Dark Peril Page 0,81

a future for him--for both of them--and that changed everything. He would have to be much more careful. He had everything to live for now. Before when he went into battle there was nothing to lose. Life changed dramatically when one found the other half of his soul. He wanted to live. He wanted to spend time with her. He could rise every evening for the rest of his existence, looking into her eyes.

Giles suddenly lifted his head and took a quick look around. A quick, piercing probe struck at Dominic, a fast, hard attack directed at the surroundings, a push to draw out the enemy. Dominic felt the stabbing pain, dismissing it, calming the bird, keeping the brain patterns the same so as not to alert the enemy to his presence. The probe passed slowly, but he remained deep within the eagle, holding himself still. The bird was hungry, looking for food, sharp eyes watching for prey before it settled down for the night. The probe came again, harder, deeper, the shaft painful and precise. The bird spread its wings and then resettled as Giles moved on, satisfied there were no enemies around. "Where is Etienne?" Giles demanded.

"He was searching for tracks, hoping to find out where Zacarias might have gone."

"Stupide! Imb?cillit?!" Giles hissed his displeasure. "He has no hope of killing Zacarias. He is already destroyed." With a wave of disgust, Giles spat on the ground. Tiny white parasites wiggled and writhed.

"The others should be here in a few days," Beau said, clearly hoping Giles would allow a change of subject.

"If we have lost Demyan and his followers, we have few to spread the plans. I am representing the masters. We need to get our people organized for a telling strike against the prince. He must be brought to his knees."

The three men moved toward the laboratory. As they approached the human guards, Giles held his hand up to the others and whispered a command. "Leave them. You are human."

Dominic was shocked at the way the vampires immediately assumed the demeanor of a human, keeping their eyes on the ground rather than looking at the temptation of human flesh and blood. They felt utter contempt for and despised the human men they were working with, yet they didn't fall on them and feast on them as they normally would have. Dominic felt the voracious hunger, the call to blood, the parasites shrieking with desire for the rich hot temptation, even the need just to show those so inferior to them who they were. Yet the vampires simply ignored the call.

The masters had done a good job forcing their wills on the lesser vampires. That alone represented a danger. The behavior had evolved into actual intelligence. Vampires had always been cunning and lethal, but a coordinated group with intelligence and strategy behind them, with the ability to control those deadly, powerful creatures, was shocking and even frightening.

The Malinov brothers had amassed an army consisting of jaguars, humans and vampires. They had a plan and they had a semblance of discipline. To Dominic, it was the discipline that was most troublesome. He watched the vampires disappear inside the building before he spread his wings and took to the sky to find Etienne. The vampire wouldn't be returning to his master, but it would be Dominic who would contribute to Zacarias's fierce reputation.

The harpy eagle cut through the canopy with astonishing speed, moving fast to cover the distance before Etienne found the resting place of Zacarias. Dominic knew the hunter had actual homes in the area. It was possible he'd gone to one of them. The De La Cruz brothers had, centuries earlier, established a relationship with a human family who guarded them during the day, watched over their lands and helped to maintain the illusion that they were human. They had built an empire, their cattle ranches renowned, but their enemies often went after their family members as well. Zacarias would have strong safeguards, but if the vampire tracked him to his home, the humans would be in danger. At this hour, Zacarias would be out hunting.

He spotted the place where their fight with Demyan and his lesser vampires had taken place. The area at first glance appeared undisturbed, but as he swooped lower, he could see the withered vegetation where it had shrunk from the unnatural abomination treading upon the ground as Etienne and the other vampires had searched for Demyan. Some of the brush had shriveled where the