Dark Storm

by Christine Feehan

  Jubal pulled a chair from the patio dining set and gestured for her to sit. Jasmine made a face at him, but slipped into the chair. Jubal covered her with a quilt. It was quite beautiful, woven of special material. Jasmine bunched the material in her hands, obviously finding the quilt soothing.

  She took a deep breath and sent them another shy smile. “I’ve never spent much time in a city and sometimes it feels as if I can’t breathe here.”

  Juliette had informed them that Jasmine had spent her life in the rain forest.

  Jubal pulled up a chair beside hers and sank into it, leaning a little toward her, looking almost protective. “That’s understandable.”

  Dax threaded his fingers through Riley’s hand and held it tight against his chest. “You’re going to have that baby very soon.”

  Jasmine nodded. “I certainly hope so. I feel like I’ve been pregnant forever.” She gave a little laugh, and for the first time, she sounded young instead of tense. “She kicks all the time.”

  Juliette, Jasmine’s sister, came out onto the terrace carrying two glasses. She handed one to Jubal and one to her sister. “You need to stay hydrated, Jasmine.”

  Jasmine made a face at her when she continued to stand over her, frowning. “I’m all right, Juliette. At this point, if I go into labor, it’s all good, right? I couldn’t stand staying indoors another minute. Jubal came with me and Dax is out here so I am perfectly safe.”

  Something in Juliette’s manner alerted Dax that Juliette didn’t think Jasmine was safe in the least, but she merely shrugged, pulled out another chair and sat down. The terrace was filling up fast. Something was going on here, and that added to his uneasiness. Riordan had greeted them and left in haste. He obviously knew Gary and Jubal, but what Carpathian male would leave his lifemate and sister-in-law unprotected with an unknown hunter so close to his family? Times had certainly changed. And what emergency had drawn him from the residence?

  Juliette smiled at Dax and Riley, but her smile didn’t light her eyes. “Riordan will be home any minute. I’m so sorry he had to leave abruptly.”

  “Jubal, how long have you known Jasmine and Juliette?” Riley asked. He seemed so comfortable with the family, and they’d greeted both Gary and Jubal as old friends.

  “We’ve made a few trips here,” Jubal said, “and they’ve always put us up in one of their homes.”

  “We enjoy their company,” Jasmine said. “Speaking of, where is Gary?”

  “On the phone,” Jubal answered with a little grin. “He and my sister Gabrielle talk endlessly and they’re very excited about a flower Dax found for us up on the mountain.”

  “A flower?” Juliette leaned forward. “Gary and Gabrielle have been working hard to discover why we can’t carry our children. I thought it was the microbes . . .”

  “In part,” Jubal agreed, “but Gary says that doesn’t explain everything. Both he and Gabby think there’s a combination of things that have led up to the reason infants can’t go to ground, mothers can’t carry or breast-feed and only male children were being born.”

  Riley’s heart jumped. She had known the Carpathian species was on the verge of extinction, Gary had given her a brief overview, but she hadn’t considered what that would mean to her and Dax when they chose to have a baby. She wanted children. Lots of them. She had been an only child, just as her mother had been. She’d been lonely at times and envied her friends who had siblings.

  We will have many children if that is your desire, Dax assured. He brought her hand to his mouth and nibbled on her fingers, sending little darts of fire racing through her bloodstream. You are very fertile. I am capable of having children. If there is a problem, as I understand, with the soil, I’ve been in a volcano, and the earth would let you know not to rest where there is anything that would harm you.

  He had a way of speaking so matter-of-fact, with absolute calm, that she couldn’t help but believe him, the tension instantly fading away.

  “The worst is carrying to term and having the child for a few months only to lose it,” Juliette said. “So many of our women had to suffer miscarriages, stillborns or losing their children in that first year.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I could bear that.”

  Jasmine placed her hands protectively over her baby. “That would be so awful.”

  “It isn’t going to happen to you,” Jubal assured, putting his hand on her arm, a gentle, reassuring gesture.

  Jasmine remained relaxed, even with Jubal’s touch.

  I saw her in his memories, Dax told Riley. She didn’t even like to be around men after what happened to her, but both he and Gary made a point of building a friendship with her. Jubal has two sisters, and he hated that she was so alone all the time. He’s really made an effort to spend time with her.

  He’s a good man, Riley said. I don’t know what I would have done without the two of them, Gary and Jubal.

  “I didn’t have a chance to tell you how sorry I am about your mother,” Juliette said. “A terrible loss. Gary and Jubal told us what happened.”

  Meaning they knew the truth. Riley’s fingers curled in Dax’s hand. She was glad he was there beside her giving her comfort. Without being surrounded by plants and the soil, Riley felt her mother’s loss acutely. Dax slipped his arm around her, pulling her beneath his shoulder.

  “Sometimes I feel like our world has been turned into a killing ground,” Jasmine said. “I dread going back there with my baby, but I don’t like the city.”

  “Why don’t you recoup in the Carpathian Mountains?” Jubal suggested. “Solange is there right now with Dominic. We could take good care of you there. And your cousin would be thrilled to see the new baby.”

  Juliette stirred, scowling at Jubal, obviously not caring for the idea.

  Jasmine’s face lit up. “That’s a good idea. I never thought about going somewhere altogether different, but I’d love to visit that area. It looks so beautiful, and it’s remote enough that I think I could breathe there.”

  “Riordan won’t be able to get away from here for a while,” Juliette cautioned. “Months maybe. We’ll take you as soon as we can though, if that’s what you want.”

  Jasmine reached out her hand to her sister. “I’m quite capable of going by myself, Juliette. You can’t spend your entire life worried about me. You’ve already spent far too many years doing just that. I’m all grown up.”

  “You’re my family, Jasmine,” Juliette said. “I like being close to you. It’s important to me. If you think for one moment you’re a burden, you’re not and never have been. I’d hoped you and Luiz . . .” Her voice trailed off.

  Jubal scowled darkly, sitting up straight, all that languid cool dissipating. “Luiz? Who the hell is Luiz?”

  Uh oh. I think Jubal has a thing for little Miss Jasmine, Riley confided, amusement spilling into Dax’s mind. Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected has been hiding a secret, biding his time and getting ready to swoop in and get the girl when she isn’t looking.

  “Luiz is just a friend,” Jasmine said. “He and Manolito are friends,” she added in explanation to Jubal. “He was jaguar, like Juliette and me. He did his best to help us, and the other males had turned on him. He’s Carpathian now.”

  “You could be Carpathian,” Juliette insisted. “Anytime you want . . .”

  Jasmine was already shaking her head. “I just want to be me for a little while. So much has happened and I’d just like to have a little peace and enjoy my baby.”

  “Luiz would be so perfect,” Juliette said. “Are you certain? He understands the jaguar in you and he knows our past. He’d be good to you.”

  “I don’t love him,” Jasmine returned gently. Firmly. “I’m sorry, Juliette. I know I must frustrate you, but when I settle down with a man, I want what you have. Real love. Real commitment.�
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  “Then you need a Carpathian.”

  “Are you saying human males aren’t capable of real love for their women? Because I’m going to tell you right now, that isn’t so,” Jubal demanded, an edge to his voice. “My father is totally devoted to my mother and he always has been.”

  “I have to admit,” Riley chimed in, “my father was devoted to my mother as well. We knew several couples who had been together well over fifty years. That should count for something.”

  “I’m sorry,” Juliette apologized immediately. “I know that sounded very wrong. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that the idea of me outliving Jasmine is upsetting to me.” She ducked her head, looking down at her hands. “We both have lost so much. There’s only Solange and Jasmine on my side of the family.”

  Jasmine held out her hand to her sister. “It’s always been the three of us. Now we’ll be four. I haven’t ruled out converting yet, but I want to know if my baby is capable of converting before I even consider it.”

  Jubal sank back in his chair, looking for all the world as if he hadn’t a care. Jasmine glanced at him and then down at her hands.

  There’s trouble right there, Dax predicted. He doesn’t like the idea of her converting.

  Both of his sisters have, Riley pointed out. Couldn’t he? He must have the same ability. Can’t a male be converted?

  I would assume so. Obviously this Luiz was. I caught impressions of him as a jaguar. Dax turned his head just as Juliette did. Riley felt him frown. Riordan is back and he is very unhappy. He’s asking Gary to get Jasmine inside.

  Riley glanced at Juliette. She blinked back tears and kept her face carefully averted from her sister. Definitely something was wrong.

  Gary emerged from the house. “Jasmine,” he called, waving at the others. “I’ve been without a worthy chess opponent for a long time. Come put me out of my misery.”

  “Hey!” Jubal objected.

  Jasmine smirked at Jubal. “You haven’t been holding up your end of the chess matches?”

  “Watch yourself, woman,” Jubal cautioned. “Don’t be throwing out challenges you aren’t going to be able to win.”

  “Any time, any place,” Jasmine offered. She laughed and held out her hand to him. “Stop being lazy and help me up. I’m a beached whale.”

  “You’re beautiful and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments,” Jubal said, lazily coming to his feet. He drew her up, not moving back so that when she stood, her body was up against his. He rested his palm on her swollen belly. “You’re not even very big.”

  “I’m big.” She didn’t move, just looked up at him, nor did she remove his hand.

  Jubal smiled and stepped back, giving her the space to go around him. “Go practice. You’ll need it.”

  “You’re going to eat those words,” Jasmine warned.

  “Any time, any place.” Jubal threw her words back at her.

  Her laughter floated back to them. The strain and tension were gone from her, and she sounded young and happy again.

  “Thank you,” Juliette said to Jubal. “I haven’t heard her sound like that since . . . the last time you were here.”

  Riordan appeared on the terrace and Juliette went to him immediately. He put his arms around her, holding her close to him.

  “I take it there wasn’t good news,” Jubal said.

  Riordan shook his head. “No. I think Jasmine is right. Someone has been following her, and they’re after the baby.”

  Jubal swore. “Damn it. Jaguars?”

  “Probably. They would be the most likely suspects.”

  “Maybe not,” Dax said. “We didn’t have time to tell you. Your pilot asked us to check on Juliette’s friend.”

  Juliette turned her head to look at Dax, but Riley could see by her face, she already knew what he was going to tell them.

  “I’m sorry, Juliette,” Dax said formally. “She was dead. Murdered.”

  “Her baby?”

  Riley tightened her fingers around Dax’s.

  Dax shook his head, his tone as stoic as ever, his face carved from stone. Only she felt that blast of emotion, the volcano going off deep inside him. “Mitro killed the child as well as the mother. I need to know everything going on here. Everything.”

  18

  “Jasmine is going to give birth any minute,” Riordan explained. “Juliette feared complications, so we’ve been bringing her to a doctor they know here in the city. She’s jaguar and takes care of many of their women. A couple of days ago, she began to feel as if someone was following her. I wasn’t with her, but some of our people were and they saw nothing to make them suspicious. Juliette and I went out when we rose and we couldn’t find a hint of anyone watching her. Still, she was so uneasy, I didn’t dismiss it.”

  “Thank God,” Juliette said.

  “This evening, I received a call, first from a friend in the police department and then from Jasmine’s doctor. The police made a grisly find when they busted a warehouse filled with drugs. A bunch of Goth kids belonging to some underground cult were making their home under the warehouse and they had the bodies of six infants dipped in gold. They claimed the babies had been stillborn, and they were selling them on the black market.”

  Horrified, Riley stepped back and bumped into Dax. He dropped his hands onto her shoulders to steady her. Instantly, she felt comforted. His hands were large and strong, but his touch was very gentle. He didn’t say much, but he didn’t need to.

  “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 chas
e.

  “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.”