Carpathian 21 - Dark Peril

my presence. I noticed they rarely were aware of Brodrick until he showed himself, yet the vampires and most mages always seemed to know when the other jaguar-men were close. So something had to be different about Brodrick and me.

    Dominic stirred in her mind, flooding her with warmth as he often did in their exchanges when she found it difficult to tell him something. A small nudge of encouragement. But this—this was monumental and she knew it.

    A few weeks ago, I broke into their laboratory. I heard Annabelle had been taken and they often bring prisoners there now. They have tight security and few prisoners ever manage to escape. I needed to know the layout of the building. And I wanted to take a look at the computers.

    She’d had to go alone. Juliette was helping her less and less, and only if Riordan was with them. Too many women were slipping through the cracks. She couldn’t blame Riordan. He and his brothers had so much territory to protect that he couldn’t be in all places at one time, any more than she could be.

    She had gone without telling Juliette or Jasmine. More and more she went off for long periods, avoiding the De La Cruz ranches and their many homes scattered throughout the countries bordering the rain forest.
    She’d had to learn to rely solely on herself. She had become very good at secreting herself right under the noses of the humans and even jaguar-men. The mages and vampires had terrified her until she realized they couldn’t sense her presence.

    I managed to get into the laboratory through a window they had barred, but the bars weren’t welded very well. I was able to pry them loose and then make it look as if they were intact. I checked their security cameras and found the rooms where they held prisoners. The computers were difficult—I don’t really know a lot about them—but I found a spot in the room where I could hide. I stayed for hours.

    Dominic remained silent, but inside he could feel the beast rising, a Carpathian male viewing his mate in extreme danger. She didn’t tell him how she had made herself as small as possible and stayed absolutely still, her muscles cramping until she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to walk again, but he caught the images and the very real fear of getting caught pouring off her. Shifting, she had no clothes, a lone woman naked in the very heart of the enemy camp.

    Her courage terrified him and yet his pride and respect for her grew even more. She had nerves of steel, yet when she came to him, she was open and vulnerable. He hadn’t expected to love her. Respect, admire, protect and care for, yes; even lust after. But to see that image of her, nearly bent in half, huddled, yet forcing herself to gather needed information to help the women of her species, brought an overwhelming emotion that burst through him like a volcano. He couldn’t hold her while she told him, but he could surround her with warmth and he did, enveloping her in his love.

    I heard the techs talking back and forth. At first I didn’t really understand, but eventually I realized they were researching genetics, searching for psychic women. Jaguars have psychic abilities, so I knew that was how they were finding the ones in other countries and targeting them for kidnapping. Some went on a hit list and others were put on a list to bring back to the laboratory.

    That made sense. Dominic had to get his hands on those lists. He would be walking into the laboratory and extracting the lists before destroying those computers.

    A mage came in while I was there and he wanted them to pull up the jaguar lineages. He said his master needed a particular bloodline. He wasn’t making sense. When they asked him what he was looking for, he muttered something about a sacred book and blood. I got chills down my spine, something that happens when I’ve stumbled across something important.

    Of course. Jaguars were psychic. She had radar. Dominic knew about the book, stolen from Xavier, the mage who had first started the war with the Carpathian people. He had been the one to kidnap, use and eventually kill Dominic’s sister. The book was now safely in the hands of the prince. Dominic had heard the book couldn’t be opened, but needed to be destroyed. No one knew how. This news was unexpected, and like Solange, he felt instantly that it was important.

    How close did the mage get to you? He shouldn’t ask. He was already shaking inside. He wanted to be the man to protect her from