Romania and then hiked alone into the Carpathian Mountains, she never would have been in the right place at the exact time that Iulian was also traveling to the mountains. What were the odds that they would be so connected that they were traveling to the same place? He was taking his beloved to be buried in what he considered sacred ground. She was trying to warn another species that they weren’t safe.
Then there were the shadow cats. She had spotted blood, spots of dark crimson, and she followed those spots back to a small property just on the edge of the hills behind their home. A shed was there, and as she approached it, she recognized a very strong spell that kept everyone away. This was definitely Vasile’s work and she unraveled the spell within minutes. She had found the dead, dying and severely injured cats. Immediately her heart went out to them and she came each night to try to heal them. In doing so, she developed an affinity for them and knew when they were on the move.
Once in the Carpathian Mountains, she had known the exact moment when Iulian hadn’t followed his lifemate to meet the dawn. She knew when the shadow cat stole the book and Iulian killed the cat and took the book, racing to get out of the Carpathian stronghold. Could all of that really have been complete coincidence, or, like Isai thought, had destiny placed her in the right place with all the knowledge she needed at the right time?
She looked toward the lake. The beautiful shimmering blue water held the most dangerous item in the entire world. Xavier’s book of spells. She didn’t want Isai to be right. She didn’t want to think that the fate of the Carpathian people might rest on her shoulders. She wasn’t a heroine by any means. She was terrified, terrified of Barnabas. She was afraid of Anatolie, but Barnabas was in another league.
“Where did he come from? Barnabas? The man you think worked with Xavier?”
Isai hesitated, and for the first time she realized they weren’t merged together. He also was looking at the lake.
“Isai, no matter how bad something is, if I have to be a part of this, I need to know the worst. I need to know what or who we’re facing. I already am very aware Barnabas isn’t the professor everyone sees. No one knows that better than me at this point.”
“It turns out Xavier was a triplet. He had two brothers, equally as corrupt and dangerous as he was. Not long ago, it came to light that one worked at wiping out the Jaguar species and has all but succeeded. The other worked to wipe out the Lycans. He tried to start a war between Lycans and Carpathians. His name was Xaviero. He was defeated and killed by Dragonseeker women. There seems to be a theme going on here with the Dragonseeker lineage. I think it is very possible that Barnabas is Xaviero’s son.”
Of course she knew that Xavier had two brothers. She thought them long dead. The rumor had been that Xavier had murdered them, until Xaviero had surfaced and made his try to start that war. Anatolie was furious when it hadn’t succeeded. No one had mentioned that either brother had children, but it made sense. For a long time, she had considered that she had been a child of one of the brothers and that was why Anatolie hated her so much. It would make sense that the brothers would want to do what Xavier had done.
She shook her head and looked up at him. He always appeared so confident. So completely at ease with himself and his environment. It didn’t matter that they were discussing a very powerful mage who very well could annihilate them and Isai’s entire species of people. Isai just looked as if he could take all that on his shoulders. She wasn’t like that. The thought of facing Barnabas made her want to curl up in a little hole and cover it so no one would find her.
“I’m not brave like you are, Isai.” He might as well know.
He burst out laughing. “I know no one braver. I do not want you to try to take on Barnabas. We just have to find the book. I think we can do that. You know Iulian better than I do, although my blood will call to his. Once you figure out exactly what he did,