Dark Peril Page 0,161
serious body builder.
His name is Milan. He will try to outdo all of them for viciousness just to prove a point. If you cannot get him, get clear. If you only have three shots, Solange, make him one of them.
Will do. I know what I'm doing.
They can take to the air, he reminded.
She flooded his mind with warmth. It was strange to have someone concerned about her well-being. I'm not the one in the lion's den. Show me the last one.
This is Kiral. The man had chosen the form of a young, virile man. He wore skintight jeans, and she doubted seriously if the bulge in the front was really his. She was fairly certain he'd stuffed his pants.
He can choose his form, Dominic reminded.
She could hear the humor in his voice. That is just obscene. He scares me with that package. I think I'm shooting him first.
Dominic's soft laughter soothed her nerves.
She took her time studying each potential target. The vampires were all talking at once, but she could feel the tension in the air, in spite of the distance. The rain fell steadily, making her cradle a little slippery, and she tied off a couple of vines for added safety. Thunder rumbled, and twice, in the distance, lightning forked.
The air felt charged, as if violence would erupt at any moment. She realized she wasn't the only one feeling it. There was movement on the roof of the laboratory. Guards crawled across the flat rooftop, staying low, getting in position. They were heavily armed and Felipe led them. Solange was fairly certain Dominic had prompted him somehow to gather his men to defend themselves from a potential threat--but she knew they were the bait.
Giles continued to stir up the vampires, pitching the plans to them and emphasizing technology and how Mikhail Dubrinsky, the prince of the Carpathian people, lived in the dark ages and refused to change with the times. Solange could see the crowd had grown restless and many of them were having trouble keeping up the illusion of their appearance. Hunger beat at them and the scent of blood was heavy in the air. She didn't know how Dominic was amplifying the smell with the rain falling, but he managed.
With businesslike precision she fit her scope to her weapon and the rifle to her shoulder. She was certain the frenzy was about to start.
Chapter Nineteen
I'll wait for you to see it, forever if it takes . . . Solange, my very own, amazing gift beyond worth.
DOMINIC TO SOLANGE
When Dubrinsky leaves his lair to rush to the aid of the village, it will be far too late, we will have turned his people into the dead. Blood will run in rivers down the streets. Ours will be a feast beyond all imagining, celebrating our new world order," Giles, the master vampire continued.
The vampires roared again, but this time the sound wasn't quite as loud. More moved from the inner circle to look hungrily toward the laboratory where the humans lived and worked. Dominic pushed their need for blood up as far as he dared. He wanted more information, and Giles's control over his conclave was beginning to unravel rapidly.
"Our puppet awaits our orders. He will be programmed to drive a truck with the bomb into the prince's home. His lifemate is with child. We will get every one of them. From beneath the ground, two of our best will destroy everything above them. And from the air we will destroy everything below. Once he is gone, the vessel will cease to exist."
Dominic waited for the roar of approval to quiet. "What of his daughter?" he asked, keeping his voice pitched low so the vampires had to strain to hear.
Giles looked annoyed. "She is of no consequence. She is female."
He's been too long in Brodrick's company. Solange's sarcasm filled his mind. The jaguar-men are slinking into the forest. They sense something is going to happen and they don't want any part of it, she added.
Are they coming toward you?
The idea that the jaguar-men might go after her while he was otherwise busy shook him. He should have been prepared for them to abandon the site. Wild animals had sharp senses, reading emotions. They couldn't fail to read the ravenous hunger and the discontent of the vampires. It was even possible the hunger had gotten to them as well and they had gone hunting.
No. But I'll stay alert. You just worry about being in a nest of very dangerous