Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

There was a heartbeat of silence. Alarm spread through him. Raven? You are not going to attempt to eat human food, are you?

I'm considering whether or not it would add to the illusion that we are human. Some of the villagers will be there as well as a guest or two.

Mikhail drew in his breath, his wings beating ferociously as he dipped through the trees, the snowflakes on his feathers. You go too far with this silly feast of yours, woman.

Her retaliatory amusement washed over him, bringing a flood of warmth. Only Raven teased him like this-unexpectedly, lovingly-daring the wrath of the prince of the Carpathian people. He sent her an impression of bared fangs, but it didn't do much to intimidate her. She only laughed and went back to her lumpy gravy.

Below him, Mikhail spotted Julian Savage running in the snow, his long blond hair like his brother Aidan's-streaming behind him, something tucked under his arm, while a woman chased after him and another man raised his hand, calling out. Julian launched the object into the air and the man caught it, waving it triumphantly over his head. Mikhail landed on the railing of Julian's home and shifted back to his normal form.

«It isn't funny, Julian,» the woman called out with a small sniff of disdain. «That's for the midnight dinner.» She glared at the other man. «Barack, you give that to me right this minute.»

«No one could eat it, sweetheart.» Julian circled around her, careful to keep out of reach. «Unless they plan on using it for shoe leather.»

Barack flashed a grin. «We could start a new fad with this stuff, Desari. You cook the roast and we'll make the soles of shoes and after they walk for a while, they'll never go hungry.»

«Eeeww! That's just sick, Barack. You've been around Julian way too long.»

«Seriously, honey, it is much better used as a football.»

«Don't you sweetheart and honey me, Julian,» Desari protested. «I can't very well have people eating that roast after you've been throwing it around.» She glared at the two men, hands on hips.

«Go out for a pass,» Barack directed Julian.

Julian took off running and Barack launched the roast high into the air. Julian sprang up and caught it, pulling it into his chest. Before he could land on the ground, Desari began to sing and the notes danced silver in the air around Julian, hooking together to form a net. He bounced as if on a trampoline and slid off onto the ground, landing hard in an inelegant sprawl.

Barack doubled over with laughter, but undeterred, Julian lifted the dried out roast over his head in triumph. «Touchdown!»

Desari sang a few more notes. The silver and gold notes danced and dipped, hooking around one another to form a noose that slipped over Julian's head. Mikhail's breath caught in his throat. In the darkness, with the snow falling, the musical notes were beautiful, shimmering and glowing with life and energy. All the while Desari's voice pulsed through his body, making his heart and mind glow with warmth, happiness and, most of all, the love she felt for her lifemate.

Desari suddenly turned her head to smile at Mikhail. She was beautiful, dazzling even, her voice fading into the night, a part of nature itself «I suppose I shouldn't strangle my lifemate in front of the prince, should I?» she asked. There was no embarrassment in her voice, only laughter and welcome.

Desari is a true Daratrazanoff. She exudes confidence. He shared with Raven the image of the Carpathian woman with her flowing hair, soft features and her musical voice and the dancing silver and gold notes casting a noose around her lifemate's neck.

And she is beautiful.

There was no edge to Raven's tone, but Mikhail smiled at her through their telepathic link. Perhaps you should come and join me and leave that gravy to insects-although poisoning any creature is never a good thing.

You are so funny, my prince.

Mikhail winced. Raven never referred to him as a prince unless he was skating the edge of trouble. He smiled at Desari. «I have always wanted to strangle Julian.»

«So has my brother, Darius,» Desari said, walking over to him, her every movement graceful.

A slow smile softened Mikhail's mouth. «I can well imagine if Darius is anything like Gregori. Julian used to drive Gregori right up the wall. Even as a boy, Julian had little fear in him. He went his own way and got into more trouble than most of our children could ever conceive of doing.»

Julian swept his arm around Desari's narrow waist. «Do not listen to him. I was not the bad boy of the Carpathians. Just independent-and for good reason. I had a vampire using my eyes to spy on our people. I could not very well stick around.»

«And you have since destroyed this vampire?» Mikhail asked.

Julian nodded. «I had built him up to be so powerful. As a child, to me, he seemed so, but like most monsters in our lives, once I became an adult, he was not nearly as powerful as I remembered. Looking back, I should have told an adult and perhaps they could have hunted and destroyed him, giving me back my childhood, but I thought he would harm our hunters.»

Mikhail shrugged his shoulders. «It is easy for us to look back and say what we should have done, but that is because later we have different information and, of course, knowledge always changes our decisions.»

Julian flashed a faint smile. «I would have wanted those years back with Aidan. He has been so good about it, but I know it hurt him to be separated.»

Desari reached for his hand in an offer of comfort. «We see him as often as possible now, Julian,» she reminded him, and then jerked her hand away to rub her palm on her thigh. «You're all greasy.»

«The infamous roast,» Julian said, presenting the large, dried up hunk of meat to her with a small courtly bow.

Mikhail covered his reaction with a small cough, turning his face away as Desari glared at her lifemate.

«It's all squishy, Julian, you ruined my roast. What am I going to do now? I have to provide something for tonight's dinner.»

«Ask Corrine to help,» Barack suggested. «She told Dayan she cooked quite a bit before he claimed her.»

«There is nothing squishy about that roast,» Julian protested. «It has turned to leather.»

Desari made a face at him and then down at the roast. «Disgusting stuff. I think I will ask Corrine to help me make something else.»

Barack held out his hands. «Throw it, Desari, we may as well finish our football game.»

Mikhail shook his head. «I wanted to let you all know that Alexandria and young Skyler ran into trouble a few minutes ago. We all need to be on alert and give added protection to our women and children.»

«Syndil was at the house, thinking she might prepare something for the party. I think I will check on her. If I reach out, she will simply say she is fine.» Barack sketched a small salute and immediately took to the sky.

The smile faded from Julian's face. He stepped closer to Desari. «What kind of trouble? Aidan did not send word that Alexandria was hurt.»

«She is fine now, but both she and Skyler felt the presence of a subtle flow of power, enhancing emotions to the point of irrationality. Even Gabriel was affected, losing his temper with Dimitri.»

«I knew Dimitri had arrived,» Julian said. «I can feel the darkness in him growing by the hour. He is unstable and we have to find a way to keep him safe. Gregori gave me a task to keep me going when I thought to give up my existence, and perhaps if one was given to Dimitri…"Julian sighed. «He is alone, killing more often than a hunter should have to, and that is slowly destroying him.»

«Skyler is his lifemate,» Mikhail stated.

Desari gasped. «Oh, dear, she's just a babe. Is he certain?»

«She restored colors and emotions.»