He bent his dark head to hers. “I am not.” He whispered the words against her lips. His kiss was loving, tender.
“Try not to notice them,” Vikirnoff advised. “It is the only way. He has lost all sense and there is nothing to be done.”
“I think it’s great,” Savannah declared, hugging Gregori closer. “We have much to tell,” Vikirnoff hissed softly at Nicolae.
Nicolae finished kissing his lifemate with leisurely unconcern for his brother. He lifted his head reluctantly, his hand sliding through her hair. “Vikirnoff is a man of few words. There is news that is important for our Prince to know.”
Gregori sat on the largest of the flat boulders, drew Savannah up next to him. “We would very much like to hear, and we have information in trade.”
“A trap was laid for Destiny by a vampire who goes by the name of Pater. He not only had several lesser vampires with him, but they were well coordinated and aided each other. He even offered his blood to one of them.”
Destiny watched Gregori’s reaction very closely. He was a powerful, dangerous man, much like her lifemate. His mouth hardened perceptibly. “An unusual phenomenon.”
Water trickled from the far cavern wall, the sound loud in the ensuing silence. “He wanted me to join with them,” Destiny admitted in a little rush. “He recognized the stench of evil in my blood, and he called to me and asked me to join their movement.”
Savannah made a soft sound of distress. “How awful for you, and so frightening.”
“It was difficult to face the truth of his words. My blood is like a beacon drawing the vampires. When I hunt them, they are always aware of me.”
Gregori held up an imperious hand. His silver eyes moved from Destiny to Nicolae. “This woman hunts the undead?”
Destiny laid her hand on Nicolae’s chest, suddenly furious that he would have to defend her actions. Tiny red flames leapt in her eyes. “I don’t need Nicolae to answer for me. I’m perfectly capable of speaking for myself.”
Savannah’s soft mouth twitched, and she coughed delicately into her hand.
Gregori shifted, a rippling of muscle. His eyes shifted back to Destiny’s furious face. He bowed his head slightly. “Forgive me. In our society, women are guarded carefully as the treasures they are. We need every one of them and do not care to risk their lives. I did not mean to offend.” There was a clear reprimand in his semi-conciliatory words.
Destiny met Savannah’s laughing eyes. “You poor woman. Is he always like that? Vikirnoff has the same attitude.”
“You get used to him.” Savannah ignored Gregori’s warning touch. “He’s all bark, no bite. I’m doing my best to convince him I would make a great hunter, but so far he’s unconvinced. Do you really hunt vampires?” There was genuine interest and admiration in her voice.
Gregori’s strange silver eyes glittered with menace. “Savannah.” He sounded very severe. He stirred, a menace of movement.
Savannah leaned into him but didn’t subside. “How did you ever get started?” she asked Destiny.
The taunting half-smile directed in Gregori’s direction froze on Destiny’s face. She reached almost blindly for Nicolae’s hand. He was there instantly, his fingers threading through hers. “Destiny was taken by a vampire as a small child. He forced her to take his blood and converted her. Fortunately, she is psychic and the conversion did not destroy her. She had no choice but to learn to hunt. It was the only way to gain her freedom.” Nicolae gave the information easily, casually, as if he weren’t telling a story of terrible atrocity and torture.
Savannah turned to her lifemate. His hand moved lovingly over her small face. He bowed again toward Destiny in a gesture of respect. “Few people could survive such a thing. It is an honor for me to attempt a healing on such a strong, courageous person. Your survival is a true testament to the beauty of a woman’s spirit.”
Destiny had expected to be shunned. She had steeled herself for it. Being accepted was unsettling. She didn’t know how to respond to warmth and acceptance. She gaped at the newcomers as if they had grown new heads.
Nicolae. She sounded lost. A child seeking reassurance. The sands were shifting under her feet. Everything she had believed seemed untrue. Gregori was intimidating, but certainly less so than Nicolae could be. And Savannah was completely open and friendly.
“Thank you,” she managed to stammer aloud.
“Tell me more about this vampire Pater and his coalition,” Gregori suggested to Nicolae.
“I have noticed the vampires have been traveling together more, banding together in small groups. They have done so at times throughout the centuries, but never in such numbers. This is the first time I have encountered one who actually tried to recruit. He spoke of the power of numbers and how they could defeat hunters by aiding one another. He spoke to others like a commander in an army. He tried hard to get Destiny. And he is smart, this one. The poisons he used are more sophisticated than any I have seen before.” Nicolae raked his fingers through his hair and met Gregori’s glittering eyes. “I believe the threat to our people, and in particular to our Prince, is a serious one.”
There was a small silence while Gregori pondered Nicolae’s remarks. “Many of the ancients use lesser or fledgling vampires as sacrificial pawns. This is not the same thing. They are actually aiding each other and sharing blood?”
“I saw Pater offer his blood to a wounded vampire,” Destiny said. “He was aggressively trying to recruit me to his side. The worst of it is, he actually made sense. They ambush their enemies and then get out fast to cut down on their losses.”
Nicolae nodded. “They’re using battle strategy instead of simply hitting fast and hard and emotionally. It was very unlike them.” He glanced at his brother.
Vikirnoff shrugged carelessly. “Too organized. They have someone directing them; someone of power.”
“A very powerful ancient. Intelligent, well versed in battle and in propaganda. He shows restraint, and the vampires he chooses to recruit and hold small bands together also show restraint,” Nicolae added. “I would have to say he probably has tried this before, maybe many times over the centuries, and has learned patiently from his mistakes. He is after the death of every hunter. Then the world would be open to him.”
“Patience is not something many vampires have,” Gregori mused aloud. “This is unsettling news.” He didn’t think to question Nicolae’s conclusion. Nicolae and Vikirnoff were both older and more seasoned in battle than even he.
“The poison they used was multigenerational,” Nicolae said. “As the second generation mutated within the body, it was programmed to attack any healer. I have noticed for some time the use of poison as a method for capturing and defeating hunters. I know that those humans hunting all of us have used such methods, and it is my belief that this coalition of vampires uses those humans for experimenting with chemical ways to defeat us.”
Gregori sighed. “Very sophisticated chemicals, it seems. I have seen vampires use the human society of hunters to further their own cause. It is not difficult for one to infiltrate their ranks.”
“Pater mentioned spies, Carpathians perhaps, working with him,” Destiny said. “At least he implied it.”
“No Carpathian would do such a thing.” Savannah sounded shocked at the idea. “They would have had to turn vampire.”
“Well, you’d smell a vampire a mile away,” Destiny said.
“Not necessarily,” Gregori said. “Many are able to shadow themselves, projecting an image even to those of us who know them. Every Carpathian has power in varying degrees. What one does, perhaps another cannot. It is so with vampires.”
“I can always smell a vampire,” Destiny asserted. “And they can always scent me. Blood calls to blood.” She ran her hand down Nicolae’s arm. “I was so upset when Nicolae took my blood and infected himself. As a hunter, he will no longer be able to surprise them. They will know he is coming for them.”