Dark Demon is book 16 of Christine Feehan's wonderful Dark Carpathian series. This is the story of Natalya Shonski and Vikirnoff von Shrieder. We first met Natalya in Feehan's Dark Secret and Vikirnoff in Dark Destiny.

Always on the run from vampires and Carpathian hunters, Natalya is part dark mage, part human, and part Carpathian. Her Carpathian bloodline is from one of the oldest and most respected of all Carpathian families: the Dragonseekers. Poisoned against the Carpathian people by the treacherous dark mage Xavier, she has been trained to fear all immortals equally, and is an accomplished slayer. She never imagined she would feel anything other than disgust when facing an immortal, until the day she comes face-to-face the man that is her lifemate.

When his brother Nicolae's lifemate Destiny asked him to find a woman who needed their help, Vikirnoff knew he could do no other than find and defend her from all enemies. As soon as Vikirnoff saw the photograph of the woman, he felt a strong compulsion to locate and protect her. He will follow her across oceans, back to his homeland, the Carpathian mountain range.

Vikirnoff has lived a colorless and emotionless existence for centuries, and is astonished at the gut-reaction he has when he finds his one true lifemate: Natalya. Although she's not at all what he imagined, Vikirnoff feels the instant age-old pull to her. Natalya is a clever and capable warrior with battle skills that rival Vikirnoff's. He knows she is not quite human, and not quite Carpathian, but she is the light to his darkness, the woman he is destined to love and protect for all time. Together, they must uncover the secrets of Natalya's past, and try to protect their people from certain destruction.

Dark Demon is the best Carpathian book I've read since Dark Destiny (book 13). It is the longest Carpathian book I've read so far, and was full of the legends of dragons and wizards. I loved seeing some of the characters from the other books - especially Mikhail, the prince of the Carpathian people. The illumination of the Dragonseeker line added so much to the existing folklore in the series.

Natalya is hands downs one of Feehan's best heroines to date and maybe my favorite lifemate in the series so far. She is so modern and sassy, and full of pop culture references that Vikirnoff (or Vik, as she sometimes referred to him) had no hope of understanding. She is a sharp and witty woman with immense combative and magical abilities - a true kick-butt-heroine!

Dark Demon shows Feehan's great versatility and is truly an original. For me, this book represented an enormous amount of growth for the Dark series. The storyline is taking an interesting turn and I can't wait to see what happens next.