Dark Carousel (Dark #30) - Christine Feehan Page 0,138

and down for the day. She appeared to be sleeping soundly, and then, just as he started to shut down the system, he saw her body jerk. Hard. Like a seizure. She thrashed on the bed and then sat up, shaking her head over and over, wiping her face with her hands as if trying to remove something from her skin.

His first thought was to call on the older couple again to settle her, but when Liv got off the bed, he saw her movements were jerky. Like those of a marionette. Or as if she was fighting for freedom. He’d taken her blood. He had taken that of all the children. It allowed him to know their thoughts and whereabouts at all times. It kept them safe as well as keeping the other hunters, Emeline and Blaze safe.

Tariq touched her mind very gently, always careful to be respectful. No one liked their thoughts monitored, especially a child like Liv. The moment he touched her mind, he knew she was asleep, yet fighting an unseen demon. Chaos reigned. The need to get up and go somewhere was a compulsion. She didn’t know where she was supposed to go, but she wanted away from her brother and sisters because . . . A low growl slipped out of his mouth. She had been directed to kill her brother. Her hand had even curled around a kitchen knife earlier but then she’d managed to turn the blade toward her own stomach and instantly the compulsion was gone, to be replaced by a stronger one. She wasn’t to harm herself.

Vadim. That answered the question as to why Liv didn’t want to sleep and whether the master vampire could reach the child as he did Emeline. They thought since she was receiving Vadim’s voice through Emeline’s dreams that he couldn’t possibly give her commands. Liv had vague, uneasy memories of dreams of the master vampire during her waking hours. She didn’t realize he was directing her to do his bidding while she slept. She just knew she didn’t want to sleep.

Donald. Mary. Liv is up again and I believe she’s sleepwalking under Vadim’s direction. You’ll need to intercept and stop her immediately.

Liv was on the move, this time leaving the house and turning away from the front gate. She looked at it several times and nodded her head, but then turned toward the main house. Was Vadim’s army out there right now? Waiting for Liv to bring down the safeguards? She could invite them in, but she’d have to get through the invisible labyrinth of corridors, and he doubted she could do so. In any case, Mary and Donald would stop her if she got close.

He felt the stirring in his mind. Donald getting out of his comfortable chair. Calling to Mary, who was in the kitchen fixing them a bite to eat.

While Liv stumbled toward the main house, he saw Emeline come out of her house and stand on her porch, looking around warily as she did each time she emerged. In the light of the sun, he could see how pale and gaunt she was. The trauma to her had taken its toll. She was a beautiful woman, by any standards, but there were dark circles under her eyes and she was so thin she shivered continuously as if she couldn’t regulate her body temperature.

Tariq swore softly in his own language. He wasn’t Emeline’s lifemate, but he felt responsible for her. More, he admired and respected her as did Maksim, Blaze’s lifemate. He was going to have to intervene soon. No matter that Emeline had asked for time; she was wasting away right in front of them. As with Liv, he would have no choice with Emeline, either.

Liv disappeared into his home. He had no idea what she was planning to do and it made him uneasy that she moved through the hallway unerringly, as if she had a purpose now. She didn’t pause at Lourdes’s or Genevieve’s door, but continued on to the large kitchen.

Liv, wake up, honey. You’re sleepwalking. He was gentle, not wanting to startle her, but kitchen meant knives. If necessary he could muster up the strength to remove a weapon from her hand from the distance where he was, but it wouldn’t be easy.

She stumbled, but kept walking, right past the block of knives sitting on the counter, straight to the door of the basement. Now he was really uneasy. What could she possibly be up to?