Dark Ghost by Christine Feehan Read Free Book Online Page B

brilliant. And she was his. For one moment, Andre could barely breathe with the knowledge that this woman was the woman he had searched centuries for, had given up on, and then she just simply unraveled his safeguards and walked into his life.

3
    A ndre stepped out of the cave into the gathering darkness. He stretched, feeling his muscles respond with eager anticipation. He was starving. The clawing need had started the night before and was far worse now. Ordinarily, that was a dangerous thing with an ancient as old as he was, but he had a lifemate to anchor him now. He could exact his revenge and put the fear of demons into Armend Jashari without worrying he would lose his own soul in the process.
    The fog was thick, but he fed it, adding in the frightening whispers of dark shadows, the ghost and phantoms he was legendary for. No one could quite face the terror of the demon packs living within the fog, not when he created them. The sound effects were particularly good, he decided. He’d never had the ability to feel the effects before or the satisfaction of knowing if anyone came near his woman, the faceless ghosts would protect her.
    He’d left Teagan after she built her fire and had put on a pot to boil water for tea. She planned on making a small meal for herself and offered to share. He’d politely declined, stating he had business to take care of. She’d looked at him sharply, clearly leery of what business could possibly be in the mountains, but she didn’t ask any questions.
    He thought he’d be relieved to be away from her company. He didn’t share space with anyone other than the triplets, Matais, Lojos and Tomas, and even then, he traveled loosely with them. He battled, killed and burned the bodies of his enemies. He didn’t converse with them or worry about their feelings. He was a Carpathian hunter, close to the end of his time, no,
past
the end of his time.
    Now his world was different because of one small miracle. He could look into her eyes forever. He’d restrained himself. She’d had a man assault her already, and he didn’t need her more frightened than she already was. He was already beginning to bring her gently into his world and he wanted to do so one small step at a time.
    He turned back to the entrance of the cave and used a much more difficult pattern for his safeguards. He had no intention of holding her prisoner. He was certain she could get out should she choose to, but it would take time. Time she wouldn’t have. He intended to return as soon as he’d taken care of Jashari. Still, anyone else, such as the undead or Jashari’s friends, would never be able to unravel the safeguards and any vampire would think he was inside the cave rather than outside of it. That would give him an advantage.
    He shifted with ease, the change sweeping through him as he took on the shape of the night owl. He was comfortable in the form, second nature to him, as was the wolf and a variety of other shapes. He’d been shifting for centuries and had never considered how extraordinary it was until the moment he took to the sky.
    The world was breathtaking from above. Even within the dense fog and the nightmare faces and voices he’d created, the night was different. Exhilarating. He couldn’t wait to show it to Teagan. He felt the wind in his feathers, and through the bird, on his face. He smelled the wild mountain and the creatures living on it. The wet mist felt like soft touches on the bird and through it, on his skin. She had done that for him. Teagan. She’d brought this to him. His own personal miracle.
    How many times had he slid through the sky on silent wings, the owl’s sharp eyes scanning the ground for prey? Millions. It had to be millions. Yet he’d never felt it. At least he didn’t remember feeling anything. He circled high because he could, now out of the fog bank, just to watch the way the sliver of a moon played through the canopy of the trees, turning all the leaves and needles to