Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

what the women were telling her. "That's why I see things and hear things so differently," she mused aloud, looking to them for confirmation.
    "And why you are having trouble eating human food."
    There was another silence while Tempest digested what they were saying. Her mind worked at it from all angels. "So if he converted me, I would have to have blood."
    Syndil stroked a light, soothing hand down the length of her hair. "Yes, Rusti, you would be like us in every way. You would have to sleep our sleep, stay out of the sun. You would be as vulnerable and as powerful as we are. But Darius refuses to take the chance. He has made up his mind to keep the risk all Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    his own." She said this softly, gently, her voice a beautiful blend of soothing, comforting notes, yet it didn't help.
    The sides of the trailer were suddenly closing in on Tempest, suffocating her, crushing her as the mountain had done. Tempest pushed herself away from the two women and stumbled toward the door.
    She had to breathe; she needed air. She flung herself out of the bus, wanting to run into the night, run to freedom.
    Darius caught her small, flying figure as she leapt down the steps, and he pulled her into the safety of his arms. "What is it, baby?" he whispered softly against her neck. "What has frightened you?" He didn't invade her mind, because he wanted her to trust him enough to tell him herself. If she refused to tell him, he could always merge with her.
    Tempest buried her face in his neck. "Take me away from here, Darius, please. Just get me out into the open."
    He raised his eyes, black and furious, to meet his sister's guilty gaze before he turned and moved away from the camp. Once out of sight of prying eyes, he poured on the speed, so fast that the trees around them blurred. When he stopped, they were in a secluded clearing tucked into the rolling hillside by a grove of trees.
    "Now tell me, honey." He was still permitting her to speak the words rather than reading her mind. He wanted her trust. He wanted her to volunteer what was causing her fear. "We are under the open sky.
    Only the stars are looking down upon us." His hand caressed her cheek, her throat, slid down the length of her arm to find her palm. Very gently he brought her knuckles to the warmth of his mouth, to the soothing, healing moisture his velvet tongue provided.
    She closed her eyes tightly, savoring the feel of him. She had missed him these last few hours. Missed him so much that she didn't even feel alive unless he was bugging her. "I don't know how to be a part of something, Darius, a part of you." She pressed her forehead against his shoulder, afraid to look at him.
    "I've been alone all my life. I don't know any other way."
    Darius held her closer, warming her. "We have all the time in the world, honey. You will learn to be comfortable with a family, and if it is too much all at once, I will take you away from the others until you learn to be a part of me. You do not have to contend with the entire group of us all at once if you find it overwhelming."
    "What if I can't do it, Darius? What if I just can't?"
    His hand found the nape of her neck, his fingers moving in a slow massage, easing the tension out of her.
    "Baby," he said softly in his black-velvet voice, the one that could command the wind and the very forces of nature. The one that sent her pulse racing and set every nerve ending in her body on fire. "There is nothing to fear. I can do no other than ensure your happiness. Trust me to do that."
    "I could lose you, Darius. You know I could. It's so much easier to be alone than to lose someone." Her voice was low and trembling, turning his heart over. "Already you are neglecting to take care of yourself.
    You're taking advantage of my ignorance of your needs, your ways. Something could happen to you because of me. Don't you see that? I couldn't bear it."
    Silently Darius cursed his sister. He felt Tempest's fears and fatigue beating at her, at him. Her body needed nourishment, yet she couldn't eat. His fault. He had done that to her. "What nonsense has my Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    sister been spouting? You cannot be responsible for choices I make. I want to be with you. Live with you, love you, be a family with you."
    Tempest shook her head, then pulled back to look into his eyes. "You know that can never be. I won't let you do