Dark Fire by Christine Feehan. Dark Series – book 6

“Have we all lost our minds around here?” Dayan demanded. “Soft, sweet Syndil is acting the shrew. Desari is acting like a lovesick calf. I do not know you well, Julian, but you seem to be enjoying Darius’s discomfort far more than is seemly, and bad-boy Barack is chasing after Syndil like a lost puppy. What the hell is happening?”

“Your leader has found his lifemate, Dayan,” Julian said happily, “and is clueless, totally clueless, about how to deal with her. Finding your lifemate leaves you feeling as if someone punched you in the gut and stole your sanity. Your Darius is used to having his way in all things, simply commanding whatever he deems correct. But now I suspect he is in for the shock he so richly deserves.”

“He will simply force his will upon Tempest,” Dayan said confidently, “then everything will return to normal.”

“Forcing your will on your lifemate is in the same category as cutting your own throat. Not a wise idea. Still, watching will make for much fun,” Julian said smugly.

* * *

Chapter Six

Once in the thick shelter of the trees, the panther’s muscled form contorted and reshaped, shimmering in the blue darkness to become the solid frame of a man. Tempest watched, leaning for support against a tree trunk, wondering if she had somehow found Alice’s rabbit hole in the middle of a California state forest.

Darius noted her unnatural pallor, the shock in her enormous eyes. Her soft mouth trembled, and she was twisting her fingers together in agitation, her knuckles white. He knew that if he approached her, she would run. “You know you are not afraid of me, Tempest.” His voice was a whisper in the night, a part of the night.

Tempest looked around her. The color of night was deep blue, almost black, but mystical and beautiful. The trees rose as shadows toward the gem-scattered sky. Little tails of mist drifted slowly, lazily, knee-high along the forest floor. “Why do you seem as if you are such a part of all this?” she asked. “As if you belong to the night, but something beautiful, not dark and ugly? Why is that, Darius?” she asked again softly.

“I do belong to the night. I am not of the same race as you. I am not human yet not beast or vampire.”

“But you can become a leopard?” The incredible feat was nearly impossible to believe, even though she had witnessed it with her own eyes.

“I can become the mouse scampering across the field, the eagle soaring high in the sky. I can be the mist, the fog, lightning and thunder, a part of the atmosphere itself. But I am always Darius-the one who has vowed to protect you.”

Tempest shook her head. “This isn’t possible, Darius. Are you sure I didn’t fall and hit my head or something? Maybe we both ate a weird mushroom, and we’re on some psychedelic trip together. This isn’t possible.”

“I can assure you, I have done this all my life. And I have existed nearly a thousand years.”

She held up a hand to stop him. “One weird thing at a time. I’m hearing this stuff, but my brain is refusing to process it.”

“Do you know I would not harm you, Tempest? Do you know that much?” he asked insistently, his black gaze drifting over her face like fog.

In her deepest soul, beyond the human workings of her brain, Tempest knew it was the only certainty she had. Darius would not hurt her. She nodded slowly and saw relief light his eyes for a moment. Then he sobered again.

“I did not mean to expose you to the others’ appetites. In truth, it did not occur to me that any would use you for such a thing when you were under our protection. I inadvertently subjected you to a terrible moment, but in truth, you were not in any danger. In Barack’s defense, he likely thought he could manipulate your memories, as is generally easy to do with human prey, but he would not have harmed or killed you, simply fed, as, smelling my scent on you, he assumed I had. Please accept my apology.”