by Elle Thorne
This thing between their tigers, she couldn’t understand it, but also couldn’t deny it. There was a connection. It was deeper than anything she’d ever considered could exist between a man or a woman, even a shifter and his mate.
“Let’s go back,” he repeated, jarring her thoughts to the present.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
She couldn’t tell him. Who would believe her anyway, a vanishing tigress, one that left no prints, no scent, no broken blades of grass that signaled her passage through the forest.
No shifter could hide their tracks that well, could they?
“I’ll return later. I promise,” she told him, wishing he’d leave, but at the same time, glad he was there.
His tiger’s voice was a snarl in her mind. “That’s not good enough. It’s dangerous out here.”
She snarled, “I’m not a child. I don’t need an escort. I have to take care of something.”
“You’ll take care of it while I’m with you.”
Isabel debated, trying to elude him, or distract him, but finally decided that all of that would do nothing but serve to delay her ability to find the phantom tigress.
“Fine.”
“It’d go faster if you told me what you’re—we’re—doing.”
“I’m looking for someone. I thought I saw them in the shadows.”
He tilted his head, the moonless shadows of the tree he stood beneath hid his expression. “Them?”
“Her.”
Giovanni stepped forward. “Her… who?”
“That’s all I can say. Perhaps if we spilt up we could cover more ground?”
“If by splitting up you mean different parts of the forest, then no. But I’ll agree to being a few feet apart.”
With a low growl deep in her tigress chest, and then a huff, Isabel agreed. “Fine.”
The two of them walked, and walked, padding softly through the forest, finding no signs of anything, and no matter how many times Gio asked her silently in their sync, she would not answer the question about whom she was looking for.
They’d been in the forest for an hour when Isabel decided she’d come hunting in vain. They’d walked between trees, taken paths, gone off-path, walked shoulder to shoulder and paces apart.
Nothing.
No sign of any creature that didn’t belong in the forested area.
The elusive tigress was nowhere. It was almost to the point that she believed she was seeking a figment of her imagination. What else could it be? No signs, nothing but a vision from afar.
Isabel flexed her paws, digging her tigress claws into the soft dirt. She didn’t understand the drive her tigress had to hunt for the other tigress.
She and Gio had walked side by side, two magnificent beings, clad in thick lustrous fur, muscled, fit, very definitely predators. Their pulses beat to the same rhythm, their steps matched. Everything about them was as if they were one.
Isabel pushed the thought aside. It was too dangerous to think of that; she’d examine why this was happening later.
Her tigress chuffed at Isabel, chastising her for not already knowing. Isabel pushed herself away from her tigress in her mind.
“Let’s get back to the villa,” she told Gio.
“Thought you’d never suggest it.” Gio’s tiger had a smile in his voice, and she could just picture Gio’s gloating.
“Sorry about the wild goose chase.”
“So will you tell me what it was we were looking for?”
“You’ll think I’ve lost it.”
“I may already think so.” Giovanni’s tone was teasing, belying the deep darkness that seemed to be housed within him.
“I think there’s a shifter in the forest. A white tigress.”
“You’re saying you saw her?”
Isabel stopped abruptly, studying his tiger’s features, trying to determine how he was asking the question, what he meant.
“I saw… something.”
Though she’d stopped, Giovanni had kept padding through the pine needles. He turned back to look at her, and for a brief second, Isabel thought he was going to say something.
Instead, a bright blue light flashed, a shockwave hit Isabel’s tigress and bathed Giovanni in a spotlight, making his white fur appear iridescent blue.
The explosion smashed into Isabel with a fierceness. She turned her gaze away from the painful brightness.
“Trap. Run.” Giovanni’s synced words were a scream in her mind.
But she didn’t run. She wouldn’t have left him.
Trap? What kind of trap?
The bright light began to fade, still blue, but not with the burning intensity of a few seconds ago. She turned her gaze toward Giovanni once more.
He’d fallen, collapsed on the forest floor, and morphed into his human form.
How did he shift when he was unconscious? Or was that his tiger’s doing?
His hand was close to the edge of the blue light, but still well within the perimeter.
Even in the blue lighting, she could see that his skin was pale underneath the tan. There was a field of light, shaped like a triangle, surrounding him. She stepped closer until she was almost touching the blue light. She took a step into the force field and was lashed back by a blaze of power that sapped her strength.
What kind of trap was this?
She tried to sync with Giovanni, though she knew she wouldn’t be able to, not in his form. Should she shift? She was not so strong and adept at shifting that she would be able to shift back easily. She’d need time to regain her power before being able to shift again. And if she shifted into her human form now and the elusive white tigress appeared, Isabel would be unable to protect herself or Giovanni.
Isabel wanted to roar to get him to awaken, if it was possible, but if she did, would she be giving their location away to the white tigress? What if the tigress had set this trap?
No, shifters didn’t do this kind of magic. This was a witch’s doing. Unless it was an elemental’s trap. An electric elemental that controlled energy and power could have done this, perhaps.
Isabel couldn’t sync with Giovanni. She couldn’t roar to get his attention. She couldn’t shift and leave them vulnerable. Damn it. Her options were getting more scarce by the minute.
She let out a soft chuff to get his attention. Nothing. Unresponsive.
Isabel paused, listening in the forest for any sounds that could indicate an enemy’s approach.
There were no sounds but the sounds of the light buzzing of the force field and the sound of Giovanni’s heart beating. She’d come to recognize it, as if it were her own.
She listened to his human heart, beating with his tiger’s. The rhythm grew slower, the beating softer. Isabel waited, listening, gauging.
A moment later, panic hit her. The beat was getting more faint. Something was draining his pulse.
That damned force field was killing him. She had to save him. She couldn’t let him die. The realization that the light could kill her as well should have stopped her.
It didn’t.
She seized his forearm, the one closest to the edge of the force field. The bright blue flash returned, pushing against Isabel, forcing her to close her eyes while her head was tethered by the electrical pulses that surrounded her with a million tentacles, seizing, seducing, pulling her closer.
She shook her head defiantly, but wasn’t able to shake loose the power that was trying to pull her fully into the field. She dug her claws into the dirt, holding her ground.
With her mighty jaws, she grabbed the flesh of Giovanni’s arm firmly and yanked, pulling him half out of the boundaries. She tugged him further and further until the buzzing sound had dissipated. She released his still limp body from her mighty jaws and stood over him, guarding, watching, waiting.
Was the danger to him gone now that he was out of the field of energy?
Her head burned, her eyes felt as if they’d been seared. She shook her tiger head side to
side to clear the pain. Isabel could see nothing.
She was completely blind.
Surrounded by darkness, she tried to open her eyes, only to find they were already open. Rubbing her eyes with her paws, she found nothing wrong.
Great. Just great. What good were they? An unconscious shifter in his human form and a blind tigress.
A blazing pain seared through her brain, originating behind her eyes, flowing throughout her skull. She pushed the pain away, trying to keep it from immobilizing her.
She nuzzled Giovanni. He was still in his human form, still unmoving. Listening for his heartbeat, she could tell it was stronger than it had been a moment ago.
And if they were attacked? What then?
She’d stay vigilant listening for any intruders. More than ever, she’d rely on her other heightened shifter senses. She’d scent an intruder or hear one. Then she’d use the same senses to defend Giovanni and herself.
Now what?
Now, she’d wait until he recovered, or until her sight returned. If it returned.
Chapter Thirteen
“Isabel.” The voice penetrated Isabel’s blindness and a sleeplike fog she’d fallen into. A voice she knew too well, one from her younger days at the boarding school.
“Desideria?” She said the name of the witch who’d been her and Ana’s teacher. “How are you talking to me in my sync? I thought only shifters could do that?”
“No, ‘Bel.” Desideria’s nickname for Isabel.
Isabel opened her eyes. Still blind. “We fell into a trap. I’m blind.”
“I know. It won’t last long.”
She listened for Giovanni’s heartbeat, found it stable and unchanged. He was still out.
Then what Desideria said struck home. “You know? What about Giovanni? He’s… Wait—what—what are you doing here?”
“He’ll be fine. Just like your eyes. Just give it a little time. I’ll be here to make sure nothing happens to either of you. But I have to leave when he awakens. He wouldn’t take too kindly to another witch being here.”
Isabel was relieved that her friend and old school teacher was here, but she still had questions. Lots of them. “Whose trap? What happened? What are you doing here?”
“My sister told me to come.”
“I thought you and Esmerelda had bad blood? Why is she… I don’t understand.”
“I am making things right with my sister by coming here. It’s for her and her unborn child.”
“What?” Isabel hadn’t picked up the scent or pulse of an unborn child in Esmerelda. “Why couldn’t I tell she was carrying a baby?”
“Witches have ways of hiding, just as shifters do. Esmerelda wanted me to come here and make sure her traps didn’t create problems.”
“Why does she have traps set?”
“That’s a question for her. I agreed to come and make sure no Tiero came to any harm.”
“Desi, you can trust me. Whose baby is it?”
After a long pause, so long that Isabel wondered if Desideria had left, Isabel heard Desideria’s sigh.
“It’s a shifter’s baby. That’s all I will say.”
“So why was Esmerelda so concerned about a Tiero coming to harm? Why would she care what happens to a shifter?” Especially now that Esmerelda was being held captive by shifters.
“That’s complicated.”
Isabel held her growl of frustration back. She was getting virtually no answers from Desideria.
“Okay, then how was it I managed to save Giovanni? Why am I not unconscious?”
“I intervened. Too late to stop your sight from being taken, but not permanently.”
“Will he be blind? What will happen to Esmerelda?”
“No, he won’t. As for Esme, she can take care of herself. And her baby. I need you to keep my visit here a secret from everyone. Even Ana.”
“What you ask isn’t easy. She’s not only my sister. She’s my best friend.”
“Sure, it’s easy. She kept her stonebound lover Cristiano from you for months.”
Damn it, Desi was right, but Isabel still didn’t like this. “True. She did,” she admitted reluctantly. “Will you be around?”
“No, it’s best for a witch not to be on Tiero territory. Your formidable friend Giovanni does not take kindly to other types.”
“He’s not my friend.”
“True. He’s fated to be far more than that. And between your children and his, you’ll be witnessing battles within the family, and with others.”
“What?” Isabel was confused by Desi’s words, they almost seemed prophetic. “Where did you come by this information? What is this about?”
A groan came from Giovanni.
“I must go. Now,” Desi announced in their sync, “before he finds me here.”
And with that, she felt Desi’s presence leave, and she was once more alone, in the dark still, and with an awakening Giovanni.
Desi’s words faded to the background as she felt Giovanni stirring and closed her eyes, feigning sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
Gio stirred, half-asleep, half-awake. The crickets were louder than usual tonight. Maybe he’d left his windows open.
He stretched, feeling drained, and yet for some reason, feeling more complete than he ever had. His fingers were nestled in warm thick fur.
Fur?
He opened his eyes, and with his keen shifter vision, saw Isabel’s tigress next to him, curled around him.
They were in the forest and—
The memories flooded back: Isabel running away. Finding her. Walking with her while they hunted for…
Then it returned, a white tigress, she said she’d seen a white tigress. How could that be?
Then they’d been walking through the forest and he’d hit a trap.
A witch’s trap.
Esmerelda. He cursed the witch in his mind. This had to be her trap.
Why? Was she trying to hurt the Tiero family? He’d been more than fair with the trespassing, rule-breaking witch.
He remembered a blinding blue light, losing strength while he lost his tiger.
Definitely a trap designed to take a shifter’s animal away and weaken a shifter.
He’d come close to death, of that he was sure.
He studied Isabel’s tigress profile. Majestic, even while she slept. She’d stood guard over him. A sensation of emotions flared within him. She’d taken him out of the force field. Somehow, she’d done it. And risked her own life, clearly.
They needed to get back to the villa.
“Isabel.” He touched her shoulder gently.
Isabel’s tigress stirred, her eyes opening.
She moved her head from side to side, making low growling noises.
“We need to get back to the villa,” he said.
She released a snarl, facing him but without actually focusing her eyes on him.
He stood. “Ready?”
Another snarl, but she didn’t rise. Gio watched her, confused. Was she picking up something he couldn’t see or hear?
Stretching, crunching, and popping sounds signaled her morphing into her human form.
She reached her hands out, toward him, but not touching him. “Giovanni.”
He took her fingers into his grasp. “What is it?” He studied her face. Her brown eyes had a blue tint over them, as if she were wearing colored contacts. She was in one of the semi-formal dinner dresses he was sure the housekeeper had provided. Clearly she’d changed before she shifted. The dress was rumpled, giving away their misadventure in the forest.
“Giovanni, I can’t see. That blue light…”
“Nothing at all?”
“Nothing.”
Damn it.
“Can you shift?” she asked him.
“Not yet. Temporary aftereffects of the trap, probably. I’m sure I’ll be able to shortly. It’s not like my tiger’s gone. He’s still here with me.”
“My sight should return soon.”
He
wondered if she could be sure of that. “If it doesn’t, I’ll have another job for Esmerelda. This had to have been one of her traps.” There were no other witches in the area, were there? He felt he’d know if there were. “Do you feel up to going to the villa?”
“I’m…” She licked at her lips. “I’d rather wait a bit. If…” Some handwringing. “If you don’t mind.”
He didn’t want to be a target in the forest, but how could he refuse her, after she’d stayed and watched over him while he recovered.
“I don’t mind.” Hopefully nothing would come up.
She lowered herself to the ground. “My head’s killing me. It feels like someone’s driving pencils in my eyes.”
Gio held her, sat behind her, leaned her against his body.
“Rest. I’ll keep an eye out.” And hopefully, he could shift if he needed to.
He’d never encountered such loyalty from someone who wasn’t a part of the Tiero family or crew. He’d certainly not seen this from Vanessa.
He pushed her away from his mind.
Vanessa was a part of his past.
He had a future to look forward to.
He studied Isabel’s profile—fierce, proud.
And trustworthy.
He hadn’t counted on ever meeting a woman like her.
Chapter Fifteen
Isabel held her head, trying to make the searing pain dissipate. She couldn’t. And she couldn’t ignore it. But she didn’t want it to rule her. She had to keep the pain at bay, at least until her sight returned. Until Giovanni was fully recovered. Everything was based on a series of untils.
She concentrated on Giovanni’s presence, on the fact that he wasn’t dead or dying. She drew his scent deep into her lungs. His human scent that yielded hints of woodiness, cinnamon, and his tiger’s essence. His scent was calming, like a soothing balm on shattered nerves. She was trying to hide the confusion of Desi’s visit.
