Therian Prize: 5 (Therian Heat) (32 page)
Read Therian Prize: 5 (Therian Heat) Online
Authors: Cyndi Friberg
“Nate is not dead, mistress.” Tias spoke with obvious effort as she lightly placed her hand on Zophiel’s wrist. “He was alive when Eli saw the cats lock him in one of the underground rooms.”
“Don’t patronize me.” She shoved the human back as she released her throat. “If the cats have Nate, he’s dead. They know too much about what he’s done to let him live.” At least she’d had one final night with him before this thing unraveled. Even if he hadn’t been as rough with her as he’d been when he thought she was human, she’d enjoyed herself immensely. She tried to dismiss the entire incident as a pointless distraction but her temper still simmered. “I am so sick of men fucking up my plans.”
“Are you referring to Nate or the cats?”
Her only response to the question was a caustic glare. “I want you to kill Milliner. I won’t have him second-guessing my decisions or countermining my orders. Our partnership will work better without a man gumming up the gears.” She dared the human to argue with another caustic glare.
Tias rubbed her throat, her face averted. She’d been so delightfully awed when Zophiel first appeared in the flesh. Unfortunately her fear and wonder had quickly turned to suspicion. Zophiel had chosen to work with Tias because of the human’s superior intelligence. Now she was starting to wonder if Tias was too smart for her own good.
“May I point out a consideration, mistress?” There had been a distinct pause before she added the title, making it sound almost mocking.
“Regarding?”
“Milliner.”
Zophiel tensed. “Are you refusing a direct order?”
“Of course not, mistress. If you want him dead, I’ll kill him, but there are a few things you need to understand. Milliner, Roberto and I never trusted each other. Mistrust is inevitable with this sort of collaboration. So Milliner made our contract with the US Military contingent upon his participation in the program. If anything happens to him, we lose this building as well as all of our military supply lines. We are finally operating at full capacity. I would hate to face relocation
again
.”
“Crafty bastard.” Zophiel sent her hair flying with a sharp toss of her head. “Fine. We’ll continue to work around him. Tell me something good. I need a glimmer of hope or I’m going to do some real damage.” The flash of fear in Tias’ eyes helped calm Zophiel.
“I’ve located Serra, our little runaway.” She sounded ridiculously hopeful, like an insecure child attempting to please a difficult parent. “I haven’t recovered her yet, but I’ve pinpointed her location.”
“I’d like to know how she got out in the first place. There is no way she did it without help.”
Impatience flashed through Tias’ gaze before she successfully calmed her expression. “I’m looking into that as well. Would you like to know where I found her?”
“At the cat sanctuary?”
“How did you know?”
Zophiel rolled her eyes and turned away from the human. Maybe Tias wasn’t as sharp as she’d first thought. “Where else could a tiger hide? It’s not like they’re allowed to roam free in the streets.” She raked her hair with her hand, not sure what she needed. “You will bring her back?”
“I’ve set a plan in motion, but it might take a day or two.”
“Why?” She spun back around. “Drive over there with a truck and demand that they release our property. They can’t refuse without revealing that they know she’s more than an ordinary tiger.”
“It’s
tigress
and we can’t demand her release without revealing our location.”
Zophiel hated to admit it but the human had a point. “Then what’s your plan?” Tias opened her mouth but Zophiel raised her hand. “Never mind. I really don’t care. Send me a text and let me know if you’re successful. I’ll be back in a couple of days.”
Anything-but-Ordinary is a creed I try to reflect in my writing. Though all of my books have a paranormal twist, the main focuses remain love, loyalty and the struggle for redemption. My writing has won numerous awards and appeared on several best-seller lists. (Amazon, Fictionwise and All Romance Ebooks, to name a few.)
I live in Colorado with my high school sweetheart turned husband of many years. With a pampered cat curled on the corner of my desk, I dream of faraway worlds and larger-than-life adventures—and wouldn’t have it any other way!
Cyndi welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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Cyndi Friberg
Therian Heat 1: Therian Priestess
Therian Heat 3: Therian Promise
Therian Heat 4: Therian Prisoner
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Therian Prize
ISBN 9781419946769
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Therian Prize Copyright © 2013 Cyndi Friberg
Edited by Beverly Horne
Cover design by Syneca and Michelle
Cover photography by RomanceNovelCovers.com
Electronic book publication June 2013
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