“Take him into the other room,” a voice ordered. “We’ll get the information we need from him before we kill him.”
“Was he alone?” The other voice asked.
“Of course,” the first male replied. “He never brings anyone here. That is why I knew it would be the perfect place.”
Tina breathed deeply. The fragrant smell of food covered any scent. Relying on her hearing, she tried to determine how many men there were without seeing them for herself. From the sounds below, she guessed that there were at least three men plus Viper. What she didn’t know was how many there might be outside.
Glancing around, her eyes lit on the communicator that Viper normally wore on his collar. Praying that it worked like the one he had given to her and Pearl on board the Horizon, she snatched it up off the dresser and hurried into the bathroom. Stepping out through the double doors onto the balcony. She pressed against the rough wood of the exterior wall.
“Help, please, we need help,” she whispered, pressing the button.
“This line is a secure line, please return to Viper d’Rojah,” a voice on the other end responded.
“I can’t,” Tina whispered almost in tears. “Please, some men have him. They are going to kill him.”
“Tina,” Vox’s voice suddenly came on the other end. “Where are you?”
“At Viper’s home in the forest,” she whispered. “Vox, I don’t know how many men there are, but they have Viper. Please, we need help.”
“We are on our way,” Vox said roughly. “Ten minutes. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“I don’t know if we have that long,” Tina said, pausing when she heard the sound of steps coming up the stairs. “They’re coming. I have to go.”
“Tina,” Riley’s voice whispered frantically. “Vox, you have to help her.”
Tina turned the communicator off and slid it into her pocket. Focusing, she whispered to her cat. She needed her, Viper needed her. Within seconds, the dark chocolate tiger leaped up onto the narrow ledge and jumped. The bastards had broken Pearl’s Rule Number Twenty: If you or your family/friends’ lives are on the line, ignore all of the above except Rule Number One.
*.*.*
Viper shook his head as the blow to his jaw pulled him out of the darkness. A low, feral snarl escaped him and he fought against the restraints holding him. Another blow snapped his head back. He could taste the blood from the cut to his lip.
“Where is it?” The man in front of him demanded.
Viper shook his head to clear it. The man mistook it for rebellion and struck him again. He could fell the skin on his cheekbone open under the blow. The male had used his claws this time. Blinking, Viper looked up into the cold eyes of Bragnar. The traitor looked gaunt and pale.
“It would appear being a traitor isn’t good for your health, Bragnar,” Viper hissed, staring back into the black eyes.
“Being a royal isn’t going to be good for you, Prince Viper,” Bragnar retorted savagely. “Where is the scroll?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” Viper replied.
The blow this time came to his chest. Four long cuts, each an eighth of an inch deep, opened up. Dark red blood stained the black silk shirt.
“We need the location of The Heart of the Cat,” the man standing next to Bragnar demanded. “We have to return with either it or the scroll showing its location.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but that isn’t going to happen,” Viper gritted through his teeth.
He blocked the pain of the next blow. This one opened up a long wound in his thigh. His cat howled with rage. He wanted to shift, but whatever drug they had pumped into him was preventing it.
He kept his eyes straight. Inwardly, he hoped that Tina had heard the men entering and escaped into the forest. He didn’t know if there were other men involved. He hoped not. His biggest fear was of her being found. It would kill him knowing that he would not be able to give the men the information they were seeking, even if it meant his and Tina’s lives. Nausea filled him at the idea of these men or any others putting their hands on Tina in an effort to make him talk.
“No one will hear you scream, Prince Viper,” Bragnar said, nodding his head at the other male. “No one.”
“You’re wrong,” a soft, feminine voice said from the entrance to the kitchen. “I would.”
Viper’s head turned and he stared in horror at where Tina stood in the doorway. She looked so beautiful, so fragile, so… breakable, that his heart screamed for mercy from the Goddess to make her run.
“No,” he roared, struggling to break free. “Run!”
*.*.*
Tina’s sleek cat jumped from branch to branch, slowly circling the area. She paused when she caught the faint scent of a male to the left of her. Climbing higher, she worked her way through the thick limbs until she was above him.
Wait, she cautioned, scanning the area.
No more, just this one, her cat assured her.
We have to make sure that he doesn’t alert the others, Tina whispered.
No sound, her cat promised.
Tina released her hold on her cat, trusting that she knew what to do. Cats were born predators. They were skilled hunters that knew how to take down their prey.
Tina refused to think of the man below her as anything else. He had come and attacked them. He was just like that group of boys that had attacked her and Toni all those years ago. She had decided that she would no longer be the prey to such animals. She would be the predator. She would use all the skills that Trey had taught her and more. She would fight for her family and the man she loved.
The man moved closer to the path leading to the front door. He kept looking around, studying the area. She could see a faint glow around his hands. He was just like Bahadur… A Curizan. A moment of doubt washed through her as she tried to remember what Viper had said. The Curizan’s could pull in the energy around them, but he had trouble using it against Viper. When they had fought, it was difficult for Bahadur to hold Viper off.
If she could take him by surprise, she could kill him. Moving silently along the branch, she waited until he turned again before she leaped. She struck him hard between the shoulder blades. The movement sent the man face down on the ground. Tina’s tiger pinned the man there long enough for her to bite down on the back of his neck. She raked her front claw across his neck, slicing through the thick vein.
She shuddered as she carefully released him. Stumbling backwards, her stomach heaved as the coppery taste of the man’s blood hit her taste buds. She frantically brushed her paw across her muzzle to wipe it away.
She calculated that Vox and whoever else was coming would arrive in the next few minutes. Her biggest fear was if Viper had that long. Twirling, she took off for the back door of the kitchen. She would slip in and do what she could to distract the men until Vox and the others showed up.
Forcing her hissing cat to listen to her, she shifted as she stepped up to the door. It silently opened for her and she cautiously stepped into the room. The delicious smells of food filled the air. A pang of longing and love filled her when she thought of the trouble Viper had gone through to prepare a meal for her while she slept.
Pushing down her fear, Tina quietly walked across the polished wood floors, pausing just long enough to pick up the knife lying on the counter, before continuing until she stood just on the other side of the wall from the living area where the men held Viper. Her fist flew to her mouth and she bit down on her knuckle when she heard someone strike him. The smell of his blood washed through her like lava. They struck him two more times before she knew that she couldn’t let it continue. Just like before, she would stand up. Unlike before, when she fought back this time, it would be to the death… theirs.
Drawing in a deep breath, she stiffened her shoulders and stepped around the wall until she was standing in the entrance to the kitchen.
“No one will hear you scream, Prince Viper,” the man standing in front of V
iper said. “No one.”
“You’re wrong,” Tina replied, gripping the knife against her side. “I would.”
*.*.*
Bragnar swallowed his fear, forcing the rage and desperation he was feeling to the surface instead. He didn’t want the Sarafin Prince to know that he was terrified. He knew he was a dead man either way. If he didn’t return with the information, those in charge of the rebellion would kill him. If he failed, Viper d’Rojah would. Truthfully, if he had a choice, he would almost prefer the Sarafin Prince.
He had been living in the area the last few months, hoping that he could catch the Sarafin Prince unaware. Eldora, Vox’s ex-mistress had given him the information about the Heart of the Cat. She had heard Vox’s father, Aryeh and his aunt, Illana, talking about it. He had not thought it was important until he mentioned it to his contact. Shortly after, he had been ordered to either find it or the location of it if he valued his life. Unfortunately, a sweep of the palace had cast suspicion on him and he had escaped only to learn that Eldora and Vox’s other mistress had been captured. It had been difficult, but he had poisoned Eldora before she could reveal too much.
This was now his last chance at finding out where the Heart of the Cat might be hidden. Viper had interrupted his and his men’s search. Fortunately, one of the males with him had seen Viper pull the scroll from the cleric’s body. They needed to find it so he could give it to his contact, otherwise they were all dead.
Bragnar turned in surprise when he heard the soft voice of a woman. His eyes took in the unusual pale coloring and fragile air. This close, he could smell the scent of Viper d’Rojah on the female.
“It would appear that we now have help in getting the information that we need,” Bragnar observed with a crooked grin. “You surprise me, Prince Viper. I would have thought you would have learned from your brother’s mistake.” Bragnar nodded to the man standing beside him. “Bring her here. Let us see if we can persuade the Warrior Prince to talk.”
“No!” Viper growled, rocking in the chair he was restrained in. “Run, Tina. Hide!”
“No,” she said, looking at the man walking toward her. “I will not hide ever again.”
Bragnar’s eyes jerked back to the calm expression on the female’s face. She wasn’t watching him, but something told him that she was very aware of what he was doing. His cat, tortured by him and those he worked for, hissed and paced back and forth. His eyes widened when he saw her turn on her heel and duck under the arm of his man. When she came up, her hand was sliding across his companion’s throat.
Fear and disbelief shook him and he yelled for the third man with him to attack. Bragnar swayed when he saw the man’s blank eyes as he stood staring back at him. Vox d’Rojah stood holding the man by his throat, a laser sword piercing the man’s body.
“I can assure you they will hear you scream,” Viper said in a grim voice. “I will make sure that they do.”
Bragnar raised his clawed fist to strike a death blow to Viper, but a burst of light struck him in the chest, throwing him backwards where he fell unconscious.
Viper glanced at where his brother, Walkyr, stood shaking his head and pointing to the woman standing next to him. A low groan escaped him when he saw the leather clad figure. What was even scarier was the grin on her face.
“Hot damn,” Pearl chuckled. “This thing is a hell of a lot more fun than my shotgun!”
“Grandma!” Tina cried out in shock before turning to Vox. “Viper needs medical attention, now!”
Vox glanced back and forth between Tina as she knelt in front of his brother, Pearl, who was gushing about the portable laser cannon, and his mate, who was peeking around the wall of the kitchen grinning at him for making him bring her. Snapping a command for Tandor to beam down, Vox sliced through the restraints on Viper’s arms and legs. He glanced back at Pearl and grinned.
“You might make a good warrior yet,” he commented. “Now, get Riley back home where she belongs,” he ordered. “Viper, what the hell is this all about?”
Epilogue
Viper rolled over and stretched. He had returned late last night from a meeting with his father, brothers, Titan, and Banu. They had all decided that it was imperative to find the Heart of the Cat. Titan, Banu, and his brother, Walkyr, would take over the search for it.
“Hey, I thought you would still be sleeping,” Tina said as she stepped into the room holding a tray.
“I smelled food,” Viper commented. “I’m hungry.”
He chuckled when he saw the rosy blush that filled her cheeks. He had been hungry last night, too, and it hadn’t been for food. The last three weeks had been filled with meetings. They had gone over and over the scroll trying to decipher what all the numbers meant. It wasn’t until Tina and Riley had come in to bring them some refreshments that they had their first break.
“It looks like account numbers,” Tina observed. “You know, like to a bank or depository. The first numbers are usually the routing number. It will tell you which bank, which location, etc. The second is the actual account number. Maybe it was placed with a company that does that. I’ve heard of things like that being passed down for generations.”
“You know, you are a genius,” Viper commented, scooting back on the bed and adjusting the pillows.
“I know,” Tina laughed as she set the tray on his lap. “I chose you.”
Viper reached out and grabbed her hand as she started to step away. With a light tug, he pulled her down next to him. His hand rose to touch her cheek.
“I know,” he murmured in a husky voice. “I love you, Tina St. Claire-d’Rojah.”
“I love you, too, Viper,” Tina whispered, turning her head so that she could press her lips against his palm.
“Does Pearl have a rule for making cubs?” Viper asked, picking up the tray and setting it on the side table.
Tina shook her head and thought for a moment. “The only one I can think of is Pearl’s Rule Number Ten. That one might work.”
“What was it again?” Viper murmured, pulling her toward him until she was kneeling in front of him on the bed.
“Are you ready for this? If the answer is ‘yes’, then go for it,” she murmured, pulling her shirt off.
Viper’s eyes darkened and a sexy, crooked smile curved his lips. “As Pearl would say, ‘Oh, hell, yes!” He growled, pulling her forward and covering her lips with his.
To Be continued: Heart of the Cat: Sarafin Warriors Book 3
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Additional Books by S. E. Smith
Paranormal and Science Fiction short stories and novellas
For the Love of Tia (Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 4.1)
A Dragonlings’ Easter (Dragonlings of Valdier Book 1.1)
A Dragonlings’ Haunted Halloween (Dragonlings of Valdier Book 1.2)
A Warrior’s Heart (Marastin Dow Warriors Book 1.1)
Rescuing Mattie (Lords of Kassis: Book 3.1)
Science Fiction/Paranormal Novels
Cosmos’ Gateway Series
Tink’s Neverland (Cosmo’s Gateway: Book 1)
Hannah’s Warrior (Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 2)
Tansy’s Titan (Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 3)
Cosmos’ Promise (Cosmos’ Gateway: Book 4)
Curizan Warrior
Ha’ven’s Song (Curizan Warrior: Book 1)
Dragon Lords of Valdier
Abducting Abby (Dragon Lords o
f Valdier: Book 1)
Capturing Cara (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 2)
Tracking Trisha (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 3)
Ambushing Ariel (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 4)
Cornering Carmen (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 5)
Paul’s Pursuit (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 6)
Twin Dragons (Dragon Lords of Valdier: Book 7)
Lords of Kassis Series
River’s Run (Lords of Kassis: Book 1)
Star’s Storm (Lords of Kassis: Book 2)
Jo’s Journey (Lords of Kassis: Book 3)
Magic, New Mexico Series
Touch of Frost (Magic, New Mexico Book 1)
Sarafin Warriors
Choosing Riley (Sarafin Warriors: Book 1)
Viper’s Defiant Mate (Sarafin Warriors: Book 2)
The Alliance Series
Hunter’s Claim (The Alliance: Book 1)
Razor’s Traitorous Heart (The Alliance: Book 2)
Dagger’s Hope (The Alliance: Book 3)
Zion Warriors Series
Gracie’s Touch (Zion Warriors: Book 1)
Krac’s Firebrand (Zion Warriors: Book 2)
Paranormal and Time Travel Novels
Spirit Pass Series
Indiana Wild (Spirit Pass: Book 1)
Spirit Warrior (Spirit Pass: Book 2)
Heaven Sent Series
Lily’s Cowboys (Heaven Sent: Book 1)
Touching Rune (Heaven Sent: Book 2)
Excerpts of S. E. Smith Books
If you would like to read more S. E. Smith stories, she recommends Abducting Abby, the first in her Dragon Lords of Valdier Series
Or if you prefer a Paranormal or Time Travel with a twist, you can check out Lily’s Cowboys or Indiana Wild...
About S.E. Smith
S.E. Smith is a New York Times, USA TODAY and #1 International Amazon Bestselling author who has always been a romantic and a dreamer. A prolific writer, she has spent years writing, although it has usually been technical papers for college. Now, she spends her days and weekends writing and her nights dreaming up new stories. She enjoys camping and traveling when she is not out on a date with her favorite romantic guy.