Chapter 5 #3
“Well, don’t.” She was prepared to throw things at him.
He gave her a brief flash of amusement—once again, in his mind only. “Do not leave these premises. Don’t invite anyone inside. I will be back as soon after sunset as possible, and we’ll go to meet some of the women. They’ll be very welcoming.”
Sarika wasn’t certain how he could possibly know the women would welcome her. Maybe he just commanded them and they did his bidding.
“More sarcasm,” he observed aloud. “I’ll take my leave. Relax and enjoy the music of the rainforest.”
She blinked, and her cousin was gone. He hadn’t moved. She knew he hadn’t. She’d kept her gaze fixed on him just in case he wanted more blood. He’d simply vanished.
In a way, it was a relief to be alone. She spent a great deal of her time alone, especially since losing her adoptive parents.
She hadn’t realized the toll it could take being in a stranger’s company under such stressful circumstances.
She had placed herself in danger simply because she so desperately wanted a family.
It wasn’t the most intelligent decision she’d ever made.
She wandered through the tree house, marveling that despite being very minimal when it came to furniture, it felt luxurious.
The bedroom consisted of a huge hammock for a bed.
Covers were folded neatly in it. The bathroom in particular was very nice, and she immediately started water running in the deep bathtub.
She had no idea how Luiz had managed to get clean running water to the tree house, but he’d done it. She would be forever grateful.
Truthfully, the lack of walls despite the presence of screens made her feel vulnerable.
You can see out, but no one can see in.
The intrusive, annoying voice poured into her mind. Glaring, she whirled around in a circle seeking the owner of that voice. Will you go away?
Just making certain you have everything you need.
I do, with the exception of peace and quiet.
Again, she felt his amusement but had the feeling he didn’t, which made no sense to her at all. This world was strange and exciting, but it also was terrifying.
I can’t take a bath until I know you’re truly gone, she added.
Again, she got the impression of male amusement. Gone, he confirmed.
She lay in the bathtub, thankful to soak her aching body in hot water, grateful to Luiz for providing the shelter for her while she contemplated what to do.
She’d traveled the world, visiting tropical jungles and exotic rainforests.
She’d loved every single experience and repeated those visits as often as possible, but she’d never felt awakened.
Alive. Not like she did the moment she stepped off the boat in her present location.
That feeling had been brand-new and exhilarating. But…
Sarika closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax into the hot water while she ran over the list of pros and cons of remaining there in the forest. She wanted to stay.
She wanted family. She loved the rainforest and the inhabitants.
She knew shifters lived there, and she was a shifter.
It would be so nice to become friends and soak up as much information as possible about her history, her capabilities and the traditions and laws of her people.
But then there was the certain danger of male shifters like Percy, who clearly had his own interests at heart.
Instinctively, she knew he wouldn’t give up his pursuit.
Eventually, there would be a showdown between him and Luiz.
One of them would be killed. She had the feeling it would be Percy, and she didn’t want that.
She wanted it less for Luiz, even though her cousin could make her want to pull out her hair in sheer frustration.
It wasn’t safe to stay—that was the bottom line.
She had the feeling that the people Luiz planned to introduce her to were Carpathian, just as he was.
She wasn’t down with donating blood anytime they decided they wanted to take it.
Under normal circumstances, she doubted if she would have known Luiz had taken her blood, but her senses continued to be heightened since she’d entered the rainforest.
Sarika sighed as she made up her mind that she would have to leave. That meant getting Luiz to escort her out of the rainforest after making arrangements to get downriver to civilization, where she could take a boat and then a plane back home.
She listened to the sounds of dawn arriving.
Wings fluttering as birds settled. Monkeys calling to one another.
The drone of insects and scuttle of lizards and voles in the debris on the forest floor as they scrambled for last-minute meals before seeking shelter.
An owl screeched, an early hunter, the call indicating it missed its prey.
Her hearing had always been acute, but now it seemed as though it was even more so.
Just in the short hours she’d been in the rainforest where she’d been born, she felt the difference in her—and in her jaguar.
Forcing herself to leave the bathtub, she enveloped her body in the large, fluffy towel Luiz somehow managed to have in his tree house home.
She realized it was like he’d read her mind and provided her with every single thing she desired for her stay.
Was that possible? How could he conjure up towels out of thin air?
She had the scary feeling Luiz was capable of just that.
“I’m so in over my head,” she whispered to the dawn.
“I want to stay more than anything I’ve ever done, but I’m not prepared for this place.
” It was an admission of sadness. She’d studied and worked hard, interned all over the world just so she could come home and be of use to her people and the animals that inhabited the forest.
Still, as much as she wanted to make up her mind decisively, she thought it would be wise to sleep before completely making her decision.
She’d spent days traveling to get there, and she was exhausted.
Sarika pulled on a long tee she often slept in and dragged up the cover before dropping the mosquito netting around the hammock.
As a rule, she wasn’t bothered by insects, but she thought it prudent just in case.
She wanted a good night’s sleep so she would have every brain cell working when she made her decision.
The sounds of the day were far different from the night, but she was so exhausted she fell asleep almost immediately.
She had no idea if it was minutes or hours later when she woke to a growly male voice calling her name. Instantly, her heart began to pound with alarm. Clutching the blanket to her, she sat up slowly and looked carefully around.
“Sarika.” There was a demand in that voice. Impatience. A clear warning.
Now was the time to believe in her cousin’s word.
Danger prowled outside the tree house in the form of Percy Rios.
Forcing calm through deep breathing, she got up slowly to help orient herself and went to her pack to pull out clean clothes.
The bath had definitely helped with the aches from traveling.
Her internal clock, one that had always been fairly accurate, told her it was nearly six in the evening.
She had managed to sleep most of the day.
Entering the kitchen, she ignored the demands coming from around the house.
Percy was circling it, looking for a way in.
The fact that he hadn’t already breached Luiz’s home went a long way to easing the tension in her.
She made herself a cup of tea. She always carried her favorite tea with her, something she found soothing at the beginning and end of the day.
Wrapping her hands around the cup, she made her way into the main living area so she could look over the short walls to observe Percy.
The male shifter appeared very agitated.
Twice he banged his fist on what appeared to be a transparent wall.
Transparent for her, she remembered, but Luiz had said no one would be able to see in.
She was beginning to think her cousin knew what he was talking about.
It was strange to go into a room with a low wall where she could see the extensive deck and massive tree limbs where Percy prowled back and forth, but even looking straight at her, he didn’t appear to be able to see her.
No jaguar could do that. The ability had to come from Luiz’s Carpathian side.
She didn’t understand exactly what he was talking about, but she knew no one should have that kind of power.
No one. If they did, sooner or later, power corrupted.
She believed that. She’d seen it in every corner of the world.
Just talking with Luiz, it was apparent he wouldn’t take no for an answer if he believed he was right.
Even if he did know exactly what he was talking about and she didn’t, he had no right to make decisions for her—and he had.
If the power he’d displayed was because he was a Carpathian, she knew she would never fit into that world.
Percy snarled again and again, slamming his fist against the transparent wall. Then suddenly his voice turned soothing. Pleading. “Sarika, you can’t trust Luiz. Let me help you. He’s locked you in, and you’re his prisoner. Can’t you see that?”
She hadn’t tried leaving, and she wouldn’t with Percy prowling back and forth on the deck, but what if Percy was telling her the truth?
That Luiz had closed her inside, and she thought she was secure and protected, but she really was a prisoner.
Not that she wanted anything to do with Percy or would ever trust him.
She sipped her tea and watched the jaguar male become even more agitated.
Several times he threw daggerlike looks over his shoulder as he shook his head.
She set her teacup down and stepped closer to the half wall.
Something—or someone—else was out there with Percy.
She couldn’t see who or what, but she knew the shifter male wasn’t alone.
Sarika forced her breathing and heart rate under control.
There was no way in hell she was staying in the rainforest. She didn’t trust any of these men.
Percy wasn’t there to save her, and he wasn’t alone.
She suspected there was more than one male shifter waiting for her to emerge.
And Luiz…She had no idea what Luiz wanted from her, but she was certain he had an agenda she wasn’t going to like.
She had always trusted her instincts, and they were screaming at her to run.
To get out. She might have to rely on herself to make her way out of the jungle back to the river.
Her jaguar could easily do that. That would mean she would have to make it past the jaguar shifters and find a way to stay ahead of Luiz.
The man could fly, which meant he would be far faster than she was.
If, for some reason, she was his prisoner, she needed to figure out a way to leave, especially while he was in the ground.
She didn’t trust anyone in the rainforest. Not a single person.
A child’s scream suddenly penetrated her thoughts, and she hastily rushed to the low half wall to try to see into the forest. She heard an unfamiliar male shout, and Percy whirled and leapt from the wraparound porch. The child screamed again, this time calling for help.
Sarika forced herself to slow down and replay the sound. Was it a legitimate cry of a child, or was someone mimicking a child? She was certain it was a female. Very young.
“All right, baby, we’ll figure this out.” There was no way she could stay safe in the tree house if the jaguar males had kidnapped a child.