Carpathian 05 - Dark Challenge

tempers, and lust. It was all in the breath he drew into his lungs. He was looking out for danger to his lifemate. His amber eyes inspected the huge throng pushing to get into the building. He found himself tense, his every inclination to keep Desari far from these humans. He could hear myriad conversations even as he was scanning innumerable minds. Human security guards were using metal detectors on the people entering, but still he was uneasy.
    Julian caught sight of Darius. He was an imposing figure, moving silently and swiftly through the crowd, his black eyes icy, piercing the crush of humans restlessly, in unceasing motion. He was every bit as alert as Julian, determined to protect his sister at all costs. Dayan, although he played in the band, was at a side entrance, as on guard as the others. Barack roamed inside the building, mingling with the crowd to add further insurance to Desari's safety. Both musicians were projecting images unrecognizable to the public.
    The two leopards, Sasha and Forest, were locked in one of the rooms provided for the band members.
    Syndil, too, had taken her usual form of a female leopard and waited with the other cats. Julian wanted to protest the action, aware of the sadness in Desari at Syndil's withdrawal from reality. Julian had noticed that Barack was very edgy around all of them. He often placed his body squarely between the other males and Syndil. Clearly the terrible attack on her had shaken the males' faith in one another. With the assassins making their attempt on Desari and vampires threatening them for their women, the men were all on edge.
    Darius paused briefly beside him. "Anything?"
    Julian shook his head. "Nothing but a feeling of uneasiness. I do not like this, Desari exposed to all these Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    humans."
    "There will be no mistakes made this time," Darius said softly, confidently. "There will be no further attempts on my sister's life."
    Julian had to respect the man's total conviction. It was difficult not to believe in Darius, power clung to him like a second skin. There would be no chances taken this night. Julian nodded at Darius and continued pacing among the humans, scanning minds, listening to the conversations around him. To his left a fight erupted between two men. Pushing and shoving, voices raised. But the human security personnel were there instantly, escorting the scufflers away from the building. Julian could detect no animosity toward his lifemate, so he ignored the incident, not wanting to be distracted from his primary task of protecting Desari.
    Desari was in the dressing room, putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She liked to put it on herself in the human manner. It soothed her somehow before she went on stage. It was also her habit before each concert to scan the minds of the crowd, and try to find those in need so that she could pick the songs most suited to healing and helping. It was important to her to seek the mood of the audience, listen for what they wanted to hear, their favorite ballads or the haunting new melodies she could produce. She liked to know which people had come to more than one of her concerts, who had traveled long distances to see her perform. Sometimes after her shows she would seek out those who had traveled far or often to hear her sing and introduce herself to them and chat.
    For the most part, the crowd was eager, moving restlessly, excitedly, in their seats, eager to hear her sing. Desari tuned them out in order to prepare herself for the stage. At once her mind, of its own accord, sought Julian. She smiled as she felt an instant flood of warmth, strong arms surrounding her.
    Julian was not thrilled with her family unit , as he called them, nor were they all that happy with him, but no one was snarling at each other. To his credit, Julian hadn't made even a single protest when she entered the theater to dress for her concert.
    You are the lifemate of a sensitive, modern male . Julian's lazy amusement warmed her further, confirming what she already suspected, that he often stayed a shadow in her mind.
    How fortunate for me . Desari smiled at herself in the mirror. Her dark hair cascaded in waves down her back. There was a sparkle in her eyes. She knew Julian had made her feel more alive than she had ever been. Sensitive, modern men are so to my liking .
    Men? I am certain I did not hear my lifemate use the word men. The plural. No man