“He can’t get you here, you’re protected.”

“He still whispers to me. I can’t make it stop,” Emeline admitted. “He’s driving me insane. And the pain…” She broke off. Liv might be her only confidant, but she was just ten years old, far too young to have to deal with Emeline’s problems.

“If you allow them to convert you, they’ll take his blood out of you,” Liv insisted. “I know it’s scary, but I did it. So can you.”

Emeline shook her head and pressed both hands to her churning stomach. “It’s not the same. It wouldn’t work on me.”

“Why?”

“Have they explained lifemates to you? Why Charlotte is with Tariq and Blaze with Maksim?”

Liv nodded. “A little.”

Emeline took a breath and then said the unthinkable in a little rush, desperate to tell someone, yet afraid to say it aloud. “I think Vadim is my lifemate.” She knew he was. He’d told her, laughed horrifically, when he’d taken her blood and forced her to take his. Just the thought of it made her want to vomit. Her throat burned even now, weeks later, and deep inside, the burning continued.

Liv went pale and let go of her hand, stepping back, just as Emeline knew she would. They all would. She was unclean. There was no monster on earth worse than Vadim, and she was his other half. Maybe the Carpathians would even destroy her if they knew the truth. Her friends would turn on her, and she’d be completely alone and unable to defend herself against Vadim’s constant attacks.

“That can’t be,” Liv whispered.

“It is,” she said and pressed trembling fingers to her mouth. Covering it. Holding back a scream of utter terror. Sharing the truth hadn’t made it easier. She’d admitted it aloud and now the reality couldn’t be denied.

Liv regarded her with compassion. “I don’t care. It doesn’t change who you are, Emeline. He can’t have you. We won’t let him.” She spoke fiercely, making it a vow.

“He’s eating me alive,” Emeline whispered, knowing Liv, of all people, would understand. It wasn’t the scars left on her body from his attack, but the ones in her mind he continued to leave with his whispers. The threats. The taunts. The knowledge that he was there in her head and she couldn’t get him out.

“We’ll find a way to keep him out,” Liv said. “I hear things. I can learn fast. There’s a healer coming, and he’s supposed to be really good at what he does. And if he doesn’t get here fast enough, I can see if Dragomir can help.”

Emeline shook her head. “No Carpathians. They would know.”

“Then I’ll learn,” Liv said staunchly. “I know I can learn healing.”

Emeline found herself smiling. “You can learn anything,” she agreed. “Thank you, my sweet girl. I appreciate that you want to help me.”

“I watch them. I always have. I remember everything, so it’s easy to follow the patterns they make or say the words they do.”

A frisson of alarm crept down Emeline’s spine. “Baby, you know you can’t just go around repeating what they say. Some of their commands are in the Carpathian language and you don’t understand that yet. You can’t know what they’re saying.”

Liv shrugged. “I know the results.”

“Honey, really, you can’t just say things without knowing what they mean. It can be dangerous.”

“Everything is dangerous,” Liv said. “Knowledge is everything, isn’t that what you told me? The more we know, the more we can figure things out.”

Emeline sighed. “Now you’re turning my own words back on me. At least you listened.”

“I always listen to you.” Liv hugged her again. “Why don’t you go lie down for a while, Emeline? I’m going to play with my brother and sisters before the adults wake up and make us do our studies.”

“I will in a few minutes,” Emeline agreed. “I like to stay in the sun as long as possible.” Once the sun set she had to stay in her house, lock the door and pray she didn’t fall asleep. Outside, in the night, were her friends, Carpathians, and they would turn on her the moment they knew the truth about her. In her house, in the darkness, Vadim whispered to her, promising her all sorts of tortures if she didn’t leave the sanctuary of Tariq Asenguard’s property and come to him. “I know you miss your family.”

“You’re my family, too, Emeline,” Liv said solemnly. “But you’re right. I did miss them. Look at them” – she waved her arm toward the play yard – “they’re so cool.”

She laughed, and Emeline was happy to hear the sound was genuine. She hadn’t believed she’d hear Liv’s laughter ever again. Being wholly Carpathian had helped her immensely.

“I missed my dragon, too. I thought about all the things I’d like to learn to do, and flying my dragon is at the top of the list.”

Emeline glanced up at the sky. The sun was fading fast. “You need to wait for Charlotte and Tariq before you try anything like that. You know the safeguards are in place to keep Vadim and his monstrous friends out.” She couldn’t help the shudder that ran through her body just saying the name. Vadim Malinov stalked her day and night. The thought of him getting his hands on her again, or on one of the children – she couldn’t face that. “Wait, Liv.”

Liv laughed again, the sound soft and delicate, like musical bells tinkling in the breeze. “Adults always want to make us wait for anything fun.”

Emeline shook her head. “That’s not true, silly. We love you and don’t want anything to happen to you. I know it’s hard to live behind a high fence, not to be able to go places and do things other children get to do, but you have other things they don’t.” That was very true and she needed Liv to see that – to acknowledge it – so there was no chance of the children risking their lives.

“I know,” Liv agreed with a small sigh. “We’ll fly low, below the safeguards. I doubt if we could get through them anyway.”

Emeline didn’t like the speculation in her voice. “I know you want to be able to use all the gifts that come with being Carpathian, Liv, but you have to be patient and allow the adults to teach you. The gifts are powerful and can hurt others if they’re misused.”

Again, Liv laughed softly, that sweet melody that seemed to vibrate in harmony with Emeline’s insides, playing along nerve endings until she found herself listening for more.

“I can’t misuse them, Em, if I don’t know what they are,” Liv pointed out.

“Livvie!” Bella shouted. “Hurry up!”

“Take her another cookie. Don’t forget one for Lourdes,” Emeline said. She yawned, exhaustion catching up with her. She really should go inside, but it seemed a great effort to gather the teacups back onto the tray and carry it when her arms felt so leaden.

Liv scooped up a couple of cookies for the little girls, glanced at her brother and added several more. “He’s always hungry,” she explained.

Emeline smiled. “He certainly is.” She waved at the little girl. “Go have fun.”

Liv leapt off the porch and ran to join her brother and sisters. They gathered together, Danny pulling the swings to a halt while stuffing cookies into his mouth. Several times he glanced up at the night sky as if judging how long they had until sunset – and the adult Carpathians making their appearances. Again, just that simple motion of his head tilting upward reminded Emeline of something important she needed to remember, but her mind felt fogged.

The children ran to the stone dragons, all laughing softly. It was Liv’s laughter that she focused on, the sound beautiful to her after all the horrors the child had suffered. She propped her chin in her hand, elbow on the little table, aware her head felt too large, her brain fuzzy. She didn’t mind the feeling – at least it was pleasant, and as long as she stayed fixated on the children, she didn’t feel the pain clawing at her stomach and the cries of terror reverberating through her mind.

Danny helped Lourdes onto the blue dragon. It was large and scaly, its tail long and spiked. Lourdes sat on its back, her knees gripping hard as she leaned forward to whisper into its ear while she patted the long neck.