Bitten by Cupid(9)

“He’s gone,” Tiny said, thinking it was probably lucky for the guy that he was. “It was just some homeless guy. He took off when he got a look at me.”

He wasn’t surprised when, rather than look relieved, Mirabeau appeared disappointed by this news. He suspected she’d wanted to throttle the man for grabbing her and causing the state she now found herself in. He simply waited patiently as she stared at him with impotent fury, wondering if she would take out her rage and frustration on him…and if he would let her. In the end, she merely cursed and looked at her mud-covered hands with disgust. Tiny was about to offer to sacrifice his suit jacket for her to wipe her hands on when she managed to find a small patch on the front of her skirt that had escaped the soaking. He watched in silence as she wiped her hands on it, then forced an encouraging smile when she again glanced his way.

The sight of it made her sigh, and say, “I guess we should get moving.”

“Yes, I guess,” he agreed quietly.

Mirabeau nodded, then moved toward the tunnel entrance on his left, only to pause as the skirt of the gown wrapped itself around her legs. She nearly lost her balance again, and Tiny immediately reached to steady her, but she waved him off and managed to keep her balance on her own. She then glanced down at the gown with distaste.

“You might as well,” Stephanie said quietly. “It’s ruined anyway.”

Tiny knew the kid was reading Mirabeau’s mind again, but wasn’t sure what she was suggesting until Mirabeau suddenly bent, grabbed up the hem of her dress, found one side seam and began to rip it apart. She split it all the way up, well past her knees, then quickly tore sideways, ripping away the bottom three-quarters of the skirt all the way around. Once finished, Mirabeau was wearing a dress that only covered her to midthigh.

“It’s a little short,” she judged as she straightened and tossed the detached material aside. She then added wryly, “But I can move more easily, and I won’t be restricted if I need to fight.”

“Yes,” Tiny agreed absently, barely aware of growling the word as he took in her stockinged legs. The skirt now started where the tops of her stocking seams ended. Every time she shifted, it flashed a tantalizing hint of flesh. The stockings themselves were black net and covered what appeared to him at that moment to be nearly a mile of leg.

Jesus, the woman is all leg, he thought. And fine legs they were too, muscular, but still slender and feminine, tapering down to tiny little ankles.

“It’s my own fault,” Mirabeau commented with self-disgust as she peered down at herself. “I should have checked that the offshoot was empty before turning my back to it.”

“Didn’t you hear him approach?”

Stephanie asked the question in an innocent voice, but Tiny suspected she was taunting Mirabeau. It made him frown at the teenager. The girl obviously had a chip on her shoulder, but then he supposed she had earned it. She’d been through a great deal this last year. Fortunately, Mirabeau didn’t seem to suspect the question was a jab at her. She merely frowned toward the offshoot and shook her head.

“Come to think of it, no I didn’t.” She moved to the mouth of the tunnel on his right and peered into the darkness. “He must have already been standing here just inside the entrance to the tunnel and simply waited when he saw us approaching. He would have seen the flashlight from a good distance.”

“Waited for what purpose?” Stephanie asked curiously. “What did he want? Besides your hair?”

The last was added on a burble of amusement, but Mirabeau just shrugged and swung back toward them. “Who knows? He wasn’t right in the head…which is why I couldn’t control him when he grabbed me, but I caught enough of his chaotic thoughts to know that he thought we were rats.”

“Rats?” Tiny asked with amazement, finally managing to tear his eyes from her legs.

Mirabeau nodded silently in the beam of light he lifted to her face.

“Talking, human-sized rats?” Stephanie asked doubtfully.

“He couldn’t see us in the dark, just the flashlight beam,” Mirabeau pointed out, then added, “And from what I got from his thoughts, he’s always suspected there were mutant human-sized rats down here. In his mind even the little rats talk to him.”

“Oh,” Stephanie murmured, and Tiny echoed her comment in his head, as his gaze shifted past Mirabeau to the tunnel the little madman had disappeared down. He kind of felt bad now for scaring the poor bastard. The guy needed help.

“Well…I guess we should keep going,” Mirabeau murmured suddenly, but she didn’t move except to glance the way they’d come, then back down the tunnel she stood in front of. Knowing she was no longer sure where he would be safest, at the front of the party or the back, Tiny made up her mind for her and slid past her. He shined the flashlight down the tunnel and followed the beam, moving slowly at first until he was sure Stephanie and Mirabeau were following him.