“Yes,” Amelia admitted. “I wanted to pretend all of this away.” She pushed a hand through her thick hair. “Even with my imagination, I couldn’t manage it.”

Charlotte moved closer to the girl and laid a hand on the orange dragon’s neck. The stone was warm in spite of the night. Amelia looked utterly lost and alone. She was fourteen years old and trying to be an adult for her two sisters who had suffered at the hands of monsters.

“I tried to pretend it away as well, especially when my brother was murdered so cruelly. Lourdes was there. They killed him right in front of her.” Charlotte glanced over at the little girl whispering to the blue dragon. “She won’t talk about it, but she has nightmares. She barely knew me when I showed up to take her home with me. We don’t have relatives, so they put her in emergency care until I came for her. They wouldn’t even allow her nanny to take her. I was in Europe.” She hesitated and then decided to be fully honest. “Fridrick was the vampire who killed my brother. He said he spared Lourdes so I would come back to the States. They wanted Genevieve and me here.”

Amelia looked over at Lourdes, compassion on her face. “I don’t know what to do to help them.” There was despair in her voice and etched onto her face when she turned back to Charlotte. Tears glittered in her eyes. “I can’t help them any more than I can help myself.”

Charlotte had been edging closer to her, and Amelia turned into her so Charlotte pulled her tightly against her and held her. Amelia burst into quiet sobs.

“I don’t know how to help them, either, Amelia, but I think we’re stronger together than apart. I think if you and I work together, we can eventually help each other and then the children.”

There was no way she could stand there in the night, holding the weeping teenager, and not want to be a mother to her. Someone needed to help them all. She didn’t think she was qualified to be a mom, but she was all they had and she was determined to be whatever they needed. “We can do this together, Amelia. Whatever Tariq decides about all of us, we can do it together. You know he won’t let us down. He’ll find a way for all of you to be safe outside the property, and in the meantime, we can find a way to help our little ones.”

Amelia lifted her head. “Do you think so?”

Charlotte nodded solemnly because she meant every word and she wanted Amelia to see the truth. “When Tariq adopts all of you, I will as well. That would make me the mom and him the dad. He wants to make certain no one can step in and take any of you from us.”

“Liv said you weren’t sure about being our mother. She can read people,” Amelia said carefully, clearly trying to find the right words without upsetting Charlotte.

Charlotte nodded and stroked little soothing caresses down Amelia’s hair. “She’s right. At the time I was just getting used to the idea of being with Tariq. I’d just taken on Lourdes, and wasn’t doing such a great job with one traumatized child who barely knew me, and then he said he wanted to adopt all four of you. I didn’t know if I could help you and that worried me. I didn’t want to make an emotional snap decision. I want you to be healthy and happy. But after really thinking about it, I’m in the same world you’re in. I’ve seen the monsters and what they do. I’m not a qualified counselor, but I don’t need to be to be your mother. I just need to love you and find a common path so we can all connect. I’m willing to do that. I want to do that.”

Amelia sighed and leaned in closer, wrapping her arms around Charlotte, holding on tightly – so tightly Charlotte felt the bite of that bruising grip almost to her bones.

“He touched me.” Amelia whispered the horrific words, pressing her forehead against Charlotte’s neck. “Inside. You know. Down there. Outside. On my skin. He put his hand on my belly and then he stripped my clothes off without touching them. One minute I had clothes and then I was naked in front of him, the one they called Vadim. He was obviously the leader. His brother Sergey was there and the one called Fridrick.”

Amelia whispered the words into Charlotte’s ear, clinging tightly. “It wasn’t like what they did to Liv, because they only bit into my neck and my…” She pulled back and touched her left breast. The tears on her lashes made them spiky and wet. Heartbreaking. “Here.” She laid her palm over her breast, shuddering. “And then he took his hand and pressed very hard into my belly and put his fingers in me. He said I wasn’t ripe yet, but would be soon.” She closed her eyes and laid her head on Charlotte’s shoulder. “They were horrible. Grinning. They said someone named Addler could have me.”

A little shudder went through Amelia’s slim body and then she was crying again. Silently. Heart-wrenching sobs that broke Charlotte’s heart. She held the girl as close as possible, whispering to her, reaching for Tariq in her mind. She wanted to be able to soothe Amelia by herself, and she knew Tariq was with Danny trying to help him understand what they all knew had to be done with the children. Conversion. Charlotte didn’t want to think too much about that last step. Danny had waylaid him before he could reach the gate and insisted on talking.

Addler is Fridrick’s brother. There are three of them. Fridrick is the oldest, then Georg and last Addler. He got kicked around a lot. They often travel together. All three chose to give up their souls and follow Vadim Malinov. They were there that night, tearing through the village, killing as many innocents as possible just because I’d befriended them and refused to join the Malinovs in their betrayal.

She heard the guilt in his voice. She couldn’t imagine what it was like watching so many innocent people fall at the hands of monstrous vampires simply because you chose that village to live and work in.

“Is something wrong with Amelia?” Liv came up behind them, her voice trembling when she saw her older sister in Charlotte’s arms.

Amelia started to pull away, hastily trying to cover up the fact that she was crying, but Charlotte didn’t let her. “She’s telling me about what happened to her in the tunnels. It’s hard to do that, to let yourself remember and trust someone else enough to tell them, but it’s also very brave. She’ll be all right. We all will. We’ll get through this together.”

While she was talking, Liv put her hand on Charlotte’s leg. Casually. Lightly. Still, Charlotte knew she was checking for the truth. Reading her. She continued to hold Amelia and stroked soothing caresses down her hair, down her back, whispering gently to her how proud she was and that they could get through this. They could help the others together. And she meant every single word.