“This Wallace,” Mikhail said softly, “he is the nephew of Eugene Slovensky, enemy to all Carpathians. We have met briefly before. I believe the young lady is correct. He believes he is smarter and more cunning than we.”
“Aidan would have done our race a huge service had he killed him when he had the opportunity,” Gregori observed. “We were hard-pressed that night, with Mikhail injured and Raven in the hands of madmen.”
“Maybe this Aidan had already turned?” Shea speculated.
Gregori shook his head slowly. “He had not turned then, nor has he turned now. He is powerful, such as Mikhail and I. The world would know if one of our stature had become the most feared creature of all. No, it is not Aidan. In any case, he has a twin brother, one even more powerful, who would know instantly had Aidan turned.” Gregori’s voice was low and smooth, filled with certainty.
Shea shook her head to rid herself of the hypnotic effect. Gregori’s power frightened her. His voice alone could do just about anything, produce any reaction in any of them. No one should have that kind of power.
“So why can we not detect the vampire when he is near?” Mikhail asked no one in particular. “I have scanned the area and can detect none of our kind, not even Byron.”
“Shea was able to detect the vampire when I could not,” Jacques said. “I was not certain I believed her at first, but I could feel as she did when we merged.”
Shea lifted her chin in challenge. “Do you think you can explain how all this was done, healer? How anyone could have done it?”
Gregori turned the full power of his magnetic silver eyes on her. “I can make the earth shake beneath your feet and bring lightning from the sky to do my bidding. I can close off your airway with a thought. I am all things from a mouse to a wolf running free. Is this not enough for you to believe?” he inquired softly.
His voice was a black-magic weapon. That was what Shea believed. She shivered and moved closer to Jacques. They all trusted Gregori, yet wasn’t he one of the ancients? They had all told her a vampire could hide itself, appear normal. None of them even suspected him. It was agreed he was the most dangerous, his knowledge acquired unceasingly through the centuries. And he was their healer, had given blood to all of them. Her brain worked at the pieces of the puzzle.
It is impossible. Jacques caught her thoughts.
Why? Shea demanded.
Mikhail would know. I do not know how I know this, but Gregori could not hide this from Mikhail.
She gave an exasperated little sigh.
Jacques hid his grin at her feminine petulance. She really had an aversion to the way Gregori dictated to the women.
“There is one human a few miles away,” Mikhail stated. “I can detect no others. He is in the direction of Jacques’ old home. Do we go?”
Light was streaking the sky now, gray patches despite the dark, roiling clouds and the steady drizzle of rain. “Go, Mikhail,” Raven insisted softly. “You have to. Otherwise I would always feel I killed him. If you do not go, it will be because of me.”
“You have to,” Shea added, looking into Jacques’ black eyes. He did, too; Shea felt it with great conviction. There would come a time when Jacques would remember his childhood, his great friendship with Byron, and how he had backed away from Byron’s attempt at reconciliation. He needed to do this for the sake of his own sanity.
I know. His reply was a soft assent in her mind as he shared her thoughts. “I will go, Mikhail,” he said aloud. “You stay and protect the women. It is the only way.”
“It could very well be a trap,” Gregori cautioned. “More than likely it is a trap. Otherwise this would be very careless on the part of one so cunning.”
“That’s why all of you should go,” Raven said. “Shea and I will wait here. We can destroy all evidence of her research while we wait.”