they’ll have a difficult time following, especially if we can get rid of the—” She broke off, her chin jerking up. Her gaze darted back and forth between the crack in the rock and him. “I recognize those yowls. I do. Last night, I heard the same yowl. It was as if one cat was calling to another, telling it something.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I helped several of the cats. I was good to them when my brothers weren’t. There were two cats in particular I went to every night for over a month. The female was far more receptive than the male. I thought the male was going to kill me several times. He had come back so torn up and wouldn’t let me near him at first.”
“You mentioned him.”
She nodded and moved a little closer to the front of the cavern, careful not to get too close to the crack. Even so, the cats became frenzied, scratching at the rock wall to get to her.
“They both needed blood and I gave them mine. I treated his wounds and the whip marks on her. My brothers amused themselves by hurting the things they created. They said they weren’t real, so why not? The cats have substance. They need food or blood to survive. They can be killed. It isn’t right.”
“No, Julija, it isn’t.”
She looked at him over her shoulder, seeing the admiration there. His expression made her inexplicably happy. She couldn’t help the little burst of joy that spread through her. “I think those two cats are my cats.”
The smile was instantly gone from his face. “Julija,” he said in warning.
“The one that attacked you was probably paired with the one sent after the book. My brothers tended to train them in pairs. If these are mine, we can keep them with us.”
He shook his head. “I am not willing to risk your life.”
“The risk is mine to take. They’re innocent creatures. They didn’t ask for my brothers to shape them into killers.”
“Killers, sívamet, did you just hear what you said?”
He had been calling her “little mage” and the more possessive “my little mage” in his ancient language, but sívamet was an altogether different nickname. It was much more of an endearment, something a male Carpathian might call his love. It literally meant of my heart or more loosely translated, my love. She found she wished she had the time to dwell on that. Had it just slipped out and meant nothing? Or had it slipped out and meant everything?
“I know what I said. There are two of us. We’re powerful and we can stop them together. We’re prepared this time. I know it’s them, Isai. Trust me. Please.”
She could see his decision was swaying in her direction, but he didn’t like it. “Even if they don’t want to rip you apart, they will want to kill me.”
“Then we have to make certain they know you’re with me. That you’re mine. They understand pairs because they were surrounded by them. When one of a pair died the other proved useless to my brothers. It would either go insane and try to attack them or wouldn’t respond.”
“Because they were giving them Carpathian traits. Mixing your blood in with their food,” he guessed. “When a male lifemate dies, the female can hold on if necessary, but her heart and soul are with that male. If a female dies, the male will either suicide or turn vampire. Your brothers, by giving the pairs your blood, created a similar bond.”
The reminder of what lay between them coming out of his mouth so matter-of-factly embarrassed her. She was also shocked at how quickly he’d figured out what her brothers had done. “That’s exactly right. I was fairly certain that was what happened.”
Isai lifted his hands and began taking down the first few layers of the safeguards. When he reached Julija’s work she stood in front of the crack, softly murmured a greeting to the cats and then began to reverse her spell.
Shadows upon me, be trapped by light.
Return to your darkness, never find sight.
I send you back from whence you’ve come.
Never to cross over or shadows become.
The cats quieted and began to chuff, interspersing the sound with a call to Julija. That was the only reason Isai finished taking down the safeguards. At the last moment, he stepped well back from the entrance and Julija wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, standing mostly in front of him but to one side.