Hot Blooded

teeth. Solange sank
into the bushes, going completely still. Juliette slid a knife into her palm.
The jaguar stretched, looked around and sniffed the air, testing with his tongue
and sensitive whiskers. The wind carried the scent of the women away from him.
The jaguar dropped his head back onto his leg and closed his eyes.
    Juliette let her breath out slowly. Solange waited a few more minutes before
continuing to creep forward again. Juliette strained to watch her cousin's
process. The fronds of a fern swayed slightly, in time with the wind. Juliette
couldn't understand how Riordan and Zacarias had the strength to guide the wind
and follow Solange's progress. She could almost feel Riordan moving through her,
attempting to get the layout of the battlefield through her eyes. He was
waiting, much like a coiled snake, waiting for that moment when he could explode
into the sky and come to her. Riordan's concern was comforting, and she sent him
her appreciation.
    Juliette's first warning was the way the human guard at the back entrance
suddenly turned his head toward the cave with an evil smile. He walked a few
steps and peered into the collection of shrubbery, his hand absently rubbing his
crotch. She saw Solange move in behind him. A scream, a mixture of anger, terror
and pain came from the interior of the cave. It was choked off abruptly.
I
have no choice, Riordan
. It was her only apology for whatever might happen.
Using higher ground, she ran to the entrance of the cave, catching a brief
glimpse of Solange and the guard, the man falling to the ground, the
bloodstained knife in Solange's hand.
    Riordan was calm. He didn't protest, he simply waited, watching the events
unfold through her eyes. Juliette could feel the presence of his elder brother.
They coiled in her waiting their moment.
    Stay to the side, hold the blade edge up
. Riordan instructed as she
neared the cave's entrance. Juliette didn't argue; she already knew his plan,
catching the details in their shared minds. She called out Jasmine's name to let
her know she wasn't alone and to draw the men from the cave. She had to trust
Solange to watch her back and keep the jaguar off of her. Her arm flashed,
faster than she knew how to move, an instinctual, timed movement that brought
down the first man rushing from the cavern. Blood soaked the ground, but
Juliette couldn't look, didn't dare look. She heard the roar of the jaguar as it
leapt from the branches onto Solange.
    Juliette turned to help her cousin, sprinting with a burst of speed not her
own. Solange shifted on the run, coming together in fury with the heavy male
cat, raking and biting, fur and material flying everywhere. Juliette skidded to
a halt. She had no chance to help Solange, to try to kill the jaguar with the
knife. The two cats rolled over and over in a terrible fury making it impossible
to aid her cousin.
    Juliette
! Riordan was rising. She felt him bursting through soil and
leaves to take to the air. At his warning she spun around, knife held low and
close to her body, meeting the rush of the jaguar as it burst from the cave. The
heavy cat hit her chest hard, driving her backward, the jaguar's foul breath hot
in her face. Pain ripped through her as the sharp claws tore through her skin to
the bone. She felt Zacarias and Riordan moving in her, the knife plunging into
the cat's sides and chest as his teeth drove at her throat. Breathing was
difficult, but Riordan forced the air through her burning lungs. She slammed
into the ground hard and lay pinned beneath the heavier body. Leaves and twigs
soaked red with blood beneath but she couldn't tell whose blood it was. The
cat's teeth were embedded in her throat and her arms were leaden, making it
impossible to push the heavy body off of her.
    Look at Solange
. Riordan, so calm it was frightening. There was a
command in his voice she couldn't disobey.
    Jasmine screamed again, and Juliette's body jerked at the sound.
    Look at Solange
. Riordan repeated it. He was much closer and gaining
in strength as the sun began to set.
    Juliette couldn't move her head, so she shifted her gaze to see the male cat
clawing Solange viciously. Blood seeped through fur and Solange staggered under
the assault. A white haze was forming over Juliette's eyes. She blinked rapidly
to clear her vision. Jasmine screamed again. Juliette could hear her weeping.
    Stay focused on Solange
. Riordan's voice softened.
Hold on for
me.