Page 27 of Catch a Tiger

It couldn’t hurt to check her southern borders before the snow melted, and then she’d pry those mysterious jewels of pain from them.

Glancing back, she saw the winter tiger close behind.

Frost and fury stared back at her, and it was absolutely breathtaking.

Chapter 8

Vix

Her tigers were fast, almost as fast as her. Following the golden one through the never-ending trees was easy enough and she increased her speed just a little bit more the moment her magic sensed electricity.

It had to be close.

The autumn tiger managed to keep pace, but the other two dropped behind. Vix was about to tease them about it when she saw oak trees…

Screeching to a halt, she grabbed onto the trunk of one of those oak trees, claws digging in just before she burst free from the forest. Something like fear pricked her skin and Vix honestly had no idea why.

Probing the clearing beyond the trees with her magic, she buried down a shiver when she felt just how…empty it was.

There was no life in that clearing and the silence was unnatural. It didn’t have the softness she was used to. No, it was an empty chamber bouncing that harsh silence around like an echo.

Rocking back and forth on her toes, Vix eyed the clearing between the forest and the large house, hesitating for the firsttime since she’d agreed to come here. It had been a very long time since she’d seen such a modern human dwelling like this brimming with electricity, let alone stepped foot in one.

Raven eyries weren’t the same. They were built by magic and full of life even if it was quiet and deadly. The people there knew how to play games and they never made her feel strange for all the mood swings the stolen memories could give her.

No, Vix had always felt like she’d belonged with them even if she had eventually left the eyrie to find what was missing.

But this…

Her autumn tiger rubbed his side against hers before circling around to do it on the other side too. Vix trailed her fingers through the fur along his spine but kept her eyes on the house. It wasn’t far from the trees, maybe half a klick, but she still didn’t like it.

At least there was snow.

Autumn chuffed a laugh and sat beside her, close enough he was pressed against her. She settled her hand on the back of his neck, eyeing the oak trees on either side of her, and that strange feeling of dread filled her again.

She didn’t think it was the empty space between the large house and the trees, or even the dark magic she could feel teeming around the house. That human dwelling didn’t bother her really, but the clearing…

The silence was insulated—absolute.

A garden of death for her and her alone.

The alpha shifted smoothly out of his tiger form and walked toward the house, stopping a few feet out to look back at her. The way he tucked his hands into his pockets gave off the impression he was unbothered, but Vix could sense just how tense he was.

Was he rethinking his choice to bring her here?

Mylo bumped her with his head, pushing her past the final tree into the empty space beyond, and Vix clutched furtight as she stumbled forward, gasping when she suddenly felt something warm.

She looked down at her toes in shock when the sharp contrast of red on white finally registered. There was so much blood it seeped into the earth, melting the snow, and she tilted her head as she stared at the ground, wondering why her feet were bare.

Mylo took the front of her fur coat between his teeth and pulled her toward the house like this was a game. Suddenly, her heart was pounding as he dragged her toward the center of that lake of blood where?—

“Wait…” she breathed, reaching back for the tiger sitting just beyond the first oak tree, stepping toward him to resist that overwhelming strength.

There was so much blood, she couldn’t breathe. Vix didn’t want to see what was in the center of the clearing – that garden of death, but she was no match for Mylo’s strength and stubbornness.

“Wait.” Vix stared back at the other tiger still sitting in the forest, watching her like he didn’t understand – like he couldn’t see all the bodies…

“Rune isn’t going to stay behind,” the alpha snapped, startling her out of some of her panic. “Let’s not make a production of this.”

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