An Ember of Hope: War of Destiny by Theresa Van Spankeren

Author:Theresa Van Spankeren [Spankeren, Theresa Van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

“Matthew, listen to me. The men you are expecting might be coming to kill you. Rome’s group may have learned you were there, and they are going to use their enthralled humans to do it,” Alicia implored.

“You can’t possibly meet with them now. If they identify you as someone who had stayed with them to the vampires traveling with them, then they’ll have reason to attack our position here in Tuscany – they would have every right to attack here, Florence, or half a dozen small towns in the region,” Marcus added.

I sat rigidly in my chair, struggling to process all the information and the implications it held. I couldn’t stop the wave of guilt as it rolled through me. Maybe I should have revealed my true nature, maybe I should have warned them not to trust that man, but even if I had, it might not have mattered if they were hypnotized into accepting him. It was possible that Alicia and Marcus were right: that Renzo and the others have been sent to kill me. Still . . .

“Even if some of my former comrades are on their way to kill Matthew, it doesn’t mean Rome’s group has figured out he’s a vampire. They might be searching for the ‘mercenaries with the strange abilities.’ Right, Matthew?” Leo asked.

I nodded distractedly. “Everyone be quiet a minute, and let me think,” I said as Marcus opened his mouth to say something more. He closed it after I spoke, and silence enveloped the room. Although I was angry enough to want to beat or burn something until it was unrecognizable, I forced myself to close my eyes and take several deep breaths.

I thought back over the letter and what I knew of the different men. While in Rome, I had hypnotized Renzo, but during the rescue, he had been able to successfully fight off the worst of the telepathic attack of a century-old vampire. I didn’t know if he could resist the hypnotism as well as a direct telepathic attack, especially of an older vampire, but if any of the men could, even partially, it would be him.

Renzo had been the one to pen the letter, so it was possible he had encoded it, which might be why I had the vague sense of unease upon reading it. In light of what the spy said, the traveling party was a curious one – Renzo, one of the freed prisoners, Niccolò, and two unnamed men.

“It’s possible there’s at least one mortal who isn’t in their thrall, and conceivably more. My incoming visitors may be being pursued by Rome’s vampires, rather than being part of their traveling party,” I said slowly.

They all looked at me. “Why would you think that?” Alicia asked.

“I think it’s a possibility because one of the humans I led during the rescue has some innate psychic ability. He was able to repel the worst of a century-old vampire’s telepathic attack. It took all of his energy to do it, but maybe he has some resistance to the hypnotism as well.

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