Here There Be Tigers (20 page)

Without hesitating, the three tigers moved back
into the trees and just out of sight. She, Mitch, and Sanjay
remained where they were. Waiting.

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

When the three others finally re-emerged from
the trees, they were in human form, and all of them were completely
naked. No one seemed aware of the general state of undress,
however. Nila decided they must be used to it. Or maybe tiger
shifters just didn’t have a sense of modesty.

Sanjay shouted up to them, “Are you prepared to
talk with us?”

“
We’ll come down to you, but I want
you all grouped together first. No one coming up behind
us.”

Another three men appeared from around the
hillside. Seven tiger shifters. They were more outnumbered now than
they’d been facing Petrov.

Mitch touched her shoulder and she glanced up
at him. He stood beside her, his gaze focused on the small group of
men.

“
Are we safe going down there?” she
whispered.

“
For the moment. Sanjay is telling
the truth. At least what he’s admitted out loud is the
truth.”

“
How can you tell?”

“
His scent.”

Reaching out a hand, he helped her to her feet.
Her leg muscles quivered, still exhausted from the run. She held
the rifle in front of her, the barrel pointed toward the ground,
her finger still close enough to the trigger to raise and fire if
she needed to defend herself again. Side by side, she and Mitch
eased down the hill until they stood in front of their
rescuers.

Nila tried reading their expressions, taking a
beat to look at each one, but each face was neutral or openly
friendly. Two of the men smiled broadly at her and nodded in
greeting. Two others actually winked. That startled her into doing
a double take. Well, they didn’t seem to want to kill her. At
least, they were making an effort not to frighten her.

Unfortunately, their efforts were only freaking
her out more.

She caught one of the men looking her over and
narrowed her eyes at him. He had the good grace to look
away.

The impact of what had just happened, of what
she’d had to do, washed over her as her adrenaline ebbed. For a
long, scary moment, she thought she really would throw up. She
leaned forward a little and took several slow breaths through her
teeth as she tried holding back the rising bile.

“
Nila, what’s wrong?” Mitch put a
hand on her shoulder and tried to turn her to face him.

“
Wouldn’t do that. Feel like I’m
gonna barf.”

“
We should get her someplace
comfortable,” Sanjay said. “She looks very pale.”

“
We can’t go back to…where we’ve
been staying,” Mitch said.

“
Our place isn’t too far from
here.”

“
Does she need to be carried?” one
of the other men asked.

He sounded genuinely concerned, which surprised
Nila.

“
We can take turns if she’s not able
to walk,” a third man said.

“
No,” Nila finally spoke up. She
continued breathing deeply, and closed her eyes for a brief moment
to settle herself, then straightened. “I’ll stay on my feet. Thanks
anyway.”

“
Which direction?” Mitch asked
Sanjay.

When Sanjay pointed off to the right, Mitch
took her by the elbow and motioned for the others to lead the way.
His hold didn’t interfere with her grip on the gun, yet his touch
was comforting and reassuring. She smiled up at him. He nodded in
acknowledgement then focused on the others, watching
intently.

They walked for an hour and a half, and more
than once during the journey, Nila thought she might pass out. So
much for not too far.

Mitch shifted from a loose grip on her elbow to
holding her around the waist, practically carrying her after a few
miles. She hated putting so much burden on him—incase he needed to
fight—so she stayed on her own feet, but barely and with only will
keeping her upright.

“
You sure you don’t want me to carry
you,” Mitch murmured into her ear after she let the barrel of the
gun slip and hit the ground. Again.

“
No. If you have to fight, it’ll be
easier to just let go of me than it would be to drop me.” If Mitch
could move and shoot, she could always just lie down and fire her
rifle at anything that got close. At this stage, that was all she’d
be capable of.

One of the leading tigers dropped back to walk
next to them. When he fell in beside Nila, Mitch growled and the
young man jogged around to walk next to Mitch instead. Nila would
have been amused if she wasn’t so worried about something else
going wrong.

“
We’re almost to our cabin,” the
young man assured her, his tone friendly. “I’m Richard, by the
way.” He looked directly at her when he introduced himself. “You’ll
be able to rest there, and eat.”

“
I’m a vegetarian,” she muttered.
She’d always found it a good idea to warn people about that before
they tried feeding her.

The news earned her a surprised frown from
Richard and for the first time he glanced at Mitch. “She doesn’t
eat meat?”

Mitch shook his head.

“
But, how is that
possible?”

Nila gaped at the young man. “It’s possible by
me not actually taking meat into my mouth and swallowing
it.”

She paused after she’d made her claim and
realized with growing embarrassment that if he were so inclined,
Richard could take that statement in an entirely different way than
intended. Heat crawled over her cheeks. She glanced away, hoping no
one noticed her blush. Given the state of her, a red face could
easily be attributed to the day’s heat.

Mitch chuckled and she knew he’d picked up the
accidental double entendre. Her cheeks warmed further.

To Richard, Mitch said, “She’s not like us,
even if her mother was a tiger.”

“
But…but she’s still…”

When Richard trailed off, Nila glanced at him.
He was frowning at the ground. “I’m still what?” she
asked.

“
Well, it’s still possible, right?
For you to mate with a tiger?”

Being asked outright left her flummoxed. She
didn’t know what to say.

But maybe it was better if all these men
didn’t
believe she could give them children. She was very
outnumbered here, and according to Mitch, and Irina and Max for
that matter, most males were not likely to get a mate. Their
desperation wouldn’t work in her favor.

Richard’s nostrils flared and his chest
expanded as he breathed in deeply. Then he smiled. “I’m sure
everything will work out,” he said.

She knew the smile and tone were meant to be
reassuring, but since the expression never reached his green eyes,
Nila remained wary. Richard trotted back to join the others several
yards ahead.

When he was gone, Mitch’s arm tightened around
her waist. “Stay near me. I don’t trust these guys.”

“
You’re not the only
one.”

They finally reached a huge multi-story cabin
near the edge of a small lake. Nila took in the area, noting the
beautiful setting and the luxury of the house. But she was too
exhausted to really appreciate any of it. If she didn’t get some
food soon, she’d move past hunger into that nauseous place where
she wouldn’t be able to eat. Or she’d pass out.

Sanjay dropped back to them, stopping just in
front of Mitch and gesturing at the cabin. “Welcome. This is our
shared home. You can stay here as long as you like. Whatever we
have is yours.”

This last he said directly to Nila, a very
slight smile curving his lips. She decided to ignore the possible
innuendo and instead said, “I just need something to eat. Then
Mitch and I have a few things to discuss.”

Like what they were going to do now. Did they
dare go back to John’s cabin, or did they have to find a way to a
new safe house now? She still had the phone. They could call
someone to come help them. But who could they trust? And how would
they avoid Petrov finding out where they were again? She was sure
he hadn’t left the area.

“
You can stay as long as you like,”
Sanjay said. “We’ll help protect you, Nila. Petrov and his
followers won’t dare attack you here with so many males to defend
you.”

“
Uh, thanks. I appreciate the
offer.” She wasn’t about to commit to anything, but she didn’t want
to reveal her distrust too blatantly.

“
I’m sure you’ll find the place to
your liking. You won’t ever want to leave.” Sanjay smiled
broadly.

Nila was sure he was still trying to be
reassuring and friendly, but all she could think about was serial
killers and cults. Did tiger shifters have cults? Or serial
killers?

Shit.

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Sanjay led them into the house. The others had
already gone inside. They reappeared fully dressed shortly after
she and Mitch stepped through the front door. The clothing was
something of a relief. She wasn’t used to feeling quite so
overdressed just having clothing on.

Nila stopped just inside the front door and
stared. The house was as luxurious inside as it appeared outside.
Thick rugs covered hardwood floors. Two circular stairways at
opposite ends of the large main room lead to the upper levels. Off
to the right, a bright open plan kitchen took up an entire corner
of the house.

The living room boasted a giant fireplace
against one wall and floor to ceiling windows looking out over the
lake. The room had high ceilings, making the first floor feel even
larger. To the left a hall led into other parts of the
house.

Nila was nearly overwhelmed. The house reminded
her of the kind of places you saw in architecture or interior
design magazines. Everything was so clean and neatly arranged.
There were even flowers in a glass vase on the coffee table in the
middle of the sitting area in front of the fireplace.

Flowers?

That wasn’t the only detail that struck her
as…well a little odd for a cabin retreat for a collection of men.
There was no television in the living room, no radio, no technology
of any kind. Even John had a radio in his place. Maybe they just
didn’t like technology, but still…

There weren’t any empty beer cans, no random
food containers or cups left behind. The place was spotless. The
throw pillows on the couch were fluffed and perfectly arranged. The
rugs covering the floor were angled to accent different
areas.

They either had a maid who looked after things
for them, they were an unusual collective of men, or there was a
woman living here somewhere.

The whole thing felt very…strange. The place
was not consistent with her preconceived notions of men out camping
in the backwoods.

Maybe you should dump preconceived notions when
it comes to tiger shapeshifters, she thought.

Sanjay showed her and Mitch to the couch. She
set her gun on the floor at her feet, since the weapon would be
unwieldy in close confines anyway, but noticed Mitch kept his gun
close to hand. They’d barely sat when platters of food started
appearing before them. She smiled when she noticed the only plate
with meat on it was set in front of Mitch.

The men were all very polite and solicitous.
Would you like something to drink? How do you take your tea? Do you
need more cheese? We can make a full brunch if you’re still
hungry.

They’d set enough food in front of her to feed
three people, so she assured them she was fine. Once Mitch
confirmed he was satisfied, each of the men finally introduced
themselves.

She was trying to focus on one man at a time,
and failing miserably at remembering names, when a handsome Asian
man stepped forward. He had short cropped black hair and deep brown
eyes. Bowing his head in greeting, he introduced himself as Dr.
Ryan Yin.

His mention of being a doctor piqued her
interest. “Where do you practice? What’s your
specialty?”

Ryan smiled. “I’m a surgeon. I work in Boston,
but I’m on leave at the moment.”

She was about to ask another question when he
was nudged aside by yet another man, this one blond-haired and
blue-eyed who introduced himself as Jim.

She smiled and nodded as each man made a play
for her attention. There were more than the original seven she
realized, looking around the large sitting area. At least ten,
maybe twelve men hovered near. The realization made her swallow
hard.

After the rush of introductions and attempts to
stand out from one another, Nila finally held up a hand and asked
for a break. “Just a little fresh air. I’m so full now I’m getting
sleepy.”

“
You can take a nap if you like,”
one of the men, she thought his name was Pat, pushed close to say.
“We have plenty of beds. You’re welcome to any of them. Mine is
just down the hall there.” He pointed to show the way.

“
No. That’s fine. I don’t really
need a nap. Just some air.” She turned to face a scowling Mitch.
“Will you walk out onto the porch with me?”