Carpathian 23 - Dark Storm

killings.”
    “He wants others to think that, Riley. The rituals are put in place to impress his
     followers. He wants them to worship him and to do that, he demands his sacrifices.”
    Riley sighed. “If there is a faction of young, lost Goth kids that he’s impressed,
     then he’s building an army, a cult, young people looking for answers and strengths,
     somewhere to belong when they don’t fit in. Believe me, Dax, there are so many runaways
     and throwaways looking for a home, and they’ll do anything for the right charismatic
     leader. They’re lost souls, and he’s collecting them.”
    “But the killing of these jaguar women, that has nothing to do with his followers,
     other than they bring the women to him,” Dax said. “At least that’s my suspicion.
     I need you to confirm that for me and see if you can follow the trail.”
    Riley nodded. “I said I would and I meant it.” She gestured toward the burnt ashes.
     “That changes nothing, but it was after me, wasn’t it?”
    Dax nodded. “Mitro will do anything to destroy you. You have to understand, his ego,
     his vanity is enormous. He believes himself superior to all beings, all species. Remember
     the village in the Amazon?”
    She shuddered, giving him one look of reprimand. “It’s impossible to forget.”
    He stroked a caress down her long hair. “He needs to be worshipped. That need drives him all the time. He fears nothing on this earth
     but Arabejila—his lifemate—and her blood is strong in you.”
    Riley made a little face at him. “When I’m dead and in the ground, I’ve got a few
     things I want to say to that woman. I longed for adventure when I was teaching at
     the university, but I have to tell you, thanks to Arabejila, normal seems really,
     really perfect.”
    Dax found his mouth actually curving into a smile at the little bite in her voice.
     He hastily tried to hide it, knowing it wasn’t the smartest move on his part, smiling
     when she was a little annoyed. He took her hand and urged her gently toward Riordan.
    “Take us to the home of the woman who disappeared most recently.”
    Riley shook her head. “Not there. The doctor’s office. Her clinic. Let’s go there
     first.”
    Riordan frowned. “There’re too many people in and out. You’ll never get a clear trail.”
    “If you see a pregnant woman walking down the street, can you tell she’s a jaguar
     woman? I was introduced to Jasmine, and I couldn’t tell by look or scent that she
     was any different than a human woman. Can you? By scent maybe?” Riley asked.
    Dax had to concede she had a point. “No, the jaguar is usually well hidden, especially
     in a pregnant woman.”
    “So the common thread has to be the doctor they choose to see. She has to be how they target the women. They can’t just randomly pick a woman walking
     down the street, not if your theory that Mitro wants jaguar babies for some nefarious
     purpose is correct. If this Dr. Silva is the only doctor jaguar women trust, then
     once Mitro knows that, he can figure out that the majority of the women who go to
     her are probably jaguar. That takes the guess factor out of the game.”
    Riordan nodded. “Do you think you can catch the trail even with the number of people
     in and out of that place?”
    “Mitro can’t be getting the information himself. He wouldn’t use a watcher,” Dax said.
     “He can’t risk weakening himself. He has to have a human aiding him. And whoever it
     is wouldn’t just be hanging around outside. Someone would notice eventually.”
    “You think his puppet actually works at the clinic?” Riordan asked.
    “That would make sense,” Riley said. A small shiver went through her body. “Whoever
     is helping Mitro sees these women, talks to them and probably has access to their
     medical histories. They work there and might even deliberately befriend these women.
     The women would be unsuspecting if they ran into one another somewhere else. Not every
     one of Dr. Silva’s patients is jaguar. How could they be? Does she turn everyone else
     away?”
    “No, of course not. She sees many human patients as well,” Riordan said. “No one will
     be there at this time of night.”
    Riley shrugged. “I’m perfectly okay with that. I thought we were just going to pick
     up a trail. I don’t want to run into anything that vampire has created.”
    Riordan flashed a grin. “Where’s the fun in that, ma’am?”
    Riley sent him a look from under her