Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 594(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
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.
Chapter
6
Sarika assessed her advantages and disadvantages as she made her way through the forest using the arboreal highway. She stayed in human form but wore breakaway clothes and had a small bundle secured around her neck containing leggings and a long tee. She had made it through Luiz’s safeguards, or whatever he called them, more easily than she had anticipated.
She’d felt a slight wrenching, a wave of distortion, that sent a feeling of nausea to the pit of her stomach, but it quickly passed. Whatever the safeguards were, they were there to keep others out, not her in. That gave her the tiniest hope that her cousin was really on her side.
Luiz had said he could come to her at sunset, that he was locked in the ground until then. Since he’d told her the truth about the safeguards, she would believe him about his inability to move before sunset. That left her on her own to try to rescue the crying child. A female for sure.
The little her cousin had told her about the fall of the jaguar shifter species had left her appalled and shaken. She wanted nothing to do with the male shifters, especially not the one she’d met. She didn’t trust him at all. Luiz had warned him off, but the moment he knew Luiz was out of the picture, he’d come sneaking around.
Sarika knew she might have to try to summon Luiz. He wouldn’t be happy with her after he’d gone to all the trouble of ensuring her safety and warning her to stay inside. She was fully prepared for the consequences if she managed to save a child. Of course, she had no idea what the consequences might entail. She didn’t want Luiz to ever take her blood again. Not ever. She felt very firm on that stance.
One of her greatest assets was her ability to feel her surroundings and read the energy of every living creature in close proximity. At least, it had been, until she met her cousin. She hadn’t been able to read him. She still trusted her instincts, and right now, she was heading on an unerring path straight to the child and the male shifters confronting her.
Her main disadvantage was that her jaguar had never been in a real fight against another jaguar, particularly a male. Experience counted. But she also knew the males would be very reluctant to injure her too badly if the plan was to kidnap her. Needless to say, she wasn’t about to be taken by a mob of males and subjected to what sounded like rape. That meant timing and being extremely careful were important.
As she ran lightly along one branch after another, she sent out waves of calming energy to assure the forest sentinels that she meant them no harm. She’d always been good at connecting with animals—another asset. But her absolutely greatest asset was her voice. She could sound as if she were coming from any direction, which would help keep her position hidden. More than that, her voice was compelling. She had to find the perfect wavelength that each person—or animal—responded to, and then she could subtly influence them.