Here There Be Tigers (27 page)

“
Friendlies? The Trackers or maybe
the help Elizaveta sent?”

“
No. Petrov is in that
group.”

“
You’re sure?”

He was absolutely positive, but he couldn’t
explain how. The group of five wasn’t close enough to pick up their
scent signatures, yet Mitch knew deep in his bones those five
tigers were enemies.

He tried to gage their chances. Squeezing
Nila’s hand, he took off in a new direction, hoping the rotten
weather would work against their pursuers as much as it was
hampering their own progress.

To his relief, Nila didn’t waste breath asking
questions or debating his decisions. She stumbled along with him,
her grip on his hand firm despite the slicking of their skin in the
rain.

He paused again to locate the individuals of
each group, then took another sharp turn. The tigers were closing
in from both directions. Closing the snare. He and Nila couldn’t
move fast enough to jump free of the trap.

He stopped, letting Nila suck in quick gulps of
air as he located the others one more time. “They’re all too close.
We can’t slip past them even in this weather. Your scent is too
strong.”

“
What do we do?” she muttered around
ragged breaths.

He stared into the rain, most of his
concentration on the groups closing in. They had two choices.
Gregory or Petrov. Only Petrov actually wanted Nila
dead.

“
Lesser of two evils,” he hissed.
Then louder so Nila could hear him over the storm. “Gregory doesn’t
want to kill you. And with his greater numbers, Petrov will likely
back off once we’re with Gregory’s group.”

“
Frying pan or fire?” she asked and
raised her brows.

He took in her soaked clothing and hair, her
heavy breathing, the slight tremble passing from her hand to his,
and bit back another curse. “Gregory is the frying pan.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Damn.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
No. We had to try. Do we head back
toward Gregory or do we keep running and wait for someone to
actually catch us?”

Both groups were close enough to sense each
other now. He and Nila had nowhere left to run.

“
Too late, they’re practically on
us.” He kissed her hand, then cupped her cheek and kissed her fast
and fiercely.

Without another word, he lead her back toward
the house they’d just escaped from, weaving through the woods in an
attempt to meet one of the least threatening of the young males.
Ryan was close. Not the closest of Gregory’s group, but near enough
they could reach him before the others found them.

As they hurried toward the young males, Mitch
realized Petrov’s group had slowed, but they weren’t backing off.
Would they confront the young ones? A fight would be enough of a
distraction, he and Nila might be able to get away in the
mêlée.

Unfortunately, Mitch didn’t seem to have that
kind of luck. Even as they reached Ryan in his tiger form, Mitch
sensed Petrov’s tigers retreating.

So much for his great plan to get Nila to
safety. Some protector he’d turned out to be. His only hope was
that they could stay alive long enough to escape again, or for help
to arrive. But as the young males circled them, bristling with
aggression, chuffing and growling, his own future didn’t look
good.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

Nila paced the room she’d been shoved into the
instant they returned to the house. This was a room on the first
floor, but the windows were barred and the door was firmly locked.
She had no idea where Mitch had been taken. They’d been separated
as soon as they cleared the front door. Her guards had gently
nudged her into this room and thrown her a dry change of clothes—a
flannel shirt and sweat pants presumably from one of the smaller
males but still too large for her—then locked the door. All without
a word.

She was so cold and scared at the time, she
hadn’t spoken either. Now, after hours with no word and no contact,
she wanted answers. Where was Mitch? What was happening? Was Petrov
still out there?

The faint light filtering in through the bars
confirmed it was morning, though a dark, cloudy morning. The
tension of waiting, of not knowing what was going on, made it feel
like she’d been in this room for days rather than hours. She was on
the verge of pounding on the door and demanding
attention.

But she was afraid to face Gregory. She had no
idea how to explain why they’d run away during a rainstorm without
making it obvious they were as scared of these males as they were
Petrov. She was terrified of what Gregory might do to Mitch now.
Hell, she wasn’t even sure if Mitch was still alive.

The thought tightened her already clenched
stomach muscles, making her nausea rise. Folding her arms across
her stomach to try relieving the churning, she forced the thought
away. Mitch was alive. Somewhere in this house, he was alive.
Probably pacing the floor just like she was, waiting for
answers.

She tried reaching out to sense him, hoping to
pick him out from all the other tigers, but with so many around,
and her nerves so frazzled, she couldn’t sense anything clearly.
All she felt was an overwhelming aura of danger.

When she heard the lock click open, she spun to
face the door.

Ryan walked into the room in human form,
carrying a tray filled with food, and Nila felt a strange relief.
She wasn’t sure why, but the doctor didn’t creep her out the way
the others did. He seemed somehow less threatening.

“
What’s happening?” she asked.
“Where’s Mitch?”

“
Safe for now. In another room in
the cellar.” Ryan didn’t meet her gaze at first. He set the food on
a table against one wall then rested his hand on the back of one of
the two chairs flanking the table. Finally, he faced her. “Gregory
is arranging a challenge. A fight. Mitch against… He’ll fight
Richard first. If he survives, he’ll fight Jim. They’re both our
strongest combatants outside of Gregory.”

“
Isn’t Gregory going to step up and
face Mitch then? Is he afraid?”

Ryan’s dark eyes flickered with an emotion she
couldn’t read. “Gregory would not be pleased with your assessment
of his tactics. He intends to face Mitch himself. If Mitch survives
the others. If he doesn’t, Gregory will declare he was always an
unfit opponent. None of the others will argue with him.”

“
And you? Where do you stand in all
this blood sport bullshit?”

“
I’ll treat the wounds that are too
serious to heal by themselves. Did you know we heal very
quickly?”

She ignored his question. “Is Mitch expected to
kill the other two?”

Ryan shook his head. “There are rules to
challenge combat. Males don’t generally fight to the death. Mitch
will be able to follow the rules without repercussions.”

“
Meaning?”

“
He’ll only have to get his
opponents to give up to be considered the winner.”

He crossed to her, but stopped far enough away
not to cause alarm or make her feel crowded. She wondered how many
other males in the house were listening to their conversation.
Without Mitch around to tell her where they all were, she was
hopelessly out of her depth. Their scent, that musky smell she’d
first caught at John’s cabin when Petrov found her, that scent
permeated the house, both subtle and pervasive, so she couldn’t use
it to help any more than she was able to use her ability to sense
shifters.

When Ryan dropped his voice, she realized she’d
been right in thinking others were probably listening. But since he
wasn’t trying to whisper in her ear, either what he was saying
wasn’t secret information or the others were far enough away they
couldn’t hear him at his current level.

“
Gregory will announce that the
challenge rules will be enforced. Such an announcement will make
him appear very honorable to the others and that’s how he keeps
them following him. With promises and supposed honor. But make no
mistake, Richard and Jim will both kill Mitch if they get a chance.
At Gregory’s orders. If Mitch somehow manages to survive that,
Gregory will fight to the death.”

Nila threw her hands in the air and turned
away, trying to hold back the threatening tears. “When?” she forced
out through a tight throat.

“
I’m to take you to the arena after
you eat.”

“
Fuck!” She let loose a further
string of curses as she doubled over and braced her hands on her
knees. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

She needed to do something. She had to help
Mitch. But how? She had no weapon. They’d taken her
useless-without-the-rifle-anyway ammunition. She couldn’t call for
help because they’d taken her cellphone. She wasn’t strong enough
to fight off twelve supernatural beings, and she had no idea if the
man she loved would be able to survive the day.

The realization she was almost definitely in
love with Mitch would probably have shocked her at any other
moment. Just then, all she could think about was her growing panic
and the urgent, hammering need to do something.
Anything!

Ryan reached toward her, then pull his hand
back before touching her. “You probably don’t know this, but Mitch
is very good in a fight.”

She did know, but she wondered how much these
tigers actually knew about him. “How do you know?”

“
Has he told you about his family
background? His status?”

She nodded but didn’t go into detail. The less
information she gave away, the better.

“
Having to carry the burden of his
father’s punishment meant that Mitch ended up in a lot of fights
when he was younger.”

“
So…”

He shrugged. “We all heard the stories of the
fist fights and battles in tiger form that Mitch and his brothers
got into. After the first few years of it, the Chernikov brothers
rarely lost.”

“
Then Gregory
is
afraid to
face Mitch.”

That something passed through Ryan’s eyes
again. She still couldn’t entirely read the emotion, and she was
too panicked to try.

“
Don’t lose hope,” Ryan said after a
moment. “Mikhail is uniquely able to face this
challenge.”

She studied the doctor for a moment. She
realized she had no idea how old he was. Mitch called this group
“young males”, but Ryan could be any age from twenty-five to
forty-five based on his looks. Maybe that was why he was less
intimidating? He felt more grounded, less…she wasn’t sure. Flighty?
Impulsive? Overly aggressive? “Why don’t you creep me out the way
the others do?”

Ryan laughed, a charming, deep sound. “Because
I’m a doctor?” he suggested. Then his smile fell away. “Just stay
aware. Your scent is…” He swallowed and shrugged.

“
I know. Mitch told me.”

“
It will affect the others. The
combination of a female in estrous and the energy of the fights
will raise their aggression. I’ll stay close, but you need to be
aware of the danger you’re in, too.”

“
No one here wants to
kill
me.”

“
Not on purpose, no. But that’s not
the only damage a group of desperate and aggressive males can
inflict.”

“
Great. Rape? Well, this just keeps
getting better.”

“
Petrov would have been a worse
option.”

“
You knew his was the other group in
the woods?”

He nodded. “Why did you try escaping when he
was still in the area?”

“
The rain.” She waved a hand vaguely
at the window but didn’t go into further detail. For some reason,
she felt safer with Ryan than any of the other males, but he was
still here with this group. She couldn’t trust him.

“
You should eat,” he said. “I’ll be
down the hall. Your scent is distracting, so I don’t think I should
stay in the room with you.”

“
Oh, good. You, too?”

“
All of us. Biology is hard to
override.”

“
Fine. Get out.”

He dropped his gaze and left, locking the door
behind him.

Nila couldn’t eat, though she did try forcing
some of the food in. She knew she needed the energy for the ordeal
to come. But she was too nauseated, knowing Mitch was about to face
a death match. Throwing up all over the place wasn’t going to help
him.

What could she do? What could she
do?

The question was still swirling through her
mind with no immediate answer when Ryan returned. He looked at the
plate.

“
You should eat more,” he
commented.

“
Can’t. Let’s go.”

He hesitated, then shrugged and led her out of
the room. They’d only gone a few yards when two more males came up
behind her, boxing her in. She glanced back. She knew the faces but
couldn’t for the life of her remember their names. One, a bulky but
short man with blond hair and brown eyes met her gaze and smiled.
The expression chilled her. When he glanced down at her ass, she
snarled then turned away.