Not if you are Carpathian, Sandu pointed out. Then you can float to the top shelf.
If I was Carpathian, I’d still use the ladder because it’s completely cool and looks fun. She lifted her chin at him. Human things can be fun, Sandu. Don’t be a snob.
He laughed, that rich, mellow sound that fascinated her. Lucian’s dark eyes swept over the two of them and went back to Sandu. “I see your lifemate amuses you, Sandu.”
“She reminds me often that I need to be much humbler.”
“Ah, yes. In the early days of our relationship, I believe Jaxon did the same.” A small smile lit his eyes. He gestured toward the chairs. “Please. Adalasia, Jaxon will be here shortly. She is assisting a friend with the birth of a horse on a neighboring ranch. There was a problem, apparently. These things happen. She knows you are here and will return as soon as she can.”
Sandu frowned. “Lucian, I’m sorry. You must have been with her when you got our message. I would never have taken you away from her side had I known the two of you were busy. We could have waited another day.”
“The matter seemed urgent. Jaxon is secure at the moment, and should she have need, she has only to summon me.” He looked around the room. “No doubt, we could vanquish any foe daring enough to go after my lifemate. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”
When they were all seated and comfortable, Adalasia looked to Sandu, not knowing how much she should disclose to Lucian. She hadn’t disclosed all that much to Sandu, so she let him do the talking.
“I found Adalasia under strange circumstances. I knew I could no longer stay with Tariq. I had to make the decision to go back to the monastery or meet the dawn. I sat on a rooftop and contemplated which path to take. In doing so, Adalasia reached out to me. She connected telepathically with me.”
Lucian held up his hand and looked to her. “You heard him? His thoughts?”
The other Carpathian males stared at her as well. No shock showed on their faces, but she felt it. She didn’t like to be under the spotlight, but she nodded. “Yes, I feared for him. I could tell he didn’t think he felt emotions, but he did. Very strong emotions. The instant I connected with him, I also knew he was the one the cards had been showing me would come.”
She hesitated. He had been in the prophecy, the one handed down from mother to daughter. Her other half, the one she was waiting for. She had been so certain. He’d felt right, but now she wasn’t as certain. Sandu unexpectedly slid his thumb over the back of her hand as he pressed her palm into his thigh. She didn’t want that intimacy, but she didn’t pull away, not with all the others watching them so closely.
“I understood, through the cards, that I was to undertake a very dangerous journey with this man, a stranger.” She touched her tongue to her lips to moisten them.
“So, you spoke to him,” Lucian persisted.
“I didn’t want to,” she admitted. “I’ll admit I was a little freaked out, but more importantly, my mother had been murdered, and the people I was certain had been responsible were watching me. They seemed to be waiting for someone. I had the feeling they might be waiting for Sandu to show up. I had no real reason to think that, but I rely heavily on intuition, and mine told me he could be in danger if he came near me. Still, I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out to him.”
Lucian nodded as if it made perfect sense to him when it didn’t make sense to her. She didn’t know why, when she was such a disciplined person, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from connecting with Sandu and possibly putting him in front of Castello’s murderous guns. At the time, she didn’t know the first thing about Carpathians.
“We spoke for a short while,” Sandu said. “During that time, I became aware she was my lifemate. I could see color again. Emotions were restored, although I have been too long without them, and it is in my nature to act without feelings. Too often, emotions disappear, and if I am not close to Adalasia, colors dim.”
Adalasia knew all about his emotions disappearing. She hadn’t realized his ability to see in color dimmed. Perhaps I am not your true lifemate.
You are my lifemate, ewal emninumam.
Adalasia’s chin lifted. She clenched her teeth at the whisper of male amusement she heard in her mind. Too bad I’m not feeling it. She gave him her haughtiest voice.
His thumb did another slide over the back of her hand. Slow. Intimate. Then I will have to make certain I do a better job of making certain you do when we are alone. There were all kinds of promises in his voice.