12

The water on the lake was like glass. Emeline had never been on it, or even on the dock around it. She found it was peaceful and gorgeous. All of her life she’d been drawn to the night – until she’d gone into that underground city and realized that monsters were lurking in every shadow. Walking hand in hand with Dragomir gave her back a sense of peace and serenity to the night. He kept her tucked in close to him, her fingers threaded through his, and he took her straight to the lake.

She loved the way the moon appeared silver in the dark sky. Stars were scattered overhead as if thrown haphazardly, yet they formed unique patterns. The sounds of insects and frogs added to the beauty of the place. “I can understand why Tariq chose this place to build,” she said. “He has everything. The lake and the woods, yet he’s close to the city.”

“It’s also easily defensible. Maksim owns the property to the south, and I told him we’d buy up as much of the property toward his east as possible.”

“You need a lot of money for that,” she cautioned.

“I have lived centuries. Even before I entered the monastery, I had wealth. Most Carpathians do. You learn what is needed and you acquire it.”

“Good to know. I don’t have a penny to my name. Not really. I work, so I have a bank account. Or rather I did work before all this vampire nonsense, but I didn’t acquire actual wealth.”

He looked down at her, waited until she looked up and smiled. “You’ve acquired it now. You can have anything you want. Go anywhere you want.”

“I want to go out on the lake. In a canoe or the rowboat. Or the paddleboat. I’ve never done either one and the minute I saw the lake and the boats, I knew I wanted those experiences.”

“I think we can do that tonight. How is little Carisma feeling? She making you sick?” He stopped abruptly and took a step in front of her, forcing her to stop as well. He put both hands over her tummy.

“She’s feeling good,” Emeline said. She couldn’t help but smile. The baby seemed happy and content. She kicked and stretched a little, the feeling as if butterfly wings brushed her insides, but there was no sickness at all.

Good evening, little Miss Carisma. This is your father talking to you. I hope all is well. I am going to take your mother out onto the lake and I would prefer that you didn’t make her sick. You’ll like the feeling – it is almost like the rocking chair your mother says you enjoy.

Emeline laughed, the sound shocking her. It was carefree. She’d never been carefree. She hadn’t known what it was like not to worry where her next meal was coming from or where she could safely lay her head down at night. Those fears were ingrained in her and stayed with her even after she could work and rent an apartment.

“I love that you talk to her.”

He looked a little embarrassed if that was possible with his too-male features and his expressionless mask. She couldn’t help smirking. “You’re so caught, Dragomir. You only pretend you’re a tough guy.”

He caught her arm at the elbow and began walking along the dock, back toward the small canoe tied up there. “You worry me, Emeline, that you choose not to see all of me. You have never looked into the things I have done for my people.”

“The things you were forced to do to keep our world safe?” She stole a quick glance at his face.

“The things I chose to do. I was born a predator, sívamet. I am still a predator, and I will go into the next life a predator. You cannot mistake me for anything else.” He stepped into the canoe with complete balance and reached up for her.

His grip was strong and comforting as he put her on the end close to where the canoe had a backrest. It curved at the top in the traditional sense, but clearly Tariq had designed the canoe for comfort.

She worried a little that Dragomir kept insisting she wasn’t seeing everything about him. Of course, she wasn’t, but she did see what mattered most. He was kind and courageous. He devoted himself to her. He accepted her baby without hesitation. What was he referring to over and over?

She settled on the floor of the canoe and watched him settle opposite her and take the oar in his hand. One strong pull had them gliding fast out over the water. The sensation took her breath away. She loved the quiet of it and the feeling of moving over the wide expanse of the lake. The color of the water was different depending on where the sliver of moon shone, or the depth and the darkness. The farther out they got from the lights of shore, the darker the water appeared.

“This is beautiful,” she whispered, looking up at the stars, one hand trailing in the water. “Thank you. You’ve given me so many experiences I never thought I’d ever have. I appreciate every single one of them.”

“I love giving you things you want, Emeline.” Another powerful stroke took them gliding farther away from the shoreline.

Her gaze jumped to his face and then drifted over his chest and arms. He was hers. All that unadulterated male beauty was hers. “I love knowing you’re mine.” She felt a little shy telling him, but at the same time, she wanted him to know. That was more important to her than revealing her embarrassment. He deserved to know what he meant to her.

“Do you feel safe with me?”

“That’s an odd question. Of course I feel safe with you.” She wrinkled her nose at him, wondering where he was going with that line of questioning.

“Then why are you gripping the edges of the canoe until your knuckles have turned white?”

She looked down at her hands. He was right, she was gripping the edges and her knuckles were white. She absolutely loved the teasing note in his voice. “I’m hedging my bets.”

His eyebrow shot up. “You do know I could float us out of the water, turn upside down and still keep you from falling.”

She didn’t like that matter-of-fact way he asked. “I am certain you can, but I prefer that we stay in the water, exactly as we are meant to.”

“Humans are meant to. They don’t fly. We fly.”

“This part of ‘we’ is just trying out canoeing and enjoying it. Flying can come later. I watched the children on their dragons and was a little envious, I won’t lie.”

“The beauty of being Carpathian is you can do both. You can fly by yourself in any form you choose, and you will be able to fly a dragon if you really want to do that.”

“I do.” She drew up her knees cautiously and one by one pried her fingers from the side of the canoe so she could wrap her arms around her legs and settle her chin on her knees. “Do you remember the first time you ever flew?”

Dragomir shook his head. “Memories faded over the centuries. Even after getting my emotions and colors back, I don’t remember much from my childhood. I can remember every vampire and how they fight, what their preferences are in lairs and safeguards, but I can’t remember my mother’s face.”

He sounded crushed by that, but his expression hadn’t changed. She realized he often refused or more likely didn’t recognize an emotion that was sad or negative. He didn’t dwell there. He felt them, but he didn’t identify with them. Emeline couldn’t make up her mind whether she thought that good or bad.

“I don’t think about my parents much,” she said, needing to give him something back. “I didn’t really have family. Maybe that’s why I fought so hard to keep Carisma. I heard her screaming in pain and I just couldn’t hate her. She was an innocent caught in Vadim’s ugly world.” She rubbed her chin on her knees and then put her head down, staring out at the water. “He does that, you know – he hates innocence and does his best to strike at it.”

There was a small silence. Two more powerful strokes of the canoe sent them parallel to the shore. “I hadn’t thought about that, but you’re right. That’s exactly what he does.”

“He’s determined to kill the children, Dragomir. All of them. He targeted them for some reason as well. It wasn’t just because he knew it would draw me into the underground city, either. He had a reason he went after those children. I tried to find out about their talents, but then I realized if I knew them and Vadim was in my head, then he would know their talents as well, so I stopped asking. They don’t let others in easily, but Blaze, Charlotte and I are closer to them than anyone else here. Probably I have to include Tariq in that as well. Still, I don’t think anyone knows what they can do.”