Kerrelyn Sparks: Eat Prey Love

“No!” Carlos threw himself in front of Caitlyn just as the shots were fired.

Caitlyn screamed as his body jerked with the impact of real bullets.

“Dammit!” Pat ran toward them. “I told you we needed him alive!”

The man writhed in pain, his hands gripping the knife in his gut. “I was aiming at the bitch. She deserves to die.”

“You deserve to die. You failed the Master.” Pat drew a weapon and shot the man in the head.

Caitlyn gasped and held onto Carlos tight. Blood oozed from two bullet holes in his chest. His breathing was shallow, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he was dying or just tranquilized.

Pat and the remaining five men fanned out, their rifles aimed at her.

“Hurry, load them into the truck,” Pat ordered. “Maybe we can still save him.”

The men advanced toward her.

“No!” She pulled a knife from Carlos’s belt.

Gunshots rang out as they sprayed her with a dozen tranquilizer darts.

With a huge roar, a tiger sprang from the jungle and leaped on the nearest man. Lethal claws ripped the screaming man apart.

Caitlyn pulled darts out of her arms, but she couldn’t reach those that had hit her on the back. Her sight blurred as she watched the tiger attack another man. Her ears rang with the din of multiple gunshots, all aimed at the tiger.

“No,” she moaned as the tiger slumped onto the ground, drugged by too many darts.

The tiger shimmered, then shifted into human form.

“Rajiv,” she whispered.

The men gasped, then shouted with victory.

“Another cat shifter!” Pat exclaimed. “The Master will be pleased.”

Dots swirled before her eyes and their voices sounded very far away.

“Load them up,” Pat ordered.

She collapsed on top of Carlos as everything went black.

Caitlyn slowly came to, her mind in a fuzzy haze. Memories of the ambush flitted through her head, and she sat up with a gasp. Where was she? A single lightbulb on the ceiling dimly illuminated the small room. The one window had been boarded up from the outside. There was a table against a wall. She was sitting on a hard pallet covered with a white sheet.

Her heart lurched. Where was Carlos?

A noise across the room made her jump. She peered into the dark corner.

“Miss Cait?” Rajiv pulled some of the white sheet covering his pallet into his lap to cover his nudity. “I apologize for my appearance.”

“It’s not your fault,” she answered in his language. “I’m sorry you were dragged into this.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I was considering leaving my tribe, so I could experience the world and have interesting adventures. I thought I might find that with you and Carlos. I suppose I have.”

She winced, hoping his search for adventure didn’t get him killed. “Do you know what happened to Carlos?”

“No. I just woke up a few minutes ago, and he was gone. Who are those people?”

“They’re working for a chiang-shih called Master Han.”

“A chiang-shih ?” Rajiv repeated. “I didn’t know they were real.”

“Apparently, they didn’t know until recently that cat shifters are real.” She stiffened when she heard the metallic scrape of a bolt sliding and a lock being turned.

The door cracked open and the muzzle of a rifle appeared. Rajiv growled and started to shimmer.

“Don’t even think about shifting.” A man swung the door farther open and shot tranquilizer darts into Rajiv. When Rajiv started pulling them out, the man drew a handgun from a holster. “Stop it. This one has real bullets.”

Rajiv glared at him, then slowly slumped to the side. Two men hauled him from the room.

Meanwhile, the man pointed his gun at Caitlyn. “Don’t move.”

Her heart raced. “What have you done with Carlos?”

The man looked surprised. “You speak Thai?” He glanced out the door. “They’re bringing your husband now.”

Two men entered the room, carrying Carlos. She winced at the sight of his blood-soaked chest. They shuffled over to where she sat and dumped him on the pallet.

“Careful,” she muttered.

“Why bother?” The man with the gun smirked. “The bastard is dead.”

She flinched.

“That’s enough, Sawat.” The professor, Pat, entered the room. “Carlos’s death is a tragedy.”

The man with the gun scoffed. “He deserved to die. He killed a lot of our men.”

“They died in the service of our Master,” Pat argued. He turned to Caitlyn with an annoyed look. “You neglected to tell us you spoke Thai. We removed the bullets and tried to save your husband. We were too late.”

Tears filled her eyes. She knew Carlos should revive in a few hours, but it still grieved her to think how much he had suffered. She brushed the hair back from his pale face, and a tear ran down her cheek. “Why are you doing this? Carlos considered you a friend.”

“Master Han is in need of a powerful cat,” Pat explained. “Once I realized cat shifters might truly exist, I knew they would be the most powerful cats in the world. I thought Carlos could lead us to a cat shifter. It didn’t occur to me that he was one until Tanit told me.”

Caitlyn sniffed as more tears streamed down her face. “Tanit is dead. We left him in the Temple of Death.”

Pat inclined his head. “It is an honor to die in service to the Master.”

She snorted. Then that was an honor she wished on the professor and the rest of his crew. “What are you doing to Rajiv?”

“We need him alive, so he will not be harmed. We are fitting a silver collar around his neck. I believe that will keep him from shifting. If not, we will have to keep him tranquilized until we can bring him to the Master.”

“What will the Master do to him?”

“The real question is what will the cat shifter do to the Master?” Pat headed out the door, then paused. “We must keep you locked up until this evening. I may be able to release you at that time, but I do not know. The decision will not be mine.”

She swallowed hard. “Who makes the decision?”

“Guardians of higher rank than I. I am merely a mortal, but they are chiang-shih . They will awaken in a few hours.”

Pat and Sawat left the room, and she heard the scrape of a bolt sliding into place.

With a sigh, she touched Carlos’s face. “I hope you wake up before the vampires do.”

She wandered about the room, looking for a way to escape or something that could be used as a weapon. The window was covered with bars and boarded up. She found a clay pot under the table and figured it was the toilet. On top of the table was a bowl and pitcher full of water. She might be able to whack someone with the pitcher, but first she would put the water to good use.

She took the sheet off Rajiv’s pallet and tore it into strips. Then she poured a little water into the bowl and set it next to Carlos. She washed the blood off his bare chest. He was still wearing his khaki pants and hiking boots.

She stretched him out on the pallet. Even though he couldn’t feel anything, she wanted him to look comfortable. She emptied the bloodied water into the chamber pot, then washed her own face and hands. With nothing else to do, she lay down beside Carlos and waited for him to come back.

She must have dozed, for she awakened when she felt Carlos’s body jerk. Yes! He was going to revive again. She sat up, her heart expanding in her chest.

His body jerked again and his eyes opened.

She grinned. “Carlos. Thank God.” She smoothed a hand over his chest and abdomen. The wounds were gone.

“I died again,” he whispered.

“You’re all right now.” She caressed his face.

He glanced around the room. “We’re prisoners?”