Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

«He only meant keeping you safe from any outside harm,» Antonietta hastily intervened. «Josef, Skyler will meet you there in a few minutes. You be careful as well.» She smiled up at Byron as he materialized beside her, having escorted the other males out. He slipped his arm around her ultra feminine, curvaceous figure and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

They followed Gabriel and Skyler to the door to wave. Byron pulled Antonietta into his arms. «What is it? I could feel you becoming agitated, but I couldn't read why.» His hands

framed her face, thumbs sliding in a caress over her skin. «I'm sorry our house was invaded just when you were composing. I know it's very important for you to have quiet while you work.»

«That's not it. And besides, Josef is never quiet.» The young Carpathian stayed with them most of the time. He enjoyed Italy and the palazzo where they resided. Mostly, Antonietta thought he admired Byron and wanted to be close to him. There were times he got the exact same expression on his face and imitated Byron's gestures. Byron paid attention to him, worked with him on his Carpathian skills-showed an interest.

He exasperates me no end.

You love him and he feels that. He needs you.

Byron made gave an inelegant snort. «Josef, if you think for even one moment your life is in danger, you call me and every other male in the vicinity You have no business taking on a vampire at your age. You may have the courage, but not yet the skill.» He eyed the younger man with a stern eye. «Do I have your word?»

Josef nodded. «Yes.» He started out the door, then turned back toward Byron, tears glittering for a brief moment before he managed to control them. «I nearly got her killed, didn't I? I should have reached out the minute I saw the trapped wolf shifting. It all happened so fast.» He ducked his head. «I couldn't move. At all. I don't have courage, Byron. I was afraid.»

«You are supposed to be afraid. No one does everything right in their first encounter with a vampire. Dimitri is a hunter and a damn good one. He's been at it for centuries with no help, but I can assure you, his first vampire, he most likely froze just as you did.»

«Did you?»

A fleeting smile crossed Byron's face. «Jacques and I were together and feeling pretty cocky until the thing came out of thin air and showed us a mouthful of black, pointed teeth. I think we both had a heart attack on the spot.» He ruffled Josef's hair. «You did fine. And you did your best to protect her from Dimitri.»

«He wasn't just healing her,» Josef said. «It was blatant seduction.»

«He is her lifemate, Josef. You have to respect that.»

Josef scowled and slammed the door. Byron sighed. «So much for being any kind of good parent. I wish to hell my sister would take charge of that boy.»

«No, you don't.» Antonietta leaned into him, her soft breasts brushing his chest, fingers moving through his hair. «You love being an uncle.»

«He drives me crazy. I can't remember ever being that young.»

Antonietta twined her fingers through his as they made their way back through the house to the cozy den where they enjoyed sitting in peace together. Their household in Italy held a tremendous amount of responsibility. Antonietta's family resided with them and there was always drama.

«I feel the jaguar, Byron,» Antonietta confessed without looking at him. She pressed her hand to her chest. «Deep inside of me, she's there, responding to something in the air. She's –clawing at me. My eyesight is worse than usual, but I can see with jaguar eyes.»

Byron knew the Scarletti family-Antonietta's ancestors-came from a direct line of jaguar people. The cat had always been strong in her. He leaned forward, took both her hands in his and brought her fingers to his mouth. «When did this start?»

«A few hours ago. At first I just felt restless and edgy, but now it feels more like moodiness, wanting to strike out, a wildness I can't really adequately explain.» She looked miserable. «I thought I was through with all that.»

«You are Carpathian, Antonietta, and everything jaguar isn't evil. There are some that make it that way, but right now, what's more important is what is stirring up the cat in you.» He glanced out the window to the storm clouds. «It's only a couple of hours until we meet the villagers for this pageant and meal at the inn. We have to be ready for any danger coming our way.»

She swept a hand through her hair. «I've always been able to control the jaguar, but she's fighting me, trying to escape, and I think…» Her eyes met his. «I think she's dangerous.»

«You'd never hurt anyone, Antonietta,» he assured.

«You don't understand. She's trying to hurt me. I'm not letting her out and she's angry.»

Byron's gaze narrowed and he sat up straighten He sent every sense flaring out into the night, scanning, reading, trying to find a subtle strain of power influencing the part of Antonietta that was jaguar. He could feel a small stir in the air, but with so many Carpathians together, it was impossible to tell if the shift in the air was manipulating the cat in his lifemate.

«I heard a rumor that the Dark Troubadours are having trouble with the leopards they brought with them,» he said. «The cats attacked one of the band members and threatened several others. They've caged them and they've never had to do that. Even Darius is having trouble controlling the cats' behavior.»

Antonietta frowned. «What would do that? And what of the others? Isn't one of the Carpathian males with a woman who is fully jaguar? What's happening to her?»

«Yes, Juliette. There is also Natalya, Vikirnoff's woman. The tiger is strong in her.» Byron pulled Antonietta into his arms to comfort her. «Come with me.»

«Where?» He was moving her toward the door and her heart fluttered in fear. «Byron, I don't want to chance it.»

«The cat will know where the power is coming from. She can trace it straight back to its source.»

«But I'm not certain I'm strong enough to control the jaguar.» In all her human years with the cat inside her, always fighting to come out, she had never been afraid of the animal. Until now. She shivered. The snow once more was beginning to drift down, but it was fear more than cold that made her shiver.

«We can control it together. Keep your mind merged with mine at all times, even if the cat resists,» he said.

For some reason, memories of the conversion washed over her. It had been particularly difficult and painful, the jaguar fighting the Carpathian blood. Sweat broke out. «Byron, are you sure?»

«If you are afraid we cannot control this thing together, I'll call Jacques. Together, nothing will defeat us. You cannot go to the party under an influence we know nothing about.»

She reached for Byron's mind with her own, sliding in with ease. It was an extremely intimate thing to do, and as always, her body reacted to the closeness. She was woman enough to enjoy his erotic thoughts and images of her, the way he viewed her full curves with lust rather than wishing for a thinner, more modern woman. He loved her hair, the thickness and color. He especially enjoyed taking out the elaborate braid just before he made love to her.

It took a moment to adjust to two minds vying for supremacy, but they merged naturally and Antonietta reached for the beast, embracing the jaguar, allowing it freedom. It sprang forward, claws unsheathed, with a chaotic need to bound across the snow-covered meadow for the trees. Byron paced easily beside her, ignoring the warnings rumbling from the female. He was not about to let Antonietta out of his sight.

The female jaguar slowed to a walk, placing each paw delicately in the powdery snow, but moving without hesitation deeper into the woods. They were moving in the general direction of the inn, but were still several miles away. To Byron's knowledge, there were only a couple of homes in the direction they were going. Gregori's home was high in the mountains, surrounded by a grove of trees and large boulders. It was protected from weather and enemies on three sides, and even a hiker walking within yards of it wouldn't be able to spot it. Gregori had woven safeguards around it to further distort the image from any potential enemy.