Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

see.”
    “No, son.”
    Zane spurred his horse up the hill, reaching across the horn of his father’s saddle to snatch the binoculars from him. He aimed them in the direction Harrison had been looking. It took his trembling hand a moment to find the splash of color, but when he did, the bile rose in his throat.
    The tiger lay recumbent in the middle of an arroyo, protected on all sides by low hills. He could see Ty lying nearly under the big cat. The red buff on his head was hard to miss, as was the lime green cast on his arm. The tiger was licking and gnawing on his hand like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. Zane could see no blood, though. No carnage. He focused in closer, desperate to spot a sign of life from his lover.
    The tiger rolled onto his back, powerful legs stretching out to the side. Ty’s cast was in his mouth between gleaming white teeth. He rested his head on Ty’s outstretched arm as he chewed.
    Zane frowned. Then he caught it, the barest of movement from Ty. The fingers of his right hand curled in a come-hither motion.
    “He’s moving.”
    “Probably muscle spasms, Zane,” Mark said, voice gentle and careful. “I’m sorry, but . . . that’s a goddamn tiger down there.”
    “He’s alive. He’s . . .” Zane held his breath, hardly daring to hope. “I think he’s rubbing the tiger’s nose.”
    “What?” Annie asked through a quiet sob.
    “He’s goddamn petting the tiger.”
    “ Petting the tiger?”
    “I’m going down there.”
    “Zane, wait!” Annie cried as Zane urged his horse down into the arroyo.
    At the sound of her shout, the tiger sat up in a rush and focused on him. His horse balked, dancing sideways at it caught wind of the big cat’s scent. The tiger lunged to his feet, letting out a roar that froze the very marrow in Zane’s bones.
    Zane was peripherally aware of the horses panicking. Ty’s bay broke away from Jamie and ran. It took all of Zane’s skill to get his own animal under control again.
    Zane stopped his horse from going closer, but the damage was done. The tiger bent and took Ty’s arm in its mouth, pulling him by his wrist across the arroyo bottom. Ty didn’t move, didn’t struggle. Zane’s stomach knotted, and he had to fight the urge to retch as he watched Ty’s limp body being dragged across the ground, at the mercy of one of the largest, most dangerous predators on earth.
    Annie joined him on foot, breathless and pale. “Tigers are territorial, Zane. Either Ty is his meal, or Ty is his friend. Either way, he sees us as a threat. We have to drive him off or tranquilize him before we get anywhere near Ty. And I lost the dart gun.”
    Zane nodded, dizzy and ill. Annie reached for his saddle, pulling the rifle out of its scabbard and pointing it into the air. She fired.
    The tiger jolted away, bounding a few yards before hesitating and looking back at Ty’s limp body. He seemed confused and intimidated by their aggressive behavior. Annie fired again and again, each time driving the tiger further away. Zane urged his agitated horse forward, and the animal just seemed glad to be getting away from the gunshots as it barreled down the hill. Annie fired the last round in the rifle as Zane’s horse charged, and the tiger turned and ran, disappearing into the hills.
    Zane dismounted while his horse was still moving, hitting the ground running and then sliding to his knees in the scrub brush next to Ty. Ty’s eyes were open and unblinking, his body contorted in the position the tiger had left him.
    “Baby?” Zane said through a broken sob as he reached for Ty’s face.
    Ty closed his eyes, a painfully slow gesture, and when he opened them again he was staring at Zane.
    “Oh Jesus, Ty. Are you okay?”
    Ty closed his eyes again. He tried to speak, lips barely moving.
    “What?” Zane asked as he leaned closer.
    “I hate Texas.”

Zane held Ty’s limp body in the saddle. It wasn’t comfortable, but Ty seemed to have no control over his limbs and little awareness of where he was or even who he was. Zane couldn’t allow him to be strapped to a saddle like a dead man, so he rode with Ty in front of him.
    Joe and Cody greeted them when they trotted into the main yard, running to help get Ty off the horse when they realized he wasn’t conscious. Ty’s horse had beaten them there, tipping the others off that something had gone wrong. A police vehicle and an ambulance were already on the way, even though Joe confessed they’d all just