Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) (17 page)

They’d be so much better off if she wasn’t struck by her attraction to him. By his strong, sexy jaw she yearned to graze with her teeth. By those dark, impenetrable eyes.

He paused a foot from her, holding out his hand, palm up. His gaze pierced her as he inclined his head for her to cloak.

Rabbit scrambled inside her. She’d never been able to force it out, but the others had, with patient murmurs, convinced the spirit to show itself.

Sheng expected her to take charge.

“You’re the Master. The spirit has joined with you to aid you. It does not control you. You must dominate it.”

She nodded, licking her lips. He was right. Mei had reiterated that fact over and over, pounding it into her head. Lucy had to learn to harness the Rabbit. The spirit would never assume control of her body, but she could call upon its strength to add to hers.

“Come out,
tùzi
.” She closed her eyes, searching within herself for Rabbit’s favorite hiding place. There. A blur of white. She snagged the beast by its ears and brought it to her chest, cradling it, calming it.

Once Rabbit eased, she opened her eyes, extending her hand to meet Sheng’s. White fur sprang atop her skin as Rabbit cloaked her. She bit her lip, anxious for him to make the next move.

His flesh blurred. Tiger’s black claws, outlined by white toes, blended into focus.

Tiger reached for Rabbit.

The second Sheng made contact, Rabbit started, bolting straight back into its cage.

“Fuck.” Sheng slammed his fist against the wall, tossing his head and cursing again.

Lucy shrank back, equally alarmed as Rabbit by the arrow of Sheng’s disappointment. Would she ever stop letting him down? As if it weren’t bad enough she didn’t host the Dragon, she couldn’t even master the spirit she did host. What if she never learned to control her spirit like the others? Would they kick her out? She blinked back the tears stinging her eyes. Crying wouldn’t fix this. She steeled her resolve. She’d
make
Rabbit do what she wanted.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, but he didn’t acknowledge her apology, instead pacing between the two walls of the corridor. “What am I doing wrong? I’m trying, really I am.” Glancing at him, she braced for his censure. Sheng didn’t sugarcoat anything.

He leaned his forearms against the wall. His head hung from slumped shoulders. As he twisted his face to her, thick shaggy locks obscured all but the darkest slashes of his eyes. “It’s time for more drastic measures.” The detached conviction in his voice made her shudder.

His words slapped her like a threat.

But to herself or him?

***

Sheng brushed past Lucy. He had no answer for her. It was as much a failing of the Tiger as the Rabbit. Had something happened with their previous hosts? The relationship between these two spirits was the most complicated he’d ever encountered.

Sure, it’d taken some convincing for stubborn Ox to join him, and Rat had possessed its misgivings, but none had held out for this bloody long.

Was it Lucy? Did she, whether consciously or not, hold Rabbit back?

Damn. He scrubbed his hand across his jaw. Didn’t really matter. He had to force Rabbit out the only way he knew how.

By sacrificing himself.

After Lucy left for home, he switched out of his workout clothes, donning leather pants, a black t-shirt, and a leather jacket. He took the elevator down to the garage.

Halfway to his bike, Ox intercepted him. “Where the hell are you going, mate?” Kassian folded his arms, massive biceps bulging.

“Out.”

“Out where?”

Stubborn ass. “What’s it look like? Out for a ride.”

Ox stepped in front of him as Sheng tried to pass. “I can’t let you do this. There are other ways. One of them is called
time
.”

He grimaced. “In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t have any of that left.” The Matchmaker had been grinding his ass the past week, bitching about his lack of progress with Lucy.

“Let me come with you. Better yet, I’ll knock you out myself.” His friend fisted his hands in front of his chest, cracking his knuckles. “Been itching to do that for a long time.”

Sheng fought against smiling. “Doesn’t work that way and you know it. You can’t do to me what I need. What she needs.” He shook his head at Ox’s raised fists and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Trail me if you must but, when I get to her apartment, you’d better be bloody far away, you hear me? That’s an order. ʼCause if I get fucked up for no reason, I’m coming after you.”

“Aye, boss.” Ox stepped aside, letting Sheng pass.

He threw one leg over the side of his bike, revving the engine until the tires squealed before speeding away. As he zipped through the streets, Tiger kept one tiny spark of awareness trained on Ox.

Kassian wouldn’t disobey him. He literally couldn’t, not after Sheng had enforced the command with the strength of the Tiger. Still, he refused to risk Rabbit detecting even a hint of the others. He needed the spirit desperate.

He twisted through the streets, a blast of negative energy whipping over him as he crossed the line into enemy territory.

Ever since Chicken’s death, his
Kongsi
hadn’t attempted to combat the stronger, better-equipped Ghee Hin…unless they had a particular hankering for violence or the enemy stepped over their boundary lines and required a reminder. The turf wars between their two
Kongsi
extended over a century. It wasn’t about to end peacefully.

No reason to engage the enemy in a full-out war. Yet. Small guerilla-style skirmishes composed most of their encounters. That, and a shitload of cock-flapping posturing when they met in daylight.

Tonight, he risked everything for one golden-eyed enchantress. Hell, he’d risk far more than that to ensure Rabbit was his.

Because then, so would be Lucy.

He rolled his bike to a halt in the alley behind the Ghee Hin headquarters on the north coast of the island and switched off the lights as the purr of the motor faded. Shadows crept over the wall opposite the opulent, modern mansion. He had no proof of anything nefarious, but the
yāoguài
—demons—who escaped from
Dìyù
—Hell—congregated on Ghee Hin territory. When he’d brought the issue before the Council, those fuckwads claimed Snake had permission from Horse Face and Ox Head—the two sentinels of
Dìyù
—to draw the demons here for execution.

The arrangement would be fine and dandy if their numbers didn’t appear to be
growing
.

He grinned into the darkness, slipping the collar off Tiger. The beast pounced forward, gracing him with night vision. The dark blurs suddenly stood out in stark relief, brightening.

Fuck yeah. He loved Tiger.

From the right, four
yāoguài
slithered in his direction like snakes disturbed from a nest. The shadowy figures morphed from translucent to solid, serpentine forms each time they flashed in and out of substantiality. A glowing orange eye here. A baring of fangs there. They were damned quick, snapping from one location to another and circling in on him.

Three on his left made to close off the circle, slinking behind him.

Tiger chuffed a warning growl, its claws flexing in anticipation of the first kill.

Sheng was outnumbered, and that’s how he’d planned it, but he wouldn’t simply roll over and let them have at him. He’d let Tiger get in a few kills first. By blasting those suckers back to
Dìyù
, he’d foil their attempts to gain immortality and ensure they didn’t harm anyone in the human world again.

Without waiting for the
yāoguài
to complete their circle of death, closing in on him like a python squeezing the life from its prey, he crouched low and then leapt right, swiping Tiger’s paw as he thrashed through the air. Tiger’s claws snagged two throats. Pitch-like blood sprayed, fanning across Sheng’s flank. He spun upon landing, anticipating the group of three poised to attack.

This time, he bared Tiger’s fangs, waiting for his enemy to strike first. He had to receive a blow or two, despite the fierce protest of Tiger.

He hadn’t come to win.

Sheng braced himself as one serpent demon sprang forward, striking his back. Growing up on the streets, he’d learned to take a punch, and he gritted his teeth against the pain. But Tiger roared in fury, swiping against their foe and slaughtering it. Tiger seized a second serpent’s neck in its jaws, clamped down, and shook it lifeless.

As Sheng released the
yāoguài
, a sharp sting struck his side. Instead of succumbing to the wound, Tiger fought with renewed determination.

The beast was a survivor, that was for certain.

Backing away from the onslaught of the remaining three serpents, Sheng stuck his hand under his jacket to prod his wound. Warm slickness leaked from the slash, soaking his shirt. He removed his hand and it came back smothered in blood. His legs lost their balance for an instant before Tiger pumped renewed strength through him.

Enough blood.

In fact, the sheer amount would likely propel Lucy into a panicked frenzy, and he placed his chips on his gut instinct Rabbit would freak out too.

No way would Rabbit let Tiger die.

He studied the three remaining demons slithering about. They seemed to survey him instead of strategizing their attack. Hell, he might even let them go free. Tonight.

The ground behind him rumbled, augmenting vibrations that escalated from his feet into his torso. He clamped his jaw as his teeth clacked together.

Shit.

The grin melted off his face.

He’d come to battle minor
yāoguài
not
those
.

With careful motions, he pivoted around because, for fuck’s sake, no one made any wild movements when
they
came out to play.

His gaze narrowed on the approaching targets. After dialing Kassian, he brought his phone to his ear. It rang four times before the bastard picked up.

“Two grand on the alpha. Not yours.” Kassian’s accented voice quipped.

Betting against Tiger? Real funny. “Where the fuck are you? Could really use some backup.”

“You sure, mate?” Ox’s scoff echoed. “Because from here it looks like you’re enjoying yourself.”

“Yeah, well, I won’t be in two minutes. Get your ass here. Now.”

Chapter 13

After pacing around her apartment for an hour, Lucy finally laid her head on her pillow. She wasn’t sleepy in the least. In fact, her body was pumped up on adrenaline, agitated as though she’d drunk far too much coffee. Her right foot jiggled, and her fingers wandered along her body, searching for the source of this pent-up energy.

Drastic measures.

A shudder slunk down her spine as she recalled the lethal determination in Sheng’s eyes. He hadn’t given her the chance to ask for more help or even bothered with teaching her.

She was utterly failing at everything.

Mom, Dad…the promise Sheng made to her of justice drifted beyond her reach like the last rung of a ladder she could never lift herself to seize. But this opportunity meant too much for her to give up. She’d just have to try harder, dammit.

Her fists clenched at her sides. Why couldn’t she connect with Rabbit in the way she was supposed to?

A block? Yes, a mental one or maybe a spiritual one. Even though she’d caught glimpses of the other spirits, the whole concept of being chosen by an animal and harnessing a spirit’s essence was a boundary her mind couldn’t seem to cross.

Lying in the darkness didn’t bring her any closer. She huffed and thumped her limbs against her blankets. The noise echoed.
Huh?
She held still, and the thudding repeated. She sprang upright and slid her legs off the edge of the bed.

Thud, thud, thud.

Her heart raced as she padded to her front door.

Sheng? She closed her hand closed over the knob and peered through the peephole.

Thud, thud.

She jumped, throwing her hand across her mouth to stifle a yelp. The sound had come from the terrace. She wended through the kitchen, slid a long blade from the knife block, and gripped it tightly in both hands.
This better not be some shitty prank.

Thud, thud. Thud. Thud.

The pounding grew duller. What the hell?

The doors were locked, the windows bulletproof. Xiaodan had spared no expense to ensure her safety.

She tightened her already cramped grip on the knife and flicked the switch to open the curtains.

As they glided apart, bright moonlight streaked inside.

Lucy gasped.

A slick substance smeared the glass. A figure slumped on the ground, leaning against the doors. The darkened form tilted its head at her and she caught the blue-gray glinting of Tiger’s eyes.

Sheng!

The knife clinked to the ground. She rushed to the doors, unlocked them, and wrenched them open. “Sheng?”

His body sank forward into her apartment. The heady drug of panic flushed through her veins, making time both rush forward and seem to halt.

Like a dream.

This had to be a dream.

Because that dark stain could not be blood. Not his blood.