Trancing the Tiger (Chinese Zodiac Romance Series Book 1) (28 page)

She straightened her posture and swirled the contents of Lucy’s mug to erase the reading. “We’re finished here.”

“Finished what?” A menacing inquiry demanded from the corridor.

Fuck. How the hell hadn’t he detected anyone sneaking up on them? Sheng shot to his feet and whirled to greet the intruder.

Boar. Crap. Snake must have sent Boar to spy on Lucy after their meeting at the Council Chambers.

“Just having tea,
mate
.” Sheng grated the greeting, fists clenched at his sides. On edge, Tiger readied to pounce at the slightest provocation.

“Funny. I heard talk of dragons.” Boar folded his arms across the expanse of his chest, stretching to his full height. A flash of the beast inside flared in his eyes.

“Must have heard wrong.” Sheng brushed him aside, lending a hand to help Lucy to her feet.

“No, I fucking didn’t.” Boar shoved him, knocking him straight into Lucy.

Sheng tumbled on top of her, shattering the chair and smacking them into the floor.

She cried out, making him panic for a second that he’d hurt her, but she brushed away his probing hands. He didn’t get off her, so she swung at him, the blow propelling him aside as if he weighed nothing.

Landing on his side, he twisted to catch sight of Lucy surging upward. At first, the cloaking around her blurred, the spirit animal indistinguishable. Until two massive, leathery wings spread from either side of its body. Plumes of red-gold feathers sprang from the spirit’s head, elbows, and knees as it rose to fill the tight space. Its lionesque head brushed the rafters and the tips of its wings scraped the walls as the beast unfurled its long, snake-like body. A Chinese Dragon, the animal closely resembled a serpent except for its four legs.

His jaw dropped. Dragon had just made its appearance.

He cast a smug smirk at the Matchmaker, but her attention was glued on Lucy’s transformation. Her nails dug into her crossed arms as though she held herself back. Why wasn’t she helping?

Any triumph he’d experienced evaporated. He switched his focus to Lucy. The secret was out long before they’d determined a plan.

Lucy was in danger.

Boar squealed at the sight of the Dragon.

Sheng had to contain this mess. Boar had already spied too much and they’d be screwed if he reported this back to Snake.

He charged toward his enemy’s middle, tackling him to the ground. Tiger cloaked him, lending him the use of razor-sharp claws and teeth. Just as he was about to slice through Boar’s jugular, the swine freed his leg and thrust his foot at Sheng’s middle.

He catapulted through the air, smacking into the wall a few feet away.

A horrendous screech rent the air, and the oxygen in the room sucked inward as the Dragon inhaled. Exhaling, it spewed flames like a fucking nuclear blowtorch.

The paper thin walls of the store instantly caught fire. Boar shrieked in agony, the fiery tendrils lapping over him.

Sheng coughed from the constricting coils of smoke as he crawled to his feet. The Matchmaker pressed a hand on his arm and he nodded. They needed to get Lucy out of here before anyone else observed what she’d done. Before the building came crashing down with them trapped inside this relentless inferno.

He stared into the blazing flares, mesmerized for a moment by the beautiful yet lethal flames—like the ones responsible for his family’s deaths.

Dread’s icy fingers seized his muscles.
Lucy.
He refused to lose her, too. Stamping down his panic, he assessed the situation. How could he soothe the Dragon when the beast seemed hell-bent on torching this place?

Shielding his face from the searing heat with his forearm, he crept toward the Dragon admiring its work. An ominous creak overhead told him the building had a minute or two left before it crumbled on top of them.

“Lucy!” he shouted above the roar of the flames, hoping she still existed in there somewhere, that she hadn’t been buried beneath the strength of two spirit animals. One was hard enough to control.

The Dragon turned luminescent green eyes on him. Cocking its head, the glowing dimmed until the cloaking extinguished. Wasting not a second, he scooped Lucy into his arms as her body fell limp. Dodging flames, he burst through the backdoor into the alley, pieces of the ceiling crashing down behind him. He choked on the smoke in his lungs and searched for the Matchmaker.

Always a woman with a plan, she held open the door to her car. “Get in.”

He crawled inside with Lucy clutched to his chest. The door slammed behind him and, a moment later, the Matchmaker climbed into the driver’s seat. The car lurched forward as they sped away.

Sirens wailed in the distance, likely approaching the carnage they’d left behind. Was Boar dead? Sheng rolled the tension from his shoulders. Chosen were damned hard to kill. If he’d had more time, he would’ve hauled Boar from the wreckage and finished the job, but Lucy had been his priority.

His concern shifted to the
Dragon
inside her.

Let the Matchmaker suck on that.

“You are aware of what you must do, Li.” As if reading his mind, her obsidian gaze met his in the rearview mirror.

He nodded. Yeah, he knew.

“Hide her where even I can’t find you. Speak to no one. Not even the
Kongsi
. I’ll buy as much time as I can for us to figure this out.”

He shuddered at the words she left unspoken. The Council would have to be told. Lucy would be brought before them and subjected to whatever decision they would make.

He’d better come up with a damn good counter-argument before then.

Chapter 22

Lucy moaned, blinking.

“
Shh
, rest.” Sheng’s voice soothed her as his rough, calloused fingers stroked her forehead.

She sighed, her body relaxing into his caress. Until she inhaled again and the scent of smoky fumes invaded her nostrils. She bolted upright, straining against the steel arms wrapped around her. “Fire. There was a fire.” The words babbled out of her mouth as her mind tried to make sense of the images flashing across her vision.

“Ah!” She cried, thrusting a hand to her temple. The images died and the pain subsided.

Odd. As she sniffed again, seeking the smoky scent, her head throbbed in augmenting increments. She cleared her mind, and the pain vanished as if her subconscious didn’t want her to remember.

Remember what?

“Sheng?” She twisted in his arms to observe his grim features.

The wind whipped around them, slashing his hair across his face. Salty spray filled her nostrils, cleansing her nose of the smoke.

Leaning out of his arms, she scanned her surroundings. They were on the water in a boat. “Where are we?”

“Safe.”

“Safe from what?” she pressed, but his focus remained on steering the small vessel through the undulating waves.

She shivered as the wind chilled her, and clutched his warm body.

With his arm secured around her, she snuggled into his lap. She nestled her face against his chest and encircled her arms around his waist, taking comfort in his steady heartbeat. She didn’t recall a thing, yet he was right.

With him, she was safe.

“We’re here.” The boat veered to the right and the dying echo of the motor dulled.

“Where is here?” She lifted her head and glanced behind her.

“I told you. Safe.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and stood, propping her on her feet at his side. He hopped out of the boat first, lifted her in his arms, and deposited her on soft, uneven ground. Sand. They’d landed on a beach, hemmed in by jungle. Clouds filled the sky, the lapping of waves the sole clue to their whereabouts.

“It’s an island.” He elaborated the direction of her conclusions. As he fell silent, that appeared to be the only elaboration he would make. After removing a large pack from the boat, he shrugged it onto his shoulders, seized her hand, and led her inland. They followed an overgrown path into the trees. She tensed, her mind spinning over the various poisonous snakes and other dangerous jungle creatures.

Scorpions. Vipers. Monkeys, even.

His grip on her arm tightened. Oh yeah. No need to worry. Sheng was by far the most ferocious beast in this jungle.

The path ended in a mosaic of stones, and she squinted to make out where he’d led her. An enormous, thatched-roofed structure greeted them. It stood on raised, whitewashed concrete stilts, likely to keep out flood waters. And snakes. Yuck.

The exotic, bungalow-style cottage was more luxurious than any of the other Malaysian cabins she’d observed scattered along the coastline.

He didn’t knock but, instead, withdrew a key. Aha. He owned this place.

“Come inside.” He extended his hand from the open doorway and she accepted it, eager to be out of the jungle. Inside the dim entranceway, the dusty scent of a long-unused dwelling filled her nostrils. The particles tickled her nose, and she sneezed.

“Sorry. I’ll air things out. You stay here, okay?” To emphasize his command, he plunked her down by the shoulders, forcing her to sit on the narrow bench gracing one side of the hall.

After shucking his shoes, he slid the door behind her closed and disappeared from view.

Left alone, she tried to focus on how they’d landed here, but the pounding migraine that surfaced at her attempts proved discouragement enough. She frowned at her hands, nestled in her lap.

Sheng approached a few minutes later, the room behind him lit with candles. An airy breeze fluttered through the cabin, carrying sweet floral notes.

“Are you hungry? Tired?” He knelt and slipped off her shoes, the murmur of his inquiry as soft as the caress he gave her ankles. He grasped her hand and lifted her to her feet.

She tilted back her head. “Puzzled.”

“Oh?” One black brow arched. His body relaxed, and a grin crept into his expression. The strain of the past few hours evaporated into…playfulness. He bent forward and nuzzled her cheek. His stiffening arousal pressed into her belly, screaming one conclusive fact.

On this island, they were very alone.

“Don’t worry about anything, okay? You’re safe here, with me.”

His murmured assurances should have soothed her, but his quick change of subject pricked the hairs on the back of her neck. She shrugged out of his grasp and stepped past him to follow the hallway.

Above their heads, half a dozen fans circulating the humid air were nestled into an elaborately crafted design of wooden planks. The same warm, golden brown teak hardwood composed the walls and floor of the open-concept layout. Several rectangular columns divided the room into cozy sections. A modern kitchen graced one corner near the long dining table, while another led into a sunken living room furnished with a plushly cushioned rattan sofa.

Sheng led her through a back door and onto a walkway. They passed several other, smaller cabins before the walkway spiraled upward to a hut nestled into the trees.

As she poked her head inside the doorway, Sheng growled low. “This one’s mine. You’ll be staying here.”

She tensed as he stalked up behind her to nuzzle her hair. Instead of accompanying her inside, though, he pressed a kiss to her forehead and wandered back down the walkway.

Too tired to argue, she trudged through the room to plop on the bed. After she pulled the mosquito netting closed, she snuggled beneath the sheets and drifted off.

***

Sheng paced the length of the kitchen, raking his hands through his hair. What the hell was he supposed to do? Fucking wait here while the Council decided Lucy’s fate? Place their safety in the Matchmaker’s calculating hands? He’d never handled trusting others with his fate. No way would he do the same with Lucy’s. She meant too damn much to him, Dragon or not.

Tiger chuffed in extreme satisfaction at having discovered his
yang
at last. The other spirits would come flocking in, the combined energy of Tiger and Dragon drawing them like moths. Together, they would locate and defeat the Plague God.

How had Lucy acquired the Dragon? If she was indeed a
Shèhúnzéi
, a Spirit Thief, who knew what else she could do? The term sank into his mind. Pretty much everyone discounted the notion of an ability to steal spirits—from Chosen and other hosts too.

If Boar survived the fire, Sheng bet right about now Snake and the Ghee Hin were flipping out. Lucy had just become the most prized asset in their rivalry for the upper hand, making her one hell of a responsibility to protect.

At least Dragon had proven itself more than capable of defending both Lucy and the Rabbit. He shuddered, recalling Dragon’s ferocity. Thank fuck that beast was on his side. If Snake ever got his foul hands on the spirit or Lucy… He fisted his hands. The Jade Emperor would never allow it. Or so he hoped.

Ignoring the Matchmaker’s warning to keep this to himself, he plucked the satellite phone from the counter and dialed.

Fang picked up on the first ring. “Where’ve you been, Li?” His voice pitched high and then low as he explained. “We’re frantic over here.”

“You know where I am.”

His cryptic answer received a grunt. “That bad?”

“Yep.”

“Reinforcements?”