
Sange rau
. He had witnessed up close what a mixed blood was capable of. By now he would have gone over all the pros and cons, just as the Lycan council had so many centuries earlier. Nothing had really changed down through the centuries. The solutions were every bit as bad as the problem itself and Mikhail no doubt had come to that conclusion, just as Fen had.
“She asks a fair question, Gregori,” Mikhail said, his tone mild. “The truth is, Tatijana, I’m disturbed by the abilities of the
Sange rau
. They present a real threat to not only our species, but to the Lycans and humans as well. One way to put it is that they have the nuclear weapon and we don’t.”
“That’s what Fen said,” Tatijana acknowledged.
“The immediate solution seems obvious,” Mikhail said. “And certainly it was proposed that many of our most skilled hunters become the
Sange rau
in order to better destroy the ones who have turned vampire.”
Fen tried not to react. He could feel not only the stare of the prince and the others, but also the weight of the warriors long past. Everything in him rebelled against the idea the prince was suggesting. He had known all along that this would be one of the proposals. If every warrior went out and became the
Sange rau
, their skill as fighters should give them an advantage when fighting those who had turned vampire—but it didn’t work quite like that.
“One does not become
Sange rau
in one step. The wolf comes to you to protect you. You are not both together and it takes some time before you merge with your wolf. I was living with the Lycan on and off and I think it may have happened faster than normal, but it took time. In that time you’re going to lose a lot more warriors to the other side. They will choose to be vampire much faster with their blood mixed.”
Fen shook his head, disturbed that he might sound like he didn’t want anyone else to be like him. It was a fine line he walked, giving what he felt was pertinent information and not sounding arrogant.
Mikhail seemed to recognize his reluctance. “You do not have to hide what you feel from us,” the prince said. “We’ve asked you here to help us find a viable solution to this problem—and it is a problem. A complex one, the more I study it. I looked at it from every angle and something occurred to me. There is great power in my family, but it comes with a terrible price. I think there has to be a balance, and with the gifts given to us, there is always a price to pay, so I had to ask myself, what is the price of being a
Sange rau
? Only you can answer that question for us, Fen.”
Fen felt the ancient warriors waiting for his answer. The air grew heavier as silence descended in the chamber. A few of the great columns vibrated, darker colors swirling through the stone giving the illusion that the chamber itself was alive.
He sighed. He had come here knowing that Mikhail would be intelligent enough to ask the right questions. He’d seen it in him. They all had to know the truth—especially Tatijana and Dimitri.
“The price is far too high, Mikhail,” Fen answered honestly. “Especially for a warrior without a lifemate, but even those of us who have a lifemate are not necessarily as safe as our Carpathian counterparts. At first, yes, the wolf helps. You can see as a wolf does, the colors are dull, but better than nothing. But as time passes, the pull of darkness grows until it crouches like a monster above you and whispers continually.”
He didn’t look at his lifemate or his brother. He looked around the great chamber at the vibrating columns—ancient brethren who had lived their lives honorably—no matter the difficulty.
“I think every Carpathian who lives a long time and battles the vampire successfully, comes to a place where he believes in himself. He has to. He has to have absolute confidence in himself. Confidence can lead to arrogance. Carpathian males lose emotion and in some ways it is both a blessing and a curse. To feel, when you destroy old friends and family, to live year after year in darkness, is pure hell. To be
Sange rau
is to fight feelings of arrogance and superiority every rising, lifemate or no. I believe that if you give into these feelings, even with a lifemate, you can become vampire/wolf. Obviously I haven’t tested this theory.”
Again there was a silence. He could feel Tatijana’s horror rising.
You understand now my reluctance to bind you to me.
There was shame in knowing he hadn’t disclosed the worst of his fears to her before claiming her for his own.
Again, Tatijana surprised him. Soft melodic laughter filled his mind.
I do not feel horror at your admission, my love, only at your belief that you would ever succumb to the darker impulses of our kind.
We do not know that. There is no way of telling what I would do in a moment of madness. You saw into my mind when I fought with the werewolf to get information from him and again, when I was battling Abel and Bardolf. I believed myself superior even to them.
Fen made the confession to her reluctantly.
Silly wolf man.
He was shaken by the love in her voice. She could bring him to his knees so easily.
We have spent most of our time in battle or in the ground healing since you claimed me. How can you possibly know how having a lifemate will affect the feelings of superiority? I can assure you, my love, that Dragonseeker women are superior and therefore, you won’t have a leg to stand on.
Her teasing note soothed him as nothing else could. And she had a good point.
Of course I have a point. You knew it was dangerous to access the rogue werewolf’s memories, but you did it anyway. Of course there were repercussions. You expected that. And every single warrior facing a vampire must believe that he can defeat him. Acknowledging that you are smarter and faster and more skilled than a vampire is the only intelligent thing to do. You did what every Carpathian hunter does. You’re so worried about it that you are not remembering what it is like to be a hunter.
Fen hadn’t considered it, but she was right. Every Carpathian male who hunted the vampire did so believing he could destroy the undead. He reached his hand out to her, telling her without words that he loved her.
Mikhail frowned as he paced with restless energy through the great columns of his ancestors while he thought about what Fen said. No one interrupted him. Fen was grateful that Mikhail was the kind of man who didn’t simply react to information. He digested it carefully, looking at it from every angle before he made decisions.
“Another concern I have is evolution itself,” Mikhail said, coming back to stand in front of him. “Our species is near extinction. Could this be a more evolved species? The combination of our blood with the Lycans?”
Everything in Fen rebelled against the idea that his species was doomed and another would rise in their place—and certainly not the
Sange rau
.
“Then there is the question of children. For the first time in a long while we have had multiple children who survived their first year,” Mikhail continued. “We have no idea if the
Sange rau
can have children. Manolito and MaryAnn are the only pair we know of and MaryAnn has not become pregnant. That, of course doesn’t mean anything, but it could be worrisome. What would this change in the blood do to a child? Do we want to take chances when we’re just now rebuilding our population?”
Fen hadn’t considered that particular point. He glanced at his brother. Dimitri was not fully
Sange rau
, but he was well on his way. Had he condemned Dimitri and his lifemate to a life without children because centuries ago he hadn’t known what caused mixed blood and they’d shared blood in the battlefield? When he’d healed his brother himself, he had given Dimitri his own blood. Fen knew the blood would aid Dimitri in healing faster if they could keep him alive, and he’d made that choice for Dimitri.
I would much rather live and know Skyler will live as well, even if we cannot have children. She deserves a life of happiness and I intend to make her life as wonderful as possible. So thank you for saving our lives.
Fen felt humble in the face of his brother’s adamant revelation, mostly because he and Dimitri had been in and out of each other’s minds for centuries and he could feel the honesty in Dimitri’s statement.
“Throughout the centuries,” Fen said, “I have lived on and off with the Lycans. During that time, I have come across only two other
Sange rau
. The first I hunted with Vakasin and the second was Abel. I, of course, didn’t know that at the time. Abel turned Bardolf for whatever reasons. But I never once met a pair, not in any country I traveled in. At one time I speculated that perhaps a woman couldn’t have mixed blood. Tatijana told me about Manolito De La Cruz and his lifemate. I was worried they wouldn’t know the danger they were in from the Lycans.”
“So to your knowledge, worldwide, only you, MaryAnn and Manolito are
Sange rau
who have not succumbed to darkness. Bardolf and Abel are the only ones you know of alive, who have,” Mikhail reiterated.
Fen nodded. “That doesn’t, of course, mean there aren’t others. Worldwide, I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be others.”
“Lycans have avoided Carpathians for centuries,” Mikhail pointed out.
“Their council has discouraged interaction between the two species, probably for this reason. There was never any animosity that I heard,” Fen replied.
“That would explain the small numbers,” Gregori said. “MaryAnn was Lycan already. Do we know what happens when a Carpathian woman changes?”
Tatijana shrugged. “I’ll let you know when it happens. It’s my choice to be what he is. I doubt that Lycan blood can overpower Dragonseeker to the point that I would be in any danger.”
“We hope not,” Gregori said, his voice dry. “If something happens to you, what guarantee would we have that Fen would follow you?”
Dimitri scowled at him. “There is never a guarantee for any of us. You included, Gregori, should something happen to Savannah. All Carpathian males are at risk without a lifemate.”
“True, but we are not the
Sange rau
. Our hunters will find us and destroy us before we can inflict too much damage on the other species around us. Can you imagine an army of
Sange
rau
? Your brother told us a single one decimated the ranks of the Lycans. We are few. They could wipe us out entirely very fast,” Gregori said.
“There is truth in what he says,” Fen agreed.
You do not need to stick up for me, Dimitri, although I greatly appreciate it. I knew when I went to Mikhail the enormity of the problem I was bringing to him. The
Sange rau
are as much a danger to Carpathians as they are to Lycans and humans. We don’t have any answers to the questions he’s raising. I’ve had centuries to consider these problems and I still haven’t come up with solutions.
We are not Lycan,
Dimitri hissed in his mind.
I refuse to believe that Mikhail will outlaw the
Sange rau
without discrimination and sentence you and anyone else who becomes such a mixture to death.
Fen had lived with the Lycans a long time.
Do you believe we’re more civilized then?
He couldn’t help the note of amusement in his voice. The Lycans were well entrenched in every high society and public office in nearly every country. They served in the military, and most were highly educated. While the Carpathians had withdrawn from the world of humans for the most part and become silent guardians, the Lycans had done just the opposite—they embraced that world and protected humans just as aggressively.
Dimitri, the rogue pack isn’t indicative of Lycans. They’ve reverted to the animal just as vampires embrace the darker side of Carpathians. Zev and the elite hunters represent the Lycans far better. Don’t be fooled into thinking we’re superior to them.
“I don’t believe we have to worry about Fen turning vampire,” Mikhail stated in his usual soothing, calm voice. “We need to come to some decision on what we’re going to do. Clearly we need to meet with the Lycan council. We’ve discussed it at length for several years. We need them as allies, not enemies. This is our best opportunity to invite them to a sit-down meeting and come to some kind of terms.”
“Zev is your best man for that,” Fen advised. “The elite scout sent ahead of the pack is normally the most intelligent and their best man. He’ll report directly to the council and they’ll listen to him. His word carries the most weight.”
Mikhail inclined his head. “He was severely wounded and had lost a good amount of blood. To ensure he lived, Jacques gave him blood.”
Fen closed his eyes, suddenly feeling weary. Tatijana had given Zev blood as well. In his travels and many battles, had Zev received blood from any other Carpathian? It was possible—and dangerous. Fen knew no matter how honorably Zev served his people, should he become the
Sange rau
, they would turn on him and condemn him to death without a second thought.
“I have no idea how much blood has to be shared before the mixture converts one into something else,” Fen admitted. “When Vakasin and I battled the
Sange rau
, both of us had countless wounds and both of us lost blood often. I don’t know how often we’d given one another blood before I began to feel the wolf inside of me, but I felt it long before he felt the Carpathian traits, or maybe he simply didn’t recognize that he was any different.”