Gary sent him a quelling look. “She is no more than an infant. When there is time, I will search, but there are many years between now and then. As Valentin knows, it is not easy to have a child for a lifemate. It can be a special kind of hell. I know when she was born, and that she is alive, and that is more than most know. I also know it will be years before I can claim her.” His strange eyes returned to Tariq. “In the meantime, I have my orders and I intend to carry them out.”

Maksim patted the chair Tariq had vacated. “Quit prowling like a tiger and sit, old friend. Everyone but you knows you were born to lead. We need your skills to figure out what Vadim is up to. Sit down and show us your brain power.”

Tariq did a slow perusal of each ancient’s face. “I think you’re all a little crazy, but Maksim is right. We must figure out what Vadim is up to. I don’t like that he gave Amelia up. The sliver is destroyed. He no longer has a spy in our camp, and what real damage did she do?” He leaned his hands on the table and shifted his gaze to include them all. “I keep going back to that. What real damage did he do?”

Dragomir had wondered that all along. If Vadim had so senselessly sacrificed Amelia, then she had never been important to his plans. She was merely a pawn. A diversion. “He has to have someone else here, someone who can feed him information, someone he isn’t willing to sacrifice or use to kill so he can receive vital information when he needs it. If he knows Tariq is his greatest enemy, then it has to be someone who would have contact with him in a more adult way. Someone Tariq might talk in front of.”

Frustrated, Tariq slapped his palm on the table, almost glaring at Dragomir. “But who? How? We’ve checked everyone. My entire security force was checked. I did it myself. The Waltons, although they had no real contact with Vadim or his army. Genevieve? She immediately offered to have us check her and we did. She was fine. So who else? What are we missing?”

Dragomir turned the problem over and over in his mind. “Who did he have access to? Emeline and Amelia for certain. We know he had Liv. Her blood was taken, and she was given first to Valentin to use for food and then Vadim’s puppets. Where was Danny?”

“He was never in the same room with Danny,” Tariq said.

“Bella?” Dragomir persisted.

“She was put in a cage in the same room with Liv.”

“So he could have put something in her as well.”

“We checked her,” Tariq pointed out, his head turning toward Gary for confirmation. “We checked her. You did. She had parasites and you got rid of them.”

“The parasites were injected into her that rising,” Gary said. His tone was strictly neutral. “Once we knew the parasites were in her body, I got rid of them. I didn’t check for anything else, and even if I had, if there was a second splinter, I most likely wouldn’t have found it.”

“O köd belső,” Tariq swore. “She’s three years old.”

“She isn’t the only one we have to consider,” Dragomir said reluctantly. “Emeline was with Vadim the longest. He could have put a splinter into her. Or the baby. Is that possible, Gary? When he impregnated Emeline, could he have also given the baby a splinter? If he killed the baby, what would happen to the splinter? Because he definitely wanted to kill Carisma.”

Again, there was silence as the ancients looked to Gary for answers. Dragomir felt as if he had betrayed Emeline and his daughter. Each time he fed Emeline, his blood went to their child, turning her more and more to his. Her organs and brain developed with the nutrients of his ancient blood. I’m sorry, sívamet, but we have to know.

She never quite left him, or he, her. Emeline had gone through too much and there was a part of her that just refused to believe he was real. She didn’t want to be lied to, or kept from knowing what was happening around her. He gave her that because she needed it.

He knew she wasn’t the only one who needed reassurance. He had never been an easy man. Others often avoided him. He was ruthless when it was needed, implacable in his resolve, and he knew that his woman would always be that – his. To cherish and protect. To make happy. To love and respect. Above all, he would keep her safe. Those weren’t qualities in men, as far as he could see, that modern women appreciated. They wanted to be the same as a man, with all the same rights and responsibilities. He didn’t know how to make that happen.

He knew Emeline would never have the ability he had to fight a vampire. She could – and would – defend her home, children and herself if she needed, but to seek out a vampire in his lair was dangerous. Seeking a master vampire could be suicide. No, he wasn’t ever going to let that happen. He would take her choice away, and that was something a modern woman couldn’t live with. He didn’t know how to resolve that issue.

Another man might have just let her make her choices and live with the consequences, but he wasn’t that man. He’d never be that man.

Stop, Dragomir. We talked about this. I am your lifemate. You told me I am and I believe you. I feel the ties connecting us with every breath I take. That means you respect me and see to my happiness. It also means I do the same for you. I know it won’t be easy staying in the house when I think I need to run outside to scoop up a child, but if you assure me you have it covered, and the others are watching over you, I’d only get in the way.

He knew it was the best concession she could give him and he loved her all the more for it. His heart felt painful it was so full. Emeline. His heart and soul. There was no way to express to her the feelings he had for her.

Thank you. I am sorry about discussing Vadim’s slivers without first talking to you. I hadn’t considered it fully yet. It had been nagging at him. If Vadim gave up Amelia, his eyes and ears in the camp, he had to have another fully entrenched, one he didn’t believe anyone would ever consider.

I would want to know, too. There is no betrayal.

I should have spoken first with you.

He felt a wave of warmth pour over him. His woman. Perfection. She didn’t see it in herself, not the way he did, but he vowed that one day she would.

“Emeline? Or the baby?” Gary spoke softly, clearly giving it thought. “It is very possible, of course, that either has a splinter. If he killed the baby, the splinter would simply move to a new host. That host would be Emeline, but we inspected the baby’s brain for anomalies and there were none. We could have missed it, splinters are tiny, but I doubt it.”

“He didn’t want any of the vampires to kill Emeline, nor did he try when he had the opportunity,” Dragomir said. “I thought it was because of the baby, or that he wanted her for another purpose. Could it be that she is host to a sliver of Vadim? If so, how do we find it without tipping him off? If he knew we were aware of it, he would move quickly to kill both the baby and Emeline. He would have to kill her to leave her body and find a new host.”

“We would have to outsmart him,” Tariq said. “Emeline would have to be ill. She’d need a healer to look at her. He would have to inspect every part of her and, if he did find the splinter, not give that away.”

The idea was repugnant to Dragomir. Vadim had done so much to Emeline already. She had gone to Amelia and talked to the girl. He’d heard every word. More, he’d heard and felt the emotions she felt. Not only her, but Amelia as well. Emeline had relived those memories in order to connect with the teenager and bring her back to them.

“Are there any others who Vadim was with long enough to implant a splinter?” Tariq asked.

“Me,” Valentin said. “He was with me a very long time. I do not believe he thought I would ever get free, so the chances are slim, but I would very much like the healer to check. I want Liv checked as well.”

“At any time were you unaware?” Gary asked.

Valentin nodded. “I was in and out sometimes after he tortured me. He kept me starved and often took my blood. I was weak most of the time. It could have been done.”

“I need some others to go with Dragomir to the underground city,” Tariq said. “Remember, this is to gather information only. Don’t engage unless you have to. Once we assess the situation, we can put together a comprehensive plan of action. In the meantime, Gary, we’ll need you and Dragomir to examine the victims for any sign of Vadim.”