Dragomir gathered Emeline to him, opening the earth in the richest spot he could find. He would place her in it the moment he could safely command her and Carisma to sleep the healing sleep of their people. Until then he needed to hold her – not for her, but for him. He nuzzled the top of her head, the shadow along his jaw catching in her thick hair. He loved those silken strands, every single one of them, and she had a lot of hair. It was the color that had caught his eye, all that midnight black.

“You’re almost there, sívamet. We’re so close.”

“What happened? All the lightning. It was terrifying. I couldn’t see much because Gary threw me to the ground and covered my body with his. Beneath me, I felt the ground sizzling, almost like it was fighting back, but I knew it was him – Vadim. I knew he was attacking you. He kept saying he was going to kill you and the baby.”

The little catch in her voice, almost a sob, made his heart clench so hard it hurt. That catch was there for him. He couldn’t remember a time when someone worried about him enough to cry. He brushed at the tears on her lashes, wanting to kiss her. Wanting to tell her the things welling up in his heart.

“The baby is safe. I’m safe. He can’t talk to you anymore.”

“He took my blood.” She sounded ashamed, as if somehow, she could have prevented it.

“He did. But your blood isn’t the same, Emeline. We used me as a filter and removed every drop of your blood. It was replaced with the blood of the ancients. He can try to talk to you, but your blood will resist his invasion. When we replaced your blood, we replaced Carisma’s blood as well. He cannot harm either of you.”

“He’ll be so angry,” she whispered. Her lashes fluttered and then went down, covering the welling pain in her eyes.

He took a deep breath as if he could breathe air into her lungs as the next wave arrived. He shared her mind. He felt the fire blazing through her organs, an endless, agonizing flame. She didn’t make a sound. He was aware of Gary, taking that heat, deflecting it from the baby. Both ancients held fast, trying to shield mother and daughter as the conversion raged through them.

Dragomir knew he’d never given much thought to love. He’d thought about his lifemate often. He’d been obsessed with finding her for centuries, but he’d never considered what he would feel when he found her. Not love. Not this overwhelming, terrifying feeling that shook him to his core. He hadn’t known love could be felt through one’s entire body. That it could manifest itself physically.

Emeline’s body twisted, convulsed, her temperature raged, an alarming heat radiating from her body.

Gary. She’s like a furnace. Is the baby burning up? Dragomir was alarmed at the heat burning through Emeline. I am doing my best. Her temperature must come down soon. She must die and be reborn, but this heat has to affect the baby. What happens to her when Emeline succumbs?

She is either strong enough to hang on through those vital minutes, or we will lose her.

He detested the detached way the healer gave him the facts. He knew the process, what it entailed, but he had been looking for reassurance, hoping Gary could perform a miracle and make certain his daughter came back when Emeline’s body surrendered to the conversion. She was rolling with it, breathing through it, not fighting, but she wasn’t surrendering. That knowledge hit him hard. His woman wasn’t just giving in to the inevitable. He waited, breathing away her distress, his. He matched her laboring lungs, her struggling heartbeat, and waited for her to recognize it.

It didn’t take long. The moment the wave subsided, her lashes lifted and she rubbed her palm along his thigh. What are you doing?

She kept choosing the more intimate telepathic method of speaking instead of the human one. She interspersed it with speaking aloud, but it was rare in their communication here, in the Carpathian healing grounds.

“What do you mean?” He waved his hand to bring in a cool breeze, mindful of the cracks running around the structure, woven in to allow the night to spill onto the healing grounds. He kept his heart and lungs completely tuned to hers, and slowly, painfully slowly, he began to take over for both, giving her more air in little increments so she didn’t notice. His heart slowed just a bit, just enough to keep hers from racing.

Why are you wheezing? Why is your heart so fast?

“Because you are wheezing. Your heart is beating too fast.” Her lashes fluttered, drawing his attention. He brushed a kiss on her forehead because he couldn’t stop himself. “Why are you prolonging your agony? Give in, Emeline.” His voice was demanding. If she didn’t of her own free will, he would have to take over and he didn’t want to do that, but she was leaving him no other choice.

The baby.

“She needs her strength. The longer this goes on, the less she will have. The less you will have. You’ll be drained and so will she.”

I don’t want to lose her.

“The healer is with her. I’m with you and can feel her. Trust me again. You’ve given yourself to me. Trust me with our child.”

The tip of her tongue touched her bottom lip in an effort to moisten it. He took care of the dryness immediately, annoyed he hadn’t thought to do it earlier. When the convulsions had started, he had waved his hand to tidy her braid, keeping most of the long length away from her body, knowing the heavy weight would hurt her skin, but he hadn’t considered that her raised temperature and the ridding her body of toxins would dehydrate her.

Her lips curved into a sweet smile that shook him. You can’t think of everything. You were a little busy. And you didn’t tell me what was going on when Gary threw me to the ground.

“Vadim took control of the lightning we used to incinerate the parasites. He must have a spy here, a traitor inside the compound working with him. There is no other explanation. That’s how the safeguards were lifted.”

She frowned. I thought Liv did that so the children could fly their dragons.

It was a sad state of affairs that he found her frown adorable. He rubbed his finger lightly over it as if he could erase it when he didn’t really want to. He wanted to commit it to memory so when he pulled up images of her in his mind, it was there.

“I felt the thread of evil twisting beneath the ground. The safeguards had been in place beneath the ground, yet evil tainted the soil. Liv couldn’t have done that. It had Vadim’s touch to it. I can recognize the signature of the master vampires, the ones I’ve chased or encountered throughout the centuries. That had Vadim’s mark all over it.”

She turned her face up toward his with an obvious effort. Her eyes, a deep violet that reminded him of twin amethyst gems, looked up at him with a clear reprimand. You don’t believe Liv is tainted?

“She is Carpathian. She opened up the compound and allowed the vampires access, but there was another working behind the scenes to make it all happen. Liv needs to be punished, to be shown just how bad the situation could have been. Any death would have been directly on her shoulders. Every injury. If Vadim had reacquired you… ” He broke off, feeling that – the near miss. He could have lost her. “That girl has a lot to answer for.”

She’s only a child.

“She’s Carpathian, Emeline. There are consequences for every mistake one makes in our world. Let go for me. Do it now, with this wave. I feel it coming and I want you to give yourself to me. To our life.”

The baby…

He tightened his hold on her, afraid if she waited too long neither would be strong enough to make it into their world. “She will be fine. Sívamet, you need to trust in your strength and your love for her. She’s a fighter. Give her the chance to live. Let go for me.”

The next wave hit her before she could answer him. She caught her breath, looked up at him and deliberately followed the rhythm of his lungs. He took her hand and put it over his heart, holding her palm tight against his bare chest. She pulled her knees to her chest, but kept her hand over his heart, her eyes staring straight into his.

He saw trust. Complete trust. It was a gift, a precious one, and it humbled him. I’ve got you, Emeline. I will always be with you.

He was in her mind and saw that first acceptance of their true bond. She was tentative, reaching to touch his mind. She could, he was open to her. She was his lifemate and he refused to hide his past from her. Not even now, when she was making that connection. She was aware of Carpathians and what they were. Predators. Every single one of them. She would be one as well. Her touch might be tentative, but it was intimate, even in the face of her physical distress. His body stirred, an inappropriate reaction when she was suffering.