Dragomir knew the expression on the child's face--one of absolute remorse--should have moved him, but it didn't. Emeline's silent cries were in his head. The sound of the baby screaming in helpless pain echoed through his mind.
"I accept that you are responsible for opening the safeguards and allowing the evil into the compound," Dragomir told her. "You knew what you were doing, didn't you?"
She nodded, lifting her head up so she could look him in the eye. "I did."
"You knew that the vampires waited outside the compound." He made it a statement. The children had laughingly referred to their new home as their prison. They had a roof over their heads, food day and night, playgrounds, movies, every luxury Tariq could give them, and every pleasure, including swimming in the lake.
Liv looked confused. "I didn't think they could get here so fast. There were so many. They were everywhere."
"Did you know that we lost two members of our security force?" Dragomir was relentless.
Danny turned as if he might help his younger sister, but Dragomir waved his hand and, like Liv, the teenager couldn't move forward or back.
Charlotte gasped and pressed a hand to her mouth, looking toward her lifemate. Tariq shook his head at something she said telepathically, but he didn't protest.
"Those men had families."
Valentin placed a hand on Liv's shoulder, but he didn't do other than that. Dragomir admired him. The man knew what Dragomir planned. It was a tactic they often used with Carpathian children.
He waved his hand again and replayed the screams of the unborn child. "This is my daughter. Vadim is torturing her and she is yet to be born." He allowed her to hear the cries of the families of the two men killed in their defense. "These people, mother and father, wife and children, will never hold their loved ones again."
Tears streamed down the child's face, but she remained standing, looking at him. Waiting. Knowing. He gave it to her then. "My lifemate, suffering the pain of what he did to her." He allowed Emeline's screams, the ones she kept so silent, to be heard by Liv. Then he did what all Carpathian ancients had done before him. He played out the scenarios of what could have happened: Emeline being taken. Danny, Amelia, Bella and Lourdes dead on the ground in front of her, their dragons dead or dying from the many wounds inflicted on them. The sounds of the battle, the screams of the children, explosions, fire, chaos reigning. She saw it all. He made certain Danny and Amelia saw it as well. Only the three-year-old was spared.
The three children sobbed, eventually putting their hands over their ears to try to block out the sounds of what nearly had happened.
"Do you understand now?" Dragomir asked Liv. "Do you know why the rules are in place? The elders don't put them there just to hoard their power. The rules keep everyone safe."
"Why are you doing this to us?" Amelia burst out, tears tracking down her face. "Those things didn't happen."
"They didn't happen because I was alerted to the danger and took care of it. Would you like to see my back where the threads of fire Vadim created burned through my skin to the bone?" Dragomir demanded.
Liv shook her head, sending her older sister a quick glance of sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Dragomir. I would never want to hurt Emeline. She's been one of my best friends. She saved us." The last was said in a whisper, on a hiccup.
"Emeline trusts you. Tariq trusts you. We all do. You betrayed that trust to have fun. Just for fun." He let that sink in.
Liv was silent for a long time, staring up at his face with too-old eyes. "You're right, Dragomir. I didn't think of the consequences, only that I wanted to fly my dragon. I couldn't wait." She took a deep breath. "I wanted to show Danny and Amelia what I could do so they would want to be Carpathian, too. I should have thought it out first. What can I do to help the families of the two men who died?"
"They are dead. There's no bringing them back from the dead. Their families will have to go on without them," he said, driving reality home to her. "I would say those deaths were on your shoulders," he began.
Charlotte shook her head and took one step toward the child, but Tariq's firm hold on her arm stopped her. Valentin shifted a little bit closer to Liv, but he remained silent. Liv's tears streamed unchecked down her face, but she didn't look away from Dragomir, accepting her responsibility for all that had taken place.
Dragomir shook his head. "But you are not wholly responsible. There is another among you. One you trust. One you believe in. He--or she--whispers in your ear to get you to do Vadim's bidding. He--or she--is his pawn."
Danny scowled at him. "We've all been examined. Tariq took our blood in order to monitor us and we all consented." He sounded belligerent. Challenging.
He turned his gaze on the boy. "One of you managed to hide from Tariq with the aid of the puppet master."
Danny turned to glare at Tariq. "I can't believe you are allowing him to accuse us like this. Do you believe I'm tainted? Or Amelia? Maybe Bella. Maybe a three-year-old is running around doing Vadim's bidding."
"This time"--Dragomir circled his prey--"this time, the person came to wreak havoc in the healing grounds. Was someone gone from your group? Even for a few minutes?"
Danny couldn't turn to watch Dragomir. He could only look forward toward the house--toward that little break in the wood where someone had crouched and took command of the lightning when it was called down to aid Dragomir in getting rid of the parasites.
"We were all in our rooms, doing what Tariq asked us to do. He grounded us. That meant we didn't talk to one another or interact because we were supposed to spend time alone contemplating our mistakes." That was said defiantly. His voice said he knew the punishment didn't fit the crime. "He was going to talk more to us about what happened and assign a punishment then."
"Healer." Dragomir called to Gary. He wasn't going to do the examining. He didn't want the women to say he had planted evidence in the traitor. Blaze, Charlotte and Emeline had been human and their thinking was human. They couldn't conceive of children betraying them, certainly not children they loved. "I ask that you examine each of these children for evidence that Vadim has used them as his puppet."
Gary, of course, had the right to refuse, but he had aligned himself with Tariq. He'd placed himself in the position of being second-in-command, just as all Daratrazanoffs had done before him. He wouldn't refuse. It was in the best interests of the compound to find the traitor, and Gary wouldn't be emotional one way or the other over children. He was incapable.
The healer materialized beside Danny. His strange ice-blue eyes appeared more silver than blue, moving over the boy. "Do you give your consent for a search?"
"If I say no, would it matter?" Danny said bitterly. "I'm not a traitor. I would never betray Tariq or Charlotte, let alone Emeline. I know what Vadim put her through, and I know it happened in order for us to be saved. All of us. Emeline sacrificed for us."
"Will you do less, then? Do you have her courage?"
Danny's jaw tightened. "I have courage. I don't think what you're asking me to do takes courage. I know you won't find anything. I don't like the accusation, but search away."
Daratrazanoff didn't waste time; he shed his body and entered the boy's.
Amelia lifted Bella into her arms. "Is he going to search the baby, too?" She didn't look at Dragomir, but rather at Tariq.
Dragomir answered. "Unless someone confesses, all of you must be searched."
"We all were searched," Amelia pointed out. "Tariq, you searched us yourself. This isn't right. First you let him make Liv cry and then you just stand there while he's mean to us. We all love Emeline. Why would we try to hurt her?"
Dragomir waved his hand and she stopped in her tracks when she would have turned to take the child back to their home. He stalked around her in that same circular pattern he'd made around Danny, scenting the air, hunting. He had a well-developed sense of smell, one he needed when tracking the vampire. The familiar scent reached him. One of grape and vanilla, and the elusive odor of burnt grass
. He moved closer. It wasn't the baby, but the girl. He was certain of it. Still, he moved away from her, shifting his gaze--and the breeze--toward Sandu.
Sandu inhaled deeply, drawing the poisonous truth into his lungs. He nodded, an almost imperceptible movement, but Tariq was sharp, once more underscoring why he was the chosen leader. He caught the small communication between the two ancients.
He strode over to Dragomir. "Tell me." It was a command, nothing less.
Dragomir had a split second to decide if he wanted to go to war with this man. "Go to the side of the house and smell the scent there," he encouraged. "And then smell the one here."
Tariq glanced at Valentin's expressionless mask. The ancient gave nothing away. He simply stood in front of the child who one day would be his lifemate. There had been another child, a girl adopted by Francesca, one of the Carpathian women. It was discovered early on that Dimitri was her lifemate. Like Valentin, he stayed away to make it easier, but returned if there was trouble. Valentin would protect his lifemate with his life.
It was Liv who answered her sister. "This isn't about us, Amelia, it's about the Carpathian world we live in. Someone aided Vadim. I'm sure it isn't me, but I want them to examine me just in case. I need to know it isn't me."
"You already know," Amelia pointed out. "And now they're accusing us once again. Why can't they take our word for it? We don't like knowing there's a traitor any more than they do. Why does it always have to be one of us they accuse? Why can't it be one of them?" She hugged Bella tighter to her. "Danny's right, it's insulting."
Liv shrugged. "The healer is confirming, Amelia, that's all. We did open the safeguards. It was wrong and foolish of us. I think this is a small thing for them to ask of us."
Amelia scowled at her little sister. "I hate it when you make sense."
"Give me Bella," Charlotte said. She held out her arms.
Amelia couldn't help the triumphant look she shot Dragomir. At least her baby sister was going to be spared. He didn't deign to answer her. Just the fact that she'd handed the baby over, drawing attention to the child, made him suspicious. He glanced at Sandu, who nodded. Tariq turned to look at Bella as she clasped her little arms around Charlotte's neck. There was speculation in his eyes when he turned back to Amelia.
Gary emerged from Danny's body, his spirit moving back into his own. He swayed but remained upright. Tomas offered him blood. The healer took it before he gave the verdict.
"The boy is clean of all parasites."
"Examine Bella next," Tariq said, voicing the demand unexpectedly.
Amelia tried to swing around but she couldn't move, couldn't take a step toward Charlotte to regain possession of the child. Gary didn't waste time. Once again he shed his body and went into Bella's. Charlotte held her close while Amelia glared at the Carpathians.
"This is so stupid," Amelia said. "A baby? You think Vadim chose a little baby to rush outside when we were all supposed to stay inside. Where was Genevieve? She always watches Bella."
"I believe the last time you wanted to go flying you sent Genevieve to sleep," Tariq answered. "That's enough, Amelia. We're going to get to the bottom of this tonight."
Amelia fell silent, but clearly she was still angry. Dragomir would bet his last dollar from the considerable fortune he'd amassed in his lifetime that the girl was the one Vadim had used to take over the lightning whip used to try to kill him.
Gary emerged almost immediately. "There are parasites in this child's blood."
Tariq closed his eyes. Dragomir shook his head. "It isn't her."
"No, it can't be her," Gary confirmed. "I found a fresh entry wound on her thigh. It was up high and cleverly concealed, but someone pushed a needle into her and shot her full of parasites. It is so new, they haven't had time to take root in her bloodstream. I have to clean them, though, or she'll suffer. He could kill her. Direct the parasites to clog her heart as he did with Emeline's unborn child." He addressed his statement to Amelia.
The teenager looked horrified. Dragomir watched her closely. Either she was the best actress on the planet, or her reaction was genuine.
"Get them out of her. Right now. Get those things out of her. They're horrible little wiggly worms with teeth." She tried to go to her sister, but Dragomir refused to allow her to take a step.
"Who do you think could have done this, Amelia?" Tariq asked gently. "There was only you, your brother and Liv."
She shook her head. "Genevieve was there. The vampires were all over her last night. Dragomir, you saw them. When you were helping Danny and me, you had to have seen them."
Dragomir replayed the images in his mind. Amelia's orange dragon had been wounded and was spinning out of control. Danny's brown had been in real trouble as well, not able to stop its plunge to earth. Had he not interfered, both dragons and both teens would have been lost. He'd directed Danny to aid Genevieve, to get her out of the play yard to safety. In his mind, he slowed down the replay so that he saw everyone. Genevieve was slumped over on the stone bench, her head on her book, hair blowing in the wind. She was oblivious to the danger, the vampires following their chosen leader--Vadim.
Vadim had Emeline a distance from the stone bench where Genevieve lay sleeping. Danny had started to wake Genevieve, shaking her repeatedly. Amelia aided him. Dragomir had turned his attention to Vadim, his ultimate challenge. Out of the corner of his eye, he continued to observe the drama unfolding by the bench.
Genevieve didn't seem able to wake up. She didn't respond at all. Danny seemed to be directing Amelia to pick up Genevieve's legs, which she did, but she dropped them, tripping over a tuft of grass in the yard. It was then that Vadim directed a couple of lesser vampires toward the children, not Genevieve. He remembered that distinctly. He told Emeline he was going to kill all the children because she hadn't cooperated. He had not included Genevieve in the threat.
"I do not recall vampires going after the woman. They chose you and Danny as their targets," he said, his voice betraying his thoughts.
"They did. She was on the ground and Danny kept trying to wake her."
"You told Danny to run," Dragomir persisted. "But you didn't run. You turned to face the vampires, and both followed Danny. Neither came after you."
"That's crazy. You were fighting Vadim. You couldn't possibly have seen what took place," she objected.
"We are taught from the time we were children to record every battle so we can replay it and improve for the next fight. I have the recording in my mind."
"Well, your recording is flawed. I tried to help Genevieve and then I gave up and ran to the safety of the underground chamber where the dragons were being held. That was the drill, Tariq's orders. Outnumbered, we get to the safety room. That's the rule." She sounded just a little smug.
"That's convenient for you."
As he spoke, a tired-looking Gary returned to his body. He was pale and weak. He actually staggered and almost went down, but Lojos eased him to the ground and then extended his wrist to him. Dragomir noticed that this time Amelia stared at the mouth over the laceration. Clearly the sight fascinated her. A single drop of blood ran down the back of Lojos's hand and dropped almost in slow motion to the ground. Amelia's gaze followed it.
"Amelia." Tariq's voice was soft. Gentle. But it held a command.
Amelia seemed mesmerized by the drop of blood, staring at it as it lay in a perfect circle on the ground. Dragomir subtly enlarged it. Not much, but the ruby drop was nestled in the nearly black dirt, rich loam Tariq had on the property to grow his plants and trees--to heal his people.
"Amelia." Tariq's voice sharpened.
She licked her lips and reluctantly tore her gaze from the crimson drop of blood showcased by the rich dirt.
"Did one of the vampires touch you?"
She blinked rapidly, her face closing down. "You know they did. Blaze examined me. I'm not pregnant like Emeline. I didn't let them put their disgusting child in me. That baby is vampire, just like its father. Dragomir can pret
end all he wants that he's the baby's father, but he'll never be. How do we know it wasn't the baby attacking him? The baby could have tried to kill him. Did you ever once think about that?"
There was a long silence. Amelia looked around her. "I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking. You accused me, so my entire family has to be searched, but we can't even speculate that the baby did this?" There was pure defiance in her voice. She looked to Lojos. "What about you? Do you worry that the baby is a Malinov? I've heard all of you use that name. You know she's his baby, yet you all act like it doesn't matter."
"It doesn't," Gary said before Dragomir could respond. "Vadim targeted the baby for death. He can't turn a female child, and he knows that. He might use one as his tool, but if the baby was unborn, he'd have to force the mother to carry out orders."
Amelia changed the subject the moment he spoke. "How is Bella? Did you get them all?"
Gary nodded. "I did. They hadn't had time to burrow deep or hide themselves, so in comparison to Emeline and the baby, this was relatively easy. She has no memory of Vadim or any other vampire."
"You looked in her memories?" Amelia's tone was accusatory.
"Yes," Gary said. "I looked back over the last few hours. She was playing in her room when you came in, Amelia. You walked right past Genevieve, who once more had succumbed to a sleeping spell. I know it was a spell because every use of magic has a signature. The spell surrounding her was Vadim's."
"I just thought she was asleep," Amelia defended. "How would I know what Vadim's signature looks like?"
"You picked her up and swung her around. She laughed and snuggled into you." Gary stood up and walked right over to her. "That's when you did it. You injected her thigh. All the while you were laughing and joking. If she felt anything, it was a tiny pinch. You kept playing with her so she wouldn't get suspicious."
Amelia shook her head. "I wouldn't do that. I would never harm my own sisters." Both hands curled into fists. "You can't possibly think I would inject parasites into a toddler. Into Bella." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared in a kind of horror at Tariq. "I didn't, Tariq. I don't talk to Vadim. I really don't. I would never let evil into our home. I love it here. Danny and the others are happy. So am I. I don't want to leave." Words tumbled out, running into one another as she denied all charges.