To Tempt A Tiger(62)
“Ah, so he’s not a threat. Why no other tigers there?”
“The state’s traditionally werewolf territory.”
“Werewolves? Are we going to run into werewolves?”
“No, no. It just means we won’t accidentally run into any tigers, and my brothers won’t have extensive resources there—no reason to.”
“How about your resources there?” She went to the gun cabinet to get her father’s rifle. She held it a moment, considering. She couldn’t take it on the flight and she didn’t want to abandon it. She should leave it here so her father could collect it.
“Skimpy, too,” Vlad answered her question.
“Can we get a last minute flight? That’s gonna cost a fortune.” She locked the gun back in the cabinet. She was going to feel a little naked driving all the way to Colorado without it. After seeing how fast Zoe and Vlad could move, she wanted more than her own fighting skills if they had to face any other shifters along the way.
“Money isn’t the problem,” Vlad said. “Space on a flight might be. And my brothers waiting at Yeager is a definite problem.”
“They’re coming here. They can’t be in two places at once.”
“There are three of them. They split up before, they’ll do that again. And if they think Zoe is a hybrid, they won’t be working alone to get to us before we reach the compound.”
“So we fly in somewhere else and drive a little farther than planned.”
He smiled. “My thoughts exactly. We’ll take whatever we can get that’s close but not directly there.”
“We still have time to pick up the guns from my father’s friend?”
“We’ll make time.”
She nodded, but a slight tremor shook her shoulders. “That cabin in Alaska sounds good about now.”
“Except my brothers know about it.” He pulled her into his arms. “We’ll take care of this. Zoe will be okay. I promise.”
She kissed him, quick and hard, then finished getting her bags together. By the time they were done, Zoe was halfway through her dinner. Rose was too worried to eat, but she forced down a little to keep up her energy and cleaned up as Alexis and Vlad loaded their gear into the cars.
They decided to leave her SUV there as a diversion. Vlad would take her and Zoe in his rental to Colorado. Alexis would cross into New Mexico and fly out from Albuquerque—another diversion.
“Good thing you had a nap,” Rose said to Zoe as they finished putting the house in order. She didn’t want to leave it a mess. “We’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”
“Like driving.”
She could tell from Zoe’s expression she was more worried than happy about this change of plans, though. “It’ll be okay, baby. I promise. We’ve just got a lot of driving and flying ahead of us.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
Rose’s heart squeezed at the little hitch in her daughter’s voice, and a deep seed of anger took root. Damn this stupid shifter business. Zoe had been through enough in her short life. As they headed out into the dark night, she swore by all that was holy, she’d make sure Zoe didn’t have to worry about running away like this again. Whatever it took.
*****
With all the fear and anxiety riding Vlad throughout the journey, all the worry about his brothers somehow catching up to them, he was a little surprised when they reached the elders’ compound forty hours later without any trouble.
“Was that too easy?” Rose asked as they drove through a huge security gate. “Or did we just outsmart your brothers?”
“Good question.” He wasn’t entirely sure. “Just stay alert. We won’t be able to relax until the elders give Zoe their backing, and the way the bastards talk, that could take days.”
“Days? Ah, hell.”
“You guys cursing,” Zoe scolded. “Ah ah ah.”
Rose shook her head and grinned. To Vlad, she said, “This is what I get for imposing a no-cursing rule in my home. My daughter throws it back in my face. I blame my mother. I get the prohibition on ‘bad words’ from her. My dad can cuss up a storm when he wants—especially when Irish rugby is on.”
“Grandpa gets in trouble when he says fuck.”
Vlad choked back a laugh.
Rose rolled her eyes and tried not to laugh, too. There was something very funny about a three year old saying “fuck” even though it was completely inappropriate. But her mother would kill her if she heard it. “Exactly right, baby. You shouldn’t say that word either.”
“’Kay, Mommy.”
The drive from the gate up the long, forest-lined road to the interior of the compound took enough time that Zoe started asking for a potty stop.