Dark Challenge Page 0,22

on!" Barack rapped his fist against her door a second time. "The crowd is beginning to get restless."

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the hall. Barack's arm instantly swept around her shoulders. "What were you doing in there?" He glanced around, then lowered his head toward hers. "You are not afraid, are you? We are all on alert this time, even the cats. Those assassins will not have a second chance at you."

"I know." Desari's voice came out low and husky. "I will be fine, Barack. Please do not say anything to Darius. He is already jumpy enough."

"Do not mistake Darius. He does not fear a return of the assassins. He thinks the other creature will return for you this night." Barack matched his longer strides to hers as they moved through the hall toward the entrance to the stage.

Dayan fell into step on her other side. "Darius will destroy this creature."

Desari's dove-soft eyes darkened to black opal. "Why do all of you insist on referring to him as the creature? Have you become as intolerant as the mortals now? I thought we were one with all of nature, with the universe itself. Because he is something we do not know, must we hate him? Reject him? He saved my life. That should count for something. Or would you prefer that I had died?"

Dayan caught her arm. "Little sister, you need not defend this creature."

Instantly she heard a soft growl of warming in her mind. The stranger was not happy with another male touching her. Now they were all annoying her!

Desari pulled her arm free, gave Dayan a look of pure disdain, and swept out onto the stage. The roar of the crowd was so tremendous, it filled the dome and burst into the sky. She smiled, her gaze wandering over the mass of people rising out of their seats to pay homage to her voice, to her music. But she was looking for one man. Only one.

Unerringly she found him, her gaze locking with his, and her heart stood still. For a moment she couldn't breathe as her dark eyes met molten gold. He was standing against a wall, in the shadows, but his face was a carved creation of sensual beauty. His gaze was hot, burning with possession. Desari's mouth went dry, and her body seemed to go up in flames.

Do not look at me that way!

The words formed in her mind on their private mental path before she could censor them.

I cannot help how I look at my lifemate,

he responded.

You are so beautiful, you take my breath away.

The way he said it, the way his voice brushed at her insides, tugged at her heart and brought sudden tears to her eyes. He was so intense, his voice truthful and hungry. Her entire being responded to him. She almost missed her cue as Dayan and Barack played the notes to her opening song. But then she sang for him. To him. Each note a haunting blend of mystery and magic.

Each note sank into Julian's pores, seeped into his soul. Desari was incredible. She captivated the entire audience. The arena was so silent, not even the shuffling of feet interrupted her song. The crowd could feel each separate note, see it shimmering like a flame dancing in the air. They smelled the sea she sang of, felt the rise and fall of the waves. She brought tears to their eyes, peace to their hearts. Julian couldn't take his eyes off her. He was mesmerized by her, enthralled completely. He found himself painfully aroused and surprisingly proud.

Darius's black gaze strayed often to the man leaning with deceptive laziness against the far wall. He was tall and handsome. Power oozed from him, radiated around him. At the moment his strange, molten-gold eyes were fixed on Desari, his attention seemingly consumed by her performance. But Darius was not deceived. This was a predator. Not necessarily evil, but he had come here hunting. And his prey was Desari. There was a hard edge to his mouth, a stark possessiveness reflected in the depths of those burning eyes. Darius knew this man was a dangerous adversary.

Julian's eyes never once wavered from Desari's face. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. On stage, in the midst of the rising theatrical fog and floodlights, she looked ethereal, mystical. A woman of erotic dreams, of fantasies. His body was completely still, nearly a part of the wall behind him, as if she