Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 663(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Ferro, Gary, Sandu, Petru and Benedek watched impassively the terrible spectacle below, but all of them could feel Elisabeta’s silent weeping. Her compassionate nature couldn’t stand the horror of what these oncehuman men were going through. It had been their choice, through greed, to join with Sergey, but she wouldn’t think or care about that; she would only see their suffering. He felt the rise of her need to aid them, to soothe and comfort them, that giving nature, her gift that she sometimes felt was a curse—as it was at that moment.
Do not, Elisabeta. That is a command. If you must break our merge to hold back aid to them, then do so now. Ferro detested that he had to use what to him amounted to the same tactics that Sergey had for all those centuries, taking Elisabeta’s free will from her.
He had always thought he would be the kind of lifemate who would want his woman under his command, but the more he saw what that kind of life of total submission had done to Elisabeta’s true nature, the more he knew he didn’t want that. Not for her. She was beautiful inside and out, whether she knew it or not. She was strong and powerful. She was gentle and compassionate. She was intelligent. She was a partner. He wanted that. Yes, he wanted, even needed, to stand in front of her and protect her—he would always be that kind of man—but he would never want to suppress her true nature.
An extremely large owl flew from the grove of trees, talons extended, digging into the back of one of the vampires as he fell over. The vampire was lifted into the air, kicking and screaming. The others, on the ground, lifted their heads to look as the owl took their companion over the lake and dropped him into the very center, where he sank beneath the murky waters like a stone. He might drown, but he wouldn’t die. Vampires didn’t die, not like that.
There was a distinct snicker coming from the grove of trees, and a rustle of leaves told Ferro one of the master vampires—it sounded like Addler Astor—was hidden in the trunk of the tree right on the very edge of the grove. The owl wheeled in the air and dove at another of the cowering vampires now desperately trying to take to the air, their only way to keep from being targeted for amusement by the master vampires.
Cornel is disgusted and wants Sergey to put a stop to this. He says it will prevent the hunters from coming in to take the bait.
Cornel knew no hunter would believe that, in chasing master vampires, they would accidentally stumble across such newly made vampires unable to fend for themselves.
He and Dorin insist they call some of their servants to escort Sergey and the rest of them to the lair beneath the city so Cornel can use the computers to see what went wrong. Sergey is ignoring him, but that is what he does when he gets stubborn. It is Addler who has one of his servants playing with the newly made vampires. He does things like that to incur favor with Sergey. Sergey can be very cruel, and he enjoys cruelty and even admires it in others. Addler knows that and feeds that vile streak in Sergey as often as he can.
The vampires scrambled in all directions, looking up at the sky, watching for the owl as it dropped out of the darkness, having already selected its next victim. Addler’s high-pitched giggle gave his position away. He was definitely the master vampire hidden within the tree trunk at the very edge of the grove.
Do you know Sergey’s exact location, Elisabeta? It suddenly occurred to Ferro to ask. She had known where he was going and pointed the ancients in the right direction.
There is a tree, a large one in the center between five others. Addler is directly in front of him, although Sergey is higher, so he has good visibility of the lake and the surrounding area. Cornel is to the right. Dorin to the left. Directly behind him is Ambrus. Do not ever make the mistake of discounting Ambrus.
Each time Elisabeta mentioned Ambrus, Ferro not only could hear but could feel her nervousness. That told him that, although she admired Cornel, and Dorin’s intelligence, Ambrus had a cunning in battle that was frightening to her.
The owl approached again in attack formation; razor-sharp talons extended as it came straight at the vampire standing awkwardly frozen, motionless onshore. The mouth of the newly made vampire was open wide as he screamed, but he still didn’t move. The other vampires dove for cover, although one did manage to make it into the air. He took off into the night, triumphant, presumably following the coordinates placed in his head by one of the master vampires.