Dark Challenge. Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 5

There was a short silence, then Darius sighed softly. Do not worry, little sister. I will think on what you have said and not move too quickly. Perhaps we need to learn more of this creature.

Huddling on the bed, Desari cut herself off from the others. With each mile that took her farther from the bar, the oppressive dread seemed to increase. She could feel perspiration beading on her forehead. Her breath came in short, uncomfortable gasps. She had to find him.

She had to be close to him. He had somehow stolen the other half of her soul.

Desari bit down hard on her lower lip, welcoming the stinging pain that helped her to center herself. She closed her eyes and sought inside her own body. She could not find the stench of evil. She found her heart whole and strong. She found her soul complete. But she was no longer simply Desari. A stranger dwelled within her. A stranger who was somehow very familiar, more familiar than even her family.

After the first shock, she studied the evidence of his work. He was strong and powerful. Self-confident. Even arrogant. Very, very knowledgeable. And he meant to have her. She could feel his deep resolve. No one would stand in his way. Nothing would stop him. He would never give her up. And deep within him dwelled… a dark shadow.

Desari swallowed the fear choking her. Why was she so afraid of this unknown man? She was not without her own power. No one could force her to do what she did not want to do. Nor would Darius ever allow it. And she had Barack and Dayan to support her as well. Even Syndil would fight for her if the need arose. Why was she so afraid?

Because there was an excitement in her that she didn’t want to admit even to herself. She was intrigued by the stranger, drawn to him. Her body wanted his, and she had never even laid eyes on him. How could he have wrought such a thing? Was he so powerful?

She didn’t want Darius to harm him. The thought came unbidden and was, she felt, on the verge of disloyalty. She should not even think such things. Desari rubbed her forehead with the heels of her hands. Whoever he was, he would come for her, and she had to decide what to do. She could never leave her family.

Especially not now, when Darius was having such a hard time with his own darkness.

“Oh, God,” she murmured aloud. “What am I thinking?”

You are in pain?

Desari’s head snapped up, and she looked around the bus cautiously. The voice was clear, arrogant, a velvet purr. Not Darius. Her throat closed convulsively, making it nearly impossible to breathe. She felt a strength, a male’s touch, his heart beating steadily, his lungs working easily, in and out, regulating her breathing as if they were one being. His voice was beautiful, and reached something deep in her soul. Yet he was using a mental path unfamiliar to her. The experience unnerved her.

Go away. She tried the path he was using.

She heard soft laughter, taunting male amusement. I do not think so, piccola. Answer me. Are you in pain?

Desari glanced around guiltily. Syndil was busy maneuvering the large motor home down a winding ribbon of highway leading deep into a wooded area. Desari felt as if she were talking to the devil himself, allowing him access to her family and their whereabouts through her. But she couldn’t stop herself from feeling the sweeping excitement.

Of course I am in pain. I was shot. Who are you?

You know who I am.

She shook her head, her long mass of blue-black hair flying in all directions, catching Syndil’s attention.

“Are you all right, Desari?” Syndil asked, a worried catch in her voice.

“Yes, do not worry,” Desari managed to respond.

She felt his touch, his palm brushing her cheek. You fear me.

I fear no one.

There was that laughter again. Male amusement that made her want to strangle him.

What is the Dark One to you? he asked. There was no amusement in the question. It was an imperious command to answer him. He even pushed at her with a compulsion.