His Purrfect Mate (21 page)

“
He won’t let you me touch
him, and I don’t want to stress him any more than my presence is.
Do you think you can convince him to get up if I leave the
room?”

“
I’ll try.”

Kees grabbed the dirty bedding and walked
out. Aida did as much as she could without moving the tiger. “Okay,
tiger-mine. I need you to get up. I have to get your other side
cleaned.” She stared into the eye which watched her. “Come on, up
ya get.” Aida touched the side of his face. “It’s not like you’re a
small tabby cat here.”

Large lips lifted briefly, exposing pearly
white canines. He struggled to get to his feet. Chuckling slightly,
Aida finished fixing the bed as quickly as possible, crawling under
the tiger without thinking about how wise it may be.

“
Okay,” she said once
finished. “Down you go.” The cat lay down and immediately watched
her again. Aida grabbed the dirty blankets and carried them to
where Kees waited.

“
Got it done then?” he
asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Okay. Let’s get some food
in them, and you can tell me what the hell is going on
here.”

With a nod, they got some mashed food and
sat down, Kees with her boys and she sat by the large feline. “Just
don’t bite me, tiger-mine,” she said, pushing the bowl near his
mouth.

“
Anytime, Aida,” Kees
reminded her.

Chapter Ten

Dane sat crouched on the
branch, hidden by the thick foliage. While he couldn’t shift here,
he found he still retained the strength, grace, and agility of his
tiger. He observed the fifteen bodies between him and where he
needed to be.
He was right. I can
hurt.
A fact Dane didn’t mind. For if one
was dead, they no longer felt pain.

Hang on, Aida,
solnyshko moyo
, hang
on.

He longed to run along the branches, but
Dane forced himself to wait. These weren’t ordinary humans, dead or
not. These were beings with unique gifts as well. Plus he was
already injured. When the time came, he figured he’d have one shot
only. That was going to require him being relatively healthy. And
fast.

They were fighting amongst themselves down
there, and Dane listened to the bickering, realizing this may be
his ace in the hole. His military mind planned while time counted
down. A flurry of activity drew his attention from the squabbling
group. A faction of five approached. Dane hissed silently. These
weren’t dead; centuries of being an enforcer had taught him how to
recognize the difference. The one in the lead struck out and
decapitated one of the fifteen. The corpse disintegrated, and the
remaining fourteen stepped back, heads lowered in deference.

Dane ran soundlessly along
the branches, moving closer. A gateway tempted him when it
appeared.
I can make that with one
leap.
Seconds before he burst from hiding,
Dane stopped himself.
No way. Too
easy.

As silently as he’d approached, he backed
off. Then, he ran back toward the moss-shrouded area. The rancid
stench of Drekflen assaulted his nose. Jumping from the trees to
the ground, Dane stared at the gray-green brackish-like liquid
between him and the moss-covered area.

Picking up a branch, he tossed it onto the
surface. There was no splash. The wood sat there for maybe two
seconds before the top layer rose up around part of the stick
before hardening. Then, flames incinerated it.

Well, that’s
pleasant.
Lucky I wasn’t hoping for
anything to be easy.

“
Sidorov!” The single word
dripped with venom.

Dane turned slowly to find Slim observing
him. “Slim.” His old unit commander looked pretty much the same as
he had when he’d killed him.

“
I thought being dead
would suck. Imagine my joy when I find out you are here, and I get
the chance to inflict endless pain on you. Day in and day
out.”

“
Sorry to disappoint you,
but I’m not staying,” Dane said without inflection.

Soulless eyes narrowed. “Where are you
going?”

“
Back to the land of the
living. Your Master must be pissed at you. You were given power,
and you still got bested.”

“
I always knew you were a
freak,” Slim bit off. “Back at the very beginning. I
always
knew.”

He shrugged easily. “And yet when you sold
your soul for a fraction of the power I have, you died soon after.
So that makes you, what, a failure as both human and freak.”

Slim pulled a weapon from the back of his
pants. “I’m looking forward to making you bleed.”

Glancing back towards the shrouded area,
Dane sighed before looking at Slim again. “I don’t have time for
this.”

“
You have nothing but
time.”

Sorry, I don’t think
so.
“Don’t you have some dead thing to
fuck,
Colonel
?”

Before Slim could respond, another figure
stepped from the trees and approached. Siyamak. Dane focused more
on him. His blue eyes now stared soullessly from his head.

“
Don’t be stupid, Slim,”
Siyamak said in an annoyed tone. “You can’t beat him.”

“
Yes, I—”

Siyamak flicked one hand
to the side, and Slim was launched violently and swiftly through
the air to crash into the trunk of the tree. “Don’t
ever
refute me, Slim,”
Siyamak snapped, asserting his power.

Dane continued to watch the one who’d
attacked his mate. The voices grew in time with his anger until he
realized he was losing control again. Quelling it, he forced
himself to relax. Siyamak continued to just stare at him.

“
Something on your mind?”
Dane asked, adjusting his body so he could see the mossed area as
well.

“
Why do you persist in
your belief you can save her?”

Dane ignored him. His analytical mind
searching for an entry point into the lair of the one who called
himself the Master.

“
She doesn’t wait for
you.”

That got his attention. “What are you
talking about?”

Siyamak gestured, and Dane could see Aida,
his Aida. Kees stood with her and pulled off her shirt. Dane
rumbled in anger, and the view disappeared when Kees stepped closer
to her.

“
More child’s tricks?” he
asked, refusing to even entertain the idea she’d go to Kees.
Aida is my mate!

Siyamak grinned evilly. “I am here to show
you where your army awaits you.”

Dane stared at him. Siyamak’s disposition
seemed off. Odd even. “Why aren’t you trying to fight me?”

The man shrugged. “You will be my commanding
officer. I don’t need you to want revenge for an attack which
wouldn’t kill you anyway.” He gestured. “Shall we?”

One glance back to the moss and Dane said,
“Lead on.”

They walked for a while, Dane noticed no one
tried any more assaults but their stares were less than
welcoming.

“
How is it this place is
so lush with life, being where we are?” he asked after a
bit.

“
The Master has many
beings at his disposal. He enjoys…using their talents.”

Dane stopped and looked at his escort. For a
brief second, he swore there was uncontrollable rage in those eyes.
“So he forces them to do it?”

Siyamak’s eyes flashed. “Not everyone around
here agrees with the Master.”

“
I see. Then why don’t
they rise up against him?”

“
No
one
goes against the Master,”
Siyamak stated with vehemence even while he scratched his
neck.

Dane touched his own neck, heart leaping
with hope when he felt the leather cord from the necklace Aida
gifted him with. He made sure it was tucked under his shirt.
Glancing back to Siyamak, he noted the man’s eyes were once again
cold and unfeeling. Dead.

Curious
. Could something else be going on here?

“
Here is your army,”
Siyamak said, waving his hand down into the valley below where they
stood on the rim.

Fuck!
There were tens of thousands. “Where would I be leading
them?”
May as well find out all I can
while I’m here.

“
The Master would be the
one to impart that information to you.”

Dane closed his eyes, shutting out the
unending wave of minion voices and dug deep for his cat. In a dark
corner, he found him. Dying.

No! You must not die.

I cannot survive without
you,
the tiger answered, sounding
defeated.

Dane could feel the cloud
creeping in again, concealing his animal from him.
Don’t give up. We will be together again, and we
will go get our mate.

Our mate?

Yes. I need you to protect her. I can’t get
to her right now.

Tired. So tired.

Me ,too, old friend. Hang in there. I need
you to do something for me.

Dane felt the pain of being removed from his
feline again as he gave him his message. He opened his eyes to find
Siyamak watching him.

“
Problem?”

Dane fought back a snarl. “Why am I being
kept from my tiger?”

“
Thought you would try to
find him. When you are completely the Master’s, he will allow you
both to be together again.”

Of course I would.
“Right.”
That’s never
going to happen.
Dane turned his back on
the massive army below and walked away.

“
Where are you
going?”

“
Back to my
mate.”

“
Pointless.” Siyamak
appeared in front of him.

Dane curled his lip in warning. “Never.”

“
You cannot defeat the
Master.”

Dane shrugged. “So everyone tells me.” He
moved around Siyamak and kept going. A few steps later, and Siyamak
walked beside him. “What?”

“
I want to watch. It’s
been a while since someone thought to leave. This may be
fun.”

Dane glared at him but
remained silent as he strode back to the area he wanted into. After
a brief stare at it, he headed into the nearby trees. Siyamak
remained beside him. With grace, Dane leapt up to a thick branch
and sat with his back to the trunk.
I’ll
find a way back to you,
solnyshko
moyo
. Trust me, I will return to
you.
Closing his eyes, he began gathering
his strength. One hand curled around the teardrop
pendant.

“
Sidorov!”

Dane came to full alertness immediately.
Jumping down, he watched as the so-called Master walked out from
his space, fully cloaked.

“
Letting me go?” he asked,
preparing for anything.

“
I’ve changed my mind. I’m
going for her now. But I wanted to let you see her one more time
before I drink her soul.”

One hand balled into a
fist. “It won’t work. Killing her won’t get me to be your slave. I
will
never
lead
your army.”

The man pushed back his hood and said, “Look
upon your new Master.”

Dane stared. The pale skin almost
pearlescent. The figure before him was pretty with delicate
features. Where his eyes should have been were black flames. As he
stared, Dane could feel the anguish of all the souls trapped within
him.

“
You’ll never be my
master.”

Ater malum
appeared, and with a wave of his hand, the Master
opened a gateway. “Watch me kill your mate. I will suck her soul
and make her mine.” He walked to the portal which hovered over the
shit that Dane knew would incinerate him in a matter of
seconds.

“
No!” he
yelled.

Picking up the nearest creature, Dane heaved
him toward the retreating figure. The thing screeched and writhed
in agony then went up in flames.

A maniacal laugh reached him. “You want out,
Sidorov? Come on.”

Dane looked at the
remaining
ater malum
and snarled at them. With incredible speed, he began throwing
them out on the surface he needed to cross. He jumped on their
bodies and continued on before they burst into flame.

The Master paused before the gateway and
said, “Sorry. Not good enough.” A bolt of green raced toward
him.

Beneath his feet, Dane knew the only thing
keeping him from the fire was about to ignite.

Aida!

The lance of green energy never reached him.
The Master vanished through the portal, and Dane had no words for
his shock when Siyamak appeared between him and the shaft of
power.

“
Go, Dane!” he hollered.
“Through the moss. Your tiger is there.”

Dane saw the thing he personally stood on
begin to incinerate. Around his feet, he saw a glow of pink but
ignored it and gathered the last bit of his energy then jumped.
Right before he hit the moss, an orange tiger flew past and hit it.
The large feline screamed in agony before it turned to ash, but
there remained a rift in the moss. Dane lunged for it, the stuff
burned like acid where it touched him. He hit the ground and spun
around in time to see back through the closing hole. Siyamak
erupted into a ball of green fire then he could see no more.

Thank you, Siyamak.
He understood now. While he’d had to kill Siyamak
for crossing the line—the line he’d been fighting for so long to
defeat the darkness—and giving in to the darkness, part of the man
he’d once been had still remained within him. The Master had been
able to control him but had never had total control, which was why
at the end, Siyamak had given up his own damned existence to save
Dane and give him a chance to be free and back with
Aida.