Kylan: Prince of Tigers – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  The room they were led to was filled to overflowing. Kylan could tell the siblings because they all had the reddest hair he’d ever seen. It wasn’t orange like he’d thought of with a person being a redhead, but a lovely shade of dark red. He shook hands with each of them, getting just a little information about each.

  “We’ve spoken, the six of us, and we’re all for whatever you can do to give our sister back to us.” Mark, the oldest, and by far the most nervous, introduced them to his family. “We have to bury our father soon, and this would be…. If we lose her too, I just don’t know how we’ll cope. I’m sure you can understand where we’re coming from.”

  “Yes. We have families too. As both of us are powerful beings, you have to understand that when we heal her, we’ll be using magic. The kind that few people have ever seen. We’re not sure what it will do to her. What she’ll be able to do because of it.” Roone said so long as she was with them, they didn’t care if she could jump off buildings and fly. “I don’t know if she’ll be able to do that, but like I said, we just don’t know.”

  He didn’t tell them she’d not be able to fly. Kylan wasn’t going to make any kind of promises. When they entered the room where she was, Kylan had to stand back for a moment just to take in the number of machines hooked up to her and the damage done to her body. He understood now why he and Bryant had been asked to come here. The two of them got to work immediately.

  Chapter 8

  Micky sat in the little room that had been opened up for them. She was sick with worry about her sister and didn’t want her to die. She supposed they all wanted that, but she and Rowan were close. They told each other everything.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know anyone was in here.” She told Kylan to come and join her. That she could use some company. “All right. If you don’t want me here, just say so. I’m sure I can find someplace else.” His smile was reassuring.

  “Rowan and Roone are only eleven months older than me. The others are about two years apart from the next one. Jeff and Winnie are twins as well.” He told her that must have been wonderful growing up. “It was. We were never alone. None of us have ever been without someone we can depend on. Rowan is my go-to gal when I need a shoulder or just to let off steam. She was good at that. Helping you let off some steam to her.”

  “You were told what we did for her, weren’t you?” She nodded and looked down at her water bottle. “I made sure her knees were repaired. I may have to go back in again and make sure her bones are healing the way they should. Bryant, he made sure the rib that pierced her lung was moved and put in place before healing her lungs. I guess I never thought of how much damage could happen to a person even with a vest on.”

  “As close as we were told he was to her, it’s small wonder he didn’t break more than that. Three ribs aren’t that many when you get shot twice in the chest at close range.” Kylan nodded and said he’d have more respect for cops now because of it. “My father was a cop. His father too, and so far back, I have a feeling we might well have been the very first ones. Not really, but it’s a family thing. Dad didn’t care if any of us carried on the tradition so long as what we did made us want to do it every day. And if it didn’t, then find something that did. That’s one of the reasons I’m selling my daycare to someone right now. I’ve found that now I’ve taken it about as far as I can go with it, I want to move on.”

  “What do you think you’ll do now? If you don’t mind me asking.” She said she was still working on that but didn’t mind him asking at all. “We all tried a little of everything while we grew up. I couldn’t draw a stick person well when I started out drawing, but I’ve had a lot of time to work on it. Now I think I’m pretty good. I had to really work at it. However, it’s something I still enjoy. Advertising is a fun way to make a living.”

  “Bryant mentioned that you were all very old. And the first black tigers. I’ve never seen one in real life. Just pictures. They’re so different than Bengals, aren’t they?” He told her they were even larger than the ones in zoos too. “I can’t imagine how you were able to go from being a little kitten to what you are today. It must have— My mind is blown by what sorts of things you’ve seen change since you were born. What was the biggest change that wowed you?”

  “Everything, really. The first time we saw electricity was terrifying for us. Then there were cars that moved down the road. Antibiotics were the biggest, best thing I can think of. So many people died from a simple cut that wouldn’t even need any kind of assistance from a doctor nowadays. Trains too. I used to love riding on them. Not the kind now that will pamper to your every need, but just hitching a ride on one of the carts to get from one point to the next. I didn’t even have to have a place to go. I just enjoyed the ride.” Micky laughed and was glad that he’d come to sit with her. “There aren’t as many changes as there used to be. Still, they happen, but not on the level they did then. What do you enjoy doing?”

  “I’m the black sheep of the family, you might say. I am forever looking for the next project I can immerse myself in. I’ve started and moved on to more projects than all of the others together. It’s what I do.” He asked her if she enjoyed that. “I used to. Not so much anymore. I have money, a great deal of it. We all do. It’s not like I start these projects, then just walk away. I get them up and running, then hire someone else to take over. I have my toes in a lot of water all the time.”

  “Good for you.” They both laughed, and when Bryant joined them, he asked his brother if he was ready to go back to Rowan. “Would you like to come with us? I know you’ve all declined to see her like she is, but she looks a good deal better than when we came in. We were warned not to heal her completely, for the press, but unless something else happens to her at this point, she’ll live.”

  “I think I would.” When she stood up, she followed them out of the room. “Rowan is my best sister. I need her like I need air to breathe.”

  “I know just how you feel.” The room was dark when they entered. It wasn’t until they told her why that she understood. “Having the lights off in here doesn’t bring us any unwanted attention while we’re with her. Some people might have seen us going back and forth, but we’ve made it so they don’t know our faces when we leave here.”

  “I would imagine this sort of thing could get you a lot of kooks coming around wanting you to heal every Tom, Dick, and Harriet they know.” Micky moved up to the bed to look at her sister. “She does look better. When Doctor Fleming showed us pictures of her, I decided I didn’t want to see her in person. That guy, he did a number on her.”

  “Yes, she was lucky her vest was nearby.” Touching her fingers to her sister’s cheek, she half listened to the other two as they gave Rowan more of their magic. They were telling her sister what they were doing, how it was going to affect her, as well as some of their personal information. Kylan had two little girls and a son on the way. She was—

  “Guys?” Neither of them said anything when she called for them. “Guys, she’s staring at me. My sister is looking at me right now.”

  “Talk to her.” Nodding, nothing at all came to mind. If asked, Micky wasn’t even sure she could have told Rowan what the weather was like, much less the date. “Go ahead, Micky. Tell her how much you miss her.”

  “I do.” She leaned closer as Rowan looked at her. “You’re going to get better, and we’re going to go on the cruise we promised we’d go on. Remember?”

  She blinked twice at her, and Micky laughed and cried. Leaning down to kiss her on her forehead, Micky whispered how much she loved her. Rowan’s hand moved, and reaching for it, Micky held onto it for several seconds while they looked at each other. The tube in her mouth, helping her breathe from the lung injury, prevented Rowan from speaking, but the two of them were able to convey volumes in just those short few minutes. Then Rowan closed her eyes and drifted into what she hoped was a better sleep than before.

 
“You were lucky today.” She nodded, unable to speak to Kylan when he spoke to her. “In my family, they’d be so jealous that you’d been able to talk to her. She’ll get better more and more now that she’s on her way. I’m betting soon they’ll take the tubing out, and she’ll be able to breathe on her own.”

  Micky knew they were each giving Rowan blood. Not very much, just a few drops she’d been told. But it was working wonders on her. Working to bring her sister to them again. Not wanting to leave her, but knowing she had to when they did, she stood outside the room and sobbed.

  It was going to be all right, she told herself. Rowan would be her old self in no time, and they really would go on that trip. Making her way back to the little room she’d been in, she was both dismayed and happy that Roone was there. Telling him what had happened, the two of them held each other as they cried.

  “The first thing I’m going to make her do is to get better locks on her doors. Not to mention stronger doors.” Micky told Roone she’d more than likely not want to live in the house any longer. “I never thought of that. You’re more than likely right. I don’t know that I’d want to live there either. Although, perhaps she’ll want to live with one of us for a little while. Just until she’s up and around for a while.”

  “She won’t want to do that either, Roone. If she’s up and around even a little, you know her well enough to understand she’d want to live on her own. That way, no one can tell her when she should rest.” Roone laughed with her. “I’m betting in no time at all she’ll be taking on cases from wherever she’s living and solving them too. There is no stopping a Bronson when they can use a phone.”

  They sat there for a little while longer, just the two of them. Kylan came in once and said they would see to Rowan once more before they left. The two of them had refused any kind of payment from them, not even for their hotel. She thought if the rest of the family were anything like these two, she might like to meet them. When Jeff and Winnie showed up, they were told about Rowan, too, while Micky drifted down to the cafeteria area of the hospital. She just needed a moment of quiet time before she went home. The six of them were taking turns staying with Rowan so they could get some rest and food. Her turn wouldn’t be again until tomorrow morning. But she needed this time just to sit and think.

  There was too much going on right now for her to rest well. Not only did she want to be there for Rowan, but the others too. What she’d not told Kylan was that she’d put her daycare center on the market and was in the process of selling it now. Just walking away from a business was something she rarely did. Usually, she would hire someone to take it over while she reaped the profits. She didn’t want to do that this time.

  Going home, Micky pulled her laptop to her while she was resting on the couch. She looked up the Prince family and was impressed with the things they were into. The picture of them all together at what looked like a wedding showed six big men and a mom and dad. She wondered, like everyone did, she was sure, how they had gone for so long not finding their wives, being as old as they were.

  She supposed that waiting on one’s other half—their mates, as they were called—took time. Micky didn’t think she’d ever marry again. The first one, lasting only five weeks, had ended abruptly when he was killed by a drive-by shooting. She’d not even dated all that much since then and wondered why.

  “Oh yeah. Men are pigs.” She smiled at her reasoning and thought of all the shit she was going to have to do now that she didn’t have anywhere to go. It wasn’t like she’d not be able to find herself a job, but she didn’t want to right now. “Maybe I’ll take a few days and just drive around the state.”

  Her cat, a small house cat, came and sat near her on the couch. He wouldn’t get up with her no matter how many times she told him it was all right. After figuring out what was going on, she laughed until she was crying. The cat knew she’d been around a bigger cat, and he was jealous.

  “You might as well join me here, Becket. He’s not going to come around once Rowan is well.” Still, he only stared at her, looking about as betrayed as she’d ever seen him look. Laughing harder, she went to the kitchen to get him a treat. “You’re the reason I can’t have any friends over—you know that, don’t you? You’re rude, and you can’t stand anyone around me. Well, I guess you’ll have to get used to the smell, little man. I believe your favorite person in the world is going to smell a great deal like a bigger kitty. It would serve you right if I were to pick her over you.”

  After he sulked for a few hours, he finally got up on the couch with her. But he didn’t sit on her lap, nor did he look at her when she said his name. The stupid animal was acting just like all the men she knew. Snooty and out of joint because she’d been out having fun. Well, not fun, but not here with him either.

  Setting her alarm after not being able to get her stupid cat to like her again, she went to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. She might even be able to have a conversation with Rowan again. Micky was smiling when she felt herself roll over into sleep.

  ~*~

  The paperwork was filed. The buildings she’d put in the works for demolition were ready to be taken down, and her daughters were sleeping on the floor in front of her. If only Kylan were home so she could tell him about her day.

  Not that he didn’t know it already. She had been in constant contact with him since he’d left her the day before yesterday. Also, one or more of his family would stop by on the pretense of seeing how she was doing and would end up playing with Olivia and Michelle. She didn’t really mind. But they were all so transparent when it came to seeing her.

  “Mom.” She looked at Olivia and smiled. “What do you suppose will happen to us once Michelle is working? I mean, we will have been with her for a very long time by then. Do you think she’ll toss us away like old shoes?”

  “I don’t think she will, especially since I’ve seen the state of your old shoes. Why don’t you just toss those out? I’ll get you new ones.” Olivia just stared at her, like she wasn’t in the mood for jokes. “Are you worried about that, or hoping she’ll give you some kind of part in her kingdom? Are you doing this for a reward, or because you want to? Those are things you need to ask yourself, honey.”

  “At first I was thinking I’d be her right-hand man. She’d need me with her during the entire process of being queen. You know, like I would know everything she was doing and be a part of it. That was what I thought for about ten seconds. Then I was thinking perhaps she’d just let me hang around with her. We’d still be sisters.” Emmie asked Olivia what she thought now. Before she answered her, however, she looked down at the sleeping baby. “I think once she comes into her magic and is queen, we’ll only be a distant thought of hers, and she won’t ever visit us. That we will no longer be close, and I’ll feel like I lost the very best friend I’ll ever have.”

  “Oh, honey, you don’t really think that, do you? That she’d forget you? My goodness. When you’re not in the room with her now, she goes looking for you.” She said it was because she didn’t know anyone else that would get on the floor with her. “I don’t think that’s it at all. I think she genuinely loves you and loves being around you. While I don’t have any sisters or brothers, I can’t help but think the two of you will be closer than that.”

  “She’ll be so powerful then. And I’ll be this woman who at one time she slept with.” When Olivia looked at her, Emmie felt her own eyes fill with tears. “I don’t want her to grow up and leave me.”

  Holding Olivia while she cried, Emmie didn’t say anything to her. She knew the thought of feeling like that. Knowing that someday no one would want you around. When her dad was getting sicker, it was how she’d felt. That he’d forget her soon. However, she knew this was different. Her dad would forget her simply because of his age and disease.

  “When I was taking those classes online, do you remember that kid that used to come over to see you all the time? I do
n’t remember his name.” She told her. “That’s it. Ronny. He was a nice sort of kid but annoying as hell. He would follow you around like a lost puppy. I swear there were times when I wanted to ask him if he’d bark on command. What happened to him?”

  “He followed me around because I would feed him. It’s not the same, Mom. Michelle is going to be queen. Ronny is going to be annoying all his life.” She shook her head and pulled out her cell phone. Looking the boy up, she told Olivia how she’d seen this about him the other day. As Olivia read the article about him, she waited until she got to the very end. “He’s invented something for lonely people that will be there for them. Mom, that thing looks just like me.”

  “I thought so too. However, he didn’t quite get your eyes right. You see, he needed a friend, and for as much as he annoyed you, you were never mean to him. Never told him to go away. He used what you did for him to make himself a robot that will talk to him and keep him from being lonely all the time. It will be used for other people too. A companion. You were his.” She asked her what that had to do with her and Michelle. “Plenty. You’re showing her things that you love and like. Things that make you smile. She’ll remember all these things too. Also, you’ve shown her something that no one but a sister can show her. How to be there for someone when they need you. She needs you. It’s why she looks around for you when you run to the kitchen for a snack for the two of you. Or when the movie you’re watching is over. Michelle is looking for you to introduce her to something else. Some other thing she doesn’t know about. Honey, you’re also showing her basic things that Aurora never knew how to do. Share, for one thing. Not just food, but workload. You’ve shown Michelle how to pick out her clothes to wear for the day. How to pick out colors to color with. I know she scribbles right now, but I can tell when she’s picking out colors to use. You’ve taught her the meaning of working on your education. How important it is to get things finished up in a timely manner rather than just playing all the time. Back to the shoes—you’ve taught her something very important. That she doesn’t need to wear shoes in the house if she doesn’t want to. That she needs a coat when she goes out. Sure, you know all these things like you’ve always known them. Who do you think taught you those things? I did. Grandpa did. Things that even as savvy and grown up as you are, you’re teaching her that there is a place and a time for everything. Including wearing shoes.”