You can just take knowledge from anyone? Adalasia asked. If I wanted to go back to college, I could just take the information I needed from my professor instead of studying?
Sandu stroked a loving caress through her mind. Of course you could. You are now fully Carpathian. When you need to know something, you have only to look for the information instead of having to learn to use the tablets young Josef was always pushing on us.
I can’t just take knowledge out of your heads, Adalasia protested, although I’m not certain I want to see into any of your minds.
Her laughter was a soft breeze moving through their minds. That was another way she bound them together. That joy of life in her. She gave the brethren a taste of that. It was a small lifeline they could reach for when they needed it.
Nicu agreed with her. That would be for the best, sisarke, especially if you are peering into Petru’s head. You might see only the thick branches of tree roots rather than any real knowledge. Although it is true, he did not smash a tablet the way your lifemate did in a fit of hideous temper.
My lifemate has a hideous temper? Adalasia asked. This is news to me. I had no idea.
Atrocious temper, Afanasiv corrected. He deceived us as well. We thought him the calmest among us, which was why he was chosen to be the first to learn modern technology from young Josef.
Atrocious temper? Adalasia echoed.
Sandu felt her laughter. There was no way to tell anyone how she had changed his world just by being in it. Just by the way she interacted with him. With his brethren. He caught glimpses of her still lying where he left her, the soil open so she could look up at the ceiling of the chamber they had slept in. The sconces were lit, and the walls sparkled and glittered. In one corner, she had managed to add a fireplace of stone. The flames burned low, casting dancing lights on the walls along with the candles in the sconces. She was proud of the fireplace. He was proud of her.
The four guardians exchanged solemn looks with one another. We had no idea, Sandu, of this temper of yours. You have long been considered the calmest among us until you broke what you referred to as the demon’s tool, Benedek said, more for Adalasia’s sake than Sandu’s.
Young Josef? Adalasia inquired.
Sandu pushed images into Adalasia’s head of a young Carpathian male somewhere between twenty and thirty with spiked hair dyed with blue tips. The young man was slender, wiry, with a cocky, defiant grin. This is Josef. Very intelligent. He was sent to work on the computers in the compound and teach all of us how to use tablets and technology.
Petru made a small sound of derision. Sandu was opposed to coming into this century, Adalasia. The vampire has gotten ahead of us with technology. Josef proved his point. Even the prince conceded he should have been paying more attention, which is why the boy was sent to us. We all have to learn.
He sounded just a little self-righteous. Sandu knew that was on purpose. There would be no inflection in Petru’s voice as a rule. He was pouring it on for the sake of making the story fun for Adalasia.
Which is why Sandu broke the tablet in half, I suppose, Siv guessed.
Sandu. You really broke a tablet in half? Now her laughter played down his spine like the touch of fingers. Sandu needed to be in the sleeping chamber with her. He searched her mind to see if there was a particular bed she liked.
Sandu pretended to be unrepentant. There had been extenuating circumstances—a kind of virus at work, but the telling of that would be for another time. This was all in fun. It was the demon’s tool. I couldn’t master the keys. My fingers were too big, and the boy talked too fast.
He waited as did the others. They were rewarded with her laughter spilling into their minds.
That was the problem? Your fingers were too big? Then you just broke the entire tablet in half? Do you have any idea how expensive they are? Poor Josef. I’m keeping all my devices away from you just in case you lose that atrocious temper I didn’t know you had.
He tried to sound contrite. I am certain I will be able to learn much better from you. The boy was difficult. He did not like repeating himself and would grind his teeth together if I asked politely for him to show me a second time how to do something.
Her amusement continued to feel like fingers stroking caresses down his spine. His belly tightened into dark knots of something very close to lust. He examined that feeling as he did all emotion—stepping back from it to look at it from every angle. The tension coiled tighter and tighter in him, like a fist, a number of them. A dark craving ran through his veins in a slow burn. He tasted her in his mouth. A dark addiction that he knew was his alone, instilled with lifemate ritual. His teeth were sharp against his tongue in anticipation. His cock was full and hard.