Dark Carousel (Dark #30) - Christine Feehan Page 0,112
would hate to see that happen to Forester and his friends, but he couldn’t save everyone, and Charlotte, Genevieve and his children were the most important to him.
The muscle in Daniel’s jaw jerked again. “I wouldn’t want them to know,” he agreed. “I would do the same, not let either of the women know what was happening in order to save them. But we made a pact.” He swept his hand back toward the two other men. They stepped up to his side, looking every bit as determined as Daniel. “We’re not going to allow those monsters to get either of those women if we can help it.”
Tariq paused in the act of walking away from them. For a moment he closed his eyes. So many other human males over the centuries had been worth his respect—and they’d died hard. He didn’t want to see these men go that same way. “If you really want to help me guard them, then you have to realize that either any knowledge you gain of hunters of the vampire must be removed from you or safeguards have to be put in place.”
Daniel started to say something, but Tariq held up his hand. “You need to think about what that could mean. Go away from here. If you still insist that you really want to hunt vampires and destroy them, come to my club tomorrow night. We’ll work something out, but your answer will be a permanent one. There will be no going back either way. Now go, before Fridrick’s spies report that you were more than paparazzi trying to get a photograph of my fiancée.”
“One more thing, Asenguard,” Daniel said. “Charlotte Vintage has another friend, Grace. She hangs with Genevieve and Charlotte a lot. She didn’t go to Paris and she’s never been tested for psychic ability, but they’re interested in her as well and they have been watching her. We don’t trust any of the other members and we have to stick together in order to be safe. We try to look out for her, but she doesn’t make it easy.”
Tariq studied the man for a long moment. Grace had packed up some of Charlotte’s and Genevieve’s things and driven them over to the house, but she left immediately. He hadn’t met her, but Maksim said she was very distracted and wanted to leave as soon as she had delivered the clothes and made certain Lourdes was safe. He nodded at the three men. “I’ll look into it.” This time he turned and walked away without looking back. The three men would have to decide for themselves, but he hoped they left the state and forgot all about vampire hunting.
Charlotte finally managed to introduce herself to the older couple living on Tariq’s property. Donald and Mary were clearly in love. They’d been together thirty years and still held hands and exchanged secretive, loving glances. She really liked them and was happy to spend half an hour getting to know them.
Donald liked helping out with Tariq’s books, and clearly it made him feel as if he had a purpose, making certain no one cheated his benefactor. Mary liked looking after the children. She had begun to develop a good friendship with them. So much so that Charlotte was fairly certain Tariq was influencing the children to accept the older couple. The children were still enthralled with their stone dragons so she left them with Donald and Mary while she paid a visit to Emeline.
She had met Emeline in Paris, where the woman had been hiding out. She had witnessed a murder, she recounted, and was lying low because she was being hunted. Blaze’s father had sent her out of the country with a new identity, which she was very bad at using. She had stayed with Genevieve and Charlotte for several days, and then she’d gotten the news that Blaze’s father had been murdered and she rushed back to the States to help Blaze find the men who had killed him.
Charlotte had really felt a connection with Emeline, just as Genevieve had. Emeline had lived a tough life, but she was extremely resilient and loyal. To her, Blaze was family, her sister. Blaze’s father, Sean McGuire, had been the one constant in Emeline’s life and she was equally loyal to him. When Blaze needed her, in spite of the danger to herself, Emeline had rushed home—right into Vadim’s trap. Charlotte understood and respected loyalty and commitment.