She closed her eyes and inhaled, needing the scent of him in her lungs. He filled her with strength. “It seemed to take forever. I was so terrified. I felt sickened by what they did. I am so afraid they might have done the same thing to Amelia. She’s just a little girl. Fourteen or fifteen. She doesn’t really talk about it and I’ve tried to get her to open up. I know something terrible happened.”

“We need to concentrate on what he did to you. We will help the girl once we know how. What did Vadim do next?”

“I was bleeding everywhere. They… he… they licked at the blood on my body and between my legs. It was horrible. Foul. Then Vadim sank his teeth into my neck.” She brought her hand up and touched the scars there. “He took so much I was dizzy and hoped he would kill me. I knew he wouldn’t, but I thought he might accidentally go too far. He was acting so crazy, like it was the best blood in the world —” She broke off abruptly.

“And then?”

She shook her head. She’d told him the worst. The absolute worst. “He forced me to take his blood. He said it was laced with ancient Carpathian blood to make the child survive. I could feel the parasites wiggling inside me. From that moment to this, I can’t sleep or eat, and I hurt with every breath I take.”

“It makes no sense that he didn’t give you a male child. I would think that for his ego, he would have done such a thing.”

She was silent a moment and then she sat up and looked him in the eye. “He thought he did. He isn’t the only one able to manipulate the human body.”

“You changed the sex of the baby?”

Emeline nodded slowly. “Yes, I changed the sex by fertilizing the egg with female chromosomes. He had no way of knowing. I dreamt so many times of what would happen to all of us down in those tunnels. I knew Vadim would rape and impregnate me. He wanted a male child; it was always there in his mind when I dreamt of him.”

“Are you telling me that when he had a long painful needle in you and you were surrounded by vampires, nailed to the dirt naked, you had the presence of mind to make certain the baby was female?”

There was both awe and respect in his voice. She shrugged. “ I didn’t know I would be rescued, but I thought maybe if I was able to get out of there with her, she wouldn’t be like him.”

“Woman, you are amazing.”

The admiration in his voice shocked her. She expected condemnation, not praise. Once again, stupid tears burned behind her eyes. She let him hold her, her ear against his heart so she could hear that steady, reliable rhythm.

“I will need the healer to help me, but we must get rid of the parasites. Vadim will be unable to harm you or the child. As for the child, we must get rid of Vadim’s blood. That is what is torturing her. I will need to examine her, Emeline. I will not tell you a lie. If she is evil, I will destroy her. If she is not, she will live and be our child.”

5

Dragomir took her breath away. Emeline hadn’t known there were men like him in the world. She instinctively put a protective hand over her womb. He placed his hand over hers.

“Know this, sívamet – this child will be mine. I will take Vadim’s blood from you and exchange it for mine. Eventually, over time, she will be ours. My child and yours. My blood will change her cells, her organs, reshaping and repairing any damage. The healer —”

She shook her head. “Just you. Only you. No one else can get near her. I wouldn’t trust them to keep her safe.” Just the thought of anyone trying to harm her daughter after what the baby had suffered was enough to make her want to run.

“This will not be easy, Emeline. We need a delicate touch. The healer knows I will kill him if he attempts to harm her. He has the blood of Daratrazanoffs running in his veins so it won’t be easy, but I have been on the earth a long, long time. My experience is… great.”

She continued to shake her head. He caught her chin and held it firmly, forcing her to meet those golden eyes. “Emeline, you are my lifemate. I told you the kind of man you are dealing with. This is best for you and for our child. I know you are frightened, but you have to trust me to protect both of you and to know what you need.”

“We can wait,” she said desperately. “You’re not at full strength. You need blood. He’ll need blood. We have to wait. Vadim is leaving me alone. He was angry at first but he’s quiet now. Go to ground, Dragomir.” She didn’t know what she would do. Just thinking about leaving him, or him leaving her, was suddenly terrifying. Still, she had that need to make certain he got everything he needed to heal. She didn’t know how he was awake and alert.

“Vadim is leaving you alone because his wounds are very severe. It will take him some time to heal. Now is the time for us to do this because we won’t have to fight him. He will be asleep in the ground.”

“Where you should be,” she pointed out, feeling like a broken record.

He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip and a million butterflies took wing in her stomach. All at once she couldn’t breathe. He stroked across her lip again and she wanted to moan. Men had kissed her and her body hadn’t reacted. She was in pain, suffering from the inside out with the blood and parasites of a vampire running through her veins, making her feel unclean and so exhausted, yet the moment he touched her with such a small gesture, her body came alive.

“I am going to summon him now.”

She shook her head but didn’t look away from those brilliant eyes. Holding her breath. Fighting not to cry. Trusting him, not just with her life, but the life of her unborn daughter, a baby no one was going to want. But me, she murmured to the baby. No, us. We want you. We’ll take care of you and love you. She kept looking into Dragomir’s eyes as she nodded slowly.

His expression changed subtly. His lips softened. So did his eyes. “My woman is extremely courageous. I appreciate that trait in you. Thank you for giving me your trust. It will not be misplaced.”

“Maybe you should ask him to bring Blaze. If anyone would help us, it would be her. She can give blood again.”

“There is uncertainty in your mind, Emeline. I can hear it in your voice. I would kill a woman if necessary, but I prefer not to. You are correct. We will need a blood supply. Perhaps her lifemate?”

He would kill for her. Kill for their child. She had the feeling he was prepared to call any number of ancients he knew to give them blood. And he would. He would do what he considered best for her. She had seen the way the others talked about Vadim and the possibility that he might be attempting to bring children into the world. They considered it an abomination. She was terrified they would view her daughter that way.

“Can we let Blaze come first, and if she is okay with everything, ask her what she thinks Maksim will do or say and if we can ask him to come?”

He nodded slowly. She had the feeling he wanted one of the others, but he didn’t say any more. She felt the energy in the room as candles sprang to life and a combination of healing scents filled the air. The lights went off, plunging the room into darkness so that the red and orange flickering flames were the only relief. The drapes over her windows were heavy, blocking all light from the house. She’d done that deliberately. Her eyes burned in the sun, and she didn’t want anyone to see her clearly.

The knock came almost immediately. Emeline took a deep breath, her hands going to her hair. Before she could ask for a minute to try to tame the tangles, he ran his hands over the length, all the way to the ends, smoothing and cleaning her hair so that it shone brightly. A wave of his hand gave her a long thick braid that hung down her back.

“Is that better?”

She nodded. “Thank you, it was really bothering me.”

“I need to take a small amount of your blood and give you mine, just so we have the ability to speak telepathically on a path that is intimate between the two of us.”

She recoiled instantly, nearly flinging herself out of his arms. “No. Not with the parasites in my blood. No. Absolutely not.” She would do anything to protect him. Anything.

He studied her expression for a long time and then he nodded. “Stay here while I let him in. While he is in the house, please do anything I ask you without argument. If I say leave the room, do so immediately. I will be at a disadvantage in a fight if I have to worry about where you are.” He brushed his lips over her hand again. “Do you understand?”