Dark Fire by Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 6

She heard a muffled roar and realized a wall of water was building upstream, pushing everything in its path in front of it. Immediately she started the vehicle moving forward, inching their way through the the heavy vapor and rain. Without warning a truck loomed up only scant feet from them, directly in her path. A man was leaning against the hood, night goggles pressed to his eyes.

Lightning flashed, strike after strike, lighting the night as if it were day. The man dropped the goggles into the muck, his hands over his eyes as she swerved off the road, barely missing a huge tree. Clenching her teeth, she fought the heavy bus for control, bringing it back onto the road beyond the parked truck.

Darius slumped into the seat beside her, his face so gray and drawn that she nearly slammed on the brakes. “Go lie down, Darius,” she ordered, frightened by his lack of color. “I’ll get us to the resort where Desari is supposed to be. Konocti Harbor Inn and Spa. It’s somewhere near Clearlake. I can find it.” The route was well marked, an easy thing to follow, she hoped. She was bad at directions, but surely she could follow road signs.

Darius staggered to the back of the bus without argument and lay down on the couch, the injured leopard on the floor close by. “You know you will get us lost without guidance, little love.”

Her heart turned over at the note of tenderness in his voice. She wanted him to sleep the rejuvenating sleep of his people, to heal himself in the earth so that he would be at full strength again. The pain from his wound was on him, hunger from blood loss beating at him, yet when she touched his mind, she found only thoughts for her, for her safety.

“You just think you’re indispensable,” she scolded him, deliberately sarcastic. “I’m perfectly capable of finding my way to the resort and the campsite where they plan to settle tonight. Now go to sleep, and I’ll wake you if I need a wounded warrior.”

“Do not ever attempt to leave me again, Tempest,” he murmured so softly that she barely caught the words. There was an unguarded ache in his voice that brought a fresh flood of tears to her eyes.

In her life, no one had ever wanted her. No one had ever needed her. Certainly no one had ever been so loving and caring toward her. For all his overbearing, dominating ways, she couldn’t ever say he didn’t put her first. She couldn’t say her heart wasn’t totally captivated. He had woven a spell around her so strong, she didn’t think the tie could ever be broken.

As she drove down the highway, the rain began to lessen to a drizzle. She made every attempt to keep her mind from what had happened. The idea of all those men throwing their lives away, attacking people they really knew nothing about, was devastating to her. She had no idea just how many adversaries there had been, but she knew the cats had managed to kill two humans apiece. She had caught the images in their minds. Darius had killed the others, but she had no idea how many, and she didn’t want to know. It was better not to know, not to allow herself to think too much about insanity of what was happening in her life.

Carpathians. Vampires. Vampire-hunters. It was all too bizarre.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

Tempest drove the bus onto the shoulder of the road, parked, and rested her head against the steering wheel. She felt as if she had been driving forever, but it was the road conditions and driving rain that finally defeated her waning strength, not the hour of night. Exhausted, she struggled to keep her eyes open. In any case, she had stayed on the main highway until there was a confusing fork in the road. She had gone right around the bend, hoping she wasn’t supposed to take the road branching to the left. She nibbed her eyes, feeling faint.

Her heart nearly stopped when a cloud of vapor streamed in through the window she had cracked open, hoping the cold air would revive her. Julian Savage shimmered into a solid state beside her, then went at once to Darius, concern etched on his handsome face. Tempest laid her head back against the seat, too tired to question him.