Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

terrifying yet so mesmerizing, she couldn’t look away. All the while those rings kept circling Dominic, coming closer and closer. To her horror, spiders began to pour out of the cracks. She recognized them immediately.
    Brazilian wandering spiders were highly venomous and aggressive. The spindly legs spanned a good five inches, and they seemed to pause, rearing back to stare at Dominic with their eight eyes, the two largest glowing with the same ruby-red maniacal hatred Demyan’s eyes held. They displayed red jaws, a signal of anger, evidence of their readiness to attack.

    Solange knew from experience that Carpathians could push deadly venom from their system, but with multiple, excruciatingly painful bites, Dominic would have problems fighting the master vampire. She couldn’t spray the ground with fire to incinerate them, but she could perhaps disrupt Demyan’s battle plan.
    She had no idea how to get through those spinning blades but she was willing to try. Before she had a chance to let him know, she felt the stirring in her mind.

    Distract him with your arrows and I will call down the lightning to burn these creatures. Watch for the faint blurring just below his heart. I will attack hard. He will be hard put to keep the knives in various patterns. That is his vulnerable spot.

    She should have known he would have the same plan as she did. In her dreams, they often discussed the battles they’d been in and they definitely thought alike. She took careful aim, breathing deep for calm, her eyes on the spot just below Demyan’s heart. The knives were terrible, glinting, silvery bursts that never seemed to show an opening. She waited with complete faith that Dominic would maneuver the master vampire into her line of fire. She’d get one, maybe two arrows off and he’d attack her. She had to be ready to abandon her perch, but she wasn’t going to ground, not with those spiders everywhere. She didn’t have the Carpathian ability to remove the venom from her system.

    Dominic, as calm as ever, ignored the thousands of eyes staring at him and glided close to Demyan, coming in at an angle and forcing Demyan to sidestep or go backward. For one tiny second his armor faltered, repeating the pattern, and Solange let the arrow fly. It wasn’t even close to a kill shot, but it sank into the spot just below the heart and exploded. The air charged fast, her hair standing on end. She leapt.

    Instantly, the world around her exploded with heat and a great burst of light. The force knocked her backward in the air. She used her flexible cat spine to turn, hands seeking a branch. She had no choice but to drop her crossbow to save herself. She needed both claws to catch what surface she could to keep from hitting the ground, now on fire, the spiders burning and popping with hideous shrieks, a foul stench permeating the air, making her cough.

    She dragged her body up into the tree, her strength waning. She saw Zacarias glance at Dominic, who gave an imperceptible nod. Her heart jumped. They were in communication and they were planning on an all-out attack. Zacarias drove through Drago’s defenses with an ease that made her realize he’d been deliberately keeping the lesser vampire alive for some reason she couldn’t fathom. He slammed his fist through the chest wall, nearly lifting the undead into the air with the force.

    There was a horrible sucking sound as he extracted the heart and flung it into the fiery blaze Dominic called down. At the same time, Dominic timed his throw, slamming his blade straight through the knives. Sparks became fireworks, the blades grinding to a halt, shattering and dropping to reveal Demyan’s blood-streaked body.

    The master vampire roared his hatred, taking in Drago’s body as it turned to ashes, his gaze leaping to Zacarias. The knowledge that the two hunters were working in conjunction hit him. Solange saw the shock on his face. Instantly lianas dropped from the trees, coiling like living snakes around Dominic as he thrust his fist toward Demyan’s chest. Solange shed her clothes hastily, tearing off her blouse and shoving her jeans aside. She leapt from the tree to the rolling ground, shifting with practiced speed. The vines wrapped Dominic tight, pinning one arm and covering his mouth and nose. One looped around his neck, drawing tight around his neck as another grew the head of a viper and reared back, teeth exposed to strike at his eye.

    The jaguar rode out the sudden upheaval