“We use any method we can to protect our lifemate. You are my everything, Adalasia, my entire world, as Teagan is to Andre. I would do anything to protect you. Weaving safeguards into homes is just one way to help ensure we keep out intruders while we sleep the paralyzing sleep of our kind.”
Adalasia made herself look around the cottage. It was small but very homey. Warm colors with lighting coming in from above during the day. Because it was night, sconces on the walls were lit with subtly scented candles. Lavender and bergamot—Adalasia identified two of the fragrances, knowing Teagan had thoughtfully put them into the candles to help her with the transition into their world, if she chose to make it.
Her heart stuttered. She knew it was necessary to continue their journey. She’d known once it was explained to her, but the idea was daunting. Terrifying, actually. They had both given up their secrets, although she still had one she had to confess. A big one. She couldn’t just blurt it out in front of everyone. It was for Sandu alone, and telling him was a huge leap of faith.
“Before we go into the paralyzing sleep and more exchanging of blood and all of that, Sandu”—she made every effort to keep nerves out of her voice and mind—“I have something important to tell you. I swear it’s the last thing standing between us. No one can know but you. Only you.” She pressed her lips together and looked up at him, knowing he could hear the pounding of her heart.
His gaze held hers. Those eyes of his, so black. Like two dark holes in the universe, hauling in everything around them. She felt that tremendous pull, like a gravitational vacuum. Then she felt him in her mind, moving gently, searching as if to make certain she was all right, that she could tell him without being afraid.
He took her hand and bypassed the living room, heading unerringly for the bedroom. She knew he hadn’t been there before, yet he knew exactly where it was. She frowned up at him. “Do you have some kind of map in your head where every bed is within a hundred-mile radius of you?”
He laughed. “Sivamet, I can wave my hand as I did in the cave and create a bed. I do not need a map. Nor do I need a bed.” His voice dropped an octave, taking on an even sexier tone than usual. His eyes looked velvet black, a sensual note that seemed to stroke over her skin when his gaze drifted over her body, turning her inside out with need. “To prove that to you, you have only to look into my mind and discover I have worked diligently these last centuries to learn how to please my lifemate.”
Her brows drew together in a deep frown. She did not want to hear about his sexual exploits.
He laughed again and rubbed the pads of his fingers gently over her eyebrows, proving he was in her mind. “I did not need to have sex with women, nor did my body want to have sex with them. I took in the information. It was very enlightening. Over the centuries, many techniques changed. I am certain all have merit. I wish to try them all and see which you enjoy most.”
Adalasia found heat sweeping through her body. It didn’t help that the bed was right there, looming large, looking like it took up most of the room. Still, she liked that he felt he could tease her, that he had a sense of humor. That was another trait important in a partner. She had a feeling they were both going to need it.
He bent his head and brushed a kiss to her temple. His hair tickled her neck, but that made her nerve endings spring to life—made her very aware of him.
“Tell me what you need me to know. You feared Andre might find out.”
“The cards were able to hide the truth from him when he went seeking,” she said. She looked around the room. “Sandu, just like in the plane, we cannot be overheard. I know Andre placed safeguards on this cottage, but we both have to seal it as well.”
Sandu didn’t laugh at her or point out that Andre was a powerful Carpathian, or that he was and had added his safeguards to Andre’s. He merely inclined his head, suddenly as serious as she was. Just like before, she felt the difference in him immediately. He treated her opinion with just as much weight as he did the brethren from the monastery. His consistency meant a lot to her.
Adalasia told him the items she needed, and Sandu didn’t hesitate to provide them. She cleansed the cottage first with sage before she began her ritual of safeguarding against Nera’s army or any spies she might send or any demons Lilith might send. She had to seal the cottage against the smallest insect. The earth below them, the roof above them, the walls and mountain surrounding them on either side. She wove her guards as tight as she knew how. The rituals had been handed down for centuries from mother to daughter and added to as the pool of knowledge grew. She could only hope what she’d learned was good enough.