Crashing into Fate (Maple Grove #25) - Lynn Hagen Page 0,20

though they didn’t know each other. That didn’t matter to him. Someone had hurt Lewis, and Arlan wanted to see him.

Now one of Mike’s brows lifted. “Is that a demand?”

Arlan curled his lips in when he realized how harsh he’d sounded. “No. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be forceful.”

He would have walked to town, but Arlan had no idea where Lewis lived. Mike had said the “vampires” had done some serious damage, and Arlan wanted to know just how badly Lewis was injured.

“We’ll talk later, Deon,” Mike said to the stranger. When Deon walked away, Mike turned to Arlan. “I thought you didn’t want anything to do with Lewis. In fact, you made that perfectly clear. So tell me why I should take you to him.”

Arlan opened his mouth then closed it. He couldn’t tell Mike that Lewis was a shifter and had saved his life. Then again, hadn’t Mike mentioned vampires? So he knew about that world.

But that wasn’t what stopped Arlan. He pressed a hand against his chest. “Have you ever felt something so strong, right here, that you can’t ignore it?”

“I might have.” Mike smiled.

“Like…I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. I don’t know Lewis, yet I feel like I’ve known him forever.” God, why was he spilling his guts to his boss? Not even Arlan had taken the time to examine those strange, and wonderful, feelings.

All he saw right now was Lewis’s charming smile, the concern in his eyes, the way Lewis studied him, and his bravery as he took on the two men who had tried to run Arlan over.

“I just need to see him.”

“Let me get Keeler to run the desk.” Mike walked away as Arlan wrung his hands together. He wasn’t even sure what he was doing or the reasoning behind it. Arlan just knew he had to see Lewis.

“I’m just lonely and latching onto the first nice guy,” Arlan told himself. “Even if that nice guy isn’t human.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. This was just too bizarre for words. Arlan decided not to think too hard about it as Mike came out of the office and headed toward his truck.

The drive to Lewis’s was surprisingly short. In fact, Arlan recognized the house. Not that he’d paid particular attention to it, but he’d walked down that street a hundred times in the past.

When Mike pulled into the driveway, Arlan spotted Lewis’s red truck. He was out of the truck and heading toward the porch, his boss right behind him.

Arlan rang the bell. No one answered.

“Come on.” Mike opened the front door, leading Arlan into a destroyed living room. What in the hell had happened there? Arlan’s jaw dropped as Mike growled.

Wait. Growled?

“It’s clear,” Deputy Burrows said as he walked into the house behind them, scaring Arlan half to death with his deep voice. He hadn’t seen the cop when they’d pulled up. Had Burrows appeared out of thin air?

“He’s upstairs,” Burrows said.

Arlan rushed up the stairs and ducked his head into each room until… He gasped as he stumbled backward. There was a huge tiger resting on the floor.

“Man, this is fucked up,” Mike said from behind Arlan. “Who would do this to a guy’s house?”

That wasn’t what Arlan was concentrating on. He couldn’t rip his gaze away from the sleeping Bengal tiger, outright staring as the tiger’s chest rose and fell with every breath.

Arlan’s gaze lowered to one of the tiger’s paws. It was so large that he was convinced the paw would fit over most of his face.

“He’s nothing to be afraid of,” Mike said in a low tone, almost whispering the words to Arlan. “At least, not for you. He can understand what you say and reason things out. He won’t attack you, Arlan.”

That was easy for Mike to say. His boss was probably used to this sight. Arlan wasn’t, but something propelled him forward, though he kept his back close to the wall.

“When a nonhuman is injured, they have to shift in order to heal.”

That kind of made sense. Rest was always the best thing for recovery. Wait, what was he saying? This was more than just rest.

“I’ll be downstairs,” Mike said. “I just wanted to check and make sure Lewis was getting the rest he needed.”

“You’re leaving?” Arlan whipped his head around, staring wide-eyed at Mike. “But…but…”

“Just take deep breaths.” Mike backed into the hallway. “He needs you right now.”

Why in the hell would the tiger need him? Arlan swallowed a few times as he looked