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.