Christine Feehan - Dark Possession

There was too much sorrow in Solange, as if a great weight sat on her shoulders. She was younger than MaryAnn, and that was shocking. She looked older, her face serious and womanly rather than innocent, but she had to be only a few years older than Jasmine.

«We've talked about it,» Jasmine admitted, «but where would we go? Neither of us could live in a city, so close to other people.»

«Juliette said that Riordan had a house built on their ranch property for us,» Solange said, her voice ultracasual. «We might try it.»

Jasmine stiffened and shook her head mutely.

MaryAnn was too adept at reading people. Solange did not want to go to the ranch. She had such a distrust of men, and the De La Cruz main home was a working ranch with men everywhere. But it would place both women under the protection and eye of the De La Cruz brothers, all of whom took their roles very seriously. Solange was worried about Jasmine. If she knew about the pregnancy, as MaryAnn suspected, she would want to take Jasmine to the comparative safety of the ranch house.

«Have you met Rafael and Colby?» MaryAnn asked. «Colby's younger brother Paul and her sister Ginny are living at the ranch. They seem to really love it there. Ginny is particularly wild about horses.»

Solange sent her a grateful smile. «Ginny is still young, right? I've heard Juliette talk about her. Eleven or twelve maybe.»

«It's not going to work, Solange,» Jasmine said. «I'm not going to go to the ranch without you.»

«Did I say without me? I would go, too, if you did,» Solange said. «And you're not eating enough to keep a bird alive. Eat.»

Jasmine scowled as she took a banana. «You'd go to the ranch, Solange, but you wouldn't stay there and you know it. You'd leave me with Juliette and come back to the rain forest and try to work here by yourself.»

Solange sat back in her chair and regarded Jasmine with a sober face. «I said I'd go with you and I will. I'll try to stay. That's all I can promise. I'll try to stay. I thought we'd be safe here, but if the jaguar-men know of this house and that most of the time the De La Cruz brothers aren't using it, they'll come for us. Maybe we should go back with Juliette and Riordan when they go.»

MaryAnn caught the underlying anxiety. Solange didn't believe for a moment that she would be able to stay at the ranch, but for Jasmine, she would try.

«What do you fear at the ranch the most?» She leaned her chin into her palm and studied Solange's face. Jasmine would never stay if her cousin didn't.

Solange was silent for so long MaryAnn was afraid she wouldn't answer. «I am not good with people. Men especially. I get claustrophobia in confined spaces. I haven't had anyone telling me what to do since I was about twelve, and I can't imagine living in a place with rules-someone else's rules. I've made my own for too long and I can't fit in anywhere.» She looked at Jasmine. «I don't want that for you, Jazz. You deserve a life.»

«So do you,» MaryAnn said quietly-firmly.

«I'm not such a nice person,» Solange said, her amber eyes going flat and hard. «I've done things and I can't take them back.»

Jasmine put her hand over Solange's. «You saved lives.»

«And I took them.»

There was no regret in her voice, and none on her face, but MaryAnn could feel the sadness coming off her in waves. She was a warrior, and there was nowhere in the world left for a woman like Solange.

«Don't feel sorry for me,» Solange said. «I made my choices.»

«And I've always made mine,» Jasmine asserted. «I stay with you. Here or at the ranch, or wherever. We're family and we stick close. Juliette feels the same way. She can't join us during the days, but she's with us when she can be.»

Good for you. MaryAnn flashed Jasmine an approving smile. The girl had spunk after all. She wasn't going to give up on Solange.

Jasmine flashed her a small, conspiratorial smile, and MaryAnn realized she was glad she'd come. Both women needed her. She was a born counselor, she helped people find their way and she was good at if, proud of her ability. Solange seemed more lost than Jasmine because she'd given up on life. On people. On everything.

Solange suddenly lifted her head, coming to her feet, her body still, Jasmine pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a cry of alarm.

«It's okay, baby,» Solange assured.

«They're here,» Jasmine whispered. «Outside the house, and it's another couple of hours until sunset.»

«Take MaryAnn into the safe room,» Solange instructed. «Wait for me there.»

«MaryAnn will be just fine helping you out,» MaryAnn said. «I'm not hiding from these men. If they dared come here to harm you-«

«They'll rape and kill. That's what they do,» Solange said, her voice hard. «We live by the law of the forest here, kill or be killed, and you have to be prepared to do just that. Go with Jasmine.»

Jasmine pushed back her chair and reached under the table for the gun taped there. MaryAnn's eyes widened. They'd obviously been prepared for an attack.

«I'll take the upstairs,» Jasmine said. «You defend down here, Solange. MaryAnn, they won't be able to breach the safe room. If we get into trouble, we'll fight our way back to that, so leave it unlocked as long as possible.»

«I'll stay with you,» MaryAnn said. «I know how to shoot a gun.»

«Riordan and Juliette set safeguards on the house,» Solange said, not bothering to waste time arguing with them. «Jasmine, see to the windows. Stay back out of sight. If they see and recognize you, it might make them do something crazy to get in, but if they breach the window, shoot to kill. Do you understand me? Don't you hesitate.»

«I won't,» Jasmine assured.

«I'll be with her,» MaryAnn added. Jasmine looked so young and frightened. Her pregnancy made her even more vulnerable.

Solange caught Jasmine to her, stared into her eyes. «Be safe, little cousin.»

«You too.» Jasmine brushed a kiss along Solange's cheek and then turned and hurried up the stairs.

MaryAnn followed her, but paused to watch Solange move through the huge kitchen toward the hall. The woman looked like a jungle car, sleek and powerful and deadly. It was impossible not to admire her-or believe in her.

«She'll get us through this,» Jasmine assured her.

«I have no doubt she will.» Still. It was always better to have a backup plan. They had to hold out until Manolito, Riordan and Juliette managed to wake and get to them. She glanced at her watch. A little under two hours. The safeguards should hold that long.

«Uh oh,» Jasmine said, peeking out the window and ducking back against the wall. «They've got someone out there and he looks like he knows what he's doing.»

MaryAnn risked a quick look. The man was no jaguar; his build was all wrong. He was short and slender, his close-cropped hair blond. He stood facing the house, hands in the air, weaving a graceful pattern. She had only seen something like that once before and it chilled her to the bone. «Mage.» She whispered the word.

«He's taking down the safeguards, isn't he?» Jasmine said.

«It looks like it.»

Solange swore. Once again she'd crept up behind them. «I counted four of the jaguar-men. I recognize one of them. He's a tough fighter, Jazz. He knows our scent. The one you identified as a mage I've never seen before. He must have been brought here specifically to unravel the Carpathian guards.»

«And that means they're here for a reason,» Jasmine said, choking on fear, voice shaking. «They came here deliberately for us, didn't they, Solange? For me.»

«Calm down, baby,» Solange said. «You know they hunt any women with jaguar blood, particularly those who can shift. Both of us are of the age to have children; we carry purer bloodlines and we can shift.»