Dark Fire (28 page)

"Prince Mikhail, the leader of our people, successfully converted his lifemate. Their child is the lifemate of your elder brother, Gregori. My own brother, my twin, accidentally completed a conversion started by a vampire. Alexandria is his lifemate. If a human woman has psychic ability, it appears she can handle conversion by her Carpathian lifemate. And Tempest is undeniably your lifemate."

"When you use a phrase like 'it appears,' " Darius said, "it worries me. I would never want to take the chance of harming Tempest."

"What is the alternative, Darius?" Julian asked gently. "She has brought you into the light. If you lost her, you would be destroyed. You know you would never survive. You would turn vampire, the undead. You would lose your soul."

"I have chosen to grow old and die when she does," Darius announced.

Julian caught the echo of his own lifemate's gasp. De-sari was stunned and saddened at the notion. It took a moment for Julian to fight back his own protest of such a decision. "You know the danger our race is in. There are far too few of us to ensure the continuation of our people. We cannot afford to lose even one pair. And certainly not one involving a young, healthy woman capable of bearing children."

Darius shook his head. "I know so little of our race, Julian."

"It is necessary for every Carpathian male to find his lifemate. If he fails to do so, he must choose to face the dawn and end his life before it becomes too late and he loses his soul, becomes the undead. We are predators, Darius. Without a lifemate to bring meaning and light into our darkness, to make us complete, we will become vampire. But so few Carpathian females survive childhood that most of our males are turning and must be destroyed. Before I found Desari, I had made up my mind to end my life. Prince Mikhail, through Gregori, sent me to warn her that she was in danger from the human society of vampire-hunters. Of course, we had no idea any of you were still alive after the massacres in our homeland. We thought Desari human and mistakenly in the society's sights. But when I saw colors in her presence, I knew she was my lifemate, that she was meant to be with me."

"So Dayan and Barack must find their lifemates soon, or they are in danger of turning, as was I," Darius noted thoughtfully, worried.

Julian nodded soberly. "There is no doubt, Darius. That is why those of us who can must try to have female children. It is the only way our race has a chance of surviving. Even so, we may be too late. Most Carpathian women give birth to males. If a female is born, she must struggle to survive that first difficult, dangerous year."

Darius remembered just how hard it had been to keep the two fragile little girls who were Desari and Syndil alive so many centuries ago.

"It is necessary to try to provide lifemates for our kind, our brothers and friends," Julian went on quietly, persuasively. "However, you must also consider that if you bind Tempest to you without converting her, like all lifemates, neither of you will be able to bear any physical or mental separation. You, a Carpathian, must sleep in deep ground. She will need air. When you sleep the true sleep of our people, she will be unable to reach you. No lifemate can take that for a prolonged length of time. It will not work."

"Tempest is already bound to me, and I cannot bear any separation from her. This she does not understand, though. She thinks in human terms," Darius admitted with a sigh.

"It cannot continue for long," Julian said. "We are hunted. Through the centuries we have been hunted.

We are not invulnerable, despite our many gifts. She must be protected as one of ours."

Darius shook his head. "I have asked much of her these last days. I would not ask this-conversion-of her also."

"Before you close the door on the notion, Darius, give it thought. The other women I spoke of are happy in their lives. It took some adjustment, and I will not say they did not suffer, but in the end they accepted the inevitable."

"Because they had no choice," Darius pointed out softly. "The last thing I want is to cause Tempest any more suffering. She has had enough in her young life."

Chapter Twelve

Tempest sighed and put down the wrench she had been using while double-checking her findings. She didn't want to make any mistakes and miss buying a part she might need later on. It seemed unusually hot. She wiped the sweat from her face, and she thought about the night before. Syndil had been so sweet. While they talked, she had fixed a vegetable broth for Tempest. Tempest's stomach seemed to rebel against the broth, but she didn't want to hurt Syndil's feelings, so she tried to eat it. Even so, without Darius's aid she probably wouldn't have kept it down.

Darius had been so quiet when he joined her. He watched her work on the truck, clearly unhappy when she made a list of things she would need that they didn't already have. That meant she would have to make a trip to the nearest town during daylight hours. He hadn't argued, but he told her he would sleep the sleep of humans, not Carpathians, so that he would be available should she need him.

Tempest cleaned up carefully as she contemplated what Darius might have meant. What was the difference? Would it somehow harm him? She knew none of his family members agreed with his decision, none of them liked it, yet no one argued with him or even went so far as to register a simple protest. Their uneasiness caught at her. She could tell none of them blamed her for Darius's resolution, yet she knew they were concerned about Darius and what he was doing.

The money they had handed her so casually was quite substantial. She folded it, shoved it into her pocket, and resolutely climbed into the little sports car. She had a bad feeling about Darius coming to harm, so she wasn't going to take any chances on getting lost. Twice last night she had driven the route to town with Darius beside her, just to reassure him she would be able to make her way there and back without a problem. Still, her sense of dread persisted. She just seemed to attract trouble everywhere she went.

Tempest enjoyed the solitude of the drive, the highway winding down a mountain, the tight turns, the speed and smoothness of the vehicle, but there was a heaviness in her heart, growing much more difficult to ignore. She found herself needing the touch of Darius's mind. She actually felt grief seeping in, troubling thoughts. That something had happened to Darius. That he was lying hurt somewhere. That he was in danger. It was nonsense, her brain told her, but nevertheless she found herself wanting to weep uncontrollably.

Calistoga was pretty town, rather famous for its mud and mineral baths. She found the auto parts store without incident, purchased the supplies she needed, and made her exit. Thinking about Darius instead of watching where she was going, she nearly tripped over the man lounging against the little red car at the curb. The man steadied her easily even as he smoothly removed the packages from her arms and stowed them in her car. Tempest blinked up at him. He was looking at her as if he knew her. He wasn't particularly tall, but he was handsome in a blond, surfer kind of way. "Do I know you?" she asked, unable to place him.

"My name is Cullen Tucker, ma'am," he drawled with the slightest of Southern accents. He held out a photograph.

Biting her lip, realizing this was the trouble she had been expecting. Tempest glanced at the picture of herself. "Where in the world did you get that?" It was a great likeness of her, with butterflies thick in the air, alighting on her head and shoulders. Her arms were stretched out, and she was laughing. The sun was behind her, and her feet were in the stream.

Cullen examined her expression. "Did you know the man who took this photograph?"

"No. I certainly didn't pose for it." Tempest edged around him, preparing to bolt into the driver's seat. She was an excellent driver, and more than once in her rather misspent youth she had even outrun the police. She had confidence in the car, too. If she could get behind the wheel, she would be gone.

"Don't be frightened," he said softly. "I'm actually trying to help you. Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"I'm in the middle of a big job," she hedged.

"Please, it's important. A few minutes. We'll go somewhere public, so you won't be afraid of me. I don't want to sound dramatic, or like a nutcase, but it's a matter of life and death," he insisted.

Tempest closed her eyes for a moment, sighing in resignation. Of course it was a matter of life and death. What else would it be, when she was involved? She finally introduced herself, offering her hand. "I'm Tempest Trine." There was something about Cullen Tucker that she couldn't define, but she believed him to be inherently sincere. Simultaneously she wanted to groan aloud at her own introduction; Darius had her thinking of herself as Tempest instead of Rusti. It was pitiful that she couldn't get out from under his spell for even a moment.

Cullen shook her hand gently. "Do you mind if we get something to eat? I've been traveling for a couple of days and didn't take much time out."

Tempest walked beside him, relieved that so many people were on the street. Cullen didn't give her a bad feeling the way Matt Brodrick had, but she still preferred not to be alone with him.

Cullen waited until he had ordered his meal in a cafe they found before he started his explanation. "I'm going to tell you some pretty bizarre things. I want you to hear me out before you decide I'm crazy." He tapped the photograph of her with one fingertip. "Some time ago I joined a secret society that believes that vampires really exist."

Tempest felt the color drain from her face, and she sat back in her chair, needing the support. Before she could reply, Cullen held up a hand to stop her. "Just listen. Whether or not you believe there are vampires among us doesn't really matter. What matters is that the people I was affiliated with believe it, and they are out to capture, dissect, and destroy any they might find. Some of them have gone completely off their rockers, I'm afraid. The singer that you're traveling with-and don't deny that you're with her; I've done my home-work-is being targeted by the society. They've already made attempts on her life, and believe me, they'll do it again."

Tempest drummed her fingers nervously on the table-top. "Why aren't you going to the police? Why tell me?"

"The police won't believe me-you know that. But I can try to help you and maybe even your friend the singer. This picture was taken at the same place where they found Matt Brodrick's body. He was part of the society, and, unfortunately for you, this picture condemns you in its eyes. They sent me to track you down and bring you back to them to see what they can learn about your group before… disposing of you. And I'm sure I'm not the only one they'll be sending. I want to get you out of here, get you somewhere safe, where you can lay low until they lose interest in you."

Tempest shook her head. "Just like that? I'm supposed to believe you and take off with you? If all this was true, the only thing I could do would be to warn Desari and the band, go to the police, and hope they catch these nuts."

"Don't be so damned stubborn," Cullen hissed, leaning across the table, his face inches from hers. "I'm trying to save your life. These people are dangerous. They believe Desari is a vampire, and likely her new boyfriend, too. They are going to capture her or destroy her. Killing her would be doing her a favor, given what they have in mind as the alternative. But you're first on their list, because they see you as a way to get information about her and her troupe. You have to go into hiding, get the hell away from the band. It's your only choice, Tempest."

"Do they think I'm a vampire? For God's sake, they have a photo of me outdoors in broad daylight. I'm having lunch with you in a diner in the middle of the day," she replied, exasperated but a little afraid. Darius was going to kill her when he realized she was having lunch alone with a man involved with human vampire-hunters and Matt Brodrick. Maybe she didn't dare go back to the band. Maybe she would be leading the enemy straight to them.

"You're no vampire," Cullen said grimly. "I've seen a vampire, a real, honest-to-God vampire. Those idiots in the society have no idea what one of the undead is truly capable of doing. Desari is no vampire either. But they're already suspicious of me, so I'm going to have to go into hiding, too. Likely they'll send their 'military' after me because I know them all, their identities. I've seen their faces and been to their secret meetings. You have to come with me, Tempest."

Tempest tilted her head to one side. She wasn't a vampire, but there was something definitely different about her. She could hear Cullen Tucker's heartbeat. A loud, strong, healthy pounding that echoed through her own bloodstream. She could hear the swish of water from the kitchen, the clink of individual dishes, the low murmur of conversation between the cook and a waitress. A couple across the room were have a whispered quarrel. She shelled food cooking, various perfumes and colognes, all mingling, overpowering each other until her stomach lurched from the onslaught.

Colors were vivid and bright, almost like when she was with Darius. She noticed the thin veins in the leaves of the daisy in the glass vase on the table, the extraordinary petals and each round pollen center. Her gaze hung there, entranced by the flower's unusual beauty, the precise creation of nature.

"Tempest!" Cullen hissed across the table at her. "Are you even listening to me? For God's sake, you have to believe what I'm telling you. I'm no crackpot. These people won't stop. They're hunting you. Let me at least get you to a safe place. I'll try to protect you, although you'll probably be safer without me. They might give up hunting you, but once they know I've betrayed them, they'll never stop hunting me. You just have to hide out for a few months. And it's imperative that you distance yourself from this group."

"What about Desari? She's done nothing wrong. If I go with you, these crazy, dangerous people will still be after her. Maybe this time they'll kill her." Tempest shook her head. "I can't run away and leave her to them."

Cullen wanted to reach across the table and shake her, grab her, and haul her little butt out of there. He had seen another woman die, one he loved, one with that same innocence in her eyes. "Damn it, you're so stubborn, so unreasonable. They'll get you, Tempest. If I was still with them, you'd already be on your way to their hideout." Frustrated, he stared out the window, trying to think of anything that might convince her to leave with him. If she didn't go, he would have to stay and try to protect her. And that meant he was going to die. He would have no chance at all.