e at the betraying thought. "no, darius cannot turn. he is too strong."

julian slipped an arm around her waist, a slight grin on his face. "none of you know, do you? darius has not turned. he will never turn. not now. he has found his lifemate."

"what are you talking about?" dayan asked.

"these things were never taught to you," julian mused softly, more to himself than the others. "you were not raised among other carpathians. what is often second nature to us is not even known to you." his grin widened. "it is not known to darius. life is about to become quite interesting around here, boys and girls."

"stop spouting nonsense, and tell us what you mean."

desari commanded, her soft, dark eyes beginning to smolder. "should we be protecting rusti?"

"the only one safe is tempest. each carpathian male must find the light to his darkness. it is his only salvation. without that woman, his lifemate, he will eventually be forced to choose the dawn and eternal rest, or he will succumb to the madness of the undead and lose his soul for all time. become vampire. there is only one woman for each male, one other half."

"but tempest trine is human," dayan objected. "this cannot be. we have been aware that there exists the other half of our heart, our soul, out there somewhere. a quest to find the proper mate must be made, as you found desari, julian. but tempest is not a carpathian."

"there are a handful of human women," julian answered slowly, "all having some form of psychic ability, who can be lifemates to carpathians. no doubt tempest trine is one such female. she wandered into your midst seeking a job but was likely drawn to do so because she was connected to darius," he explained. "funny, is it not, how fate has a way of bringing two linked souls together? do not attempt to intervene between them and, for god's sake, do not touch that woman. should you do so, darius will be more beast than man, his every instinct to protect and care for her, to keep her from any others who might threaten her or her connection to him. he is more dangerous at this time than at any other." julian grinned again. "leave him to it; he will figure it out eventually."

"i should talk to him, explain," desari said.

"i did not hear him asking for explanations, did you?" julian prompted, his arms gathering her close to him. "it is best - and safest - not to interfere in the process of joining lifemates."

"wait a minute." barack leaned his long frame against the red car. "you lost me somewhere. i know darius took her blood; i could smell his scent on her. are you telling me that he would use her body, too? isn't that combination strictly forbidden with mortals? darius himself taught us this."

"tempest appears to be different," julian said. "she cannot be classified as a normal mortal; therefore, the rule does not apply."

syndil's doe-eyes, normally soft and loving, were glinting fire at barack. "you sought to feed on her? that is beneath you. she was under our protection. you are so insensitive, barack. always the playboy. you cannot leave women alone, not even those traveling with us practically as family. rusti had a terrible experience yesterday. did you give that a thought when you went to satisfy your own urges?"

"syndil." barack looked hurt. syndil had a sweet, loving nature and was never angry, never upset with any of them.

"do not 'syndil' me, barack. are you so lazy that you had to feed from a woman protected by our family? i suspect you think so much of your charm that you thought she would be grateful to provide for you."

"it was not like that. i was merely overly hungry, having waited too long to feed. i would not have harmed the woman. and i had no idea she belonged to darius. hell, i never would have touched her had i known. he was going to rip my throat out, syndil. you should be sympathizing with me. look at my chest. he ripped open my skin. won't you come heal it for me?" barack gave her his most imploring, boyish pout.

"perhaps next time you will think twice before you go chasing after women," syndil replied and whirled away.

"hey, wait a minute." barack trailed after her, desperately trying to get back into her good graces.

"have we all lost our minds around here?" dayan demanded. "soft, sweet syndil is acting the shrew. desari is acting like a lovesick calf. i do not know you well, julian, but you seem to be enjoying darius's discomfort far more than is seemly, and bad-boy barack is chasing after syndil like a lost puppy. what the hell is happening?"

"your leader has found his lifemate, dayan," julian said happily, "and is clueless, totally clueless, about how to deal with her. finding your lifemate leaves you feeling as if someone punched you in the gut and stole your sanity. your darius is used to having his way in all things, simply commanding whatever he deems correct. but now i suspect he is in for the shock he so richly deserves."

"he will simply force his will upon tempest," dayan said confidently, "then everything will return to normal."

"forcing your will on your lifemate is in the same category as cutting your own throat. not a wise idea. still, watching will make for much fun," julian said smugly.