She stroked her palm down her throat and then pressed her hand tight against her stomach as if the pain was there all over again.

Charlotte hurt for her. Again, it was all she could do not to put her arms around Emeline and hold her, but Emeline had shrunk into herself, made herself much smaller and pulled the robe tighter around her, as if that thin material could protect her somehow.

I hate this, Tariq. I hate that vampire. He’s destroyed her life. Destroyed her. She’s so far gone I can’t reach her.

Sielamet, you’ve come closer than anyone else to getting her to talk. You’re doing fine. You have that ability whether or not you realize it to make people comfortable and able to tell you things they wouldn’t reveal to someone else.

She let him wrap her up in his warmth, wishing she could do that for Emeline. She tried, sending as much warmth and comfort as she could to the woman.

“What else did he do, Emme?” Charlotte probed gently.

Emeline shook her head, and tears spilled over, tracking down her face. “I can’t think about anything else yet. I can’t let it be real. I just have to take one thing at a time. One thing. Anything else will break me, Charlie. He is a monster. He touched me. He took my blood and made me take his. He whispers to me, threatens me. Threatens children. I have to hold very still and not think too much in order to survive. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what you need to tell them. I’m surviving right now, and until I can process what happened to me, I can’t talk about it.”

“Okay, honey, I understand, but you will have to allow one of the men to help you sleep without hearing Vadim. If you don’t, it will just drive you crazy. Are you afraid of them? Has Vadim made you afraid of the Carpathians?” She asked gently, feeling as if she were in a minefield.

“They make me nervous,” Emeline admitted. “Blaze is lifemate to Maksim and I know I’m hurting her by not accepting him. I will. I really will. Just not yet.” There was a plea for understanding in her voice. So soft. Almost faint. Her gaze never stopped seeking the night, looking for danger, looking for a threat. “Maybe when Val wakes. He knows what Vadim did to Liv, and he helped her. Maybe I can accept his aid. I don’t know.”

Charlotte had no idea how long it would take for the Carpathian to heal but if his wounds had been that bad, it could take a while. She wasn’t certain Emeline had that kind of time. More, she was certain Emeline knew that and counted on it.

“Tariq has the most beautiful carousels on his property. Have you seen them?” Deliberately, Charlotte changed the subject, wanting to indicate to Emeline that she could relax. There would be no more talk of Vadim.

Sielamet. It was a slight reprimand.

She’s done. I have to let it go. She’s talked as much as she can right now. She needs normal. Just like I need normal.

Emeline turned to look at her. “I remember in Paris you talking about carousels and how much you loved them.”

“I was learning restoration from a master. He was the best in the world. Tariq had contacted him asking him to come to the States to work on his carousels. He has a couple in his home that need work.”

“Couldn’t he just wave his hand or something?” Emeline asked.

I was so eager to restore them that I didn’t think of that. Why can’t you just wave your hand? You were the one to carve them.

Tariq was there in her mind. She felt him warm and gentle, caring for her, stroking her mind intimately as she tried to keep Emeline engaged in idle conversation, trying to give her normal, even if just for a few moments.

Something is lost in the restoration. I tried it with a couple of pieces and it isn’t the same. I could carve them again, but then they would be made in this century and not my first works. In any case, I like working with my hands. I am looking forward to learning the restoration process.

The carousels meant something special to him. She could hear it in his voice. He didn’t want to destroy the oldest carousel any more than she did, maybe less so, but he would because it was dangerous to anyone who touched it. She needed to find out why. She needed to track Vadim back to wherever he was and she needed to make certain her growing family was safe.

She was claiming the children, Genevieve and now Emeline. Even the hunters protecting them – especially Lojos, Tomas and Mataias, who had been thoughtful enough to provide the stone dragons for the children and Val, a hunter she’d never met, but one who had taken the time to save Liv and give her strength in the midst of evil.

“Apparently waving one’s hand doesn’t restore art in the same way as the methods we use. Who knew there was something a Carpathian didn’t do perfectly?”

That got the smallest of smiles out of Emeline. “I’d make you tea, but I’m not very steady on my feet.”

I’ll have Blaze bring tea and something easy for Emeline to get down.

Charlotte pressed a hand to her stomach. Tariq was going to have to aid her in getting down the tea. Genevieve came up the porch stairs, looking spectacular, as she always did, a bright smile on her face as she greeted Emeline warmly.

Genevieve sank down into the rocker on the other side of Emeline and instantly brought up Paris and the good times they’d had there. She avoided talking all things Carpathian and vampire. She was skillful that way because she was genuine in everything she did.

Blaze joined them, bringing a little teapot and several cups along with a tray of scones. She goaded Emeline into drinking the tea, but only Genevieve had a scone.

We need a solution to this fast or we’re going to lose her, Charlotte said.

Tariq was silent for a moment while Charlotte and Genevieve were introduced to Blaze. I agree, sielamet. I’m working on it.

The four women sat together until dawn was creeping into the night, slowly peeling back the dark to streak the early morning hours in gray. Blaze helped Emeline back to bed, and Genevieve, yawning, left. Only then did Tariq come for her, wrapping her in his arms and taking her to their bed in the huge Victorian house that was to be her home.

15

Carpathian men were beautiful; there was no doubt about it. They were also dangerous and very, very scary. Charlotte should have been thrilled at being surrounded by the tall, broad-shouldered men with their long, dark hair and faces that seemed carved from stone, and who could be models for some of the most famous sculptures. She wasn’t thrilled. At. All.

She found herself looking at Tariq in an entirely different way. From the moment she’d met him, she thought of him as Tariq Asenguard, the sophisticated, civilized owner of a string of extremely successful nightclubs. He wore suits like he was born for them. He spoke numerous languages and was well educated. She didn’t in any way associate him with the other hunters. Not until she saw him with them. Not until they were crowding around her with their predatory eyes and merciless expressions.