Dark Storm (Dark #23)(91)
Author: Christine Feehan

"That’s disgusting," Jubal said. "I hope they throw away the key."

"There are some cultures that believe having the body of a child dipped in gold in their home brings luck," Riordan said.

"Who in their right mind would think that an infant’s body covered in gold would bring them luck?" Jubal demanded. "That’s sick."

"Nevertheless," Riordan said. "It happens. It’s just that Dr. Silva, Jasmine’s doctor, thinks all six babies came from women going to her clinic. All jaguar women. She said that six of her patients in various stages of pregnancy had suddenly stopped coming to her; they’d just disappeared. She tried contacting them, but no one called her back. Jaguar women can be very elusive …"

"They have to be," Juliette defended. "But they wouldn’t stop going to their doctor before giving birth." She stepped away from him and paced in agitation some feet away.

Riordan reached out to her. Juliette immediately put her hand in his. "I know you’re worried about her, but nothing will happen to Jasmine. She’s got all of us to look out for her."

"She’s been through so much," Juliette said. "To add this is just wrong. If she really knew they were after her again, she’d be devastated."

"Her doctor warned her to be careful. She had a bad feeling about the other women and had even gone so far as to go to the police, but no one seemed alarmed. Dr. Silva said two of the women had acted uneasy and one said she thought someone had been outside her house the night before," Riordan continued. "Most of the jaguar men are scattered, but many have gone to the cities. We were afraid they would begin stalking the women here."

"That’s what Dr. Silva thought," Juliette said. "That the men had found them. All of those targeted were carrying jaguar babies, so we assumed it was the males looking to take them back."

"Juliette and I went to the women’s homes, believing we could pick up the trail and get the women back," Riordan added. He shook his head and glanced at his lifemate.

"It wasn’t jaguar men," Juliette assured. "There was no evidence of any of them anywhere near the women’s homes or properties. I would have been able to scent them."

"You believe a vampire has something to do with these disappearances?" Riordan asked Dax, cutting to the chase.

"You’re uneasy. Juliette is uneasy. Jasmine is."

Riordan frowned as he nodded slowly. "I felt the presence of evil but I couldn’t track it. It was very strange. We hunt the forest and cities all up and down South America. This felt different to me. I couldn’t quite catch the scent, but I knew it was there. Very evil and yet so faint that I couldn’t follow the trail. I hunt vampires and yet this was … different is the only word I can think of. I couldn’t identify it as the undead."

"We tracked Mitro here to this city," Dax said. "It would not surprise me if he was behind this. He is unlike any vampire you have ever faced, and it is not easy to track him, not even for me and I’ve followed him for hundreds of years. He is … different."

Juliette shuddered and moved closer to Riordan. "Jasmine can’t know this, and she has to be guarded around the clock."

"Gary and I can stay with her during the day," Jubal volunteered.

"And thanks to Juliette’s cousin, Solange, we’re able to be up longer during the day, so if there’s need we can come to your aid," Riordan said.

Dax felt the familiar leap in his brain connecting dots. "Solange?" He needed more information. He had no idea what he was onto, but he’d been following Mitro for so long that he knew the way the vampire thought and acted. His brain had jumped at the casual conversation, his instincts suddenly kicking in.

"Solange is my cousin," Juliette said. "Lifemate to Dominic."

"Of the Dragonseekers? He still lives?" Dax asked.

Riordan nodded.

Dax crossed to the railing. He was unused to being so close to so many people, and looking out at the lights of the city made him feel less closed in. "What is different about Solange’s blood that allows you to stay in sunlight?"

"She’s jaguar royalty," Riordan explained. "She’s exchanged blood with us, and that’s allowed us to handle the sun for longer periods of time, but there is a cost. The weakness is severe and comes on unexpectedly and very rapidly. We try not to use that ability too often because you can find yourself in danger very quickly, but it does give us some advantages we didn’t have before."

"Does all jaguar blood allow Carpathians to stay longer hours in the sun?" Dax asked, staring straight ahead at the dazzling display of lights.

"If that was the case, I would have been the first to discover it," Riordan said. "Juliette was jaguar. I would have been able to spend more hours awake."

"How do you know that you couldn’t? Did you try?" Dax asked.

Riordan and Juliette looked at one another, clearly shocked. Riordan eventually shook his head. "I didn’t think to try, why would I? Still, I don’t think Juliette’s blood could have done what Solange’s blood does, and of course now, Juliette’s wholly Carpathian so it’s a moot point."

Dax turned to face the Carpathian. He was a hunter first, and he knew his prey almost as well as he knew himself. If Mitro was behind killing pregnant women and taking their babies, it wasn’t all for his amusement. He had targeted each victim deliberately. If he had found a way to prolong his time in the early morning or evening hours, he could do even more harm than he already was doing. He made a formidable enemy already. By adding daylight hours, he would have more time to recruit his army and more time to kill or make puppets.

Riordan shook his head. "No vampire could ever go out in the sun. It isn’t possible."

"Mitro is no ordinary vampire," Dax cautioned. "I took his heart and threw it in the magma pool and still he lives."

Riordan went very still. Juliette’s gasp was audible.

Dax had no way of knowing, but the morbid, depraved taking of unborn infants from their mothers felt like Mitro. He looked at Riley. Obviously, she was thinking along the same lines as he was. She looked horrified. Truly horrified. He wanted to put his arms around her and shelter her close to his heart, keep her from twisted, depraved monsters.

Her eyes met his. She sent him a small, reluctant smile and his heart turned over. I’m all right. We’ve seen how bad he is. And we came here for this.

Arabejila’s blood as well as her gifts-and those of her ancestors-ran deep in Riley’s veins. If there was one person who could track Mitro, it was Riley, and she understood that.