Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

Epilogue: The Land is longing for the Sea

— Rafa - one month later —

Rafa took another drag of her cigarette and blew a tobacco-scented cloud skyward; moonlight caught in the dented surface of the crystals supporting her arms. Dr. Kali had told her not to use her powers until her bones had fully healed, but she just couldn't stay put, not with so much in her head.

With a sigh, she slid her other arm out of its sling, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

Red hair, brown skin, black eyes, and perfectly aligned teeth, if only a little yellow; the woman who had taken Rio, Toni, and Jackal was something else. Not only because of her looks, though. There was a heaviness around her. A sadness and anger so deep and so dense that Rafa felt she could submerge in and lose herself inside them. The feeling was nerve-wracking, and it injected flakes of ice and shards of fear into Rafa's veins.

Rafa racked her brain, trying to summon her memories. A month ago, half-standing in front of the mysterious redhead, the only thing Rafa wanted was for her to go away, to disappear, as quickly and as suddenly as she had appeared.

Maybe because of that, when the redhead suggested putting the "bad people" away in a place they could never hurt anyone, Rafa, Phillip, and Léon said nothing but,

"Yeah, sure. Take them; go ahead."

Rafa sighed and massaged her temples.

Bloody fuck. What were they thinking?

At first, yeah, they were relieved to see Toni and the others disappearing among the threes in those weird-looking iron handcuffs. More than Rafa and Léon, Phillip was very loud about that relief, maybe to hide the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. But later, as the forest was swallowed by silence and Léon went looking for Rob, something started to taint Phillip and Rafa's expressions.

Rafa knew for sure what they were feeling; it was the exact same thing that ate away at her peace of mind right now.

Doubt.

"This whole situation is nothing but rubbish wrapped in reused gift paper," she mumbled. Her eyes rested on the dancing smoke coming from the tip of her cigarette.

The memories of what had happened that day were exactly like this, thin and immaterial, easy to touch but impossible to hold. Rafa was sure the redhead had told them her name. She was sure she had told them where Toni and the others would be taken. And she was sure the redhead had said something else. A piece of advice, a request, or a warning; she wasn't sure which.

A cold shiver climbed up her back. There was more to all of this, right? Maybe some hidden power with equally hidden interests? Maybe an old, mysterious order trying to keep something under wraps? Maybe the MIB, the Council of Fae, the Illuminati; hell if she knew!

This was so frustrating. Rafa closed her eyes and tried to think back about the moment Toni and the others were taken away. She had just given up part of her powers to keep Toni alive and to, with Léon's help and an anima weld, block his connection with his undimension. Toni would be alive, yes, but powerless. Still, Rio thanked her and hugged her as if they were friends. He smiled at her as if he hadn't almost fucked up the entire planet and three people's minds in the process.

The whole thing was surreal.

Just after that, Rio and Toni had hugged. Phillip averted his eyes, of course, hard and tense like a pulled bowstring, and the only person brave enough to break the awkward silence was Jackal.

I guess I'll have to find the other pistol, huh, she had said. I still have a few pocket dimensions to pop open.

And that's when the redhead appeared.