Chapter 12 #2
Phoenix took a few paces away from the entrance to the ruin, closer to the tigers, and tucked Nadirah behind him. He was more worried about the men with guns than the striped felines. If they wanted to kill, they would have already pounced.
From the ruin burst Sarge, revolver in one hand, tablet in the other. The other armed fellow followed with his rifle pointed, only to pause at the unexpected sight. His face creased in confusion, which led to hesitation. It wasn’t everyday someone came across a literal tiger ambush.
“What the fuck is going on?” exclaimed Sarge. “Where did those tigers come from? They killed my crew!”
Nadirah peeked her head around Phoenix to point and say, “You disturbed the holy ground of the Harimau Jadian. These tigers, imbued with the spirits of their ancestors, are here to exact retribution.”
“Don’t be trying to fool me with that mumbo-jumbo superstitious shit,” blustered Sarge, which led to the biggest tiger growling as he slunk forward.
“Is it superstition?” Nadirah sang. “You’ve defiled a sacred temple and now will pay the price.” The tiger added emphasis to her words by again moving closer.
Sarge lost some of his bravado. “Whoa there, you striped fucker. You wanna eat someone, then why not the asshole and his woman? They went inside first.”
“To explore. We’re not the ones stealing artifacts.” Nadirah’s smug reply.
At her words, Sarge glanced at the stone tablet clutched in his hand. His jaw hardened. “This is bullshit. These tigers don’t want a rock, and even if they did, I’m not handing it over. Shoot them!” Sarge pointed his revolver and began firing, along with his last living crewmate.
Phoenix tensed as he saw a bullet go through the shoulder of the big tiger.
He knew what such a wound would do to him, but this feline kept going and leapt, jaws wide.
Sarge didn’t even manage a scream. He hit the ground so hard with a tiger atop him.
Forget his hired crewmate helping, he had problems of his own.
By the time the grizzled feline turned around after the kill, muzzle bright red, the last man had been taken care of—his throat torn out—but not before managing to slash the tiger atop him with a knife.
The wounded tiger contorted and became a naked woman with long dark hair and Malaysian features. She snagged the knife from the man she’d killed and advanced on Phoenix and Nadirah.
Phoenix put down the gun and held up his hands. “We’re not your enemy.”
The female snarled, “You no belong.”
Before she could do anything, the grizzled male chuffed loudly.
Apparently, a command to back off. The woman planted hands on her hips and scowled as she snapped something he couldn’t understand.
“Uh-oh,” Nadirah murmured.
“What’s she saying?”
“That we need to die like the other intruders.”
The grizzled tiger suddenly transformed, going from four paws on the ground to standing on two legs. The old man immediately began talking, and whatever he said made the woman grimace.
The language barrier had Phoenix once more whispering, “What did he say?”
“That she obviously needs more lessons on control because she should have been able to hold her shape with a mere flesh wound.”
Phoenix’s brows raised, not just because of the confirmation he’d found tiger shifters but the fact that injury didn’t have to trigger the change. Just look at the old guy. Despite having been shot, he’d killed Sarge before flipping back into his human shape.
The older fellow retrieved the tablet and rummaged in Sarge’s pocket until he withdrew the box key. He then stalked to the parked ATVs, all without saying a word to Phoenix.
Would he seriously leave without talking to them at all? Phoenix strode after him. “Excuse me, sir.”
“No.”
“But I haven’t asked anything yet,” he exclaimed.
The old fellow whirled. “I do favor. I let you live. We done,” was the heavily accented reply.
“Who are you?”
The fellow pursed his lips. “Johan.”
“I’m Phoenix. I came here looking for people like me.”
Johan eyed him up and down. “Not the same.”
“My skin color might be different, but I’m a tiger shifter like you.”
“No like me.” Johan’s lips pinched. “Smell is wrong.”
“Most likely because I wasn’t born a shifter. I was made into one.”
Johan recoiled. “Lie. No make harimau.”
“No, I swear. It’s the truth. Someone injected me with a series of— I don’t know what the fuck was in those syringes, but the end result is if I get hurt, I change into a tiger.”
“Who do this?”
“General Davidson, a high-ranking Canadian officer, although I’m not sure my government sanctioned it.”
“He make you harimau?” Johan sounded incredulous.
Phoenix nodded, and Johan turned thoughtful as his gaze fell on Nadirah. “She is not of the people.”
“No, I’m not.” Nadirah shook her head. “Until I met Phoenix, I thought the harimau were just a legend.”
“You tell her secret?” It wasn’t Johan but the woman who’d also shifted, who exclaimed.
“It was an accident,” Phoenix stated.
“Should kill,” the woman advised, and Johan appeared to actually contemplate it.
Nadirah quickly tried to explain. “It wasn’t his fault. Phoenix was a tiger when we met. He was captured on a cargo ship that came into port and was brought to Negara Zoo, where I worked.”
“She was the tiger attendant,” Phoenix added.
Johan’s brow raised. “Zoo where all tigers died.”
Nadirah winced, and Phoenix jumped to her defense. “It wasn’t her fault. The people after me are responsible for that massacre.”
“These people know about the harimau?”
“Yes. I told you, they made me what I am.”
Johan began a rapid-fire conversation with the woman, and Nadirah sidled close to whisper a translation. “He wants to find out more about your situation, but she’s advocating our murder so as to not bring any trouble.”
“Who do you think is going to win the argument?”
Nadirah shrugged just Johan turned to them with a stern expression. “You come with us.”
Relief flooded Phoenix. “Okay.”
“Eyes covered. No see where go. You do as say.”
“We won’t be any trouble. Promise.”
“If you lie…” Johan didn’t finish the sentence, but the woman did by sliding a finger over her throat.
Fuck them over, and they wouldn’t survive.