she is. They took so much from her, Charlie, so much. She can’t wait. You have to tell Tariq that. Convince him. We’re going to lose her if he waits much longer, and it won’t be to Vadim.”
“What about you, Emme? Are we going to lose you?” Charlotte asked quietly.
Emeline continued to stare out into the darkness. “I’m trying, Charlie. I know they don’t think I am, but I have to work this all out in my head. I’ve never been a warrior woman like Blaze or you. I don’t know how to fight him. I have to figure that out and come to terms with what he did to me. Once I can do that, I hope I can live with it.”
Charlotte let silence stretch between them, hoping Emeline would continue, but she didn’t. Finally, Charlotte tried prompting her. “What did he do? You need to talk about it, Emeline. If not with me, then at least with Blaze. If not with Blaze, Tariq can call in a counselor. Carpathians must have someone like our counselors.”
Emeline shook her head. “I could never talk to strangers. Not about him. I can barely talk to Blaze.” She sent Charlotte a faint smile, the first, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I don’t know why you’re the lucky one who gets to hear all this.”
“Maybe because you trust me, and you know Vadim can talk to me as well. I touched a carousel horse that he put a curse of some kind on and I got a splinter from it. We can’t get it out and it’s horrifying to know that I’ve got some part of him inside me.”
Emeline moistened her dry, swollen lips. “He forced his blood on me. It burned. It burned all the way down my throat and into my body. My heart and lungs. Every organ in my body. It still burns. Then he forced me to drink blood from a cup.” Her voice cracked and she shook her head. Tears shimmered and several caught on her long lashes. “Drinking that blood was different, not like drinking acid, but it was still so horrible, like being caught in the worst nightmare possible.”
She stroked her palm down her throat and then pressed her hand tight against her stomach as if the pain was there all over again.
Charlotte hurt for her. Again, it was all she could do not to put her arms around Emeline and hold her, but Emeline had shrunk into herself, made herself much smaller and pulled the robe tighter around her, as if that thin material could protect her somehow.
I hate this, Tariq. I hate that vampire. He’s destroyed her life. Destroyed her. She’s so far gone I can’t reach her.
Sielamet, you’ve come closer than anyone else to getting her to talk. You’re doing fine. You have that ability whether or not you realize it to make people comfortable and able to tell you things they wouldn’t reveal to someone else.
She let him wrap her up in his warmth, wishing she could do that for Emeline. She tried, sending as much warmth and comfort as she could to the woman.
“What else did he do, Emme?” Charlotte probed gently.
Emeline shook her head, and tears spilled over, tracking down her face. “I can’t think about anything else yet. I can’t let it be real. I just have to take one thing at a time. One thing. Anything else will break me, Charlie. He is a monster. He touched me. He took my blood and made me take his. He whispers to me, threatens me. Threatens children. I have to hold very still and not think too much in order to survive. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what you need to tell them. I’m surviving right now, and until I can process what happened to me, I can’t talk about it.”
“Okay, honey, I understand, but you will have to allow one of the men to help you sleep without hearing Vadim. If you don’t, it will just drive you crazy. Are you afraid of them? Has Vadim made you afraid of the Carpathians?” She asked gently, feeling as if she were in a minefield.
“They make me nervous,” Emeline admitted. “Blaze is lifemate to Maksim and I know I’m hurting her by not accepting him. I will. I really will. Just not yet.” There was a plea for understanding in her voice. So soft. Almost faint. Her gaze never stopped seeking the night, looking for danger, looking for a threat.