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  She hurried over to help him, shoving at his back and then positioning herself there so he could slam his fist into the vampire's chest and remove the heart. She kept her eyes closed tightly, but it didn't stop her from hearing the sucking sounds as he withdrew the blackened organ and tossed it over the railing. Lightning flashed, a terrible whip in the sky lashing out so the fiery tip could incinerate the heart.

  The vampire's screams cut off abruptly, and Dragomir shoved the body from him. He turned slightly, caught at Emeline and pulled her close, bunching her hair in his fist so he could tip her head back. "Stay still."

  "Don't." She knew his intention. He would try to heal the burning, bleeding holes Vadim had made in her neck. "I'm unclean." The admission slipped out before she could stop it. To her dismay, it didn't deter him.

  He tightened his hold on her hair and forced her head back when she attempted to resist. She could have countered magic, or pushed energy, but there was no way for her to counter brute force. His tongue was soothing on the fiery pain. She hated that it was. Hated that he would taste Vadim's filthy blood with its horrid parasites. He would ingest them for her, to try to stop the bleeding.

  "I want it to bleed. His parasites are in me, too many to remove. Don't. Please. You'll only harm yourself." God knew, he was already in a bad way. She didn't see how he was still conscious when he'd lost so much blood. It was everywhere, all over her porch, his clothes, her, and both vampires had gulped as much as they could in the time they had.

  "Hush," he crooned softly, barely lifting his head. Just enough that with every word, every breath, she felt his lips move against her skin. "Let me stop this right now. Get me into the house and put your herbs and whatever else you deem necessary into my wounds. I'll appear dead, but I won't be. I'll need Carpathian blood." His mouth was once more over the twin wounds Vadim had put in her neck.

  "I can't have you in my house," she said, betraying her desperation. "Or any of the Carpathians. I . . ." She felt helpless. Selfish. He was nearly dead because of her. He'd done what she'd asked of him. He'd saved the children and the dragons. He had come back to save her, and he had. Now, he was torn, losing far too much blood. Helping her instead of saving himself.

  "Do what I say, woman."

  She winced. Now there was authority in his voice. It might be said in a low, velvet-soft tone, but it was pure command. Even Tariq, the owner of the property, didn't give her orders. They all treated her gently, afraid she'd break. Worse, she wanted to do as he said for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because he was still alive and she needed him to be. The stroke of his tongue on her skin had been . . . shocking. Soothing. It wiped out the horrors of Vadim sinking his teeth into her, making her skin crawl and burn.

  She glanced over her shoulder toward the battle. The sound of gunfire was loud and once she thought she heard Genevieve screaming. She stood gingerly, her legs shaky, making up her mind. Determined. He was slippery, his blood coating his skin, and so was she, but she managed to pull him a couple of feet across the porch until they were beside the door. She had to let go of him in order to open the door.

  She turned back to catch at his arm. To her dismay, there were more of them. Vampires. Surrounding her house. Threatening both.

  Did you think I would give up? I will never stop until you are mine. If you don't come to me now, we will kill everyone there. Each death will be on you. Vadim's voice, beautiful and yet foul, moved through her mind like an oily sludge.

  She gasped, her hand going protectively to her throat. Could she make herself go with them? Put herself back in Vadim's hands? A shudder went through her body. She should have known that Vadim wouldn't give up. He wanted her, and if she didn't go, Dragomir and every other person in the compound would die.

  Dragomir's fingers settled around her ankle like a vise. "Emeline, step back into the house. Leave the door open, but get inside. If they try to get to you, slam the door shut. They cannot enter without an invitation."

  She knew that. It made sense. She could save herself. Hide in her house. Watch Dragomir die right in front of her. She shook her head and tried to take a step toward the waiting vampires, five of them. Far too many for a Carpathian, even one with Dragomir's skills, let alone one torn up the way he was.

  Dragomir flowed to his feet. She had no idea how. None. He shouldn't be alive, let alone standing. He literally shoved her into the doorway. "Stay put. You try to leave and I will have no choice but to stop you."

  She glared at him. "They'll kill you. You can't fight them." She took one step toward him, determined to fight with him. If he was going to die for her, then she could do the same for him. Except, she couldn't move. Her foot ran into some kind of invisible barrier. She reached out with a hand and encountered the same thing. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. Determination and resolve were in his. She knew he saw despair in hers.

  Dragomir turned to face the five vampires. Emeline pressed against the invisible barrier, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. She couldn't stand watching, knowing it was going to be a massacre, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the big man striding across her porch with confidence.

  He was far bigger than she had realized in the confines of the verandah. The blood and scars only served to make him appear invincible, a warrior of old defending his lady. Tears welled up. For him. For her. She wished he was hers. That man, so scarred and torn but standing unbending in the face of evil.

  Dragomir moved with sudden blurring speed and she couldn't help but notice how graceful he was, how fluid, like a great lion, bringing down his prey in one easy leap. He was on the first vampire before she could blink, his fist crashing through the chest wall so that his fingers could pry the heart free and toss it aside. He whirled and slammed his bloody arm into the second vampire's chest. Lightning forked across the sky, and he directed it toward both hearts as he turned to face the third.

  The third vampire was close, too close, although Dragomir managed to slam his fist deep. He looked exhausted. Tortured. She knew every breath he drew was difficult. He'd battled several vampires, then two master vampires, and suffered several severe injuries, but he kept going. The vampire had turned his body as Dragomir's fist crashed through his chest, throwing the trajectory off just enough that Dragomir had to withdraw his arm and punch a second time, which he did with lightning speed, but that small second gave the remaining two vampires time to join the attack.

  Emeline tried to warn him, screaming his name, battering with her fists at the shield preventing her from helping him. Both vampires tore at his body with their vicious teeth, acting as if they might devour him alive. They gulped blood--he had little to spare. Frantic, she battered at the shield and screamed for help until her voice was hoarse. Dragomir remained unbending, like a great lion in the midst of a pack of wild dogs. He didn't move until he withdrew his fist and tossed the heart into the air, where lightning incinerated it.

  The moment the heart left his hand, he turned to face both attackers, simultaneously slamming his fists into the walls of their chests. The vampires went berserk, clawing at him with terrible talons, raking deep furrows down his neck, throat and chest. They seemed to want to scrape the skin from his body, tearing it off in long strips.

  Emeline wanted to close her eyes so she couldn't see what they were doing to Dragomir, but she couldn't look away. He never changed expression. There was no sign of the pain he had to be feeling, no anger or acknowledgment of any kind that those monsters were tearing up his body with so much glee. One kicked repeatedly at the wound in his right thigh, even as he tore at the hunter with his claws.

  Very slowly Dragomir began to retract his closed fists. The vampires became even more frantic. Dragomir didn't even blink at the wildness the two vampires displayed. One went for his eyes, trying to gouge them out. Dragomir moved his head, dodging the claws while he extracted the two hearts. He threw them away from the porch, out toward the play yard. The blackened organs sailed through the air. High. One vampire
leapt into the air after them, while the other ran down the stairs.

  Lightning lit the sky, a massive display, forks of sizzling whips streaking through the night to strike both hearts before they hit the ground, incinerating them. The vampire in the sky fell at the feet of his fellow undead. Emeline could see five bodies. Lightning kept crackling. The forks spread out and struck simultaneously, turning the five vampires to ashes.

  "Let me out," Emeline called. "Hurry."

  Dragomir was already staggering. She reached toward him, as if she might be able to keep him on his feet. The movement attracted his attention when her plea hadn't. He glanced toward the compound, where the fighting had all but ceased, and then he waved his hand toward her. She had one hand pressed to the shield and knew the moment it came down.

  Dragomir stumbled toward her and went down in the doorway, his weight taking her with him so that he fell inside. She didn't have time to think about a Carpathian hunter entering her home or what secrets he might discover. She crouched down beside him, afraid he was unconscious, but his gaze was fixed on her face.

  "Invite me in."

  "What? No." She shook her head. Blaze, her friend, had told her it was never a good idea to invite them inside one's home unless one was prepared to let them use their powers there.

  He made a move toward the door, trying to drag himself out. She didn't want that, either. "Wait. Just wait. I need to think." She was in a state of full panic.

  "No time." He reached up and wrapped a length of her hair around his fingers. "So beautiful. The color. So beautiful."

  He sounded delirious. He was bleeding everywhere, but she could see he was still trying to force his body to move out of her home.

  "Stop. Stop moving," she demanded, horrified at the trail of blood.

  "Going to have to shut down my heart and lungs. Can't do it inside."

  Her mind was in complete chaos. She caught his shoulders, trying to keep him from moving back. His hand was still in her hair, connecting them. She felt that, as if a million strands bound them together, yet it was the only thing she had to stop him. She couldn't take one more shoving with his toes and one elbow. She had to stop him.

  "Okay. Come in. I want you to come inside." Her mouth moved, voicing the invitation even when her brain screamed at her to stop. He couldn't come in, yet she was desperate to keep him there.

  His lower lip curved. It wasn't a smile, but still, her heart nearly stopped. It didn't soften the rough angles and planes of his face. He looked like a fallen angel, maybe Lucifer himself. She gently shoved his hair back from where it fell around his face. Grooves were torn there, made by claws. So much blood. So many scars. She knew Carpathians rarely scarred, yet something terrible had happened to this man.

  "Can you make it to the couch?"

  Something flickered in the depths of his eyes. Humor maybe. "Need dirt, sivamet, not a couch." He dropped his hand from her hair and then she had his weight. His full weight, all of it. He was extremely heavy, slumping against her so that she nearly toppled over. She realized he was out. He'd shut down his heart and lungs in order to preserve what blood he had in his body, preventing it from leaking out or spraying the floor around them.

  She sat for a moment, his head in her lap, her fingers smoothing back his hair. It was thick and as long as hers, falling to his waist. There were a few places it felt soft, but mostly it was sticky with blood. She sighed. At least he wasn't dead. The children were safe. She could see to his wounds and then find out about Genevieve and the others.

  He's dead. Those children are dead. Your friend Blaze is dead. I'll burn that place to the ground.

  The vile voice filled her mind and with it came the crashing pain, burning through her veins as if whatever terrible parasites he'd put in her body were determined to punish her for him. Deep inside her womb, she heard the screams of pain, of fear, and she pressed both hands over her churning stomach, wishing she could turn back time. But what would she have done? Allow the flesh-eating puppets he created to devour Liv alive? Tears burned again and she was sick to death of crying. She'd made a decision, and she had to bear the consequences. Her. No one else.

  Her gaze dropped to the man lying so still on her floor. She scooted, lifting his head so she could put it more fully in her lap. She knew he was unaware and that made her bold. She sat on the floor with him for longer than she should have.

  "Emeline! Unlock the door, Em!" Blaze called. "Are you okay? Open the door."

  Emeline took a deep breath. Blaze McGuire was her closest friend. Maybe her only real friend. They were more like sisters, and yet she was so afraid to allow Blaze inside. She was lifemate to Maksim Volkov, co-owner of the nightclubs with Tariq Asenguard. Blaze had been human, but now she was completely in the Carpathian world.

  "Emeline, I swear, if you don't open this door, I'm going to break it down."

  "You're Carpathian, crazy woman," Emeline pointed out, gently setting Dragomir's head on the floor so she could shift out from under him. "That means no entering without being invited."

  "I'm your best friend. Practically your sister. Invite me so I can break down the door."

  Despite everything, Emeline smiled. Blaze would, too. She'd break down the door in a heartbeat if she thought Emeline was in trouble. "They know," she whispered softly aloud. "Oh, God, they know and they're going to kick me out of here. What am I going to do?" Tears ran down her face. She wanted to stop them, she was sick of crying, but she didn't have a solution. All this time and she still had no idea what to do. She couldn't stay. She couldn't go. Her tears fell on Dragomir's face and she brushed them off gently.

  Dragomir's hand moved, coming up to hers, shocking her. By all rights, he should have been completely asleep, dead to the world. "She is not alone." His fingers settled around her wrist lightly, like a bracelet.

  She jerked her hand away, her heart racing. Was Blaze, the one person she counted on to help her, betraying her? "Who is with you?" Her voice shook. There was no way to keep fear from shimmering through the room.

  Dragomir's eyes opened. For one moment, she saw pain etched into his face. He took a deep, shuddering breath and was once more expressionless. "Go into the other room and close the door. I'll handle this."

  "I've brought a healer with me," Blaze called. "Everyone can feel Dragomir's need."

  The relief was so tremendous that for a moment she didn't actually realize the implication. Then it hit her. Dragomir's injuries were so severe other Carpathians could feel them. "Put yourself back to sleep. I'll let them in."

  He caught at her before she could get up. "Go into the other room. I'll let them in."

  Her heart skipped a beat and then became a drum. She tasted fear. "Dragomir . . ."

  "Do as I say, woman. You have secrets. A healer will discover them. This healer will discover them. Go now."

  "Why are you doing this for me?"

  He touched her hair. "Beautiful color," he whispered.

  Her hair was a wild mess. In tangles. She wanted a brush immediately.

  "Go," he said. "I won't let them near you."

  She believed him. He was hurt beyond imagining, but he'd poured steel into his voice and she knew he would do exactly as he said he would. All because he liked the color of her hair? Hardly. It was because he was a good man. The best. He'd appointed himself her shield and he stayed on that course no matter what.

  She lifted her chin. Squared her shoulders. It was time to face the consequences. They were hers, not this man's. "I'll let them in. You put yourself to sleep. Whatever he says . . ."

  Dragomir moved then, a fluid ripple of sheer power. He stood up, towering over her, reaching down to very gently pull her to her feet. "Do as I tell you." He turned her toward the hallway. "Stay away from the healer until I know if you are safe."

  He was implacable, and no matter what she said, no matter that for the first time she was willing to be thrown out of the compound--for him--he wasn't accepting her sacrifice. He was going to force her t
o accept his.

  His finger slid down the path her tears had taken on her face. She felt that touch as if it had sunk through her skin and impressed right on her bones.

  "Emeline."

  She nodded, because he'd stand there all day, leaking blood he couldn't afford to lose. She ducked under his arm and headed down the hall to the first bedroom. She stood in the doorway and watched him lift his hand to wave toward the front door, allowing it to swing open. Blaze was framed there for a moment, her long red hair pulled back away from her face.

  "Only the healer is invited in," Dragomir said firmly.

  Blaze stepped aside and a man moved into the house. Emeline's breath caught in her lungs, trapped until she felt raw with the need for air. He wasn't particularly tall, nor was he short. Power flowed through him, so much that his body couldn't possible contain it all and the energy surrounded him. Like Dragomir, muscles rippled beneath his clothes. His hair was longer in the manner of Carpathians, but to his shoulders, pulled back with a leather cord. It was his eyes that caught her attention. They were a startling blue, rimmed with a liquid silver. They were eyes that would see right through her to her secrets. She was grateful that she hid like a coward in her room.

  Those strange eyes swept over Dragomir and then moved past him, the gaze traveling down the hall straight to the bedroom. Emeline stepped back, certain he couldn't see her, but still uneasy.

  "You are the Carpathian who betrayed Aleksei with his woman," Dragomir observed. "Ancient, yet young. I do not believe we have formally met."

  "There was no betrayal," the man said, clearly uncaring what anyone thought of him, already striding into the room. "Sit before you lose what is left of your life."

  Dragomir hesitated. It was the first time he'd ever done so and she instinctively knew he didn't want to be in a vulnerable position, one that wouldn't allow him to protect her. She silently willed him to do as the healer bid him.