Dark Carousel (Dark #30) - Christine Feehan Page 0,161

and debris shifted, swirled and then coated the various horses and chariots until, when they settled, the carousel was completely intact.

Chains rattled, hovered over the wooden pieces and then hooked into them, lifting them so they could spin off the ground. The Carpathians began to chant, their voices rising, filling the basement with power until the entire carousel shuddered and rocked, cringing to escape the assault on it. Blood began to seep out of the sides of the wooden carvings. Droplets ran down the sides. Dark shadows appeared, several of them, scurrying like tiny parasites in an attempt to flee the attack, moving over the wooden horses and chariots, seeking grooves to hide in, but there was no way to hide from the combined power of the ancient Carpathians commanding them to show themselves.

Lightning zigzagged through the room. Thunder shook the house, booming from inside the basement. The carousel began to spin faster and faster, as it had done in the yard, but the ancients slowed it down, so that it pushed and fought against the power. Suddenly the lightning forked, slamming hard into all eight pieces, the four horses and four chariots.

A hideous shriek rose, deafening in the confines of the basement. The carousel turned dark, smoke rising and with it, Vadim’s face, swirling in the smoke, eyes wide with shock, mouth open as he emitted the shriek. The face distorted, elongated, wavering in the smoke to slowly disappear. All the while his voice screeched and wailed. His teeth snapped viciously, but there was nothing he could do to stop the relentless assault by the hunters. The splinters blackened, curled up and were reduced to ash. The horses and chariots followed suit until there was only a pile of ashes and silence.

Matt rushed in, his gun cradled in his arms, his face a grim mask. “What the hell is going on? The two prisoners are screaming their heads off, on the floor with their hands over their ears. The woman, Emeline, is doing the same thing. I tried to get in there to see if I could help her, but she wouldn’t allow me inside. Genevieve went to her.”

Tariq sighed. “We’ll take care of it, Matt.” Blaze. I need you and Charlotte to go to Emeline now. They hadn’t considered that anyone with a splinter inside her would feel the loss just as Vadim did. It made sense. The splinters were a part of Vadim, and when any were destroyed, the others felt it. If Emeline trusted them more, she would have told them. She had to have felt it when they removed Charlotte’s splinter. “Charlotte and Blaze will help Genevieve with Emeline, and we’ll take care of the prisoners.”

He was tired. They all were. But getting rid of the splinters was essential. Vadim would retaliate. He had held off when he knew the two men had betrayed him—and he had to have known instantly—but he thought he could use them in some manner.

“The two men, Ryan, the blond one, and Andrew, the dark-haired one, had to have a shield similar to Charlotte’s,” Tariq explained as they followed Matt to the guardhouse. “It allowed them to resist Vadim’s command somewhat, just as Charlotte was able to resist Fridrick’s.”

Siv sent him a cool glance from his strange, aquamarine eyes. They swirled with colors constantly, blue and green, both vibrant. “If she can resist a master vampire’s commands, she will be able to resist yours.”

Tariq hadn’t planned on commanding Charlotte to do much of anything unless one counted in the bedroom. Playing was fun, but in real life, he wanted his woman to stand beside him. He wanted her opinions. He was counting on her advice. He wanted her to go to the club with him and become part of that world he’d created. He hoped other Carpathians would come into their world and perhaps, through his club, find lifemates.

More, he was working with Josef, the young tech, and the database the Carpathians had taken from the Morrison Center in the hopes of reaching the psychic women before Vadim did. Now he knew he would have to figure out something to do with the men as well. He still had two working for Vadim undetected in his club and that meant finding them. He hoped Andrew and Ryan could help with that, but if not, he was confident Maksim and he would ferret them out soon enough. All in all, they’d done fairly well. They killed two master vampires, several lesser