Dark Storm (Dark #23)(94)
Author: Christine Feehan

"Mitro created a watcher by putting a small sliver of himself into the creature so he could see what it did. That way he could send it where he wanted, have total command, and obtain information at very little risk to himself," Dax explained, bringing one hand up to the nape of her neck to gently ease the tension from her.

She turned her face up to his. "You live in a very scary world. What did he hope to gain?"

"Clearly he was having someone watch either the Carpathian hunters or Jasmine."

Over her head he could see Riordan once again weaving new safeguards around his home. This time there would be no watcher able to report back to Mitro the exact patterns of the wards, knowledge of which would have essentially given his minions free entrance into Riordan’s house. Now, it would be nearly impossible for anyone wishing harm to gain admittance.

"You believe he’s after Jasmine." Riley made it a statement.

"Don’t you?"

Riley stepped back, her eyes meeting his. "Absolutely. He’s after her child for some reason and we’re going to have to find out why, Dax, and stop him. He’s a serial killer. You can call him anything you want, but in the end, he seems to take great pleasure in torturing and murdering innocent people. He’s ritualistic in his killings."

"He wants others to think that, Riley. The rituals are put in place to impress his followers. He wants them to worship him and to do that, he demands his sacrifices."

Riley sighed. "If there is a faction of young, lost Goth kids that he’s impressed, then he’s building an army, a cult, young people looking for answers and strengths, somewhere to belong when they don’t fit in. Believe me, Dax, there are so many runaways and throwaways looking for a home, and they’ll do anything for the right charismatic leader. They’re lost souls, and he’s collecting them."

"But the killing of these jaguar women, that has nothing to do with his followers, other than they bring the women to him," Dax said. "At least that’s my suspicion. I need you to confirm that for me and see if you can follow the trail."

Riley nodded. "I said I would and I meant it." She gestured toward the burnt ashes. "That changes nothing, but it was after me, wasn’t it?"

Dax nodded. "Mitro will do anything to destroy you. You have to understand, his ego, his vanity is enormous. He believes himself superior to all beings, all species. Remember the village in the Amazon?"

She shuddered, giving him one look of reprimand. "It’s impossible to forget."

He stroked a caress down her long hair. "He needs to be worshipped. That need drives him all the time. He fears nothing on this earth but Arabejila-his lifemate-and her blood is strong in you."

Riley made a little face at him. "When I’m dead and in the ground, I’ve got a few things I want to say to that woman. I longed for adventure when I was teaching at the university, but I have to tell you, thanks to Arabejila, normal seems really, really perfect."

Dax found his mouth actually curving into a smile at the little bite in her voice. He hastily tried to hide it, knowing it wasn’t the smartest move on his part, smiling when she was a little annoyed. He took her hand and urged her gently toward Riordan.

"Take us to the home of the woman who disappeared most recently."

Riley shook her head. "Not there. The doctor’s office. Her clinic. Let’s go there first."

Riordan frowned. "There’re too many people in and out. You’ll never get a clear trail."

"If you see a pregnant woman walking down the street, can you tell she’s a jaguar woman? I was introduced to Jasmine, and I couldn’t tell by look or scent that she was any different than a human woman. Can you? By scent maybe?" Riley asked.

Dax had to concede she had a point. "No, the jaguar is usually well hidden, especially in a pregnant woman."

"So the common thread has to be the doctor they choose to see. She has to be how they target the women. They can’t just randomly pick a woman walking down the street, not if your theory that Mitro wants jaguar babies for some nefarious purpose is correct. If this Dr. Silva is the only doctor jaguar women trust, then once Mitro knows that, he can figure out that the majority of the women who go to her are probably jaguar. That takes the guess factor out of the game."

Riordan nodded. "Do you think you can catch the trail even with the number of people in and out of that place?"

"Mitro can’t be getting the information himself. He wouldn’t use a watcher," Dax said. "He can’t risk weakening himself. He has to have a human aiding him. And whoever it is wouldn’t just be hanging around outside. Someone would notice eventually."

"You think his puppet actually works at the clinic?" Riordan asked.

"That would make sense," Riley said. A small shiver went through her body. "Whoever is helping Mitro sees these women, talks to them and probably has access to their medical histories. They work there and might even deliberately befriend these women. The women would be unsuspecting if they ran into one another somewhere else. Not every one of Dr. Silva’s patients is jaguar. How could they be? Does she turn everyone else away?"

"No, of course not. She sees many human patients as well," Riordan said. "No one will be there at this time of night."

Riley shrugged. "I’m perfectly okay with that. I thought we were just going to pick up a trail. I don’t want to run into anything that vampire has created."

Riordan flashed a grin. "Where’s the fun in that, ma’am?"

Riley sent him a look from under her lashes, her mouth curving slightly, but she didn’t answer as she followed Riordan to the car.

Dax found the idea of traveling in a vehicle silly when they could just fly and get there much faster. "Why?"

"We need to fit in," Riordan explained. "With the new technology, we have to be more careful than ever and appear human."

"No one is around. Your home is secluded. Let’s just get this done," Dax said.

Riley raised her hand. "I don’t fly. I just thought you might like to know that before you make a decision. I have feet, not wings."

Dax caught the little flutter of excitement as the image of the dragon came into her head. He was grateful she didn’t mention the dragon to Riordan, although the Carpathian hunter would assume he simply had shifted into the mythical creature, using the illusion for flight. The Old One was not friendly. He accepted Dax and Dax’s woman, but the rest of them-he might consider barbecuing them.

It wouldn’t do to have a giant dragon breathing fire over a major city. It would end up on YouTube. There was laughter in Riley’s voice.