Dragos looked down at his armour angrily. He had likely paid a pretty penny for that armour or, more likely, he had stolen it. It might be ornate, but it did its job. I could not get any successful body shots in. Neither I, nor Valerian and Ivan, had armour on, so we were much more vulnerable to his attacks, and Dragos knew it.

I assessed the room. Valerian was finally rising from the ground and was readying himself to begin attacking his sire again. Ivan was leaning heavily on the marble platform I had been laying on. Too much blood loss. I am not sure how I did it, but I sent a wave of energy to both Valerian and Ivan and watched them perk up in seconds. Both stood straighter and their eyes glistened with uncontrolled rage.

Valerian began approaching Dragos at a run, but Dragos merely raised his hand and said, “Stop, Valerian.” And, against his will, he was once again under mind control. But I could feel he was defeating it through our mind link. He was focusing on me in his mind. I