two-headed parrot darted away in a flurry of red, blue, and gold feathers.
Shaking himself in disbelief, he kept walking, but only as quickly as his now-aching leg would carry him.
He was an idiot. He was an idiot for climbing that stupid cliff and he was even more an idiot for running. Whatever was up with Adriana, he wanted in.
Maybe she had some kind of strange condition, like those people who took too many silver supplements and turned gray. Maybe he had some kind of brain malfunction that made him hallucinate and faint when he was around her. Or maybe he was on some kind of strange drug trip from those damned candles Sage kept burning in his room.
Come to think of it, the most likely scenario was that he lay in a Mobile hospital in a coma from when he fell and busted his hip. He’d probably busted his head too, and now he was dreaming this incredible dream. Adriana was probably the ICU nurse taking care of him. He just needed to wake up and ask her out.
A heavy thud and grunt from the forest diverted his attention. He turned. A large shaggy animal plodded out of the woods. It looked like some kind of lizard in the face, maybe a komodo dragon. But its massive body belonged to a heavyset African lion, mane and all, ending with a scorpion’s tail.
“What the—”
The thing leaped toward him. He turned and ran as fast as he could. Even in some kind of coma-induced dream he absolutely did not want to get caught by that monster. The ground vibrated with its heavy steps as it came for him, its breath a hissing snort that drew closer and closer. His hip screamed in agony as he pushed himself even harder, trying to stay out of the reach of those massive paws with their three inch claws.
Out of nowhere ahead of him, a black and silver blur tore across the grass and bowled into the monster behind him. The beasts slammed against one another so close that the claws from one of the two creatures tore across his shoulder as they tumbled to the ground. Josh rolled away from the snarling animals, the bleeding gash on his shoulder on fire with pain.
The black and silver tiger pounced onto the other creature, its paws pinning the thing down firmly as it growled menacingly in its face. The lizard-lion whimpered a little and rolled to its feet submissively as the tiger let it up. It walked away, head low, like a whipped dog.
However, the giant black tiger swung its head toward Josh and looked him straight in the eyes.
“I don’t believe this,” Josh groaned. “Were you saving me for yourself? I promise you I won’t taste good.”
The tiger’s form rippled and solidified into the very familiar and disconcertingly naked form of Rekkus.
“No,” Rekkus laughed. “You’d be tough and stringy.”
Chapter Eight
J osh staggered back a step at Rekkus’s appearance. His weak leg gave way on him without warning, sending him to the ground on his rear, pain shooting across his back from the burning claw marks. He sat there for a few moments trying to rationalize what he was seeing as the big man walked a few hundred yards back the way he’d come.
Soon, Rekkus returned with a backpack. He pulled out his trademark jeans and black T-shirt, along with a pair of shoes, and dressed. “It’s a pain to have to carry a backpack in my teeth, but better than having to walk back naked. I didn’t think you’d be up to having a tiger escort.”
He tied his shoes, then helped Josh from the ground. “Adriana is worried sick about you. Just what the hell possessed you to climb that damned cliff?”
Josh gave Rekkus’s outstretched hand a long, suspicious look. “You’re a tiger.”
“Weretiger, to be more accurate.”
“Shit,” Josh sighed. “I took a harder blow on the head than I thought. I’m not just dreaming. I have gone completely insane.” He took Rekkus’s hand and allowed his delusion to pull him from the ground. It couldn’t hurt to play along.
As they walked back to the beach, Rekkus explained the basics of
Shaking himself in disbelief, he kept walking, but only as quickly as his now-aching leg would carry him.
He was an idiot. He was an idiot for climbing that stupid cliff and he was even more an idiot for running. Whatever was up with Adriana, he wanted in.
Maybe she had some kind of strange condition, like those people who took too many silver supplements and turned gray. Maybe he had some kind of brain malfunction that made him hallucinate and faint when he was around her. Or maybe he was on some kind of strange drug trip from those damned candles Sage kept burning in his room.
Come to think of it, the most likely scenario was that he lay in a Mobile hospital in a coma from when he fell and busted his hip. He’d probably busted his head too, and now he was dreaming this incredible dream. Adriana was probably the ICU nurse taking care of him. He just needed to wake up and ask her out.
A heavy thud and grunt from the forest diverted his attention. He turned. A large shaggy animal plodded out of the woods. It looked like some kind of lizard in the face, maybe a komodo dragon. But its massive body belonged to a heavyset African lion, mane and all, ending with a scorpion’s tail.
“What the—”
The thing leaped toward him. He turned and ran as fast as he could. Even in some kind of coma-induced dream he absolutely did not want to get caught by that monster. The ground vibrated with its heavy steps as it came for him, its breath a hissing snort that drew closer and closer. His hip screamed in agony as he pushed himself even harder, trying to stay out of the reach of those massive paws with their three inch claws.
Out of nowhere ahead of him, a black and silver blur tore across the grass and bowled into the monster behind him. The beasts slammed against one another so close that the claws from one of the two creatures tore across his shoulder as they tumbled to the ground. Josh rolled away from the snarling animals, the bleeding gash on his shoulder on fire with pain.
The black and silver tiger pounced onto the other creature, its paws pinning the thing down firmly as it growled menacingly in its face. The lizard-lion whimpered a little and rolled to its feet submissively as the tiger let it up. It walked away, head low, like a whipped dog.
However, the giant black tiger swung its head toward Josh and looked him straight in the eyes.
“I don’t believe this,” Josh groaned. “Were you saving me for yourself? I promise you I won’t taste good.”
The tiger’s form rippled and solidified into the very familiar and disconcertingly naked form of Rekkus.
“No,” Rekkus laughed. “You’d be tough and stringy.”
Chapter Eight
J osh staggered back a step at Rekkus’s appearance. His weak leg gave way on him without warning, sending him to the ground on his rear, pain shooting across his back from the burning claw marks. He sat there for a few moments trying to rationalize what he was seeing as the big man walked a few hundred yards back the way he’d come.
Soon, Rekkus returned with a backpack. He pulled out his trademark jeans and black T-shirt, along with a pair of shoes, and dressed. “It’s a pain to have to carry a backpack in my teeth, but better than having to walk back naked. I didn’t think you’d be up to having a tiger escort.”
He tied his shoes, then helped Josh from the ground. “Adriana is worried sick about you. Just what the hell possessed you to climb that damned cliff?”
Josh gave Rekkus’s outstretched hand a long, suspicious look. “You’re a tiger.”
“Weretiger, to be more accurate.”
“Shit,” Josh sighed. “I took a harder blow on the head than I thought. I’m not just dreaming. I have gone completely insane.” He took Rekkus’s hand and allowed his delusion to pull him from the ground. It couldn’t hurt to play along.
As they walked back to the beach, Rekkus explained the basics of
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