Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 66: Chapter 66

— Rafa - one month later —
Rafa took another drag of her cigarette and blew a tobacco-scented cloud skyward; moonlight caught in the dented surface of the crystals supporting her arms. Dr. Kali had told her not to use her powers until her bones had fully healed, but she just couldn't stay put, not with so much in her head.
With a sigh, she slid her other arm out of its sling, leaned back, and closed her eyes.
Red hair, brown skin, black eyes, and perfectly aligned teeth, if only a little yellow; the woman who had taken Rio, Toni, and Jackal was something else. Not only because of her looks, though. There was a heaviness around her. A sadness and anger so deep and so dense that Rafa felt she could submerge in and lose herself inside them. The feeling was nerve-wracking, and it injected flakes of ice and shards of fear into Rafa's veins.
Rafa racked her brain, trying to summon her memories. A month ago, half-standing in front of the mysterious redhead, the only thing Rafa wanted was for her to go away, to disappear, as quickly and as suddenly as she had appeared.
Maybe because of that, when the redhead suggested putting the "bad people" away in a place they could never hurt anyone, Rafa, Phillip, and Léon said nothing but,
"Yeah, sure. Take them; go ahead."
Rafa sighed and massaged her temples.
Bloody fuck. What were they thinking?
At first, yeah, they were relieved to see Toni and the others disappearing among the threes in those weird-looking iron handcuffs. More than Rafa and Léon, Phillip was very loud about that relief, maybe to hide the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. But later, as the forest was swallowed by silence and Léon went looking for Rob, something started to taint Phillip and Rafa's expressions.
Rafa knew for sure what they were feeling; it was the exact same thing that ate away at her peace of mind right now.
Doubt.
"This whole situation is nothing but rubbish wrapped in reused gift paper," she mumbled. Her eyes rested on the dancing smoke coming from the tip of her cigarette.
The memories of what had happened that day were exactly like this, thin and immaterial, easy to touch but impossible to hold. Rafa was sure the redhead had told them her name. She was sure she had told them where Toni and the others would be taken. And she was sure the redhead had said something else. A piece of advice, a request, or a warning; she wasn't sure which.
A cold shiver climbed up her back. There was more to all of this, right? Maybe some hidden power with equally hidden interests? Maybe an old, mysterious order trying to keep something under wraps? Maybe the MIB, the Council of Fae, the Illuminati; hell if she knew!
This was so frustrating. Rafa closed her eyes and tried to think back about the moment Toni and the others were taken away. She had just given up part of her powers to keep Toni alive and to, with Léon's help and an anima weld, block his connection with his undimension. Toni would be alive, yes, but powerless. Still, Rio thanked her and hugged her as if they were friends. He smiled at her as if he hadn't almost fucked up the entire planet and three people's minds in the process.
The whole thing was surreal.
Just after that, Rio and Toni had hugged. Phillip averted his eyes, of course, hard and tense like a pulled bowstring, and the only person brave enough to break the awkward silence was Jackal.
I guess I'll have to find the other pistol, huh, she had said. I still have a few pocket dimensions to pop open.
And that's when the redhead appeared.
Of course, Jackal had tried to fight her, but the scrabble ended before it even started. Rafa saw the redhead in her mind's eye, and she remembered the fear in Jackal's unblinking stare. Then came the scent of jacarandá, the lingering sound of seeds in a maraca, and the croaking of a frog... and after that, little else. Rafa remembered a sound—darts cutting the air, perhaps—and Rio and Toni fell to the floor right after. Jackal resisted for a moment, but she was done for as soon as the redhead tackled her.
Once Jackal was captured, the redhead's eyes had rested on Léon.
"In exchange for letting me take them, I'll give you all the info you need to get your tiger back; how does that sound?"
Another shiver.
Rafa shook the memories away and took a new puff of her cigarette. She let out a huff and slid her back against the handrail until her elbows rested on it. Against all logic, she hoped the redhead wasn't a megalomaniac or a narcissist like The Mayor and Jackal.
Maybe—hopefully—she was a good person trying to do good.
With a derisive chuckle, she shook her head. The chances were really slim, weren't they? This would soon come back to bite them in the arse, wouldn't it?
Rafa massaged her chin and flicked the tip of her cigarette. As small flakes of ash fell on the wooden floor of the balcony, a sandy-blond head appeared among the crowd of people inside. It bobbed up and down as its owner walked among the guests. Rafa's heart raced.
"Shite!" She tossed the cigarette on the floor, stomped on it, then kicked it from the balcony as far away as she could. Rafa tugged at her purse and fished inside for something—anything—that could mask the stench of tobacco. She found a small tube. "I choose you!" And with those words, she sprayed the little fucker around the balcony, on her clothes, and into her mouth until the last drop. She grimaced. "Holy f—!"
The french doors to the balcony opened.
"Here you are!"
Rafa swallowed hard and cleared her throat, trying hard not to cough. Her tongue was burning—and now her bloody throat too.
"Hey, Pheels," she said in a husky voice. Rafa cleared her throat again. Goddess, she drank perfume. "Sorry. Okay, it's back. Ahem. The voice, I mean."
Phillip scoffed. He walked to Rafa and stopped less than a meter away. He grimaced.
"Why does it smell like a New Continentian bathroom in here?"
"Very observant, Phillip." She reached for her forgotten, stale, warm beer mug and downed it to wash away the perfume in her throat. "If you need to know, I was shitting myself with the thought of going back to the big city, so I needed some veracity."
"Yeah, sure." With a scoff, Phillip looked at the tip of his dress shoes, then raised an unsettling pair of green eyes. The smirk curling the tip of his thin lips was wicked. "You were smoking again, Rafaela." He took his phone out. "Pay up, Tapir."
"Ugh. I hate you, Esposito," she mumbled. Rafa pulled her phone out of her purse and opened her bank app. "Look, this has been fun and all, but if we continue with this shite, I'll spend all my employee's dismissal fund."
"That's on you, partner. You're the one who asked me to help with the relapse." Phillip checked his phone and his smirk deepened. "Maybe I'll buy you some nicotine chips. I have all this extra money this month."
Rafa laughed. "You bastard."
Phillip bit his lower lips and lowered his gaze until the silly smile left his lips. "But... for real, Rafa." He looked at her. "What's wrong? I could feel the waves of tension from across the house. Leo and Rob are worried too, look." He gestured towards the french doors.
Inside, among their friends and family, Rob and Léon looked to the side when Rafa caught them staring. Léon made a very dramatic gesture to show his empty glass of champagne, then disappeared behind a door. Rob soon followed.
"They're awful actors," Phillip said. Rafa chuckled and tried to answer, but before she could, he added, "Remember I'm here if you wanna talk, okay? You're not alone in this, Rafaela. Don't act as if you were."
That hit hard.
She sighed and looked at him. Phillip was wearing a hunter-green blazer that clashed with the tanned white of his skin and the pure white of his half-opened shirt. The slice of chest showing in the deep V of his cleavage was covered with dark veins that started in the middle of his abdomen and branched out like a tree until they reached the base of his neck. Any other person at the party would think they were looking at a tattoo, but Rafa, Léon, Rob, and the others knew the truth.
Phillip had recovered his strength when Toni gave his powers back, but he was still sick. Dr. Kali had checked him several times to ensure he was okay—and he was, apparently—but Rafa couldn't stop thinking that this was just another item on a long list of things that could go to shite. Very soon.
"Just thinking, Pheels. And..." She glanced at him, at her shoes, at the sky, then at him again. "How... how are you? With the... y-you know."
With Rio, she completed in her thoughts. Rafa never thought she would see someone like Phillip crying, but he did—for days.
Phillip shrugged. "Gregorio made his own choice, Rafa." He forced a smile. "And I made mine. I'll be okay, partner. Don't worry."
She nodded. "Maybe... maybe you'll meet again, who knows."
Phillip merely scoffed at that. It took Rafa a moment to notice he hadn't called him Rio.
"Maybe," he said in a low voice.
Rafa nodded and adjusted her knitted dress. The silence wasn't weird between them; it never was. This time, though, it was sad. Rafa wanted only to protect them and make sure they were all happy, but... she didn't know how to do that for Phillip.
"Hey." Phillip clasped a hand on her shoulder. "You're as tense as Future Subjunctive, partner. This is a night to celebrate and not to mope alone in the darkest corner of this shoebox-sized house in the middle of Old Continent." He patted her shoulder with a little more strength than necessary. "Try to get it out of your mind, partner. Focus on the present and etc. It's what I'm trying to do."
Rafa narrowed her eyes. "Did I mention Rob and I built all this house together? With our own hands?"
"Well, that explains a lot." Phillip sneered. "I mean, it's a charming shoebox, but it's still—"
"Do not finish that sentence, Esposito. I'm warning you."
Phillip chuckled. "Then come inside! We can worry about our life choices later. Whatever happens, it happens tomorrow—today, we have fun. C'mon!" He gave Rafa a gentle pat on the arm and pivoted around. "It's an engagement party, Rafaela. Smile!"
Rafa groaned, but it was hard to stop her lips from curling upwards.
She pushed away from the handrail, slid her arms into their slings, then called her powers back, making the crystals disappear. Rafa's arms felt heavy again; the pain increased, but she was getting used to it. She stepped inside, and her eyes set on her brother, almost as if guided by invisible forces.
Sitting on a sofa in the opposite corner of the crowded living room, Rob smiled and leaned forward to rest his forehead against Léon's. His black-and-gold rented suit clung to his muscles like a cat to a boat when he raised a hand to caress Léon's cheek. Rob kissed his lips and smiled against them, letting his other hand roam on the beautiful lavender silk of Léon's achkan.
They looked ready for a photoshoot, smiling and gazing at each other with decades-worth of love mounting around them. With a chuckle, Rob tugged Léon closer and wrapped him with his arms.
Oh, Goddess. Rafa tilted her head and smiled, fighting the tear threatening to form. Thank you, Goddess. They looked so happy together. They deserved that love so much! Rafa sniffed and blinked a tear away.
And then, Rob whispered something in Léon's ear, making him blurt out a laugh. Léon, his cheeks burning-red, pinched Rob's waist; between laughs and exclamations, they both jumped to their feet. Rob seemed ready to run from his fiancé when his gaze met Rafa's.
"Sis!" he called, raising his voice above the noise. Rob received Léon in a side hug, and his smile widened even more. They motioned her closer, and the movement caught the other guests' attention.
Satina raised a full shot of tequila in lieu of a greeting while Kali and Pipo waved at Rafa. Behind them, Mary and Iara smiled on a big screen Satina had prepared. They were surrounded by faces Rafa couldn't recognize, but they all had glasses in their hands, celebrating Rob and Léon's engagement.
Rafa smiled back. Maybe Phillip was right.
"Whatever happens, it happens tomorrow," Rafa quoted.
"Well said."
An arm rested around her shoulders, and Rafa looked to the side to meet Phillip's green eyes. She answered his smile with one of her own, and, together, they closed the french doors and stepped towards their family and friends.
"Excuse us; best woman coming through, thank you!"
Outside, there still remained dangers and hidden threats. Like a cat prowling in the night, their choices and the results of their actions waited for them, watching their every movement. But they would be left for tomorrow, all of them.
Because today, only their happiness and love mattered.