The Blind Tiger: An Unusual Paranormal Romance (11 page)

THE DUEL

“Hello, brother.”

Noah raised his head towards the familiar voice.

It was his voice – though it was tougher, more rugged, more confident.

He was in darkness, naturally. But there was a brittle tang to the air, and he knew that there were many people around them, watching.

“We meet, finally,” Kyle said.

Noah did not say anything. He was using all his senses to assimilate the situation. His brother would be his mirror image. He remembered the last sight he had seen – more than eight years ago.

*

Hello, brother.

Kyle’s face was before his eyes. Smiling.

Jonas lay on the ground. They were in an arena at the edge of a cliff. All around them were hills and forest, and the air was sharp and crisp with the tang of blood. Their kin surrounded them – cousins, elders, the children of elders.

He had been defeated in the duel. His body wore grievous wounds. Both his brother and him had metamorphosed back into their human selves. They were both naked.

Kyle said, “This is the moment I kill you so that you can no longer be a threat to my reign.”

Jonas has many broken bones in his body, but he felt them knitting even as he lay there in excruciating pain.

His brother went to get the sword. Earlier in the duel before they had transformed into their tiger aspects, they had both used swords in the mandatory ten-minute fight in their human forms, as was the custom. Jonas knew what awaited him next.

Decapitation.

Desperation gave him strength. He got up. As his brother returned with the sword, he knew he had no more energy to fight his brother.

With one last boost of whatever power was left to him, he rolled his body to the edge of the cliff. Then he let himself fall into the ravine.

He didn’t remember much what happened after that.

All he knew was that when he woke up, he was in total darkness. There was a searing throb in his head. Perhaps he had been in a coma for weeks. Perhaps not. But he could no longer see in his human form. The part of his brain that afforded him sight had been damaged in his human form forever.

His final sight had been of his brother, coming at him with the sword with
his
face.
His
mirror image. His brother was the possibility of what he might become if he gave in to the greed and darkness that had always been the shroud of their family.

As he lay in the bottom of the ravine, his body recovering, he swore an oath:

“For as long as I live, I will never take a human or shifter life. I will not become my brother. I will not give in to the darkness that plagues our tiger kin.”

But that was then.

Now, he had a family to protect.

*

“You have been the elusive one.” Kyle’s voice in front of him was mocking, beguiling. “Do you know where you are?”

“In one of your arenas, no doubt.”

“You denied me a clean victory the last time we met, brother.”

“Why don’t you just kill me now and spare us the theatrics?” Noah said caustically.

“Then where would the pleasure be, brother?”

“At least let my mate and child go.”

“So that they would be a constant thorn of revenge in my side?” Kyle laughed. It was the same laugh that Noah remembered from childhood.

I beat you in everything, little brother. Though we are only minutes apart, I’m far better than you are in everything.

“Then you are no better than a coward,” Noah replied. He was aware that some of their kin had been gathered around them, as was the custom. Elders and kin were needed to witness total alpha victory if such duels were carried out. “Only cowards seek sport with others weaker than themselves.”

“And only cowards run from their fates, as you did, brother.”

“I have no quarrel with you, Kyle. I did not wish us to harm each other. That was why I ran.”

It was true. He had no wish to embrace the darkness within himself.

“I have no quarrel with you either, Jonas. Your only bane in life was to be born minutes after me. But you are right in many ways. It would be no victory for me to defeat a blind man. Therefore, we will duel in this manner. There will be no requisite ten-minute combat with weapons of our choice in our human forms.”

He paused. Noah was tense, listening to everything – not only to what his brother was saying, but other possible sounds that might betray who was in the audience.

Kyle continued, “We will proceed to do combat in our tiger incarnations. I have learned many things about you in your absence, brother. I know that you can
see
in your tiger aspect. So it will be a fair fight.”

Noah nodded slowly. It was as fair a deal as he could get.

Only . . . Kyle was a battle-hardened warrior in either one of his aspects. Noah was merely a survivor with a pregnant mate and child.

“Are you ready to begin?” Kyle said.

ABOVE THE ARENA

The arena was merely an area of flat, rocky land at the edge of a cliff. Around them were lush, verdant mountains. The cliff plunged to the tree-filled ravine a couple of hundred feet down.

Karen shivered. It wasn’t cold. Bali was eternally tropical. But she had a bad, bad feeling that something momentous was about to happen here.

She was not allowed to go closer to the arena, but she could see what was happening down there from her vantage on higher ground. More than a dozen people were gathered around the arena.

“Do you see him?” Zach said from behind her.

She strained her eyes.

Then she saw him.

Noah!

But wait, there was another man who looked just like him. It had to be Kyle, Noah’s twin. They were speaking to each other. She couldn’t hear what was being said. They were too far away.

“Talking terms of the duel, no doubt,” Zach said, clearly enjoying himself.

He was deplorable, she thought.

Then Kyle backed off.

Karen’s heart bolted to her throat. The twins were going to fight. One of them was going to die, and she knew that the odds were stacked against her husband.

Just then, Kitty pointed at the arena.

“Daddy!” she cried.

THE RALLY

Noah heard his daughter’s cry from somewhere up there, and he knew that she was watching this.

He felt rather than heard his brother shift, and he shifted, too. The body of the beast tore his clothes apart. The power surged through him, and his sightless eyes were filled with images once again.

Foremost among them was the image of his brother, the alpha tiger, springing at him – teeth bared, claws out.

Noah feinted and rolled on the ground in a whiplash move. His brother crashed onto the rocky bed beside him.

I can’t lose. My family needs me
.

Both tigers attacked each other, growling and snapping at anything within reach. Noah felt his brother’s teeth sink into his flank even as he wrapped his jaws around his brother’s leg. It was going to be a very tough fight. Whatever wounds they inflicted upon each other would immediately start healing. Flesh would close up. Blood vessels would contract to minimize bleeding.

It would take a very large beating to knock one of them out. Pretty much like the one his brother delivered to him eight years ago. Even a bite to the jugular would not guarantee victory.

Claws slashed, delivering what would be killing strokes to another animal or human being. Fangs ripped fur and flesh. Dust flew around their writhing bodies. As the fight continued, Noah was acutely aware of a keening in the background. His daughter was crying.

In a snapshot, he took in who the spectators were. His cousin, Argyla, and her brother, Ken. Three of the elders. Pascale, the mediator. Then, higher on the mountain – on a natural ledge – his wife clinging onto his daughter. Zach flanked them along with his goons.

As he fought, the strange conversation he had with Zach replayed in the back of his mind.

I became very interested in human conditioning.

You lost because, unlike your brother and myself, you never did have that killing instinct within you.

If you plan on dying when your brother is finally through with you, he will take your daughter and give your wife to me for my own pleasure.

Noah suddenly realized what Zach had done.

The entire vicious exchange had been a motivational tool. Zach had basically been telling him to break out of his fugue and KILL, and he gave him a reason to.

Give yourself up to the darkness of killing for a nobler cause
.
And there is no nobler cause than the lives of your wife and child.

But how could you kill a being that was almost impossible to kill? Even Kyle couldn’t kill him all those years ago. They could both wear each other down, but it might take hours – like the last time. And Noah suspected that he wouldn’t be the one left standing if he let natural combat take its toll.

And Noah didn’t really want to kill his brother, despite everything. It would break something fundamental within his soul, and it would forever haunt him.

So he would leave it to the fates.

He summoned every ounce of power in his body. His brother’s back was to the cliff. Then he lunged at Kyle with all his momentum and strength.

He could see the momentary look of surprise in Kyle’s eyes as they both sailed over the cliff.

This time, he could hear Karen scream.

THE FATES

Dow, down, they went – two hundred feet down into the ravine. Noah was aware of Kyle’s rage as they both fell together in their tiger bodies. He also remembered the last time he had fallen off a cliff. He had barely survived and been permanently blinded in his human form.

The topmost tree branches struck his body. After that, it became a rapid succession of blows as the lower and bigger branches struck him. The impact was very severe, and he blacked out before reaching the ground.

The last image before his eyes was of Karen and Kitty – their faces pleading with him and their arms flung out.

Don’t leave us.

It was too late.

At least, if he died and took his brother with him, it was all up to the gods to decide, as such things should be.

*

Noah opened his eyes.

At least, he tried to open them.

People surrounded him. He heard voices, and he sensed that he was in his human form because his eyes saw nothing but blankness.

So that hadn’t changed. He was still blind.

“Noah!” It was Karen’s anxious voice.

He tried to call her name, but the darkness swallowed him once more.

*

When he woke up again, he was lying on something soft. A bed, perhaps. A tube was stuck down his windpipe, and his limbs were numb. He didn’t even feel pain.

A familiar hand clutched his.

“Noah.” Karen’s gentle voice. “You’re safe. Just rest. We will take care of you.”

She was here! Which meant that she was safe. Kitty was safe!

He could rest now and let his body mend.

He lapsed into unconsciousness again.

*

He went through many starts and stops like this, until one day, his consciousness seized hold of him and didn’t let go.

“Karen?” His voice was feeble, weak, and his throat was parched.

Her hand, gripping him once more. “I’m here.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Two weeks. But you’re mending.”

“Where am I?”

“With your cousins, Argyla and Ken. They rented a safe house. Their healers have done what they can for you. You’re going to be alright.”

He could hear the relief in her voice.

“And what about Kyle?” he asked tersely. The only way that Karen could be safe was that if something happened to Kyle.

“He’s also in the house, mending.” Karen’s voice was hushed. “They think that the fall has paralyzed him permanently from the neck down.”

Noah received this with mixed emotions. So the fates had cast their dice.

“What’s important is that you’re alive.” Karen’s hold on his hand was very tight. “We’re alive.”

He smiled. “Yes, we are.”

But were they home free?

“Where’s Kitty?”

“With your cousin. I’ll get her for you. She’s been asking about her Daddy.”

“And the baby? Did Zach hurt you in any way?”

“No, he didn’t. He made all sorts of threats, but when everything else happened, Argyla took over and dismissed him.”

That was Argyla all right. Noah allowed himself a smile. He remembered his cousin well – a fiery and headstrong redheaded woman who was more tigress than human. If females were allowed to be alpha, Argyla would make a damn fine one.

“Karen?”

“Yes?” She had already gone to the door to get Kitty.

“About Zach?” He told her what had happened in the car. “I believe he wanted me to kill my brother and not the other way around. It was psychological manipulation, but he clinched the decision for me.”

“You didn’t kill your brother. You didn’t break your moral code of no killing.”

“I know. I took another path out. I left it to the gods to decide which one of us lives or dies.”

“From anyone else, I would have thought that it was a foolish thing to do. But I understand why you did it.”

Noah smiled. “I’d like to think that Zach wanted me to live for you.”

He could hear the wistfulness in her voice. “I wish it were that simple, but I think he’s a lot more complicated than both of us put together. Now do you want to see your daughter or not, in a manner of speaking?”

“Yes, or I’ll never hear the end of it from her.”

They both laughed.

Karen left to get Kitty. Noah lay back in bed, thinking of everything and what must happen next.

*

It was something he had to do. After all, they were in the same safe house.

As soon as he could walk, Noah limped on crutches to the other side of the house.

“Do you wish me to be with you, cousin?” Argyla asked.

“No. I think I have to do this by myself.”

“I understand.”

Noah paused outside the door to his brother’s room. Then he pushed it open.

“Hello, brother,” said the familiar voice. It was slightly edgy now, and a bit more broken. “Have you come to gloat?”

“I think you know me better than that, Kyle.”

Noah could sense Kyle’s presence on the bed. He knew with his sixth sense that his brother would never walk again, just as he himself had been permanently blinded.

Kyle said bitterly, “You might as well kill me and get it over with.”

“I can’t and won’t kill you. And if you still can’t and won’t understand that, then I pity you. Not because you’re paralyzed, but because you’ve never attempted to understand any path that isn’t yours.”

Kyle laughed harshly. “No, I pity you, brother. You’ll always be weak.”

“Believe whatever you want to believe.” Noah turned to go away.

“You won’t last a day as alpha,” Kyle called after him.

“I’ve already lasted four weeks,” Noah replied as he exited the room on his crutches.