“You okay, man?” Jedrik asked, grabbing Keir’s arm as he stumbled.
Keir nodded.
Using our Ink was dangerous. It could take over our body if we let it, and it was difficult to control.
I nodded to Keir and ran in the direction of where Danni had been.
No Long Neck.
No Danni.
“Which way did they go?” Fear gripped me as I looked around. Fuckin’ Christ. Did she fall over the cliff? Had the Long Neck killed her? No, she was alive. She had to be. I’d feel something if she were dead. I refocused and used my tracking ability, scenting her footsteps in the grass, determining which way they went.
“Back toward the gate,” I said.
I ran. My senses were all screwed up as blood, fear, and pain mixed together, giving me no clear indication of Danni. I heard footsteps behind me and knew Jedrik and Keir were right with me.
It barreled into me as I rounded the corner of the building. Danni. The Long Neck dragged her struggling body toward the gates of the compound. I picked up my speed, everything in my body raging
No. Fuck, no.
CRATER FACE HELD ME against his chest, his hand clamped tight around my neck and I drew in ragged breaths, fighting for air. I kicked backward, hitting his shins, but it was pathetic. The guy was huge like a Mack truck with the smell of rotting garbage. He smelled the same as the guy in the bar when I was attacked in the bathroom.
“Balen.” My fingernails dug into the buzzard hands that closed around my neck, tearing at them, but it only caused him to tighten his hold.
“Right behind you.”
The Long Neck must have heard the running footsteps behind us because he stopped and swung around so I became his shield.
“Let her go.” Balen’s voice was a low growl of fury.
My head swam and my vision blurred from lack of oxygen.
“If she dies, you’ll have no hostage,” Keir said.
The pressure on my neck loosened and I wildly sucked in gulps of air.
“I die if I let her go. I die if she dies,” the Long Neck said. “So, she comes with me and we all live.”
“Not a chance, asshole,” Jedrik said with his bow and arrow ready to pierce the guy’s forehead.
“Danni, I’m going to release Talu, the Ink on my back.”
“The what?”
“Just do as I say. A tiger—”
“A tiger?” I must have heard him wrong.
“Danni, it’s my tattoo, my Ink. It is part of me. The tiger on my back.” Holy shit. “It will come at you both. When you see it, leap and move to the left. Talu will go straight for his neck. Get out of there. Okay? I can’t always control Talu, so do whatever it takes to get out of his way, baby.”
“For real?”
“Yeah, little one, for real.”
“Umm, okay.” I wondered how on earth I was going to move my head when the hand around my neck was unrelenting. I was also freakin’ out about this tiger he was talking about that he didn’t always have control of. But I’d try anything to get out of the hands of this crater-faced, bulk of steel, even if it meant facing whatever the hell Balen was talking about.
“What the—” the Long Neck said just before a magnificent black and orange form dove for us.
The tiger had piercing green eyes and a magnificent, luscious striped coat. His large paws covered the ground between the Scars and me then leapt into the air with a low growl.
Two screams of panic tangled together as me and the Long Neck struggled to get out of the way of Talu’s long white fangs.
Talu’s front paws hit me in the chest and knocked both me and my captor to the ground. I heard Balen’s voice in the background, shouting at Talu in a language I didn’t understand. With the wind knocked out of me, I struggled to breathe as the tiger stood, massive and magnificent, above us. I felt Talu’s drool drip onto my face, and I froze for seconds, staring into eyes that looked exactly like Balen’s.
I realized this animal was a part of him. They were connected on a level that was beyond any human’s comprehension. I wanted to reach out and touch the beautiful animal, run my hands through its coat and ease the rage that swam in its eyes.
I raised my hand just as I felt my body being dragged out from under the tiger and away from the Long Neck’s grasp. Within seconds, I saw what Talu was capable of, and it horrified me to think that I had wanted to touch him.
The beast made a low-pitched growl just before he sank his fangs into the Long Neck’s jugular. The CWO screamed; his face a mask of terror. With a sharp jerk of his head, Talu ripped a chunk of the flesh away. Blood spurted everywhere and the tiger rejoiced in it as he continued to eat at the Long Neck until his head was decapitated from his body.
I gagged, turning away from the sight. Balen pulled me up against him, my head in the crook of his shoulder. I could still hear the sound of tearing flesh and bones breaking as the wild beast devoured the body.
“Talu,” Balen called. “Talu!”
Jedrik mumbled, “Oh, man,” and Keir took a few steps back from Balen.
“Adveho iam vel vos mos nunquam eat iterum,” Balen said.
I glanced over my shoulder as Talu raised his head and peered at Balen and then at its prey. His striped coat was splattered in blood and his muzzle was now a pink hue. He seemed to be thinking about whatever Balen had said. Talu howled then came bounding toward Balen.
Oh, my God. He was coming straight for us, muzzle dripping in blood, eyes gleaming. I tried to escape, but Balen held me tight.