Dark Carousel

by Christine Feehan

  She says his name is Billy and that he took her to an abandoned warehouse. She can hear water. Tariq supplied the information. I will rise in another half hour. How soon can you join me?

  I cannot follow you until the sun has set. You will only have Maksim to back you until that time, Val said with regret.

  Tariq could hear the weariness in his voice. Val had taken the last shift with Liv and he was still healing from his time spent with Vadim. Torture took its toll on the body, even that of an ancient Carpathian.

  Tariq had programmed himself to wake well before sunset. He needed to get a jump on Vadim and Fridrick. Vampires couldn't protect themselves, even by manipulating weather and clouds, from the sun. His lifemate, coming into his life, provided some protection for him. She'd brought light back into his soul and that would allow him to awaken in daylight and plan his battle. Unfortunately the other hunters would not be able to go with him.

  Blaze will come with us and Charlotte. Tariq didn't want his lifemate anywhere near the vampires, especially Fridrick, but he knew exactly what the undead would do. Fridrick will insist on an exchange. Liv for Emeline, Charlotte and Genevieve. They are determined to have those three women. Charlotte will know this and she'll insist on making the exchange.

  There was a stunned silence. You cannot possibly allow your lifemate to put herself in such danger.

  Tariq sighed. Val, Dragomir, Siv and Nicu had rarely mingled with any culture or society of humans. They hunted in cities at times, but they struck fast and hard and got out without ever having to interact with humans. He had lived with humans throughout his long existence. He studied them and he studied their women. He wanted to be the best man he could possibly be for his lifemate, trying to learn as the world around him changed.

  He knew modern-day women often expected a partnership, not a dictatorship. Blaze was such a woman. Charlotte as well. She wanted to make her own decisions, and as long as he felt he could control the danger to her, he was more than willing to give her what she needed. He wanted a partner, someone with ideas and opinions of her own. Now, with the children, he understood that need in him more.

  Charlotte will do whatever it takes to get Liv back. Vadim will know that we don't have Emeline to give him. She's in need of medical aid. My team has been attending to her and she has a concussion. Blaze will appear to be Genevieve.

  Again there was a silence. Val wasn't happy with the decision. That is two women we cannot afford to spare. If they kill them, we will lose two of our warriors. This is a bad time, Tariq. The enemy has grown strong while we have been complacent. I never expected the Malinov brothers to amass such knowledge and to be able to bind vampires and humans alike in their war against us.

  They were always intelligent, Val. Always thinking of ways to overthrow the prince. No one thought they meant the things they said. We thought they liked to debate. By the time anyone knew they meant every single word and had planned the assassination of the prince and his entire family, it was far too late. They chose to become vampires, and they put their plans into motion.

  Three are destroyed.

  Others, such as Fridrick and his brothers, seek to take the places of the dead, Tariq pointed out, because it was true. As fast as they killed the undead, more rose up.

  Fridrick is cruel, but he lacks the intelligence and patience of the Malinovs. There is great care in their planning. Vadim has sat like a bloated spider in the middle of his web, pulling his strings together slowly, so that no one noticed until he was ready to challenge us. He's ready, Val, and he needs Emeline, Charlotte and Genevieve in order to carry out his plans. He targeted them months ago and everything he has done has been to acquire them.

  Val flooded the Carpathian pathway with assent. No vampire would stay in the vicinity with so many hunters gathered in one place unless he could not leave for some reason. He goes out to sea to regroup, but he does not leave. That is all the more reason to keep your lifemate close.

  Tariq knew he would never convince Val that Charlotte should be a part of the rescue, so there was no reason to continue to try. It was getting close to the time that he needed to be up and planning his assault on the warehouse where Liv was being held.

  Sleep while you can, Val. When you wake, bring the others with you. Someone will have to stay behind to guard Emeline, Genevieve and the children. I'll keep them asleep as long as I'm able. At the moment they are in their safe rooms sleeping under compulsion, all but Emeline.

  It is done, Val vowed. Kulkesz arwa-arvoval, ekam.

  Walk with honor, my brother. Tariq repeated the sentiment back to the Carpathian in English. He meant every word. Val was a good man. A strong one. An elite hunter. He had endured torture beyond imagination and survived to help a small child through a horrific nightmare. He had forged a bond with Liv, one Tariq didn't altogether understand. Val couldn't feel, and yet that bond was strong enough to allow the ancient hunter to awaken from his sleep and attempt to soothe and steady the child through the daylight while she waited for the vampires to decide her fate.

  Tariq turned his head slowly to look at the woman lying tucked into his side. Very gently, using his fingertips, he pushed back the thick fall of hair from her face. This rising they faced a battle for a child's life. Possibly her soul. Liv would never survive intact without conversion. If they did that, the other children would insist they follow her into the Carpathian world. He had no choice but to chance the conversion, just as he had no choice but to allow Charlotte to risk herself when the time came. They were parents. There was no question that they would risk everything for their children. It didn't matter to him that other hunters he respected might not agree with their decision--it was theirs to make.

  Wake, beloved, and come to me. See me. The earth has healed you and you are fully in my world. Wake now.

  He made certain the soil was open above their heads and their bodies were clean and fresh after their resting. Charlotte's long lashes lifted and the impact of her beautiful eyes felt like a punch to his gut. Hard. In there. Dead on. For a moment she was all his, soft and loving, a ghost of a smile there for him. Then she was present, in the moment, and the daylight battle and kidnapping of their child came flooding back.

  "Liv," she whispered, her throat closing on a lump. "Tariq, she's so frightened. I can feel her through you and she's terrified. She wants to die. She's figuring out a way to provoke them."

  He had known Charlotte was strong from the moment he'd laid eyes on her. As he'd gotten to know her, had been in her mind, the conviction had grown. When she'd awakened from her slumber in the earth because Liv had been sleepwalking, that had cemented his knowledge. Now, as she woke, she automatically scanned his mind, learned every detail of what had gone on while she slept.

  "We're going to get her, sielamet. Your first time in the sun will be vicious. It will feel as if you're burning. You can take it, Charlotte. If we don't get everything in place before Fridrick rises, we might miss our chance to get her back."

  Charlotte nodded immediately and allowed him to help her into a sitting position. "Tell me what you need me to do."

  There had been no hesitation, and he was proud of her for that. "We both have to feed. Our security crew is still here, guarding the property. They've been cleaning up. I told them to gather every single piece of the carousel horses and, wearing thick gloves so there was no chance of getting a splinter, put them in bags and bring them to the workroom. I will ensure all pieces are accounted for down to the smallest sliver. When I am certain, I'll feed and then you will."

  She touched the tip of her tongue to her lips, looking a little apprehensive, but she didn't protest. "Reach out to her again, Tariq. Let her know we're both with her."

  "She knows, beloved." He was as gentle as possible. "She's holding herself together by a thread. We can't snap that thread, nor do we want anyone to be aware we're communicating with her. They have to think we won't be on the move until sunset."

  "You reassured her all day," she protes
ted.

  He nodded, gathering her into his arms and brushing his mouth gently over hers as he floated them to the surface and then closed the soil behind him. "We did. Val woke as well to aid me. But she asked for quiet to try to concentrate. She said she was afraid she'd betray the fact that I was with her. She was very close to falling apart so I told her I'd give her that, but would stay connected with her."

  Charlotte bit her lip and nodded her understanding. She didn't like it, but Tariq knew she understood. It took every ounce of Liv's courage to keep from wailing and screaming for them to come for her. She could see it in the child's mind, just as he could. She could also see the small cage she was in as well as the horrifying puppets surrounding it. They were brutes with rotting flesh sloughing off. Jagged, serrated, bloodstained teeth. Fetid breath. No longer human, craving blood and flesh, they were monsters beyond anyone's imagining, let alone a ten-year-old child's.

  "I need to get to her, Tariq. I need to. I can barely breathe."

  He felt the same way. He was cool and calm, able to push emotion aside, and yet, with Liv taken, his gut was twisted into hard knots and his lungs refused to cooperate. His child. He'd promised her she would be safe and they'd taken her a second time. He had no idea what that would do to her, but he was fairly certain she would be scarred for life, no matter how good they made things for her.

  "We'll get her," he reassured, letting her see the truth of his statement, his firm conviction, because there could be no other outcome. They had to get their daughter and bring her home safe.

  He clothed them as he took her through the house to the front door. "You'll need to wear special sunglasses at all times, Charlotte. Don't take them off until sunset."

  "What else?"

  "You will follow my instructions to the letter no matter how much you want to go to Liv. If you trust me, Charlotte, and you'll have to for us to pull this off, then you need to remember, no matter how bad it seems, that I'll get Liv away from them."

  She looked him straight in the eye. "Absolutely, Tariq. I won't let you down."

  "It could get bad. Bloody. Your impulse will be to do whatever Fridrick tells you. If things go bad, they'll hurt her in front of you to make you compliant. You have to trust me then more than ever. Our job is distraction and getting the safeguards down. The others will take out the guards and engage the army. Val will get to Liv. Believe that. Val will get to Liv."

  "Whatever it takes. I can be strong for her."

  He searched her mind and saw only acceptance. She would stand with him. Do whatever it took to bring Liv home, even if it meant seeing her suffer.

  "These men that came to aid us are our personal security. You'll see them around the club when we go there, and they'll be training here off and on. We need them to protect us during daylight hours. They are aware of what we are. I've taken their blood and know each of them and their hearts and souls. They're good men, Charlotte, and today they risked their lives for us." He wanted her comfortable with them. They would always need a security force to help in their protection during daylight hours.

  She nodded. "What about the two men that helped Emeline? I saw them in the tunnels. You're worried about what to do with them. They helped her." She made it a statement.

  Tariq could see she was concerned about what he might do to them. "Sielamet, you are such a kind, compassionate woman, unlike your lifemate. If they threaten us in any way, or if Vadim or Fridrick have planted them here to try to harm us, they will be killed. There is no arguing that point. I want to give you the moon, anything you ask for, but granting them mercy if they are our enemy is not something that can be done."

  She lifted her chin at him, and he found he liked that little gesture. Maybe he just was so far gone he liked everything about her, especially now, when they were both so focused on getting Liv back.

  "If they are enemies, Tariq, threatening our family, what you decide to do with them is entirely up to you. Have no worries that I might protest. I've seen what these people do, and remember, I was in that tunnel when Vadim threw Liv to that disgusting, vile puppet and no one lifted a finger to help her."

  He wasn't about to point out that no one could have helped her and lived. The tunnel was filled with vampires and puppets. There was no aid for a hero. He was fairly certain the two men despised what was happening and had wisely bided their time in order to maximize their chances to escape and maybe lend aid when they could. He didn't say that to Charlotte, although she caught his thought, because she gave a little sniff of annoyance.

  Hiding a small smile, he took a breath, shoved his sunglasses on his nose, made certain hers were on and opened the door. At once a thousand needles pierced his skin. His flesh was seared to the bone, even with his long sleeves and gloves. The pain burst through him and then he contained it, tuning his mind to Charlotte. He heard her gasp, but she cut off her admittance of pain and tried to pull her mind from his.

  "No, beloved, you have to allow me to aid you through this." On her, the sun felt as if it burned through her skin, raising blisters instantly. He had made certain her clothing covered every inch of her body, but still, she was scorched right through the heavy material.

  "Tariq, it is no more than when I was a young child and stayed swimming too long in the pool," she assured. "I can take it. I'm starving, though. All I can think about is putting my mouth on you."

  She said it to distract him, forgetting he was entrenched in her mind, regardless of whether she tried to protect him by throwing him out. It couldn't work now that they were lifemates and she was fully Carpathian. He knew her inside and out as she did him--or would, once she got over her shyness of touching his mind.

  He took her hand and allowed her the untruth because she thought it would spare him and she needed that right now when her child was in a cage surrounded by monsters. He took her to Emeline's first. As they crossed the compound, he waved his hand to repair any damage done to the buildings. In spite of the rockets and grenades, there was very little damage--his defenses had held. The dragons were back on the playground, a few scratches and dings in their scales, but no real damage had been done to them.

  Emeline lay in her bed, her face so pale she looked almost translucent. Maksim leaned against the wall in the corner farthest from her. One ankle was crossed over the other and he stared out the window rather than look at the gaunt woman in the bed. Emeline's head was bandaged and clearly Blaze or Maksim had cleaned her up in the way of their people because there wasn't any evidence of blood anywhere on her.

  Blaze sat on the edge of the mattress and swept Emeline's hair from her face with gentle fingers. "I love you, Emme. Don't slip away from me," she murmured softly as they entered the room.

  Emeline's gaze jumped to Tariq's face as he entered, and she looked frightened. Threatened. He sighed and smiled at her as gently as possible. "Thank you for saving Liv, Emeline. She would be dead if you hadn't risked everything to save her." He wanted her to know it wasn't just her life she'd risked. She knew Fridrick's army was there to take her to Vadim and still, she'd launched herself out into the open and saved Liv's life.

  "She's mine, too," Emeline said and then gasped for breath. She wheezed with every breath she took.

  Tariq knew she didn't want interference, but he couldn't be in the same room with her and not help. He waved his hand to calm her breathing, to ease the terrible tightness in her chest. Before Emeline could protest he leaned down to brush a kiss across Charlotte's mouth. "Excuse me, ladies, I must feed. We need to get moving as soon as possible to put our plan into action."

  "You have a plan?" Emeline's gaze jumped to his face again. This time there was the beginning of hope.

  "We do. We'll bring her home, Emeline," Tariq assured. He jerked his chin at Maksim and the two left the house together. "How hurt is she?"

  "She didn't want Blaze to examine her, but the medic said concussion. She won't allow us to use our skills on her. She wants nothing to do with Carpathians, Tariq. Nothing at all, espec
ially with the men. She tolerates me because of Blaze, but she's uneasy with me in the room. I thought it would get better, but it's actually gotten worse."

  "It hasn't been that long since she was attacked, and it probably didn't help that Fridrick's army penetrated our defenses and managed to take Liv again. There is no way she feels safe now."

  Maksim casually used his lengthening fingernail to cut a long, deep line in his wrist. He offered the blood to Tariq rather absently. They'd been partners for a long time and hunted together frequently. That meant they shared blood and saw to each other's wounds. Neither thought much about it although Maksim murmured the ritual words.

  "Saasz han ku andam szabadon--take what I freely offer."

  "You can spare this? We have to be at full fighting strength."

  Maksim nodded. "I fed twice, first for Blaze and then again for myself. Our security team was very cooperative."

  Tariq bent his head to Maksim's wrist, accepting his answer. Maksim knew what was at stake. They were far from the Carpathian Mountains and had to create their own sense of family. Maksim and Blaze were part of Tariq's family just as he knew he was part of theirs. They relied on one another to guard their lifemates. Blaze was precious to them. She had represented hope for Tariq, another reason to hang on no matter how long he had to endure that gray world of nothing.

  Blaze was a warrior through and through, and Tariq found it interesting that Charlotte was as well. Charlotte wasn't skilled in fighting as Blaze was, but she had the spirit and courage of a fighter. He would never forget that moment in the parking garage when she'd tried to protect him.

  When he'd taken enough blood to feed Charlotte, he closed the laceration on Maksim's wrist and stepped back, looking around the compound. His first order of business was to make certain they had every single splinter from the carousel. He didn't want there to be any mistakes. The children couldn't accidently stumble across one of Vadim's evil shadows. He waved his hand and sent wind swirling through the yard, a magnet for the ancient splinters of wood. His security team had handled the larger pieces but there was no way for them to get every splinter. He had to do it. He sent the debris into the basement, where the rest of the carousel was waiting.