Dark Challenge (29 page)

“Do you?” He asked it seriously, his watchful gaze never leaving her face. He did not attempt to enter her mind, wanting to give her the courtesy of privacy in this matter.

Desari’s first inclination was to tell him that of course she was strong and wise enough to defend herself and that surely she could prevent a vampire from taking possession of her. She even opened her mouth to say so but, then closed it again. Could she kill, even a vampire? The answer was no, she could not. She could not destroy even such an evil one. It was not in her to do so. Nor could she have fought the effects of the poison as Julian had. The vampire might have triumphed after all.

“I do not have the will to destroy,” she answered honestly. “But that does not negate what I have said to you. I do not feel that just because I cannot do what you do I should be forced to obedience as if I were a child. I
did not in any way impede you in your battle, nor would I have done so.”

His fingers curled around the nape of her neck, gently, tenderly. “Your very presence was a hazard, Desari; my attention was divided. Every moment you were in danger, I could barely breathe. In the past when I went into battle, all there was was the vampire and myself.”

“And what is so different now?” Desari’s voice was soft and beautiful, its purity touching the darkness in him with soothing peace.

Julian found himself letting out his breath slowly. “The difference now is that if I am destroyed, so might you be. Desari, can you not see that the world needs your gift? The peace your voice brings to it, to all creatures of the earth and sky? To humans, to us, our people? We do not yet know but that your voice might even aid our cause, help find a way to provide female children for our dying race. Aside from the possessiveness I feel, the need to have you with me, I feel the responsibility for your safety even more upon my shoulders. I can understand the pressure on Darius all these centuries. You have a priceless gift, lifemate, one we cannot risk.”

Desari smiled in spite of the gravity of their conversation. “Do not place me so high I am soaring, lifemate. I do not know if my voice can do the wonders you imagine, but I thank you for the honor you give me. The point is, Julian, I may not have the skills to destroy the undead, but I have wisdom to know not to engage him in battle. More importantly, Julian, I respect your ability and have pride in your strength. I am not illogical or the type of person to place myself in danger deliberately, out of defiance. And I must remind you, you should not try to force my obedience, particularly when your mind is divided. I will follow your advice in these matters
because I choose to do so.” Her chin tilted at him in a slightly haughty way.

Julian was used to being the sole authority in his world, and he had always viewed women as the gentler sex, to be protected and hidden away from danger. It had not occurred to him that a lifemate might wield as much power in her own way as he did. Desari was right. He should not force her obedience, even when their lives were threatened; she would obey only with her full consent. How arrogant the males of his race had become. Julian thrust a hand through his golden hair and arched an eyebrow at her. “There is something to what you say,” he admitted, deliberately slowly, as if mulling it over.

Her dark eyes smoldered. “There is truth in what I say.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. “I suppose I can concede there could be some truth in what you say.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at him. “You are deliberately provoking me because you cannot stand that I am right. It deflates your male ego.”

“Not only mine,
cara mia
,” he admitted with his mischievous grin, “but that of all the other hunters who find their lifemates. I will enjoy watching them learn this interesting fact of life when it is their turn. But in the meantime, Desari, should we be around other males, you could pretend that you obey my every word, lest we warn the others of their impending lesson.”

Desari found herself suddenly relaxing, her dark eyes dancing. Julian wanted to see her point. And he had finally opened his memories to her of his own free will, allowed her to see the scars of his childhood. “Darius is much like you, Julian.”

“That brother of yours,” Julian said with his slow, taunting drawl.

“You like him.”

Julian raised an eyebrow. “Darius is not a man you ‘like,’
cara
. He is someone who inspires more emotion, to anyone who can feel emotion, than the word
like
implies. You might admire him. Respect him. Even fear him. But Darius is not someone you
like
. He is a hunter. Few, if any, would challenge him.”

“You would,” Desari said with complete conviction.

“No one has ever said I was brilliant,” Julian answered.

“Do you think my brother is going to stay with us?”

Julian rubbed the bridge of his nose again, his eyes suddenly blank. “It is possible at some point, Desari, that you will want to establish our own family rather than stay with this unit.”

She paced away from him, then returned. “You think he is close to turning vampire.”

“I think your brother is a powerful hunter. He would make a lethal adversary, and I would not want the job of tracking him. Darius will hold on as long as he is able. He will not choose to lose his soul without a fight.”

“Do you know any hunters greater than yourself?” Desari asked, curious. “Besides my brother, of course,” she added impishly.

His eyebrows shot up, his grin slightly sardonic. “Do you wish to become a hunter groupie? I assure you, I am more than adequate for the job.”

She burst out laughing. “You idiot. I was curious, that is all. Darius learned only through his own experience. Are his skills as good as those of your people?”

“Your brother is extremely strong and skilled. Perhaps it is inherited, in your bloodline,” he mused aloud. “Remember,
cara
, Gregori, the Dark One, a most powerful
hunter, second only to Mikhail, our Prince, is brother to you and Darius. We are of the same people.”

Desari nodded, intrigued. “Do you think all hunters’ skills are inherited?”

“The greatest hunter, as well as the greatest and most unique vampire, came from your bloodline. Those who choose the life of a hunter sometimes serve an apprenticeship under an experienced guide and are taught the rudiments of how a vampire must be destroyed almost from birth. But your brother did not have this information.”

“But not all who hunt are guided?” Desari asked.

Julian shook his golden head wryly. “Some have not the patience for either the teaching or the learning.”

Desari laughed at him. “I think I know what kind you were.”

Julian looked into her dancing eyes, the beauty of them.

“Is hunting always a choice, or does your Prince order it?”

“It is by choice unless, of course, one stumbles upon the undead. It is kill or be killed in that situation. We have lost many males unprepared for such an event. The more ancient the vampire, the more dangerous he is. An unskilled hunter has little chance against a vampire who has survived many centuries. As our skill grows with experience and time, so does the vampire’s cunning and knowledge.”

“And my bloodline has both a vampire and a hunter famous for their skills?” She was uncertain she wanted to hear of the vampire. She wanted to hear that her bloodline was too strong to allow one of its own to turn. Her brother was becoming more deadly every day. She tried not to notice how distant he could be, how completely emotionless. He used to pretend, at least, that he
could feel affection for her; now he seldom made the effort.

Julian’s arm circled her shoulders with easy familiarity, the move comforting. His chin nuzzled the top of her head. “Darius will not choose eternal darkness,
cara mia
; he has lived in it far too long. Do not fear for your brother’s soul.” As always, he read her thoughts easily, a shadow in her mind.

Desari let out her breath slowly, his nearness easing her worries. He had experienced how Carpathian males changed over the centuries. He had lost feeling and colors until his world was one of bleak darkness, yet he had survived. He had even survived the mark of the beast, the vampire’s shadowing of his soul. It could be done. “Tell me of my ancestors. After all these centuries of believing we were the only ones of our kind, it is interesting to know our family can be traced back to such legendary creatures.”

Julian nodded. “There were two of them. Twins. Gabriel and Lucian. They were alike in everything. Tall and dark with eyes that could look straight through a person to his very soul. I saw them once, when I was a child. They were like gods striding through our village, visiting with Gregori and Mikhail for a brief time, then gone again. The wind went utterly still when they were near. The earth seemed to hold its breath as they passed. They were relentless, unswerving angels of death once set upon a path.”

Desari shivered. Not so much at his words as at the pictures she glimpsed in his mind. True, they were the memories of a boy, yet she could see the images clearly. The two men very tall, elegant, their faces cruelly beautiful, as if etched in stone, their dark eyes merciless. Strong Carpathians trembled in their presence.

“They were loyal to the Prince of our people, but all
knew that should the two choose darkness, no one would be able to destroy them.”

“Was the prince this Mikhail you speak of?” Desari asked.

“Mikhail’s father was our leader when I was a small child. I believe the twins, ancients even then, had served Mikhail’s grandfather long before that. In any case, they were always together, inseparable. It was said they had made a childhood pact, one with the other, that if one turned, the other would destroy them both. They were so close they thought alike, knew what the other would be doing at every moment, hunted and fought as a team.” “They were born together, like you and your brother?” Julian nodded. “Some said they were demons, others called them angels, but everyone agreed they were the most lethal of all Carpathians, the most knowledgeable, the most skilled. What one learned through study or experience, he shared with the other, doubling their power and ability. Many of our race were terrified of them, yet they were much needed. In those days vampires were achieving a kind of popularity among humans, a disaster in the making for our people. Without the two angels of death, Carpathians would have been hunted to extinction, the vampires would have triumphed, and the world would have become a deadly, desolate place. There was chaos and war, the hunters of our race stretched beyond their capacity.”

“Why would humans ever embrace the undead?” “It was a time of great self-indulgence and decadence among the rich. They would have orgies of drinking and gluttony and sex. They would watch bloody, violent clashes and worship the victor. It was an atmosphere for the undead. They can be as cunning and charming as they need to be and influencing those already corrupt is not so difficult. We had to do something to change the
course of history. It was Gabriel and Lucian who did so.”

“Which was the vampire?”

Julian shook his head with his now familiar taunting smile. “Just like a woman, no patience.”

She quirked an expressive eyebrow at him. “I am the one without patience? I think not, Julian. You are the one impatient.”

His mouth swooped to take hers in a slow, leisurely exploration. He lifted his head, his eyes molten gold. “Then I will have to be more careful the next time to be slow and thorough. I want you to be completely satisfied in all things, lifemate.”

Her slender arms circled his neck. “You know I am. And if you were much more thorough, we might both be dead.”

He wrapped his arms protectively around her, pressing her body into his hard frame. “You are so perfect, De-sari. For me there is no other.”

“Nor for me. Before you, my world was not bleak and barren—I had emotions and colors, my singing to sustain me, my family to love—but I was alone. There was a part of me missing. A part of me restless and wild, searching for something. We wandered the continents to cover the fact that we did not age, but all of us were also looking for something to end the emptiness. We just did not know what it was we sought.” Her hands were stroking his thick mane of hair, allowing the skeins of silken gold to run through her fingers. “I do not want to be apart from you, Julian. I want us to be always together.”

He held her in silence for a time, breathing in the scent of her, trying to comprehend why he had been handed such a miracle, why he had been granted a reprieve at the last moment, been rewarded with a woman
such as Desari. Julian tried not to think of the vampire who could destroy them both.

She felt his thoughts, the waves of intense emotion overwhelming him, things he could not put into mere words. Desari rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart, knowing hers tapped out the exact same rhythm. It was right. They were two halves of the same whole. She wanted to comfort him any way she could. He needed, and that was everything to her.

Stop wasting time, little sister. I can take only so much of this syrup between you and the one you have chosen. Have you forgotten you have commitments to fulfill?
Darius’s soft, emotionless reprimand echoed in her mind.

I am coming.
She sent no more, unwilling to share her private thoughts. Again she mourned the fact that Darius felt no emotion, not even love for her.

I may not feel it, little sister, but I know it is there. Do not fear me now after all these long centuries.

I fear
for
you, Darius. Do not go away from us.
She hadn’t meant to show her deepest anxiety to him, yet it slipped out.

There was only silence. Desari found herself trembling, her breath suddenly hard to find.

Julian tipped up her chin to search her dark eyes just as he was searching her mind for what had frightened her. “He will not leave you, Desari, will not seek death until he knows he cannot hold out any longer against the darkness within him. If that should occur, you must willingly allow him to greet the dawn. He is far too powerful; if he became the undead, many of our hunters would die before he could be destroyed. He carries that knowledge with him. It makes his existence still more difficult for him, a two-edged sword. He knows he has a chance of surviving as a vampire, of feeling at least
the thrill of the many kills he would achieve, yet he still has his memories of love and duty, his code of honor, which help him hold on. He knows those he loves would be destroyed first should he turn.”