Free Dark Challenge by Christine Feehan

two lines of her song. Her heart was beating in her throat.
Oh, God, please do not do this
. Terror was in her voice, concern for him, for both of them.
    Julian deliberately turned his head toward Darius and smiled, a show of gleaming white teeth. He straightened, his body fluid and supple. Two fingers touched his forehead in a mock salute directed at Darius. Muscles rippled suggestively beneath the thin T-shirt. He sauntered unhurriedly to the exit, arrogance in every step. His amber eyes glinted with menace until he swung his gaze back to Desari. Then his eyes burned possessively, intently, a molten gold that turned her to liquid heat.
    For you
, cara mia. His voice moved through her body with the same inflammatory heat of his gaze.
    Desari wanted to run after him. She stood on the stage and sang to a crowd of several thousand, but her mindand her heart and soul were somewhere else. Dayan and Barack were watching her closely, puzzled, worried by her strange behavior. Desari had never faltered, never missed a beat in all their long centuries of singing on stage.
    Darius followed the stranger out of the dome. The man was gone, dissolved into mist in the night air. Darius sensed him, felt the power in the air, but dared not leave his sister to pursue her pursuer. Something about the man gave him pause. He looked at Desari with more than lust in his gaze. More than possession. He looked at her protectively. Darius was nearly certain the stranger was not out to harm her. He was also certain the man had not left out of fear. Nothing would scare him. He walked with the confidence born of many battles, much hardship, and enormous knowledge.
    Darius looked up into the night. Whoever the stranger was, he had left out of deference to Desari’s wishes, not because he feared a battle with Darius. Darius sighed and turned back to the dome. He did not need this worry at this time. The assassins stalking Desari required his full attention. It bothered him that his intruder had arrived on the very day someone had tried to kill her. And to make matters worse, Darius had been convinced for some time that the most evil of all enemies stalked his beloved sister—the undead.
    Desari saw her brother return. Anxiously she studied his face. It was the same mask of harsh sensual beauty he always wore. He had no visible wounds. She was certain she would have felt the disturbance if the two men had fought. Her singing had always flowed from her, a beautiful creation as mysterious and wonderful to her as it was to everyone else. Now it was difficult to create, with her mind in chaos, her throat closing off, being so near to tears.
    Where was he? Was he alive? Was he all right? She wanted to scream, to run off the stage, away from the thousands of prying eyes, away from her family who watched her so closely. She was uncertain for a moment if she could continue the concert.
    Sing for me
, cara mia.
I love the sound of your voice. It is a miracle. You bring me peace and joy when you sing. You make my body burn as it never has before. Sing for me
.
    The voice was low and husky, brushing away her inner chaos as if it had never been. Just like that her voice soared free, rising to fill the dome, to burst out into the night to find him. The feelings in her body, the pent-up passion, the wild hunger, the need of centuries poured into her voice. She was a living flame, moving across the stage like flowing water. Nothing could touch her; she was not of the earth.
    Somewhere her lover waited. His eyes were on her. Watching. He was burning, too. She could feel the heat of his skin, the hungry eyes never leaving her face. He had left the dome, but he had returned because he needed to see her. Nothing else mattered at that moment. Not the danger to him, not her family, only that he see her perform. She sang for him, to him, the strength and intensity of her need in each note. The burning flame heating her blood took her music to new heights. Wildly erotic heights,