Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

easier. I didn’t see colors, but I knew
     what affection was. They made my life much more bearable until Arabejila lost her
     lifemate. I wanted to be numb, not to feel her great sorrow, or how she had to fight
     to stay alive. In a way I felt I should be punished by her emotions, although she
     tried to hide them from me.”
    Riley brushed his mind with hers, the lightest of caresses, needing to surround him
     with her love. She knew he could barely stay there on the balcony, with the night
     sky trying to soothe him. It was a night for recriminations. Ever since he’d seen
     the infant and the torn body of the child’s mother, Dax had been restless and more
     than uneasy. She just didn’t know how to help him.
    “We’re safe here, aren’t we? Inside this house? Mitro can’t know we’re here, can he?”
     she asked. “I can sense that you’re unhappy here. We need a place to stay, and Riordan
     De La Cruz has given us this beautiful house. You have a resting place . . .”
    “Which I would never use, and he is well aware of that,” Dax said, his face darkening.
    “Why? He’s Carpathian. He has a lifemate. Gary and Jubal both know him. His sister-in-law,
     Jasmine, is here.”
    “The Old One is uneasy,” Dax said. “I can’t seem to settle him down. He’s leery of
     Riordan. And Carpathian hunters do not ever allow others to know their resting places.”
    The dragon soul moved against hers. The dragon was sleepy, yawning, waiting for Dax
     to discover it was the hunter worried, not the dragon. The dragon would flame an enemy
     immediately and take care of any problem. There wouldn’t be the incessant talking.
    As if the dragon had given him a little push, Dax continued, “When I go to ground,
     I will not have the luxury of being close to you, not unless I use what has been made
     available to me. I can’t keep you safe.”
    Riley frowned, trying to understand. “Riordan appears to be very hospitable. He’s
     clearly devoted to his lifemate and his sister-in-law. What worries you—um—I mean
     the Old One?”
    “I knew the oldest brother long before they came to this place. Then, they did not
     call themselves by these names. The eldest was not only shadowed, but held great darkness
     in him, even as a boy. If Mitro could still make the choice to give up his soul, it
     stands to reason that any Carpathian male could commit such an atrocity.”
    There it was. No one was safe. Riley frowned, trying to put pieces of information
     she found in his mind with data she’d learned from a few conversations.
    “Dax, can you please explain the lifemate bond to me one more time so I can better
     grasp the real concept? Gary tried to, but I don’t really fully understand.” She was
     missing something here, or Dax was. And given his state of mind, his explosive response
     to danger, she needed to be very knowledgeable about his world now. She’d been going
     on instinct, but the information was extremely important.
    Dax crossed to her and sank into a chair beside her. Instantly his fresh scent enveloped
     her. He smelled of the outdoors. Of danger. Of heat and fire. Her entire body reacted
     to his close proximity, an electrical current surging through her bloodstream. Her
     lungs burned, and deep inside she ached. He reached out and took her hand, the movement
     so gentle, his touch barely there, but every sense heightened until she could feel
     every breath he took.
    His skin was warm, almost hot, as his fingers tangled with hers. His thumb stroked
     caresses over the back of her hand. He was silent a moment, idly playing with her
     fingers, sliding his in between hers in slow, almost brushstrokes. She could barely
     breathe, barely think.
    She found it strange that even here, back in a city teeming with life, with people,
     she was all too aware of her hunger and need for Dax. His love for her was so strong
     in that moment it was almost tangible, wrapping her up in strong warm arms when he
     was barely touching her. Her love for him brought her to tears when she was alone.
     Every beat of his heart was heard by hers. Every breath he drew, she drew, too. More
     than anything, right now she wanted—no, needed—to find a way to comfort him.
    “A male Carpathian loses all emotion and the ability to see in color after the first
     two hundred years. Sometimes sooner. The more one hunts and kills, the faster the
     process. In my case, it was very fast. We are taught that there is one soul