Dark Challenge. Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 5

The leopards were pacing restlessly now, the male twice throwing himself at the door in agitation. Julian streamed back to the other side of the door, pouring out into the hallway with a rush of cold air. He knew Darius would stay behind to protect Syndil.

On the other side of the door Barack was in a fierce battle with a tall, gaunt stranger. The evil one had red-rimmed eyes and a vicious slash for a mouth. He raked at Barack with sharp claws, aiming for the jugular, but Barack eluded the quick strike and was ramming straight into the chest of the emaciated vampire. His fangs tore at the throat even as his hand bore straight to the heart. Easygoing Barack seemed lost in the ferocious beast that had taken his place.

Julian sought the man’s mind and found a red haze of hatred and rage, directed not only at this vampire but at the one who had so violently attacked Syndil and left her so withdrawn. It took a few moments to find the mental path that Desari’s family shared with one another. Do not drink his blood, Barack. He is dead already. You have destroyed him. The blood is tainted. Julian spoke softly into the mind of one gone mad with rage.

Do not interfere. He lives.

When Julian glided toward the struggling pair, Barack roared a warning, a growl that shook the hall. Julian stopped at once, not in the least surprised when Darius materialized at his side.

“Do not, Barack.” Darius’s voice was a soft menace. “You cannot drink as he dies. Not in the rage you are in. Release him and allow him to fall away from you.”

Barack lifted his head, his fangs stained red, his eyes glowing hotly. The heart was flung aside, still pulsing wickedly. The rumbling grew louder, a clear warning to back away from him.

Darius and Julian glanced at one another with the same thought. If they joined together, they could force Barack to obedience, but he would never trust nor respect either of them again. Barack was definitely dangerous, and neither wanted to alienate him. He was a

Carpathian male, and it was his right to do as he was doing, protect the females in his family unit. Protect any female of their race. Not only his right but his duty.

Julian reached for the leopards’ minds and found Syndil nestled in the smaller female cat’s body. Barack is in danger. We cannot reach him. You must do it. Call to him. Do it now before it is too late and he is lost to us for all eternity. He cannot consume the blood of the thing he is killing.

Julian felt Syndil’s immediate alarm. At once she shape-shifted, taking her human form, her slender, shapely figure shorter than Desari’s but radiating the same inner light and beauty of the Carpathian female. She moved with fluid, elegant grace, her dark, expressive eyes touching him, then jumping away hastily as she gave him a wide berth. Her gasp was audible as she surveyed the bloody, violent scene in the hallway and the darkness so close to the surface in Barack, his own face nearly that of the beast within the Carpathian male. Darius was close to the undead, close enough to distract Barack from feasting on its blood. Still, power and rage ate at the younger Carpathian, allowing the beast within to take over his mind, so that all that was left was instinct and fury.

Without hesitation, Syndil approached Barack. “Do not step in the blood,” Darius cautioned her, his dark eyes watchful. If Barack made one wrong move toward Syndil, there was no doubt in Julian’s mind that Barack would be a dead man. Syndil was unafraid, ignoring both Darius and Julian as if they were invisible.

“Barack,” she whispered softly, almost intimately. Her eyes were on the savage crimson streaks on his chest and face. “Come with me now. I have need to heal your wounds.” Despite his ferocious growls, she laid her hand gently on Barack’s arm, careful to stay away from the blood coating his clothing. “Come with me, brother. Allow me to heal you.”