Page 21 of Tempting the Tiger
Everyone around me stops and stares, because of course they do. Apparently, humiliation is Lance’s strategy of the day.
Aire’s been strict with me, pulling me up on every little thing, but Harley told me that’s normal with newbies. Lance, though? He goes out of his way to try to provoke a reaction from me most days. The history between Lance and me isn’t a secret, and I’m fairly sure the other workers are taking bets on when and how I’m going to lose my temper.
I tuck my scanner under my arm and keep my hand movements expressionless. ‘I clocked in before seven.’
Lance sneers. ‘Yet you didn’t have a scanner in hand, ready to work. As a consequence, you will be docked an hour’s pay for your late arrival.’
I clench my jaw and will myself not to react. I refuse to give this pathetic fae any more power over me than he already has. Does he really think all the petty, barbed comments, humiliation tactics, and docking my pay are actually going to break me?
When it becomes clear that I’m not going to respond, he heads into his office and the other workers go back to what they were doing.
I check my scanner to remind myself where I’m supposed to be going, then head to the aisle at the top of my list, trying to curb my frustration by taking deep breaths as I walk. In theory, Harleyis right that rebuilding our lives is the best way to show people like Lance that they’ll never truly control us, no matter how much they might want to. Yet at the same time, would a little light revenge really be so bad?
If Lance hasn’t moved on, why should I?
I just want today to be over. The usual headache I get towards the end of the day arrived at lunchtime, Aire has been especially bitchy, and I could really do without the ‘let’s look through your old sketchbooks’ brotherly bonding time this evening. Added to that, I just found out that I didn’t win this month’s bonus. I expected it of course—Harley warned me it wouldn’t happen, no matter how hard I worked—but I really wanted to be the exception to the rule. I need the extra money so that I can pay Milo back what I owe him, not just cover my share of the rent and bills.
It’s ironic that the one bright spot in my day is the man who got the bonus instead. Dhiren brushes against me as he walks past, giving me a smile over his shoulder. He stops at the far end of the aisle I’m on, searching for the box he needs while shooting me subtle glances.
I smirk back as I scan the containment field of my next box. Once the big green tick appears, I pick up the box and head towards him, sending him a wink. Technically this isn’t the fastest way to the loading bay, but is that really important when there’s flirting to be done?
Our messages to one another have been the highlight of the past few weeks for me, and they’ve made the realities of my life now easier to bear. He’s fun to message with, replies late at night when I can’t sleep, and the more obvious I am about how much I’m into him, the more he checks me out when he thinks I won’t notice. If it takes a few more months of flirting before he agrees to go on a date—after I finish up my contract here and we’reno longer colleagues—that just means we’ll have time to really get to know each other first.
I’m distracted from my admiration of Dhiren’s shapely arse by a box adjacent to him. It’s sitting on the top shelf directly behind him, the colour not quite the correct shade of gold. I frown, my steps slowing as the tarnished colour turns a vibrant bronze.
That’s definitely not normal. Shit.
I drop the box I’m carrying and sprint towards him, waving to get his attention, my heart pounding as the containment field turns burnt orange.
He turns, a questioning look on his face and a box in his arms.
‘Down!’ I repeat the frantic sign as the containment field shifts to the orange of a fire so rapidly that I realise I’m not going to make it in time.
His eyes widen. He tosses the box aside and drops to the floor, but it’s not enough. He’s going to be caught up in it.
The second I reach him I dive on top of him, flattening him as the world turns blindingly bright. A powerful surge of white-hot magic explodes over us, causing my scales to erupt all over my skin.
I barely manage to hold my dragon back as debris rains down on us and Dhiren goes tense under me, his chest vibrating. Shit, I’m not covering all of him; his legs and part of his head are still exposed. I try to move my own legs to cover his but I’m not sure how successful I am, too distracted by the pain of whatever the fuck this is stabbing mercilessly at my magic like thousands of razor-sharp daggers. There’s a furious tremor coming from my dragon, but shifting right now would be dangerous because Dhiren would be too exposed during the shift, as well as the risk of us destroying more boxes and causing more explosions.
I don’t know how much time passes before the attack on my magic subsides. The heat begins to fade, the pressure eases, and Dhiren goes still underneath me.
No, no, no, he has to be okay. I roll off him to check he’s breathing, needing to blink a few times to clear my blurred vision, but although his eyes are closed his chest is rising and falling, thank fuck. His hair is burnt away on the right hand side, his trousers are in tatters and seem to be welded to his blood-covered legs, but he’s alive.
My dragon vibrates violently inside me, still desperate to get out so that we can carry Dhiren away from here. I ignore him, attempting to retract my scales instead, but shudder at the intense pain and an odd sort of sticky sensation. Okay, worry about scales later. Get Dhiren help now.
Small fires have broken out in the carnage around us, and at the far end of the aisle, Harley and Dhiren’s friend Felicia are running towards us. Beyond them, other workers are gathering, trying to see what’s going on.
As soon as Harley makes his way past the debris to reach us, I mouthhelp him, keeping my hand on the uninjured side of Dhiren’s head. I can’t sign properly with my scales like this—they make my fingers too large and clumsy, and my talons are too sharp and unwieldy.
Harley uses his boot to nudge a nearby flaming lump of mangled box further from us. ‘Hang in there, buddy. I’m calling the doctor for both of you.’
Thank fuck. I hope the doctor arrives quickly, because Dhiren needs urgent medical attention. I probably do too, considering every nerve in my body feels like a live wire, but my tiger has to be the doctor’s priority.
Felicia ducks around Harley and crouches next to Dhiren. She winces when she sees the state of him and immediately turns to speak over shoulder to Harley.
Harley glares at her as he lifts his phone to his ear before saying something to Ellis, one of the wolf shifters, who’s approaching from the far end of the aisle. Ellis backs away again, a frown on his face.
It’s not long before Lance, Aire, and the three other supervisors on duty arrive. It causes a commotion that I can’t follow because no one is bothering to sign. People do start leaving though, so maybe they’re evacuating? At least it’ll be easier for the doctor to reach Dhiren.
