“Do you call on him often?” Adalasia asked. “I think it’s the coolest thing in the entire world that he exists in you. He might actually be the only dragon left in the world, which is sad. Sad for him and sad for the world.”
“Even if we did call on him often,” Dax said, “the Old One will only aid someone he deems worthy. He can be very stubborn and arrogant. Bossy, too.”
Riley burst out laughing. “You sound like you might be describing yourself.”
“Careful, woman. You’re going to get your elegant eyebrows singed,” Dax warned.
The brethren had opted not to come with Sandu and Adalasia. They preferred to patrol rather than visit. Sandu had no idea where Luiz was. He had simply disappeared without saying a word to any of them. That wasn’t unusual for an ancient. They came and went without explanation, but Sandu would have liked the chance to thank him.
Sandu had to admit, it was more than just wanting to thank him. He wanted the chance to size him up. Luiz was now connected to both Sandu and Adalasia through blood. That was a very dangerous connection when Luiz was without a lifemate. He needed to know how much of a threat Luiz De La Cruz was to Adalasia.
“That might be a very useful trait to have, Dax,” Sandu said. “Breathing fire at one’s unruly lifemate. Adalasia would be without eyebrows most of the time. I cannot believe she went into the shadow realm and then the Cave of Fire. I expressly forbid her to follow me.” He didn’t need to try too hard to make his voice stern. Every time he thought of his lifemate trapped by the demons, he knew he had to find a way to get the thoughts out of his mind before they overwhelmed him and he became dangerous. The images of her being tortured could bring out the worst in him.
“While it is true I haven’t met too many lifemates,” Dax said, “their modern ways are enough to make any man pull out his hair.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “One has to learn to adapt, Dax. Compromise.”
Danutdaxton sent his lifemate an intimate smile. “I have learned many things over the centuries, Riley, and adapting is my specialty.”
Sandu pressed his lips together at the implication that had Riley blushing and shaking her head. Dax may look intimidating, but he wasn’t to his woman.
“I believe you had some questions for me,” Dax said. “We took a detour with the strange battle, but you came for a reason. Hopefully, I can give you aid.”
Sandu felt they were closer than ever to their ultimate goal. They just had to find the right path and stay on it. He explained about his memories and what they’d discovered so far of his name. He watched Dax closely. The Carpathian had chased Mitro Daratrazanoff for centuries into lands barely inhabited. It was very possible he had come across Sandu’s family in his travels.
Danutdaxton sat quietly for some time, clearly pulling up old memories. Finally, he nodded. “I do recall coming across your family on more than one occasion. I did not see you, but you were spoken of. I traveled with Arabejila, Mitro’s lifemate. She opened doors for us that I could never have gotten through. Your family provided us with a safe place for the night as well as good company.”
Sandu’s heart jumped. At last, someone who had actually been with his family. “I wasn’t there?”
Dax shook his head. “No, but your parents spoke of you often, as did your sister. Arabejila was happy to visit with other women. I think your father, Domizio, thought it scandalous for a woman to be traveling alone with a man without his lifemate, but he didn’t voice his opinion. Your mother—Madolina, I believe was her name—and your sister, Liona, talked all night with Arabejila.”
Adalasia leaned toward Dax. “Do you recall where this was?”
Dax nodded. “They made their home in what now would be considered Italy. They were a very tight-knit family,” he added. “I can draw you a map of the area and where I last saw them. That doesn’t mean they stayed there. In those days, we were all very nomadic, especially a family like the di Berdardo. Domizio had to cover a tremendous amount of territory, searching for the undead preying on humans. He liked to keep his family close, not just because he wanted to be with them but so he could protect them as well.”
That made sense to Sandu. “Did they indicate where I was? Why I left my father to deal with the undead on his own in such a large territory?”
Dax rubbed the pad of his thumb back and forth across his forehead. “Your father didn’t say anything to me, but Liona spoke with Arabejila about you. She said she was lonely without you, that the two of you were close. That you and your father hunted together often, and eventually, the two of you spoke in hushed tones, and you left and never returned. Your father refused to tell her or your mother where you went. He said only that it was necessary for you to leave, that all would be revealed someday in the future.”