Dark Lycan (Dark #24)(46)
Author: Christine Feehan

That is so, but the master is not here. I would know. The Sange rau has left this battle to those he commands. Fen knew Gregori would catch the worry in his voice.

The fighting near the corrals was fierce. Gregori was wounded, and yet he displayed no emotion when he answered. He could have been having a picnic in a park instead of fighting for his life. You believed this master would be close.

I had hoped. Fen thought Abel might throw Bardolf under the bus in order to weaken the Carpathian fighters. It would be a sound strategy, especially given the endless supply of rogues he’d acquired along the way to do his bidding. I need to find the one who has their master’s ear. There is a way I can perhaps get information on either Abel or Bardolf, maybe both. At least find out what they are up to. It’s risky, but if I get what we need, well worth it.

He felt Gregori’s instant rejection of the idea. Tatijana echoed him with her distress.

How risky? We will need you to continue to educate our fighters . . . obviously.

From where Fen was, he caught occasional glimpses of Gregori. The werewolves had definitely targeted him for termination. Fen’s vision narrowed as he watched for a moment, the way the wolves circled Gregori. The prince’s guardian had been made known to them. He’d been involved in the fight earlier, but why such sacrifices? The bodies of werewolves lay sliced and staked around the prince’s guard, and yet still they came after him.

The nagging fear in Fen began to blossom into urgency. Something else was going on here, and he was missing it.

I think it’s worth the risk. I need to know that you and the others can finish this.

We’ve got this, Gregori assured, even as he fought off two more wolves driving straight at his throat and belly. He knew how they fought now, gutting their prey and tearing great chunks of flesh away to make their victims weak from blood loss.

Zev and his hunters will come quickly, Fen advised. It’s important that all Carpathian hunters know the difference between Lycan and werewolf.

Gregori ducked a leaping rogue, so that the creature sailed over his head and right onto Andre’s flashing blade. All of us know exactly what the Lycans look like. We have their scent as well. Each of us visited the inn where they were staying. There will be no mistakes, he said with certainty.

The elite may sense my presence, but they cannot identify me. I doubt they are that sensitive in the midst of blood and death, but Zev is more than elite, he is their best. It is possible. Fen had already located his entry point. He needed to use the ground so whoever was directing the battle from his safety zone wouldn’t see him coming.

Gregori grunted in pain, quickly cut off, as a great beast landed on him, driving him to the ground. The moment he was down a frenzy was triggered among the rogues. They threw themselves at him, piling on in spite of the other Carpathians racing to Gregori’s aid. The Carpathian hunters realized Gregori was the prime target and they redoubled their efforts to fight their way to him. It was Jacques who cut the head from the wolf tearing the flesh from his back and Nicolae who sliced through the one burrowing beneath him to rip at his belly.

The moment Fen saw the others going to Gregori’s aid he whirled around and indicated the ground in the middle of the field where the werewolves had tried to surprise the farm. I need a tunnel to follow back to the original source without him seeing. I’ll cast an illusion while you burrow quickly for me.

Tatijana waited until Fen sent images of her and her lifemate rushing to aid Gregori, entering the intense fighting near the corrals. The moment the illusion was strong and intact, she shifted to her dragon, trusting Fen to keep her from being seen. Tatijana’s dragon followed the trail beneath the soil, burrowing through the earth fast, leaving behind a nice-sized tunnel for Fen to follow in.

Fen left the Carpathian warriors to it. He had one purpose-to track the attack back to its source. He had to find the captain directing the battle, and that meant trusting that the Carpathian warriors would defeat the werewolves at the farm.

Tatijana had paid great attention to detail and the weapons the Carpathians had made were truly exceptional. The Carpathians had shared the information he’d given them on the rogue wolves attacking in packs and they were prepared for the fight. They’d lured the pack to Costin Eliade’s farm and coordinated the defense. They’d done everything they could do to decimate the pack and give Fen the chance to find the lair of at least one of the Sange rau.

He knew without a doubt that with two Sange rau so close to the prince, it was only a matter of time before disaster struck. Fen plunged into the hollow tunnel Tatijana’s dragon had carved out and moving with his Carpathian/Lycan speed began the race to ferret out the hiding place of the pack’s captain.

Tatijana, nothing is adding up. The Sange rau should have led their pack away from Carpathian territory immediately on realizing they were so close.

She was quick on the uptake, following his train of thought. You believe they have an agenda.

Absolutely. I’ve gone over it a million times. There are only three reasons I can think of that would keep them here. The best would be if either Abel or Bardolf or both were badly wounded and couldn’t leave. But that wouldn’t explain sacrificing a good part of their pack.

The dragon burrowed back toward the surface once she hit the beginnings of the marsh.

So something much more sinister.

The drive for a lifemate doesn’t always end when a Carpathian turns vampire. I’ve seen cases where they believe a woman would somehow restore their soul and yet they can keep to their ways. Abel may have returned with that idea in mind.

Tatijana already knew him far too well. But . . .

That might be a secondary issue, but more likely Mikhail is the intended target. Did you see the wolves going for Gregori? The prince and a Daratrazanoff have a special bond that creates an unstoppable power. Gregori was specifically targeted.

No matter the reason, the Sange rau had to be dealt with. None of them could afford any more time passing before ferreting the masters out and destroying them.

You’ll get them, Tatijana said firmly, every confidence in her voice.

Fen wished he had that same confidence. The nagging worry had grown to a full-blown alarm going off. He had to find the captain directing the werewolf pack’s attack on the farm.

The tunnel beneath the ground ended abruptly in the marsh. Reeds choked the water. Waterfowl ducked heads beneath the surface and rose to flutter wings peacefully, as if no abomination had passed near them. There was no telltale shriveled greenery to mark the way of a vampire, but then he hadn’t expected any. He had known all along neither Abel nor Bardolf would be close.

That nagging, growing alarm blared at him. He reached for the prince’s guard. Gregori, I need to know where the prince is.