They used insects. Swarms of them, stinging and biting. They enhanced the beetles or whatever it was they found in the earth, giving them poisonous venom and nasty stings, Nicu added. They have scorpions here. He could use them. Enhance them.

That would be like any of the Astors. They liked drama, Dragomir said. Be ready, let’s see what he has. He stood, walked first left and then right, paced back and forth, so that the vibrations would disturb the insects and trigger the trap.

Behind you. The warning came from Sandu.

Dragomir took to the air, turning to see the ground erupting with hundreds of scorpions. They rose to the surface, climbing on one another, covering the soil so it looked like a living, moving carpet. Tails raised high, stingers in position for a strike, they were agitated, looking for prey. None of the ancients moved. They knew that the trap had to have been triggered multiple times by wildlife in the area. The vampire would expect his allies to feed. He wouldn’t be suspicious because something had disturbed his first line of defense. Still, one might expect him to check since the sun hadn’t yet risen.

Dragomir and the other ancients shimmered into transparency and then disappeared, becoming nothing but molecules in the night air. They waited, aware of the minutes ticking away. Dragomir was certain there would be no going back to the compound before the sun rose. That meant he had to rely on Tariq to keep Emeline safe from Amelia. While he waited, he replayed everything the Carpathian had said to him. Tariq might love Amelia, but he wasn’t blinded. The sliver of evil Vadim planted in her would take her over. It wouldn’t be Amelia trying to harm the others, it would be Vadim. Tariq wouldn’t give in to sentiment, not even for his lifemate.

A steady stream of yellow vapor slipped out of the crack in the boulder, just as a small mule deer stepped close to the swarm of scorpions. They rushed at it. The deer shrieked as one stabbed it with its stinger. Others tried to run up its legs. The deer whirled around and ran a few feet only to drop. At once the other scorpions were all over it. The yellow vapor retreated into the crack, clearly satisfied.

Dragomir moved back into position at the boulder, while the others spread out, all in the air, keeping their boots from touching the surface and adding to the frenzy taking place just a few feet away.

Anyone remember the safeguards the Astors relied on? Even if they’ve changed them, they will use the base form. They were always on the lazy side, Dragomir said.

You remember, Sandu said. You’re testing us, like you always do, being an ass.

Someone has to keep you sharp.

I believe I kept you sharp in the training area.

Sandu was correct, he had taught all of them many lessons with various weapons, over and over. He was incredibly fast. Not as fast as Nicu, who moved like lightning in a fight. It was almost impossible to see him because he moved so fast he was a blur, but Sandu could anticipate almost every move an opponent would make.

Dragomir was grateful he had the ability to find humor in everything again. He’d forgotten humor and how much it could change one’s mood. Sandu was telling them all the strict truth. A fact. But the play on words made it humorous without the ancient meaning it that way.

I sent for the others. Benedik, Petru and Isia, Sandu added. I had forgotten what it was to chase the vampire, and a war is shaping up here.

I did as well, Andor admitted.

The others nodded and Dragomir had to smile. He had also sent for the others in the brotherhood. It scares me that we all think alike.

We’ve been together too long, Ferro pointed out with a small shrug.

Dragomir got back to the task at hand. They always used the first safeguard, Alycrome taught us. Alycrome had been the high mage for many years before Xavier, his son, had taken over. Alycrome had insisted they follow their instincts and develop safeguards of their own, but many had problems completing that task. Weaving strands was easy enough; making them complicated, so difficult that others couldn’t unravel them, was something else again.

Dragomir and the other ancients lifted their hands into the air and began a reverse of the oldest safeguard known to their people. It had been a simple one, not at all complex like the ones used in the centuries following. Sure enough, as their hands and fingers played out the symbols, the air around them once more shimmered and the barrier was revealed. It lay heavy around the boulder, a wide net blanketing the rock, preventing anyone from entering.

The next layer looks simple enough, Ferro said. That’s just a retaliation spell. It’s barely finished.

Dragomir looked at the weave moving in and out of the first strand, the foundation of the spell. It was sloppy work. Someone had thrown it up hastily. These vampires hadn’t been chased by hunters in a long while and they were feeling safe. Secure. Vadim had given them that false sense of security.

Classic seven weave, Ferro volunteered. Not well done and nothing original.

Ferro was right. It was ridiculous that the vampire had even bothered to safeguard the area. Dragomir took the next two strands down. The ancients surrounding him scanned the air continually, looking for hidden traps. That was always the worry. The vampire had made it easy to draw a hunter in.

He glanced uneasily at Sandu, who shook his head. I think he’s really that careless. I don’t feel or see anything out of place.

Dragomir took the next two strands down. One remained. It floated in the air, looking like a string of knots.

Rosary, the ancients identified simultaneously. The weave had been taken from the prayer beads in the thirteenth century. Now it was called a rosary weave by those practicing to remove the safeguard.

Dragomir began to undo each knot slowly. Waiting. Watching. He just couldn’t believe that the safeguards set were so careless. When we go in, fan out. He could be anywhere. He was uneasy, but he figured it probably had to do with the way his skin prickled in alarm, telling him the sun was close to rising.

Do you get a sense of who constructed the safeguard? Andor asked. You ran across them from time to time before they turned, Dragomir.

Dragomir hadn’t liked them. But then, he’d lost emotion earlier than some of the others and by the time the Astors and Malinovs arrived, he was already an experienced hunter.

I think Leon. It feels like his signature.

Yellow vapor suits him, Sandu said. Whiny little brat. Always causing trouble and running from the consequences. When I heard he and his brothers turned, I wasn’t surprised. I never ran across them after that. Figured they avoided me.

Everyone avoids you, Dragomir pointed out. They avoid all of us.

With reason, Afanasiv said.

No one spoke again as Dragomir took out the rest of the knots. Once the safeguards were down, he wasted no time in streaming through the crack. The others followed him. The crack opened into a narrow corridor. The sides of the small cavern were lined with cracks running up from floor to ceiling. The ceiling wasn’t high. Had he been in his normal form, he wouldn’t have been able to stand up straight.

The corridor narrowed again until a slight man or woman could have moved sideways through it. Three times there were narrow alcoves, just rounded spaces carved out of the rock by water that had long ago disappeared. Dirt had fallen from the sloping walls to the floor.

Sandu materialized in the small space, bent over, crouching low to examine the floor and run his hand up the side of the wall. Go. I’ll make certain this one is clear.

Ferro took the second space, which was much smaller than the first one. His wide shoulders scraped on either side of the walls, but, like Sandu, he took his time exploring.

Nicu waved the others on and stayed behind to scrutinize the walls and floor of the third alcove. It looked as if someone had tried to form a grotto in the boulder. This was deeper and smoother, but there was also suspect dirt lying in crumbles all over the ground. It was easy to see where it had rolled off the sides as if something had disturbed it recently.

Dragomir kept going through that narrow corridor. Behind him, Afanasiv and Andor followed. Afanasiv stopped abruptly and materialized, his large frame taking up a good portion of the hallway. He was forced to bend over, and his shoulders didn’t fit, so he also had to turn sideways as he crouched down to examine the floor. There was a large fracture zigzagging down the center of the passageway. All around it was dirt and debris. A few rocks. Nothing lay in the crack itself. No dirt at all. Dirt should have been caught in the fissure, but there was none. Afanasiv ran his finger down the fracture until he got to a tiny piece of rock that looked as if it had fallen in the crack, but the crack had formed around it.