Page 94 of Kiss an Angel

“I won’t let you kill him,” she whispered back. And she began to walk slowly toward the tiger.

His golden eyes blazed at her. Through her. She felt his terror seep into every cell of her body and conjoin with hers. Their souls melded, and she heard him in her heart.

I hate them.

I know.

Stop.

I can’t.

She narrowed the distance between them until they were separated by barely six feet. “Alex will kill you,” she whispered, gazing into the golden eyes of the beast.

“Daisy, please . . .” She heard the strain in Alex’s desperate entreaty, and she was sorry for the distress she was causing him, but she couldn’t stop her course of action.

As she closed in on the tiger, she sensed Alex shifting his position so he could get a clear shot from another direction. She knew she had run out of time.

With fear filling her chest until she could barely breathe, she sank to her knees before the tiger. She smelled his feral scent and stared into his eyes.

“I can’t let you die,” she whispered. “Come with me.” Slowly, she reached out for him.

One part of her waited for his powerful jaws to clamp around her arm, while another part—her soul, maybe, since only the voice of the soul could so stubbornly resist logic—the soul part of her no longer cared if she had an arm, not if he was to die. She gingerly touched the top of his head between his ears.

His fur felt both soft and bristly. She let him grow accustomed to her touch, and his heat seeped through her palm. The soft skin of her inner arm brushed against his whiskers, and she felt his breath through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. He shifted his weight and gradually sank down onto the ground with his front paws extended.

Calm seeped through her body, taking the place of the fear. She experienced a blissful sense of homecoming, a peace she had never known, as the tiger became her and she became the tiger. In one fragment of time she understood all the mysteries of creation, that every living being was part of every other living being, that all were part of God, bound by love, put on earth to care for one another. She knew then that there was no fear, no disease, no death. Nothing of any importance existed but love.

And in that fragment of time, she understood that she also loved Alex in the earthly way a woman loves a man.

It seemed natural for her arms to encircle the tiger’s neck. Even more natural to press her cheek to him and close her eyes. Time ticked by. She heard the throb of his heart and, overlaying that, a deep, gravelly purring.

I love you.

I love you.

“I have to take you back,” she finally whispered, tears seeping through her closed eyelids. “But I won’t abandon you. Ever.”

The purring and the heartbeat became as one.

She stayed there on the ground for some time, her cheek pressed to his neck. She had never felt so peaceful, not even when she sat between Tater’s front legs. There was so much evil in the world, but not here. This place was holy.

Only gradually did the others come into focus. They were frozen like statues. Off to the sides. Before her. Behind her.

Alex still had his gun aimed at Sinjun. Silly man. As if she would let him hurt this ani

mal. Her husband’s healthy tan had faded to chalk, and she knew she was causing him terrible fear. With the echo of the tiger’s heartbeat beneath her cheek, she understood she had upset Alex’s world in a way he would find difficult to forgive. When this was over, there would be terrible consequences to face.

Her father, looking old and gaunt and gray, stood not far behind Alex, next to Sheba. Heather clutched Brady’s arm. The schoolchildren were absolutely silent.

The outside world had invaded, and she could no longer stay where she was. Slowly, she stood. Keeping her hand curved over the back of Sinjun’s neck, she let the tips of her fingers sink into his fur.

“Sinjun’s going back to his cage now,” she announced to everyone. “Please stay away from him.”

She began to move and wasn’t at all surprised when the tiger came with her since their souls were so intertwined that he had no other choice. The side of her leg brushed against him as she led him toward the cage. With every step, she was aware of Alex’s gun trained on him.

The closer they got to their destination, the more she felt the tiger’s sadness. She wished she could make him understand it was the only place she could keep him safe. When they reached the cage, he balked.

She knelt and gazed into his eyes. “I’ll stay with you for a while.”

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