Top Gun Tiger: Protection, Inc. - Book 7

by Chant, Zoe

  Destiny’s eyes shone as if she was holding back tears. She swallowed, but her voice came out thick with emotion anyway as she said, “You were right, earlier. I don’t think I ever really appreciated how much people loved me, and how important that was. My family. Friends. Even strangers. You should’ve had that too, Ethan. I wish—”

  Once again, she broke off.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Me too.”

  It was strange how safe he felt admitting his own vulnerability to her now. He loved her so much, he should have wanted to impress her with his strength. But some barrier between them had gone down, and he knew she wouldn’t think less of him for his anger and his pain and his longing for a love he’d never had.

  They were silent for a while. Then Ethan, restless, got out of bed and went to look out the window.

  “Hey!” Destiny exclaimed. “You’re better! That stuff worked!”

  Startled, Ethan stopped and assessed himself. He’d been so absorbed in her story and then their conversation that he hadn’t registered when it had happened, but he did feel much better. The pain was gone, he felt neither too hot nor too cold, and he could breathe easily. “Hey, yeah. Good job with the herbs. I can’t believe you remembered all that from when you were eleven.”

  “You said it yourself, I was a kid genius.”

  “That’s not exactly…”

  “Kid. Genius. Your exact words. Play it back on video if you wanna prove me wrong.”

  Much as Ethan would have liked to stay where he was and kid around with her, he had a feeling a clock was ticking. “A few days or a few hours,” she’d said. What if he collapsed in the middle of a fight because they’d wasted too much time here?

  “We’d better get going,” he said, trying to keep his unease from his voice, and picked up the gun.

  “I found an armory in the palace. How’d you like a sword, jarhead?”

  “Oh, man, seriously?” Ethan couldn’t help grinning. “I’ve always wanted one. I used to play this video game, Final Fantasy, that had some characters with really big swords…”

  “Nerd.” She poked him in the ribs. “If you’re hoping for something as overcompensating as Cloud’s, one, not practical, two, you couldn’t lift it, three, the armory doesn’t have anything like that because no one could lift it.”

  “You not only know who Cloud Strife is, you know exactly what his sword looks like. It is you who are the nerd.”

  Destiny rolled her eyes. “Weirdo nerd.”

  They stopped by the kitchen first, where she stuffed some leftover herbs in her backpack, and then she led him to the armory. Ethan had seen a lot of impressive things recently that he’d have liked to spend more time looking at if he hadn’t been too sick to really appreciate them (the palace) or if they weren’t trying to kill him (the daeodon). But of them all, he most wished he could take his time and explore the armory.

  It was a treasure trove of ancient weapons. There, neatly hung on the walls and arrayed in holders, were swords and daggers, bows and arrows, staffs and spears, and more unusual weapons like spiked maces, chains on handles, and tridents. With something approaching reverence, he took a beautiful sword from the wall and blew the dust from it. Its edge was razor-sharp, and the rippling pattern on the steel blade gleamed with highlights of blue and green.

  Then he realized something odd. “These have been sitting here for three hundred years, right?”

  “I think closer to two hundred, but yeah. Oh, you mean, why haven’t they rusted to bits? They must’ve been done with this special process that a genius swordsmith of the maharajah’s invented. Nobody’s ever been able to figure out exactly how he did it. Everything else he made is in museums.”

  Ethan looked at Destiny and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked suspiciously.

  “You are. History nerd.”

  “Weapons nerd.” She nudged him. “Go on, get your stuff. I’ll get some too. Then we can hit the road.”

  Ethan limited himself to that sword and a long dagger, but vowed to come back at some better time and take a longer look, though he regretfully realized that once they told anyone about it, everything would end up in museums. Or maybe the entire city would become a kind of museum. He liked that idea.

  “You know how to fight with either of those?” Destiny asked. She had also taken a sword and dagger.

  “Not exactly. I did some bayonet training, so hopefully that’s close enough. You?”

  “Same. Also, check these out.” She held up her hand, which was adorned with a set of steel rings. Then she made a fist, and a set of claw-like steel blades appeared between her fingers.

  “Are there any more?” Ethan exclaimed, delighted. “Gimme!”

  She handed him a larger pair. He slipped them on his hand, admiring how they worked. They were like brass knuckles, but with blades. When your hand was open, the blades were concealed, only to jut out when you made a fist.

  “Waghnakh,” she said. “It means tiger claws. Let’s hit the road, Wolverine.”

  They took off their tiger claws and hung them from their belts. Grinning, Ethan followed her out. But he couldn’t resist turning in the doorway to take one last, longing look at the coolest room he’d ever seen.

  The swords and daggers on the wall trembled, sending up the faintest of rattles.

  “Destiny?” Ethan called.

  But by the time she returned to his side, they were still. “What?”

  “I’m not sure. Did you feel something like a tiny earthquake?”

  She shook her head. “Did you?”

  “No, but the weapons…” His voice trailed off as the weapons quivered again.

  “Okay, that’s weird.”

  They stood watching them. Once again, the rattling subsided almost immediately.

  “You know, that reminds me of something, but I can’t quite think of what,” Ethan said slowly. He rubbed his forehead, trying to remember. “Things shaking… Maybe water quivering…?”

  “The glass of water in Jurassic Park!”

  Destiny grabbed his hand. Together, they ran to the window. But there was nothing in sight but the golden marble streets and buildings.

  A reptilian screech broke the silence. Ethan whirled around. A pair of man-sized lizards lunged through the door, clawed hands outstretched and needle-toothed jaws gaping wide.

  Ethan and Destiny moved as if they were a single person in two bodies. They leaped to either side of the window, putting enough distance between them that they couldn’t accidentally cut each other, and drew their swords. In such close quarters, in a room made of stone, he didn’t dare use his gun for fear of a ricochet hitting Destiny.

  “Talk about Jurassic Park!” Destiny gasped. “Those are velociraptors!”

  She was right. Ethan recognized them now. But they were much scarier in real life. The velociraptors were as tall as him and twice as long, mottled gray-green and scaly. Their slit-pupiled yellow eyes darted back and forth as Ethan and Destiny moved into their fighting positions. Then they shrieked again, a sound that made the hairs on the back of Ethan’s neck stand up, and attacked.

  He ducked a slash of claws that would have taken his head off and stabbed at the beast where he hoped its heart was. His sword glanced off a bony plate, dealing the velociraptor no more than a minor wound. It darted aside with terrifying speed, hissed, and snapped at him. Ethan evaded and bolted forward. He’d first thought he should have his back to the wall so nothing could attack him from behind, but he now realized that with an opponent as quick as the velociraptor, that only left him cornered.

  He snatched up a nearby battleaxe and flung it at the dinosaur. The axe hit the reptile a glancing blow, doing little more than scratching its tough hide, but the distraction bought Ethan enough time to check on Destiny. To his immense relief, she was unhurt and holding her velociraptor at bay. She slashed at the creature, making it leap back with a screech, then ran to join Ethan’s side.

  “I’ll hold them off,” Eth
an said, grabbing the chain with a handle from a nearby weapons rack. “You check for a clear retreat.”

  As Destiny turned, both velociraptors bounded forward, shrieking and snapping and slashing. Ethan stood his ground and swung the chain in a rapid arc, so fast that it seemed to create a steel shield before the attacking dinosaurs. One of them thrust its snout into the whirling chain, then drew back with a screech. The other one hung back, hissing angrily.

  “We’re clear!” Destiny called. “Keep it spinning and back away slowly, and I think we can slam the door on—”

  The hissing velociraptor sprang forward, flinging its entire body into the whirling chain. It knocked Ethan sprawling. Dazed, he lay on his back and looked up at the dinosaur that stood over him. All he could see was its soft-looking underbelly and cavernous maw as it bent to bite off his head.

  Gripping the hilt in both hands, he thrust his sword straight into its belly. As it screeched, he rolled to the side. Destiny grabbed him and pulled him to his feet as the velociraptor crashed to the floor.

  “Where’s yours?” he gasped.

  She jerked her thumb at the second velociraptor, which he now saw also lay dead. “If there’s any others, go for the back of the neck. Swing hard. I had to use both hands.”

  “Me too,” said Ethan. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to get trapped again.”

  Together, they bolted out of the palace. The streets were as empty as when they’d looked out the window.

  “Maybe that was all of them,” Destiny said, a little doubtfully.

  “I hope so.” He kept his hand on his holster as they walked down the street and toward the jungle. Despite his victory over the velociraptor, he still felt far more comfortable with a gun. He was also uneasily conscious that he had only six bullets left.

  Now that Ethan was feeling better, he could take in more of his surroundings. The palace was in the center of the city, surrounded by gardens and smaller buildings. Four slim and graceful towers stood at the north, south, east, and west edges of the city, about ten blocks from the jungle. They were watchtowers, he guessed, as they were the tallest buildings in the city. The tops were flat and turreted, large enough for four people to stand watch.

  They had just passed the eastern tower when Destiny shouted, “Drop!”

  Ethan instantly dropped to the ground. He grabbed for her, but she was already grabbing for him. Together, they threw themselves behind a low stone wall around a small ornamental garden. A black dart flew past them, through the open gate they’d gone through, and stuck quivering in a tree.

  Ethan quickly scanned the garden. There was only one gate. They could easily jump over the wall, but they’d be seen immediately. Trying to escape seemed riskier than trying to take their enemy. Destiny settled down, no doubt coming to the same conclusion.

  “You got good eyes,” he murmured.

  “My tiger warned me,” Destiny whispered. “She smelled him.”

  “Ask her how many people there are,” Ethan whispered back.

  A moment later, Destiny said, “She says just one.” Gloomily, she added, “Probably another hell pig shifter.”

  “Surrender!” shouted a male voice. Ethan recognized it as belonging to Ayers. “I’m not telling Lamorat I lost you again! I want to bring you in alive!”

  Ethan also yelled, but a little softer, hoping to lure the man closer as he strained to hear. “Like I believe that, Ayers! Your scaly little buddies tried to bite our heads off.”

  “Yes, but I knew you wouldn’t let them!” called Ayers. He did sound a bit nearer. Ethan crouched by the wall, Sig Sauer ready. “I sent them to draw you out. And those weren’t shifters. They were real Achillobators. Animals.”

  Destiny made a beckoning motion to Ethan: she was going to help lure their enemy in. “Achillo-whats? I thought they were velociraptors.”

  “Achillobators,” said their enemy loftily. “We recreated them from fossil DNA. Jurassic Park called them velociraptors, but that’s not what they were. Real velociraptors are the size of a chicken.”

  “What do you mean, you sent the Achillobators?” Ethan called. “Are they trained?”

  “I’m not just a shifter. I also went through the Ultimate Predator process, which gives you special powers. I can control dinosaurs with my mind. So you better—”

  Ethan quickly peered around the edge of the gate. He spotted their enemy, a man lurking in the open doorway of a building, also peering out. They fired almost simultaneously, then ducked back. Ethan heard the crack as his bullet struck stone, and saw another black dart slam into the ground behind them.

  “Surrender!” yelled Ayers again. To Ethan’s disappointment, he was obviously unhurt. “Like I was saying, we don’t want to hurt you. We want to give you powers greater than anything you’ve ever imagined!”

  “And torture us and use us as slaves!” Destiny yelled.

  At the same time, Ethan shouted, “If the process doesn’t kill us, like it does most people!”

  “We’ve got version 3.0 now! It’s the safest yet,” Ayers called. Ethan noticed that he didn’t respond to Destiny’s charges. “Also, Lamorat figured out that Ultimate Predator is more compatible with extinct and mythic shifters than with regular ones. It’s so safe now, we’ve even started using it on ourselves. I assure you, I would never take undue risks with my own life.”

  And then Ethan saw Destiny do yet another thing he’d never even known she was capable of: she lost her temper. Her face darkened with blood, and she screamed, “Of course not, you fucking asshole! You only used it on expendable people like Shane—and Justin—and Cat—”

  She broke off, her lips curling strangely. Her eyes were strange too: no longer brown, they gleamed green as a cat’s, the pupils contracting into slits. Destiny snarled, a deep, guttural, terrifying sound.

  No. Not Destiny. That had to be her tiger. Just like she’d said, it was taking control of her. At any instant, she’d shift against her will, and become the predator.

  She’d been afraid that she’d hurt him. But he was afraid that she’d shift and attack her enemy. And then Ayers would shoot her down.

  Ethan grabbed her and held her tight. She kept on snarling, but he didn’t flinch. Pressing his body into hers, his cheek against hers, he whispered, “Destiny, hold on. I know you don’t want to do this now. And I know you can keep control. Be the nerd girl I—” He barely stopped himself from saying, “I love.” She didn’t want to hear that.

  “I’m friends with,” he substituted. “Mudpuppy. Come on, mudpuppy. You can kill him as yourself. Get your own revenge for Shane and Justin and Catalina and all the rest. It’ll be more satisfying. You know it will. You want my gun? I’ll give you my gun.”

  The quivering, catlike readiness in her body eased. She stopped snarling, cleared her throat, and looked up at him. Her eyes were human again, the warm brown he loved. Trying to smile, she said, “Thanks. But it’s my gun, jarhead. And I don’t know how long that lasted, but you might want to use it now.”

  She was absolutely right. Reluctantly, Ethan let go of her, crawled further away, and peeked over the wall. Once again, there was an exchange of fire that did nothing but make them both duck back to their positions.

  Destiny crawled to join him. She whispered, “Let’s get him to talk some more. Then we jump the wall on the other side. If we’re quick, he won’t be able to adjust his aim in time.”

  Her mouth was so close to his ear that he could feel the movement of her lips. It sent a hot shiver of desire through him. It wasn’t the time, it wasn’t the place, and he wasn’t the man she wanted. And yet he still longed desperately, impossibly, unhappily to take her in his arms again, but this time to kiss her. To strip off her clothes and see her naked body because she wanted him to, not because she’d had to shift and everything she’d worn had been destroyed. To get down on his knees and taste—

  Destiny lifted her head and yelled, “I don’t believe a word you said! I caught on to you when you said those were
n’t velociraptors. What did you say they were? Achilles Bats? I never heard of them. I bet you made them up!”

  As Ayers shouted back, “You’re just showing your ignorance,” Ethan and Destiny began crawling across the garden, trying not to snap any twigs or rustle any leaves. When they reached the wall on the other side, they could still hear their enemy’s voice, now too far away to discern the words but with the arrogant tone distinctly audible.

  “Let’s run for the jungle,” Ethan whispered. “If he follows, we can ambush him. We can crawl behind the tower, then run from behind it.”

  Destiny nodded. They vaulted over the low wall, then immediately dropped down behind it and began rapidly crawling for the tower.

  A shattering roar filled the air. The stone road shook, and half the fruit fell from a nearby mango tree.

  Ethan glanced over his shoulder. He would have thought that after the hell pig and the Achillo-whatevers, nothing could shock him anymore. But what he saw froze him in place. Towering over the garden walls—over the trees in the garden—over the building they were headed for—was a Tyrannosaurus rex.

  He’d seen them in pictures and movies, and skeletons at museums. But nothing had prepared him for the real thing. Its size alone was almost impossible to comprehend in a living thing. It was at least twenty feet tall and thirty feet long, from gigantic head to lashing tail. Every one of the glittering fangs that lined its gaping jaws was the length of Ethan’s forearm. Its tiny yellow eyes gleamed evilly from a face covered in armored plates as it swiveled its monstrous head toward them.

  Ayers was nowhere to be seen. But as Ethan met the intelligent gaze of the T-Rex, he realized that it wasn’t another cloned animal. It was Ayers himself—in his shift form.

  Ethan also realized that they’d never make it to the jungle. Long before they reached it, the T-Rex that Ayers had become would take two immense steps and squash them flat. Even Destiny’s tiger couldn’t run fast enough.

  Ethan stood up straight and fired at a yellow eye. The T-Rex twitched its head, and the bullet bounced off its cheek. Desperate to protect Destiny, Ethan fired again and again in rapid succession, trying to get off his best shot before the dinosaur charged them. He’d hit the hell pig in the eye—surely he could make this shot!