Carpathian 18 - Dark Possesion

you wish, you can carry the knife."
    MaryAnn sighed. Carrying the knife meant getting close enough for him to hand it to her. It also meant that she might really stab him with it if he made a wrong move, and she was definitely opposed to that idea. "You keep it." She had the pepper spray and that she wasn't afraid to use.
    He smiled at her. "You are a very brave woman."
    She managed a short laugh. "I'm shaking in my very favorite pair of boots. I don't think brave is the word I'd use. Stupid. I'd be safe at home in Seattle if I just hadn't been the save-the-world kind of idiot I tend to be."
    He started down an almost nonexistent path. She could see it had been used by an animal. Taking a deep breath, she followed, sending up a silent prayer that Manolito would find her soon. Maybe if she got to Riordan and Juliette, they would be able to find Manolito again and help him.
    Luiz glanced back at her. "Can you walk with the heel of your shoe broken? I can cut them off for you."
    That was sacrilege. He'd saved her from the snake, but he deserved pepper spray for even contemplating cutting the heels off her favorite pair of boots. It wasn't too late to salvage them. "No, thank you." She stayed polite, because he had to be a little crazy to think of such a dark deed.
    They walked in silence for a few minutes, MaryAnn trying to keep her mind from straying to Manolito. It was difficult. Part of her wanted to rush back to where she had left him and wait until he returned. Part of her was angry with him for deserting her, and another part—the biggest—was terrified for him.

    "Why are the tree frogs following us?" Luiz asked.
    "Tree frogs?" MaryAnn bit her lip and glanced around, peeking through her eyelashes, hoping the jaguar-man was wrong. "I have no idea." She took a quick look at the trees. Sure enough, frogs leapt from roots to branches, from trunk to trunk.
    "They seem to be following you."
    "Do they?" She tried to sound innocent even as she hissed at the frogs, gesturing with her arms to go back.
    "You must be mistaken. More likely they're migrating in the same direction we're going." Did frogs migrate?
    Maybe that was geese. Rain forest creatures were complicated. She glared at the brightly colored amphibians.
    They continual to hop happily alongside of her.
    "You're gathering quite a crowd." He sounded amused as he politely held the shrubbery back so she could walk freely along the path. He continually raised his face to sniff the air in every direction.
    "Maybe they're attracted to my perfume." What part of "go away" don't you understand? You're making me look bad . She tried a mind-to-mind telepathy, hoping some of Juliette's and Riordan's psychic abilities really had rubbed off on her, but the frogs ignored her complaint.
    "Can you walk faster?" Luiz asked.
    He didn't look nervous. In fact he appeared quite steady, but she had the feeling he was looking for trouble, scanning the canopy overhead and watching their back trail. The monkeys began to scream and throw leaves and twigs. Luiz held up his hand and signaled for her to remain quiet.
    Mosquitoes buzzed by her face, and she calmly pulled out the bug spray and liberally doused the air around her.
    Luiz whirled around, his nose twitching. "Don't do that."
    "The mosquitoes are biting me everywhere."
    "That foul stench hinders my ability to catch scents. I need to know what we're likely to be facing."
    Okay. That sounded ominous, and quite frankly, she was tired of being scared. There was only so much scared you could do without a friend to egg you on. She sighed and put the bug spray back, resorting to slapping at the insects with one hand and retaining possession of the pepper spray with the other.
    She was so out of here the moment she could get to a phone. Well, after she made certain Manolito was all right. She was beginning to feel sick with worry, and that just made her madder at him. The mark at the curve of her breast throbbed and burned and ached for him. Tears blurred her vision, and she stumbled on a twisting, snakelike root, nearly falling, throwing out both arms to catch herself before she face-planted in the muck—and it saved her life.
    The large jaguar missed and hit the ground just inches from her head. Snarling, it whipped around, raking at her face with claws, but Luiz was there first, already half changing, his face broadening, muzzle lengthening to accommodate teeth. The two cats crashed together, raking and clawing. The rain forest