Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

woman and the warrior were merging. Her confidence in her appeal for him was also gaining strength. He bent his head and bit down gently on her neck, right over her tempting pulse. He was definitely going to the meeting the next rising so he could finally rid his blood permanently of the parasites and have no worries joining with her—if he could hold out.

    He circled above the small ranch that lay sprawled across the rolling hills just meeting the southern tip of the De La Cruz property. Where the fields had been clean and well tended, the fences sturdy and the cattle in good shape at the De La Cruz ranch, it was the opposite here. The water hole was filthy and the cattle stood in thick mud, heads down in misery. The forest had begun to encroach, heavy vines taking down the fences in several spots. There hadn’t been any attempt to repair the fences recently, although Dominic spotted several places where the grazing land had been cleared some time earlier.

    He bought land that had been worked, he pointed out.

    But he hasn’t improved it at all.

    Dominic dropped to earth inside the tree line. “Shift, Solange. I will go in first.”

    “I’ve got a stash of weapons close by. I’ll cover you with a gun. He’s human, not jaguar, and I’ve just got this strange feeling. I think I’m going to need my intellect to be sharper than my claws this time.”

    His dark gaze drifted over her. She wasn’t really asking him, just stating her opinion. It didn’t occur to her he might decide to overrule her. He loved that confidence in her when she read a dangerous scenario.

    “Hurry, Solange. We are losing too much of the night.”

    She nodded and dashed away. It took a good five minutes, but she returned with a small case covered in dirt. “I think I’ll do best in the trees just above his house. Try to keep him centered in the windows or better yet, keep him outside. I should be able to cover you if he’s got company. Are you picking up more than one person?”

    “Not in the house. He is alone at the moment, but there is someone in the smaller building behind the main house, and a third man seems to be in the barn.”

    “I should be able to cover all three locations. My jaguar is uneasy, Dominic. There is something very disturbing to her in this place. Be careful.”

    He knew it would embarrass her, but he leaned down, framed her face with his hands and kissed her thoroughly. “Remember what I said about scaring me.”

    She rubbed her cheek against his like the cat she was. “No worries. Take me up to that tree branch. It will be faster than if I climb.”

    He glanced up. The branch was a good fifty feet aboveground. Most people would be terrified of the height, let alone at night with little moon. The rain had begun to fall again, just a drizzle, but it would be enough to make the branch slippery. Without a word he wrapped his arm around her waist and took her up to her perch.

    It was more difficult leaving her than he’d thought it would be. He did trust her judgment and if her cat was uneasy, something was off at the ranch. He was expecting to find a man who had been possessed, but he knew Solange expected something else as well, and for the first time he had no real clue to what they faced—or why. There was something in Solange’s blood that made it special, and he was beginning to think they were the ones being hunted now—and for her blood. But who was after her? The vampires?
    Brodrick? Someone else?

    He let his breath out in a long, slow hiss of frustration.

    Does it really matter? Her voice was soft in his head, almost tender, brushing along nerve endings that felt almost raw. It is my way of life and I chose it long ago, just as you chose your life. They are not expecting two of us. They believe they are facing a female jaguar only, and they will make a mistake—if they haven’t already.

    He thought of those silver eyes. Possessing another’s body, taking over without consent and forcing the body to do one’s bidding was such a foul, vile crime. Even with all he’d seen in his long centuries, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would be willing to cross that line of humanity other than Xavier, the head mage who had started the war with the Carpathian people so many centuries earlier.

    Solange’s response was reassuring. She was matter-of-fact about facing death and her calm acceptance of their way of life allowed his mind to settle to the task at hand. She was not a woman who