“It was not in the best interest of our people.” He choked on the words, on the lump growing in his throat. The Malinov brothers had lost their beloved sister, Ivory, and so had the De La Cruz brothers. She had been their light, the reason they all continued their hope and belief in their people. With her death, the darkness had descended on all of them, triggering a chain of events that could still very well lead to the destruction of their entire species.
“No,” Vlad agreed, his tone very even. “It was not. I am no deity. No Carpathian male is. We are all capable of great wrongs.”
Manolito swallowed the tight ball of condemnation welling in his throat. What could he say to that? He had done things in his life, many things, he regretted. At the time they were done without emotion, but he could remember every single incident, and the worst crime had been against his own lifemate.
He hung his head. “What you say is true. I was close to turning when I heard the voice of my lifemate. She was under the protection of Mikhail and Gregori, along with several other Carpathians. I cared nothing for the laws and I took her blood without her consent or knowledge, binding her to me.”
Vlad nodded his head. “It was a challenge to you.”
“To get through their ranks and claim what belonged to me? Yes. Am I sorry for it? I do not know the answer to that. I am sorry I did not reveal myself to her and tell her my reasons for taking her life out of her hands without consent, but I do not think doing so was wrong, only the way I did it.”
“Our people have lived long beside humans, and our rules are different for reasons, Manolito. We were given the ability to bind our lifemate because without that our people would have died out long ago. Few will ever be able to understand that, but if we do our best to love and respect our women, always putting them first once they are in our care, we have a better chance that other species will come to understand and accept us.”
“The world has changed a great deal in your absence, Vlad, and with it, our people. I have found it difficult to accept the new ways.”
Vlad clapped him on his shoulder, the touch so light Manolito barely felt it. Vlad’s body was even less distinctive than his. “We all have flaws, Manolito, and we all have to work to overcome them. There is no shame in that. Come, greet Sarantha and give us all the news of our loved ones.”
“I truly have little time. MaryAnn, my lifemate, is guarding my body and I believe she will be attacked. I have to stop Maxim before he figures out a way to leave this place with an army of the undead.”
Vlad shook his head. “He cannot find a way out of this world.”
“Do not be so certain. Maxim works in league with Xavier.”
Vlad turned his head slowly, the smile fading from his face. “Xavier still lives?”
“We believe so. And his grandson, Razvan, works with him to destroy our people. We are almost certain that Maxim’s brothers are all involved in a plot to destroy Mikhail, a plot I helped to devise.” Manolito refused to look away from Vlad as he confessed. This was the man he respected above all others, with the exception of his brothers. This was the man he’d once thought of as his father. And this was the man whose downfall he’d helped to plan. He would not lie or shy away from the guilt and shame of his deed.
Vlad remained silent for a long moment. There was no flicker of disappointment or disgust on his face; he simply locked gazes with Manolito and stared him in the eye. “Do you think it comes as a surprise to me that you and your brothers entertained the idea of bringing down the reign of Dubrinsky? You were always intelligent and you saw my crime. You knew what I had done. In trying to save my son, I did betray our people. You had every right to question my judgment. It was not sound.”
“We did not have the right to plot your downfall or the destruction of every other species we were allies with.”
“To take me down, you would have had to take them down.” Vlad nodded his head. “It makes sense, of course.” He waved his hand toward a small grove of trees. “Please come for a few minutes. A few of us guard this area to keep newcomers from wandering into the land of the fallen ones.”
Manolito matched his steps, although, as much as he wanted to talk to Vlad and even get advice on the elusive werewolf species, he was impatient to confront Maxim and get back to MaryAnn. A sense of urgency was growing inside of him.
He had been expecting Vlad to condemn him. Maybe it would have been easier to face what he’d done if his prince had been angry. “I am sorry,” he said quietly. Sincerely. “I had no idea the plan would ever be implemented. I had no idea the Malinovs hated you so much. In the end we talked for hours, and Zacarias and Ruslan agreed that we all would remain loyal to you and serve you with honor. We took a blood oath.”
“You and your brothers have served our people faithfully,” Vlad said. “Even here we get news as warriors or vampires come.” He pushed through a wall of ferns. “Ah, here is Sarantha. My darling, I have brought a guest.”
Sarantha turned, her smile lighting her face, and her eyes brightening the dull colors around them. “Manolito. It is wonderful to see you, although I have heard rumors you walk in both worlds. How are my sons and their lifemates? How is my granddaughter? I understand she is quite lovely. You must tell me everything, all the news.” She hugged him, her body light and insubstantial against his. “You must have a lifemate or your spirit would not be so bright. Tell me about her.”
Vlad laughed. “Give him a chance to speak, my love. He is in a great hurry.”
“Forgive me. I am just so excited to see you.” She patted a spot by the campfire. “Do you have a few moments of your time to give to me?”
“Of course.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “Mikhail is a wonderful leader. You would be proud of him. His lifemate is a good match for him and is helping to lead our people back into a more cohesive society. Jacques and Shea have had a son, a boy. I was gone before the naming ceremony, so I do not know what they have called him. I heard that Savannah, your granddaughter, is expecting twins.”
Sarantha threw herself into Vlad’s arms. “I wish we could see them.”
“Someday,” Vlad said, enfolding her close. “We will be united with our loved ones. We are moving from this life to the next very soon.”
She nodded and turned her face up to his to brush a small kiss along his chin. “And your lifemate, Manolito? Tell us about her.”
“She is courageous. And beautiful. And she makes me want to be better with every rising.” Manolito frowned, wanting information without giving too much away. “Vlad, tell me what you know of the guardians. The werewolves.”
Vlad sank cross-legged to the ground. “Little is known of their society, although legends abound. I think they started most of the myths to keep people frightened and away from them, but then that backfired and they were hunted by humans. They live in human form most of the time. They exist on all continents, or did in ancient times. Few can ever tell them from humans.”
“How can they stay secret even from us?”
“They do not have brain function all that different from a human; they simply use more of the brain, as we do. Most of the time, the wolf stays silent within them, so they appear completely human.”
“What would happen to a wolf if he became Carpathian?”
“Cross the species?” Vlad glanced at Sarantha. “I do not know. I have never heard of such a thing.”
“Can it even be done?” Sarantha asked.
“I have no idea,” Manolito said. “But humans have been successfully brought into Carpathian society. As werewolves are psychic, it is theoretically possible.”
Vlad let his breath out. “I am glad it is not a decision I have to make. A wolf and a Carpathian. The combination might be lethal.”
“Or exciting,” Sarantha interjected. “Two species of equal power.”
“What would it do to the person? To their body and mind? What would they become?”
Vlad opened his mouth and closed it abruptly. “I see your dilemma.” And he did. Much more than Manolito might have wanted him to see. “I cannot help you. As far as I know, it has never been done. Both bloodlines are of equal power. I do not know which would emerge victorious, if either.”
“And what do you know of Xavier?”
Vlad sighed and reached for Sarantha’s hand. “In truth, it is long since I had to make decisions for my people. I am grateful that I can simply exist without my choices having impact on anyone other than my lifemate. Even speaking of Xavier is difficult. He was a good friend. One I believed in. One I loved as a brother. He betrayed us as no other could have done.”
“Why?”
“Greed. Jealously. He wanted to be immortal. I tried to tell him there was no real immortality—after all, we too can be killed—but he came to believe he was superior and should have the kind of longevity we have. Unfortunately, all of our safeguards were founded on mage spells—spells he provided. Over the years we added to them, but the weave of energy is the same, and that made us—and still makes us—vulnerable to him.”
“When you were such good friends…”
“He wanted me to give him a Carpathian woman. I tried to explain about lifemates, but he refused to see reason. We had many arguments, and he became convinced that I was deliberately keeping him from being immortal because I feared his power. Eventually we began to separate our two societies, although he maintained the schools for our fledglings to learn. Rhiannon was one of his best students and he decided to keep her for himself. He had her lifemate murdered and he took her. He must have planned it for a long while, because she was Dragonseeker and few could have held her against her will, let alone got her pregnant. Yes. We have heard that he had children by her.” His fingers tightened around Sarantha’s. “There was nothing I could do to stop him, and now he is trying to destroy our people.”
“He was evil then and he is now,” Manolito said. “He has banded with the Malinovs and is implementing the plan we devised. Now that we know what he is doing, Zacarias will take word to Mikhail and we will send out emissaries to each of our allies and try to stop him before he goes any further. But first, I have to stop Maxim.”
“Oh dear,” Sarantha looked at her lifemate. “Maxim is such a troublemaker. He cannot accept his mistakes. He refuses all responsibility, and until he atones in some way, until he learns, he cannot move on.”
Manolito pushed himself to his feet. “I cannot stay longer. I fear for MaryAnn’s safety. It was an honor to see you both.”
“I will come with you and see what I can do to help,” Vlad volunteered.
Manolito shook his head. “You know you cannot. This is my problem to solve. I am trapped in two worlds and cannot live in both. This is my burden alone, sir, but I thank you for wanting to shoulder it with me.” He gripped his prince’s forearms in the time-honored manner and then leaned down to kiss Sarantha. “I will give your love to your family.”
“Be well, Manolito,” Sarantha said.
“Live large,” Vlad added.
Manolito strode back through the trees, looking back once for a glimpse of the leader of his people. Sarantha and Vlad had their arms around each other, their bodies giving off a faint glow of light that seemed to grow stronger, more blinding in the midst of the gray, dank world. The sight of them, so in love, so bound to each other, made him long for the same thing with MaryAnn. He sighed and resolutely turned back to face the path to the meadow. A slight wind blew through the leaves in the small grove of trees but failed to reach him, even when he lifted his face to try to feel the breeze.
How could he uncover Maxim’s plan? The vampire would never trust him, never believe he had come over to his side. What was left? Vlad had said that the undead had devised ways to torture and drive one mad. How did you drive a spirit mad? Or for that matter, torture one? He frowned as he mulled it over. A war of the wits then. There could be no other answer. For good or evil, he had to risk everything for his people—and for MaryAnn. If he was wrong…
He shrugged and proceeded to the belching, steaming meadow where the veil of mist hung low and the bubbling pools of mud spit out dark, ugly stains. Maxim and his army of undead waited on the other side. He could see shadows moving in the dull gray of the mist, eyes glowing red and voices rising on the steam.
He streaked across the space, avoiding the plumes of steam and sudden hissing geysers as they spouted into the air, throwing more of the dark mud in all directions. He burst through the veil of mist, straight into the center of the vampire circle.
Maxim hissed his surprise and stopped dead, arms still raised in the air. The chanting faltered, and the others forming the circle around Maxim stepped back, covering their faces.
Maxim forced a smile, showing the pegs of his stained teeth. “I see you have returned to us, old friend. Join us in our little ceremony.”
“I certainly did not mean to interrupt you, Maxim. By all means, you and your friends continue with what you were doing.”
“You do not mind, then?” Maxim asked, with a faint, deadly smirk.
“No, of course not.” Manolito folded his arms across his chest.
Maxim raised his arms and began chanting once again. The vampires circling him moved their feet in a hypnotic pattern and began to lift their voices in a mesmerizing incantation.
Manolito deliberately walked around Maxim, studying him from every angle, watching the flow of his hands, committing each movement to memory.
Maxim sighed and dropped his arms. “What is it?”
“Carry on, Maxim. I am just contemplating where I have seen this particular spell used. I believe it is one of Xavier’s earlier works, when he first was attempting to bind the shadow warriors to him. We studied him, remember? He was a brilliant man.”
“He
is
a brilliant man.”
“Not so much anymore,” Manolito said in disagreement. The other undead had once again stopped their chanting and were watching. “He has grown senile. He lives off the blood of our people, but he was never meant for longevity and his mind is going.” He stepped closer to Maxim and lowered his voice so only the master vampire could hear. “He no longer can produce new spells. He has to have others, lesser mages, do it for him.”