Corinne heard the soft voice of the Dark Troubadours’ acknowledged leader, Darius. A whisper of purity, soft and perfect, cleansing and healing like a fresh cool rain. ‘Corinne. You are needed. You must summon him back to you. No other can save him now. I will feed your strength with my own. Call him to your side. You must do so now.’ The voice was calm, tranquil even, yet she knew immediately there was a terrible urgency. She didn’t stop to question. She was so tuned to Dayan, the moment she reached out for his mind, she felt the killing frenzy, the implacable grip of the beast.
Corinne lay very still, instinctively taking a deep breath and letting it out to relax. She focused her thoughts on Dayan, blocking out everything else around her. The room fell away, the constraints of her physical condition fell away, even her awareness of Darius, until there was only Dayan in her mind. Her Dayan. Tall and sweet and loving. Generous. Giving. She closed her eyes until she could almost smell his clean woodsy scent. ‘Dayan.’ Deliberately she used his name. Calling the man. Reaching for the intellect. ‘Dayan, come back to me.’
At once he was there with her, merged deeply so that she was in the heat of his battle with the smell of blood and the lust for the kill dominating his brain. She was quiet a moment, faintly shocked at actually witnessing the violent side of him she had always sensed. Corinne lay very quietly, stayed completely focused. Unknowingly she used her own talent, creating a surge of power. This was simply another side of Dayan. Her Dayan. ‘Come back to me. Leave that place and return to where you are needed.’ She put all her energy into her call, but that didn’t matter. Dayan was all that mattered.
She sensed the terrible struggle. Something else was fighting for him. Something shadowy, not tangible, but nevertheless, very powerful. She felt the dark stain spreading like a disease through him, the triumph of the beast as it threatened to consume him. At first Corinne believed he was locked in mortal combat with the vampire. Whatever it was, his adversary was evil and greedy and it wanted Dayan. Then she realized the vampire was dying. This other force struggling with her wanted Dayan’s soul, wanted to turn him into the very thing he hunted and destroyed. She understood little of it, but instinctively she latched on to the mental strength flowing from Darius into her. She regulated her breathing, worked at regulating Dayan’s. Adrenaline was pumping through his body, mixing with the frenzied savagery of the predator until he was more animal than man. Cunning, feral, a creature of the night.
‘You are Dayan, a musician without equal, a poet with words that take my breath away. You are my lifemate, my heart and soul. Come back to me, Dayan. Leave that place. Leave that poor unfortunate aberration. Pray God will find him a better place. You can do nothing more for him. Come home to me.’ She spoke from her deepest core, meaning every word, feeling every word. He was so deeply entrenched in her heart, buried so deeply in her soul, she didn’t know where he left off and she began.
For a moment, reason and judgment shimmered in his brain, a whirling silver mist breaking through the red killing haze. ‘Corinne?’ His voice was distant, a faraway thread of sound, drowned out quickly by a bellow of rage.
Corinne remained very calm, sending waves of love and tranquillity to Dayan. Darius was with her, guiding her from a great distance. On some level she was aware of his direction, but most of her actions were instinctive. This was Dayan, her other half, and he was out in the dark night somewhere with lightning and thunder crashing to earth around him, a fitting backdrop for the turbulence in his mind. They were merged so closely, she could feel the wild winds, the terrible vortex of violence, whirling like a tornado, strong and destructive, determined to sweep aside the man and leave the aroused beast. ‘Dayan, come back to me. Leave that place and come to me. The baby is resting quietly and I’m very tired. I need you here where you belong.’