Dark Challenge (23 page)

He didn’t respond or acknowledge her warning; he simply faced the vampire calmly. His handsome face was lined with weariness, his golden hair flowing wildly to his shoulders. He stood straight and tall, his shoulders square, his amber eyes gleaming with a kind of fire.

“I bring you the justice of our people, old one. What you have done is a crime against humanity, against the very earth itself. I carry out the sentence pronounced on your kind by the Prince of our people and hope you find mercy in another life as I can give you none here.” The words were soft and gentle, hypnotic and compelling.

Even as the vampire’s body began to contort in a last effort to escape, as the tainted blood came within inches of Julian’s shoes, the Carpathian hunter plunged his
hand into the crack in the chest of the undead and extracted the heart. There was a horrible sucking sound as the pulsating organ came out of the shrieking fiend. Julian leapt away from the spray of blood and the grotesque hand reaching for his feet.

The vampire flopped to the ground, tried twice to rise, then began to blindly feel around him, seeking the only thing that could keep him alive. Julian dropped the heart a safe distance from the apparition, who refused to believe he had been defeated.

Desari felt the terrible weariness then, the pain throbbing and burning in Julian’s body. She watched as he gathered the energy from the lightning and directed it first at the heart, then the body of the undead, and lastly into the ground itself, incinerating the dark blood that spread like a stain over the forest floor. Only then did he sink down onto a fallen log. Desari watched in fascination as he called down more glowing light to hold for a moment to cleanse his hands and forearms.

Desari leapt from her high perch and would have run to him, but Julian shook his head and pointed with his good arm toward the forest. Moving slowly but steadily, several humans were heading directly for the ring of restless animals. Desari instantly began to sing, soothing the large animals, releasing them from the enthralling spell she had woven. Growling and snarling, the animals slunk into the forest’s dark interior, away from the group of humans.

“They must have been camping within the sound of my voice,” she told Julian.

“We have much to do this night before we can seek rest,” he replied. “We must find the vampire’s kill and destroy all evidence. This ground must be cleared of any trace of the undead.”

Desari could hear the weariness in his voice, feel it in
his mind. His blood loss had been great. “I will take care of those things. You return to our campsite and place yourself in a healing sleep while I complete the tasks.”

A small smile softened the hard edge to Julian’s mouth. “Come here,
piccola
. I need you close to me.” His voice was a velvet heat she couldn’t ignore.

Desari found her feet moving toward him before it registered that she was obeying his soft command. The moment she was within range, his hand snaked out, shackled her wrist, and exerted pressure so that she was forced to sit beside him on the log. “Hold still,
cara,
” he ordered. “The vampire’s claw was tainted. The poison is already moving through your system. I will drive it from your body, and then I must remove the memory of your song from these humans so that their lives will remain unchanged.”

“You need healing far more than I do, Julian,” she protested. “Do not worry about so small a thing as this scratch. We can take care of it later.”

“I will not allow such a thing,” Julian said. “Your health comes before all else. The vampire has been destroyed, but his poison is still lethal. Be still, Desari. I will do this. I know what it is to have the darkness growing and spreading inside, a thing that that cannot be removed. I will not allow such a thing to happen to you.”

She read his determination, wished she could see the source of his grim resolve, but still it was hidden from her. Although she felt foolish having Julian attend such a tiny laceration when he was so badly wounded, Desari didn’t attempt further protest. There would be no changing his mind, and she was not about to waste his time and energy on arguing.

Julian’s golden eyes closed while he centered himself and once more disassociated himself from his own pain
and fatigue. He sent himself seeking outside his own body and into hers. He found the foul drops of poison almost immediately. The thick black flecks were growing insidiously, spreading throughout her bloodstream and multiplying. He was light and energy, fire moving swiftly to overtake each and every speck of toxic venom and neutralize it. It was a difficult task. He took care not to overlook the minutest particle, delving into every artery, vein, and organ to ensure she was completely free of any residual toxin that might later grow and spread, causing illness or harm.

When he was finished, he made the journey back into his own body. Desari touched his face with loving, gentle fingers. He was gray and swaying with weariness. She pushed back his hair, her heart aching for him. She could feel the burning of his flesh, of his insides, the gaping wound in his shoulder. “You must rest. Let me do what needs doing.”

Julian shook his head. “You would be a great help to me if you would take care of the humans. I cannot allow you near the remains of the vampire or his victims. You cannot trust the undead, not even in death.”

“He is destroyed, Julian,” she reminded him softly.

“Trust me,
cara mia
, I have dealt with his kind for centuries. Their traps often lie in wait long after they are dead.” He brought her hand to his mouth. “Do as I say, Desari. Help the humans. You do not want them to live the rest of their lives as zombies. Go now. And then go through the air to Darius. Call to him, have him put you in the earth. I will go to ground as soon as I safely can.”

Desari laughed softly at him. “Persist in your fantasies, my love. I am certain they will see you through this difficult time.” She pulled her hand away from his and left him while she went to attend to the group of campers stumbling around the edge of the clearing.

Julian watched her walk away from the scene of brutal death. She looked so serene and beautiful, so untouched by the violence and ugliness surrounding them. He felt his heart lurch, and a curious melting sensation followed. He shook his head in wonder at his luck, pushed back his hair, and stood on shaky legs. He was weak, far weaker than he had allowed Desari to see. The wound in his shoulder was a fiery pain that encompassed his entire chest. He could feel poison spreading throughout his system, and each laceration of his skin throbbed and burned. But he had a duty; he was honor-bound to see to his lifemate first and then remove all signs of the vampire to hide their race from those mortals who would seek to destroy them.

He knelt beside the dead and dying birds. Those already dead he could do nothing about. Those that still lived were suffering. Gathering the live ones to him, he once more sent himself seeking outside his body and into the creatures who had answered the call to help him. No matter how difficult, he would heal every one that he could. Julian had a deep respect for wildlife. He ran with the wolves, soared in the sky with the birds, swam in the waters with the fish, and hunted with jungle cats in Africa. He lived as one with nature, and nature lived within him. Before Desari, wildlife had been his only solace in the long centuries of his existence.

Desari completed the task of masking the hideous scene in the forest from the humans and turned back to see Julian kneeling beside the fallen owls. He looked like a warrior of old, battle-scarred but undefeated. His golden hair flowed around him, blood dripped steadily, his face was set as if in stone, lined with pain and weariness, yet his hands were gentle as they touched the birds, stroked the feathers, and chanted the Carpathian healing ritual in words as old as time itself. She found
tears swimming in her eyes. This man who stood so calmly and faced death, who could destroy an enemy mercilessly, ruthlessly, thought first to heal her and then the creatures of the forest. Pride rose in her for this man. She might never understand what his words had done to bind them together, but she was suddenly glad that he had done so. Julian was an exceptional Carpathian male; it was clear to her that he thought of others before he thought of himself.

I might just be falling in love with you
. She brushed the words in his mind, her voice a stroking caress.

Julian didn’t look up at her, but she felt his smug smile.
You already are in love with me
, cara mia.
You are just too stubborn to admit it to yourself. I walk in your mind with you. I know you love me.

Keep on fantasizing
, she teased, and turned back to the task at hand, leading the group of humans back toward their campground.

Julian was uneasy with her leaving his sight.
Call me if you feel in any way disturbed. Do not forget the recent trend of vampires traveling together in these parts. And you have now seen for yourself that lesser vampires, those who have recently turned, are often used by the more ancient and skilled undead. You must be very careful
.

I am beginning to think your lectures are even more tedious than my brother’s
, Desari replied, somewhere between laughter and exasperation as she led the humans away. She was no fledgling to be treated as if she weren’t very bright. Sometimes the males of her race set her teeth on edge.

Julian could not hurry the healing of the owls. Each feathered body had to be entered and healed from the inside out. He tried to push away every thought but becoming energy and light so that he would make no mistakes.
Still, he felt guilt for using the beautiful creatures—the price to be paid for once more feeling emotion. Sorrow and guilt over the owls that had lost their lives. Fear for Desari, for the separation forced on them through his own weakness.

Wearily he tossed the last owl into the air and watched the powerful wings lift the bird high so that it soared away. He was swaying now from the tremendous drain on his energy, from the volume of blood he had lost. He desperately needed to go to ground and seek the rejuvenating sleep of his people while the soil healed his body.

Julian turned and surveyed grimly the blackened ground strewn with the owls he could not save. With a sigh he once more called down the lightning from the clouds and sent a bolt slamming to earth to ignite the bodies. When the last of the forest floor was clean, he stepped away from the area to bring up the wind. It whirled around like a small tornado, sweeping ashes high into its funnel and dispersing them in all directions.

Julian shape-shifted slowly, his muscles and sinews protesting, his shoulder shrieking in outrage as he once again compressed his body into the shape of a bird of prey. One wing did not want to move correctly, so it required great concentration and skill to take flight. Once in the air, Julian soared over the forest, seeking the vampire’s recent kill. It, too, was a grim task, and he did not want Desari anywhere near the site. He spotted her with her charges, returning the campers to their tents and motor homes.

He dipped low to ensure no danger threatened her before proceeding up the riverbank away from the main campground. Desari touched his mind with warmth and concern, and he attempted to feel strong and able so she wouldn’t worry. He could feel her compassionate nature,
her soft heart a beacon to guide her lifemate back from the edge of predatory madness.

Below him, he smelled the stench of death. He dropped low, and circled the riverbank twice before gliding to earth. He shape-shifted as he landed. At once his body protested again, this time the pain nearly driving him to his knees. He had never been able to abide weakness in himself. Swearing eloquently to himself in the ancient language, he walked to the bodies of two young gold-panners. They lay broken and discarded in the usual messy vampire manner, their faces rigid with terror. These two had seen the undead exposed in all his horror. They were young, not more than twenty-three or twenty-four. Julian shook his head, irritated with himself for not having sensed the ancient’s presence earlier. Ordinarily, no vampire could approach within miles of him without his knowledge. His emotions were so new and intense, colors so vivid, desires so compelling, he felt almost blinded. He certainly had been occupied with his lifemate and his own needs instead of what was happening around him.

Desari?
He touched her mind gently, needing to know she was not in any danger.

Everything here is taken care of, Julian. Shall I come to you?
Her voice was a soothing breath of fresh air in his head.

No!
His warning was sharp.
Do not
, cara.
Go to the others and the bus, and I will meet you there.
He was grateful for the beauty of her voice and longed to be away from the sight of evil and death, back in her presence, where he would find comfort.

She withdrew without argument, sensing his weariness, knowing he was hiding the true extent of his injuries from her. She fed, certain he would need blood, but took care to use only women. The last thing she
needed was for her lifemate to go berserk on her.

Julian, still a shadow in her mind, found himself smiling at her thoughts. He might be too weary to go berserk at this precise moment, but he was grateful she was considerate of his feelings. He incinerated the human bodies and blew their ashes over a large area, leaving their camp scorched and blackened, as if it had taken a bolt of lightning in a ferocious storm. The authorities would never find the bodies, and would perhaps presume the campers had drowned, the currents carrying them off. Julian felt for the families, but he could leave no evidence of the vampire’s handiwork or tainted blood to be analyzed by some human coroner. Protecting his race was top priority. He had no other choice. He took one last look around to assure himself he had done all he could to hide any evidence of the undead. Satisfied, he began to walk toward their own campsite.

Desari kicked the wheel of the bus. “The darn thing refuses to start. I knew it. I knew it would happen at the worst possible time.” She kicked the tire again in frustration.