ever get you to cooperate. That is your triumph. As I have said, you are Dragonseeker. He cannot steal your light, and that is what he craves, just as Sergey craves the light in Elisabeta.”
Her heart jumped. “I never once considered that idea. I hadn’t really understood exactly what it was that Sergey wanted from her. I know that he held her prisoner for centuries, but I didn’t truly understand the point.”
“Sergey had vision. Actually, all the Malinov brothers did, but he thought ahead to those long, empty years and planned for them. Elisabeta was his plan. He took her knowing as long as he could merge with her, he would have access to her light. To her emotions. She would never lose them even when his were long gone. That allowed him to feel. In some ways, she saved him from the worst of being a vampire.”
The wind touched her face and she raised it to feel more. It was a cold bite, crisp with the feel of snow on it. “And you think that’s what Barnabas saw in me? He feels emotion. When he walked into that room and saw all the blood, he actually went pale, Isai.”
“Barnabas no doubt feels emotion. He is mage, not vampire. But he is dark inside. All darkness is a tremendous burden to bear. You took that from him. It appears no one else ever has, and once he found you, he did not want to lose you. How could he? Just as Sergey desperately needs to reacquire Elisabeta to stay sane, Barnabas needs you back as well.”
“If they needed us so desperately, why didn’t they treat us better?” The cold air helped to clear the sick feeling just talking about Barnabas gave her. She let herself see the beauty again. The depth of that blue, blue lake. The rise of the mountain with the rocks jutting out and the scattering of brush and trees. The meadow with the sea of waving grass, beckoning her to take a walk. To just put down the burden of the dark world that surrounded her and drink in the true beauty of the sights.
“They both believe that fear controls everyone. It would never occur to them that loving can bring loyalty.”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “What do we need to do now?”
“I need to know what you were thinking when you said to destroy the book we need purity of heart and soul. Once we figure out how to destroy it, we will find it and do so. Then we will leave this place and hope Barnabas follows us back to the compound the brethren guard.”
She rubbed her palm over the Dragonseeker mark on her left side. Low. Exactly where Isai had said it was. The mark never hid from him. It guarded her eggs, the Dragonseeker eggs, just as he’d said.
“You were reluctant to tell me when it came to your idea for destroying the book. Surely you do not think we would have to have a true blood sacrifice. There would be nothing pure about that, Julija.”
She frowned. “No, but there wouldn’t be cutting into a child’s arm and dripping blood over it, either. And I’m not certain that would be strong enough to destroy the spell Xavier wove around the book.”
“You are no child. You are the one. I am certain of it. Everything led you to this point as often happens when there is a call. This is your call.”
Julija shook her head, rejecting the idea, but she couldn’t quite get what he was saying to leave her mind. It did seem a big coincidence that she had become aware of Anatolie’s plan to continue Xavier’s work in destroying the Carpathians. She didn’t consider herself adventuresome, but she had lain awake for several days, considering what to do, how to warn the prince of the Carpathian people. She was mage. She also carried the birthmark of the high mage on her arm, in plain sight where anyone could see. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t be welcomed by the Carpathian prince, but she’d gone anyway.
She sighed and rubbed her lower lip with her thumb. What were the odds that she would connect with a Carpathian male losing his lifemate? That she would gain so much sympathy for him that she was pulled into his life and knew what he was doing? That had never happened before.
If she hadn’t left precisely when she had and traveled across the ocean to