Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
How had Nadirah ended up on the run with a stranger? Gotten embroiled in a situation where people she’d never met thought nothing of torching a home or of shooting at innocents? But most baffling of all, why hadn’t she told Phoenix to go on his journey alone?
Nadirah couldn’t have said why she felt the need to be with Phoenix as he sought answers to his condition.
Yes, he might be good looking—and drool worthy with his shirt off—but she’d never been the type to lose all her wits over someone handsome.
Could it be because she knew he needed help, not just with the language, but getting around a place foreign to him but familiar to her?
In that case, she could have suggested he hire a guide who spoke English.
Then at least, she would have been able to support Nenek and help her deal with the loss of their home.
Instead, she dozed on and off in the passenger seat of a car on her way to Taman Negara Endau-Rompin, a protected park holding the ruins where some harimau artifacts had been found.
A jungle that had not yet been fully explored.
However, her trepidation over what they planned paled in comparison to the excitement of hunting for clues about the mysterious tiger shifters—and spending more time with Phoenix.
The journey, even via the back roads, usually took under five hours, but they stopped a few times along the way, overspending on basic supplies at the stores that remained open overnight.
They grabbed a pair of tourist-imprinted backpacks that boldly declared their love for Malaysia, paying a crazy cost for flimsy material.
The spare clothes they bought proved to be a mishmash of mostly cheap cotton, again emblazoned and meant for visitors, not residents.
Cheap running shoes—knockoffs of a famous brand—finished their ensemble.
When they arrived at Taman Negara Endau-Rompin, they actually fit in with those clustered waiting to start their adventure in the park.
Phoenix had acquired a pay-as-you-go phone at a gas station, which he’d loaded with data.
At one of their stops—where she spent a few moments in the lavatory wiping the stink from her flesh—he’d managed to save a few maps and marked the general location of the ruin they sought.
He’d also allowed her to give Nenek a call, his friend having done something to ensure the connection couldn’t be traced.
A conversation that didn’t entirely go the way Nadirah expected.
“I’m so sorry the house got burned down,” she’d apologized to her grandmother.
“Bah. It was old.”
“Do you need me to come back?” Nadirah would have returned if the woman she loved more than anything asked.
“To do what?” Nenek asked. “The insurance people have been contacted. Nothing we can really do until they process the claim.”
“You’re sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yes. Now go help that handsome tiger.” To which Nenek added a most shocking, “Lucky girl. If I was a few decades younger…”
“Nenek!”
The conversation ended on laughter and left Nadirah feeling less guilty about her adventure.
The muggy air moistened the skin the moment they began their trek.
Despite having lived in Malaysia her whole life, Nadirah had never actually visited a jungle before, nor had she ever gone camping.
Most of her outdoor time was spent either at the playground when young, or the zoo as her fascination with tigers grew.
The most jungle-y adventure she’d ever experienced had been her visit to the Royal Zoo to visit the tigers.
Those safe excursions never prepared her for the reality.
Hot. Humid. Kind of scary. Every time an animal barked, or a branch cracked, her head whipped.
But Phoenix, despite being a Canadian and used to harsh winters, seemed quite at home here.
He strode along nonchalantly in his cheap sneakers, shoulders back, head up, and very much aware of their surroundings. More than once he reassured her.
Just a bird. That noise was a rodent. Whatever roared is miles away from us.
Because their cellphone didn’t get signal in the wild, he resorted to using a compass, holding it up every so often to keep them pointed in the right direction.
It would have probably been easier to try to locate the track the archeologists used.
However, Phoenix assumed—more than likely rightly so—that it would be guarded against casual intrusion.
Rather than draw attention and get escorted out of the park, he chose to cut across the green and treacherous expanse.
And by treacherous, she didn’t mean predators, but rather, the terrain that seemed determined to twist her ankle.
She stumbled quite often, unlike the nimble-footed Phoenix, enough she found herself asking, “Were you always this graceful?”
“Graceful?” he snorted. “I ain’t no ballerina.”
“I mean in the sense that you never stumble. You barely make any noise. Unlike me. I’m like a clomping elephant.”
He chuckled. “Guess it comes naturally.”
“So you were always this stealthy?”
His lips pursed. “You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think so.
The military taught us how to survive in the bush as part of our training, but sneaking through the forest?
Not a skill we had to learn. I should note, I never really spent much time in nature previously, unless being on deployment counts.
But that was mostly sand, rock, and dirt.
Gotta say, I am not sure what’s worse. Dry heat or moist.” He grimaced, pulling his damp shirt away from his flesh.
“Do some of your tiger attributes transmute to the man?” Her curiosity and a need for distraction from her throbbing feet had her asking.
“Yes.” He gave a nod. “Better hearing. Like, way better. Sense of smell is much more acute, as well. My taste buds have slightly changed, too. Flavors hit harder, and while I will still eat just about anything, I enjoy meat most.”
“Seems normal, given your carnivore side.”
He turned his head to eye her. “You work with tigers. What can you tell me about them that’s not common knowledge?”
“I take it you’ve done your research and know the basics.”
“Biggest of the wild cats. They can’t purr but do swim and don’t mind water. Mostly nocturnal.”
At the mentioned facts, she nodded and added, “The smell of their urine is often compared to buttered popcorn.”
That made him laugh. “No way.”
She smiled. “Yes, way. Oh, and their saliva can act as an antiseptic on wounds.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Why did you choose to work with tigers?”
“Because they’re amazing,” she exclaimed, only to laugh.
“I’ve always loved them since I first saw them in the zoo.
Nenek saw how much they enthralled me and bought me a stuffed one, which I dragged around everywhere.
” She still had it in a memory box, tattered and barely recognizable, but she couldn’t get rid of her childhood best friend.
Thankfully, that box was stored in her great aunt’s attic since they’d lacked the space.
“I never really thought much about tigers until I became one. I know the general wasn’t too surprised when Takhi turned into a striped feline, given her Asian roots and your legends, but me? If anything, I would have expected to become a bear or a wolf.”
“Wait, you’re saying these others that were experimented on, they had different animals?” She couldn’t help a note of surprise.
“A way wider variety than you’d expect, although tiger, bear, and wolf seemed to be the most common, wolf especially. Rumor has it some emerged as a mishmash. We even saw a guy who might have been part bat, which might explain the vampire legends.”
“I still can’t believe your own military betrayed you.
” He’d told her the basics of how he’d become a tiger as they drove.
How he and his soldier friends had been taken captive and injected with experimental serums. And then, when the general in charge thought them ready to transform, they injured them severely to trigger their shift.
The cruelty that took wasn’t something she could grasp.
“It sucked that the people we trusted fucked us over, but I also know not everyone knew what he was doing. Pretty much all the soldiers guarding the facility had no idea. We only ever saw the doctors and lab techs.”
“And you’re sure it’s this general who sent those thugs after you?”
His shoulders rolled. “Who else would even bother? I have no other enemies, and, as far as my country is concerned, I died in the line of duty.”
“Have you thought of telling someone about what he did to you?”
“To what purpose?”
“Justice. He could be arrested. Jailed.”
“And I could end up in a lab because here’s the thing: even if I didn’t tell them about the tiger-ish side effect, he most likely would.
Or the person who green-lighted his experiments would get involved and ensure I never saw the light of day.
At this point, I am expendable. A failure and a danger to their secret. ”
“Hardly a failure, since you can shift.”
“But can’t be used to fight, since blood changes me back.”
“I wonder why that acts as a trigger,” she murmured. “It seems so odd, because tigers primarily eat meat, but in your case, it’s like it causes an allergic reaction.”
He snorted. “Maybe I should try sucking on some Benadryl next time to see if it stops the shift.”
“Benadryl?”
“Allergy medication.”
“Ah.” While her English was quite good, a few of his expressions lacked a translation. “How much further do you think?” They’d been walking since mid-morning, and it was now getting late in the afternoon.
“A few hours, at least, but I don’t want you hiking in the dark.”
“Afraid I’ll trip and fall?”
“Yes.” He didn’t even try to lie. “I hear water nearby. We’ll make camp by it and head out first thing in the morning.”