It occurred to Adalasia that Sandu would do the same. “Is he still like that?”
“He tries not to be and I remind him. Constantly. I think I’m a nag. There is a society of humans that hunt us. They say they hunt vampires, but they don’t care if they kill us or vampires. Some, I think, are legitimate. They’ve run across vampires who have killed loved ones. They’ve seen evil and want to destroy it. Others like the power of killing and go on witch hunts, naming enemies without proof. They’re dangerous, but often, because they are so powerful, Carpathians don’t take them as seriously as they should.”
In spite of the fact that Adalasia didn’t quite trust Sandu, and she didn’t yet know how they were going to work out their differences, she knew they had to work them out. She also didn’t want anything happening to him. “Thank you for warning me. I’ll see to it that Sandu takes heed of human danger. I know that wherever we go, the Castellos will follow us. They are my enemies. He dismisses them as well because they’re human. I know they are more than that. I just don’t know what they are yet.”
She turned back to the books, almost a compulsion now. “May I look at these? I can barely contain myself. I know how to handle old manuscripts. I promise I will be very careful.”
“I can provide the proper temperature and humidity the books need while you look through them. Lucian taught me,” Jaxon said.
The glass door swung open. Adalasia found her heart pounding. There were so many books that were worth a fortune. Books that belonged in museums. Books that only scholars would treasure. Her gaze found one that immediately intrigued her. It was leather-bound. The leather was clearly a hide of some sort that had been hand-cured. The interesting thing was, the lettering on the edges was in a language long dead. Long gone. She had been forced to study it from the time she was a child and thought her mother crazy for making her learn it, and yet now, she understood.
Tribal Italian and Rome: Unification or Defeat. She pulled it off the shelf and very carefully opened it. Without a doubt, the tome was written in the long-forgotten language that had been swallowed whole by Latin and other dialects. This was pure Etruscan. One more reason to know she was on the right path. The journey might be frightening and difficult, but how could details like this not be a confirmation that Sandu and she were exactly where they were supposed to be?
Jaxon came close. “Is that helpful to you?”
“It must be. Do you know anything about the tribal Italians?”
Jaxon shook her head. “I’m embarrassed to say, I never thought in terms of Italy having tribes, but of course, they had people there pre-Rome and after.”
“Exactly. The history is very diverse. That’s why their looks are diverse. If my family insisted that I learn a long-forgotten language that was swallowed up centuries ago, then it’s safe to say that’s a huge clue to Sandu’s past. He must have ties that go back to that tribe of people.”
“That’s a huge leap, Adalasia.”
“I always go with my intuition, and this feels right to me. His family could have been somehow involved with the Etruscan tribe. There were quite a lot of wars going on during that time period. So many tribes fighting for territories. There were migrations from Greece, Syria, Central Asia, Macedonia and Northern Europe. That’s why you see blond and blue-eyed Italians. Don’t forget the Sabines. There were so many more. The point I’m making is, Lucian said that Carpathians didn’t have surnames. That they changed them depending on how long they stayed in one place to blend in and not have anyone become suspicious of them.”
Jaxon nodded. “Lucian explained that to me. He actually told me he would re-create our house if I loved it, and bring our wolves, or their descendants, but we would have to move occasionally. He told me we would have to shed one name and take on another through the centuries. It is the only way to ensure we stay alive and our species are not ever found out by humans. That made me a little sad because I love our name. He comes from a very respected lineage within the Carpathians. They still use the name amongst themselves, he said. So I guess it isn’t lost. I would want any child we have to bear that name.”
Adalasia hadn’t considered children with Sandu. They were too new. But his name. She turned it over and over in her mind. “In very ancient days, they didn’t take surnames, but as time went on, it became necessary. The practice of taking a surname in Rome began in the more affluent households. Sandu goes by Sandu Berdardi. If he kept that name, or just occasionally went back to it, the name could easily have been shortened from Sandu di Berdardo. A common practice in Rome when first assigning a surname was simply stating the boy’s name, “son of,” and the father’s name. In this case, it would be Sandu, son of Berdardo.”