Page 2 of Dark Hope (Dark Carpathians #38)

Chapter 2

Benedek Kovak had few people he trusted. Safia Meziane had read tarot cards for him, and with the knowledge that his lifemate was alive and in danger had come the warning to trust only his brethren, only himself and his instincts. He was not to trust anyone else. He had very good instincts honed over centuries of living and encountering just about every conspiracy and betrayal possible.

That lesson had started when he was a young Carpathian. His parents stayed separate from the Carpathian community. He knew his father, Marius, didn’t like taking orders from the prince, or anyone else for that matter. He had sworn his allegiance to the prince, but he hadn’t really meant those vows. Even as a young child, Benedek had known there was something wrong with his family structure. His code of honor didn’t match that of his parents or his older brother, Boian. He had learned early on to be careful around his mother. It wasn’t until he was much older that he realized the woman raising him—and despising him—was not his birth mother.

Carpathian men didn’t cheat on their lifemates. Not ever. There was an unbreakable bond between the man and the woman. His father and Fawn, the woman he called mother, were not true lifemates, although they lived together as if they were. Over time he had learned that there were a few men and women who were afflicted with a disease that kept them from finding their real lifemate. They would be attracted to various women or men and would feel as if they had the right to them—human or Carpathian. Marius was one of those men. Fawn was one of those women. Marius’ eldest son, Boian, was the exact same way.

From his toddler years, Benedek had exhibited extraordinary abilities. Marius acted as though he favored him, was proud of him, and spent hours each night training him. Benedek learned discipline and technique for battles with vampires. He had no idea his brother and Fawn resented him, or the time and attention Marius bestowed on him.

He was well past his “teen” years when he realized his father and brother were ruthless killers. If they had killed while taking blood, they would have become vampire, but they were careful not to kill that way. His father took him along on his raids of the villages where he coveted some woman or some prize, or felt as though he’d been slighted. Marius and Boian reveled in the fear they created. They were high on their power and cruelty. They weren’t the only ones.

Marius and Boian held sway over several other Carpathian males who followed their lead, helping them raid and torture perceived enemies. If anyone dared to fight back or cross them in any way, the consequences were brutal. The one rule was they couldn’t kill while feeding.

They were nowhere near the prince of the Carpathians, and they made certain to be friendly with any passing hunter, unless that hunter had spoken to villagers who complained about them. Then the Carpathian hunter was attacked and murdered. The death of Carpathian hunters was inevitable, and no one came looking for the deceased. That practice only increased Marius’ feelings of power and narcissistic superiority.

He seemed to have been born without a conscience, and as he aged, his craving for power only grew. He was envious of the prince and wanted that same power for himself. His idea of ruling was by terror. The more blood he shed, the more the villagers gave him whatever he or his men wanted. He brought Benedek up in that environment. If he questioned the things his father and brother did, he was ridiculed and beaten. Fawn always backed Marius and Boian, even knowing her husband raped other women or took them as mistresses for a short time. Later, Benedek realized Fawn killed those women, not Marius. Her sickness had progressed to the point where no female was safe if they were near Marius.

Benedek was told Marius wanted him to take a young Carpathian woman for his wife. He told him repeatedly that arranged marriages were normal. Boian had brought home a Carpathian woman and “married” her. The woman suicided. Boian didn’t seem to care. When he found her, he laughed and said there were more where she’d come from. The behavior sickened Benedek. He knew he wasn’t yet strong enough to challenge his father. He was certain he could best his brother in a fair fight, but with them and their gang, it would never be a fair fight. If he snuck off to find help, he would leave the villagers completely without aid. Many times, he’d managed to save lives just by being present.

Every day he grew stronger and learned more. He practiced the extraordinary gifts he was born with far away from his father, brother and the members of their gang. He worked at shifting to be lightning fast. He’d timed his brother and father, the two fastest of the bloodthirsty, power-hungry, brutal gang. He had to be faster than either of them before he dared defy them openly.

His fate was sealed unexpectedly—although looking back, he should have realized his father would order his death if he continued to talk against torturing the villagers and raping their women. What man ordered the murder of his own son? Benedek had learned there was no love in his family and no real loyalty. His older brother would have been happy had Marius been killed, allowing Boian to take over and rule.

He was ordered to meet his father and brother on the outskirts of the closest village just before dawn. Fawn giggled and cackled like a demon from hell when she gave him the orders. That should have been another red flag, but he always tried to get out of her company as fast as possible. The fact that she had cackled made him worried for the women in the village, and he hurried to the edge of the forest.

It was dark and damp in the woods, branches dripping with moss and raindrops. As he materialized, he spotted Ernst and Ciprian, two of Marius’ soldiers. A rustle behind him told him they weren’t alone. Alin and Sergiu were never far from them. That meant they were going on a raid for certain. He shifted his stance to ensure he could see all four men. Boian emerged from a tree trunk and strode straight to him. He had a grin on his face and cruelty in his eyes as he placed one hand on Benedek’s shoulder.

“You made it so easy, Benedek. Too easy. You always were too soft for our father. It wasn’t that difficult to whisper in his ear what a liability you are to all of us.” As he spoke, the long blade slid from his sleeve, and he slammed it deep into Benedek’s chest, purposely missing the heart as he twisted and pulled the blade free. Still grinning. Happy for once.

Simultaneously, the four others drove knives into Benedek’s sides and back over and over with the strength of their species, grunting as they did so. Benedek went down hard, blood spurting from his body from dozens of deep wounds.

“Stupid, ignorant coward. You were never my brother. These men are my brothers. Marius fathered each of them. You, however, he stole after he killed your parents. You were supposed to have extraordinary talents. He was bitterly disappointed. We laughed at his weakness with you. How he trained you. How he took so much time with you when he didn’t bother with us. Yet in the end, we’re the ones he listens to and counts on. All you ever did was embarrass him.”

Boian crouched down and stabbed his blade into the side of Benedek’s neck and then created a necklace, circling his throat. “You loser. Just the sight of you like this gives me more pleasure than anything I’ve ever done.” He stood up and waved to his brothers. “Drag him out from the trees so the sun will finish him if he doesn’t bleed out first. I’m going to celebrate. That little redhead is close to age. She’ll do.”

Alin and Ciprian caught Benedek’s legs and dragged him roughly over the rocky ground out from under the trees, leaving a trail of bright red blood in the high grass. Ernst and Sergiu hurried after Boian, laughing as they caught up with him. Alin and Ciprian cursed and dropped Benedek’s body.

“They’ll get all the fresh ones,” Alin complained. He kicked Benedek as he rushed away. Ciprian cursed again and hurried after his brothers.

Benedek hadn’t believed his father would order his death, but now everything made sense. He wasn’t Marius’ son by blood. He was so different and had been from the time he was first aware. Marius and his treacherous sons should have paid more attention to the gifts Benedek had than to what they believed his flaws were.

They didn’t think him ruthless. Or brutal. They didn’t believe he could match their ferocity. Marius had shaped a killing machine. Just because Benedek had a code of honor didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of vengeance or viciousness. He had it in him. He was a Carpathian warrior, after all. He’d been raised by a madman.

Marius just had never been able to control Benedek as he could his sons. And all of them should have taken notice of Benedek’s steel mind. When he decided on a path, he wasn’t swayed, no matter how difficult. He made up his mind he would live, and he would hunt. It would be easy because they believed him dead.

—

Benedek Kovak knew the men traveling with him were good, solid fighters. He’d known them for centuries. He had spent time in the monastery in the Carpathian Mountains. Nicu Dalca had been one of the residents off and on. If Benedek could claim to be close to anyone, it would be Nicu. The man was solid and steady, could always be counted on. They’d traveled together often, hunted vampires and destroyed demons and hellhounds.

Nicu had gray eyes that gave nothing away. His black hair was worn pulled back in the way many of the ancients preferred. He was grim-faced, worn from centuries of battling the vampire, killing friends and even family when it was necessary. He was lightning fast in battle and had a special affinity with animals. The beasts in forests and mountains guarded him, spied for him, always calling to him. Something in Nicu answered, and no matter how feral the animal, they became part of his pack.

If Benedek trusted anyone, it would be Nicu. He was a tremendous asset in any battle. On the journey to find his lifemate, Benedek was grateful to have someone so dependable. More, they had fought so many battles together, each was able to predict what the other would do. They also were able to speak telepathically on their own conduit developed from their time in the monastery. All Carpathians spoke telepathically on a common wavelength, but that meant vampires who were former Carpathians could hear what was said. The ability to speak freely with one another gave them an advantage when they were orchestrating a battle with several vampires.

The other three men traveling with them were familiar to him. Lojos, Mataias and Tomas Smolnycki were triplets and had traveled together for centuries. They wore their chestnut-colored hair long, in keeping with the ancients. Hair provided extrasensory information for Carpathians, much like the whiskers on animals. Ancients were particularly sensitive. The triplets’ hair color was at odds with their brilliant aquamarine-colored eyes. They could disappear into mist as fully formed Carpathians, impossible to see. They moved together in complete synchronization as one person. When fighting vampires, they were utterly silent, eerily frightening and scary intelligent, a formidable combination.

Tomas was distinctive in that he had tear-shaped scarring on the right side of his face from his hairline to his jaw. It was one of the many scars acquired in the centuries of battling the vampire. A web of scarring from Lojos’ left shoulder, down his arm and to his hand, declared that, over the centuries, he too had been in battles that should have killed him, yet he had survived. Mataias showed evidence of vampires trying to extract his heart from his chest by the scars on his back and chest. He had also lived. Carpathians rarely scarred, so it was saying something to all who met them—they had survived mortal wounds when most would have succumbed.

Benedek respected the triplets for their fighting skills and their loyalty to one another. Above all else, for him, he considered loyalty the premier trait that should be in a man’s or woman’s character. He knew his brethren believed their hearts would follow when they bound their souls to their lifemate. Benedek was no longer certain he had a heart. When he bound his lifemate, it would be to get his soul back.

Benedek had no idea what he would be offering a lifemate, but he knew she would restore colors and emotion to him. That wasn’t as necessary to him as ensuring he would have her complete allegiance. Just because a woman was his lifemate didn’t necessarily mean she couldn’t betray him. That was another hard lesson he’d learned over the centuries.

Women weren’t to be trusted any more than most men. Even if you did them a service, saved them time and again, they could turn on you for their own selfish reasons. Believing they would get favors from others if they gave you up when you were injured. Becoming jealous because they thought you were going to be the man for them but realizing you had no interest in them. Granted, most of the women he’d encountered were human, but Fawn had been Carpathian. He knew there were other Carpathian women born with the same madness.

He had a deep distrust of others, men and women, human, Carpathian, Lycan or Jaguar. The fact was that his tarot reading had cautioned him to trust in his instincts, his brethren and only those he knew to be friends. All else were to be considered potential enemies. That didn’t bode well when he knew he was facing a war with Lilith’s army. He’d encountered her demons and those she had recruited on more than one occasion. It was never easy. From the urgent demand in him to hurry, he was certain this war would be extremely one-sided, and if his lifemate was going to survive, he would have to get to her fast.

It was good that Safia’s Carpathian friend Aura knew exactly where he was to go. The four women guarding the gates knew one another and at times met to share information and help each other get through the long centuries without being around their people. That saved him time because he didn’t have to look for a direction.

That didn’t mean the going wasn’t slow. Airplanes malfunctioned. When they took to the air themselves, trackers followed them, setting them up for multiple attacks from vampires or demons. Even the human society seemed to be on the lookout for them. Sandu and Adalasia had discovered that when Sandu first found his lifemate. The men and women had murdered Adalasia’s mother to get her tarot cards. The cards were powerful, holding the blood of a Carpathian woman. They were capable of aligning, finding a way to overcome the weave of magic keeping the gates locked. Benedek and the others knew the problems with their private plane had been caused by humans as well as one with a demon implanted in him. With their ability to track with scent, they were able to ascertain who had sabotaged the plane.

A man by the name of Castello headed a society known as the Army of Nera, made up mostly of humans. They thought they were going to open the gate and control the beast behind it. Little did they know Castello had a demon in him, making him more than human and very familiar with the dark arts. The demon directed his every move. The Army of Nera used screech owls, rats and other animals to do their bidding. That was where Nicu was invaluable. If any animal, including a bird, was used against them, he could win them back with whatever that connection he had was—even if dark arts had been used.

They hadn’t slowed down, making their way fast each night toward the small village of Nachtbloem. It was so small it wasn’t on any map. In fact, if anything, it was deliberately hidden from outsiders. To get to it, one could go by sea or fly to one of the airports within miles of the village. From there people used cars to find their way.

Benedek wasn’t about to bother with a car or a boat, since the plane had been breached. He trusted no one and didn’t want to be around anyone who might later be able to identify them. His soul was at stake. His lifemate could be killed at any moment. He had no idea how well trained she was in fighting demons.

For the first time, he allowed himself to think of the irony of that—his lifemate a demon slayer. If there was a Carpathian close to becoming something he shouldn’t, it was Benedek. She’d most likely cut his throat while he slept. If he had been capable of true humor, he would have laughed at the idea of the two of them being remotely compatible.

He stroked one finger over the circular scar that ran along his throat. He then touched the one on the side of his neck. He always wore a shirt that would cover the thin white evidence of his family’s betrayal. He had already faced having his throat cut once. Having his lifemate repeat that experience for him a second time wasn’t a pleasant thought. He didn’t want to meet her with that vision uppermost in his mind. He had to be positive about finding his lifemate.

Benedek had the oath scored into his back, the oath he took to his lifemate. The one that said he lived for her. To find her. The one that every one of his brethren who had resided in the monastery had carved into their backs. But if he was truthful with himself, he knew he had lived for vengeance, not for his lifemate. He hadn’t believed in lifemates. Not the way the others had. He had believed it was his sacred duty to rid the world of monsters. He still believed that, even though he knew he was becoming one of those very monsters. Now, he didn’t know what he believed. He would have to wait and see.

If there was one thing Benedek had learned in his centuries of hunting, it was patience. The predator didn’t catch his prey if he moved too fast or too soon. He became invisible. A ghost in the darkness, blending with his surroundings. Stalking so silently and so slowly that even that movement was impossible to detect. Since the betrayal by his family at such an early age, he thought of himself as dead. He was walking the earth, hunting monsters, but his prey didn’t see him coming because it was impossible to see the dead.

Would his lifemate bring him back to life? He had mulled over that question while in the monastery. Was it even possible? It didn’t feel as if anyone could have enough light in them to strip away the darkness in him. He wasn’t even certain if when he bound his lifemate to him, she could restore his soul. The part of his soul he retained was tainted and tattered. He had thick scarring throughout his soul that could never be erased. Certainly, that web of scarring covered his heart, blocking all access to it.

His lifemate wouldn’t be getting a bargain. Still, she would have his unswerving loyalty, something he would demand in return. She might be capable of slaying demons, but she would never have the expertise to kill him. Lifemates had access to the mind of the other. He would monitor her to know her thoughts and intentions. That way there would never be a moment when she could plot his demise without his being aware.

We are surrounded. Nicu’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Benedek knew the enemy had begun to stalk him and the others as they made their way through the darkness toward Nachtbloem. The night was cold. Icy cold. Frost covered bushes and grass. Icicles dripped from the branches of trees. He knew the night would be considered beautiful with the way the moon peeked through the rolling clouds to cast light on the ice, turning everything silver. Yet he saw…gray. Only gray.

How many times had he listened to humans describing colors? He had vivid memories of his past—the treachery and betrayal of his family and others he had considered friends or allies while younger, but he had no memory of color. He saw the world in a gray void. He couldn’t remember a time when he saw in color. Sometimes he wondered if he ever had.

They believe we are surrounded, Benedek conceded. The Smolnyckis have seamlessly blended into the night. Those believing us caught in their trap have yet to realize there are three other hunters with us.

He felt nothing for his prey. Not contempt or fear or animosity. He was a hunter, and he was good at what he did. This was all so familiar to him after centuries of battling the vampire. Over time, the vampires had changed, grown more cunning. A master vampire had protection now from lesser vampires, as they banded together to be more effective against the Carpathian hunters. Benedek and the others had adapted to what was the new normal. They knew they would face multiple vampires of varying skills. That in no way bothered any of the ancients. In centuries of hunting, they’d seen it all.

Benedek was the bait. It was a role he was comfortable in. He drew out the enemy by striding, seemingly unaware, deeper into the large orchard of Caucasian wingnut trees. Most of the trees were mature, tall at variations from forty to sixty feet. The trunks were wide, round and deeply creased with dark gray bark. Due to the time of year, the leaves had fallen, leaving the enormous branches bare of their finery. Many of the trees still carried nutlets, although they had turned brown.

The trunks were enormous, and the root system large and complex, running beneath Benedek’s feet as he strode through the grove. Mixed in with the wingnut trees were a few ash and alder trees. As he rounded each of the trunks, he noted whether the tree shivered with animosity, appeared ill or had sap running down a crack. All would be indications that a vampire had taken up residence inside the tree.

Vampires were an abomination against nature, and nature always retreated when they were close. Grass withered and turned brown. Flowers shuddered and closed their petals, turning from bright colors to a dull, shrunken, sickly yellow. Even clean river water would retreat with repugnance from the vile undead that went against the natural order of the universe.

Three inside tree trunks. One in the ground inside the roots, he reported to the others.

One has taken the form of an owl, Nicu added. Two are in with the group of bats. They’re making their way toward you.

No master vampire so far, Benedek said. To have so many pawns, he’s been around for a while. To keep this many pawns, he has to be capable.

He must be close, Nicu added. He will want to be the general, orchestrating the battle. His ego will demand that.

Benedek had skills he’d developed over the centuries. Like Nicu, he’d become feral and as dangerous as the animal predators they encountered. He had all the instincts, the ability to smell and see the most minute traces of his enemy when he hunted. Every cell in his body, every hair on his head and on his body, provided him with information on his prey. When Benedek locked on to whatever he was tracking, he never stopped until he had found and destroyed it.

Have not caught the scent of the master, Tomas reported. Two more pawns moving through the grove toward you, Benedek. I recognize one. He was called Elek. Slimy little toad. He turned some centuries ago and doesn’t seem to actually fight off a hunter. He leaves that to his companions.

The one with him, Lojos added, is named Odon. He thinks quite a lot of his abilities. He has killed two hunters, which elevated him to a higher status.

That’s most likely why Elek has stuck to him like glue, Mataias chimed in. I met Odon once before he turned. He seemed strong and determined to hold out for his lifemate. There are few surprises left to us, but had I been a wagering man, I would have bet on Odon making it.

Benedek slowed his pace. They would need to throw off their attackers to gain even more of an advantage. Whoever the master vampire was, he commanded the fealty and obedience of nine underlings. That was quite a bit to rule when vampires were notorious for egos.

I believe we have two apiece, Lojos said. Benedek, don’t be greedy and kill them all before we have a chance to shift.

Benedek rolled his wide shoulders as he turned around and began to walk back toward the tree trunks where he knew three of the vampires had secreted themselves. I feel I might be rusty. And I could use the exercise. Time to get the party started.

Deliberately he stopped close to the root system where a fourth vampire lay in wait. Benedek brushed his hand along a trunk. As he did so, he opened a small laceration on his skin, just enough that the enticing blood of an ancient would fill the air with temptation. Keeping up his act, he cursed in his native language and shook his hand so that droplets of blood were dispersed in the air. Passing his hand over the cut, he closed the laceration and then looked down at it as if inspecting it.

He’d used the ploy often when several vampires attacked at once. Newly made vampires could never resist the lure, and it was difficult for more experienced vampires to pass up Carpathian blood. The blood was extremely powerful. Once tasted, the vampire could form an immediate addiction to it, often unable to resist the craving to the point where they forgot about fighting and only lived to get more of the blood however they could.

By carelessly cutting himself and seeming to be oblivious to his surroundings, Benedek appeared as if he might be unskilled.

The master vampire will caution them to wait for Odon and Elek to get into position, he warned the others. We should be able to pinpoint him when he does.

Two of the trunks closest but just slightly behind him and to his left began to split, black ooze running like a river of tears down the widening crack. A third tree began to rupture, the bark no longer healthy. The excretion was thick and slimy. Along with the sludge, beetles poured out of the opening.

The ground grumbled and moaned as if the wind could reach beneath the dirt to the tree roots. A black oily substance bubbled up in several spots as a host of beetles burst through the carpet of dead leaves and debris.

Two of the three vampires hiding in the tree trunks close to Benedek began to emerge from the trunks that split apart as they fixated on his blood.

Dark, fierce energy rushed at Benedek, pushing into the space around the trees and even to the root system below. Rage, stark and terrible, choked the very air, beat at the vampires emerging from the cracked and blackened trunks. It was too late for the master vampire to gain control of his minions. They were too far gone, drooling, long tongues darting around them, flicking in the air to try to catch the lingering drops of blood.

Ah, an old one, Benedek told the others. He travels extensively, always one step ahead of the hunters. He calls himself Frisi. He runs with another called Balan. Balan is a very experienced fighter.

Benedek held himself very still, every cell in his body aware of the lesser vampires ripping the last of the bark away so they could fully emerge. Long talons clacked together as they stepped onto the floor of the grove. Instantly, beetles swarmed up their legs, biting and boring into the rotting flesh.

I have the stench of this Frisi, Nicu said. He is close to you, Benedek. He sits in the tallest tree, a lizard about to get a visit from an owl.

Nicu might not feel humor, but he had it in abundance. Balan, the vampire who had taken over the body of the owl, suddenly dove from the branch where he had been observing the scene below, made a wide circle, seemed to waver midflight as if in a struggle, and then flew at the lizard, determined to eat it.

Benedek took a moment to admire the way the owl streaked through the night sky, avoiding the massive branches to home in on its target—the lizard. At the last moment, the lizard dodged the talons, lashing back with a whirling spear of fiery lightning that pierced the breast of the owl, knocking Balan from the sky. Black acid rained down on the floor of the grove, hissing and steaming as it splattered across the dried leaves and sticks.

Balan separated himself from the owl, clutching his chest, where acid poured from him, along with maggots. Mataias seemingly stepped out of the very air, driving his fist into Balan’s chest as the undead staggered forward. Mataias whirled around as he extracted the heart, using a front snap kick to drive the vampire away as he pulled the heart free of the body. Balan howled in horror as Mataias tossed the heart skyward and a bolt of lightning shot through it and then jumped to Balan’s crumpling form before Mataias bathed his arms in the white-hot heat to rid himself of any acid.

Odon and Elek were called to the rocks to the left of the grove, Nicu reported. Their master doesn’t like the way the battle is going.

As the grove lit up from the fiery heat of jagged bolts sizzling across the sky, Benedek moved with the blurring speed he was legendary for as he stepped into the attack from the vampire in front of him. He drove his left fist deep through the wall of the vampire’s chest, his fingers finding the withered heart. Even as he withdrew it, he impaled the second vampire with his right fist, using the momentum from the advancing abomination to go through the chest wall to the heart. He swung the vampire around, so the third attacker slashed with wicked talons down the face and neck of his companion.

Benedek extracted both hearts and sent them skyward, where Lojos directed the whip of lightning to incinerate them. Only seconds had gone by, but when Benedek was in a battle, time slowed. He saw everything clearly. Smelled everything. Battle was the one time he felt . A rush when he entered actual combat. There was no thought of life or death. No thought of pain or wounds. Only defeating the enemy.

He shoved the bodies of the two dead vampires to the ground, right over the bubbling acid. Larger cracks appeared, and tree roots shot out of the ground like spears dipped in poisonous sludge, seeking to wrap around Benedek’s legs. Benedek shifted before he could be touched, allowing Mataias to slam lightning into the ground, bolt after bolt, incinerating the bodies of the two dead vampires and forcing the vampire beneath, hidden in the tree roots, to arise.

Benedek materialized behind the third vampire, who had emerged from a tree, driving his fist through bone and sinew, reaching unerringly for the heart. The vampire coming out of the ground tried to work his way around the undead Benedek was killing.

The one emerging is called Dacso, Benedek announced to the others.

The vampire Benedek was extracting the heart from shrieked and screamed, looking for aid from the sky. He couldn’t shift or use his claws to get at his attacker. He tried to bend forward so he could reach behind him to rake at Benedek’s thighs. Benedek spun him around, which gave his back to Dacso, who had emerged fully from the ground.

The last I heard of him was two centuries ago. He was close to being a master vampire then. I have no idea why he is running with Frisi, but watch yourselves, he cautioned.

Giving Dacso an opportunity to attack him enticed the vampire to rush at Benedek. He ran right into Tomas’ fist, allowing his own momentum to impale him on the hunter’s arm. He screamed, spitting curses and maggots, tearing at Tomas with razor-sharp claws as he tried to hack off Tomas’ arm.

Behind him, Lojos materialized. The lesser vampire Benedek fought faced them and tried to warn Dacso there was a second hunter. Right at that moment, as he opened his mouth to shriek a warning, Benedek fully extracted the heart through his back. The vampire forgot about helping his companion. It was all about survival. Benedek tossed the heart high into the air.

Two bats broke from the rest of those in the distance and raced toward them even as lightning veined across the sky. Mataias was very accurate, hitting the heart with his first lash, following it up by incinerating the body.

Benedek left Dacso to Lojos and Tomas. Shifting again, he took to the sky, ignoring the bats coming to try to aid Dacso. They weren’t his concern. He had to take out the master vampire, Odon and Elek with Nicu.

As the bats neared the forest, a great horned owl swooped down and bit the head off one in midflight. The owl spat it out, and as the lesser vampire struggled to shift back to his own form, Mataias waited in the air, unseen, as was usual with the triplets. The owl plunged after the second bat while the first vampire ripped himself free of his miniature disguise.

Mataias exploded out of the air, tearing through the vampire’s chest wall as the undead plummeted toward the grove. He was fast, ripping the heart free, tossing it far from the vampire, who, without his head, had no way to know which direction his heart had been thrown. A jagged bolt of lightning destroyed the heart and jumped to the body before it could hit the ground. A second white-hot fork sizzled to the grove, finding the head the owl had spit out.

The great horned owl caught up with the bat before it managed to reach Dacso to aid him. Talons tore into the back, ripping away skin to expose bone. The vampire shrieked as it was forced to shift, black acid dripping to the branches and ground below. Everywhere the drops of oily sludge hit they burned holes through the wood and brush. Relentless, Mataias followed the undead to the floor of the grove, attacking without hesitation.

Benedek had easily picked up the stench of the master vampire. He tracked him to a large boulder with several crevices in it. Emerging from the shadows, he strode straight toward the vampire, letting him know battle was inevitable.

The master vampire had seen his ranks decimated in a matter of minutes. He was no fool, or he wouldn’t have survived as long as he had. He signaled to the two lesser vampires, Elek and Odon, who were nearest to him. They were there to serve him. To fight his battles. Normally, with so many vampires traveling together, Frisi participated only when the tides had turned on the hunter and he was certain of a victory. Access to Carpathian blood was rare. The craving for it was always overwhelming, a very powerful temptation, especially for a master vampire who had managed to stay alive for centuries. He would always claim the prize after his pawns weakened or mortally wounded the hunter.

In the old days, vampires were always solitary. Over the last centuries, they had begun the practice of using newly made vampires or freshly turned ones to guard the older ones. The newer vampires believed they would be protected and better learn how to survive. They didn’t understand that the master vampire used them to keep himself safe from the hunters.

Benedek was aware of Lojos and Tomas battling with Dacso. The vampire was very close to being a master himself. He had no doubt Dacso would be defeated. The triplets had a way of fighting together that was smooth, every move well orchestrated. Mataias was busy with the lesser vampire and doing mop-up with the lightning bolts.

In position. Will remove Odon first, Nicu informed him.

Nicu was Benedek’s backup. He had already stalked Odon and Elek and was waiting for them to make their move. Odon would be the first target because Nicu would strike fast and kill him immediately. Of the two pawns, he was the biggest threat. That would leave only Elek and Frisi to fight. Frisi was an experienced fighter, or he wouldn’t hold the position he was in, but he couldn’t count on Elek, who was reputed to run from a fight every time.

Frisi came wholly out of the crack he’d been partially hiding in. He held up one hand and then indicated for his two defenders to come up behind Benedek.

Benedek didn’t so much as glance behind him. That wasn’t his way. He continued forward, not fast or slow, just a steady, fluid pace.

“You have enemies,” Frisi advised. “Powerful enemies.” He studied Benedek, obviously trying to place him.

Benedek wasn’t in the habit of talking with prey. He took a much more direct approach, simply killing them as quickly as possible. Vampires were deceivers. Cunning. There were no idle conversations with them to pass the time. If they gave information, it was only because they believed it served their purpose to do so. He knew Frisi was stalling to give his two pawns time to sneak up on the hunter.

“I believe you are the one with the powerful enemies,” Benedek contradicted. He kept his voice low, conversational. He had scar tissue from the long healing process when his throat had been cut. His voice wasn’t something he could always count on, so he rarely used it. Only when he was with his brethren from the monastery or when it was absolutely necessary.

Frisi looked around him warily. A few yards away, Elek and Odon emerged from where they had been hiding, separating to come at Benedek’s back from two different angles. Frisi visibly relaxed.

“Why would you think I am the one with enemies?” His red-rimmed eyes gleamed with satisfaction. The fingernails began to lengthen into curved talons that looked as if they were made of steel.

Benedek swept his hand toward the carnage of the vampire’s pack. As he did so, Dacso screamed in hatred, defiance and utter fear. Lightning streaked across the sky and then jumped toward the grove.

“I believe your right hand has just fallen,” he said. “You have gone from ten to three. Soon to be two, one worthless, as you well know. Why wouldn’t the one who sent you warn you we were ancients? Had they done so, you wouldn’t have come near us. They didn’t even tell you how many of us there are. I would say you were set up to be rid of you.”

Elek was already lagging behind, allowing Odon to take the lead on his side. Frisi hissed and clacked his nails together, allowing a long stream of poisonous breath to escape toward Benedek while at the same time reprimanding Elek. The master vampire’s eyes suddenly widened, and he called out a warning, but it was too late. A large wolf sprang out of the trees and hit Odon full in the chest, claws ripping through the chest wall, the long snout tearing through muscle to get to the heart.

“Do you see?” Benedek asked, his voice even lower, so if the master vampire wanted to hear, he would have to give the hunter his full attention. “What did you do that made you such a powerful enemy that they would send you to your doom?”

Elek should have crept up behind Benedek. That was the plan. He had stopped and was staring in fear and awe at the saber-tooth wolf. His mouth was wide open in a soundless scream of sheer terror. Drool ran down his chin as saliva flew from his mouth in long streams of thick yellow-green poison. Tiny parasites wiggled in the strings and plopped to the ground each time the drool became long enough.

The master vampire looked at his pawn with disgust. He had given up watching the fight between Nicu and Odon as if he knew it was a foregone conclusion that Odon was doomed.

He waved his hand toward his remaining pawn. “This is what we have come to.”

Benedek shrugged and glided a step closer. “Your choice, Frisi. You took what you thought would be an easy hit and ran into five experienced ancients. You are already dead.”

“I have information to trade for my life.” Frisi’s voice turned sly.

“I do not trade information for the life of the undead.”

“Even when it involves your lifemate?” He indicated the wolf, now in the process of tearing apart Odon. “Or his? Or any of the others? You are traveling with a specific destination in mind. You will not reach that destination. The word has been sent to stop you.”

“What is the return to entice a master such as yourself? It must be huge for you to bother. You have never answered to anyone and yet you allow yourself to be used. It was your choice, Frisi,” he added to ensure the master vampire believed Benedek respected him.

Vampires were notoriously egotistical, particularly master vampires who wanted everyone around them to understand they were still living on earth due to their capabilities and clever, cunning wits. Flattery often got them talking, revealing things they wouldn’t ordinarily impart—especially to a hunter.

Benedek didn’t care about injuries to himself. Fighting a master vampire, it was inevitable to sustain wounds, but the thought didn’t cross his mind. Being injured, even severely, didn’t matter to him, despite knowing he had a lifemate. He couldn’t force himself to meet the dawn because he’d vowed to take down as many predators as possible. He didn’t renege on his vows or compromise his code. By stalling, he was giving Nicu time to defeat Odon and allowing Mataias, Tomas and Lojos to ensure that all the vampire underlings were destroyed.

They were hunters. Egos weren’t involved. They destroyed vampires and predators as fast and as efficiently as possible. No one cared who had the most kills or how experienced the vampire. They got the job done as quickly as possible with the least amount of damage to themselves. It made sense, especially when traveling fast, to use all resources, including all of them going up against the most experienced fighter.

“I was promised Carpathian blood for me and every one of my followers.” Frisi hesitated and then a look of cunning came over his face. “Allow me to go and I will tell you the plans to kill the woman in the village you seek. The one who is lifemate to one of you. Give me your word of honor that I will be unharmed.”

Benedek’s answer was a full-on attack. He moved with blurring speed straight at Frisi, the assault so unexpected that the vampire was unprepared as Benedek hit him hard, driving forward, impaling the undead on his outstretched knife hand. Frisi shrieked his fear and hatred and then spat poisonous venom at Benedek’s face and neck. His hands went up, those sharp talons made of steel, raking Benedek’s neck to open wounds to allow the venom to enter his bloodstream.

Frisi screamed for Elek to join with him, to attack the Carpathian hunter from behind. Benedek didn’t glance to his left or right, or even care if the pawn would attack his back. His only goal was to destroy Frisi. His only thought was to kill him and send him to the other world, where someone else could judge his sins. That wasn’t his job. It wasn’t personal. It was a matter of justice.

He didn’t acknowledge the razor-sharp nails tearing his skin open. He didn’t feel as the vampire injected the venom into him. There was the rush that came with battle, a dark satisfied feeling that had crept up on him unawares several centuries earlier. That had been the beginning of the scars marking the inside of his body. Thick scars that covered his heart and tried to vein across the darkness that was half his soul. The more often he killed in battle, the more those inevitable scars marked him as changing into something else, something potentially terrifying and deadly—more so than he was already.

Lightning forked across the sky and then slammed to earth, signaling the demise of Odon. They were down to Frisi and Elek. Elek hadn’t rushed to the aid of his master. He backed away rather than stalk Benedek from behind. The moment he saw Odon fall, he shifted, taking to the air in his effort to get away. He took the form of a small owl, his intention to fly quickly through the forest, his small shape allowing him to speed through the numerous branches.

A cat leapt at the owl, claws ripping through the head and breast so that black acid poured out of the lacerations. The cat was small, fierce and relentless, hooking nails into the owl so that they both plummeted to the ground. At the last moment, the cat shifted, and Nicu materialized. As Elek shifted in sheer desperation, Nicu stepped into him and took his heart. The battle was over in seconds, leaving the master vampire to fight on his own.

Benedek refused to withdraw his hand despite the vicious raking from Frisi’s steel talons. When he couldn’t dislodge Benedek or shake him in any way, the vampire changed tactics, leaning forward to tear at the hunter’s shoulder with spiked teeth. It was a move Benedek was very familiar with, and he changed the composition of his shoulder before the teeth sadistically bit down.

Frisi’s teeth clamped down hard on the diamond-hard shoulder and shattered, the spikes falling like pieces of blackened tacks from his mouth. Black acid poured from his mouth as he threw his head back and screamed for his pawns. His talons raked at the hunter’s arm, trying to saw it in two, hacking away, piercing the flesh and muscle to the bone as the fingers gripped his heart and began to pull it from his body.

The master vampire thrashed wildly, using his legs to climb Benedek’s body. Tomas materialized on the left, a sword in his hand. He swung the blade, removing the vampire’s head so that it hit the ground and rolled obscenely, coming to a halt against a rock. Lightning veined the sky in a multitude of crackling, white-hot whips.

Benedek tossed the withered heart into the air and stepped back, allowing Mataias to incinerate the heart, head and body of the vampire.

This was the moment Benedek always dreaded. The battle was over. The vampires defeated. He had to face the fact that he had felt something during the fight. That something wasn’t a good thing.

He bathed his acid-covered arm in the white-hot glare of the energy whip Mataias wielded to clear the acid from his body. Venom had tipped the talons Frisi dug into his skin, injecting it into his system. He found he was bleeding from dozens of lacerations, some deep. That was standard after battles with vampires. All of them would have wounds. Each would have to find and clear out parasites injected into their bodies before they could continue their journey. They also needed to find blood to sustain them after the loss of it.

Benedek calmly performed the maintenance tasks. These had been done for centuries and were automatic for all of them. Nothing would slow their journey other than being unable to move during the day. That had been the worst consequence of the loss of their plane. They could have slept while still traveling. Now they were forced to go to ground during the day or if one of them was seriously wounded in a battle.

“Too easy,” Nicu commented. “When has a fight with a master vampire and his minions been so easy? When did it start to become boring?”

Benedek reflected on that. They couldn’t become too complacent, or they would eventually be killed.

“Frisi spent too little time fighting, allowing his pawns to battle hunters and bring him food. He was out of practice,” Benedek said. “Or we’ve been in the game too long and need to retire. In any case, if you’re ready, we have a couple hours of night left to hunt for blood and cover miles.”