Hot Blooded

embracing it.
    Riordan moved in her mind, picking up the image, lending his strength. The
shifting was slightly different from that of Carpathians, but he was deep in her
mind and knew how it worked now so he was able to provide the extra speed. The
jaguar sprang into the lower branches of a tree and disappeared entirely into
the canopy. Riordan turned to face his enemy.
    A shadowy figure exploded out of the ground, erupting directly in front of
Riordan, fist slamming into his chest and driving deep. Riordan twisted
slightly, taking the pain and letting it go, sweeping with one leg to send his
attacker sprawling. There was no sound, and no face. The vampire was nothing
more than black smoke dissolving rapidly. It was eerily silent. Not even the
insects hummed.
    Zacarias
. Riordan reached along his private mental path for his
older brother.
A master vampire is here, one with powers beyond all
imagining. I cannot spot him. I cannot attack him. Should I fall, you must find
and protect my lifemate
. Riordan crouched low, restless eyes searching,
every sense on full alert. He dug into the forest floor and scooped handfuls of
rich soil. He was losing blood fast. The vampire had deliberately weakened him.
To preserve his strength, Riordan didn't move, other than to pack his wounds. He
heard Juliette's distress in his mind, knew she remained close in hopes of
aiding him, but there was no way to fight the unseen.
    Riordan felt his brother moving through him, examining the terrible hole
opened in his chest, estimating his strength, searching through his memories to
replay the attack.
Get out of there. No lone hunter will take this one down
alone
. Even as he sent the command, he was working to repair his younger
brother's injury from a distance. Riordan could feel the warmth moving through
his body, hear the healing chant in his mind.
    He felt the air stir around him and immediately flung himself away from the
disturbance, rolling to his left and coming up to face the shadowy figure.
Riordan managed to deflect the jagged bolt of lightning before it struck him.
The energy slammed into the ground, shaking the earth. He raised his arms and
the ground continued to roll and pitch. Great cracks opened up, one rushing
toward the insubstantial figure with ominous speed. Riordan felt the exact
moment when both Juliette and Zacarias threw their strength in with his. The
crack widened and split the ground and the vampire fell into the hole. Riordan
sent the bolts of lightning streaking down after him, spear after spear, driving
each deep in an effort to score a blind hit.
    Riordan staggered as he moved to get away from where the vampire had last
seen him. There was stillness now, as if the forest held its breath. Riordan
realized the sky was dark due to storm clouds. Dawn was only a matter of minutes
away. The vampire had struck fast and ferociously in the hopes of defeating him
quickly.
    He felt me with you
. Zacarias thought it over.
He will not
return to fight. He will most likely go to ground for a long period of time or
leave our area. Whatever he wished to accomplish here is not worth his life.
Whatever brought such a powerful enemy to our lands had to be important
.
    I believe he has tainted some of the jaguar males. They have been
capturing women and forcing them to mate for the purpose of breeding. Their
women all have psychic abilities and are capable of becoming lifemates to our
males
. Riordan was certain a powerful vampire would only come to the jungle
if it profited him. If the vampire could prevent the Carpathians from finding
lifemates, more and more of their males would turn vampire or walk into the sun.
    You are thinking this is a very defined conspiracy
. Zacarias turned
the idea over in his mind.
This must be reported to our brethren in our
homeland. I will send Manolito. We will deal with the jaguar males who are
abusing their women. You must go to ground quickly, Riordan. Put your lifemate
in the ground and stay until you are fully healed. I will begin the hunt for the
women
.
    The sister of my lifemate has been taken.
    You must heal or we will lose both of you. That cannot happen. Without
children our race faces extinction, just as the jaguar.
    Riordan abruptly broke off contact with his brother, despising the truth,
despising the command in his brother's voice. It made them no different than the
jaguar males.
    "That isn't true." Juliette was at his side, pushing