Dark Carousel

  "We both supposedly tested very high, and they asked us to take more of their tests. We agreed at first, but they were so pushy, asking us very personal questions about private things neither of us wanted to disclose. Then they wanted to separate us. We were in a little room at that point and both of us had the feeling we were being watched and recorded. We decided to leave. For a few minutes there, it didn't seem as though they'd let us go. We actually had to push past a couple of men and be very belligerent about it."

  Genevieve nodded. "They kept saying we were making a mistake and that we needed to finish the testing with them. We just grabbed on to each other and made a run for it. We felt a little foolish once we were on the street with people around us, but even before we got home, we knew we were being followed."

  "You saw these three men?" Tariq prompted.

  Charlotte shook her head. "Not right away. We saw them there, at the psychic testing center, but off in the distance. We didn't even recognize them when we first saw them again in your club."

  "These men following you were in my club?" Feigning shock, he took a step away from them as if he might go into the nightclub and drag the three men out. "Did they approach you?"

  "Tonight they did," Genevieve said. "They flirted and danced with a lot of women, but they kept coming back to our table, even though we made it plain we weren't in the market for a hookup."

  "And you're certain these men are the same men you saw in Paris?"

  Charlie nodded. "Absolutely positive."

  "What time of day did you go in for testing? Was it dark?"

  "Midday," Genevieve said. "What does that have to do with anything?"

  "Fridrick likes to come out at night. He thinks the cover of darkness will keep everyone from ever seeing his crimes." Tariq glanced at his watch. "Will you come back to my house with me? That's where they'll bring your friend Grace and your young niece."

  Charlie glanced back at Genevieve, who nodded. "We'll stay the night," she agreed. "And thank you for the invitation. We can talk about the rest of it tomorrow when things are more settled."

  Tariq didn't want to leave her, not even for a moment. He didn't feel any of the vampires close. The hunters were on the heels of the vampires and four humans Fridrick had left behind. Being pursued by Carpathian hunters would keep them from the two women, but he would have to leave his car behind because he wasn't taking any chances with his lifemate's safety.

  "Maksim brought me." He murmured the lie, uncomfortable with telling an untruth to his lifemate. It wasn't done, but he knew it was necessary. She had every reason to be leery of strangers, and for all intents and purposes, he was that to her. She didn't have the same reaction to him that he had to her. She was already his world. There was no going back for him. He had searched through centuries to find her, and she was everything and more than he could have ever expected. He wasn't losing her.

  Charlie took a deep breath, her green eyes moving over him slowly. "Then I guess you'll have to ride with us."

  She knew he was lying. His heart jerked in his chest. Pride in her abilities shook him. Who would have thought a human woman would be able to read him so easily? He sent her a quick grin.

  "I guess I will. Let me just give my car keys to the valet and tell him to make certain my car that I didn't bring with me is safe here in the parking garage."

  Charlotte smiled at him, a genuine smile for the first time. She pulled her cell phone out. "I have to call Grace really quick and tell her to expect your friends. I want her to pack a couple of things for us as well."

  Genevieve pushed closer to Charlie, adding her list of items for Grace to pack for her. "And the men coming for you are really hot," the two women assured their friend.

  Tariq frowned. "You find my friends hot?" His eyes were on Charlie. Assessing. Something moved inside of him, something not good. His belly tightened into several hard knots.

  Charlie shrugged. "They're good-looking, Mr. Asenguard, of course we noticed. That will make Grace happier--to have her rescuers be hot guys."

  "Call me Tariq. And it would please me immensely if you would not find my friends 'hot.' I would be okay with you having that assessment of me, but not of them."

  Genevieve laughed.

  Charlie's eyebrow shot up. "So I have your permission to find you attractive?"

  He nodded solemnly, staying in step with her while they covered the short distance to her car. "More than attractive. More than hot. Is there such a thing as more?" He scanned continually to make certain no vampire was close to them. The four humans were hanging out inside his club. He thought it was a good thing that Dragomir and Siv had gone with Maksim to keep Fridrick from Charlotte's niece. He couldn't imagine either of them in a nightclub, nor did he altogether trust them with all the pounding heartbeats. They were both far, far too close to the end. Those in the monastery could no longer even hear the whisper of temptation to feel. Not even that. Putting Dragomir in the nightclub would be like putting a fox in a chicken coop.

  Charlie laughed, the sound sliding inside of him, restoring his good mood. She sounded a little flirty. He liked that. "If there is something that's hotter than hot, you're it, Tariq," she assured. "But then you already know that. You have a bit of a reputation as a playboy."

  Uh-oh. Not so good. "I do? Really? Because of a few publicity photos and charity events I attended? I assure you, Charlotte, I live quietly."

  She slid into the driver's seat and Genevieve slipped into the backseat, leaving the passenger front for Tariq.

  "You live quietly?" Charlie echoed. Her tone was quite frankly disbelieving.

  She waited to start the car until he'd put on his seat belt, something he was reluctant to do because he needed to move fast if there was trouble. Still, it was expected of him and he'd lived in the world of humans a long time and had learned to fit in.

  "Yes, quietly," he assured, snapping the belt around him.

  She gave a little sniff that sounded very suspiciously as if she didn't believe him. "You own a nightclub."

  He frowned, genuinely puzzled. "I own several of them."

  "Women dress up in sexy, very skimpy club clothes looking for someone to hook up with for the night. You're hot. You're wealthy. You can carry on a conversation. The women are going to be throwing themselves at you every night. No way are you living quietly."

  He caught the underlying tone she had. She was striving for conversational and matter-of-fact, but he heard the little bite to her voice. She was far more interested than she was letting on. "Go left, out to the lake district."

  Maksim. Dragomir. Siv. Tell me you have the child safe. They were taking too long to secure the little girl. Charlotte's little girl. If Fridrick managed to get his hands on the child, Charlie would be frantic. She would do anything to get her back, including handing herself over to the vampire without hesitation.

  Not yet. Engaged at the moment. Maksim's reply was clipped.

  Tariq turned his head away from Charlie to look out the window. He'd hoped the three hunters would get there before Fridrick. Had Maksim gone alone, he would have run up against two master vampires, but Dragomir and Siv were with him. To engage all three ancient hunters, Fridrick had to be desperate. What had he said? Genevieve was for someone else. Charlotte was for Fridrick.

  He went very still. Vadim Malinov had lured two women down into the tunnels beneath the city. One of those women, Blaze, was Maksim's lifemate. The other was her best friend, Emeline. It had been Emeline Vadim was after, but they'd also tried to acquire Blaze. When the hunters had gone through the tunnels, they'd discovered that all kinds of experiments had been conducted. They'd also discovered the gruesome remains of several women in various stages of pregnancy. Was it possible this all centered around the vampires taking women for their own? Trying to produce families? The idea seemed so far-fetched, so completely impossible Tariq could barely fathom it.

  Vampire blood was acidic. It burned in one's body, through one's body. No baby would be able to
stand that kind of pain. The Malinov brothers weren't like any other vampires. They were brilliant men who had conceived a plan to overthrow the prince of the Carpathian people and then very deliberately turned undead. All five of them. Quickly they became master vampires, and their reputations for cruelty and cunning were legendary.

  From the evidence in the tunnels below, trying to have children was exactly what Vadim was doing. So if Emeline was for Vadim and Blaze had been for Vadim's brother Sergey, but they had rescued the women, that meant the undead would need two more women to take their places.

  "Fridrick said Genevieve was taken, but that you were for him, didn't he?" he murmured, turning back to Charlotte.

  She nodded. "Yes. He implied that Genevieve was spoken for." A little shudder went through her. "He was going to kidnap us, wasn't he? And take Vi to someone equally as horrible as he is."

  "But Fridrick said you were for him," he reiterated, trying to wrap his head around the fact that if Fridrick was involved, the vampires should need three women, not two. So who was the third woman? They'd rescued both Blaze and Emeline.

  "What is it?" Charlie asked. "You're worried. Grace hasn't texted me that they're out safely yet. Tell me what's wrong."

  How could he explain? He couldn't blurt out there were vampires in the city, not unless he wanted her to run screaming into the night. She would think he was insane, and by the time the truth came to light, it would be too late. There was no doubt in his mind that Fridrick would make another play for her.

  "Fridrick runs with a couple of other really nasty men." He didn't know how else to explain it, and he didn't want to tell her any more lies. She'd caught him out anyway. "If he was looking to acquire you with the idea that you would belong to them, there should have been a third woman targeted. As nasty and powerful as Fridrick is--and he is--the other two are far worse. Fridrick wouldn't be in a position to call you his unless they had a woman for the other two first."

  There was silence in the car. Charlie drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "So you think they already have a woman? Is that what you're saying? They've kidnapped someone and they're holding her someplace?"

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "That's possible, but . . ." He trailed off. Vadim was on the run. Mataias had trailed him to the harbor. He was gone, and there hadn't been time to kidnap another woman. There was no evidence showing they'd managed to get out with anyone else. He had taken Emeline and nearly gotten away with her. They'd been lucky that Val Zhestokly had been held prisoner and tortured. When Blaze had released him, he had managed to rush after Emeline, staying on the heels of Vadim so the vampire never had the chance to keep her. In order to save his own life, Vadim had to leave Emeline behind.

  "'Possible' but what?" Charlie prompted.

  He sat up very straight, his heart slamming hard in his chest. He tasted fear in his mouth, and this time it wasn't fear for his lifemate, but fear for a young woman who had already been through so much--too much. They'd brought Emeline out of the tunnels, bloody and eerily silent, in shock. Vadim hadn't had much time with her, but he'd had time. He'd sent a small army to slow all of them down, delaying them precious minutes so that he could be alone with her. That he was alone with her.

  "There is a young woman staying on my property. One of Fridrick's friends had her briefly, but we managed to get her back," he said, the disturbing insanity of his thoughts pushing everything else out of his mind. "If she counts as his woman, then it all makes sense." It made sense, but it was horrifying.

  None of them had talked to Emeline. She'd retreated into her little house and she'd refused to allow anyone to aid her--not even Blaze. Blaze went to see her daily, but she said that Emeline wouldn't talk about what happened. She kept the rooms dark and quiet and didn't want to talk even to a counselor. It had only been two weeks, so they all stepped back to give her time to come to terms with whatever Vadim had done to her.

  They all knew that Vadim had exchanged blood with Emeline. That had been horrifying enough. It would allow Vadim to find her anywhere she was. He could whisper to her, command her, see through her eyes at any time. As long as she stayed on Tariq's property, under the combined safeguards of all the hunters, Vadim couldn't get to her, or steal her mind from her, but if she were to leave . . .

  He shook his head, not wanting to entertain the idea that Emeline's fate could be worse than that. She was a beautiful young woman, courageous and sweet. She'd gone in the tunnels to save children--strangers to her--all the while knowing what would happen to her. She'd seen her fate in dreams and yet she'd still gone, determined to keep the children out of the hands of an extremely cruel vampire.

  "Tariq," Charlie said softly. "You've gone a long way away. What's wrong? You helped us out, let us help you."

  He looked around. The road leading to his estate was just up ahead of them. "On your left. That leads to my property. Maksim's property borders mine." Do you have the child? He didn't know what he'd say to Charlie if Maksim, Siv and Dragomir weren't able to rescue Lourdes and Grace.

  She's safe. They both are. Siv has Lourdes, and I am with the woman while she packs. She did not like the separation but she had no choice. Siv is not one for conversation. He walked in behind me while I was giving her the code, took the little girl right out of her bed and was gone before Grace could say a single word. He does not have a civilized bone in his body. Dragomir has gone after Fridrick and his brother.

  Tariq wanted to smile at that. Siv had never been civilized. After centuries of battles, he was probably even less so. Val was more than likely the same way. Like Val, Siv and Dragomir had been tortured over a long period of time, not by Vadim, but in other, even worse circumstances. Tariq had been spared that fate.

  "Lourdes is safe," he announced in a low tone.

  "How do you know?" Charlie snatched up her cell phone. "Genevieve, contact Grace. Make certain they're both safe."

  "You could say I have a couple of psychic abilities myself," Tariq said, giving them both a small grin. The relief of knowing the child was safe was tremendous coming on the heels of what he feared the vampires were doing. His smile faded. He needed to talk to Emeline. More, they all needed to protect her, make certain she didn't leave the property and the protection of the safeguards.

  "They're out," Genevieve confirmed, "but Grace isn't happy that they're separated. She's driving her truck and coming here with Maksim. She says Maksim's friend is a first-class jerk."

  "Thank God," Charlie said. "Not about your friend who helped us being a jerk, but that Lourdes and Grace are safe." She stole another look at him. "You're still worried."

  "It is just strange that both of you were in Paris and so was Emeline, the woman Vadim took prisoner down in the tunnels. Emeline went for psychic testing here in the States with Blaze, Maksim's girlfriend, and her father. You two did the same thing in Paris. Emeline must have been there at the same time. She recently returned when Blaze's father was murdered."

  Charlie drove right up to the tall double gates and shifted in her seat so she could look over her shoulder at Genevieve. "Emeline is an unusual name. We met a girl named Emeline. She wasn't going by that, but someone called that name out and she turned. It was clear that was her name. She confessed to us that she had a stalker and was hiding out, using another name. We hung out with her for several days, and then one morning she was gone. I think this is all becoming one giant coincidence--far too much of one."

  Tariq thought so as well. Was Paris the connection between the three women and Vadim? The psychic center? He knew that under the Malinov reign, the psychic center's computers had been hacked and all the data on psychic women had been stolen.

  The double gates opened inward toward the property. Charlie put the car in drive and rolled through slowly.

  "I think you're right," Tariq agreed, "but I have no idea what it all means. Did you meet Emeline before or after the psychic testing?"

  "After," Genevieve said. "About three days after. It was before Grand-m
ere was murdered. Our lives went crazy after that. We could barely leave our homes between the creepy guys following us around and a serial killer going after people we loved. I honestly forgot about Emeline, and I shouldn't have because she was in trouble. Do you think this is the same Emeline?"

  "If I were a betting man," Tariq said, "I'd be willing to place a very large amount on that as fact."

  4

  A subtle breeze came off the lake and stroked over her face, touching her with cool fingers and rifling her hair. Charlotte held herself very still, her arms wrapped around her middle, afraid her legs would give out on her. Now that the danger had passed for the moment, her body went into a kind of shock. She didn't want Tariq to notice, so she kept her face averted as she studied her surroundings.

  The moment Tariq had told her and then Grace had confirmed that Lourdes was safe, she'd gone limp with relief. She hadn't realized how much she'd been holding herself together, terrified for the child and knowing she could never get to her fast enough. Tariq stood close to her, close enough that she felt his body heat, close enough that she worried she would slump to the ground at his feet. She'd never fainted in her life, but she suddenly felt terribly weak, her arms and legs like lead.

  Charlotte glanced at Genevieve, and saw she was still seated in the car. The passenger door was open and she stared out at the lake, but she looked pale and just as weak as Charlotte.

  Tariq's arm circled her waist, pulling her body into his, tucking her to his side. "Forgive me, Charlotte, but you look as if you might end up on the ground. You have been through a lot tonight, and you still need to talk to the police. I do not want you to fall and injure yourself."

  She shouldn't cling. She really shouldn't. She told herself over and over to be strong, that she was strong, but confronting her brother's killer--that sophisticated, smiling murderer--she hadn't realized just how afraid she'd really been. Fridrick set her teeth on edge. There at the end, she could almost believe in vampires. His smiling oily good looks had suddenly disappeared. He'd looked so different, his eyes almost glowing and his teeth . . . She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. Vampires. She was overtired and scared to even be considering such a thing.