Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

62: the gold runs dry (Part II)

— Rob —

Pipo let out the high-pitched hum of a child who's about to cry. He blinked several times, his eyes jumping from Léon to Kali in a silent request for help.

When Rob's sight met with his dark little eyes, a switch flipped in his mind. His muscles tensed, his eyes narrowed, and a growing warmth boiled in the depths of his chest. He recognized that warmth, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Your answer," Gregorio insisted.

"Rio, please," Sissy said. Physically, she was still close to him, but something in Gregorio's eyes kept her, mentally, kilometers away. Sissy took a step forward and tried again, "Listen—"

Instead of letting her finish, Gregorio shook his head and groaned a string of mumbled, frustrated words. "Go away from me. Both of you!" he grunted, looking from Modraniht to Sissy. "And if anybody moves or tries anything, I swear I'll use this." He raised the syringe.

All eyes were on Gregorio, and maybe that was the reason why Rob was the only one who noticed the mysterious something moving in the forest. His eyebrows twitched while he tried to school his expression. These scents, so unique and so different from each other... he could almost recognize them. As quickly as they appeared, they went away. Modraniht and Sissy obeyed Gregorio's shouts and walked away. They stopped, hands raised, closer to Kali and Satina.

Léon clenched his jaw and took a step forward. Rob could sense the feelings mounting up under his skin. Satina was wounded, Pipo was in danger, and the fight they did everything to win was now taking a wild turn that pointed only to human extinction.

With a muffled curse, Léon kept Toni's gun down, rested against the side of his leg as if he tried to hide it. What he didn't hide was the fury and the resentment behind the deep brown of his eyes. He breathed in through his teeth like an old tiger before a new enemy. Léon opened his lips to speak, but Gregorio was faster.

"Listen, I know the possible consequences," Gregorio said. He massaged his right temple and tugged Pipo a little closer; with the movement, sunlight caught in the tip of the needle, almost as if to remind them of the danger. Gregorio completed, "But I couldn't care less, and you won't change my mind about it. Now—will you shoot or not?"

"But—!" Modraniht tried.

"There are four Cosmic Trace Wielders here, Doctor; they can split whatever Life Force is left. Toni will be healed, nature will be restored, and the wielders will be fucking stronger. What's so bad about it?" Gregorio raised his chin and let out a laugh that sounded almost desperate. The muscles in his face relaxed around his smile but tightened between his eyebrows. "This is something you can do, so do it."

"Not without compromising who we are," Rafa roared. "We would become him." She gestured at Toni. "And we would cause as much harm as he's been causing for more than a decade now."

Rafa's words were so filled with disgust, they seemed to push Gregorio one step backward. He set a pair of hard eyes on her.

"W-well." Gregorio glanced at Pipo; something in him seemed to question whatever the hell he was doing, but it wasn't enough to make him stop; his voice was low and raspy when he said, "What's a l-little sacrifice for a group of heroes, huh? Believe me"—his next words came out like a venomous threat—"this will be good for the whole world."

From somewhere at their right, Jackal scoffed. She watched the scene with a smile, cleaning the corners of her mouth. After a content sigh, she tossed a mango core aside and got up. She looked fully human now, despite the savage look her pointy teeth lent her.