Christine Feehan - Dark Possession

MaryAnn narrowed her eyes as the mage spun to face her, pulling Jasmine in front of him, his fingers digging deep into Jasmine's throat.

«Stop or I'll kill her.»

She halted her forward progress, her stomach churning, anger welling into a hard, determined knot. She had come to the rain forest to help this girl and she would not fail. Jasmine had endured enough and it would stop this minute. MaryAnn longed for the abilities of a Carpathian, a way to let the wild wind take her high into the air and set her at the top of the tallest tree. Fury burned through her like a brand, and the mark over her breast pulsed in time to her heartbeat. She pressed her hand over the spot. Manolito. I cannot stop it.

Did she mean the mage? Or the feral thing unfurling inside of her? She didn't know. Her hands and feet hurt, bones cracking and jaw popping. Her injured leg felt on fire. Prickles swarmed up and over her body, thousands of tiny pinpricks itching and stinging. The forest around her wavered, lost the brilliant colors, but her sense of smell increased acutely. She could smell fear pouring off the mage. He kept Jasmine firmly in front of him as if her slender body could protect him from MaryAnn.

Jasmine struggled wildly. The mage's fingers bit hard into her throat, choking her. «Stop it, Solange,» he hissed. «You will cooperate.» He spoke in a singsong voice, weaving a holding spell to keep her from fighting him.

MaryAnn felt his words like a buzzing pressure in her head. «Knock it off,» she snapped. Stop it now! She was so furious she shoved her palms outward toward him, instinctively wanting to push the intense force right back at him. If he was attacking them with his mind, there was little she could do about it. She didn't know about mages and their abilities, but it made her angry that he choked Jasmine with so little care for her life.

The mage stumbled back, dragging Jasmine with him, coughing repeatedly as if something had lodged in his throat. Maybe they would get lucky and his stupid spell would backfire and leave a lump in his windpipe, making it difficult to breathe.

The mage grasped his throat in horror as if he could read her mind. And why would he think she could do anything to him? She had her canister of pepper spray, but it was nearly empty. She doubted if the second one held much more. But if he didn't take his other hand off Jasmine's throat, she knew she would tear him limb from limb. There would be nothing left of his body for the vultures. She glanced overhead and they were there, floating in lazy circles, just waiting.

The mage's gaze followed hers; he spotted the gathering birds and paled visibly.

«They know you're a dead man.» She was shaking, not with fear, but with something else, adrenaline pouring into her body, the itching everywhere, her scalp tingling, her toenails hitting the ends of her shoes so that they felt far too tight.

Her vision blurred until she was seeing him through a haze of yellow. She fixed her gaze on him, wanting

him to realize she was willing to fight to the death for Jasmine. «Let her go now.»

She felt it then, the gathering storm inside of her, fighting for release. The wind shrieked and lightning flashed. Thunder rolled and the trees shuddered under the gathering force. The air felt heavy with crackling energy. Tiny sparks snapped and crackled, orange and yellow flames sizzling in the air all around them.

«Her eyes,» the mage choked out. «Look at her eyes.»

Jasmine slammed her elbow into the mage's stomach, calling on her cat, a rarity for her, but the animal answered her, lending enormous strength. The air rushed out of her attacker's lungs. She leapt away, running toward MaryAnn, tears streaming down her face and blurring her vision. MaryAnn caught her wrist and thrust her behind her, steeling herself to meet an attack.

The mage retreated two steps and lifted his hands. Before he could weave a spell, a thick branch toppled from above them and dropped like a stone, driving the man into the soft soil. Jasmine screamed and buried her face against MaryAnn's shoulder. MaryAnn wrapped her arms around the girl and held her tightly.

«We can't leave Solange to fight the jaguar alone,» she whispered. «I have to go back and help her.»

Jasmine nodded her agreement, straightening up and stepping away from MaryAnn. She glanced at the huge tree limb that had fallen. The leaves hid most of the fallen man from her sight. «Do you think he's really dead?»

«I don't much care right now,» MaryAnn said, shocked that it was true. She caught Jasmine's hand and began to run back toward the house, trying to think how she could keep Jasmine safe with the two jaguar-men waiting inside. She was fairly certain the cat who had attacked Sergio had been Luiz, but if she was wrong, Solange was fighting alone for her life.

They ran through the trees back along the path leading to the house. As they sprinted, leaping over the fallen boughs and tangled roots, monkeys began to scream in warning. Jasmine skidded to a halt and whipped her head from one side to another, searching the canopy above of them. Hundreds of monkeys threw leaves and twigs and jumped in agitation, baring teeth toward a group of trees close to the house.

«There's another one,» Jasmine whispered.

«Of course there is, because it would just be too easy to have three of them after us.» MaryAnn took a deep breath. «It's stalking us, isn't it?»

«Yes,» Jasmine said. «There in the tree, I can see part of the fur. They want me alive, so maybe if we split up they'll come after me.»

«You can forget that,» MaryAnn said. «We got lucky with the mage, we might get lucky again, but whatever we do, we're not splitting up.»

Jasmine's eyes widened. «Is that what you call luck? I thought your aim was excellent.»

«I didn't do that. The lightning both hit it and sheered it off, or the wind took it down. Either way, it helped us and that's all that matters.»

The air suddenly charged with electricity, their hair crackling. Clouds boiled dark, edged with flashing light. MaryAnn caught Jasmine and threw her to the ground, covering her body as best she could with her own. The sound of lightning striking the tree was loud, the trunk splitting, the jaguar howling. The roar ended

abruptly with the smell of burnt flesh and fur.

Jasmine shivered continually. MaryAnn held her tighter. «That's Manolito,» she whispered, trying to assure the girl.

«I knew it had to be a Carpathian,» Jasmine admitted. «I thought it might be Riordan and Juliette.»

«It's a good thing. We have help. Solange is in trouble, Jasmine, and we have to get her out of there. He'll help us.»

Jasmine swallowed visibly and sat up slowly, blinking as the tall Carpathian male came striding toward them. The cloud cover helped and the last of the sun was sinking, allowing him to move with more freedom. He looked like a warrior of old moving fast through the smoke and ruin of a battlefield. His face was chiseled and set. His hair was long and flowing behind him. Muscles rippled beneath warm gold skin, and his ice-cold eyes were bleak and dark, holding too many secrets.

The gaze swept right past Jasmine to find MaryAnn. Warmth pushed the chilling ice aside, and his eyes went hot as MaryAnn rolled over and sat, blinking up at him. He didn't miss a stride, moving fast, leaning down to scoop her up, even as he caught Jasmine's arm and pulled her off the ground as well. His fingers on Jasmine's skin were impersonal, and he never even looked at her, other than a quick cursory glance to make certain she was all right. His gaze registered the finger marks at her throat, but then jumped to do a thorough inspection of MaryAnn.

The pads of his fingers brushed over her skin, absorbing the feel and texture of her. He could breathe again, knowing she was alive. A storm of fury gathered in his eyes as he took in the gaping wounds on her leg.