The confidence he had in her, that she could do such a thing, astounded her and at the same time galvanized her into further action. The scraping was louder. She listened with her acute hearing.
Beetles,she identified. Then the knowledge swept through her. She’d seen this before. Mitro had used such a clever and diabolical trick against her people. Swarms of the insects had descended on them from below the ground, the trees, the dirt.Bombardier beetles.
The beetles normally wouldn’t kill a human being. The explosive material they mixed in their double abdomens to become a chemical to defeat their enemies was irritating to humans but not, as a rule, deadly. Unless a mage added to the potency. She had seen the results of the tiny insects swarming over children and infants, their exploding bombs shot with deadly accuracy to burn their victims.
As a rule, the beetles could be the size of a fingertip or up to one inch in length. They most often had red heads, legs and antennae and dark abdomens. She had encountered such beetles on two different treks in Africa, but she knew they were common throughout the world.
They can shoot their chemical bombs in rapid bursts from a distance or slow, precise blasts. The material is caustic, very hot, an acid-like substance. At best, without a mage enhancing these beetles, it would burn and irritate your skin. But I witnessed the damage they caused. The blasts killed anyone the material touched in a very painful way.
She felt the slight disdain of the ancient Carpathian hunters. They fought vampires and demons. Hellhounds and mages. They had fought Lilith’s army from hell on several occasions. She found it strange that she knew their emotions when they had no knowledge of those feelings—in fact, didn’t believe they had them. It was clearly a disconnect that happened as the Carpathian male aged. From what little information she’d gathered, their emotions began to fade and then completely disappear. Some far quicker than others.
The idea that they would be battling insects had to be laughable tothem when they had spent so much time fighting larger-than-life enemies. A beetle, compared to a hellhound, did not seem very dangerous.
The walls and floor erupted with armies of beetles—so many, hundreds, perhaps a thousand, maybe even more. They were everywhere, crawling across the floor like a relentless wave of red, eyes fixed on their prey. They appeared to be a moving carpet as they assumed a formation of side-by-side rows.
On the trees above their heads, more beetles emerged, running along the leaves, working to get their bombs mixed, no easy task. Two chemicals, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, are stored in separate reservoirs in the abdomen. The chemicals pass through a valve to mix in a special chamber along with a special enzyme that effectuates the reaction. Gases rapidly expand and give off heat. The beetles are able to open and close the valves so fast they could produce five hundred bursts in a second.
Sarika thought the bombardier beetles looked as if they were on steroids.
Jubal, they aren’t attacking you or me, only Carpathians. They’ve been programmed to kill Carpathian men, women and children. I assumed because several of the women are jaguar that they were targets. But it is anyone Carpathian.
Jubal’s head came up alertly, and he swung around to first look at her and then at the attacking insects. So many of them. The ancients had set shields around themselves, but the bombs were acid and, after so many hits, seemed to be weakening the protective layers around the hunters. Clearly, the mages responsible for mutating the beetles were prepared for the kinds of shields the Carpathians would use. She knew there were vampires in the underworld. They would have knowledge of what kinds of protections the ancients would use, and they would prepare their beetles to get through those defenses.
Jubal stood right in front of the women and children, and the insectsrushed around him as if they couldn’t see he was there. A few went over his boots to attack the bubble, but not one speck of the chemicals touched him. Not one beetle perceived him as a threat.
How do we defeat them, Sarika?Tomas’ voice was calm, accepting of her evaluation. He didn’t point out that there were master strategists in the room. He believed in her and the ancient power of the jaguar. What Sarika got from that calm acceptance was that in no way did he feel superior to her. She swore, in that moment, the power in her amplified.
We will join together, every jaguar in this room. I’ll reach for others. We can destroy them. Just make certain that everyone continues to keep their shields strong.
Sarika didn’t hesitate. She moved out from behind Tomas’ body. Just the movement alone should have attracted the attention of the bombardiers, but none of them followed her. Not a single one. They swarmed around her just as they had done with Jubal.
I have had two blood exchanges with you, Tomas, yet they don’t recognize that blood in me. They sense only jaguar.
The raised face of the jaguar burned into the center of her palm. It pulsed with a rhythm she recognized, although, to her knowledge, the amulet had never sprung to such life in all the time she’d had it.
She reached for the three jaguar women, touched their jaguars with her own, and the creatures, without consulting their human counterparts, turned over all power to her. Solange’s jaguar joined them. Then Jasmine’s. Juliette’s was next. Power crackled all around her, but the bombardier beetles didn’t appear to notice as streaks of light raced around the massive room.
Finn stood beside Jubal, placing his body between the beetles and the ancient Carpathians. Luiz abruptly stepped out of his protective shell to stand with him. The boost of power was so strong, Sarika could barely contain it. How Luiz managed to suppress his Carpathian legacy, when he was truly of the De La Cruz line, Sarika couldn’t beginto fathom, but she only felt his jaguar, a powerful animal from a royal lineage. Jubal was from one as well. And Solange’s cat was perhaps the most powerful of all.
The bombs exploded everywhere so that the entire room smelled caustic and white acid was flung on every possible surface. Even Finn, Jubal and Luiz had to protect themselves from the explosions as the beetles marched relentlessly toward the ancients. They dropped down from above and crawled all over the walls and trees.
Sarika blocked out the sounds of the loud explosions and let go of all thoughts of herself. Power filled her. Jaguar power. She drew on it, pulled it to her. Jubal, Finn and Luiz gave freely of their power. She felt the difference in the male power and used it to reach out, to send for every available female shifter close or far.
Streaks of blue and white arced throughout the room, building an electrical storm. Each time the lights flashed, they became even more brilliant, zipping throughout the space from the high ceiling to strike the floor. Everywhere the incandescent light touched as it traveled, it cut through the mass of beetles, reducing them to ash.
Sarika unleashed more power, building the blue-and-white jagged electrical arcs so more and more flashed throughout the room, burning through the invaders, finding them in the trees, the ceiling, the walls, and destroying the ones on the floor. She had no idea of time passing. She was only aware of the combined power moving through her to find its way to the electrical storm.
When it seemed as if the beetles were annihilated, she changed the blue-and-white storm to piercing spears, illuminating every leaf, layers of walls and ceiling, paying special attention to the floors to ensure not a single insect was left.
Tomas caught her before she fell, her body completely drained. He simply cradled her in his arms.
“You can do the cleanup,” he told the other ancients. “I’m taking her to Luiz’s. She needs to rest.”
Sarika was more than happy to have Tomas carry her back to the tree house. She was utterly drained. She didn’t even hear or acknowledge the women calling out to her as Tomas took her out of Dominic and Solange’s home and far away from the celebration that had turned so ugly.
“This women’s empowerment business is exhausting,” she informed him, circling his neck with her arms. She buried her face against his chest. “I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“We’ll get you tucked into bed,” he assured her. “You can sleep until next rising.”
