Dark Carousel (Dark #30) - Christine Feehan Page 0,84

that he would do his best to stay with her throughout whatever ordeal she was facing.

Vadim dragged her past the other two vampires. Sergey, his brother, stabbed at the child viciously with a long sharpened nail, drawing blood. He laughed and licked at his finger, his eyes on Val. Fridrick delivered a kick to Liv as she struggled to get on her feet as Vadim continued to drag her through the seven human males toward the puppet that stood swaying and growling.

Charlotte looked at the men’s faces as Vadim tossed the child to the puppet as if she were a piece of garbage. The thing resembled a human, but there was nothing left in its mind but purpose. Vadim had programmed the monster to do his bidding, but more than anything else, the craving for flesh and blood drove it. The puppet caught the child by the hair and dragged her into the next room.

None of the men made a move to help the child, but two of them frowned and stared after her, both shifting uncomfortably. They weren’t altogether happy with Vadim and his new regime. She focused on them so that any of the Carpathians she was connected with would remember their faces.

I will not ask you again, Charlotte. You are ice-cold and shaking. You’re too far gone. Come back to me now.

She wanted to go to him, she really did, but she also wanted to reassure Val that he made it out of there. She needed to do the same thing for Liv. The child had to know that rescue was close and that she wouldn’t die at the hands of that gruesome puppet. Charlotte forced her body forward, slipping past Vadim to get to the cage where Val was held. Fridrick was at him, tearing at his flesh with horrid teeth, snarling and gobbling blood as fast as he could. Charlotte reached out to Val. She’d never thought of trying to have someone in the past know she was there. They were memories. Not real. But Tariq had known. He’d turned his head and, for one moment, she knew he was aware of her when he was carving the carousel horse. If he could be aware, so could Val and Liv.

She turned sideways and made herself as small as possible as she extended her arm, fingers settling delicately around Val’s bicep. His flesh felt strange. Cold. Icy cold as if she stood in an ice cave and the cold permeated not only the atmosphere surrounding her but entered her along with every occupant.

Icy fingers crept down her spine. Very, very slowly, Val turned his head toward her, but he made no sound. His eyes, piercing cold, black as ice in a violent storm. She didn’t know if he saw her, but he felt her presence. You will survive this. She used the common pathway she’d picked up from Tariq’s mind. So will the child. She needed to give him that reassurance. Liv’s survival was more important to him than his own. She didn’t know how she knew that, only that she did.

Instantly, Vadim roared with rage, and Fridrick renewed his frenzied gulping. Sergey turned around sharply in a circle searching for an unknown presence. She let Val go abruptly, afraid she was making things worse for him. Had they heard her as well? Of course. It was a rookie mistake. The vampires had once been Carpathians. Of course they would hear anything said on that particular path. She’d whispered it. Poured truth into it. Now the monsters were alerted not only to her presence but also to the fact that Val survived. She hoped they would eventually think her whispered words had been false.

She backed away from the cage, careful not to touch any living thing. She needed to get to Liv, to assure her, to make certain the child knew she would be saved. Stepping into the next room, she saw the child on the floor, the hideous puppet tearing at her flesh in a feeding frenzy. Vadim, Fridrick and Sergey rushed past her, Fridrick nearly hitting her as he dashed through the room where a monster was feeding on a child, to the safety of the labyrinth of tunnels. The human men followed, the last two glancing down, slowing, as if they might intervene.

Vadim’s voice boomed. Quickly, they’re coming. Now is our chance to get her.

Firm hands yanked at her. She was turned into a hot embrace, a hard body radiating such heat it