Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

foliage and the stare was directed solely at Riley. Mitro believes she is someone else and he fears her. He rejected his lifemate Arabejila
     and he intended to kill her, but he couldn’t force himself to finish the job. She
     is the one person he can’t kill, so he’ll send every minion he has to do the job for
     him, Dax explained.
    That thing is looking at me, Riley hissed in his mind.
    She sounded scared. Her hand transferred from his back pocket to the small of his
     back. She bunched his shirt tightly in her fist.
    It will be all right.
    That’s easy enough for you to say. It isn’t looking at you.
    He suppressed a smile. Stop looking at it.
    It has big teeth.
    Of course it does. It is meant to kill you. I’m certain the claws are of equal size. They were in striking distance now.
    She thumped him hard on his back. Do you think you’ll ever get the concept of watering down the danger level?
    I don’t understand what that means. He was genuinely puzzled. She was half serious, half joking, but he didn’t like the
     idea that he might be failing her on some level. How did one “water down”—whatever
     that was— danger ? Any creature a vampire used to do his bidding was extremely dangerous, especially
     one that wanted to kill his lifemate.
    Of course you don’t .
    There was a hint of laughter in her voice. Arabejila had a gift allowing a Carpathian
     male who had lost all color and emotion to feel some faint sensation, but the times
     he managed to feel something, the reaction had been so faint and distant, he’d never
     been entirely certain whether or not the sentiment had been merely a long-ago memory,
     or if he’d really experienced feeling. Certainly not humor. Arabejila had always had
     a sense of humor, but he hadn’t always understood her laughter.
    Now, with Riley, humor had become fun. He liked teasing her. And he liked that she
     teased him. He was coming to understand humor, and hers always showed itself at unexpected
     times.
    It’s getting ready to attack.
    Dax could tell Riordan’s voice in her head startled Riley, but the only sign was the
     way she bunched the back of his shirt tighter in her fist and pressed her forehead
     against his back, making herself smaller. All the while, she stayed in step with him.
    When I say, let go and crouch low.
    He was in her head and heard her silent protest, but she nodded several times indicating
     she heard him. She was afraid. Really afraid. He was used to Arabejila, who always
     followed his orders without question. Like him, she didn’t fear death. Both had lost
     all hope of a lifemate, and knew death was now a matter of honor. Now, he had everything
     to live for, but fear was something he wasn’t familiar with.
    I would not allow you to come to harm, Riley. It was a simple truth. He couldn’t allow such a thing. She was his lifemate, his world, light to his darkness and there
     was no possible way he would let anything hurt her. Arabejila understood that . . .
    If you compare me to that woman one more time, I’m going to hit you over the head
     with a very large object. I’m not Arabejila, and I’m not wild about the comparisons.
    He swore her teeth snapped together just shy of his skin. She might have torn his
     shirt.
    I think the dragon would be a good thing right now. Maybe you ought to call him out.
     He’s big and he’s got teeth, too.
    She was royally angry at him, but again, he didn’t really understand why. Lifemates
     were much more difficult than he’d ever considered. And the dragon? She wanted the
     Old One to protect her? He felt a faint stirring of an emotion he couldn’t quite catch
     or identify.
    All the while he tried to puzzle out her illogical reasoning, he kept most of his
     attention centered on the rodent. Small flames had begun to burn in the beady, glowing
     eyes. Muscles bunched as it gathered itself in wait for its prey to get close enough.
    Now. He gave the command as the watcher leapt from the branches, bursting into the open,
     hurtling itself through the air straight at Riley.
    She dropped low, releasing his shirt as scales slipped over his skin, that hard armor
     protecting him, and he swung at the creature with a hammerlike fist. He connected
     with the long snout, smashing through razor-sharp barred teeth, and driving the fangs
     back down the rodent’s throat.
    The rodent flew backward, right into Riordan’s hands. He caught the watcher around
     the neck and held tight, staring into