Dark Peril (36 page)

She kept to a brisk pace for several miles, working her way up the steeper slopes, leaping over decaying trunks and skirting termite mounds. The sound of water running over rocks was constant. She startled a small family of tapirs. The herbivore, related to horses and elephants, looked like a pig with a longer snout. The adults were darker-skinned with white-tipped ears and a yellow throat, but the single baby running with them had red fur with stripes and spots. At home in the water, the tapir often grazed in the rivers and streams.

She was getting close to her destination and she began to quarter the area, taking her time, looking for traces of anything large passing the same way. The shadow cat had to have arrived in its true form. Whatever the creature was, even a hybrid, it must have left behind evidence of its passing.

She was careful to examine trees, certain the creature was a cat and would sharpen his claws often. He would leave scent marks behind. Someone might have bred him, but there were certain characteristics imprinted in a cat’s nature that could never be stamped out. She searched for signs of scattered leaves, of rake marks, casting back and forth along trails.

The tapir path was well-traveled and led to the stream. She crossed the worn trail several times, marking a new, very faint scent already fading. Rain was ever present, nearly every day at this time of the year, and helped to remove traces of animals passing along the animal routes, but this scent was distinct because she’d never run across it before.

She followed the smell and found crushed mushrooms where a large cat had stepped on the fragile fungi, the head imprinted with a partial track. She found rake marks high on a fig tree and a scratch on a buttress root where the cat had hunted a kinkajou, a small animal that looked a bit like a ferret but was of the raccoon family, a favorite of jaguars to hunt. The shadow cat had liberally sprayed a fern where a male jaguar had scent marked, challenging the other male for the territory. The shadow cat appeared to be in his prime and unafraid to challenge any males, clearly aggressive even in foreign territory.

She followed the small bits of information—crushed leaves, an overturned stone, a rip on a tree branch and another partial print beside the ribbons of water that flowed into the small stream that fed her underground basin. She was positive she had found the trail of the shadow cat. She sank down near the bank of the stream and waited, her head on her paws, her body still, the rosettes hiding her in the dappled brush and leaves.

A branch cracked. The crickets ceased their chorus for a brief moment. She stayed very still, wishing she’d chosen a spot in the trees where she could see what—or who—was coming at her. Not Dominic. She knew where he was at any time. Not a vampire. There was no feel of the dread the undead brought with them. The forest hadn’t shrunk back, appalled at the foul abomination of nature.

There was a sudden scattering of monkeys overhead. A jaguar, then—and he’d taken to the trees. He had probably caught the scent of the shadow cat, and had come hunting the male who had been aggressive enough to challenge him. She needed to pinpoint his exact location without giving away that she was anywhere near.

Dominic. If you can hear me, don’t come out into the open when you emerge from the rocks. There’s a jaguar here. I don’t know if he’s harmless or hunting.

I can hear you.
Dominic’s voice came immediately, sliding into her mind intimately.
Are you in danger?
There was a grim edge to his voice, as if, had she once again put herself in danger, he was going to have to carry out his promise to put her in a bubble.

Solange struggled to keep amusement out of her mind, knowing he didn’t find the situation fraught with humor. She’d been in danger her entire life. Today was no different. That was what living in the rain forest and being jaguar meant.
I am perfectly fine for the moment. What did you find?

She inched her way into a better position, watching the trees. He would have chosen one with lower branches so he could easily spring on his prey. That narrowed his choices somewhat. He would want branches nearest the stream. There were tapir paths clearly marking the frequent trips from forest to water. The banks were muddy and hoofprints indicated several tapir had come to feed in the water recently.

The shadow cat definitely came this way. I have not seen the imprint of this mage before; each is unique to the user. But I will know it should I come across it.

Are you close?

Right behind you. I am drifting with the steam coming off the forest floor. Have you spotted his location yet?

She caught the tip of a tail twitching in the tree just to her right. One limb swept out over the water and the jaguar crouched, very still, other than the tail that often betrayed excitement, eyes glued to some prey in the water she couldn’t see.

I’m not close enough to tell if he’s fully animal or my species. I can’t scent the man in him.
Either way, it was going to be dangerous to move. She was in his territory, and regardless of whether he was animal or jaguar-man, he would be interested in a female.

The steam on the forest floor began to widen and drift upward, slowly obscuring vision as the gray vapor spread, a thick mist that stayed along the bank and the surrounding trees. Layer after layer deepened until the forest floor and the stream were no longer visible. The thick mist wound around the fig tree, crawling up the trunk like the liana vines. The jaguar began to cough. Solange heard a series of grunts and the whisper of fur along the trunk. A high-pitched call came from the far bank—a tapir calling to a family member sounded much like a bird.

She heard the crash of the heavy male as he dropped to earth, not more than thirty feet from her. She stayed very still, letting him pass by her in the thick mist. Layers of the fog surrounded her, and deep inside the jaguar’s body, Solange smiled. Dominic had managed to wrap her in a bubble. The male jaguar was not going to scent, see or hear her.

He wouldn’t have found me.

I am not taking chances until the sight of your pale face, your body without breath, leaves me. And that may take some time.

You do have a tendency to harp, don’t you?
The woman inside the jaguar stretched, smiled, a hint at her hidden sensual nature. She couldn’t help teasing him, especially when she was safe, deep in the jaguar where he couldn’t find a way to retaliate.

I have a tendency to keep my word, and you might remember that,
kessake
, when you are feeling all snug and warm there in your safe little den.

Her soft laughter washed over him. She felt his reaction, and for a moment her heart beat faster and her mind warmed. The first tentative merging of Solange the woman and Solange the warrior had been exhilarating and made her feel very brave—which, considering she had been ready to fight a jaguar, was vaguely amusing to her.

She waited while Dominic pushed the jaguar out of their path using a mixture of heavy fog and a slight compulsive push.
Which is cheating. I’m not certain that qualifies as a fair battle. There might be a moral issue here.

His mind flooded hers with warmth, a teasing, sexy amusement that sent heat surging through her veins. Hunting was a lot more fun with a partner. She felt a little bit safer, and it helped that he was intelligent and experienced. She didn’t feel as if she had to protect him. She could even acknowledge he might feel the need to protect her. He had quite the arsenal to draw on, and truthfully, in battle, as far as she was concerned, whatever it took to win was fair.

He is clear now,
Dominic informed her.
I will get rid of the fog.

Solange worked her way to the bank of the stream as the mist slowly evaporated and Dominic stood beside her, one hand in her fur, his fingers massaging her neck. Her jaguar loved it, rubbing her head against his thigh in response.

He went this way
. Solange took a couple of steps, certain now of the cat’s tracks. Even with the male jaguar in the area, his prints overlaying the shadow cat’s in places, she easily could distinguish between the two. The shadow cat had gone into the water right at the very entrance to the limestone labyrinth.
Why did he risk being tracked when he could take the shape of a shadow?

“That is an excellent question,” Dominic murmured aloud. “Did his master have to be close to keep him a shadow? If so, we should be able to find where his master waited for him.”

He came from that direction.
Solange took him back through the forest to where she’d first come across the tracks.
We know he went into the water and never came back out, but his handler must have gotten him close enough to pick up my blood scent.

She could feel Dominic frown, and his fingers bunched in her fur, but he didn’t react, simply stepped back to allow her to lead him through the forest, backtracking now. Once she was on the shadow cat’s trail, she grew more certain of herself, moving faster, winding in and out of the trees away from the stream and yet away from the interior.

No cat would go in this direction unless he was feeding on cattle. This area is patrolled heavily by men with guns. They protect the cattle fiercely, and unless a jaguar is old or injured, it will stick to the game here in the forest. Maybe he was looking for an easy meal.

She didn’t like getting too close to the enormous cattle ranch that lay just on the outer edges of the forest. The men fired a warning shot as a rule, trying to drive a wandering cat back into the forest, but just as often, one might be trigger-happy. She’d noted Cesaro’s reaction to her cat. It was almost instinctual. The cattlemen considered it their duty to keep the cattle safe, and cats were predators they didn’t want near the ranches.

“We are on De La Cruz property.” Dominic sounded grim.

Yes. It is quite large. All of their places are enormous. They are very wealthy. They employ a lot of people who are very loyal to them. They take good care of their workers and the families who stay with them throughout the years seem to grow wealthy as well. Many of the locals are fiercely loyal to them.

“Solange, whoever is handling the cat has to be on this ranch.”

Her heart jumped.
Maybe not. Maybe it was looking for a meal.
But she knew he was right. It made sense. The tracks led straight to a road. And on the road there were tire tracks. She’d seen them often in her wanderings. The trucks the De La Cruz workers used were all the same, as were the tire tracks so clear there in the mud. The heavy cat had leapt from the back of the truck. The tracks were deep behind where the vehicle had been parked.

Dominic crouched low to examine the ground. “There are boot prints here. There must have been a cage of some kind in the back of the truck and he let it out.”

Not vampire.

“Definitely not vampire. What do you think is going on here, Solange?”

A silly fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach told her just how much it mattered that he’d asked her opinion. She turned the small bit of information they’d collected over and over in her head.
Maybe we aren’t the target at all here, Dominic. They don’t know about you yet. And what threat would they consider me? Zacarias is the biggest threat they have in this part of the world. He’s the one most feared of all the De La Cruz brothers. He carries the most power and is the most influential with the leaders here.

“All true, but why would they need your blood? What would that have to do with Zacarias?”

Whatever it is, I’ll bet they didn’t count on me giving my blood to Zacarias. I’m not known for my generosity in that area.

“So it if isn’t a vampire”—Dominic was already following the tracks of the truck in the mud, knowing it would lead them back to the De La Cruz ranch—“then who would send a cat after you? And who has that kind of black magic ability to possess another’s body now that Xavier is dead?”

Are all mages in league with the vampires? Did they all follow Xavier?

“No, the mages have scattered to the four corners of the world. Many were experimented on. Xavier held Razvan for centuries, and in that time he saw many terrible things done to young mage women and men. A few fanatical mages worshiped him and followed his teachings. They hate Carpathians and want them wiped off the earth just as much as the vampires do.”

So we know whoever sent the cat has to be mage, and not necessarily in league with the vampires. He may have his own agenda. And he’s using someone at Zacarias’s ranch. If he’s been there for some time, getting established, he must have been very distressed when Zacarias showed up. He rarely comes here.

They stood at the edge of the forest, staring down at the cleared barrier between the forest and the extensive cattle ranch. The truck tracks followed the road straight into the De La Cruz property.

Solange shifted and stood naked beside Dominic, smiling a little at his body’s instant response to her.

“You could give me a little warning so I would be ready with clothes,” he said.

She lifted an eyebrow. “I think you’re a little off your game, Dragonseeker. I expected clothes. Maybe I should be going to visit our neighbors just like this. It would definitely get us in the door.”

Instantly her body was clad in familiar jeans and tee. She laughed at him. Even her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Let’s go see who wants my blood.”

Dominic held out his hand. Solange only hesitated for a second before she put her hand in his and walked with him up the muddy road toward the sprawling De La Cruz ranch house.

15

I can never betray you.
You can never part from me.
In love forever, this life and next.
You are the very heart of me.