"That you were with us, of course, and that a dangerous vampire was on the loose." Gary removed his glasses and looked Dax straight in the eye. "I exchanged blood with you voluntarily. Would you be more comfortable reading my mind? You can get the information a lot more efficiently."
Dax shook his head. "I appreciate that you would allow me to invade your privacy, but until I need to 'see' who we're talking about it isn't necessary. This is more than one Carpathian hunter?"
"The De La Cruz brothers," Gary explained. "They were sent to South America centuries ago. Did you know them?"
"We had lineages, not surnames. I do not recognize such a name. Show them to me."
Gary pictured the images of the De La Cruz brothers in his head in the best detail he could muster. It had been centuries since Dax had been in the Carpathian Mountains, so it was reasonable that he might have missed the hunters sent out by Vlad.
Dax slipped past the barrier in Gary's head to study the images. A black scowl added to the uneasy feeling in the pit of Riley's stomach. She didn't understand how Gary wasn't affected by the tension in the Carpathian hunter.
Unexpectedly, Dax's multifaceted eyes flicked to her face. She felt the impact instantly. At once warmth poured into her mind. She had the sensation of arms surrounding her.
You're connected to me, Riley. He is not. He reads what I want him to read.
She studied Dax's face. There was no black scowl, no expression whatsoever. Gary had no cause to be concerned that anything was wrong because Dax appeared to be matter-of-fact.
What's wrong?
I am a hunter. I have to hunt my own people. I see shadows of darkness where others do not. Mitro had a lifemate and that did not stop him from choosing evil. I do not want to take you into an even more potentially dangerous situation.
Dax directed his attention to Gary, but shifted his body subtly, so that Riley felt his warmth enveloping her. The energy that had felt so intense, much like the volcano's pressure building in the ground, was gone.
"I recognize only one of them. The one you think of as Zacarias."
Gary frowned. Dax's tone was still low, and as mild as ever. The darker energy was gone, yet Gary caught something of Dax's misgivings. Riley found it strange, but Dax had been in his mind and maybe left an echo behind of his earlier irritation.
"I know he's considered very dangerous, but if you're worried he may turn," Gary said, astute enough to know Dax's main worry, "Zacarias has a lifemate. He is safe as long as she lives."
Riley glanced up at Dax. He didn't change expressions, but she knew Gary's assurance hadn't swayed him in the least.
Jubal came up to them, Gary's pack in hand. "We'd better get moving," he said with a nod of greeting to Riley and Dax.
"We'd better leave then," Dax said, effectively terminating the conversation about the other hunters, "if we're going to make the clearing in time to start transporting people to safety. How big is the helicopter they're sending?"
"I don't know, but I doubt it will take all of us on the first trip," Gary said.
Riley crouched low and sank both hands into the soil, feeling for the vampire. He had been making his way steadily toward the river and leaving, in his wake, death and destruction. Nature shrank from the abomination that was the undead. Around her, the world faded, leaving her in another environment where she could hear the whispers of the rain forest. The trees spoke, grateful for her presence, willing to share information.
The uneasiness that had plagued her earlier was gone-a dark dread that seemed to be a part of her ever since her mother had died. Now, with her hands buried in the comfort of the soil where she was once again close to Annabel's spirit, she realized that terrible dread was the vampire's blood calling to hers.
Horrified at that sudden revelation, she jerked her hands from the soil and sank back onto her heels, shuddering with distaste. An ice-cold frisson of revulsion slid down her spine. She had known she was connected in some way to Mitro, but she thought the connection was in the earth, the soil, not in her own body.
What is it, sivamet?
The warmth in Dax's voice, as it poured into her mind, helped to steady her.
I need a minute. She couldn't look at Jubal and Gary. They'd helped her so much, stood by her, and all the time, her blood called to the vampire.
"You two take the others and start out," Dax ordered. "We'll catch up."
Jubal glanced down at her, but Dax shifted, gliding in front of her without seeming to have moved. Jubal looked up at the Carpathian, and something flickered in the depths of his eyes that instantly had Dax coiled like a snake ready to strike.
"You okay with that, Riley? Catching up with us?" Jubal asked, in spite of the gathering tension.
"Yes, thank you Jubal for asking," she answered. Gary and Jubal have looked after me all this time, Dax. There's no need to get upset because he shows concern for me.
I have never been questioned before, Dax said. I find it difficult to be in the company of anyone other than my lifemate for prolonged lengths of time. I have never spent this much time with others, and it is wearing.