Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

"I thought you said you had someone to come back to," Modraniht said in a low voice. It wasn't low enough to escape Phillip's perked ears, but the pilot didn't seem to mind sharing his disapproval.
Léon shared a glance with Phillip and cleared his throat. "I do." He swallowed a thick lump of discomfort and resumed twiddling with his fingers. "Nothing really happened, Modraniht," Léon whispered in a much lower tone.
"Nothing happened 'cause Cae interrupted it."
Léon furrowed his brows. "You don't know that."
Modraniht crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. His dark, bushy eyebrows were almost knit together, casting an angled shadow over his eyes. "Well, it certainly seemed like it."
Phillip finished sucking on another grape and tossed its peel on the small pile in front of him. "I don't think this is any of your business, either way, old man. Are you his father or something? Or maybe you have a fetish for twinks?" His eyes snapped to Léon. "Not that he is one anymore. Too old for that, eh, Leo? Could use some shaving, too."
"Can you shut up, Phillip?" Léon snapped back.
Modraniht ignored their exchange to focus on Léon. "I just wouldn't like it very much if you had lied to me, kid. I left my home and my wife to help you, and that help put me in this mess. But if there's something I hate even more than cheaters, it's downright liars... I won't help liars, Léon."
Phillip opened a shark-like smirk and shrugged as Modraniht gave Léon a heavy, pointed gaze.
Léon focused on the approaching silhouette, answering without turning back, "Nothing was going to happen, with or without interruptions. I'm not a cheater, nor a liar."
Modraniht gave him a grave nod. "I believe you. And I'm relieved to hear that."
They were interrupted by a new presence. Cae placed a wooden tray in front of them, covered with fruit cubes, cheese, and slices of raw meat. He sat down at the head of the table, letting his body spread on the chair like a king on his throne.
"You must have something pretty difficult to ask of us if you're this invested in getting us on board." Phillip bent forward with a nasty smile on his lips. He picked a slice of red meat, folded it in three, and tossed it into his mouth. "Hm. Carpaccio of sirloin. This can't be cheap."
Cae's lips widened in a satisfied smile. "You know your meat. I'm glad it isn't wasted on ignorants."
Phillip chuckled. "I know a lot of things."
Propping his elbows on the table, Cae narrowed his eyes and bent forward. If Phillip's smile had been nasty before, now Cae showed a smirk so much more unpleasant, Léon had the physical need to look away.
"In this case, I'll be short and straight to the point so you can use all this knowledge to continue whatever you were doing before I so rudely interrupted you."
"We weren't doing anything," Léon rushed to say. All eyes rested on him. With a sidelong glance, Phillip passed him a handful of cheese cubes and grapes—maybe a silent plea for him to keep his mouth shut.
"Go on. Our friend here must've talked to you." Phillip jerked his chin towards Modraniht and waited.
"He did, yes." Cae joined his hands under his chin. The warm light coming from the campfire danced on his face and clipped weird angles that made his face look much older than usual. "We may have a few acquaintances in common, so I don't see any reason to keep you under my watch for a second longer than necessary." There was a bitterness to his words. The way his expression soured and his stare lost warmth made Léon wonder just who the hell Modraniht's wife was.
"Still, we did enter his territory, by accident or not." Modraniht scratched his beard and sharpened his gaze, his eyes resting on a figure standing behind Léon—Vanessa, their former guide and kidnapper. "That means we'll have to find a way to pay our way out of it."
Phillip had been rolling a slice of carpaccio around an orange cube. He paused before topping it with a small chunk of cheese. "So we'll have to pay for all this too?"
Cae chuckled. "You're smarter than you look." He watched as Phillip mouthed the delicacy and took his time to lick his long fingers. "But not by much," Cae completed in a whisper.
"If we're already deep in shit, might as well take a swim," Phillip said with a wink.
"That is just disgusting, kid," Modraniht said, his voice drenched with laughter.
"What is it you'll have us do, then?" Léon asked. He still had a few cubes of cheese in front of him, but he couldn't stomach them anymore.
"Nothing much." Cae leaned back and fished for something in his front pocket.
Modraniht's dark, intelligent gaze set on Léon like a calming balm. He placed a hand on his head and caressed his hair as if assuring everything would be okay.
It was a relief to receive his affection again after how hurt he had looked before. Léon answered with an eager smile.
"Here, take a look." Cae tossed a small screen on the table, and it slid, grating its way towards Léon. Léon took it before it could fall from the wooden surface.
He looked at the photo. Something twisted inside his guts. That face seemed strangely familiar, but he couldn't say why. Léon furrowed his brows. "A kid? What do you want with a kid?"
It was difficult to say if the teenager in the photo was a boy or a girl, but they looked way too young to be over fifteen. They had long legs sticking out of oversized shorts, and a blindfold hiding their eyes. In their lap, a large tapir nuzzled their smiling face.
"The kid's one of my guy's little cousin. You can think of him as an extended family of mine. He went missing a few weeks ago, and we suspect someone took him." Cae's eyes were crystal clear and furious when they met Léon's. "He was in my territory. Nobody takes anyone from me. I want him back."
"That's it? If we find the kid, you'll let us go?" Phillip asked. He blinked a few times and scratched his jaw. "Are you sure?"
"With a NAV and everything." Cae pulled a keystick from his shirt's pocket. "I'll have everything ready for when you bring me the kid back."
Something didn't sit quite right with that situation. Léon placed the screen back on the table. "Can I speak with his cousin? Maybe he has some important information to help with the search."
Cae shook his head no. "My guy is on leave, staying with his aunt. He's helping her deal with the disappearance."
Léon hummed. He couldn't see any trace of a lie in what Cae was saying, but that didn't mean he was sincere.
After all, he had never noticed Rob's lies either.
Phillip narrowed his eyes. "We're not trackers. Why don't you go to the police or something?"
Cae scoffed and stared at Phillip. He didn't answer it at first, maybe wondering if the latter would be bright enough to understand what his question implied—but it didn't seem the case. "Does someone care to explain to the pretty boy what we're doing here and why we want to keep our distance from the police?" he asked in a sweet voice, looking around.
Understanding downed on Phillip's features. "All right, I get it. Outlaws." He took the frame as his cheeks flushed. He frowned. "He's familiar."
Léon's gaze snapped to Phillip, but he stopped himself before saying anything. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to let Cae know they both felt the same thing about the person in the photo. Modraniht reached for the frame and studied it.
Cae answered in a heartbeat. "You can tell by his face he's a descendant of druids, even if he doesn't have the tats. If you ever saw that super-something Grizzly Bear on the news, you know they look pretty much alike."
"So, this kid's cousin is a descendent of druids too?" Léon asked.
"Nope. The kid was found in the forest and adopted years ago."
Just like Pipo.
Something uncomfortable blanketed Léon's heart. He didn't want to work for a guy like Count Cae, but, at the same time, he wasn't asking them to commit a crime—he was asking them for help.
A kid needed his help.
Léon let out a shaky breath. That surely wouldn't demand much of his powers, anyway... which was a relief, to be honest. If he could still help people while keeping his powers at bay... if he could keep his mind in check and those around him safe...
He shut his eyes, and his heart raced. A dark, looming presence gnawed at the corners of his mind, making a cold and prickling feeling spread over his arms, then down his chest. Cold beads of sweat formed on his temples.
"Léon?" Phillip called.
"I'm okay." Léon's voice was weak and strangled, his throat swelling with uncomfortable distress.
Even the thought of losing control again messed with something within him. Léon grimaced and shook his head, trying to push the feeling away. Sweat rolled on his back, spreading a nasty freeze that enveloped him like fog.
"Léon!" Phillip gave Léon's shoulders a firm shake. "Look at me."
Something was wrong. Léon blinked a few times as his vision cleared. Waves of shivering rippled through his body, cold and uncomfortable until his vision cemented on Phillip's scared gaze.
"I'm okay," he repeated. He glanced around and met Cae's bored expression, while Modraniht and Phillip tried to read something in his eyes.
"I suggest a cold bath and a nap. You don't look too well," Cae said.
Clearing his throat, Léon looked at Phillip and Modraniht. "What do you think?"
"Seems simple enough," Modraniht said. "Though I don't have any idea on how to start looking for someone."
"Léon has a trick or two. And..." Phillip glanced at Léon. "It doesn't seem to be something fishy or against the law." He shrugged. "If he's being honest, that is."
"Well?" Cae shook the key stick in his hands. "Help me, and I'll lend you one of my NAVs so you can go home."
Léon shared a glance with Phillip, then Modraniht. There was still worry in their expressions, but not enough to hide their will to go home. They nodded.
"All right, Cae." Léon offered him a handshake. "We're gonna help you."
A shark-like smile opened like a bleeding slit on Cae's lips. With slow movements, he reached forward and enveloped Léon's hands with both of his, pulling him closer. "Thank you, Léon. I was sure you'd make the right choice."
Right there and then, looking at the predator in front of him, Léon's chest tightened. He wasn't sure why, but it was clear things would go down badly for them.