He got the immediate impression of fierce battle. The Carpathian hunters, despite as many as there were and with the traps set for the rogue pack, had not found it so easy to destroy a ferocious and well-trained pack on the offensive.
He is safe.
The voice was clipped. Gregori would not disclose the location of the prince to anyone. Fen could tell by that implacable tone. Gregori was severely wounded. He would need care and blood and the ground to heal him. If the pack couldn't kill Gregori, wouldn't this be the next best thing? Wounding him so badly that he had no choice but to go to ground? The alarm, rather than quieting with Gregori's assurance blared even louder.
The children? he persisted.
They are safe. Gregori was terser than ever.
Fen cursed in his native language. Tatijana, with the main force of Carpathian warriors concentrated here on the farm, the prince, and the all-important children are left with little protection.
Gregori would never leave them without protections, Tatijana said. He's overboard when it comes to the prince's protection. He doesn't even listen to Mikhail at times. He would never leave the prince unguarded with a rogue pack near. And don't discount the women. Your Sange rau and the Lycans might, but many of them are good fighters.
Fen didn't reply. He wasn't about to tell her he didn't find the information reassuring. He emerged out into the open, although he took care to mask his presence. He stood on the edge of the swamp, taking a careful look around, seeking the best vantage point above them, where the captain directing the battle would be able to see the entire farm.
Tatijana shifted into her human form and slid beneath his shoulder, standing close so that her scent enveloped him. It always amazed him that the huge blue dragon could be his lifemate, this woman with her shapely figure in human form.
"Can you find the location of the prince?"
She shook her head. "No one, not even Dragonseeker, can get into Gregori's mind."
"Then we'll have to do this the hard way."
The way he said it alerted Tatijana instantly. "What are you planning?"
He sighed. She wasn't going to like it. He didn't like it, but he felt there was no other choice. "The pack was sent out, but neither of the two main leaders came here with them, not even to ensure the orders were carried out effectively. That tells me Bardolf and Abel have plans far beyond the destruction of Costin Eliade's farm. And we need to know now what that is."
Tatijana tipped her head up to look at him. She was already in his mind, but she didn't understand what it was he planned to do. "I don't like where this is going," she admitted, looking him straight in the eye.
He slipped his arm around her. He didn't like where it was going either. "I think Abel or Bardolf plans to hit the prince while the pack distracts the Carpathians and Lycans by hitting the farm."
There was a small silence while she turned the idea over in her mind. "That would mean they would know about the trap at the farm and deliberately sacrificed some of their pack as a distraction."
"Or they didn't know it was a trap but sent them to devastate the farm no matter what, believing warriors would come to defend it. Certainly the elite Lycan hunters will come," Fen said, but he didn't believe that was the case.
Abel was Carpathian. He knew how Carpathians thought and how they fought vampires and other enemies. Abel also knew Lycans, or at least rogues. He'd always been known for his intelligence. He'd orchestrated the attack. Fen would bet everything he was on that.
Across the marsh, a boulder jutted out from the mountain. He was certain he would find the wolf put in charge of running the attack on the farm. He indicated the spot to Tatijana. "Over there, that's where we're going to find him. I'll need you to stay close to me, but out of his sight at all times, even when you think he's dead."
Tatijana frowned at him, placing a cautionary hand on his arm. "Are you going to tell me what you're going to do?"
"There has to be something more at play here then a rogue pack overrunning a farm in retaliation for my interference. Bardolf might make the mistake of underestimating the Carpathians, he was Lycan before he embraced the vampire, but Abel was not only Carpathian, but a successful and a valued vampire hunter. He would know what he was running into by coming here."
"That would mean he's deliberately sacrificing the rogue pack." She shook her head. "It doesn't make sense, Fen. I just think you're wrong."
Her tone of voice told him she wasn't certain of the truth of what she was saying aloud. She wanted him to be wrong, but none of it made sense to her. She was also very aware he had sidestepped her earlier question.
"We don't know how big this pack is. I think we're dealing with an enormous pack and if so, he's got pawns to spare. He sent out twenty-five or thirty to the farm, figuring he might lose over half. What are the others doing? Where has he sent them? These wolves were a sacrifice for a greater end. There is no other explanation."
"You have to tell me what you're going to do." For the first time, fear crept into Tatijana's voice. She tightened her fingers around his arm. "Fen, don't throw your life away."
"Gregori isn't going to reveal where the prince is to anyone else, certainly not to me, and I don't have time to try to persuade him. He doesn't yet understand the difference between a vampire and the Sange rau. The combination of mixed blood adds to the cunning and intelligence as well as physical capabilities."
Now she was really alarmed. Her green eyes grew multifaceted, brilliant with color. He had no words to reassure her. Instead he bent down and brushed a kiss along the corner of her mouth.
"Bardolf believes he's in a full partnership with Abel, but there is no such thing among vampires, and ultimately, Abel and Bardolf are both vampires. Abel will sacrifice Bardolf in a heartbeat."
"You're telling me these things in case you don't survive. I'm your lifemate, Fen. My fate is tied to your fate. I will follow wherever you lead."
He shook his head. "The prince must not die. Above all else, Tatijana, every Carpathian must put the life of Mikhail Dubrinsky first. Our kind will not survive his passing. Not at this time. If something happens to me, you must convince Gregori it is Mikhail they will try to kill. Everything else they do is secondary, no matter how it looks."
She shook her head, but he could feel her conceding he was right.
"I have seen signs from the beginning that Abel is the master Sange rau, clearly orchestrating every detail of the attacks. It was Bardolf's shadow sliver at risk, not Abel's. Although there was no risk to Abel, he was the one using the familiar Bardolf created."