Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

glanced at him and then down at her hands.
    There’s trouble right there, Dax predicted. He doesn’t like the idea of her converting.
    Both of his sisters have, Riley pointed out. Couldn’t he? He must have the same ability. Can’t a male be converted?
    I would assume so. Obviously this Luiz was. I caught impressions of him as a jaguar. Dax turned his head just as Juliette did. Riley felt him frown. Riordan is back and he is very unhappy. He’s asking Gary to get Jasmine inside.
    Riley glanced at Juliette. She blinked back tears and kept her face carefully averted
     from her sister. Definitely something was wrong.
    Gary emerged from the house. “Jasmine,” he called, waving at the others. “I’ve been
     without a worthy chess opponent for a long time. Come put me out of my misery.”
    “Hey!” Jubal objected.
    Jasmine smirked at Jubal. “You haven’t been holding up your end of the chess matches?”
    “Watch yourself, woman,” Jubal cautioned. “Don’t be throwing out challenges you aren’t
     going to be able to win.”
    “Any time, any place,” Jasmine offered. She laughed and held out her hand to him.
     “Stop being lazy and help me up. I’m a beached whale.”
    “You’re beautiful and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments,” Jubal said, lazily
     coming to his feet. He drew her up, not moving back so that when she stood, her body
     was up against his. He rested his palm on her swollen belly. “You’re not even very
     big.”
    “I’m big.” She didn’t move, just looked up at him, nor did she remove his hand.
    Jubal smiled and stepped back, giving her the space to go around him. “Go practice.
     You’ll need it.”
    “You’re going to eat those words,” Jasmine warned.
    “Any time, any place.” Jubal threw her words back at her.
    Her laughter floated back to them. The strain and tension were gone from her, and
     she sounded young and happy again.
    “Thank you,” Juliette said to Jubal. “I haven’t heard her sound like that since . . .
     the last time you were here.”
    Riordan appeared on the terrace and Juliette went to him immediately. He put his arms
     around her, holding her close to him.
    “I take it there wasn’t good news,” Jubal said.
    Riordan shook his head. “No. I think Jasmine is right. Someone has been following
     her, and they’re after the baby.”
    Jubal swore. “Damn it. Jaguars?”
    “Probably. They would be the most likely suspects.”
    “Maybe not,” Dax said. “We didn’t have time to tell you. Your pilot asked us to check
     on Juliette’s friend.”
    Juliette turned her head to look at Dax, but Riley could see by her face, she already
     knew what he was going to tell them.
    “I’m sorry, Juliette,” Dax said formally. “She was dead. Murdered.”
    “Her baby?”
    Riley tightened her fingers around Dax’s.
    Dax shook his head, his tone as stoic as ever, his face carved from stone. Only she
     felt that blast of emotion, the volcano going off deep inside him. “Mitro killed the
     child as well as the mother. I need to know everything going on here. Everything.”

18
    “J asmine is going to give birth any minute,” Riordan explained. “Juliette feared complications,
     so we’ve been bringing her to a doctor they know here in the city. She’s jaguar and
     takes care of many of their women. A couple of days ago, she began to feel as if someone
     was following her. I wasn’t with her, but some of our people were and they saw nothing
     to make them suspicious. Juliette and I went out when we rose and we couldn’t find
     a hint of anyone watching her. Still, she was so uneasy, I didn’t dismiss it.”
    “Thank God,” Juliette said.
    “This evening, I received a call, first from a friend in the police department and
     then from Jasmine’s doctor. The police made a grisly find when they busted a warehouse
     filled with drugs. A bunch of Goth kids belonging to some underground cult were making
     their home under the warehouse and they had the bodies of six infants dipped in gold.
     They claimed the babies had been stillborn, and they were selling them on the black
     market.”
    Horrified, Riley stepped back and bumped into Dax. He dropped his hands onto her shoulders
     to steady her. Instantly, she felt comforted. His hands were large and strong, but
     his touch was very gentle. He didn’t say much, but he didn’t need to.
    “That’s disgusting,” Jubal said. “I hope they throw away the key.”
    “There are some