Dark Carousel (Dark 26)

Alycrome told us no man had the right to take over another unless it was self-defense, survival, or saving the life of another. Putting a shadow of one's self into another is a form of aggression. A strike to take over that person and render them a puppet to one's will.

Tariq's arms pulled Charlotte closer as she shuddered against him. He had wondered how Vadim kept the human psychics from being complete puppets, needing flesh and blood to survive, yet still kept them under his control. Splinters. Vadim was using splinters of himself, small shadowy leeches to slip into and feed on the host. Vadim could control thoughts subtly that way. The more inclined the host was to carry out orders, the easier it was for Vadim to take control. He was smart enough to offer each human in his army whatever that man desired most. Tariq sent the information to the others so they would know what they were facing in Vadim's human army.

The thing one has got to remember about splinters, sisarke, but everyone chooses over the centuries to forget, is what they do to the kuly who is so peje ignorant as to use it, Dragomir continued.

Sisarke is little sister and kuly is literally a worm, a demon devouring souls. Peje is burn or in your language it would be fuck. A very bad term. Vadim is nothing more than a worm, Charlotte, and we will rid you of him for all time. Tariq spoke gently, holding her light in that circle he'd made to ensure she didn't slip away.

She was no longer fighting to get free; she lay very still, allowing his blood to work through her system, removing all traces of the human she had been and reshaping her as Carpathian. On some level she was aware, very aware, of the spirits of the men inside her body, helping to heal her even as they worked. She was listening, and it was helping to combat the pain and fear of conversion.

Alycrome impressed on all those who would listen that each splinter taken from the creator was a piece of him gone, diminishing him, Dragomir said. Xavier didn't care to listen. He spent his time learning every dark spell without learning the repercussions of them.

He thought he was above consequences. He thought himself smarter than his father. That was Siv. Ah. Now I see it. The worm. A little fishtail causing such trouble. Do not worry, sisarke; this will be no problem for your lifemate and the three of us. Give yourself up to him while we dispose of this kuly.

Tariq was very aware of the shadowy fishlike wiggling splinter buried deep in Charlotte's rib. He could see the tail of it writhing under the combined powerful lights of the three ancients. He had missed Alycrome's teaching by only a few short years. Xavier had risen as head mage after the death of his father, and Tariq had studied under him. Xavier certainly hadn't taught any of them that using a splinter would diminish the creator.

Siv and Val moved abruptly, joining Dragomir, so that there was only one powerful beam, the energy from all three ancients concentrated in one hot blast as they poured light over the worm. The tail began to smoke. The worm wiggled hard, surging back and forth, the bone a trap now rather than a haven.

The three ancients refused to let up, pouring white-hot energy onto the tail of the splintery shadow. Charlotte gasped and arched her back, half sitting, the soil falling around them like a shower.

Tariq covered her face and wrapped his body around hers, blanketing her, holding her in place. She feels that.

It is Vadim attacking, Siv said. He feels that heat. This splinter is part of him. It burns. And where it burns is in his brain.

The shadow thrust forward, trying to penetrate deeper into the bone. It couldn't burrow fast enough, so it tried backing out. The tail began to curl into blackened ash. Frantic, the shadowy parasite flung itself sideways, crashing into the bone over and over with hard, short bursts of power to either side.

A flash of crushing pain told Tariq and the others forming the circle that Vadim had broken the rib, but not punched through the bone to escape as he intended.

"She can't take that," Blaze whispered aloud. "She's too far gone." She wrapped her fingers tightly around Liv and pushed the child's head against her thigh. "Tariq, stop them."

If he stopped them, it would give the splinter time to consume her red blood cells and perhaps find another place to settle where they might not find it. Charlotte detested having the thing inside her.

I'm with you, sielamet. Right here. They are destroying the splinter, and he's fighting back. Stay with me. I need you here with me. He murmured the words into her mind, but more, he pushed feeling there. Poured himself there. Filled her with him.

She moved then; her spirit moved against the circle he'd formed, but to his astonishment, it moved forward, back toward her body and away from the waiting shadows holding the tree of life.

Remove him. I don't care about the pain. Get him out of me. Each word was distinct. Faint, but distinct. Charlotte wanted Vadim gone from her and she gave her consent to the three ancients to do what was necessary.

She settled into him, her spirit sliding up against his. Merging with his.

"Tariq, you have to stop this," Blaze reiterated. "She's too weak."

There was a moment of silence. A breath. An inhalation and exhalation collectively so that it was heard throughout the basement.

Your woman, your call, Dragomir said.

Against him, Charlotte's body shuddered in pain. Her eyes fluttered, lashes opening just barely. There was a plea there. More, there was absolute trust.

Get him out of her. Now. Tariq knew his woman. She was a fighter, a woman of courage. Charlotte would want this even more than he did. Vadim had no place in their world, their sanctuary.

Charlotte tried hard to rise above the pain. She could see it etched into Tariq's face, and she knew it was very, very bad, far worse than she felt, and she definitely felt it. Still, with all of them shouldering most of the pain, she knew even the children could take it and that gave her comfort. If they added more Carpathians, would that take even more pain away from Bella and Lourdes? From Liv, Amelia and Danny? Because they had to be converted. She knew that with the same certainty as every single Carpathian in the room.

First and foremost there was Liv. She was connected to all of them through Val. He'd forged that path to save her, but now all of them could see what had been done to her. The puppet tearing into her flesh with savage teeth. The noises of him gulping her blood. The burn of Vadim's blood as he forced it into her--the horror and terror of taking the vampire's blood.

At night, in her sleep, if she dared to sleep, the vampire came to her and whispered demands. He wanted her to kill her sisters and brother. To kill Tariq. He told her how to kill him. He told her what he would do to her if she didn't obey him. It was no wonder the child looked so haunted. More, if he whispered those commands to Liv, what was he demanding of Emeline? The trauma had taken its toll on Liv. She planned to end her life if Tariq wouldn't convert her. She was convinced she would eventually go crazy and hurt her family.

I will never let that happen, sielamet. She is watched day and night.

You have to convert her. Like this. With everyone helping. This is why Emeline wanted her here, so she could see and feel how it is done. There was no other explanation. Emeline could see into the future through her dreams. If she wanted Liv there, it was for a singular purpose--she needed to be converted, and Emeline didn't want her to be afraid.

Tariq was such a good man. There was no ego--and that, she decided, was what made him such a good choice for a husband and father. He didn't care who was credited for what. He didn't have to be a hero, and that made him one in her eyes. He allowed three ancients inside her, moving through her body, and more, her mind, in order to bring her peace. To remove a threat to her. She loved him all the more for that.

Through Charlotte, all those present felt Vadim's cunning hatred of all Carpathians, but in particular of the prince and his family. He cared nothing about women or children, only about what use they could be to him. She caught flashes of him ripping through several people, drinking blood, splashing it around and shoving them off a ship. She knew the others did as well. Not

hing was sacred to him. Nothing at all and yet . . . his entire focus was on the Asenguard compound. There was something there he wanted and he would sacrifice every one of his soldiers, his pawns, his massive army to get it.

Charlotte felt another blast of pain as the splinter buried in her rib changed tactics. Now that her rib was broken, the thing had more wiggle room. It swayed from side to side under the terrible, relentless blast of white-hot energy. She forced herself to lie as relaxed as possible, drawing strength from Tariq's arms while the splinter attacked her. It was an attack, nothing less. Vadim wanted to force her to stop them. She was just as determined the vampire wouldn't get what he wanted.

I'm in love with you, Tariq. She needed to tell him and now seemed a good time. Her body hurt like hell, and she knew his did as well. He felt far more pain than she did and she figured letting him know what he meant to her was a good way to tell him thank you.

Tariq's arms tightened and he buried his face in the nape of her neck. More than life, Charlotte. The very air I breathe. You are fel ku kuuluaak sivam belso, my beloved. You are also truly and literally han ku vigyaz sivamet es sielamet, keeper of my heart and soul.

When he spoke in his language, in that beautiful, mesmerizing voice she loved, the one that felt like love, the splinter went very still, as if it were paralyzed. Instantly the three ancients struck hard, blasting it with energy and the white-hot light. Charlotte felt that terrible flash, the burn along her broken rib. She took a breath and let it out slowly, trying to ride on top of the wave of pain.