Dark Peril (44 page)

Heart in his throat, Dominic waved his hand, building the image of clothing, thick and protective, around Solange—heavy cotton jeans and a long-sleeved top with a vest as a shield. The two rolled across the floor, snarling, spitting, rearing up, breaking apart and then coming together in a fierce mock battle, rolling once again.

The kitten backed off, arching its back. With his long tail curled, he sidestepped around Solange and then rolled over onto his side. He kept his tail in a hooked position, indicating he wanted to play. Laughing, she obliged.

Dominic realized she was feeling the kitten out, learning his strengths and weaknesses, trying to get a feeling for what had gone wrong inside of him. Why the middle part of his body was caught in shadow form. He took a chance and went outside his own body, knowing the animal was important to her and that she wanted to save him from a slow starvation.

The sibling mages had obviously been present when Xavier had mutated species for his own twisted purpose. Two of the teeth in the cat’s mouth were tubes to draw and store blood. The cat had been bred for one purpose—to retrieve blood for the mages. The digestive tract and stomach were scored and lumpy, as if the combination of cat DNA and black magic had fought and scar tissue had built up. The shadow encased the middle of the cat, keeping the insides from working. He couldn’t see how it was possible, but if the cat could wait, he could try to give it blood after he had pushed out the parasites.

He felt the cat’s muscles bunching, ready for another spring, and exited quickly to reenter his own body. He caught the blur of motion as the cat sprang into the air, over Solange’s head. His back claw caught her temple, ripping open her skin and driving her backward into the rocky basin. Dominic’s heart nearly stopped when he heard the loud, ominous crack.

Solange slipped to the floor, her eyes glazed over. He was at her side instantly. Blood poured from the back of her skull. He was immediately in her body, not caring that the cat could easily attack his defenseless body. There was no skull fracture, just a very deep and nasty head wound. He repaired it from the inside out before returning to his own body. Lifting her, he made a halfhearted attempt to move the cat with his foot, but when it didn’t budge, he took her to the bed.

“Talk to me.”

Humor glittered in her eyes. “Ow.
Major
ow.”

Relief flooded. “You took a few years off my life.”

“Good thing you’re immortal. I must be getting slow. I should have moved my head out of the way. He’s clumsy but he’s fast—and strong.” She looked over at the cat and her smiled turned upside down. “Shadow! Stop that. He’s lapping up the blood fast, Dominic.”

Dominic turned to stop the kitten, nearly waving his hand to remove the blood, but he noticed a solid spot, right in the middle of the cat, where none had ever been. His heart rate accelerated. “Solange.” He stood a short distance away from the cub, making no attempt to stop it from licking up the blood. “Look.”

She sat up gingerly. “What am I looking at?” Dominic had already cleaned the blood from her hair and skin and taken away her headache. When he said he would see to her care, he took that literally.

“Your blood acts like some kind of weapon against black magic.” Dominic could barely take in the revelation. No wonder Xavier had been searching for her. “Your blood doesn’t just kill the parasites. Xavier created the parasites with black magic, and here they are unraveled and rendered harmless, back to their original form.”

“That’s impossible.” She stood up, shaking her head. “Check inside of him, Dominic. Make certain my blood isn’t going to harm him.”

Instantly Dominic was at her side, wrapping a steadying arm around her waist, but his eyes were on the cat’s body. He had heard whispers of a blood—royal blood—that could defeat black magic, but in all his centuries and all his travels, the rumor had never been substantiated. Slowly, Brodrick and his ancestors had killed the very thing that could have protected them.

Dominic did as she asked. The massive scar tissue was slowly repairing and the layers of shadow were giving way to the tissue and cells that belonged inside of the cat. He merged his mind with hers so she could see the evidence for herself.

“That doesn’t make sense.” Solange took a step toward the kitten. Already a good portion of its left side was substance. The fur was thinner and there were still gaping spots where the shadow showed through, but her blood was forcing the magic out.

“Xavier needed your blood to open the book because it was the only thing that could after he put the spell on it. No one understood that,” Dominic murmured, more to himself than to her. “Xavier was too clever even for himself. He sealed his book so no other mage could use his spells. He was growing paranoid, already sick and trying desperately to stay alive using Carpathian blood to sustain him. But there had to be younger mages coming up, growing more powerful, so he sealed his book of spells. Then he couldn’t open it either. That is why your blood became so important.”

Solange shivered. Dominic rubbed his hands up and down her arms to warm her. “Xavier is gone from this world, Solange. He cannot harm you. The mages who created this one”—he waved his hand toward Shadow—“are long gone. They abandoned the ranch next to the De La Cruz property.”

She frowned at him. “How do you know that?”

“Carpathians send news to one another upon rising. Zacarias sent word.”

Solange knelt beside the kitten, circling his head with her arms, and smiled up at Dominic. “If my blood did this, then I’m happy. I’ve never been particularly proud of my lineage, but if it can do this much good, then I’ll keep it.”

Dominic frowned, but didn’t say a word. He wouldn’t take this moment away from her for anything, not even to explain what would happen during conversion.

18

Look at me—now see yourself through my eyes.
Look at you: the perfect man of my dreams.

SOLANGE TO DOMINIC

S
olange held her breath as she watched Dominic stride across the open ground toward the laboratory with his confident, superior air. She had no choice but to stay hidden in the trees, at least a hundred and thirty yards from him. Even then, the parasites quieted. They didn’t go still, but they definitely ceased their tempting, painful whispers. She wanted to be closer, where she felt she had a chance to protect him, but once inside, he could only share with her by merging.

Her heart in her throat, she kept her gaze fixed on him. There were three human guards that she could see. Two were at the door of the lab and one near the southern corner. The guards watched him uneasily, but no one challenged him. They fell back under the shocking gaze of Dominic’s piercing eyes.

She recognized the two jaguar-men off by themselves, keeping a wary eye on the group of vampires milling around the open yard. Both stayed close to the forest where they could easily shift and disappear into the canopy should they have need. They were heavily armed, something she rarely saw in the jaguar-men. They mostly relied on their cat for protection, but they were obviously not taking any chances meeting with vampires and humans.

A small group of immaculately dressed vampires stood to the right of the door, talking, trying to appear human, but the guards had sensed their unnaturalness and kept as far from them as possible. Occasionally one of the vampires would look toward a human and smirk, eyes feasting and saliva dribbling. It was deliberate provocation and told Solange that even the vampires were on edge. A meeting of this type was unheard-of. Representatives of several master vampires had arrived, but hunger was the most prevalent emotion she could read. There were few people to donate blood and if they wanted their meeting kept quiet, they couldn’t have a massacre. The vampires had gone without feeding, and the smell of human blood had to be driving them crazy.

A sliver of moonlight fell across Dominic’s face, highlighting the dark edges, the strong lines of his jaw and the gleaming, flowing hair. He looked exactly like what he was—a dangerous predator—and everyone and everything moved out of his way. She had seen him many ways: as the warrior prepared to go into battle; as a man, helping her learn to appreciate being a woman; and as a lover, fiercely passionate and infinitely tender. But she had never seen the legend in action.

Everyone gave him a wide berth, especially the vampires who recognized the legend striding into their midst. They scattered as he deliberately walked through their circle. No one spoke to him, but they didn’t take their eyes off him, even as he walked straight up to the door. The guards actually held it open. He disappeared inside and the vampires closed ranks and began to whisper.

I don’t like this,
Solange protested.
Couldn’t you have gone in unseen?

Dominic had the blueprint of the laboratory in his head from the drawings Solange had made for him. She had spent hours hiding inside the facility and she paid attention to detail. He had to get inside the area housing the computers, and they had security codes for that.

This is what I do best,
kessake
. I will be fine. Just be ready and keep alert. They cannot spot you or our plan fails.

She hissed at him, and deep inside he smiled at his spitting little cat.
I love you, too.

She subsided and he moved through the first entryway into the hall leading to the experiment rooms. She had said there were at least five scientists working on various experiments. They were human and involved with the society to stop vampires. Unfortunately for them, they were in league with the very ones they sought to stamp out. The vampires pointed them at Carpathians, and the human society members did their best to kill as many as possible.

He opened the door and the scent of blood assailed his senses. He had fed from Zacarias’s workers, building his strength for the long night to come. He was going to be in two places at one time, a difficult feat for anyone. He was adept at it, but still, cloning oneself drained strength fast and he would need to be at the top of his game to do battle.

No one looked up when he entered. There were four men in lab coats surrounding a fifth man who was not human. He was dressed in combat clothes and his face was handsome, the dark eyes compelling, every hair in place in spite of the humidity and heat. He was having a difficult time maintaining, with the scent of blood so heavy in the room.

Dominic paid little attention to any of them, his attention caught by the sixth man in the room. This was the one who kept the vampire in line, kept him from falling on the lab techs and devouring their blood. He was the one in charge, the one who made certain the vampire in the chair allowed the humans to take the blood from his veins. Twice this one had narrowly missed being killed by Dominic. His name was Flaviu, and they had detested one another as youths. Flaviu had shown a proclivity toward harming animals even before he lost his emotions. Dominic had not been surprised to see him choose to betray the Carpathian way of honor very early.

Flaviu stood up abruptly, exposing his fangs in a threat, yet backing away slightly to give himself more room. His gaze shifted surreptitiously toward the door. “You are—unexpected.”

Dominic ignored him, treating him as he might a lesser vampire—with contempt, as if he were beneath Dominic’s notice.

The fangs slipped again, betraying the egotistical characteristic so prevalent in vampires. When he spoke, Flaviu’s voice was raspy, as if he couldn’t get his voice to work around his fangs. The vampire in the chair moved restlessly, earning him a reprimand from one of the surly lab techs.

“What are you doing here, Dragonseeker?” Flaviu demanded, his tone high-pitched. “No one is supposed to be in here. You have to leave.”

Dominic stopped moving around the room, examining each of the experiments and checking the slides under the lens of the microscope. The silence stretched and lengthened. He let the vampire squirm under his piercing gaze. Several more heartbeats went by and even the techs looked up from their work.

“Do you really think I will obey a worm like you? I have come at the call, but I will not walk blindly into a trap for anyone. Stand aside or challenge me, but think carefully before you do.” His tone dripped contempt.

The room darkened. The tension stretched to a taut, thin margin. Hissing, Flaviu backed away from Dominic. The vampire sitting in the chair jumped to his feet, knocking the techs out of his way.

“Henric,” Flaviu snapped sharply.

Instantly the lesser vampire stopped his forward motion, but his eyes glowed red with hatred. Without another word, the two vampires left the room. Dominic allowed a brief flare of satisfaction.

They’re going to be waiting for you. The first chance they get, they’ll ambush you.

I am well aware of that. I will lead them straight to you.

Good idea. I’m getting bored while you’re having all the fun. Work your magic, Dominic, and get into the main room.

I scanned the techs as I came in, and none of them knows the security code to the room.

He glanced at the men, who immediately looked away and went back to their respective workstations, each clutching a vial of blood. He moved closer to one of the stations. Several vials of blood were labeled with various names, Brodrick’s most prominent. Someone wanted to see if the jaguar-men had an effect on parasites. He moved closer and tested the nearest tech for resistance.

His brain was wide open, which made sense. The vampires would want men they could easily influence working the computers in the laboratory. He attacked swiftly, piercing the man’s mind to search for the experiments. He shared his findings with Solange.

The techs believe the men working in this region have all been infected with an unknown parasite and they are working on a solution. It was suggested to them that the men who live and work here—meaning the shifters, although it is clear the techs do not understand they are shifters—might have built up an immunity against the parasites. So they are testing their blood against the infected blood. They had some results with Brodrick’s blood.