Jungle Blaze

by Lexy Timms

  ANGELICA DIDN’T NOTICE anything strange at first. She stroked his leg and told him that she loved him and that it was all going to work out. She felt his hand on her head, in her hair. It felt... odd, heavy, warm. She opened her eyes and found Taylor looking like the Elder, halfway between, still man in bone and sinew, but covered in tiger fur and one hand at least transformed into a full tiger paw. That was the one on her head, in her hair.

  “The cat wanted to touch you,” Taylor said with an apologetic shrug. He drew his hand back, embarrassed. Fur began to recede along his arm.

  “I’m his mate, too,” she said softly, reaching for his arm, drawing him back, smiling and leaning into his caress.

  Taylor’s eyes lost focus for a moment and then smiled. “He wants to know...” He hesitated. “He wants to know if your cat would curl up and sleep with him. I told him that you need to resist the temptation to do that until the elders can be sure you won’t stay that way. Changing today—that was dangerous.”

  “It was more dangerous to get captured,” she reminded him, shuddering a little.

  “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I don’t... I can’t lose you.”

  Angelica reached up to stroke the thick fur on his cheek. “But I’m his mate, too. Taylor, I can’t change, I don’t dare, but I would be pleased to snuggle in bed with a tiger. A literal one. It might be kind of cozy.”

  Taylor smiled and finished the shift as he climbed into bed. Angelica noticed that the transformation no longer seemed to be causing him pain.

  Interesting.

  With a start, she realized something else. The voice in her head that memorized all her medical knowledge was silent. For the first time since medical school it didn’t catalogue every illness, every physical malady. For that matter, it had been silent for a while now. It hadn’t even spoken when she smelled the cancer on the waitress back in Minnesota.

  “Tay...” She turned, but the tiger was lying across the bed, licking his lips. There was no point in attempting conversation. Besides, it wasn’t all that important. They could talk in the morning.

  And the tiger did look awfully content. And like he was going to take up more than his fair share of the bed.

  It’s kind of like sleeping with a house cat. A very big house cat.

  Still a little dubious, she lifted his front paw. The cat stayed in place. Angelica slipped under the giant paw and rested her head against the strong shoulder. She’d left her clothing on so the fur wouldn’t tickle quite so much, and because the idea of sleeping naked with a big furry animal just felt weird. But the tiger, that is, Taylor, wrapped his great paw gently around her, cocooning her in his arm, safe and secure. And she found that sleeping curled up to warm fuzzy animal felt very cozy indeed.

  ANGELICA WOKE JUST before the knock sounded on the door. She must have heard the footsteps on the front step. Taylor, naked and definitely very much a man, was sleeping pressed behind her, one arm thrown casually over her, his head buried in her hair.

  “Taylor.” She rose on one arm, senses on the alert. For a moment she panicked, expecting the worst, still rattled from the intruder of the day before.

  Wait. They said they’d wake you, remember?

  Taylor woke when the knock sounded. “What?” He sat up, groggy and disoriented, rubbing one hand over his face. “What time is it?”

  “No idea,” Angelica said, rising and grabbing at his clothing that he’d left discarded on the floor when he’d transformed. She handed it to him. “I assume they’re talking to your father. They said they’d come.”

  Taylor was up and dressed before he was even awake, or so she guessed. He was at the door in less time than it took to think about it and pulled it open. He said something to someone outside that she couldn’t quite make out and then turned back to her. “I said we’d be there in a minute.” His eyes went to the bed, the blankets that were strewn across the floor. “Didn’t I...” He pointed at the mess with a frown. “Wasn’t I in cat form...”

  Angelica kicked a blanket aside, looking for her shoes. She glanced up and shrugged. “He must have changed back. I’m surprised I never noticed. I must’ve been exhausted.”

  “He changed...” His eyes lost focus again and he nodded. “It seems so. And you didn’t shift? Do you remember? I don’t. I... Are you coming?”

  It seemed he was spending an awful lot of time on inner dialogue lately. She squelched the momentary jealousy that came from being left out and sat up in triumph, holding up her missing shoe. “You really don’t mind?”

  “Of course not.” He turned and waved her to follow. Hopping on one foot as she slipped the other on, she followed.

  They trailed Olaf under a bright moon, the pathways treacherous under the deep shadows. Olaf and Taylor seemed to be adept at finding solid ground, but Angelica stumbled more than once and cursed the fact that she couldn’t get her cat self to cooperate with night vision that way that Taylor could with his cat. More and more she was growing disgusted at her own hodgepodge of abilities, and hoped they’d come up with some kind of answer for her.

  He led them down a path Angelica was fairly sure she’d never seen in daylight, ending at a small building tucked deep under the trees. Here was another room identical in shape to theirs. But that’s where the similarities ended. It’s what it held that made it very, very different.

  The room was covered in tile: floor, ceiling, and walls. It was like being in a giant shower stall, making the space downright chilly. There were two seats, both of them tall stools, but the bulk of the room was taken by the very last thing she expected to see in the wilds of Nepal.

  A rack of servers was humming in the corner. Patch cables strung from one to another and ran up into a pipe in the ceiling. Another rack held a half-dozen routers. And that was just the stuff she could identify. Then there were the other items that were plugged in and lit up that looked vaguely computerish that Angelica couldn’t begin to guess at.

  Honestly, if she hadn’t briefly dated a computer geek in college she’d never have known that the boxy things in the corner were servers. The whole room was well beyond her expertise.

  But it was a long way from being a short-wave radio. Nor did it mesh with the whole lack of technology that she’d been led to believe was part of life in the jungle.

  She turned in a slow circle, trying to take it all in. The room had a stash of laptops, some in pieces all over the work table, most parked in a safe slot big enough to store them. These were numbered and, though she couldn’t read the writing, the sign-out sheet was a universal constant. It was likely that if aliens from another planet came to visit, they would have a sign-out sheet for equipment that looked exactly the same somewhere on the mothership.

  “You have an IT center?” Taylor asked, following the lines of wires with his eyes.

  Olaf looked at him in surprise. “Of course. Most of us work on the internet now. It pays the bills.”

  “But how?”

  “Please. I’ll be happy to answer all questions, but there is a limited time to talk to those of your town. You must hurry or lose the curtain.”

  “Window,” Angelica corrected automatically, shrinking away from Olaf as he came near to flip a switch on a piece of equipment behind her.

  “You will lose that, too,” he said, motioning frantically to a radio setup she hadn’t even seen until now. It was the lowest-tech thing in the room, and even that looked fairly new and expensive. If she had to guess, she’d think it was in all likelihood a piece of equipment that, like the rest, was top of the line.

  Olaf hurried them to the bench and flipped a second switch on a large radio. “The antenna is on the top of the mountain,” he explained. “Laying the cable was a... bee-yotch.” He looked at them and smiled at his use of the word. “Did I say that right?”

  Angelica nodded. It gave her something to do to keep from laughing hysterically. She was starting to feel a little like Alice. All that was lacking was the white rabbit. It occurred to her that this was the sec
ond time recently that she’d pulled out an Alice in Wonderland metaphor and wondered if this was her life now, something just this surreal.

  “Here.” He shoved a microphone at Taylor, along with a pair of headphones. Taylor put one side of the headphones against his ear and leaned into the mic. “Hello?” Angelica saw his expression soften. “Hey, Mom. Yeah, I can’t hear you too well... what? No, she’s okay” He motioned for Angelica to sit next to him and take the other side of the headphones. She sat and held the other side up to her ear, feeling a little like she was intruding.

  ...Good, have they been able to help her yet?”

  “We’re working on it,” Angelica said into the mic, realizing that the conversation was about her.

  “Oh, Angelica? Is that you, dear?”

  “Yeah, Mom,” Taylor said, answering for her. “We’re both here.”

  “Good! Angelica, sweetie. I’m so glad you’re there where it’s safe.”

  “We heard that...” Taylor hesitated, his hand covering his mouth. His glistened, and he seemed to be struggling what to say.

  Mrs. Petrov...

  “—that everyone is all right now,” Angelica finished, knowing they didn’t have time to get into it. She reached for his hand, squeezing it. Taylor nodded his thanks to her,

  “Yes, we’re fine now. Our legal team came through and a lot of that was due to your father.”

  “Dad?” Taylor said, holding the speaker close to his ear. “I was expecting him to be on the radio. Where is he?”

  “He’s gone, dear!” His mother’s voice was fading fast, being replaced by a beeping that almost sounded like Morse code. Angelica glanced up to Olaf, startled, motioning that they were having trouble. Olaf seemed unsurprised, standing behind them, arms crossed, face implacable.

  “Gone? Where?”

  “He left yest—” And suddenly his mother was gone.

  Only the signal was left on the radio.

  Taylor looked up at Olaf, “Can you get her back?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

  Olaf looked at his watch and shook his head. “Sorry, on Mondays the signal is very short. It gets overridden by someone in the South China Sea. I don’t actually know who. But we are scheduled again on Thursday at the same time. I will come and get you if you are still here then.”

  Taylor handed the headphones back to him and took a deep breath. “Thank you.” He nodded and rose. Angelica slipped her hand into his almost automatically and leaned into him. “At least you know they’re all right.”

  “Where could he have gone?” Taylor asked

  “Well, they left in a hurry,” Angelica surmised. “Maybe he went back to clear the way for them to return.”

  “I don’t think they’ll go back.” Taylor shook his head. “It’s something else. They have too much notoriety right now, and wild claims like what we were hearing on the news have a tendency to attract strange people who want the rumors to be true. Or they want to prove it for the sake of fame. Or they’re trying to find a way to make some quick cash...”

  “Money!” Angelica snapped her fingers, seizing on the idea. “That’s it, then. If they’re being compensated from the government, then maybe he went back to take care of the paperwork.”

  Taylor nodded, still half distracted as he led the way to the door. He paused a moment, his hand on the knob. “I’m glad you were here with me.”

  Angelica smiled, reaching past him to open the door for them. “Me t—”

  The explosion came as a complete surprise.

  Chapter 19

  If there had been windows in the building, they would’ve blown out.

  The explosion was near enough to rattle Taylor’s teeth. Angelica hovered behind him. He could feel the fear emanating off her in waves, yet she’d stood with him, hands clenching and unclenching while one of Olaf’s men reported what they thought had happened. She’d surprised him, the steel core coming to the fore when the threat came.

  Because of me, he realized. Because she wants to protect me, as much as I want to protect her.

  It was a heady thought. And somewhat terrifying to a man who wasn’t used to depending on anyone. Especially since his life had blown up over these past months.

  “This isn’t a single assassin,” Olaf was saying, translating the frantic report. The man speaking had turned about twelve shades of pale. He was just a kid, barely old enough to shift. He spoke in a rapid patter that would have been near impossible to follow had Taylor known the language. He was impressed Olaf got anything out of it at all.

  “How many?” Taylor asked, already mentally cataloguing what he knew of the numbers of possible defenders the compound held. Could they withstand a serious assault?

  “This is a unified effort of several, maybe more than several men.” Olaf spoke rapidly to the man and translated again. “They parked a car at the gate and then detonated it. That was the explosion. There might have been extra fuel involved to make such a big noise. The gate is gone and they’re shooting...”

  Taylor could hear it now, the soft popping that echoed through the jungle. The usual calls and counter- calls of the insects and small creatures had silenced. But the small-arms fire grew progressively louder. Getting closer.

  “Taylor?” Angelica stood with her fingers curled around his upper arm, fingers digging into the flesh a little. Her entire body shook with tension.

  “What arms do you have for self-defense?” Taylor demanded, covering her hand with his, trying to convey that no matter what they had this. They would be safe somehow.

  “We prefer to hunt as tigers but we do have weapons, mostly for emergencies. There is already a large number of us on their way to the breach. They’re carrying everything we have.”

  “I’m on my way,” Taylor promised, and to his surprise Olaf nodded and translated that to the other. He’d actually expected some protest, that he would have to fight for the right to stand with them. But instead both men ran off into the night, trusting him to follow.

  “Taylor...”

  He turned to her, taking her face in his hands. “This is what I do, Angelica. I was trained for it—I have a lot of experience with it. I have to go.”

  Angelica nodded. Her eyes were over-bright with unshed tears. She was working hard to be brave, but she’d cry after he left. Heart breaking, wishing he could do anything other than put her through this, Taylor took her in his arms and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said, bending his head so that his forehead touched hers, so that he could look her in the eyes so close it was like falling forever into their depths. “I’m sorry for ever getting angry. For ever making you sad. For everything I didn’t do and should have done. I love you, and I always will.”

  Angelica lay her hand on his jaw and lifted her face to kiss him.

  It felt too much like kissing her goodbye.

  Don’t get hurt, sweetie. I promise I won’t either.

  Taylor sought absolution in her tear-bright eyes, staring at her a long moment before he physically had to tear himself from her side. Taking a deep breath he threw himself down the path full speed, running toward the gunfire and whatever terror awaited him.

  Awaited all of them. He felt them in the darkness, the others running with him. They came from all sides, men and women. Tigers. Every one with a common purpose, fighting their way through the jungle to defend what was theirs.

  Some might never come back.

  I can’t afford to think like that.

  We can’t afford to think like that.

  So they ran, man and tiger both, two souls united in one body with a common goal.

  Defend the mate.

  Defend the mate.

  ANGELICA COULD HEAR screams in the darkness and she wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. The idea that Taylor was running into that made her feel like she would never be warm again. She stood on the path in front of the building, hearing the computers humming behind her, and wondered where she would go. Where were the others, the ones who w
eren’t going to fight? Certainly not here.

  I should find them. Be with the rest. That way Taylor will know where to find me when this is over.

  It seemed such a useless thought, to go hide, acting the coward, when she should be with the rest. Surely there was something she could do? She took a cautious step on the darkened path, hoping she could remember the way back to the center of the compound.

  “We have been through this before,” a calm voice behind her said.

  Angelica put a hand to her mouth and tried not to scream as she whirled, nearly falling off the path into the bushes. “Oh!” Her heart pounded in her throat. “Helga. I’m sorry.”

  “No, child. I owe the apology; I didn’t realize I was not heard. I came to check on you and Taylor. Where is he?”

  Angelica pointed in the direction of the popping sounds, thinking how each innocent little pop was a bullet that could be tearing through him at any moment. She swallowed hard. No. He was too professional for that. They wouldn’t take him so easily.

  Helga nodded. “He’s a brave man,” she acknowledged, “but perhaps not wise. The two of you are the goal of these men. We cannot protect him if he insists on being at the forefront of that battle.”

  Her words broke through the dam she’d been trying so hard to erect since she knew Taylor would have to leave. She’d realized it the moment she’d seen the fireball over the trees that he would leave her behind. Taylor Mann. Hero. “I am so very sorry that we brought this on you and your people.” Angelica began wiping away the tears that started to run in hot rivulets down her cheeks. “I am so...”

  “I understand your guilt.” Helga placed a gentle hand under her chin, raising her head that they might see eye to eye. “But it is misplaced and ill-timed. Men and women are firing guns at one another even as we speak. Cats are entering the fray with bared fangs and unsheathed claws. There will be blood, there will be pain, and there will be death. And those who survive will need attention. We have few medical professionals, and a small... how do you say the word...clinic? We need you to help, to be strong, not to cower and wallow in guilt.”