Her body stiffened in spite of her commands to stay relaxed. Every muscle tightened. She was already exhausted from the journey back through the tunnel, every inch of her covered in ice; then the conversion, her organs reshaping, her body becoming that of a different species; and now the master vampire battered her, bruised her, broke not only one rib, but succeeded in smashing through two others.

Don’t stop, she implored the ancients. No matter what, don’t stop.

The three men were relentless, determined and without mercy. Their combined light followed the shadow everywhere it went, into every nook and cranny, refusing to allow it out of the bones of her rib cage and into her body, where it could do even more damage. Vadim felt every bit of pain the splinter did. Every burn. Each time more of the tiny object succumbed to ash.

In the end, Vadim realized there was no saving even the smallest piece. The head of the splinter buried itself as deeply as possible in Charlotte’s rib, wanting to exact more revenge, knowing if the hunters wanted to kill it, they would have to cause excruciating pain to Charlotte.

Do it, Charlotte and Tariq hissed simultaneously.

Tariq’s arms tightened around her and he cradled her close to him, trying to shelter her as the ancients took what felt like a blowtorch to her ribs. She gasped and pressed her open mouth against Tariq’s chest. A solid wall. His heart beat a steady rhythm.

The Carpathians surrounding them began a chant; they repeated the same thing over and over. Muonìak te avoisz te. Muonìak te avoisz te. Muonìak te avoisz te.

What are they saying? Even she could hear the gasp of pain in her voice, but it didn’t matter – she needed something to fill her mind and push the pain away.

They command the shadow to reveal itself. To show itself to the ancients.

She knew the exact moment when Vadim realized he couldn’t save any portion of the sliver that had been pulled from his brain. The splinter went wild, slamming over and over into her ribs and then succumbing to the terrible concentrated fire. The white-hot energy consumed the last of the shadow, turning it to ash so that it crumbled and fell into tiny pieces and drifted away under the watchful eyes of the ancients.

She could feel them, the terrible toll the fight had taken on them. They were out of their bodies, pure spirit, and yet they didn’t retreat. They set about healing her broken ribs and moving through her body inch by inch to make certain there was no trace of Vadim and that every organ and cell in her body was healed.

The three ancients swayed with weariness when they returned to their forms. They sank into the rich soil, crouching low as if to catch their breath, although none of them made a sound.

“Val?” Liv’s voice trembled, but she sounded very brave. “I can feel that you’re hungry.” She stepped close to him and swept back the hair from her neck. “I couldn’t help Charlotte, not really, but you can have my blood.”

There was silence in the basement. Dragomir and Siv both turned toward Liv and gave her small, courtly bows, although they were more like nods – but were definitely gestures of respect for the child.

Val wrapped his arm around Liv. “Sisarke, you are incredibly generous to offer such a precious gift to me. I am hungry; that is true. When one leaves their body it takes a toll. Ekäm – my brother, Lojos – has offered as well and he is much larger than you. I can take much more blood from him without harming him. I thank you, sisarke.”

Val stood slowly as Lojos approached, keeping his body between the ancient hunter and the little girl. Extending his wrist toward Val, Lojos nodded to the child, who wrapped her arm around Val’s leg. “Saasz hän ku andam szabadon ekäm – take what I freely offer, my brother.” With one fingernail he cut a long, deep gash in his wrist. Val took the offering and drank.

Tomas offered his wrist to Siv with the same ritual words, and without hesitation, Mataias extended his wrist to Dragomir. It was Maksim who fed Tariq. There was something pure and beautiful in the way the Carpathians took care of one another. Charlotte knew all Carpathians were uneasy in the presence of Dragomir, Siv and Val, but they stepped up without a thought to their own safety and took care of their brethren.

She didn’t know what it was that set the three men so apart from the others. The triplets were scary predators, that was easy enough to see, yet the three men who had come to her aid had something else about them that defined them, something that wasn’t human or civilized. They were more animal, but cunningly intelligent and so experienced in battle it was frightening.

Sielamet. You must rest now. They healed you, but you are exhausted. Blaze will see to Liv and the other children. She’ll talk to Genevieve so she’ll know to look after Lourdes for a couple of nights. When you wake, I’ll be with you.

This was the hard part. She’d accepted the conversion and all that came with it. She’d embraced being Carpathian, but… There was this. Sleeping in the soil. She had to admit, it felt comforting, even soothing, but it wasn’t over her face.

Reading her need for a few moments’ delay so she could come to terms with sleeping in soil, Tariq changed the subject. “Emeline wanted Liv to see what she faced. She also wanted her to have confidence in the fact that the Carpathians would be there for her when she needed them.”

“That’s true.” Charlotte snuggled closer to him. She was tired. Exhausted. She trusted him to make certain she didn’t feel as if she were buried alive.

“I just wonder how Emeline can have faith in us for the others, but not for herself.”

“I think she just needs time.” Charlotte kissed his throat and closed her eyes. “I do need to sleep, Tariq. Just don’t let me wake still under the soil.”

“Of course, sielamet. I have you. Always.”

17

Deep beneath the soil, under the basement of the huge Victorian mansion, Tariq’s eyes snapped open and he willed the earth to open above him and took his first breath. Charlotte was in his arms, and as he gave a thought to be thankful she was asleep, she stirred. Her eyes opened, and he could see the panic in them.

I can’t move.

It is the paralysis of our kind. The sun is still high. We cannot move during these hours. While giving her the explanation¸ he was already assessing the reason he’d been awakened before the sun had set.

Her heart went wild. Seriously, Tariq, I can’t move at all.

Tariq scanned the compound. Let your heart follow the rhythm of mine. Relax. Ordinarily we sleep during this time. I’m surprised you awakened. He shouldn’t have been surprised. He should have expected that anything to do with the children would draw her attention.