Sandu nodded. “We can share Gary’s mind at times, Andre. Believe me, I’m well aware he has more knowledge and skill than any of the ancients I’ve come across. I collected as many skills as I could from him. The others did the same. He allowed it, we didn’t just take without his consent. But when Ferro found Elizabeta and claimed her, Gary and Tariq both acted strange. Gary shut down. All of us were uneasy, feeling as if they threatened her life in some vague way.”
Andre didn’t protest. He wasn’t that kind of man. He thought things through before he made any kind of judgment. Finally, he walked toward the forest with slow, measured steps, Sandu beside him. Around them, the trees seemed to be alive with the flutter of wings. Sandu, feeling uneasy, looked up to study the branches moving with the wind. Yellow eyes stared back at him. Little screech owls clung with tiny talons or moved between trees as if seeking shelter from an approaching storm. It was too many owls gathered together in one area for his liking. Screech owls, for the most part, other than mating season, were solitary creatures. They didn’t gather in groups.
Spies? For the Army of Nera? Could they have found Adalasia so fast? Blood called to blood. Of course they could have.
“You were in his head, Sandu. Ferro was as well. You cannot tell me you did not get some idea of why Gary might be a threat to a mated pair. He is a healer, and more, he is a second to the prince. He would defend Ferro and Elizabeta with his life. If he had bonded to all of you, Lorraine would hold him to this world. He would have some emotion, distant though it might be, and only for those in that bond, which means it would include Elizabeta when Ferro claimed her. That would make it all the more difficult for him to threaten her. If Elizabeta died, Ferro would die. All who defended and were bonded to him would die, Gary included; and Gary’s lifemate, although unclaimed, would be left adrift. What did you see that could have been such a threat Gary would have felt he had no other choice?”
Sandu had few people in the world he trusted for advice. Andre was one of them, particularly since he had found his lifemate. It was also very clear to him that Andre already knew or guessed why Gary and Tariq had been a threat to Ferro and Elizabeta. It didn’t surprise him in the least. Gary and Andre had traveled together at one time. Andre rarely traveled with anyone but the triplets, but now it made sense.
“Tariq and Gary were both aware of a group of Carpathians put in place after Vlad’s reign. Each held a part of a stone—at least, it appeared to me to be a stone. I didn’t ask questions of Elizabeta or Gary. The Malinov brothers were aware of this because their father had been part of this group. As you are aware, the Malinov brothers chose to give up their souls collectively. They had a long-range plan to take down the prince and rule the Carpathian people. Collecting the stones seemed to be part of this plan.”
Sandu fell silent for a moment, waiting for a response, but Andre gave none.
“No individual possessing one of the stones knows who the other is. They can decide if the prince should be removed from his duties if they believe he is not performing them to the benefit of the Carpathian people. It was Gary’s task to ensure that these five men stay alive and that no one find out their identities in order for our people to remain safe, so anything such as the devastation that occurred when Vlad failed in his duties could ever occur again.”
“I imagine the brethren would have fought for Ferro and Elizabeta,” Andre said, his tone mild. “Most likely, all of them. Or at least most. Gary and Tariq would know that. You and Ferro had to have known to even consider such a thing, they would have thought the circumstances dire.”
Sandu nodded. “That may be true. I could feel Gary distancing himself as much as possible from Elizabeta, even though our bond extended to her once Ferro had claimed her. He tried to reject any emotion, no matter how small of a respite she gave him in order to carry out his task. I knew whatever it was had to have enormous consequences to all of our people, or he wouldn’t consider such a terrible thing. In spite of the fact that all of the brethren would have fought for Ferro and Elizabeta, he wouldn’t have backed down.”
“Did Ferro and Elizabeta return to the Carpathian Mountains with Gary and the others?”
“Yes,” Sandu affirmed.
The wind blew in a sudden gust. The wolves howled, the sound challenging, as if they had gotten the scent of prey. They suddenly went silent, and a chill went down Sandu’s spine as he heard the flutter of wings again. He looked up at the tree they stood under. Two little screech owls sat in the branches. One was very still, wings folded neatly. The other had just landed, its wings still out, flapping for balance as it clung to a branch. Sandu scanned the owls, looking for the undead, but there were no signs of the vampire in either creature or on the tree itself. Still, he felt an urgent desire to get back to Adalasia.