Reading Online Novel

Night of the Tiger(36)



“When did that happen?”

He turned back to face Aimee. She deserved nothing less than the entire truth from him. “Maybe thirty years ago, but I can’t be certain. Time flows differently for us. Sometimes a century can fly by in the blink of an eye. Other times, a year can seem like an eternity.”

Aimee pulled her legs up tight to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rocked slightly back and forth as she thought. She looked innocent, so achingly beautiful perched on the end of the bed that, for a brief moment, Roric wished she hadn’t released him. As much as he’d prayed over the past several thousand years to be released, he didn’t want her caught up in this war. Because that’s what it was—a war for his soul and the souls of his fellow warriors. A war to save the Lady. A war to save the world from the domination of Hades. And it was now a war for Aimee’s soul as well.

“That’s only two. There was another empty space.” Aimee rested her chin on her upraised knees. “A jaguar, if I’m remembering correctly.”

“Yes. That would be Stavros. He was released soon after Phoenix.”

“But how were you all released?”

Unable to resist her lure any longer, Roric strode to the bed and sat beside her. “Are your memories of last night returning?”

She picked at the sheet covering her. “Sort of. I’m getting flashes. I went to the carnival with a friend.” Aimee dropped her feet back to the floor. “Sandra! She’s going to be frantic wondering what happened to me. I have to call her.” She started to stand, but Roric wrapped his hand around her wrist, tugging her back.

“After. I need to know what you remember. We don’t have much time.” He was constantly aware of the ticking of the clock and the silence of the demons. That wouldn’t last much longer.

“The place creeped me out, but we went in the funhouse. I lost track of my friend and eventually went to the sideshow tents to look for her. I watched some of the performances, but got disoriented. The tent with the carousel just seemed to appear out of nowhere.” She nibbled on her bottom lip again, and Roric barely suppressed a groan. His shaft was as hard as a rock, but thankfully Aimee didn’t seem to notice. She was caught up in the retelling of her tale.

“What did you do next?” He was very aware of the fact that he was still holding on to her. His fingers easily wrapped all the way around her slender wrist.

“I couldn’t resist the carousel. It was so beautiful I was drawn to it immediately. To you.” A light blush covered her cheeks.

“That seems to be the way we are released. Some woman is drawn to find the carousel and chooses one of us.” He asked the one question that had burned in his heart from the moment he’d felt her sit on his back. “Why me? Was it because of the dreams?” That was something he needed to know, to understand.

She nodded. “I told you I dreamed of you. Well, not you specifically, but the white tiger. Only I did dream about you the night before I went to the carnival.” She broke off and scrubbed her free hand over her face. “It’s all very confusing.”

“You dreamed of me? Me, not the tiger?” Memories stirred from deep inside him, of a woman who called to him. Had that been Aimee? He struggled, but could remember nothing more.

“I’ve dreamed about you—” she broke off, seeming flustered, “—I mean, about a white tiger for years, but about you the night before I went to the carnival. Then I thought I saw the tiger stalking me when I got lost in the funhouse. When I saw the carousel, I couldn’t resist sitting on the tiger for a moment. The machine came to life, spinning faster and faster until it was out of control. There were people laughing and yelling.” She shivered, rubbing her free hand over one of her bare arms. “They all worked at the carnival. The harder I spun on the ride, the more their faces changed. They looked like the demons from my dreams.”

She swiveled so she was facing him. “They were chanting your name. I didn’t know what the word meant then, but it was your name. After that, things get a little blurry and I was falling from the carousel. The next thing I knew I was dreaming about making love to you, only it wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“No.” He rubbed his thumb over the inner curve of her wrist. She was so soft, so fragile. “None of this is a dream.”

“How did we end up here?” she asked. “Back at my home and in my bed. Why didn’t we stay in the tent?”

“I don’t know. I think my Lady used her waning power to make sure if we were ever freed, we would be sent away from the demons who held us. A way of giving us a fighting chance to survive.”