Dark Peril Page 0,41

the trunk, she might have a chance. She gathered herself as she neared the outer branches. She hit harder than she expected, the solid wood driving her knees into her chest, robbing her of the small amount of air in her lungs. As the river sucked her under, she threw her hands out and managed to hook her arm around a branch. Sending up a silent prayer that the branch was strong enough to hold against the pull of the water, she gathered her strength for the next step.

Before she could drag herself onto the branches, she heard a chilling noise. She barely caught the sound above the roar of the river and her own heartbeat thundering in her head, but there was a distinctive voice, a mixture of growling and human vocals. For one terrible moment she nearly lost her grip on the branch, shocked that she wasn't alone and that the voice was distinctly jaguar. Shivering continually, she held herself still, trying not to allow her ragged breath to escape. "She can't be alive," the voice snarled as it came closer. "He's out of his mind."

She tried to pull herself into the tangle of branches. She didn't want to let go. She knew she'd drown. As she inched her way inside the labyrinth of branches, her shin hit a thick limb beneath the water line and she quickly wrapped her legs around it. She had to let go of the death grip she had on the higher branch. It was terrifying to even consider such a folly, and it took several seconds to force herself to allow her fingers to slide along the branch until her body was no longer stretched out in plain sight. She closed her eyes and let go, using every bit of strength she possessed to hang on with her legs.

The current dragged at her, a powerful force intent on ripping her free to send her careening down the river. But she fought back, slowly pressing her upper body back toward her legs. Her fingertips brushed leaves and small twigs. She strained harder and managed to curl her fingers around the underwater branch. Fighting not to breathe loudly, she tried to stay calm. She was in a precarious position, her strength gone. The tree shook and she knew something heavy had leapt onto it. Her heartbeat thundered louder than the roaring of the river.

"He's got two arrows in him," a second voice said. "If we go back without her, he's liable to kill us both."

"Maybe we should take off for a while, search downriver and not make it back for a few days. He's going to get those lazy guards to search the banks and he'll take out his frustration on them."

"She killed Kevin."

Solange closed her eyes and tried not to shake. He was right above her. He was in human form, but he smelled like wet cat. She wondered if she smelled the same way. Probably more like drowned rat.

"She's killed a lot of us, Brett," the second voice continued from the bank. "And if we don't get to her, she'll kill a few more."

"Yeah," Brett answered with a little sigh. "I got that."

"Brad's a mess. He can barely drag himself to the back to the lab. He said Brodrick used them as bait. He guessed the woman might try for them when they went back to burn the bodies, but Brodrick didn't warn either of them that she might ambush them."

"Brodrick's insane," Brett said under his breath.

"What?" the other voice hissed out in a soft stream of fear.

"He's never going to rest until he finds her--or her body, Steve," Brett said. "He'll be obsessed." Steve came closer, stepping onto the massive downed tree. Solange felt the vibration under the water. She shivered continually now. If they didn't leave soon, she was going to lose her ability to hold on to branches. She couldn't feel her fingers anymore, but the knife was a reassuring weight at her side, not that she could ever get to it.

"This used to be fun. We could have all the women we wanted, any way we wanted them," Steve said. "It will be hard to find somewhere else to do whatever we want, take whoever we want. But maybe we should leave, Brett. Get out of here. We could go to Costa Rica, somewhere else."

Brett walked toward Steve, picking his way over the tree trunk. Solange held her breath. He was right above her. She could smell him.