Dark Possession by Christine Feehan

the trees around them. Small frogs dotted the trunks and branches, leaping from one tree to the next, following MaryAnn’s progress. Overhead, in the canopy, monkeys used the highway of tangled vines to converge and follow the woman as she made her way through the forest.
    Do you think the vampire is here? Juliette asked.
    Riordan did another, much more careful and thorough scan of the surrounding forest. If so, he is a master at hiding his presence. I know they are getting much more clever about such things, so we will need to be fully alert to all danger to her. She is drawn to Manolito, and perhaps can find him even faster than we can, as he is shielding his presence from me.
    Juliette frowned as they began to follow MaryAnn. Your blood bond should keep you informed of his whereabouts.
    Riordan sent her a small smile. We are ancients, Juliette, and we have studied many things over the centuries. Manolito can hide his presence even from our best hunters, and there is no detecting Zacarias when he does not want it known that he is near.
    MaryAnn realized tears were running down her face. The sense of dread and fear was overwhelming. Where are you? Find me. She continued to try calling to Manolito mentally, although clearly she didn’t have the psychic gifts they all thought she did.
    As she moved deeper into the interior of the forest, she noticed that the greens weren’t quite so vivid. Leaves and shrubs appeared to have a veil of fog over them, changing the vibrant color to a dull gray. Shadows grew where there had been none. First she had seen bright colors in the dark, and now she was seeing shadows when she shouldn’t be able to. Terror moved through her, but she couldn’t stop going. Whispers plagued her mind as she began to jog. She didn’t jog. She wasn’t a jogger, or a runner of any kind, but she found herself hurrying through the forest in an effort to get to Manolito.
    Something pushed her onward when all around the forest grew darker and the rustling above her head more pronounced. Once, she risked a look up, but there were small furry things swinging over her head, and it made her feel dizzy and slightly sick. She stumbled and nearly fell, putting out her hand to break her fall. Her long, beautifully manicured nails dug into the wet moss. One nail broke. A dozen green frogs leapt onto her arm and clung with their sticky webbed feet.
    She froze. The frogs stared at her with huge, black, green-lidded eyes. They were shiny, with spots on their underbellies and matching green toenails, as if they wore polish. Tongues darted out, tasting the leather of her jacket. MaryAnn shuddered and looked back at Juliette.
    “Why are they doing that?”
    Juliette didn’t have an answer for her. She’d never seen the frogs congregate together in such numbers before, and she’d spent most of her life in the rain forest.
    “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It’s unusual behavior.” Riordan, they ignore even the strongest of pushes. There was alarm in both her voice and her mind.
    Riordan set Juliette behind him, regarding the frogs with suspicion. “When creatures do not act as they should, it is best to destroy them.”
    MaryAnn’s breath caught in her throat. She shook her head. “No, I didn’t mean for you to kill them. Maybe they’re just curious about my jacket.” She made a scooting gesture with her free hand. “Move along, little froggies.” Hurry before the big bad Carpathian fries you all. I mean it, you’ve got to move. Silently she urged them to cooperate, while mentally rolling her eyes. For heaven’s sake, how much damage could a tiny little innocent tree frog do, after all? She didn’t want to see Riordan do anything like rain down fire on the poor helpless things. “Shoo, shoo. Go back to your little froggy homes.”
    The frogs took to the trees, the movement sending a strange wave of green over the tangle of roots, as dozens of frogs skittered away toward the safety of the higher