Carpathian 05 - Dark Challenge

off. Syndil seemed oblivious, her concentration total.
    "They should get her out of here," he said aloud, his disapproval apparent in his voice. He found, as important as it was to him to guard his lifemate, he was torn, for the first time part of a family, unwilling to leave off protecting the others.
    "She is no longer within her body, Julian," Desari said softly. "She is soaring free, moving through the earth to heal that which has been destroyed. Where there are blackened ruins she will coax small buds to life. They will grow lush and tall and spread quickly throughout this area. Trees will sprout and be strong.
    Wild creatures will aid in the recovery, flocking to this place the moment it will support life. The men cannot disturb her while she is out of her body."
    Julian let his breath out slowly in a long hiss of irritation. His first thought was to get Desari to safety as Darius had commanded, but it went against his every instinct to leave Syndil so exposed. "This was a trap, Desari, purposely set to ensnare her. A lure meant only to draw her in. He is trying to use her skills against her."
    "How do you know this?"
    "I have seen similar traps, ones designed to snare a particular individual. He will try to take her without her body so that we must give it up to him to prevent her death. We cannot leave her." Julian sent the warning to her brother on their private path. Darius, this trap is for Syndil alone. I have seen such things before .

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    There can be no other explanation. I have tried to pull Syndil back to us, but she is too far spread across this land. He is drawing her away from us more quickly than I would have thought possible
    . There was no fear in his voice or mind, no expression whatsoever. "Julian," Darius continued aloud, "I have never encountered such a trap, but Syndil is slipping away from us far too fast."
    "Barack," Julian snapped immediately, "you and Desari are closest to her heart. Desari can use her voice to hold Syndil to us; you must go after her and find her. She will most likely be difficult, disoriented, still half in the earth and half hypnotized by the trap that has been set. Darius, Dayan, and I will go after the undead. He is very skilled. Be very careful, this one is strong. He will not be an easy adversary."
    Barack glanced at Darius for confirmation. The leader simply nodded his head. Unfamiliar with the technique the vampire was using, he was not above using whatever expertise was offered.
    "You are certain you can track Syndil while you are out of your body?" Julian asked Barack, his voice deliberately without inflection. He had no intention of offending Barack, but he didn't know any of them well enough to know their abilities. Darius was the only male of the group Julian had absolute faith in. The leader was capable of defeating any opponent, and certainly he could track a member of his family unit out of his own body.
    "I can find Syndil anywhere in this world, at any time," Barack responded, his voice low and confident.
    "And I can protect her."
    Julian nodded. "Good." He turned back to Dayan and Darius, trusting that Barack could do as he claimed. "A vampire this cunning has been around a long time. He would not be making his move against four male Carpathians unless he believed he had a very good chance of defeating us. He must realize Darius has tremendous experience. He has studied this unit for some time, but he might not know about me yet. This trap took long-term planning, so it is safe to assume he has spent time setting it up. He has probably been counting on the fact that Syndil has been absent from the band these last couple of months and the link between all of you has weakened. It is why he chose her as his target and why he earlier sent the lesser of the undead to do his bidding, the one Barack, not an experienced hunter, so easily defeated."
    "How is it you think that he has studied us without our knowledge?" Darius inquired, his voice devoid of inflection.
    "I cannot answer that," Julian replied. "I can only surmise that we are dealing with a powerful being, patient as most of his kind are not. He will try to concentrate on destroying you, Darius, as he knows you are the most lethal to him. He will count on you sending Dayan away with Desari. He will strike at you the moment he thinks he has Syndil sufficiently enthralled in his web."
    "Then it would be rude to disappoint