Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 581(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
She certainly didn’t want to slip backward. She was all for going forward.
“This trigger you believe I have that brings on the headaches. Have you a suspicion what it is? A drum seems too obvious, and how often am I around a drum?”
Vasilisa was still having trouble thinking clearly. How could he go from being so sensual to taking care of business in what seemed like minutes? Maybe it wasn’t minutes. Maybe time had gone by and then he’d kissed her. He had kissed her. She’d lost her mind again when he’d kissed her.
She laughed. “It isn’t a drum. It’s tapping. The birds tapping their beaks on the tree trunks or on a windowsill. It’s easy enough to send a bird out to repeat the tapping, isn’t it?”
CHAPTER
14
Conspiracy had a distinct smell to it. Add in treachery and fanaticism, and there was a stench. Afanasiv, Petru, Nicu and Benedek had been alive far too long not to recognize the never-ending cycle of extremism. There was also the underlying edge of dark magic tainting the land as they entered the easternmost corner of the territory. The strain was very faint, but it was there, a particularly ugly weave dedicated to turning friend against friend and family members against family. The weave was ancient but very powerful, taking the best of nature and turning it back on itself.
The ancients had gone in unseen, taking the form of clouds, knowing that if there were trouble, this place was the most likely center of it. Lada’s parents and their friends held leases to the largest farms. They held regular meetings for those belonging to the Sacred Circle, those holding to the old ways.
The plan called for Vasilisa to visit Lada. It would be natural for her, as a royal, to check up on Lada after her ordeal. In fact, it would be unseemly if no one visited her. It sounded like a solid plan when Vasilisa laid it out to everyone. Now, looking down at the tracks in the snow and seeing the jagged crack that split the earth at the back of the Belov property, Afanasiv wasn’t as happy with the plan as he had been. Someone had tried to cover the fissure by heaping snow around it so no one could see the fracture that allowed passage to and from the underworld.
Vasilisa wasn’t traveling alone. Dimitri’s lifemate had volunteered to accompany her on the visit. Where Skyler went, Dimitri wasn’t far behind. He traveled with the ancients, drifting with the low-lying clouds, inspecting the land below them.
The forest wasn’t as healthy as it should have been. The trees showed signs of strain. On close examination, Afanasiv couldn’t find evidence of the undead, but there were other toxic chemicals at work slowly poisoning the trees and bushes. He could hear them crying out for aid.
All those living or working on the Belov farm, all those visiting, would most likely be Lycan. Lycans guarded the forest and everything in it. How could they not hear the cries for help? How could they not see the healthy plants being choked to death by some outside source leaking into the soil?
I like none of this, he sent on the path used by the ancients. Dimitri was part of the path and could easily hear what he had to say.
Something is very wrong here, Nicu agreed.
I have seen this blight creeping close to the preserve, Dimitri said. We did not allow it to gain a foothold. The moment we spotted it, we wiped it out.
What is it, and where did it come from? Afanasiv asked. His radar was going off, telling him not only that something was very wrong but that there was danger here. He didn’t like that he wasn’t with his lifemate.
We suspect that this is something a mage has introduced into the soil. When we tapped into the mycelium system belowground, Dimitri said, that was the best explanation for what was happening.
Afanasiv knew the mycelium system was often a name given to the vast rootlike structure that connected the trees and plants, aiding in communication to ensure the health of the forest. Why would a mage want to poison the plants and trees? He was no longer drifting but was moving with purpose toward the farmhouse where Vasilisa would be arriving any moment to pay Lada a visit. Dimitri circled around toward the back of the large sprawling structure.
They hadn’t worried too much about the fact that Skyler would be considered Sange rau—an abomination—by the Sacred Circle members. Ordinarily, they would never be rude in front of a member of the royal family. If they refused to allow Skyler entrance to their home, that would go a long way to telling the ancients and royals just how strong a foothold the fanatics had.
Afanasiv believed Vasilisa would be able to handle any inquiries Lada’s parents might have regarding Skyler. She was adept at structuring answers and conversations so there was never a lie if anyone was good at hearing them the way Carpathians were.