One tiger stepped closer, his bulky, muscular body blocking Mikhail’s path.Mikhail was vaguely aware of a bird calling, twice this time.
The tiger’s growl emerged with a touch of menace, the intensity increasing when Mikhail tried to detour.Mikhail halted, his breath coming quicker.In the distance, that bird cried again.Weird.
“Enough mucking around,” a feminine voice said.
Pain struck his temple, and he hit the ground, his vision darkening to empty blackness.
Ivan shifted and hauled Mikhail over his shoulder, heading for the gap in the fence even as he muttered at Edwina.“Why did you hit him?”
“He doesn’t recognize us.We can’t leave him here, and he wouldn’t leave without a fight.”
“What if you’ve injured him?”
Guilt slid through Edwina.She hadn’t thought.She’d merely acted.
Roscoe released another of those high-pitched warnings, and they detoured, slinking into the thick bushes and hiding until the guards passed.Roscoe cried out again, letting them know the path was clear, and they hustled, joining up with Roscoe’s men.
“We’ll discuss this later,” Edwina said before shifting back to her leopard form.Hell, Ivan was right.They’d known Mikhail wasn’t functioning correctly.What if she had made things worse?Her chin dipped briefly to her chest, the guilt terrible enough that she wanted to slink away and hide.
If she’d made a grievous error, she’d live with it.Bottom line, they couldn’t leave Mikhail in Smirnoff’s charge.While Mikhail appeared healthy, it wasn’t normal for a person to forget their past.The previous evening, he’d acted shocked.His behavior hadn’t differed much tonight when confronted with Ivan and Gregory in their tiger forms.Somehow, Smirnoff had stolen Mikhail’s memories.Perhaps the healer would better understand what was happening once she’d examined him.
Roscoe called out yet another warning, and they slipped into the shadows.
“Why is that bird hanging around?”the guard asked his partner.“It has been making a racket all night.”
“Don’t know.Perhaps it’s a mating thing.”
Edwina heard the man’s shrug in his voice.Beside her, one of Roscoe’s team silently shook.She’d bet that gem would make its way back to the boss.
Finally, they returned to the fence gap and exited Smirnoff’s property.Still in human form, Ivan crawled through and dragged the unconscious Mikhail after him while Roscoe hovered above, keeping watch.
The entire time Edwina expected the security guards to notice the intruders, and this fear accompanied her back to where they’d left their vehicles.Edwina shifted and grabbed her clothes from the rear of the truck.She dressed rapidly before turning back to Ivan.
“How is he?”
“Still unconscious,” Ivan said.
“He didn’t want to come with us,” Gregory said.“He kept trying to return to the house.Edwina did the only thing possible.”
“We could’ve gagged him,” Ivan protested.
“With what?”Gregory demanded.
“We could’ve ripped up Mikhail’s jacket and used that.”
“There were too many guards coming and going.More than last night,” Gregory countered.“Edwina did what neither you nor I wanted to do.”
Roscoe appeared behind them.He scanned their tense expressions.“We need to hustle.How’s Mikhail?”
“He needs the healer,” Edwina said before Ivan or Gregory could reply.“He didn’t recognize us, and his behavior is odd.Not like Mikhail at all.”
Roscoe nodded.“I’ll meet you at the healer’s, and we’ll talk.”
Ivan placed Mikhail into the rear of the truck.Five minutes later, they were on their way.
“Fuck,” Gregory said.“There’s a vehicle coming.”
Edwina and Ivan ducked out of sight, and Edwina kept her hand on Mikhail, but he didn’t stir.
