A Lion’s Mate by Eve Langlais
Chapter Twenty
Most people would have reacted to seeing a tiger where a tiger didn’t belong. However, Arleen focused on the more important thing that had been hammering at her all day, something she’d been trying to ignore.
The box was here. Literally. Walking out of the woods in the hands of the one who’d stolen it.
Zach zipped his pants as he whirled to confront the threat, placing his body between Arleen and the box.
She wasn’t ready to deal with it. Would there ever be a good time?
And then she got anxious. He wanted to take it from her, wanted to destroy it. She had to stop him.
Arleen shoved at Zach and hopped off the hood. Her long sweater covered her to mid-thigh, but she remained barelegged and uncaring as she walked to the woman who’d stopped in the middle of the road. She had blond hair drawn back from a gaunt face showing exhaustion, but her eyes were steely with determination. She held out a knapsack and, even without opening it, Arleen could tell the box was nestled inside.
“Take it.” The woman, who had to be Svetlana—who else would travel with a tiger?—shook it in her direction. “Take the cursed box.”
Yes. Take it and hide it. In a cave. Far, far away from people.
“No.” She said it aloud and in her mind. “No. I don’t want it.” She backed away.
Svetlana’s mouth rounded. “You have to take it. The box told me you would.”
“It lied.”
“No.” Svetlana shook her head. “You can’t say no. I won’t keep it. The whispers. Always in my head. Talking. Threatening. It’s trying to change me. I won’t let it.” Svetlana screwed her eyes shut and clenched her fists.
She’d managed to fight the box thus far, better than Arleen had. But it wouldn’t be long, the cracks were there. If Arleen did nothing, Svetlana would have no choice. She’d be the new guardian.
For a second, jealousy filled her at the thought, at someone else getting to keep it. And then she remembered that taking the box meant giving up Zach. A life. Happiness.
Protecting it wasn’t worth that price, and if the box wasn’t happy about it, then maybe it should have been more reasonable with its demands.
Rather than wait for a reply, Svetlana dropped the knapsack on the ground and whirled to walk away.
“You can’t just leave it there!” Arleen exclaimed.
Svetlana kept walking, heading for the woods, the tiger trotting by her side.
Zach knelt beside the knapsack but didn’t touch it. He tossed her a look. “I say we run it over a few times before we bring it in to the experts.”
As Zach rose and headed for the car, a shot rang out. He hissed in pain, grabbing his shoulder. “Down,” he yelled, which wasn’t the best advice.
Ducking would leave Arleen in the open. A round whistled past her cheek. The next hit Svetlana, who yelped as she hit the ground. The tiger lost its mind and roared as it charged the five guys spreading out from the woods. All men dressed in identical combat gear.
How had they found them? Did it matter? She knew what they were after.
The box. And even if she didn’t want it, she knew they couldn’t have it.
Arleen dove for the damned thing and bundled it under one arm, ignoring its pleased voice. She wasn’t doing it for the box. She shifted as she ran and heard cries of surprise. “It has the artifact. Shoot it! Shoot the bigfoot.”
Her feet weren’t big. A respectable and buyable eleven in a family that averaged thirteens for the women, and customized sizes for the men.
Arleen loped into the woods, a forest that she knew like the back of her hand. With a mother who homeschooled—because god forbid Arleen be out of sight—she’d had hours, days, weeks, years to learn every single crevice. After her first return, roaming their land was the one thing her mother allowed. However, she did take to following her, which led to her staying close to home.
The knowledge of her current location guided her feet, but she didn’t go too fast. She didn’t want to lose her pursuers because she had a plan. Every so often, she halted to let the humans catch up, hiding within yards of them, and then purposely showing herself to have them running after her again.
The forest turned to stone as she hit the edge of a rocky precipice. The gorge dropped about a hundred feet into a river with violent rapids. The current traveled hard for a few miles before spilling over a small waterfall into a lake. She knew its route well. Not being allowed to go to amusement parks, she’d created her version of fun.
With the knapsack in hand, she waited. Soon, they arrived, all five humans, their attention focused on her and the dangling bag.
Four of them aimed weapons, while the fifth held out his hand. “Give us the box.”
She shifted, glad that her sweater had survived the transition if baggier than before. “Why should I? Who are you?”
“Give us the box.” The leader waggled his fingers impatiently but didn’t answer her second question.
“And if I do?”
“We go away.”
Would they? And what would they do with the box? They’d shown themselves as having no regard for life. Imagine the evil they could accomplish with it.
“I don’t think anyone should have this kind of power.” She slapped the knapsack onto the rock. She did it again and again while he shouted. “Stop!”
Because she couldn’t be sure slapping it was enough, she stomped on it. Rammed her foot onto the bag until it became obviously flat. She then kicked it over the edge.
The leader’s expression went blank. Then cold. “Kill her.”
