Dark Carousel (Dark #30) - Christine Feehan Page 0,17

Each vampire had the reputation of being extremely cruel.

The other four were a mystery to Tariq. They appeared human to him—but more. Enhanced somehow, yet not puppets. He knew Vadim had recruited humans—dregs of society that preyed on others. Humans willing to take money, knowing they were feeding the vampires and killing their enemies for them. These men were different. Human—yet not. He needed to find out exactly what they were and what use they had for Vadim. More, he needed to know why he hadn’t been able to detect a shadow of the vampires on them.

Experiments had been conducted beneath the city. There had been an entire labyrinth, another city below the one aboveground where Vadim and his brother, Sergey, plotted to gain power. Carpathian hunters had run them off, but they hadn’t had time to examine all the sophisticated equipment left behind. They’d been concerned with following the two master vampires in an effort to destroy them, but now, he realized, whatever experiments had been taking place below the city had yielded results. The four men facing him were an altogether new experience. He didn’t like having an unknown element in the mix when the lives of two women—one his lifemate—were in the battle zone.

He straightened to his full height, rolling his shoulders slightly, calm settling over him. It was war then. Right here. Right now. Already his brain was planning, working out what to do first. Fridrick was the most dangerous, but he wouldn’t commit to the battle. He wouldn’t want a scratch on him. He’d go after the women, but if he’d wanted them dead, he would have killed them long before Tariq had come on the scene.

“Stay behind me,” Tariq cautioned Charlotte in a low voice. He was well aware Fridrick could hear. All four vampires would have heard his soft command, but no one would move until Fridrick gave the order. He wanted Charlie away from him, where Fridrick could hopefully keep her from the others. In the heat of battle, he couldn’t imagine that one or more of the undead would lose control and their need to kill, for that ultimate high would override all orders from their master.

Charlotte took a step behind him, but both women immediately opened their small clutches and pulled something out. Weapons? He couldn’t see.

“Mr. Asenguard.”

Charlotte’s voice was perfectly calm. A shock to him. He hadn’t expected her to remain so cool when she had to realize they were in trouble, even if she had no idea what Fridrick was. Just the way her hand dropped to his arm and applied pressure—a warning—he knew she was aware.

“You may not remember, but you sent a letter to the man I trained under in Paris. Ricard Beaudet was a master at restoring art, particularly the oldest carousel horses found in Europe.”

Her tone was purely conversational and it did exactly what she hoped—she’d thrown Fridrick off-balance. Good girl, he whispered in his mind. Stalling was good. Maksim would come, as would others. He had sent out a call for available hunters to come to San Diego when he and Maksim had discovered Vadim’s lair. Those nearby would be on their way and coming fast. Tariq just needed a little more time. His woman was cool under fire and maybe, just maybe, she would provide that time.

“Of course I remember Beaudet. I asked him to come to the States and restore some horses I recently acquired.” He played along, keeping his tone conversational, low, so that Fridrick and the others had to really listen to hear. “We corresponded back and forth and I sent him pictures of my collection and eventually an airplane ticket, but he never arrived.”

Charlotte’s gaze shifted from Tariq to Fridrick and then back again. “Ricard died, in Paris. Was murdered. The police have no idea who did it. There was a serial killer on the loose. He would drain the bodies of most of the blood and tear out the throats of his victims.”

Tariq heard affection for the man in her voice. Sorrow for his death. Knowledge that Fridrick was responsible. His instinct was to hold her. Comfort her. He couldn’t do either, because he needed to step farther away from her to give himself fighting room as well as to keep her out of the battle line when the others attacked.

The air grew heavy with tension. Fridrick straightened subtly, an almost imperceptible motion, but Tariq saw it and glided a few steps toward him, more to put