Dark Fire by Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 6

“I can understand that,” Tempest murmured gently.

Cullen shook his head. “No, you can’t, and that’s the point. You remind me of her. She had great compassion, the way you seem to have. She’d never seek revenge; she’d try to find a way to forgive him. I think that’s what you would do.” He sighed and moved the food around on his plate. “They’re going to torture you for information. Even when you give it to them, they’ll kill you. God, Tempest, don’t you see? I can’t live with that.”

Tempest shook her head. “Darius won’t let them take me.”

Cullen’s eyebrows shot up. “Darius? He must be the bodyguard. I’ll admit the man is good, but it won’t matter how good he is. They’ll get you. They’ll find you and kidnap you. You don’t understand-these people are dead serious.”

She leaned forward to stare directly into his eyes so that he would know she spoke the absolute truth. “No, Cullen, you’re the one who doesn’t understand. They don’t understand. Darius would come for me. No one could stop him. Nothing on this earth could stop him. He is utterly relentless. He’s merciless. He’s as silent as the leopard and moves like the wind. They wouldn’t see him, wouldn’t smell him, as he sped through time or space. And he would never stop, not until he had me back and had removed any threat to me for all time. That is who they’d be dealing with.”

Cullen sat back as if she had struck him. His face paled visibly. “He’s not human? You’re saying this bodyguard is a vampire?”

“Mr. Tucker, you have vampires on the brain. Of course Darius isn’t a vampire. Do I look like the kind of woman who’d go out with a vampire?”

“The bodyguard is your boyfriend?” Cullen asked, incredulous. “He-” He forced himself to stop abruptly. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? He sounds dangerous, Tempest. Very dangerous. I thought maybe he was involved with the singer.”

“He is. Darius is Desari’s older brother.” Tempest pushed at her hair, suddenly wondering what she must look like. She had been working all morning and hadn’t thought to clean up before coming into town. She was tired, too. She had stayed up all night with the band and Darius, and now the sun was getting to her. She even felt as if it were burning her eyes and skin. Sunburn wasn’t unusual for a fair-skinned redhead, but this burning was different. Deeper. She tried not to be alarmed. “The bodyguard is not invincible, Tempest,” Cullen said, “even if he does seem pretty amazing to both you and the vampire-hunting society.”

“I want to thank you for risking so much to warn us,” Tempest said softly, and she laid her hand gently on Cullen’s. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss, but please don’t worry about me. Darius will take care of all of us.”

Take your hand off that man now, Tempest! Raw fury, black rage made the velvet voice menacing. If you value his life, do as I say.

Tempest snatched her hand away from Cullen and ducked her head to hide the fire in her eyes. You have no right to order me around. You have no idea what’s going on here, Darius.

I know you are with a male.

Well, gee, what a crime. Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

“Tempest?” Cullen brought her attention back to him. “What’s wrong?” He couldn’t help but notice she had stiffened, her mouth tightening as if she were annoyed.

She shrugged. “Not much. I just have some weird organization of vampire-hunters wanting to kidnap, torture, and murder me. Not too big of a deal. I can handle it. Mostly I’m worried about Desari. She doesn’t deserve any more trauma.”

“I wish you’d listen to me. What if I come with you and talk to the bodyguard myself? If he’s as good as you say he is, he might be able to use the information I can give him,” Cullen ventured, not certain why he offered. He knew he would follow Tempest, try to protect her as best he could. Even if he didn’t actually go to the camp, he would try to guard her against others coming after her.