Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

38: a sad-eyed woman

— Rob —

Rob would never, ever going to get used to the step-through.

As soon as his feet found solid, real ground again, he let out a deep sigh, his lips trembling as he tried to calm down his lurching stomach.

"Bhalu, your hand." Léon gave him a pained look and glanced downward to their locked fingers.

"Oh. Shite." Rob loosened his hold and brought Léon's knuckles to his lips, keeping them there for a breathless, long kiss. "I'm sorry, Tiger." He caressed the redness his vicious grip had caused. "I'm—"

"I know," Léon said with a smile. He patted Rob's arm and sighed as he looked around. "But we're here already. You can relax." His voice had a distant quality to it, something like recognition mixed with nostalgia. "So this is where Pipo and Amma are living now, huh? It's... it was my grandma's place."

"Are you sure?" Phillip asked. His voice was hoarse, but his words were clear. He unhooked his arm from Rafa's neck and stumbled forward to fall on the dusty sofa before him. When he did, a small cloud of dust flared up.

"Amma never stayed home much," Pipo said. "Look at this mess!" 

Rob almost laughed when the little boy placed his hands on his hips like Kaliandra often did. Phillip coughed and Rafa covered her mouth and nose with a hand, waving the other to blow the dust away.

The place was spacious but dark, with slices of daylight pouring in through the thin cracks of the chipped wooden shutters. The furniture looked older than all of them combined, but in enough shape to be used—except for that ancient tube television on the corner, which probably didn't even turn on anymore. The print on the sofas and chairs were all coated with dust, the yellowish florals covered with round crochet tablecloths; in the center of the table, a white, goose-shaped vase was filled with dead flowers.

"How long has it been since anyone entered this place?" Rafa asked. She ran a finger on the television rack, leaving a stripe of dark brown on the grey-covered wood.

"How long since Pipo and Amma were separated?" Léon said with a meaningful look. Maybe unconsciously, he stepped closer to his brother and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. With a nudge, he sent him towards Rafa, who was already starting to look for pans and pots to cook a meal. Léon sighed. "Amma is probably locked inside that Hospital since then, trying to find a cure for him. I need to tell her that he's safe now."

That felt like Kaliandra all right. Rob didn't have a doubt she would work herself to the bone if it meant helping someone—and that definitely doubled for her own kids. He took in a deep breath and went through his previous months like a holovid in his head. If Rob wanted Léon to trust him again, that meant not keeping truths from him.

"Y-Your mother asked me to find him, you know," Rob said. He took in a deep breath and steeled his words. "When the barbarians kidnapped him. Rafa, Kali, and I tracked Pipo to one of the Barbarians' camps in the forest around Cidade Santa. While we searched for him, we met Caidara, and she helped us save him from Cae." Rob frowned. "When your mother mentioned Pipo was sick, Caidara offered to cure him—maybe she thought he had the sickness. Then Kali and Caidara talked alone, and, well... we went back to the city alone, leaving Pipo with Caidara." Rob set his eyes on Léon's back. "That happened months ago. I can only suppose they both knew about Pipo's powers and were trying to find a way to contain them. And to protect him from Cae at the same time, of course. That's what we've been working on together."

Léon turned around and looked at Rob. Really looked, his eyes hard but passionate, his eyebrows perked up, and his lips curved in the same direction. The weight and intensity of that stare boiled heat up Rob's chest, neck, and onto his cheeks. Léon swept his gaze around the room, then stepped forward to hook a finger on Rob's collar, pulling him down.