Carpathian 05 - Dark Challenge

had been prepared for the tragedy two months earlier. Desari could hardly bear to remember it. Savon had elected to lose his soul, giving himself over to the crouching beast, choosing to be completely dark. He had hidden the spreading evil stain even from those closest to him.
    He had bided his time, awaited his opportunity, and then he had viciously attacked Syndil. Desari had never seen such a brutal assault on any woman. The men had always protected, treasured, and cherished the women. No one dreamed such a thing could happen. Syndil was sweet and trusting, but Savon had beaten her that day, mauled and raped her. He had nearly killed her, draining her of blood. Darius found them, directed by Syndil's frantic mental cries for help. So shocked that his closest friend had committed such a monstrous crime, he was nearly killed himself when Savon had attacked him.
    Afterward, Syndil had been so hysterical, she allowed only Desari near her and only Desari to replace the blood she had lost. In turn Barack and Dayan had supplied Desari and Darius. It had been a tragic, horrible time, and Desari knew none of them had fully recovered yet.
    Syndil now spent most of her time in the earth or shape-shifting into a leopard. She rarely spoke, never smiled, and did not allow discussion of the attack. Dayan had grown quieter, more protective. Barack was the most changed. He had always seemed a playboy, laughing his way through the centuries, but for a month he, too, had stayed in the earth, and lately he was moody and watchful, his dark eyes following Syndil wherever she went. Darius was different, too. His black eyes were bleak and cold. He watched over the two women even more closely. Desari noticed he had also distanced himself from the men.
    Syndil, come now ! This time she gave the order in a firm, decisive voice. Darius was far too heavy for Desari, in her weakened state, to move. What had happened to Syndil was not her trauma alone. They had all suffered, all had been changed forever by it. They needed her. Darius needed her.
    Syndil materialized beside them, tall and beautiful with her enormous sad eyes. She paled visibly when she saw the bloodstains on Desari, when she noted Darius swaying unsteadily on his feet, his face gray.
    Quickly she caught him, taking most of his weight. "The others? Where are they?"
    "Darius gave them his blood, blood he could not afford to give up," Desari explained. "We were attacked by mortals with guns. Dayan and Barack were both hit too."
    "Barack?" Syndil's pale face whitened even more. "And Dayan? Do they both live? Where are they?"
    "They are in the healing earth," Desari assured her.
    "Who would want to shoot you? And what happened to Darius?" Syndil urged Darius forward toward the troupe's bus. Under cover of darkness they made their way inside where Darius had left the two leopards after they aided him.
    The moment they had Darius on the couch, Desari ripped away his shirt to expose his wounds. Syndil pushed closer. Her gaze narrowed speculatively. "A leopard did that."
    "Something did it," Darius corrected grimly. "But he was no true leopard. Nor was he mortal. Whoever he was, he gave Desari blood." He shook his head and looked up at his sister. "He was strong, Desari, stronger than anything I have ever come up against."
    Syndil bent to him. "You need blood, Darius. You must take mine." She refused to let her fear of being close to a male, the strongest in her family, allow her to shirk her duty. She was already ashamed that she Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    had removed herself so far from the others that she had been unable to detect the danger to them all.
    Darius's eyes, so dark they were black, drifted over her face. He could see everything, see into her very soul, see her aversion to touching a man. He shook his head. "Thank you, little sister, but I would prefer that you give your blood to Desari."
    "Darius!" Desari protested. "You need it desperately."
    Ashamed, Syndil hung her head. "It is for me he does this," she confessed softly. "I cannot bear to be touched by a male, and he knows it."
    "If it were not necessary to dilute the blood of the intruder in Desari's veins," Darius objected softly, his voice soothing, "I would gladly accept your offering. If it is distasteful to you to do such a thing for me, then the offer is all the more valuable, and I thank you."
    Darius , Desari warned, careful to use their own private mental