Dark Carousel (Dark 26)

"Hang on, Charlotte," Tariq said softly, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her easily to cradle her against his chest.

She had no option but to put her arms around his neck and hold on. She looked around for a car. Any kind of vehicle. They weren't anywhere near the parking lot. Genevieve and Lourdes had gone to bed, as had Danny and his sisters. Emeline's lamp was still on, but other than that one faint beacon of light, the night was very dark on the side of the property away from the lake. She tightened her fingers convulsively when the ground began to drop away, grateful she'd had playtime with Lourdes again before deciding to go with the men to the tunnels. The idea had seemed sound then; now she wasn't so certain, but soaring across a sky was maybe worth it after all.

"Tariq." She breathed his name, wanting to hide her eyes, but unable to do so, not when she could stare at the house and lake from above. He didn't hesitate or falter. Neither did the other men, still grouped in a tight circle around her.

"It's easier and faster to get from one place to the other this way," he explained.

That so wasn't an explanation. But flying through the air was totally kick-ass. She opened her mouth to speak and the wind whipped every word away from her. She chose to use their more intimate path. Will I be able to do this by myself?

Male amusement. At last. Something about my world that pleases you.

You please me. Flying really pleased her. Flying was possibly the coolest thing in the world, once you got over the shock that someone could actually fly. She would be doing a lot of flying in the future.

Tell me why Dragomir thought it was too dangerous for me to go with you. Because, honestly, if a man like that was worried, maybe she should be as well.

Tariq was silent for so long she didn't think he'd answer her. She watched the houses and lights below her and then finally looked up at his face. Every single time she did that--looked fully at him--he took her breath away. Not just the beauty there, but the depth of feeling he had for her.

His blue eyes drifted over her face. You are so brave, Charlotte. Many, even most, Carpathian males do not want any danger touching their lifemates. However, each lifemate is different, with different needs. For instance, Blaze, Maksim's lifemate, is a warrior through and through. She doesn't particularly want to have to fight vampires, but she certainly wants to know how to do so and to become skilled at it. She needs that. So Maksim can do no other than provide for her what she needs.

And I need to do this. She made it a statement because it was the truth. She didn't want to fight vampires, but she certainly wanted to know how. She wanted to become the best fighter possible. She wouldn't want to actively go hunting, but she wanted to know she could defend herself and her children--all the children--from the undead should she have to. Blaze has the right idea.

Yes. I spent a lifetime or two training young men for battle. I talked it over with Maksim and have no problem teaching you and Blaze and any of the other women here on the property who would like to learn.

You're very progressive. She couldn't help but bury her face between his neck and shoulder so she could kiss behind his ear and tug at his earlobe with her teeth. I need a progressive man.

When we go into dangerous situations, I expect instant obedience.

She flinched. There went his progressive status. Tariq, I'm actually quite intelligent. I know enough, without you or anyone else telling me, that you're far more equipped and experienced at this type of thing than me. It's your world, not mine.

He started to speak and she shook her head, feeling his thoughts forming in her mind. It isn't my world yet, but even if I were fully in it, I would still expect you to take the lead and kill the monsters. I don't mind helping you in any way that I can, but all by myself I can figure out that I don't have the experience you have.

She didn't try to keep the attitude out of her voice. Did he think she was crazy? She had no problems wading into a fight. She backed up her friends, and she'd back up her man. She totally would take care of her family, but the idea that he thought she'd be silly enough to try to battle it out with the likes of Fridrick if she didn't have to do it was just plain crazy.

I told you not to touch the horses and you did.

Okay. He had a point. She'd totally done that. It was an accident of sorts, but still, she'd done just that. When I'm around old things, I like to touch them. It's a compulsion. As she answered, she stroked his face with the pads of her fingers, hoping he'd laugh.

I can see my woman has a lot of sass in her.

At least she could feel his amusement. I have to keep up with your bossy tendencies. Remember the part about you giving me what I need? I need you to lose the bossy business.

She felt more of his amusement and liked it a lot. That blossomed into full laughter, and she absolutely loved that.

They settled to the ground just outside a vacant building. "There's an entrance right here. The tunnels lead to a little underground city. The Malinov brothers prepared very well for this." Tariq put her gently on the cracked sidewalk. "They bought up most of these properties, and we think they're using the harbor to go out to sea on boats. They buy men and women from the trafficking rings and take them out where no one can see them all die."

A little shudder went through Charlotte. "Is that what they wanted us for? To feed on and kill?"

"No, Charlotte." He shook his head, his gaze moving broodingly over her face. "Down there, you'll find the reason hopefully just by touching the cages. We think we know what they're doing, but need to be certain. We found the bodies of several young women in various stages of pregnancy. We believe they are trying to find mothers for their children. Those women have to be capable of becoming lifemates."

Maksim led the way down into the tunnels. Tariq followed him. Charlotte stuck her hand in Tariq's back pocket in order to feel more at ease in the labyrinth with all the twists and turns.

"They're looking for their lifemates so they can have children?" she echoed faintly. Who would want the likes of Fridrick as the father to her children? That was the worst possible thing she could imagine.

"It is impossible for them to find lifemates. Even if one stood in front of them, they have chosen to give up their souls. They cannot bind her to them. No, they are looking for gifted human women strong enough to carry their children. How that is possible I don't know, but it is certain they are trying. We found . . . remains. We removed the bodies but had not gotten to the skeletons and bones. Those are still buried in the debris."

Charlotte felt a little frisson of fear creep down her spine. She couldn't imagine what someone like Fridrick would put a woman through, and according to Tariq, he was not the worst, not the man in charge. She really didn't want to be around to meet him.

They halted beside a door that was broken and held up by just one hinge. Beyond that, there was nothing but dirt, concrete and what looked like twisted steel. Tariq turned to her, put his hands on her waist and pushed her back two steps.

"Right there, Charlotte. I want you in sight at all times. All of us will clear out the rubble and then you can do the reading for as long as you can take it. When you tell me, I will pass every word along to the others. But stay close, don't wander off."

There wasn't going to be any wandering. This place gave her the creeps. The sconces remained high up on the walls and Dragomir waved a hand toward them to light them. She didn't think that made being in the tunnels any better. She could see splashes of blood on the curved walls here and there, as if the hallways had been deliberately and artfully decorated that way.

"Say you understand, sielamet."

His tone could be a whip or a caress. This was the whip. He meant business. She nodded because already, even without her hand hovering on any object, she could hear the whispers. Agony. Waiting for death. Praying for death. She choked down the bile and did deep breathing. At the first test of true fire, she wasn't about to vomit all over the floor and prove to Tariq that Dragomir was right. She might be sensitiv

e, but she was still a woman with a woman's power, and no way would she fold before she even got started. If there was any way to help other women Vadim and Fridrick were torturing, she would do whatever it took to save them.

"Honey, I'm not moving from this spot," she assured.

Tariq studied her face, seemed satisfied and then turned back to the door. A wave of his hand sent it floating to the ground out of his way. He pressed both palms down over the mess of concrete and dirt and slowly raised his hands. To her shock, the debris lifted away, leaving half-smashed cages and the remnants of a table and revealing another door beyond the first. The moment Tariq cleared the front room he moved to the second one, removing that door, glancing over his shoulder at her, giving a silent command not to move.

She glanced uneasily around her. It was quiet. The Carpathians had spread out, going to other rooms in order to clear debris, and they worked in absolute silence. They communicated telepathically so there was no need for conversation. For some reason, that annoying spot on her finger throbbed painfully and without thinking she stuck the injured pad into her mouth.

Go outside and wait. Right now. Do not talk to anyone. You are not safe. Go outside and wait. Right now. Do not talk to anyone. You are not safe . . . The words were soft. Insidious. Compelling. Repeated over and over like a loop in her head she couldn't get rid of. A warning? Her own radar telling her she was in trouble? She shook her head to try to clear the sound, but it persisted, like a broken record that was stuck on those phrases only.