Carpathian 06 - Dark Fire

was engaged to the most wonderful woman on this earth. She was loving and gentle-there was no one quite like her. We were in San Francisco, doing the tourist thing together. She was murdered."
    Tempest felt his sorrow like a knife. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Tucker." Tears swam in her eyes, tangling in her long lashes. "How horrible for you."
    "The police thought the murderer was a serial killer who had been terrorizing the city, but I saw it happen. The creature sank his teeth into her neck and drained her of blood. Then he threw her body down like it was so much garbage. Her blood stained his teeth and chin. He looked right at me and laughed. I knew he was going to kill me next."
    "But he didn't." She touched his hand, wanting to comfort him.
    Cullen shook his head. When he looked at her, his eyes reflected a deep, piercing pain. "For so long I wished he had. But something or someone scared him off before he could. A light, like a comet, came streaking through the sky toward us. The vampire hissed and turned his head toward it. It was like watching a repulsive reptile move, that slow, undulating way snakes have. Then he literally dissolved in front of my eyes and streamed away from the light coming at us. I watched it chase him across the sky toward the ocean. He was the coldest, crudest thing I'd ever seen. I wanted revenge. I wanted to hunt him down, hunt down anything that even resembled him."
    "I can understand that," Tempest murmured gently.
    Cullen shook his head. "No, you can't, and that's the point. You remind me of her. She had great compassion, the way you seem to have. She'd never seek revenge; she'd try to find a way to forgive him.
    I think that's what you would do." He sighed and moved the food around on his plate. "They're going to torture you for information. Even when you give it to them, they'll kill you. God, Tempest, don't you see?
    I can't live with that."
    Tempest shook her head. "Darius won't let them take me."
    Cullen's eyebrows shot up. "Darius? He must be the bodyguard. I'll admit the man is good, but it won't matter how good he is. They'll get you. They'll find you and kidnap you. You don't understand-these people are dead serious."
    She leaned forward to stare directly into his eyes so that he would know she spoke the absolute truth.
    "No, Cullen, you're the one who doesn't understand. They don't understand. Darius would come for me.
    No one could stop him. Nothing on this earth could stop him. He is utterly relentless. He's merciless. He's as silent as the leopard and moves like the wind. They wouldn't see him, wouldn't smell him, as he sped through time or space. And he would never stop, not until he had me back and had removed any threat Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    to me for all time. That is who they'd be dealing with."
    Cullen sat back as if she had struck him. His face paled visibly. "He's not human? You're saying this bodyguard is a vampire?"
    "Mr. Tucker, you have vampires on the brain. Of course Darius isn't a vampire. Do I look like the kind of woman who'd go out with a vampire?"
    "The bodyguard is your boyfriend?" Cullen asked, incredulous. "He-" He forced himself to stop abruptly.
    "Are you sure you know what you're doing? He sounds dangerous, Tempest. Very dangerous. I thought maybe he was involved with the singer."
    "He is. Darius is Desari's older brother." Tempest pushed at her hair, suddenly wondering what she must look like. She had been working all morning and hadn't thought to clean up before coming into town. She was tired, too. She had stayed up all night with the band and Darius, and now the sun was getting to her.
    She even felt as if it were burning her eyes and skin. Sunburn wasn't unusual for a fair-skinned redhead, but this burning was different. Deeper. She tried not to be alarmed. "The bodyguard is not invincible, Tempest," Cullen said, "even if he does seem pretty amazing to both you and the vampire-hunting society."
    "I want to thank you for risking so much to warn us," Tempest said softly, and she laid her hand gently on Cullen's. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, but please don't worry about me. Darius will take care of all of us."
    Take your hand off that man now, Tempest! Raw fury, black rage made the velvet voice menacing. If you value his life, do as I say.
    Tempest snatched her hand away from Cullen and ducked her head to hide the fire in her eyes. You have no right to order me around. You have no idea