Mike sank down beside him, his head in his hands, rocking back and forth. Isai didn’t have time to reassure either of them. He waved his hand to silence them. He needed to think. The two men were right, the charred bats stank horribly. Isai opened the ground, a giant, deep pit, and allowed the creatures to sink deep. Again, he waved his hand to create a breeze to drive the horrible stench away from them.
I don’t know what you think that means, Isai.
She didn’t want to know. Every time Barnabas came up, she shrank away from the subject. He couldn’t blame her. When he looked at Barnabas, he knew he was looking at someone wholly evil.
Your father was afraid of Barnabas. I believe Barnabas trained under Xavier. He was privy to Xavier’s plans. It is possible he was the only one fully privy to them. I find it interesting that he is here, not in the Carpathian Mountains. Did he follow Sergey here because Sergey has slivers of Xavier in him?
Would he remain loyal to Xavier? Would he have that capability?
Julija asked good questions. He had thought Barnabas was wholly evil and he still believed that. That didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of loyalty, especially if he thought there was a reward waiting for him. His loyalty would never be to Sergey. He would look upon the master vampire with contempt. He would have followed those tiny slivers of Xavier, no doubt hoping to get them transferred to his own head.
I think it is possible. He must have spent centuries with him. If he has followed Sergey here, it is because of those slivers. He is the true power, Julija, not Anatolie. I am not dismissing your father. He is a dangerous man, but if he fears Barnabas, then we should fear him as well.
I definitely am afraid of Barnabas.
Isai felt the shiver that ran through her body. He wasn’t there to hold her or to comfort her, and she needed both. You are no longer alone, sívamet. You are with me, and I stand with you against this monster.
Monster. It was an apt word to describe a being such as Barnabas. Anyone who would trick a woman and then cruelly hurt her over and over was more than a monster. Anyone who would experiment with something so deadly as the mutated bats was a monster. There were so many in the world doing all kinds of harm to others to further their own agendas.
Barnabas thought himself unstoppable. He had gotten away with so much throughout the centuries that he’d gotten complacent. Always before he had stayed behind the scenes. Now, he was stepping out of the shadows and letting others see him. Maybe only glimpses, but those were enough for a hunter to lock on to him.
I do not think Sergey is here, Julija. I am uncertain if he hasn’t gotten wind that the book is in the United States, or if he sent Barnabas thinking he would return with it.
Isai could feel Julija turning that possibility over and over in her mind. While she puzzled it out, he turned his attention to Mike and Josh. The first thing he did was remove all evidence that they’d been in any kind of battle. Their tents were in shreds, and he repaired them. Their bodies were bloody from hundreds of bites. He healed those. He took much-needed blood from both of them but was careful not to take too much since both had lost some. He laid each in his own sleeping bag and tent and removed every memory of the battle, the bats and him.
Isai, if Barnabas is hunting for the book, and he is the man you believe was in Xavier’s caves centuries ago, then he would know more than any other about that book. He might be able to either bring Xavier back using the slivers of him, or take them from Sergey.
Did you feel his power, or did he mask it?
At first, he definitely masked it, she assured. He seemed a sweet professor and kind of lonely. I never saw him with anyone in spite of his reputation with women.
That fit. Barnabas would never trust anyone enough to spend time with them.
What about later? When he was hurting you?
Not in class. He was very steady, distant, as if nothing taking place affected him in the least. It was only when we were alone that he showed power and that he thoroughly enjoyed hurting me.