Carpathian 14 - Dark Hunger

pouring through her body. Fear took hold of her mind. What if Jasmine had been taken the night before and the males had her already for nearly twenty-four hours?
    Please God, please God. She chanted the plea, her chest burning, her throat closing. The more she ran, the more she was certain the jaguars had been on her sister's trail, tracking her.
    "Juliette," Riordan caught her in strong arms, in front of her, blocking her way. She hit his chest hard, but his larger frame barely rocked under her assault. "We have to be cautious. And we do not want to ruin any tracks. If they have her, it is better to slow down and find her trail, than to go running around without direction."
    "You don't know what they do," she hissed, pulling away from him.
    "We will find her and get her back."
    She stepped away from him and wrapped her arms around her body, hunching. "You have no idea what she will suffer, and I can never take it back."
    He led the way, moving fluidly, so silent not even the leaves rustled. Juliette tried to breathe, to get her brain functioning again. I couldn't bear it if something happened to Jasmine. It's my fault. I was supposed to draw the guards away. I wasn't here to do it, and she probably left tracks. The males would be able to follow her easily.
    This is not your fault Juliette. Riordan could smell them now. He didn't want to tell her, but he knew as they approached the small hut covered over with vines and creepers. The structure was difficult to see through all the foliage. He reached for her hand. The door was splintered down the middle, one half cracked and broken out, leaving a large hole.
    A terrible cry welled up in Juliette. She couldn't stop it, couldn't repress it. The sound tore through her body, raw and horrible, tearing her throat. It was an agonized cry of pain and heartache and grief. It was a cry of revenge, of promise, a vow of absolute retribution.

Chapter 8
    Riordan went through the door first. The stench of terror permeated the room. The pungent odor of large cats was overpowering. A table was overturned. There was a smear of blood on the wall and another on a broken chair.
    Juliette pressed her hand to her mouth, choking back a sob. "She's just a child, Riordan.
    She's just turned twenty." She pushed past Riordan and hurried across the room to the wall.
    She inhaled deeply, scenting the blood. "This isn't from Jasmine. It's Solange. She was here."
    Riordan was examining the room and the forest floor just outside. "She came when they were taking Jasmine and she must have shifted on the run. Can she do that? See, here are her footprints, and here are ripped clothes and claw marks. She did not have time to shed her clothes and shifted with them on. The seams of the material separated and she ripped the rest away from her so she could fight. She was the one who destroyed the door trying to get to your sister. They barred it from the inside and took your sister out the back. One was carrying her. They were in the form of men. See." he crouched beside the tracks. "This one is suddenly heavier, and he's bearing a weight. Jasmine is not struggling."
    "She's unconscious," Juliette said. "She would fight them with her last breath. We all watched my mother die. Solange saw them kill her mother and yet she raced in, without hesitation, to try to stop them." She turned back to study the blood. "She isn't hurt too bad."
    "One remained behind, a big male, and he shifted into jaguar form. He probably didn't want to harm her when he saw she was female and she shifted on the run. After all, she is probably extremely rare." Riordan followed the tracks. "She got away, into the forest. The big male is after her." He turned back to Juliette. "Which one do we go after?"
    "Maybe we should split up. I'll follow Solange. We've fought together before, and I know how she thinks. She'll accept me. You go after Jasmine. You're far stronger and can travel faster. You have a chance of getting to her before they hurt her."
    "Dawn will be breaking soon, Juliette. I will have to go to ground. If I do not reach your sister before that time, she will spend another day in torment." Riordan cursed the vulnerability of his heritage. "I cannot walk in the sun." His fingers brushed her cheek.
    "You will burn, Juliette. Your skin is no longer able to stand intense sunlight and your eyes will burn."
    "I don't care about my skin." Juliette pushed past him and studied the ground, the direction the group of men had taken. She