She ignored the little shiver that went down her spine and lifted her gaze once more to Lucian’s. His eyes saw too much. She knew he was waiting for an explanation. “I broke the connection between us. I’d like to say it was strictly because of Castello and my fears for Sandu, but I read the cards. I’d been reading them. I knew Sandu was . . . more. There is a legend in our family, and I feared he was part of that legend from all I was reading in the cards. A stranger would come who was not a stranger but my other half. Soulmates. A passionate, intense relationship would follow, but dangerous. A life-threatening journey. Danger surrounding us every step of the way. A path once on, there would be no turning back. I saw all that and it was terrifying.”
Adalasia looked at the floor, determined to be honest in this, when she refused to trust these people, knowing they were risking their lives.
Look at me. It was a command, nothing less.
She was ashamed, but not for the reasons she knew Sandu would think.
I can’t. I should have had the courage to tell you about Castello so you could have known what you were walking into. About what the cards said about our journey together. It wasn’t just your journey. It was mine. In our family, we knew one of us eventually would have to make it. I thought I was prepared. Trained. But when the time came, I faltered. That much was true, and he would hear that truth in her voice.
You are much too hard on yourself.
“Adalasia,” Lucian said. “Any human woman who might have an inkling they are a lifemate to a Carpathian male would want to make a run for it. That just shows you have good sense. Especially if Sandu is that male.”
“Did you know him as a child?”
Lucian gave a slow shake of his head. “No, Sandu is from an ancient lineage, very powerful and not from our region. His family guarded not the Carpathian Mountains but another range altogether.” He pressed his fingers to his eyes as if going inward, trying to pull up long-forgotten memories. “I am sorry, I know you came here for answers, but as to your childhood, Sandu, I don’t have any knowledge to share.”
The flames from the fire threw shadows on the wall, where they took odd shapes that danced and stretched across the paneling, reaching toward the ceiling one moment and then toward the walls on either side of the room the next. The crackling seemed overly loud in the silence that followed Lucian’s declaration.
“That’s not exactly true,” Adalasia countered. “Already, we know Sandu isn’t from the same region most of you are from. We didn’t have that information before. Is his surname correct?”
“We didn’t have surnames that long ago,” Lucian said. “Our families took them when the world around us began to change and names seemed overly important. We moved from place to place, and usually our names reflected the moves. Because we lived long lives, we didn’t want people to associate our name or features with someone they knew in the past. Now, it is even much more difficult because of cameras everywhere. His surname is not going to be of much help.”
A wolf howled. Another one took up the cry. Nicu rose just as the fire shadows flickered in a kind of macabre dance, morphing into hooded figures. Lucian and the other Carpathian males stood as Jaxon entered. Lucian’s lifemate was small and slender with a cap of wild blond hair. She smiled at them and then flung her arms around Lucian’s neck, going up on her toes to kiss him.
Lucian kissed Jaxon leisurely, even knowing what was outside somewhere waiting for them. When he lifted his head, he smiled down at her. “What did you bring home with you this time, little troublemaker?”
“I hurried to get here to meet Sandu’s lifemate. I never get to meet other women. You keep me locked up like some prisoner.” She turned her laughing gaze on Adalasia. “Beware of these sexy, charming ancients. They con you into loving them beyond distraction, and then you find yourself in a gilded cage.” She gestured at the beautiful mansion.
Lucian’s sharp teeth bit her shoulder, and she yipped and then laughed. “Go hunt. All of you. No doubt the master vampire and his pawns took the bait. The poor helpless female traveling home all alone. Sheesh. He should have known when the wolves didn’t attack that I was under guard. He’ll get a surprise with so many hunters. Sandu, introduce us, please.”
Sandu had never met Jaxon, but she knew him, apparently, through Lucian’s mind, something that easily happened between lifemates. He gave her a small courtly, respectful bow. “Adalasia, this is Jaxon, Lucian’s lifemate.” Adalasia is not fully Carpathian. He sent that to her through Lucian. “We have only begun our journey together.” Adalasia gave him a suspicious look. More and more, he feared their connection was growing stronger, and keeping things from her was going to be difficult.