by Lynde Lakes
Tigra breathed in scents of grilling dogs and popping corn.
She glanced at Hugh. Taking this moment together was therapeutic. They both needed to get away from their worries about the repercussions that were sure to come from retrieving and returning the stolen golden treasure to its rightful owner.
As if he’d read her thoughts, Hugh said, “Don’t worry, we’ll handle whatever comes.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “Thanks for suggesting this.”
She warmed inside. When it came to men, she’d been born without a patience gene and Hugh, bless him, was the epitome of patience. It meant so much that right now he had the ability to accept she needed this calming moment.
From below, music from the marching band floated upward. She recognized the song: “You’re not alone.” As though he was touched by it too, he squeezed her fingers. It was ironic, since meeting Hugh, she’d felt a sense of comradeship and understanding with someone for the first time in her life. He was the only one she’d ever met who understood the challenges and loneliness of living a dual existence. Even Grandy, who loved her deeply, couldn’t relate. Not because he didn’t try.
Hugh appeared to fully understand, perhaps because of his own curse. She closed her eyes a moment against the threat of tears. Their budding relationship might have had a chance if he was a tiger, but falling in love with a wolf was fraught with disaster. Besides, her own curse made it unfeasible to seriously consider mating with any man, human, or cross species. What made their impossible relationship more difficult to accept was his uniqueness. He was the first man who ever made her wish she were normal. And it was just her unfortunate luck that besides being a fantastic man, he had the small problem of being a werewolf.
The Ferris wheel had stopped at the top longer than usual. The sun burned hot on her back. There wasn’t a hint of a breeze. She glanced down. Leroy was no longer at the controls. The crowd seemed to be scattering. She felt tension radiating from below reaching up for them like arcing, electrically charged fingers.
She met Hugh’s questioning gaze. “I think we may have a problem.”
He pointed toward the red and white striped menagerie tent that sheltered the animals. Flames licked the sky, and roars and cries came from inside the refuge. “More than one,” he shouted as he unlatched the safety bar. We have to get down there.”
“Follow me,” she said. “I’ve done this before. We’ll be fine as long as the Ferris wheel doesn’t move.”
Sliding, shinnying, and walking girders like high wire aerialists, they quickly made their way halfway down before the wheel jerked and dropped downward, like a falling elevator. Tigra lost her balance and tumbled forward. Alarm and stress triggered the morphing process. She felt her hair growing wilder, her teeth elongating. God, I don’t want to die caught between my dual worlds.
Barely in the nick of time, Hugh reached out and grabbed her around the waist.
Their eyes met for an instant. The intense gray reflected the same intensity of panic she felt. He was morphing, too, and his shifting was proceeding faster than hers. Oh, God, they were in big trouble. She had no idea how much until her weight and movement pulled him off balance and apparently he had no choice but to jump.
On their foot-first downward plunge, he pulled her against his body as if to protect her. Like a falling missile, they plummeted straight for the top of the fortune teller’s tent.
As they sank into the sturdy canvas, she whispered, Thank you, God, for providing this to break our fall.
The wide-eyed mystic must have somehow untangled herself from the fallen poles and buckled canvas because she ran outside, looking dazed to see what had collapsed her tent.
Tigra wasn’t surprised her Tigress appearance didn’t seem to faze the mystic. It was the wily mystic who’d told her of her early history before the circus became her whole world. But she was astonished Hugh’s unruly hair extending down his back and his arched, thick eyebrows framing piercing gray eyes didn’t cause any reaction. Nor did his dark, hairy jawline, or pointy ivory teeth that gleamed fiercely in the sunlight.
“Fire!” Hugh shouted to the mystic. “At the menagerie. Get help!”
They had no time to wait and verify if she would do as told. On the run, Tigra followed Hugh toward the flames. They were almost to the inferno when a stampede of animals rushed toward them. Hugh dived out of the way, taking her with him as he rolled under a still standing calliope and its musical pipes.
As frightened creatures of every kind zigzagged, bolted, galloped, grunted, and whinnied around them, he said, “We have to morph back before anyone else sees us.”
She nodded and pressed her lips against his ear so he could hear her over the chaos. “Later, if anyone saw us, I can convince them the getup was merely costuming for a new act.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” he shouted as the mass of wild animals scurried behind tents and leapt over carts, drums, and anything in the way, knocking things over. It was obvious they were as panicked as the terrified escaping crowd. Stripes, the gentlest of their big cats slid lithely though the opening into the Big Top and disappeared before they could stop him. Bumped tent awnings trembled and the arcade exploded with the thunderous sound of running human bodies shoving against bodies, trying to escape the sea of animals trampling anything and anyone in their path. The air crackled with the sound of burning wood supports and a cacophony of cries of pain and fear. The mass of animals suddenly changed direction. The fencing around the property could never hold back the rushing stampede of elephants, horses, tigers, lions, and zebras. If the animals escaped the grounds, it would take days to round them up, not to mention the damage to the community. Was this disaster the end of the circus?
Fire engines roared onto the site; the screaming sirens increased the animals’ panic.
“Thank God, the fire crews are here to contain the fire,” Hugh said.
“But the fire isn’t our biggest problem. Containing crazed animals is like trying to stop the flood waters after a dam breaks. And if the mayor sends in the animal control people, our animals will very likely be injured or killed.”
Hugh nodded. “Surely the boss has emergency plans in place to end this rampage.”
“I think the berserk, running-amok stampede is too far out of control for the usual methods. But it’ll be wise to get his input.”
Tigers were feared, despised, or worshiped depending upon where they lived and roamed. Here in the city-limits the emotions would be icy fear and crazed panic.
Just as the Boss’s office caravan came in sight, an elephant ducked his trunk and rolled the structure over. They found him inside bleeding and in shock. Tigra snapped open her cell phone and called the paramedics and the on-site veterinarian.
When the medics arrived, Tigra and Hugh left their boss in good hands, determined to go where they were needed most. With chaos swirling around them, they ran through the arcade, rounding up as many of the more docile animals as possible.
Tigra did a Tarzan-like call, praying her tigers could hear over the cacophony. Stripes, Alex, and Queenie came bounding toward her. She led them to a large covered outside cage in the training arena and quickly gave them extra food and water. When each animal was treated properly, the large-hearted regal creature with limitless courage, secretive habits, and a solitary nature was no more dangerous than she was. But when abused or hungry, anything could happen.
Tigers, Predator and Assassin, were still out there somewhere. And it was nearing feeding time. Searching for food consumed much of the tigers’ lives, and they were willing to work hard and even kill for meals. She rubbed her forehead. Each tiger needed fifteen to twenty pounds of food per day. She leaned against a turned over cotton-candy wagon, breathing hard and trying to gather her wits. “We can’t just run crazily. I need to think.”
Hugh shook his head. “No time. Action is our best bet of slowing down the stampede and capturing as many animals as we can before dark. We can’t let animal control get into the act
and start shooting darts and maybe even bullets at innocent animals. ”
He was right.
“The tree leopard will be even more dangerous after the sun goes down,” he said. “We need to find him and the two Bengals ASAP.
She glared at him. “You’re telling me what I already know, so I assume you have a brilliant suggestion.”
“You decide whether it has merit. One of us morphs and herds the animals back to their cages with intimidation. While the most experienced, you, encourages them back to their cages.”
“You want to morph into a werewolf again and risk being seen?” She couldn’t keep her voice from rising. “That’s a dumb plan. The authorities still aren’t sure if the women and girls in the community were killed by a werewolf, vampire, or tiger. All they need is a glimpse of a werewolf, Hugh, and they’ll use you for target practice.
****
Tigra fought her instinct to hug Hugh for offering up himself for the benefit of the circus and the community. “Setting yourself up to be a dead hero is useless.”
He stared at her for several heartbeats. “All right. I guess you’re right.”
She gave a sigh of relief.
She thought they were at an impasse but rather than give up and admit defeat, he gathered all the unhurt circus people and carneys and formed a posse. The elephant trainers were the first to get all their charges back and staked down.
Hugh was good at organizing and by midnight they had rounded up all the animals except the tree leopard and the two tigers.
“The cats are good trackers and may have headed for the caves,” Hugh said.
Skully came up behind Tigra and put his arm possessively on her shoulder. Her skin crawled, but she was too exhausted to shake him off.
“Hugh’s right, Tigra. I saw your cats heading for the hills. Want me help round them up?”
She needed help, but not from Skully. He was high on her list of suspects. “Thanks, Skully, but Hugh and I are trained to handle the cats.”
Suddenly Skully grabbed her and kissed her hard and possessively.
She struggled and stepped back. “What the hell is that about Skully?”
“For luck.”
“Thanks. But keep your hands and mouth off of me. I don’t want to have to tell you again. Got it?”
“That’s one of the things I like about you, Tigra. You’ve got fire.”
She sent him a dirty look and strode away, forging a path through an arcade that looked like it had been used for the running of the bulls. Hugh followed her. She appreciated that Hugh hadn’t interfered by playing the macho, testosterone game men sometimes played. The sparks in his darkened gray eyes suggested he didn’t like Skully kissing her any more than she did. But the fact he let her handle it showed a certain confidence and control that appealed to her.
She switched her thoughts away from her assistant and collided with a more dangerous worry. “It isn’t just animal control I’m worried about. This disaster has been on the news, alerting hunters. Hunters want tigers for their pelts, penis, and other body parts. And they don’t care that they belong to the circus. They’ll assume anything running loose is fair game.”
“You’re right. We’d better find our cats before they do. Let’s head out.”
“We can’t charge into such a dangerous undertaking unprepared. I must stop by my caravan and pick up the items we might need.” She stuck her hand into her pocket. The note! A creepy sensation slid down her spine. She waited until she got inside the safety of her caravan and switched on the bright light over the breakfast bar to read it.
TIGRA, I KNOW WHAT YOU AND HUGH DID.
NOW YOU BOTH WILL DIE.
She fought a shiver as she handed the note to Hugh.
****
As curious as Hugh was about the note, he didn’t read it right away. He was still thinking about the kiss Skully planted on Tigra. Was there were more between Skully and Tigra than she’d admitted? A sharp pain shot straight to his heart. The thought of another man kissing her, and maybe making love to her brought forth excruciating images and the start of a headache. He curled his hand into a fist, but rather than slam it against the nearest wall, he jammed it into his pocket. She’s not mine and I have no rights to her. But dammit, she’s my breath, my passion…. How did I let myself fall for her? I dare not even think of a future with Tigra. Besides, right now I have a job to do.
He glanced down at the note then met Tigra’s veiled gaze. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said.
She lifted her chin. “I’m not worried. Whoever wrote that note was too much of a coward to even sign it. And we have a more eminent problem to handle. Loose hungry cats.”
As they gathered the items they needed, Hugh said, “Maybe it’s just because I don’t like the guy, but Skully is the first name that comes to mind when I think of the possible author of the note.”
He’d hoped she’d agree. She said, “I have to stop by the equipment shed and get ropes and nets.”
He let the subject drop. Right now there were two dangerous Bengals and a tree leopard running loose and hungry enough to attack the first unsuspecting prey they spotted. To protect the community, they’d capture the tigers and leopard first, then seek out and deal with the note-writing demon who wanted them dead.
Chapter Eighteen
Skull nodded toward Madam Mystic’s collapsed pile of poles and canvas. “The boss sent me here to re-erect your tent, Magpie, and get you back in business.”
Struggling with a pole and sweating, she glared at him. “I don’t want or need your help, Skully, so leave me the hell alone.”
Coleman won’t like it if you refuse my help. He wants to get things back to normal ASAP.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why would he send you?”
“He doesn’t know about the bad blood between us and besides all the available roustabouts are busy on other larger projects.”
With a wary look in her eyes, she shrugged. “Okay, if the boss ordered you to do it, help with this pole.”
“Just get out of the way.” He met her gaze, and lowered his voice, sending her his tonal message of malice. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt. Getting in the way of a man with the strength of Hercules and the speed of lightning could be dangerous.”
Glaring, she stepped back, grabbed a sawdust rake, and began raking up the spilled incense and dislodged rubber spaghetti snakes from the floor with a vengeance. Then carefully, she picked up her crystal ball. Next, one at a time, she gathered up the three skulls from the floor, re-inserted the plastic snakes and arranged the skulls among some unlit candles on the velvet cover.
They worked quickly, and within thirty minutes she’d finished straightening and he had the main poles and support braces in place. He forced his most charming smile. “In spite of our differences, you’ll have to admit we work well together. Your little flimflam set-up looks just like new.”
The ebony-faced Amazon darted a venomous sidelong glance at him.
He widened his smile. “Now it’s time for payback. The boss wants you to lend the woman’s touch to putting my caravan back in order.”
She folded muscular arms across her massive boobs. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“Sounds fair to me. Tit for tat. Want me to tell the boss you refused to do your part in the clean up? Everyone else in our commune is pulling together, like a family should, putting aside their differences in emergencies.”
Her squinted eyes told him she wasn’t totally buying his sales job and was on guard.
“How is Blacky?” she asked with a tremor in her voice.
“He’s fine. A little ruffled.”
When they got to his caravan, she said, “I don’t see any damage.”
“It’s all inside.” He had set the stage earlier, doing minor damage to the interior in order to put her at ease. “My bed fell from its storage cabinet in the wall and I need someone to tighten the interlocking screw while I hold it up in place. It’s a two person j
ob. It won’t take long.”
He bowed and gestured for her to enter first. She shook her head. “No. You go first. And we’ll leave the door open.” Tension radiated from her as though she was ready for anything—he chuckled to himself—anything except a cloth pre-soaked in chloroform. He grabbed it from its container and in two giant steps he circled behind her and covered her nose and mouth.
She struggled against his vampire strength and unrelenting hold only a few seconds before going limp, like a wet sack of manure.
Humming, he stuffed her Amazon bulk into a huge tent bag. Not daring to wait for darkness, he took the bag to the rear of the circus grounds, planning to toss it over the fence. But the corner of the fence was mangled and flattened. It looked like an elephant had rushed into it and then trampled it with great force. He dragged the bag across the downed chain link fence and headed through the hills toward the closest cave. He yanked the bag over stones—unconcerned about the bruises the woman might be sustaining.
When he reached the cave, he roughly dumped her limp Amazon’s body from the bag onto the stone floor. He hummed again as he bound and gagged her. Now he had his lure. And at the right time, he would use it to bring Tigra to him.
****
Tigra, with heart and pulse pounding, sensed trouble ahead. Carrying their gear and wearing silent moccasins, she and Hugh headed through the hills bathed in patches of the soft dwindling twilight. In the distance, they saw a group of scuzzy-looking armed hunters enter the hilly wilds. Tigra frowned and gestured with her head. Hugh nodded. Tension tightened her nerves another notch. A bunch of hopped up hunters with rifles was all they needed to heighten the risk. Hugh darted a look directly at her with a question in his wary gray eyes.
“I’m okay,” she mouthed and made an okay sign with her fingers.
The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. A cat attack could happen as silently and as suddenly as a bolt of lightning. She’d seen a tiger tear flesh from a cow carcass. And had seen what even her drugged, gentle tiger, Candy, had done to poor Rolo.