Darius staggered to the back of the bus without argument and lay down on the couch, the injured leopard on the floor close by. “You know you will get us lost without guidance, little love.”
Her heart turned over at the note of tenderness in his voice. She wanted him to sleep the rejuvenating sleep of his people, to heal himself in the earth so that he would be at full strength again. The pain from his wound was on him, hunger from blood loss beating at him, yet when she touched his mind, she found only thoughts for her, for her safety.
“You just think you’re indispensable,” she scolded him, deliberately sarcastic. “I’m perfectly capable of finding my way to the resort and the campsite where they plan to settle tonight. Now go to sleep, and I’ll wake you if I need a wounded warrior.”
“Do not ever attempt to leave me again, Tempest,” he murmured so softly that she barely caught the words. There was an unguarded ache in his voice that brought a fresh flood of tears to her eyes.
In her life, no one had ever wanted her. No one had ever needed her. Certainly no one had ever been so loving and caring toward her. For all his overbearing, dominating ways, she couldn’t ever say he didn’t put her first. She couldn’t say her heart wasn’t totally captivated. He had woven a spell around her so strong, she didn’t think the tie could ever be broken.
As she drove down the highway, the rain began to lessen to a drizzle. She made every attempt to keep her mind from what had happened. The idea of all those men throwing their lives away, attacking people they really knew nothing about, was devastating to her. She had no idea just how many adversaries there had been, but she knew the cats had managed to kill two humans apiece. She had caught the images in their minds. Darius had killed the others, but she had no idea how many, and she didn’t want to know. It was better not to know, not to allow herself to think too much about insanity of what was happening in her life.
Carpathians. Vampires. Vampire-hunters. It was all too bizarre.
Chapter Fifteen
Tempest drove the bus onto the shoulder of the road, parked, and rested her head against the steering wheel. She felt as if she had been driving forever, but it was the road conditions and driving rain that finally defeated her waning strength, not the hour of night. Exhausted, she struggled to keep her eyes open. In any case, she had stayed on the main highway until there was a confusing fork in the road. She had gone right around the bend, hoping she wasn’t supposed to take the road branching to the left. She nibbed her eyes, feeling faint.
Her heart nearly stopped when a cloud of vapor streamed in through the window she had cracked open, hoping the cold air would revive her. Julian Savage shimmered into a solid state beside her, then went at once to Darius, concern etched on his handsome face. Tempest laid her head back against the seat, too tired to question him.
“How long has he been like this?” Julian demanded.
“He was shot,” Tempest said without opening her eyes. “I told him to sleep, that I would find the rest of you.”
Julian bent close to Darius, tore at his own wrist with his teeth, and pressed the wound firmly over Darius’s mouth. “Take what is freely offered that you might live both for your lifemate and yourself.” He was unexpectedly gentle, his voice a blend of concern and hypnotic compulsion.
Darius moved then, for the first time in hours, his hand rising weakly to grip Julian’s wrist and hold it to his mouth. Julian began the ritual healing chant, and from several miles away, the rest of the Carpathians, linked as they were with their unique telepathy, joined in. All of them felt Darius’s weakness and pain. All of them knew he would not go to ground as he needed.
Tempest pushed herself from the driver’s seat and staggered down the trailer until she could drop to her knees beside Darius. “Is he going to be okay, Julian?”
“He is weak. He went into battle already drained of his strength. He used mental energy to focus the storm and hide the bus.” Julian looked worried, his eyes filled with concern. “He must go to ground and heal. He needs to sleep the sleep of our people.”
Darius roused himself, the blood of the ancients flowing strong in his veins. “She was lost again, was she not?”
“I wasn’t lost,” Tempest protested, her voice drowsy. “I was simply looking for a good place to rest.”
Julian shrugged. “She took a wrong turn a few miles ago. I will drive both of you to the others. You must sleep, Darius.”
“I must protect Tempest.” It was an implacable statement, an order given by a being used to being obeyed.
Tempest leaned her head against his leg. “You’re about as much protection as a wet noodle right now, Darius. I’m protecting
you.
“ She would have glared at him, but she didn’t have the energy to lift her head. “Get it? I’m taking the responsibility for a change.”
Julian shook his head at them. “You are both a sorry sight. I have no choice but to offer my protection. I will drive. You two rest.”
“Good idea,” Darius and Tempest said simultaneously.
Darius reached down until he found Tempest’s hand and laced his fingers through hers, connecting them together. They were content to be silent for a long while, the swaying of the bus curiously comforting. Then Darius’s thumb began to move, a feather-light touch brushing gently back and forth across her knuckles. “I need to feel your body beside mine,” he murmured beneath his breath.
Tempest heard the urgency of his need in his voice. He never tried to hide it from her, never worried that he sounded vulnerable. She was exhausted, so much so that it was an effort to lift herself to the other side of the low couch. Sliding beside him, she fit her body to his. Darius instantly turned to wrap his arms around her. She felt as though she was home, safe and protected, where she belonged. She closed her eyes and slept, not realizing Darius had given her a slight mental push to help her drift off peacefully.
Tempest jerked awake just under an hour later as Julian parked the trailer at the chosen site and opened the door for the others. Desari rushed in, a soft cry of alarm escaping as she saw her brother and Tempest. Her hand went to her throat. “Julian?” Her ethereal voice wavered for a moment as she sought reassurance from her lifemate.
“He needs more blood and the earth to heal him,” Julian supplied.
Darius pushed himself into a sitting position, his black eyes moving over his family crowding around him. “Do not look so worried. It is not as if I have never been injured before. It is nothing.” He turned to look down at Tempest.
She simply didn’t have the energy to move. She lay, her body like lead, just staring lovingly up at his face. His hand stroked her cheek, then settled around her neck. Darius was looking at her as if she were his entire world.
Desari stroked back Tempest’s hair. “You were wonderful, Rusti, so brave. I can feel your body’s terrible weariness.”
Tempest managed a wan smile. “Don’t tell me Darius was broadcasting a blow-by-blow report while it was all happening.”
“Of course. We needed to know in case something went wrong and we had to return to give aid,” Desari explained. “To help with the illusion, we created in the minds of those who saw us traveling on the highway the memory of the trailer traveling with us. If the authorities question anyone, they will state that all vehicles were traveling together last night, long before the horrible battle where we had camped.”
“A regular sports commentator, aren’t you, Darius?” Tempest asked, annoyed that he had expended even more energy than she had first thought. No wonder he was looking gray and gaunt. “Take him wherever he’s supposed to go and put him to sleep and leave me to rest.”
Darius’s hand tightened around the nape of her neck. “We will not be separated. You must eat something before you sleep, Tempest. You have not taken any sustenance for twenty-four hours.”