Free The Blind Tiger: An Unusual Paranormal Romance by Dawn Steele Page B

on the other side, the muzzle of his gun pointed at Noah.
    “You fucking bastard,” Zach growled. “What did you do to my men?”
    “Apparently not enough,” Noah replied.
    Then something amazing happened. Noah went into a crouch. His limbs thickened and lengthened. His body became huge. Fur sprouted from his naked skin. His dark hair shrank and blended into the orange, white and black fur.
    Karen blinked, rooted to the spot, as the huge tiger that had once been Noah sprang at Zach, snarling.
    The gun went off.
    Karen screamed. “No!”
    The tiger did not seem to heed the bullet, through Karen was sure that it had been struck. It savaged Zach, who cried out and pumped two more bullets into the tiger’s broad body. Karen could only clap her hands to her mouth. She blinked, unable to believe what she was witnessing. Noah – a shape-shifting tiger?
    Noah . . . dead?
    There were streaks of blood all over Zach – on his face, on his shirt. As much as she feared Zach, she didn’t want him to be hurt. Not really. She didn’t want either of them to be hurt, though it was far too late for that.
    “Please,” she pleaded. She was so terrified that she found herself on her knees. “Please, stop.”
    Man and tiger continued to struggle for several moments, though it seemed a lifetime to Karen. Another shot went off. Then both went still.
    Karen’s breath stopped in her throat.
    Please . She willed them to move. The tiger. Zach.
    Please .
    Then the tiger transformed back to Noah. Noah didn’t move, but lay naked and moribund on top of Zach’s equally lifeless body.
    “Noah?” Karen’s frightened voice rang hollowly in her own ears.
    She suddenly found her feet and scampered to him. She seized his arm to turn him over. He fell to the floor, his eyes closed. His chest and stomach were marked with bleeding bullet wounds.
    She was certain that he was dead.
    The gun was in Zach’s hand. Zach was covered with blood, and his face was equally as lifeless. Karen looked from one to the other. Then she bent down to remove the gun from Zach’s grip. It came away easily.
    She was trembling. She couldn’t leave Noah here.
    “Noah?”
    Was he really dead? Kneeling beside him, she felt for the pulse at his neck. He was still warm, although she couldn’t discern his breathing. Nor could she feel a pulse.
    “Noah, please. Don’t leave me.”
    Should she try to resuscitate him?
    She began to thump his chest. She opened his mouth to breathe into it. Anxious tears stung her eyes.
    “Come on,” she pleaded with him. “Don’t leave me here alone.”
    She did this again several times. Maybe CPR didn’t work on shape-shifters.
    Then his eyes flew open. He coughed. Blood flew out with his spittle.
    “Karen?” His eyes stared blindly at the ceiling.
    “I’m here!” She grabbed his questing hand. But he was hurt so badly. “I have to get you to a hospital.”
    “No! No hospital.” He clutched at his multiple bleeding wounds. He was breathing harshly. Blood filtered through his fingers.
    She was amazed that he was still alive with so many gunshot wounds.
    “We have to go to my car,” she said. “But first, I have to get you some bandages.”
    “No bandages. There’s something you have to know about me.” He tried to get up. “Please can I have water?”
    She wasn’t sure he was supposed to be getting up. But he wasn’t an ordinary human being. So she helped him up.
    “What about Zach?” she said anxiously.
    “He isn’t dead. He’ll be out cold for a long time. I gave the back of his head a blow against the floor when we were both trashing around. It’s a combat maneuver that I’ve specialized in so that I don’t have to kill anyone in my tiger form.”
    “How do you know he isn’t dead?” Then she took a step back, suddenly wondering if she should be afraid of him.
    He sensed this, because his jaw suddenly gritted with concern. 
    “No.” His bloody hands clutched at her. His eyes shone with emotion as they