He brought her knuckles to his mouth, whispering, “No, you are not. And the silly things you think. ‘The walking dead.’ Where do you come up with this nonsense?” His mouth brushed her skin, sending darts of fire racing over her nerve endings. “Allow me to guess. Thomas Ivan.”
“Maybe he does use that term. I don’t remember.”
“Is Mr. Ivan the gentleman who came to see Miss Houton?” Marie inquired cautiously.
“Call her Alexandria, Marie. This is not a formal household, and you are no servant. You are my family and friend.”
“Please do,” Alexandria seconded at the pressure on her fingers.
“I would like us to be friends,” Marie said.
That made Alexandria feel small and petty. After all, this woman she was resenting was the one taking care of Joshua when she was unable to do so. Immediately on the heels of that thought came anguish, as a bit more of the truth slid into her brain. Her breath caught in her throat, and she fought for air, strangling, choking.
Aidan pushed her head down toward the floor. “Breathe, cara. It is not so difficult. In and out. Keep breathing. Marie, please take the boy into the other room.”
“What’s wrong with my sister?” Joshua demanded, clearly rebelling.
Alexandria fought the madness swirling in her brain. She would not allow Joshua to be affected by this whole insane nightmare. She sat up and smiled at him, a bit pale, her smile tentative but there all the same. “I’m just a bit weak, like Aidan said. Perhaps he’s right, although I hate giving him the satisfaction, he’s so bossy lately. You go on with Marie, and I’ll just sit here until I feel well enough to get to bed myself.”
Joshua’s eyes lit up. “Maybe Aidan should carry you. He’s very strong. He could do it, you know, like in the movies.” He sounded eager.
“I could do that,” Aidan agreed, winking at Joshua.
He looked very sexy, enough that he seemed to rob her breath again. “I don’t think so.” Alexandria sounded firm.
Aidan suddenly stood, inhaling sharply, his attention clearly on something other than those in the room. Alexandria felt it, too. A disturbance in the air, a dark, creeping evil moving slowly but surely toward them. It spread like a dark stain over the sky, the air thickening until it was difficult to breathe. A low murmur began in her mind, the words foreign, beckoning, impossible to understand, but she knew their significance. Something was tugging at her, attempting to draw her outside.
A sound escaped her lips, an inarticulate cry of terror, so muffled it was nearly nonexistent, but Aidan turned his golden eyes to her immediately. Horrified, Alexandria clutched his arm. He’s out there, she thought in terror. She dragged Joshua to her protectively, inadvertently clutching him too tightly.
Do not alarm the child, cara. The voice in her mind was calm and soothing, so gentle it reached into the chaos of fear and found strength. He cannot enter this house. He does not know for certain you are here. He is seeking to draw you out.
Alexandria kept her fingers curled around Aidan’s wrist, needing the contact with him. She took a deep breath and smiled down at Joshua. He was looking up at her with curious blue eyes, wondering at her sudden gesture. Marie and Stefan were staring at her, alert.
Aidan gently pried Alexandria’s arm from around the child. “Marie, you and Stefan should close down the house at once, then put Josh to bed.”
There was command in his voice, and the couple reacted instantly. They had been through an attack before and knew the danger, even though they couldn’t detect it as Aidan and Alexandria could. They hurried Joshua through his good-nights and began to usher him from the room.
“Keep Joshua with you tonight. I must go out,” Aidan instructed them. Then he touched Alexandria’s face with gentle fingers. “Cara, I have to go out and remove this threat. You will stay here. If anything happens to me, take the boy and go overseas to the Carpathian Mountains. Find a man named Mikhail Dubrinsky. Stefan and Marie will help you. Promise me you will do this.” It is the only way Joshua will be truly safe. He did not inform her yet that their bond was already strong enough to endanger her if he were to die. Aidan did not even allow the possibility to enter his mind. He could not die. Would not allow it, now that he had reason to live.