Authors: Aliyah Burke
Come on, Dane. I know you’re in there. Get
up.
He hissed.
Complain all you want but get your ass up.
Now!
A grumble left the big cat
but he dragged himself to his feet. Together, they limped to the
house. Leaving him and the dogs in the living room, she went to her
room and dragged the mattress off her bed and back up the hall.
Releasing it near the tiger, she pointed to it.
Lay down.
He did.
I’ll be right back.
Aida winced as she pulled the mattress off
the other bed and hauled it to the living room as well. Sweat
popped up along her body, and she put on some water to boil.
Grabbing her side, she gasped as more pain leeched into her. The
tiger snapped.
Pot one boiled, and she quickly bathed her
dogs’ wounds and put salve on them. Then put them on one mattress.
Tears ran down her face when she carried another pot to Dane’s
side.
“
Still in tiger form?” she
whispered, lowering to her knees beside him. A low warning snarl
left him. “Growl all you want; you’re not strong enough to do
anything.” She hoped he was still in there and the injured animal
didn’t harm her. Carefully, she cleaned his wounds. It took some
doing but she got him to flip over so she could do both
sides.
Dane?
Her question was met by a force that seemed
murky and dark. She didn’t like it. Lowering her face to the
massive tiger’s, she stared into his eyes.
Listen to me, Dane Sidorov. You fight your
way back here. I don’t care how; you just get your fine ass back
here. As nice as you are to look at in tiger form, I’d really
prefer the man.
Aida locked up her house, shut off the
lights and stumbled back to the living room. Kissing her boys, Aida
lay beside the monstrous tiger, buried one hand deep in his coat
where it barely moved with his shallow breaths. She was scared but
her body left her no choice and she was pulled into slumber with
one final thought for the creature she lay with.
Thank you, Dane, for saving me.
* * * *
He ached. In all of his existence, he’d
never felt so sore after battling. The battle. Aida.
“
Aida!” he yelled, bolting
up from the ground, his eyes desperately seeking her out. To no
avail. Nothing looked familiar although the land was lush and
fertile. His body weaved, and he felt off kilter. “Okay. I have no
clue where I am.” He reached for his tiger and frowned when he
couldn’t locate him. Not even a trace of him could be found or
felt. He scowled, not liking that implication one single
bit.
Muffled voices reached him, and Dane whirled
to find wraith-like forms moving toward him. “Welcome, Dane,” one
said.
“
Welcome,
where?”
“
Not our place to say.
Come, the Master wants a word with you.”
“
The Master?” Dane sighed
and followed them.
He could feel the eyes of many on him, but
he did his best to ignore them. He was antsy; not being able to
feel his tiger didn’t sit well with him in the slightest. They led
him to a small grove with a murky looking lake. On the far bank,
thick moss hung from gnarled branches. Dane never turned away, not
even when his escorts vanished.
“
Welcome, Dane Sidorov,” a
dark voice said.
“
Who are you, and where am
I?”
The moss drew back in two sections like it
was a curtain. No animals could be heard but Dane still felt things
watching him.
“
Who am I? I am the
Master.”
“
Which means nothing to
me. Why do you hide?”
“
I don’t think you are
worthy to see my true form. But why not indulge you in a little
face time.”
A figure strode from the dark and over the
water-like substance. It didn’t move beneath his feet. Dane found
himself staring at the mirror image of himself.
“
Should I thank you for
emulating me?” Dane asked in a dry tone.
“
You wear smugness well. I
wonder how long it will last.”
A wave of the hand, and Dane no long faced
himself but instead faced Siyamak. He barely stopped the hiss from
escaping. Maintaining a bland expression, Dane dragged his eyes up
and down the body.
“
So you take the form of
someone I’ve killed. Is this where I get scared?”
A snake of laughter filled the air. “Let me
show you around.”
“
Gonna tell me where this
is?”
“
If you tell me something
after.”
“
Sure.” Why he was making
small talk with this so-called Master, he wasn’t sure.
“
Uffernangau.
”
Dane tensed before he
could stop it.
Uffernangau.
Death’s Hell. The news was more than slightly
disturbing. On one hand, he didn’t believe he was dead, and yet, he
was currently in a place one didn’t usually think of returning
from.
“
Not going to ask why
you’re here?”
He could hear the hope in the question.
“Figured you’d tell me. Is that your question?”
The Siyamak lookalike laughed. “No. I
wondered how it felt standing,” his voice changed to that of
Siyamak, “over me with my blood on your jaws and spilling into the
ground. How could you? We were friends.”
Dane shrugged with
nonchalance. “You crossed the line, Siyamak. You gave into the
darkness.”
Not to mention you attacked my
mate.
“
Like you’re so much
better?” he hissed.
“
I never said that. Don’t
pretend you didn’t know it would come to that. I’d been after you
for a while.”
“
We were friends at one
point.”
“
True. At one point and I
regret that.” Dane shook his head. “Why am I talking to you as if
you were truly Siyamak? Why am I here?”
The voice was no longer Siyamak’s when it
said, “This is where my subjects reside until I have need of
them.”
Interesting.
“And again, why am I here?”
“
I figured to cut out the
delay later on.”
“
I’ve not given into the
darkness. I don’t belong here.”
“
You will.” The dark head
tipped to the left, and Dane stared in that direction.
Dane felt his knees buckle
when he stared at the sight of Aida falling bloody to the ground.
Her head lolling to the side, showing him her eyes as they stared
sightless into nothing.
Aida!
Furious, he speared the mysterious “Master”
with a glare. “What the hell is this?”
“
Her future.” A
dispassionate shrug. “Two days from now. See, Dane, had I left you
there, you would try to save her, and that,” he paused, “would
really not go with my plans. I’ve wanted your soul for a
long,
long
time
now. When you gave up all control, it wasn’t hard for me to tip the
scales and keep you here. You are one of the most powerful
enforcers I have ever encountered. Such a thrill—granted a bit of a
pain—to watch you work. The emotionless way you kill those you
knew, those you didn’t. Nothing flaps you. But, I will teach you to
enjoy the kill. The things I can accomplish with you, not just in
my army, but leading it.”
I will
never
work for you!
“You’re telling me you’re keeping me here so Aida
will die and I let the darkness totally consume me?”
He grinned. “You got it. So make yourself at
home.” He turned to walk off but stopped and spun back. “Oh, one
more thing. There’re a lot of people here that you sent. And while
you can’t die, per se, it will hurt.” His chuckle was watery and
disturbing.
“
I can’t die because I’m
not dead. And you don’t own me.”
“
Semantics. I’ll own you
before you can find a way out to your precious Aida. But, if you
don’t, I’ll send her your thoughts.”
Dane watched him morph back into his exact
twin. A smile was flashed and his twin vanished, the moss draping
back over the empty void of darkness. Anger grew in the pit of
Dane’s belly, and he swore he could hear the same whispers who’d
tried to get him to give in before. Only this time they were
louder. Cold tendrils wrapped around him, encouraging the rage.
He forced it back
down.
I have time to get back to
her.
Dane looked around and headed back
the way he’d come. Best place to start is back at the
beginning.
Aida?
There was nothing in response. Not that he’d been able to get
in her head before but he had been hoping.
Pushing from the trees to
the field, Dane groaned. He stared upon a group of people he’d
killed during his duty as an enforcer.
He
wasn’t lying when he said there were people here I’d killed. At
least I know how he plans on keeping me busy.
The men and women spread out, and Dane stepped from the
forest ready for the imminent attack.
* * * *
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Aida stirred slowly. Squinting from the
bright light streaming in her windows, she looked at the white
tiger still lying beside her. Not even a growl left him. His
massive chest, which had barely moved last night, seemed to do so
even less now.
“
I’m coming!” she
rasped.
Pushing to her feet, she cast a glance to
her dogs who also lay as still as death. Opening the door, she
sighed in relief at the sight of Kees there.
“
Jesus, Aida. What the
hell happened to you?”
“
I need your help, Kees.
Please. No questions, Kees.” Tears pricked at her eyes.
His gray eyes narrowed. “Aida,” he said.
“
No, Kees. Your promise
and your silence or else you need to leave.”
“
I’m always here for you,
Aida. Tell me what you need.”
“
Come inside.” She looked
around scared someone was watching the house. Kees followed her in,
and when she pushed the door shut, his gasp filled the
air.
“
Fuck me!” He grabbed her
arm, and the tiger released a weak whoof of irritation. “Aida, you
have a bloody white tiger in your house.”
“
I know. He’s injured. My
boys are hurt, too. We’ll get to explanations later. I have a few
badly bruised and broken ribs, Kees. I need you to wrap
them.”
He chewed on his lower lip, dropping her
arm. “Okay. I’m assuming we need to do this out here, so I’ll get
the bandages and be back.” Kees took two steps before going way
around the large, still snarling feline.
Aida checked on all three animals and knelt
by Dane when Kees came back up to the living room.
“
Come on, Aida, let’s get
you wrapped up.”
Wincing, Aida walked to
his side. She took a deep breath and pulled her shirt off. The big
cat lying on her living room floor growled again.
Stuff it, tiger-mine. My ribs are killing me, and
I can’t do this myself. So unless you plan on shifting into a man
with opposable thumbs…you’re gonna have to deal.
The noise faded a little but didn’t stop. She was
still bothered by the fact she couldn’t sense Dane in there. She
sensed anger and abandonment.
“
Your back is all bruised.
What the hell happened?” Kees asked, touching her side.
She hissed in pain. “I’m
still not sure. Someone attacked me.” More like
some
thing
but she
didn’t have the energy to relive that at this moment.
“
Arms out.” Kees reached
around her and began wrapping her ribs, tucking it up under her
breasts. “Who attacked you?”
“
I don’t know. Wasn’t
there a body out there? There should have been three.”
“
I didn’t see anything out
of the ordinary. Is that too tight?”
Nothing was there?
“It can be a bit tighter. Kees?”
“
Yeah, babe?”
“
You
do
see a tiger lying there,
right?”
“
Sure do. He looks like he
wants to eat me.
Why
does he look like he wants to eat me? And why is he so bloody
big?”
Aida smiled and looked back to the tiger.
His eye was observing her interaction between her and Kees. She
flinched when he tied the end off and handed her a shirt.
“
Figured you’d want a
button-down.” Aida slid it on and sent him a grateful smile while
she buttoned it up. “I’ll go put on some water so we can clean
wounds again. Go get some fresh bedding. I’ll wash that stuff
after.”
“
Thanks, Kees.”
“
Don’t think this stops
the explanation, Aida. After you get the bedding, come to the
kitchen to eat.”
Aida did as he ordered, grateful he was
here. Placing the clean linens on the edge of the couch, she went
and ate the bowl of soup he set before her. When she went to get up
prior to finishing it, he grasped her wrist.
“
If you get weaker, Aida,
who takes care of them?”
He made sense. Aida didn’t argue. As soon as
the bowl was completely empty, she and Kees began cleaning the
numerous wounds and changing bedding. The dogs were much easier.
Kees simply lifted them off, and she stripped the mattress and
replaced the sheets.
“
I don’t know how we’re
going to do this,” she said, crouching beside the tiger and
touching him. His breaths came so shallow and far apart.