Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

the shed hard enough to shake the entire building. The door splintered halfway up, bulging out.

    Get out of there, Solange, Dominic commanded.

    Do I have stupid written on my forehead? Half laughter, half exasperation and a dash of very healthy fear edged her voice. She knew whatever was in that shed had scented blood— her blood—and it was coming for her.

    Dominic countered the direction of the wind, pushing it away from Solange so the creature—whatever it was—couldn’t find her by scent. The shed shook a second time as the large animal hit the door. This time the wood gave in the middle, breaking and pushing jagged shards outward.

    Two men burst from the back of the house, running across the uneven, muddy ground toward the shed. The two looked exactly alike—and neither had silver eyes. Both stopped abruptly about halfway to the shed, spinning around, going back-to-back, hands raised. One spotted the tendrils of fog and immediately hissed something to his twin.

    “Alistair!” Santiago yelled as the huge creature in the shed slammed into the door a third time, blasting through it. An enormous black cat leapt out, rushing straight for the forest.

    Dominic recognized Santiago’s voice, knew he was in trouble and began to streak across the yard. Shoot the cat, Solange.

    The back door of the shed burst open and a third man rushed out, his hands up as well. Santiago whirled around, shoulder to shoulder with his brother, and simultaneously both men slammed their hands straight at the mist. Behind them, the silver-eyed Alistair added his powerful energy to the other two. For a moment they looked as if they’d merged into one being.

    Light burst from their fingertips, exploding outward directly into the vapor streaking away from them. The sound of a gunshot reverberated through the forest. A hole blossomed in the center of Santiago’s forehead.
    The second man hit the ground, rolling toward cover. The force of the blast struck Dominic and blew him out of the sky.

    A second shot sounded and the man on the ground screamed. Dominic hit a tree hard and barely managed to land in a crouch on his feet. His entire body burned and he took a moment to assess the damage. Solange sprayed the ground in front of him, driving back any attack from the mage brothers.

    The cat was out of his sight, but running flat out for Solange. Dominic had to make the choice between destroying the mages and protecting Solange. There really was no choice. He went after the enormous cat.
    Built like a saber-toothed tiger with enormous muscles, the black cat could become an insubstantial shadow and could only be killed when it was in substance form.

    As he raced after the cat, Dominic took command of the skies. Thunder rolled, dark ominous clouds boiled out of nowhere. Rain poured down. Lightning forked across the sky, building electricity and energy into a frightening mass. Lightning bolts slammed the earth over and over, striking all around the yard between the house and shed. One hit the shed and it burst into blackened splinters of wood, spilling the contents into the open.

    Inside were small cubs in various stages of misery, some half formed, some screaming in pain as their twisted bodies were half solid and half shadow. Their pitiful mewling and growls could be heard over the thunder shaking the ground. The uninjured mage raced toward one of the escaping cats, calling out a command. About half-grown, with part of its body transparent and eyes glowing a hot red, the cat whirled around, hissing and spitting, fighting the compulsion to return to the mage.

    Lightning slammed to earth again, and large, white-hot explosions burst around the mutilated cats, incinerating them so fast they couldn’t feel the blast of heat. Only the half-grown one remained, cowering, trying to slink away from the mage.

    Don’t kill it! Solange sounded shattered. He could hear her weeping deep in her mind. Her female jaguar was outraged and struggling to surface. We can save that one, Dominic. Please. Please don’t kill it.

    Dominic kept the bolts of lightning up, driving the mage away from the cat even as he tuned his mind to the cat’s. He wasn’t at all certain it was a good idea to try to save a mutated cub programmed to go after Solange’s blood, but he couldn’t resist the plea in her voice or the tears in her mind.

    Run! he commanded the cub. Try for the river and I will help you if possible.

    The cat, with the added help of Dominic,