Wild Tiger Chase | Book #2 (Complete)

13: sweaty nights in summer dreams (Part I)

— Phillip —

"Oh, hell, no!" Phillip grabbed Léon's arm and held him in place. "You're not diving into danger like that. Not without..." He glanced at Modraniht, then cleared his throat. He completed in a whisper, only for Léon to hear. "Not without your powers. So... stay here. I'll see what's happening."

The sun was already setting, and the steep angle of its light cast a scared expression on Léon's handsome face.

Modraniht placed a hand on Léon's shoulder. "I'll keep an eye on them."

Léon hugged the shivering anteater closer. "Be careful."

Phillip nodded. He looked at Léon once more before following Cae and Vanessa's tracks through the narrow streets snugged between almost-non-existent sidewalks.

Truth be told, Phillip had no idea of what circled Léon's thoughts. He had never looked quite so scared and quite so aloof, and, four years ago, Léon would never have accepted to stay back and wait.

What's happening to you, Leo?

This was so unlike him. This was so... scary.

As Phillip continued to run, curious faces popped on windows and opened doors, all of them too young and too innocent to show any fear. Like the children observing him, the houses and streets looked tired and worn-out, cracked by the hot winds and the absence of water. There was dust and a strong sense of abandonment at every corner, hidden beneath the thick curtains adorning the houses.

More than that, there was a silence and stillness that stretched and pulled taut, like the string of a bow. It was drawn with way too much strength, though, for it broke a moment later when a gunshot boomed and spread scared gasps among the children.

Shit. What was happening here?

"Hey... stay inside your homes. And close the doors!" Phillip told the curious kids, rushing his steps. He took a right in an exceedingly narrow alley, seeing a small crowd of people gathering at the end of it.

"It took my baby, don't shoot!" a voice cried. Accompanying the first voice, dozens of others followed.

Worry gnawed at his heels as Phillip jumped over wooden boxes and plastic trash cans. There was a spacious square at the end of the alley, filled to the brim with murmuring people. And that's where Phillip planned to go, but his feet caught on a loose stone on the street; he stumbled forward.

A strong hand held his arm, stopping his fall.

"Whoa, careful there."

Phillip raised his gaze to meet a pair of striking brown eyes. The woman in front of him seemed to be roughly his age, with short, thick strands of brown hair and the fullest lips Phillip had ever seen in his entire life. There was a weird badge at her chest, half-hidden by her caramel jacket—it was a Mapati tree, or so it seemed.

"You okay?" she asked.

He blinked and used the moldy walls as support to steady himself. "I was just... distracted."

"Not showing any gratitude, huh," she said. The woman's eyebrows twitched. "Wait, don't I know you?"

He couldn't answer. To be honest, he almost wondered the same thing, but as an image started to form in his mind's eye, the woman looked away.

"Rafa, where are you? Let's go," a male voice said.

She looked at Phillip again. "Time to go. Be careful, all right? And try to be nice to people." The woman smiled, gave his shoulder a gentle pat, and disappeared in the crowd.