Dark by Christine Feehan (6)

Emeline stared out the window, counting the minutes until the sun set. It had been the longest day of her life. The worst. She had tried to sleep, but she couldn’t keep her mind still. Over and over her brain insisted on tricking her, telling her that Dragomir was dead. He lay in the earth, the soil over him, covering his terrible wounds, wounds he hadn’t fully taken care of because of her. He’d spent so much time trying to save her, in the end he’d sacrificed his life.

She didn’t understand what was happening to her. She’d never paid serious attention to any man. Now she couldn’t think about anything or anyone else. She’d spent a good deal of time pacing. Then she showered and washed her hair. She was weak enough that she had to sit twice, but she was determined that when next she saw him, her hair wouldn’t be a tangled, horrible mess. It was a little shocking to run a comb through her hair after washing it and have not one tangle snag the wide teeth. Dragomir. He had done that for her.

Three times during the day, she had found herself with tears streaming down her face. She needed to touch him. To see him. She was desperate for any kind of contact with him.

Outside, the play yard was silent. The dragons were back on guard, five of them, made of stone, standing vigil, but the children were nowhere in sight. A breeze kicked up leaves and swirled them in the air.

Genevieve had knocked, and then called her on her cell when Emeline hadn’t opened the door. She was shocked that Emeline was pregnant and wanted to know how to help. Emeline didn’t know how she could. Genevieve couldn’t bring Dragomir to her. She followed his orders and didn’t allow anyone in.

She spent part of the day trying to find food or drink that her stomach could handle, but she’d been sick from the time Vadim had taken her prisoner, and that only seemed worse now. She could barely manage to sip water and keep that down. Mostly, if she did more than wet her parched mouth, she vomited.

She rocked back and forth, trying to soothe herself. The baby had been very quiet, with very little movement, as if she were sleeping right along with Dragomir. She rubbed her stomach, happy that her daughter was finally comfortable enough to sleep. She knew eventually the parasites would attack her, but Vadim hadn’t issued that order, so they left the baby alone. That was Dragomir, too. He’d done that.

She tried to rest, but she couldn’t lay down or relax. She closed her eyes and reached for him, giving in to need and the sorrow building in her. She had always lived her life on her own terms, and it was difficult to need another – but she did, desperately.

Dragomir. I don’t want to disturb your sleep, but I can’t seem to function without knowing you’re alive and well. I know it sounds stupid when it’s only another hour until sunset, but I can’t relax. She waited, her heart in her throat. Her body was still, her lungs refusing to draw in air until they burned.

I am here, close. Right beneath you. There is a chamber beneath the house. Tariq must have put them in for safety reasons. This one is quite large and runs nearly the entire length of your home. 

She closed her eyes, drawing in air as relief flooded her. He was alive. Close. Right beneath her. She sank down onto the floor, and ran her hand over the hardwood. She loved the gorgeous pattern, a huge moon in the center, with stars scattered around the room, formed by beautifully cut wood. She would change the furniture if she lived there permanently. She’d begun to think of the house as hers. It was the first real home she’d had in her life. Blaze’s father had sent her to France when there was trouble, but she returned when she found out he’d been murdered. In France, she’d had a tiny apartment, but no one was there, not even Blaze, so she had been very lonely.

Has the soil helped? 

Yes. The healer is extremely powerful. I doubt I could have aided you and the baby without him. 

You could have died, Dragomir. Just acknowledging that truth made her heart skip a beat and then begin to pound. He saved your life. You should have gone to ground immediately, and you know it. Your wounds were horrendous.

Then I am more than grateful to him. Every minute I am alive is a minute I can spend in your company. Are you ready to acknowledge that I am your lifemate? 

There was faint humor in his voice. She wasn’t feeling the least bit amused. “No. I think you’re the best man I’ve ever met in my life, and that’s saying something because I loved Blaze’s father and thought he was until I met you. I think you’re trying to save me from myself and from everyone else.”

Kislány kuŋenak minan, you are going to continue to deny the truth, but it doesn’t matter. I am your lifemate and I will watch over you no matter what. Did you rest? 

For a moment, she considered hedging, but she didn’t want to lie to him. She’d done enough of that by not telling him she was pregnant from the moment she first saw him. No, it was a difficult day. If you had known I was pregnant with Vadim’s child, would you still have rescued me? She chewed on her lower lip, wishing she hadn’t asked, terrified of the answer. She was fairly certain she would hear the truth. She was beginning to hear nuances in voices.

I am your lifemate, Emeline. I will always come for you, no matter the circumstances. If you believe nothing else, believe that. When she didn’t respond, he said, My friend Aleksei is lifemate to a woman who was begging another man to take her away with him. Now Aleksei and his lifemate are together and happy.

Emeline frowned. Aleksei’s lifemate was in love with another man? That seems… wrong. What were the circumstances? She was genuinely interested, but even more, she wanted to keep him talking.

I do not know much, only that the woman had not been born Carpathian as we all had believed and that the healer who aided me was the other man. He was human also at one time. He was subdued by the prince of the Carpathian people and Gregori, the prince’s second-in-command. It took them both to keep him restrained. 

How sad for everyone. 

There was silence for a moment. I understand that you would have sympathy for this man, but I would not want you to develop feelings for him.

She frowned, tracing a pattern onto the hardwood floor with her finger. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. He makes me uneasy.

What is it about him that makes you uncomfortable? 

She realized she was writing Dragomir’s name on the floor over and over. He looks at me as if he knows every secret I have or will ever have. I think he knows about the loaves of bread I stole from my aunt’s store when I was eight.

You stole bread? 

I was starving. I tried to clean houses, but my aunt was kind of a jerk and she didn’t really want me in her house. She said I could sweep the floor in the store and clean all the glass cases. Unfortunately, she didn’t come to pay me or give me food, so I took two loaves of bread. Nothing has ever tasted so good. 

There was a long silence again, so long Emeline could hear her heart beginning to beat too fast. He had to keep talking to her. She needed the sound of his voice to ground her. She traced the letters of his name on the floor three times before he spoke.

Why didn’t your aunt come for you? 

She sagged a little with relief. She drank a lot. By that I mean every single night, an entire large bottle of vodka. I don’t think she remembered me.

Is she still alive? 

There was a bite to his voice. A hint of menace that made her shiver. She moved back against the couch where he had sat the morning before. No. She died fairly young. Her liver didn’t hold up.

How very fortunate for her. This time there was no mistaking the threat. What happened to you? Who took you in?

She drew up her knees and circled them with her arms, hugging herself. No one. I was a street kid like Danny, Amelia, Liv and Bella. Maybe that’s why I had to save them. And the baby. She put her hand over her stomach protectively. I never had a home or brothers and sisters. Well, I had Blaze. She was always good to me. She let me climb in her bedroom window and sleep there whenever I wanted to. Her father let me stay and paid for classes and schooling. Even dance. He was a good man.

I will be rising soon, Emeline, Dragomir said, and then we will remove the remaining parasites from you and the baby. What we are going to do will seem scary. You must trust me implicitly. I know that is asking a lot when you barely know me, but I swear to you, I will keep you safe and do what is best for you and the baby.

She wanted one night without scary. One night to just breathe. She’d told the truth about being Vadim’s lifemate and about carrying her child, and so far, no one had thrown her out of the compound. They knew the worst. Maybe they would ask her to leave, but she knew that Dragomir would go with her. She wouldn’t go alone.

We have to do this tonight? But she knew they did. She was in bad shape. She couldn’t eat or sleep. He would take one look at her and know.

Yes. Vadim will fight for you. We must get every single one of his tormenters out of you and the baby. It will take all of us to turn you without pain so the baby will survive. 

Turn me? Like Charlotte and Blaze. She bit her lip hard. She knew she was well on her way. She probably was more vampire or Carpathian than human. The baby, Dragomir. She’s suffered enough. Blaze and Charlotte told me it can be extremely painful.

Vadim’s parasites had flooded her heart. He was going to kill her. I do not understand his plan for you or why he would attack the child he put in you, but he will make another attempt on her life if we don’t do this. 

She frowned, trying to piece together just why the master vampire would go to such great lengths to impregnate her and then decide to terminate the pregnancy. That doesn’t make sense at all. She glanced out the window and watched the sun dip down toward the horizon. The sun is beginning to set. She couldn’t keep happiness from her mind and knew he saw it. It didn’t matter. He would be there soon.

I must feed and then I will be right there. Tariq is back. I will meet with him first. We won’t have much time. I need your consent, Emeline, to speak on your behalf and make decisions. I will tell you what the plan is as we make it. 

I should face him. Apologize for not telling him the truth and for bringing the battle right into his compound. 

Those children let in evil so they could play. 

She winced at the hard, unyielding voice. He was angry. He might not show it, but deep down, he was. She felt it in his mind. Dragomir.

Give me a few minutes. 

She dropped her head into her hand and took a deep breath, wishing he was there with her now. Wishing she really was his lifemate. But she knew better. Street children like her didn’t get the gorgeous, courageous man, the sweet one, the one who would take on a baby along with its mother. No, they got the villain, the monster. And she got the worst monster on earth.

“But not you, baby,” she whispered aloud. “You’re going to be loved. Very, very loved.”

Dragomir read her thoughts, because now that he was in her mind, he couldn’t quite let go. He wanted to go to Emeline and reassure her, to find a way to make her see that he was her lifemate, that he would never leave her, but there was too little time. He switched from his intimate path with his lifemate to the more common path of the Carpathian people. Tariq, I must meet with you immediately. I am hunting for sustenance, but will return in a few minutes.

Come to the house. 

Dragomir left the compound. Sandu, Ferro and Andor fell in with him, taking to the sky as birds. They had hunted many times together, long before they ever made the decision to go into the monastery. Their flight took them a distance from where they slept. It was ingrained in them to hunt away from the places they frequented.

Deep within the bird, Dragomir puzzled out the strange emotion bothering him. Hurt. Emotional hurt. He knew physical pain, but he had never experienced emotional pain until his lifemate had restored feeling in him. The pain of destroying friends and loved ones ran deep, holes in his soul he knew he could never repair. Intellectually, one might say the person he loved had died when they’d made the choice to turn vampire, but that didn’t stop the pain of having to terminate the corrupted shells of those who had once been friends.

This hurt was different. His lifemate refused to believe she was his. Even after tying them together – and she felt the effects, she just didn’t recognize them – she wouldn’t believe it. Why? He turned that over and over in his mind as the four of them circled above a back road where three men dressed in business suits had parked their cars. Clearly they waited for someone else. With the advanced technology of cameras on cell phones and seemingly everywhere, the Carpathians had to coordinate their confrontation. The blitz had to be fast and simultaneous, all keeping their prey from using cell phones, cameras or any technology. They simply made certain none of them could be seen from the road, not the hunters and not the prey.

Three dropped down, Sandu, Andor and Dragomir, while Ferro kept watch above, staying in the form of a bird. They each picked their prey, materialized behind them and took control of their minds. Dragomir sank his teeth into the neck, taking in the life-giving fluid. He knew he needed more time beneath the ground to fully heal, but that would have to come later. He was about to engage in the battle of his life, and this time he had something to lose.

Emeline. His woman. Had she been born Carpathian she would have recognized all the ties between them. Those differences she felt would have been instantly attributed to their bond. But she wasn’t Carpathian. She had been born human. She might know of their world, but she had never experienced it. She’d never had a family. She’d been thrown away by her relatives.

She had thought she was sacrificing her life for the children in that underground city Vadim had created, but instead, he had other plans for her. That had blindsided her. Her precog dreams only took her so far and the outcomes weren’t always what she thought they would be. That was probably why she didn’t trust that her bond with Dragomir was real. She didn’t believe because she couldn’t let herself believe. He would have to put aside hurt feelings and get her there. She needed kindness. She needed to be cherished. She needed to know he would always be there for her. He would find out the things that mattered to her and give them to her.

Politely, he closed the wound on his prey’s neck and helped him to the ground so that the man sat against his car. Then Dragomir took to the sky. Minutes later, they found Ferro his quarry then headed back to the compound.

Tariq Asenguard was a good man. More, he was an intelligent one. Others had thought him strange with his interest in humans, yet he had assimilated into the human world far better than most. He used their technology and began researching ways to advance it. He had amassed a fortune, bought land and established a business. He had a way of blurring facial recognition so anyone checking could never quite identify him.

Tariq had shared his knowledge with the ancients, transferring all he’d learned about the advances made while the ancients had been locked away from the world. Not only was he intelligent, he was generous. His lifemate had been human, and she seemed as generous as her man. Perhaps talking to her might help… if they both agreed to allow Emeline and the baby to remain. The compound was the safest place for her. Tariq had been building up the number of hunters, and with that came the protection of many.

Vadim had elected to stay in the area when common sense and his centuries of experience should have urged him to leave. Was Emeline really that important to him? The child wasn’t the reason he kept trying to get her back. He had directed the parasites to the baby’s heart, knowing they would eventually kill it. So, what made him so determined to recapture Emeline that he would not only remain in a territory inhabited by so many ancient Carpathian hunters, but also openly attack their compound?

Tariq waited just outside the door to his home, Maksim on one side of him, Mataias and Lojos on the other. That meant Tomas was somewhere near. Dragomir would bet his life that Afanasiv Balan, one of the ancients who had briefly stayed in the monastery, was also close. Afanasiv had been a good friend of Tariq’s growing up and they had remained close, yet he was a member of the brotherhood.

“Én jutta félet és ekämet,” Tariq greeted in their ancient language, stepping forward to clasp Dragomir’s forearms in the way of warriors.

Friend and brother. That greeting told Dragomir everything he needed to know. Tariq would have chosen another salutation if he was opposed to having Emeline in his compound.

“Bur tule ekämet kuntamak.” Well met, brother-kin, was Dragomir’s choice of greeting.

“Thank you for saving the children,” Tariq said, stepping back. “They are confined for the moment until we decide what to do about the situation.” While he spoke, his sharp gaze moved over Dragomir, assessing the damage to him. “Tell me what you need.”

“We must drive the rest of the parasites out of my lifemate and the child. Vadim flooded her with them and they torment her continually. She was able to direct the fertilization and carries a girl. I do not know if Vadim became aware of that and chose to kill the child, but he was close to his goal. He will fight us for her. I must convert Emeline as soon as we rid her body of his parasites, and that means the child will go through the conversion as well. They cannot feel pain or the baby will be lost.”

“You and the healer vouch for this child?”

“We examined her carefully. She is female and therefore cannot hold darkness. She will have my blood and her developing organs will be from me. Essentially, she’ll be my child, but there will always be that part of her that is Malinov. They are highly intelligent and fierce fighters. She will be an asset to our world.”

He felt like he was fighting for his child in that moment. The baby had gone from being Emeline’s child and therefore his responsibility, to being just plain his. His child. Theirs.

Tariq nodded without hesitation. “I gathered the richest soil I could find and brought it back little by little. It lies deep beneath this house. Bring her there, and we will all gather to aid you. We are still learning, but we seem to be able to do so much better controlling pain and convulsions when we’re together.”

“Will the others welcome us here?” Dragomir was blunt. “If not, after she is converted, I will take her and we will go.”

“As long as the compound is mine, she will always be welcome here,” Tariq said. “Naturally there are some with concerns, but we refuse to give anyone up to Vadim, not the child and certainly not Emeline. Your word and the word of the healer are good enough for us.” He indicated Maksim.

Dragomir knew Maksim had established the nightclubs and compounds with Tariq, but clearly Tariq was the acknowledged leader.

Dragomir. There was panic in Emeline’s voice. He is attacking us. The baby…

He whirled and took the distance between the houses, half flying, half running. Sandu, Andor and Ferro flanked him instantly.

Come to me, sívamet. I am right outside. He gained the porch.

She flung open the door, doubled over, her eyes wide with pain and shock, her breath coming in ragged pants. She alternated between putting her hands over her ears and over her womb. “He’s talking to me. Taunting me. Telling me what he’s going to do to me.” All color had leeched from her face. She swayed there a moment and then her knees buckled.

Dragomir swept her up in his arms before she had a chance to fall. Cradling her close, her pushed his mind into hers. At once, he encountered that barrier that partially shielded her from commands and compulsions. Let me in fully, Emeline.

I can’t. He will get in. 

Dragomir heard the echo of Vadim’s harsh laughter. The sound was ugly, a jarring note that hurt the ears. His voice, when he spoke, was just as grating. I am already in. I am her lifemate, and you cannot keep me out as much as you try. You cannot drive me out. You can lie, give her blood, try to confuse her, but my claim is first and she is mine.

Aloud, he said, “Emeline. Sívamet. You are my heart and soul. I need you to trust me. We knew he was going to fight us. That was a given. Let me in fully.” He kept his voice calm and soothing.

She turned her face against his chest, both hands gripping his shirt, her eyes closed tight. “He said he would hurt you. He told me the terrible things he would do to you. Because of me.” Her body shuddered and then shivered over and over in pain.

Dragomir carried her over to Tariq’s home. The Carpathian held open the door and waved him inside. The ancients followed. Tariq led the way through the hall and downstairs to a basement filled with woodworking projects, including carousel horses. They crossed to a section of floor Tariq opened with a wave of his hand. Below, Carpathians had gathered, several men and a couple of women.

Cement borders surrounded the huge healing grounds. Just beyond the cement were the wooden boards cleverly constructed to make up the walls beneath the basement of the house, yet between every so many support beams were cracks to allow the moonlight in. Above the grounds were raised platforms surrounding them so the Carpathian people could gather for ceremonies.

The soil gleamed, a dark, rich loam. It glittered with minerals from the light provided by the flickering flames of scented candles. Dragomir searched the surrounding platforms until he spotted Blaze. He knew exactly who had set everything in motion and he gave her a nod of his head to acknowledge her. She stood beside Charlotte, Tariq’s lifemate, and she looked frightened. He understood even more than she did the enormity of what they were attempting as he had seen the overwhelming number of parasites in Emeline’s blood.

Emeline cried out and twisted in his arms. Dragomir’s brows drew sharply together. Her pain was increasing. Vadim’s parasites were at work, torturing her, and he couldn’t take it. Not one more minute of her indecision when he knew, ultimately, they had to stop Vadim now.

“I am no longer asking, Emeline. I demand that you allow me into your mind.” He could push past the barrier but it would cause her pain, more than she was already in. He never wanted to be a part of her suffering, even if it was to save her from the torments of Vadim, but he would if necessary. Modern rules didn’t always make sense to him. She suffered. He could stop it.

Emeline lifted her head, her eyes drowning in pain and despair. She searched his face, then nodded, and that fast the shield went down in her mind. The moment she gave him full access, he built a defense so strong in her mind that Vadim’s voice couldn’t possibly penetrate to her.

He also did his best to protect her from the pain of the parasites biting her bones and scoring wounds in her organs as they bored holes and wiggled inside to gnaw with their teeth. So many were back; they had reproduced during the day in anticipation of their master’s commands.

Dragomir floated to the expanse of deep, rich soil below them. Gary was already there. Dragomir sank down, placing Emeline beside him. Instantly the healer shed his body and entered Emeline’s. Dragomir brushed kisses across her eyelids and then followed the healer.

The Carpathians began a soft chant, the lesser healing chant, and the lullaby for unborn babies.

The song was sung to unborn infants, created when so many had been lost. Dragomir loved the beauty of it, that all the Carpathians would sing to their child to try to save its life.

I have a special death planned for you, Dragomir. One that will take a century. You will feed us. Feed my children. You will be nothing but fodder for those stronger and better than you. 

There was something both soothing and incongruous about hearing the lullaby at the same time as the jarring, ugly voice of Vadim’s taunting. Dragomir didn’t bother responding to his threats. The vampire had no idea what they planned, and he wasn’t about to tip him off.

Dragomir sent his spirit to examine Emeline’s brain first. There were no parasites, which gave him a measure of reassurance. Vadim wasn’t taking the chance of damaging her. Of course, once he knew for certain he was losing her, he would likely turn on her and do everything in his power to kill her. To help protect her from that possibility, Dragomir built a heavy shield around her brain, one he was certain the parasites couldn’t penetrate. He did the same with her heart and lungs, then her ovaries and womb. Gary was doing the same for the baby, once he pushed the parasites from her little body, back into Emeline’s.

It is time, Gary said, when they had completed building their shields.

Daratrazanoff? Vadim made the name sound like a curse. Do you think you possibly can take on a Malinov and win?

Gary made no reply. Dragomir admired him even more for ignoring the master vampire as if he were a mere nuisance, far beneath his notice. The two withdrew from Emeline’s body and each returned to his own.

“I’m going to take your blood now, Emeline,” Dragomir said gently. “Just like when we were alone. I will be removing quite a lot of it, which means your blood will have to be replaced. Sandu, Andor and Ferro will take turns giving you blood.”

She recoiled, shaking her head. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“I can aid you,” Dragomir said. “If we are going to save the baby and you from Vadim, this is the only way. Once I take your blood, I cannot give you blood. Not at first. I’m the filter. I will ingest the parasites… ”

“No. Absolutely not.” She scrambled to her feet. “You are not going to take his vile, poisonous worms into your body.”

He reached out and caught her wrist. Gently. So gently. His thumb slid over the back of her hand in a soothing caress. “I did so before I left you at sunrise this morning, sívamet. They are already inside me. I can rid my body of them a little at a time, and that’s what we’re going to do. The danger is that you will begin to convert before we are ready. If you have any way to hold out, please do so.” As he spoke he drew her back to him. Patiently. Slowly. Inexorably.

“I don’t want this for you,” she protested in a whisper of despair.

“Of course you don’t.” He pulled her down to his lap once more. “I’m going to distance you from all of this so it is easier on you. Gary will send his spirit back inside you and begin destroying the parasites. He’ll be there when they make a concentrated attack on the baby.” When she started to protest again, his voice turned stern. “Emeline, you promised to trust me.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. Immediately he wrapped her in his arms, unwilling to give her more time to worry or object. Gary shed his body and once more entered hers. Dragomir sank his teeth in her neck as he distanced her from the action. Even as the parasites in her blood burned his tongue and throat, her taste was exquisite. Vadim couldn’t corrupt that. Dragomir stayed anchored in her mind, shielding her as Vadim shrieked his rage and ordered his creatures to attack.

Gary countered, burning large groups of the parasites as they swarmed toward her heart. Dragomir drank down her blood, drawing as many of the parasites into himself as he could. The flesh inside his throat and mouth blistered as the foul microorganisms stung and bit at him in a frenzy. Their poison spread through his bloodstream, racing though his veins and saturating his cells. His muscles seized. His organs cramped, sending pain lancing through his body.

The parasites spread to every part of his body, and now they were systematically targeting his own vital organs. And still he drank down Emeline’s blood, willing Vadim’s foul creatures to enter his body in order to spare her. His breath grew labored, his heart slammed against his chest, a hoarse shout lodged itself at the back of his throat, held back only by his will.

Enough. Get rid of them, Gary ordered.

Beating back the horrendous pain, Dragomir slid his tongue across his lifemate’s skin, closing the small wounds left by his bite. He set her from him and strode to the edge of the healing grounds where the cement wall was the thickest. He forced the worms from his blood, pushing them through his pores. They burned and bit, fighting to attack him, to kill him, Vadim’s commands making them vicious. He made certain they dropped on the cement slab. Andor called down the lightning to incinerate the creatures, bringing it through the cracks in the wooden wall Tariq had designed for just such an occasion.

Dragomir took a deep breath, pausing to gather his strength and shore up his inner defenses before turning back to Emeline. Andor followed, staying close.

Sandu met him halfway there and extended his wrist. “That healer is thorough.”

Dragomir sent him a look, something between a reprimand and admiration. “You’re monitoring the healer? How?”

“We sent a little spy in. This is your daughter. Your woman. We don’t know much about him other than he tried to take Aleksei’s woman.”

“Unforgiving just a little bit?” Dragomir prodded. Granted, he’d been more than a little suspicious of Gary himself until the healer had worked so hard to save the lives of Emeline and all the others who’d fended off Vadim’s earlier attack.

“O jelä peje terád,” Sandu said. “Take the blood and hurry.”

Dragomir did as the ancient suggested, practically inhaling the sustenance. Sandu’s blood was like a punch of sheer power, filling him with strength. He murmured his thanks and sank down beside Emeline.

She slipped her hand into his, surprising him. In spite of the shield he’d put around her to distance her from what was taking place, she was still very much aware. “Are you all right?”

“Better than all right.” He wrapped his arms around her again and sank his teeth in a second time.

This time the parasites were waiting for him, rushing to attack, flooding his bloodstream and heading directly toward his heart.

Andor, I have need. He didn’t stop ingesting her blood; instead, he took more, doing everything he could to draw the microorganisms out of Emeline and into him.

Andor shed his body and entered Dragomir’s. He moved instantly to guard Dragomir’s heart, using the white-hot blast of energy to burn as many parasites as he could. The vile things ran from the light. Some tried moving around it, attacking Dragomir’s heart from every direction. Andor was fast, blasting them in a long semicircle, but there were so many of them. Dozens found purchase and began burrowing through the outer layers of heart muscle.

Enough, Dragomir. You need to purge them before they manage to clog your heart, Gary said. I need blood. The moment I leave they will attack the child. They are trying every way they can to get around me, even sacrificing themselves so others can fling themselves at her heart.

Ferro, Dragomir directed. You’re up.

Ferro shed his body without hesitation and entered Emeline’s. The healer was back, and this time he sagged to the ground, clearly worn from his fight to keep the parasites off the baby. The fact that Gary was weak told Dragomir time was passing. He closed the small punctures on Emeline’s throat and took a step. The parasites attacked, coming at every organ, using teeth and spitting acid in every direction. He stumbled, his insides burning. Pain burst through him with every bite the parasites took.

He was an ancient, familiar with pain and suffering in all its forms, but even against his millennia of experience, this was sheer agony. He knew the attacks were aggravated by the vampire’s command, but Emeline had borne this torment for days… weeks… without aid of any kind. Her strength left him equal parts stunned and humbled, and more than a little angry.

She’d borne this – this torture – alone. He’d not been there to shield her from it, and no one else had done so.

“Dragomir.” Fear burst through him. Her fear for him. He held up his hand to stop her from moving. Afanasiv was there beside her, trying to give her blood. Tariq gave more to the healer.

“Emeline. Stay there.” He poured command into his voice and forced his body upright, forced himself to ignore the fact that it felt as if someone was taking a blowtorch to his insides.

She hesitated and then subsided, sinking back onto the ground, accepting Afanasiv’s extended wrist. Again, she didn’t ingest the blood and Dragomir sent another command, this time with a harder push to distance her from the necessary act. He didn’t move until she bent her head and gave in to his order.

It took every bit of discipline he had to cross to the edge of the dirt. He flowed over the soil rather than expending physical energy on walking. He couldn’t let the parasites escape to get into the ground. This time, Maksim was waiting to incinerate Vadim’s creatures and replenish Dragomir’s lost blood.

While Dragomir forced the parasites from his body, pushing the infected blood through his pores, the gathered Carpathians continued singing the lullaby for the baby. They sang of peace and strength, of love for her, urging her to hold on, that they were there for her, waiting for her. He found the song soothing and hoped the baby did as well.

It took a great deal longer to rid his body of the parasites, and he was cognizant of how much effort Andor had expended to shield Dragomir’s most vital organs. Maksim incinerated the expelled parasites as they tried to rush for the soil. He was thorough, making certain not even one escaped. Dragomir drank the powerful, ancient blood Maksim offered, then hurried back to Andor’s body to allow his spirit to reenter. Both men slumped to the ground. Immediately Nicu and Lojos were there to give them blood.

Gary politely closed the wound on Tariq’s wrist. “He’s up to something. We’re making progress. We’ve gotten rid of most of the parasites in the bloodstream. He’s got a few hiding that we’ll have to ferret out, but I can feel his rage, and he’s trying to get them to reproduce faster. Fortunately, I think we’ve got a good deal of the ones able to reproduce. Vadim’s pulled back and that’s bad for us in terms of getting rid of the parasites.”

Dragomir regarded Emeline’s pale features. She was lying on top of the soil, her eyes closed, but he could feel her mind trying to assess what was happening to her and the child. “I feel it, too. He’ll strike hard when he does.”

“No parasite is attacking Emeline’s brain or heart,” Gary said. “Just the baby’s.”

“And mine,” Dragomir said, frowning. “If he isn’t trying to kill Emeline, which doesn’t make sense, then the baby must be protected. He’ll try to hurt Emeline through the child. Emeline must be protected, as well, because if he can’t rid her of the baby, I fear he’ll do something else to harm her – maybe try to kill her.” That didn’t feel right. Even if the baby was gone, he feared Vadim wanted Emeline for some purpose. Not wanted. Needed.

Gary turned his strange eyes on him. Dragomir knew his own eyes were different, as were Ferro’s and Sandu’s. It hit him then. Gary was truly an ancient with all the knowledge and power of those in the monastery. He had the experiences in battle, the kills of his ancestors, the burdens they took to their graves, all of it. He didn’t even have the relief of temptation, those dark whispers to take blood until the rush came. To kill their prey and just feel. Instead, there was – nothing. Like the ancients in the monastery, he lived in a gray void of nothing. He belonged in the brotherhood.

“Take her blood and give her yours,” Gary said.

Emeline was about to go through the conversion, and the healer knew it was important to Dragomir to have her last moments as a human be about the two of them. He nodded his thanks and once more took her in his arms, holding her close to him while the healer shed his body.

“It hurts,” she said softly, pressing her body close to his, melting into him. “What is it doing to you?”

“I can shut down pain. Stop worrying about me. We still have the conversion to get through.” He nuzzled the top of her head, aware of time slipping away from them.

The sound of Carpathians singing the lullaby filled the air with a soothing peace that was a counterbalance to the vicious attacks the few remaining parasites continued on both of them. Despite the urgency, he wanted to just hold her for a moment – to block out all the pain and blood for her and allow her a moment of respite.

He swept back her hair. “You’re being so brave, Emeline. I can’t imagine what this must feel like for you.” For the first time that night, he thought to go into her mind further, to smell and experience what she was feeling. She was wide open to him, without any barriers.

“Don’t,” she said softly. “Feel what I do when you’re holding me. Safe. Cherished. Those are the things I concentrate on, not the rest of it. You’re risking everything to save me.”

His heart clenched hard in his chest. He leaned down to press his lips against her pulse, feeling her heart beat into his mouth, taking that rhythm into his heart. He touched the spot with his tongue, scraped over it with his teeth. “Sívamet andam. Do you know what that means, sívamet? It means I’m giving you my heart. You are the only one to have it. It is in your keeping for all eternity. I would never take someone’s lifemate. I am an ancient and my honor is all I have. All I have to offer you. I know Vadim keeps saying he’s the one, but choose me. Make it a choice, Emeline. If you cannot yet feel the ties binding us, make me your choice.”

“Every time. With every breath,” she said instantly, reaching back to circle his neck with her arm. “You will always be my choice.”

“Sielamet andam. I give you my soul. You gave me back light. Hope. You will always be home to me, Emeline. It will never matter to me where we are, as long as we’re together.” He sank his teeth in her neck, this time, not distancing her. Letting her feel the erotic bite. The flash of pain followed by pure pleasure.

She cried out and then rewarded him with a small moan that told him she was feeling what he wanted her to. Her body moved restlessly over his. Deep inside he felt Vadim hiss his building rage. He was like a snake, coiled and waiting for an opportunity to strike. Dragomir gathered her closer protectively, allowing himself to savor the taste of her blood. Nothing Vadim did could diminish that for him. He would always be addicted to her taste.

You’ll never have that again, he whispered on the Carpathian telepathic path. He didn’t care that the others heard him taunt the master vampire. An enraged vampire made mistakes. Vadim was not ever getting Emeline in his hands again. He ingested the rest of the parasites. Before she took his blood, he would remove them from his body, so that she would get rich, ancient blood to strengthen both her and the baby.

He brushed a kiss over her pulse and then swept the punctures closed with his tongue. “I will be right back to give you the exchange.”

She smiled at him. “They’re gone, aren’t they? I feel different.”

Gary had once again entered her body to help herd the rest of the parasites into Dragomir. He emerged, as grim-faced as ever, but he was triumphant. “They’re gone,” he stated. His eyes met Dragomir’s, reaffirming his conviction that Vadim hadn’t put up a hard enough battle at the end. The question was, what was he planning?

Dragomir brushed a kiss over Emeline’s forehead and once more made his way back to the edge of the healing grounds. Every step of the way, the parasites bit, scoring his bones and ripping at organs. He forced his body upright, standing tall.

The outside night poured in through the crack deliberately left for the Carpathians to call down lightning, or for each to pull what they needed from the night. Sandu was with him this time, ready to incinerate the vicious creatures attacking his body. Dragomir stared out the crack into the dark. The sliver of moon was beginning to expand, a hot, bright crescent in the sky. Lightning forked, Sandu charging the air.

The slight breeze shifted, touched Dragomir’s face as he forced the wiggling, fighting parasites through his pores. He concentrated on making certain not a single one was left behind. Andor aided him, his spirit shining his white-hot light everywhere, so none could hide. He drove them while Dragomir all but shoved them through his pores. He didn’t look down at the parasites but rather outward, into the night. He was leading Emeline there. The night would become her world. Their world.

She had chosen him without hesitation. She was ready for the conversion, placing all her trust in him. That humbled him. Lightning zigzagged across the sky and then Sandu directed a sizzling whip straight at the parasites. Dragomir caught an odd faint scent, something he’d smelled before. There was a hint of conspiracy about it. He leaned toward the crack, moving to one side to get the breeze on his face.

The whip of lightning crashed through the crack. Instead of the precise hit on the parasites, it swung in a wide arc, seeking Dragomir.