“It doesn’t stand to reason, Tempest,” Cullen said quietly, “that Matt would take your picture and then blow himself away. The police bought it because there was absolutely no evidence of anyone else being around, but I knew Matt. He was a sadistic son-of-a-bitch. He never would have killed himself.”
For a moment she couldn’t breathe, remembering the way the reporter had looked at her with his cold, calculating eyes.
I am here, baby,
Darius reassured her.
This man asks many questions, but I do not sense a trap.
She took a deep breath and began telling Cullen Tucker the truth. “I didn’t see him kill himself. He was going to shoot me, but I fell backward off a cliff and down a ravine. I heard a gunshot, but I have no idea what actually happened.”
“No one else was there?” Cullen prompted.
“I didn’t see anyone,” Tempest reiterated truthfully.
Cullen sighed softly. “Let’s get out of here. The longer we stick around, the more likely it is we’ll be spotted. Why did you have to drive such a distinctive car?”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “No one would have noticed the touring bus with the huge block lettering on the sides.”
He grinned at her, and Tempest realized it was the first time she had seen the man smile. “I bet you give the bodyguard more trouble than the entire band put together, don’t you?” he teased.
She tilted her chin, ignoring Darius’s silent laughter. “Why in the world would you say that?”
“Because I know the bodyguard type. And this one is clearly powerful, maybe even deadly. I’d say he’d be dominant, aggressive, and the extremely jealous, possessive type if he ever fell for a woman.”
“What an interesting assessment.”
Take that, Darius,
she added happily.
He hasn’t even met you yet, and he
knows
exactly what you’re like. Rather interesting description, don’t you think? What I think is, you had better bring your lovely little butt home fast, honey, or I might be tempted to spank it. You’re welcome to try,
she said haughtily, knowing she was perfectly safe.
Cullen Tucker stood up, tossed some money onto the table, then held her chair. She sighed. Her nice, solitary existence used to be so simple, so quiet. She heard Darius’s low growl of aggression when Cullen guided her toward the door with his palm at her back, and she sighed again. The words echoing in her mind were in another language, one she was unfamiliar with, but the blistering tone told her Darius was swearing.
Step away from him. He has no business putting his hands on you. He’s simply being polite.
Cullen yelped, removing his hand from her to bring it to his mouth. “Something stung me.”
“Really? I didn’t see a bee.” Tempest looked as sympathetic as she could under the circumstances, but she felt an unexpected urge to laugh.
Spoiled little king of the castle. Learn same respect, honey,
Darius ordered.
Cullen opened the car door for her, then yelped a second time when he held her elbow to help her in. He frowned at her. “What the hell’s going on?”
Tempest was fumbling for dark glasses. The sun seemed to be sending shards of glass into her eyes. Almost at once they were swollen and red, streaming in response to the burning light. “I can’t think what you mean,” she told Cullen.
She drove back to the campsite at a much more sedate pace than she had used heading for the town. Aware that Cullen was following her, she took care to keep to the speed limit, annoying though it was. The road was made for the sports car-winding, narrow, climbing upward, sheer drop-offs on one side, the mountain rising on the other. She had to fight the inclination to let loose and enjoy what the car could really do.
Once in the forest itself, she moved through the network of dirt roads like a professional. Cullen needn’t know she had practiced driving the route so she wouldn’t get lost. She maneuvered through the maze of narrow tracks, selecting one bearing to the right. At once she felt a curious, mood-wrenching sensation, the dark oppression of entering a time warp of evil-the perimeters Darius had set around the camp to keep others out. She was more sensitive to them than she had been before. It wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t drive through the barricade, but she feared Cullen might have a problem.
He pulled up behind her, not quite to the barricade. “What’s the hold-up?” he called.
She pulled her car forward, waiting for him to see what would happen. Cullen drove toward her a few feet, then stopped abruptly, slamming on the breaks. Tempest glanced in her rearview mirror and noted that he was trembling, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead. Can
he make it through the safeguards? Does it get worse? For a mile or so. He can take it. Can you get rid of it? Lead him through it.
Darius was implacable. He would not lower the barrier when he knew they were hunted, when he was aware Tempest could be in imminent danger.
Muttering about stubborn men, Tempest got out of the sports car and walked back to Cullen. His breathing was labored, his hand clutching at his chest.
“I think I’m having a heart attack,” he managed to get out.
“Move over,” she said. “I’ll drive. It’s just a kind of security measure Darius dreamed up. He’s a genius, you know,” she said briskly. “It drives people away from the area.”
“It feels evil, like something is waiting to drag us into hell,” Cullen said, but he obediently moved over.
“Yeah, well, after you meet Darius, you might think that’s just what happened,” she replied grimly. “God help you, Cullen, if you’re not on the up and up. Darius is no one you want to try to lie to.”
“If he designed this particular security system,” Cullen said with a certain degree of admiration and awe, “I believe you.”
“Is it letting up?” she asked hopefully. She didn’t want to leave the sports car where someone might find it and give away their location, and it was too hot to drive him to camp and walk back to retrieve the car.
“Enough that I know I’m not having a heart attack. I can follow you. Just get us out of this as fast as you can,” he pleaded.
Tempest patted his shoulder and slid out of his vehicle and back into hers. They made good time weaving in and out of the trails, Cullen practically tailgating her.
The camp appeared deserted when they arrived. Tempest knew the band and Darius were sleeping somewhere in safety. The cats, scenting a stranger, immediately started roaring their opposition to such an invasion. Cullen refused to get out of his car, hearing what sounded like a den of leopards, hungry and determined to have him for lunch. Tempest spent a few minutes silencing the cats, exasperated that Darius had chosen that moment to bow out and leave her on her own.
“Where is everyone?” Cullen demanded, finally emerging from his car and gingerly looking around the deserted camp. He followed Tempest to the truck.
“Darius is somewhere in the woods. He likes to string a hammock between two trees far away from all of us and have what he affectionately refers to as his quiet time.”
Very funny, honey. You are the worst liar I have ever met. And stop touching that man. If I get any more jealous, I will be the one to have the heart attack. Go back to sleep. You’re annoying me,
Tempest said severely. She smiled sweetly at Cullen. “He’s so moody, you know.”
“And Desari? Where is she?” He glanced uneasily at the motor home.
Tempest caught his look and burst out laughing. “She’s in a coffin in the bus. Would you like to see? I can let the cats out while you take a look around.”
Cullen looked sheepish. “I guess I am being pretty silly. But those cats are another reason Desari was marked by the society.” He absently handed Tempest a tool she pointed at. “Vampires supposedly have some animal from hell looking after them in the daytime. Those cats fit the description.”