“They didn’t happen because I was alerted to the danger and took care of it. Would you like to see my back where the threads of fire Vadim created burned through my skin to the bone?” Dragomir demanded.
Liv shook her head, sending her older sister a quick glance of sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Dragomir. I would never want to hurt Emeline. She’s been one of my best friends. She saved us.” The last was said in a whisper, on a hiccup.
“Emeline trusts you. Tariq trusts you. We all do. You betrayed that trust to have fun. Just for fun.” He let that sink in.
Liv was silent for a long time, staring up at his face with too-old eyes. “You’re right, Dragomir. I didn’t think of the consequences, only that I wanted to fly my dragon. I couldn’t wait.” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to show Danny and Amelia what I could do so they would want to be Carpathian, too. I should have thought it out first. What can I do to help the families of the two men who died?”
“They are dead. There’s no bringing them back from the dead. Their families will have to go on without them,” he said, driving reality home to her. “I would say those deaths were on your shoulders,” he began.
Charlotte shook her head and took one step toward the child, but Tariq’s firm hold on her arm stopped her. Valentin shifted a little bit closer to Liv, but he remained silent. Liv’s tears streamed unchecked down her face, but she didn’t look away from Dragomir, accepting her responsibility for all that had taken place.
Dragomir shook his head. “But you are not wholly responsible. There is another among you. One you trust. One you believe in. He – or she – whispers in your ear to get you to do Vadim’s bidding. He – or she – is his pawn.”
Danny scowled at him. “We’ve all been examined. Tariq took our blood in order to monitor us and we all consented.” He sounded belligerent. Challenging.
He turned his gaze on the boy. “One of you managed to hide from Tariq with the aid of the puppet master.”
Danny turned to glare at Tariq. “I can’t believe you are allowing him to accuse us like this. Do you believe I’m tainted? Or Amelia? Maybe Bella. Maybe a three-year-old is running around doing Vadim’s bidding.”
“This time” – Dragomir circled his prey – “this time, the person came to wreak havoc in the healing grounds. Was someone gone from your group? Even for a few minutes?”
Danny couldn’t turn to watch Dragomir. He could only look forward toward the house – toward that little break in the wood where someone had crouched and took command of the lightning when it was called down to aid Dragomir in getting rid of the parasites.
“We were all in our rooms, doing what Tariq asked us to do. He grounded us. That meant we didn’t talk to one another or interact because we were supposed to spend time alone contemplating our mistakes.” That was said defiantly. His voice said he knew the punishment didn’t fit the crime. “He was going to talk more to us about what happened and assign a punishment then.”
“Healer.” Dragomir called to Gary. He wasn’t going to do the examining. He didn’t want the women to say he had planted evidence in the traitor. Blaze, Charlotte and Emeline had been human and their thinking was human. They couldn’t conceive of children betraying them, certainly not children they loved. “I ask that you examine each of these children for evidence that Vadim has used them as his puppet.”
Gary, of course, had the right to refuse, but he had aligned himself with Tariq. He’d placed himself in the position of being second-in-command, just as all Daratrazanoffs had done before him. He wouldn’t refuse. It was in the best interests of the compound to find the traitor, and Gary wouldn’t be emotional one way or the other over children. He was incapable.
The healer materialized beside Danny. His strange ice-blue eyes appeared more silver than blue, moving over the boy. “Do you give your consent for a search?”
“If I say no, would it matter?” Danny said bitterly. “I’m not a traitor. I would never betray Tariq or Charlotte, let alone Emeline. I know what Vadim put her through, and I know it happened in order for us to be saved. All of us. Emeline sacrificed for us.”
“Will you do less, then? Do you have her courage?”
Danny’s jaw tightened. “I have courage. I don’t think what you’re asking me to do takes courage. I know you won’t find anything. I don’t like the accusation, but search away.”
Daratrazanoff didn’t waste time; he shed his body and entered the boy’s.
Amelia lifted Bella into her arms. “Is he going to search the baby, too?” She didn’t look at Dragomir, but rather at Tariq.
Dragomir answered. “Unless someone confesses, all of you must be searched.”
“We all were searched,” Amelia pointed out. “Tariq, you searched us yourself. This isn’t right. First you let him make Liv cry and then you just stand there while he’s mean to us. We all love Emeline. Why would we try to hurt her?”
Dragomir waved his hand and she stopped in her tracks when she would have turned to take the child back to their home. He stalked around her in that same circular pattern he’d made around Danny, scenting the air, hunting. He had a well-developed sense of smell, one he needed when tracking the vampire. The familiar scent reached him. One of grape and vanilla, and the elusive odor of burnt grass. He moved closer. It wasn’t the baby, but the girl. He was certain of it. Still, he moved away from her, shifting his gaze – and the breeze – toward Sandu.
Sandu inhaled deeply, drawing the poisonous truth into his lungs. He nodded, an almost imperceptible movement, but Tariq was sharp, once more underscoring why he was the chosen leader. He caught the small communication between the two ancients.
He strode over to Dragomir. “Tell me.” It was a command, nothing less.
Dragomir had a split second to decide if he wanted to go to war with this man. “Go to the side of the house and smell the scent there,” he encouraged. “And then smell the one here.”
Tariq glanced at Valentin’s expressionless mask. The ancient gave nothing away. He simply stood in front of the child who one day would be his lifemate. There had been another child, a girl adopted by Francesca, one of the Carpathian women. It was discovered early on that Dimitri was her lifemate. Like Valentin, he stayed away to make it easier, but returned if there was trouble. Valentin would protect his lifemate with his life.
It was Liv who answered her sister. “This isn’t about us, Amelia, it’s about the Carpathian world we live in. Someone aided Vadim. I’m sure it isn’t me, but I want them to examine me just in case. I need to know it isn’t me.”
“You already know,” Amelia pointed out. “And now they’re accusing us once again. Why can’t they take our word for it? We don’t like knowing there’s a traitor any more than they do. Why does it always have to be one of us they accuse? Why can’t it be one of them?” She hugged Bella tighter to her. “Danny’s right, it’s insulting.”
Liv shrugged. “The healer is confirming, Amelia, that’s all. We did open the safeguards. It was wrong and foolish of us. I think this is a small thing for them to ask of us.”
Amelia scowled at her little sister. “I hate it when you make sense.”
“Give me Bella,” Charlotte said. She held out her arms.
Amelia couldn’t help the triumphant look she shot Dragomir. At least her baby sister was going to be spared. He didn’t deign to answer her. Just the fact that she’d handed the baby over, drawing attention to the child, made him suspicious. He glanced at Sandu, who nodded. Tariq turned to look at Bella as she clasped her little arms around Charlotte’s neck. There was speculation in his eyes when he turned back to Amelia.
Gary emerged from Danny’s body, his spirit moving back into his own. He swayed but remained upright. Tomas offered him blood. The healer took it before he gave the verdict.
“The boy is clean of all parasites.”
“Examine Bella next,” Tariq said, voicing the demand unexpectedly.
Amelia tried to swing around but she couldn’t move, couldn’t take a step toward Charlotte to regain possession of the child. Gary didn’t waste time. Once again he shed his body and went into Bella’s. Charlotte held her close while Amelia glared at the Carpathians.