Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Phoenix was back in the zoo, but at least not in a cage this time. He couldn’t blame Nadirah for taking them somewhere familiar. He just didn’t plan to stay long.
Because of him, she’d been put in danger. She and the lovely old woman who’d fed him.
Unacceptable.
Phoenix might no longer be a soldier, but the morals remained. Protect civilians. Especially very attractive ones who made him wish he weren’t on the run.
As a tiger, he’d thought the lovely Nadirah smelled divine. As a man, he wanted to do more than sniff her. However, he didn’t have time for seduction.
“…you should be fine while I head out to grab you some clothes and fresh meat.”
Her words caught his attention, and he uttered a noise and shook his head. The inability to speak left him in a quandary.
“I’m going to assume you just said no. However, we can’t exactly leave you as a furry striped cat.
Not unless you want the director to put you back in a cage.
” Nadirah paced, her brow furrowed in thought.
“I won’t have to go far. I’m pretty sure the lost and found will have clothing.
At worst, I might be able to find you a maintenance uniform.
We also should have gotten our meat shipment this morning, meaning it might be fresh enough to change you back. ”
Depended on how bloody it remained.
She kept talking. “While I grab what we need, stay out of sight.”
He shook his head.
“You can’t be wandering around. We got lucky getting in without being seen.” A feat achieved by her climbing on his back to get over the fence.
Rawr.
“You might not like it, but I’m going to get those things. I won’t be long.”
She stubbornly insisted, and he uttered a sigh.
“Glad you can see reason.” She headed for the door to exit the building, only to pause as he followed. “I told you to stay here.”
And let her go out alone? Not a fucking chance.
Her turn to huff heavily. “Fine. But no eating anyone, even if they point and scream.”
It wasn’t those who screamed that worried him, but rather those who didn’t show fear.
The trip to fetch clothing happened quickly and without mishap, with her securing a maintenance jumpsuit and a pair of rubber boots. However, the building holding the food supplies turned out to not be empty.
They entered, and Phoenix’s nose twitched. He uttered a soft growl.
Nadirah set down the clothing she held and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
He lifted a paw and pointed.
“Someone’s in the walk-in cooler?”
He nodded. The fresh scent gave them away.
Before Nadirah could react, the door to the cooler opened and out stepped two people, arms laden with brown-paper-wrapped packages. Thieves.
Rather than panic, Nadirah crossed her arms, cocked her head, and said something very stern.
The pair, with wide eyes, begun sputtering, probably begging for her not to turn them in.
Nadirah shook her head and snapped back, leading one of the culprits to duck his head as if ashamed, but the other dropped his gaze to Phoenix before launching into a rapid-fire speech that had Nadirah stiffening.
If Phoenix had to guess? What the fuck are you doing walking around with a tiger?
The man then had the nerve to step closer to Nadirah with a sneer while his partner unwrapped one of his packages of meat. The fucker tossed the refrigerated meat in Phoenix’s direction.
The less-than-fresh smell just about gagged him, and the attempt to bribe annoyed. Apparently, these goons thought they could distract him while they threatened Nadirah.
Like fuck. He growled and immediately got their attention. The single step he took had them stiffening.
To his shock, the sneering fellow lunged at Nadirah, grabbing hold and flinging her in Phoenix’s direction.
That asshole thought he could use her as live bait!
She hit the floor in front of him with a grunt of pain. Instinct—and a bit of anger—took over, and he roared even as he lunged at the one who dared do Nadirah harm.
The man flung out an arm as if it would stop Phoenix. It didn’t. He screamed when Phoenix’s jaw clamped the flesh. His teeth went through fabric and punctured flesh. Only when Phoenix tasted blood did he realize his mistake.
The transformation happened so fast he still had the limb clamped in his mouth as he reverted to his man shape.
It might have been the end of his secret if the man hadn’t fainted. Releasing the arm, and spitting out blood, Phoenix jumped to his feet, ready to tackle the other guy before he could run away and tell the world what he’d seen. Only the other fellow had disappeared.
His head turned left and right as he barked, “Where’d the other thief go?”
“He ran soon as you jumped his friend,” Nadirah exclaimed. “I don’t think he saw anything. Did you kill him?”
Phoenix glanced at the prone body at his feet. “Nah. He fainted. He’ll need a few stitches when he wakes up. We should get out of here before that happens.”
“I’m going to be in so much trouble with my boss,” she muttered.
“You knew them?”
“Yes. They’re part of the maintenance staff.”
“Ratting you out for being here with a tiger out of a cage would require them explaining they were stealing,” he pointed out.
She rubbed her face. “What a mess.”
“Only if we’re caught. I’m sorry. I never meant to cause trouble.”
“I know. This isn’t your fault.”
“I’ll make this right.”
“How?”
“I’ll figure something out. I won’t let anything happen to you.” A vehement promise.
Their gazes locked with an intensity that roused a part of him that really had shit timing.
She cleared her throat and turned her head. “You should get dressed.”
Probably, but he found himself instead tempted to say, Maybe you should get naked with me.
Not the time or place.
He slid into the overalls she’d found, the rough green fabric not exactly pleasant against his flesh but better than wandering around with his dick swinging. The rubber boots she’d set down when they entered fit snugly, but, again, better than his bare feet.
“Now what?” she asked as he knelt by the unconscious body, rummaging through pockets.
“We need to put some distance between us and this zoo.” He held up a key. “Let’s go find our ride.”
“You’re going to steal his car?” Her eyes widened.
“Yup. And before you ask, no, I don’t feel bad about it.”
Finally, her lips curved. “Oddly enough, neither do I. He would have done worse to me.”
The statement froze him. “What did he say to you?”
“It doesn’t matter now. Let’s go.” They exited the building, with Nadirah taking long strides and giving instruction. “If we encounter anyone, let me do the talking.”
“Think that other thief tattled to the security guard?”
“Doubtful, as he’d have to explain why he was in the zoo in the first place.”
“Unless he’s got a deal going with the security guard.”
Her lips pursed. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Where do you think they parked?”
“If they were brazen and working with the guard, then the parking lot.”
“Which way?”
“Through the main gate, which we obviously can’t use.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he murmured. His enhanced hearing heard steps and two men talking.
“Someone’s coming.” He grabbed Nadirah and dragged her into a pocket of shadow where they crouched and watched as the guy who’d ran off jogged past with a guy in uniform, heading for the building they’d just left.
“Guess they were in cahoots,” she murmured.
“This is our chance.” He snared her hand in his and tugged her along, not needing guidance since he followed the scent of the man who’d abandoned his friend, quickly bringing them to the gate.
Nadirah paused before stepping through.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s a camera on the other side recording those who pass through.”
“Give me a second.” He clambered to the top of the gate, lacking his usual grace because of the stupid boots, and found the affixed device. It didn’t seem active, which made sense given the thieving, but just in case, he tore it loose and tossed it to the ground.
He hopped down, his knees bending to absorb the impact. “Good to go.”
They made their way into the parking lot, which had two cars. The first didn’t open with the key, but the small blue Honda did.
A shaking Nadirah went to take the driver’s seat, but he shook his head. “You’re too frazzled to be driving.” The slight tremble of her body showed shock had set in.
“Okay.” She didn’t argue as she sat on the passenger side.
He slid behind the wheel and started the engine. He exited the parking lot before asking, “Where am I dropping you off?”
“What?”
“You’ve been awesome, but it’s time I let you go back to your life and stopped dragging you into danger.”
“You didn’t drag me.”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure when you volunteered to take me home, you didn’t expect to have it invaded.”
“What makes you think ditching me will make them stop coming?”
He gripped the steering wheel tightly. She raised a good point. Without him, she’d have no protection if they kept looking for him. “What do you want me to do?”
“Let me help you.”
“Really?” His head swiveled for a quick peek.
“You need me. You don’t know the language, the country, and besides, those people hunting you killed my kitties.” Her lips turned down. “Even if those thugs ignore me, what do I have to go home to?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too, which is why the best revenge is to help you.”
“What about your grandmother?”
“Soon as we get a chance, I’ll let her know I’m safe. She can stay with her sister until things blow over.”
He really should argue. However, he couldn’t disagree with her logic, not to mention, he kind of wanted to keep her around.
“In that case, which way should I go to get out of the city?”
“That depends on your destination.”
“I’m thinking maybe we should start by checking out that ruin the artifacts were found in.”
She glanced at his instrument cluster. “We don’t have enough gas to make it.”
“Even if we did, we can’t keep this car.”
“My moped is only really good for city driving.”
As if he’d ride bitch for a long road trip. But rather than say that… “We can’t go back to your house. We run the risk of being spotted and followed.”
“I could rent something with my credit card,” she offered.
He shook his head. “Too easy to trace. I wish I’d not lost my stash of cash.” He’d brought a hefty wad with him for the voyage, but, by now, it would have been found and confiscated. “I don’t suppose you have a discreet friend who could loan us something? I’ll pay them to borrow it.”
“How? No offense, but you just said you have nothing.”
“My friends will help out. Give me access to a computer and I can get in touch with someone who can wire us funds.”
“Then why not get a rental?”
“Because, even without a credit card, it leaves a paper trail.”
Nadirah’s lips pursed. “I know a place we could borrow a car for cash.”
“Really? That would be perfect.”
“As to a computer, we could hit up a café.”
The next few hours were spent getting in touch via a special messaging service he and the other escapees had setup.
Getting the money proved a tad more difficult, since they wanted to avoid using identification to do a pickup at a Western Union or other money-exchange service.
It led to his buddy Idris digging to find a location with laxer rules—AKA, someone who would take a bribe.
Nadirah also managed to get in contact with her grandmother, who, once she learned her granddaughter was safe, actually encouraged her to keep helping Phoenix. Or so Nadirah claimed. There must have been more to it, considering how she blushed mid-conversation with her grandma.
Once they had the cash in hand, they hit up Nadirah’s friend, who, despite grumbling about the late hour, came through with a base model Suzuki Swift sport. A little cramped for his long legs, and not exactly a race car if chased, but it did what it needed to and got them out of the city.
Just in time.
Nadirah stiffened as the music on the radio station changed to the radio host.
“What’s wrong?”
“There was a fire,” she whispered.
The assholes who’d come after Phoenix had burned down her home.