Carpathian 18 - Dark Possesion

erupted into a frenzy of noise.
    Pushed beyond all endurance, MaryAnn jumped up, took two long strides to the marauding cat and let loose with a stream of pepper spray directly into the fully formed jaguar's eyes and nostrils. She gave it several

    short bursts, fury shaking her hand, but her aim was perfect.
    "Enough already. I've had it—absolutely had it with this jungle crap. I may be an urban woman, damn it, but I can deal with anything this horrible place throws at me. Get out of here now!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, sending another stream right at the jaguar's face for good measure. The command blasted through her brain and out into the air even as she shot several short streams.
    The jaguar raced away as if she'd bitten it. Luiz fell onto his butt, jeans half-shredded. "What the hell was that?"
    "Pepper spray," she said and sat down beside him, bursting into tears.
    Chapter Seven

    Manolito avoided the seeking tentacles as he studied the fibrous bulb. His body was in the rain forest with MaryAnn. He was intelligent; he could reason it out. If he was trapped in the spirit world, as he was certain now he was, then only a spirit could reside in this place. He had no body here, so the attack was merely a distraction. It must have to do with MaryAnn. Not only had her spirit entered, but her warmth and vitality with her. The vampires had sensed hot blood and the light in her soul. He had to lead the attack away from her, just in case she inadvertently stepped back into the shadow world where he was trapped.
    He moved slowly away from her. The shadowy figures who called to him to join them, who threw accusations at him and wanted to sit in judgment of him, didn't seem to be able to look past the veil into the world of the living. Perhaps if he could get far enough away that they couldn't sense her, she might be safe.
    He could lay a false trail and get back to her and escort her to safety before dawn. He shouldn't have been able to feel sensation, but the farther from MaryAnn he traveled, the more he felt cold.
    "Join us. Share her. She has already condemned you to a half life."
    The voice shimmered in the air, soft and persuasive, becoming louder as he moved farther away from MaryAnn. "You have always belonged with us, not with sheep, following the speaker of lies."
    Maxim Malinov, dead from the battle in the Carpathian Mountains, slain by the prince himself, stepped out of the shadows and approached Manolito. "Why would you give your life for the prince when he cares nothing for you or yours? He knows you are in the meadow or" mists, yet is he watching after your lifemate?
    Is he protecting your body while you wander in this world? He is selfish and thinks only or" himself, not of his people."
    Manolito drew in his breath. It had been long since he'd seen his boyhood friend. He looked young and strong, handsome as always, with intelligence shining in his eyes. As young men growing up, they had enjoyed debates and discussions throughout the nights, talking about the issues they felt best for their people.
    Following Mikhail, the current reigning prince, hadn't been anyone's idea of what was best.
    "We were wrong, Maxim. Mikhail has led our people from the brink of extinction. The Carpathians are beginning to grow powerful again, but more importantly, we have become a society filled with hope instead of despair."
    Another plant erupted from beneath the surface, the long vino reaching like arms toward him. He leapt into the nearest tree, more out of reflex than need. He might feel the piercing cold as ice shards began to rain down, but the stinging wounds as the icicles stabbed through him were no more real than the plant. He gave himself a moment to force his mind to accept it was all illusion. The plant slid back beneath the soil, but the stabbing ice continued to fall.
    When he leapt back down, Maxim shook his head. "In the old days you would not have settled for looking at so small a piece of the real picture. We hide from the people who should serve us. We hide in fear, when it is they who should tremble before us."
    "And why should they tremble, Maxim?"
    "They are nothing but cattle."
    "That is why you do not lead and I would not follow if you did. They are people with hopes and dreams.
    Good, hardworking people who fight every day to do the best they can for their families. They are no different than we are."
    Maxim gave a snort of derision. "You have become brainwashed. You have taken a human for a