The fight itself didn’t take long, but by the time it was done, more than a few had died. All the goons for one. Zach was already at work, shoving at the bodies with his snout and paws, ridding them in the deep vents lining the volcano basin.
The tiger lay on the ground panting, not so much injured as old and tired. Nora wasn’t out to kill the old lady, despite the things she’d done. After all, she used to have a grandmother that thought milking virgin goats by mouth would get rid of wrinkles. Sometimes old people did things the old ways. It was up to the next generations to teach them.
“It’s over, Irina,” she declared.
The tiger sighed and shifted, fur turning to flesh.
Svetlana gasped. “Grandmother? Is that you?”
How could the girl not know her roots? Would they have to bury another body?
Speaking of which. The tang of blood permeated the air, and it took her a moment to realize some of it came from behind her.
Peter.
A whirl and she was on him, pressing her fingers to the bullet wound, trying to stem the flow of blood.
“We need to stop this.” She needed to keep applying pressure.
“Wishing you the best with that. In case you hadn’t noticed, my luck is shit.” He coughed and convulsed a little, making the hot liquid gush.
Panic, rare and unwelcome, made her mouth sour. “Maybe if I cauterize it.”
“Don’t you dare brand me with that mutant horn.” He closed his eyes and gasped for air.
“I have to do something.” Anything. She couldn’t just let him die.
“Show me the treasure.” She almost didn’t hear his whisper.
“You can’t be serious.”
“If I’m gonna die, I wanna see why. What’s in the box?”
“You aren’t dying,” she groused. Still she yelled for Zach. “I need the key.”
The lion bobbed his mane and stalked for Svetlana, who clutched it to her chest.
Irina cuffed her. “Let him have it. He’ll tear off your head before you can kill him.”
The woman gritted her teeth as Zach stalked over, lithe in his movements as he went from lion to man. A very big and naked man.
“Hand it over,” Zach demanded.
Svetlana didn’t argue. She dropped it into his palm.
Zach carried it to Nora, who explained, “Peter wants to see what’s in the box before he gets a few stitches.”
“I heard. I’ll bring him.”
“Like fuck is a naked dude carrying me.” Peter gave Zach a side eye that made him laugh.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m into tits and fur, little man.”
If the situation weren’t dire, she would have laughed. “Let Zach carry you, or you won’t see the treasure.”
“Is that any way to talk to a dying man? Wait, wouldn’t want to complain. You might actually try and play the violin.” Peter’s wan joke almost earned him a slap.
This time he didn’t exaggerate. Stupid fragile human.
They gathered around the pillar where the box appeared welded in place to the stone. It was cold compared to the heat within the basin. Icy cold when she ran her hand over it. It seemed so weird given the cavern was rather warm.
“I don’t know where to insert the key.” Nora didn’t see a spot. Her gaze flitted to the pile behind and the bleached skulls.
“Maybe it’s invisible,” Peter said. He was being held upright by Zach. His eyes half shut.
“That’s dumb,” she stated, jabbing the key at the box, only to freeze as it went in. “Holy shit. I found a hole.” She shoved it until it would go no more. She then grabbed his limp hand.
“Let’s do this together,” she said before she held him tight and turned the key.
It stuck partway. Wouldn’t turn, so she shoved harder and it snapped.
Her horror emerged in a vehement, “Mother fucker!”
Peter chuckled. “Guess I won’t be seeing inside it. Just my luck.”
Fatalistic and she was suddenly ready to cry. She slammed her fists onto the closed box, yelling, “Open up, damn you.”
To her surprise, and probably everyone else’s, it did.
“What’s in it?” Peter asked.
She leaned to look in because she couldn’t see anything other than a pool of darkness. She put her face right into the opening and got downright chilly, as if fingers strummed her inner essence. She sucked in a surprised breath. Cold, so cold, and now inside her.
She retreated, her breath frosting.
“Well?” asked Peter. “Did you find treasure?”
She rubbed her knuckles over his cheek. “I did. Not the kind I ever imagined, though.”
He closed his eyes. “Me too. Nora.”
If only they’d had more time. If he’d been a bit sturdier. How she wished he were a shifter like her. Then a simple bullet wound would have just been a temporary irritation. If only she could have one more chance.
Her lips touched his, and her breath suddenly expelled in a cold rush.
Peter’s body jerked. His eyes opened, but he didn’t see her, she’d wager, given the shiny film that slid over them.
He began to shake and shiver, the motion fast enough to make him blurry. She rocked away from him as his form wavered and shook, changed shape. Grew fur.
What the fuck?
Zach inched farther away, but she got closer.
Could it be possible? That cold breath she’d sucked in from the box and expelled on Peter, was it magic? In the book, it didn’t say what the hero and tsarina found. Only that they were granted their wish.
Her wish. For them to be together.
And that resulted in a very freaked-out lion.
Chapter Eighteen
Peter opened his mouth to yell because, fucking shit, his body had just gone through the most traumatizing pain. Only it emerged as a roar.
Uh. What?
“Roar.”
He kept doing it. Every time he opened his mouth.
“Roar.”
“Roar.”
Fuck. No, it still came out as a roar. No!
The panic was real as he ran, pushing past the interesting-smelling people. The big guy had a bit of a hot spice and musky thing going. Nora was all sweetness and almost enough to distract him from his sprint. However, the full-blown panic was in effect.
He’d completely lost his mind. He thought he was a lion. He’d be locked in the loony bin forever.
Before he could make it far, a body tackled him. A golden-furred body that pinned him to the floor. He might have fought except he knew that scent.
Nora. Wait, how could he know her by smell? And why was it giving him a boner? Oh fuck. How could he be thinking of sex when he’d gone insane?
Woe is me. He went limp. Might as well wait for the men in the white coats.
A nose nudged him. A moment later Nora crooned to him, “Come on, you big pussy cat. Stop freaking out. Calm down. It’s not a big deal.”
Not a big deal? He thought he was a lion.
He didn’t want to be a lion.
And suddenly he wasn’t. It didn’t help. Because now he was naked, sitting on the pebbled ground. “Those doctors are right. I am crazy,” he muttered.
“Not crazy,” a very naked Nora argued.
Was he imagining that too? “I thought I was shot. But look at me, I’m not hurt. I saw you open the box, only it was empty. And then I thought I was a pussycat. Then you were a giant cat. Maybe it’s the gasses making me hallucinate.”