New Species 04 Justice (41 page)

moved down the hallway closer to the bedroom. A table sat eight feet from his

bedroom. He’d obviously bumped into it, once again betraying his lack of training.

Rage gripped him as he inhaled, picking up the distinctive Species scent. They were his

males coming after his mate. The five males were obviously willing to kill him to get to

Jessie. They had to know he would die to protect her from harm.

He picked up the stench of sweat, grease and something metallic. His fingers arced

into claws. The Species male had brought a gun or knife to the fight, weapons to be

200

Justice

used against Jessie. He sprang from his hiding spot into the hallway. A roar tore from

his throat as he grabbed the male, lifted him and slammed the heavy body into the wall.

Plaster gave way from the force, the male hissed in surprise and pain and the fight was

on.

A punch caught Justice in the jaw, the force enough to make him stagger back and

he lost his hold. His opponent hit the floor in a crouch and pounced, slamming into his

chest. Justice used his teeth to rip into skin. The male tried to crush his ribs in a bear hold.

The male cried out and Justice grabbed the man’s chest, dug in and broke bones.

The body was dead under him when they crashed to the floor. Justice pushed up off the

body and spit out blood. He tensed, seeing movement at the end of the hall. He roared

again and rushed after the retreating shadow.

Jessie heard Justice roar, then a loud hissing noise and a big boom. There was no

mistaking the vicious sounds of a fight and she wanted to rush out of the bathroom to

jump right into it. She held still though since the dark shape remained at the window.

The person still waited to attack and she kept her attention on him. She knew Justice

was still alive when he roared out again. The fight seemed over and she could only pray

he’d won.

There was movement at the edge of the window. A hand gripped the frame and a

large shape filled the space in the blink of an eye. It crouched on the windowsill. The

male sniffed and his head seemed to turn to stare directly at her. The menacing

shadowy shape didn’t appear human or Species. It looked scary as hell and large. Jessie

squeezed the trigger on both guns, fired repeatedly and the shadow fell backward after

she nailed it with four bullets.

She held her ground, waited to make sure he didn’t rise up to attack again but he

didn’t. Seconds ticked by and the sound of another fight filled her ears. Furniture

crashed at the front of the house, animalistic snarls and fists hitting flesh tormented her.

She lifted up, stepped over the tub and risked rushing to the window to make sure

she’d taken out the threat who’d come after her.

She peered outside, made out the shape of a male and he wasn’t moving. She

pushed the window closed, locked it with her thumb and ran toward the bedroom.

Anyone trying to come through the bathroom window would have to break it to get

inside and it would warn her. The need to find and help Justice drove her fear back and

made her reckless as she flipped on lights, more worried about being blind in the dark

than giving away her location.

Glass broke down the hall as she lunged in that direction, only pausing to flip on a

switch to light her way to the living room. The sight that greeted her was shocking and

horrifying. A big male lay sprawled on his back, his shirt torn away over his ribs and

his skin was torn open. She fought the urge to be sick as she visually examined the dead

body. Blood was all over the place—sprayed on the walls and pooled in the carpet. The

201

Laurann Dohner

man on the floor wore black, his face was smeared with black face paint and he had a

black cap on his head to hide his hair.

It wasn’t Justice so she moved forward. She had to step over the body, her bare foot

sank into warm wetness and she knew it was blood. She kept going though. The sound

of the fight still raged nearby. She kept her guns trained and ready to fire at anyone

who came at her until she reached the large, open, dark area of the living room.

She hit the light switch with her elbow to turn on the lights and gaped at the

destroyed room. The couch was knocked over, the glass coffee table shattered, a

bookshelf was sprawled facedown to spread a mess of books five feet to her left but

what held her attention was the two fighting males who sprang apart in the center of it.

Justice wore boxers, blood smeared over his body and he looked fierce as he snarled

at the black-clad male. He didn’t spare her a glance as he circled his opponent but she

couldn’t stop staring at the deep scratches on his back, arms and the damage to one

cheek where he’d been struck hard enough to show the forming bruise.

The other man bled heavily from his face—his nose broken, his lip split and one

cheekbone damaged. His black outfit hid any other injuries but one arm appeared wet,

probably blood, and some skin near his side showed where the material had torn.

“Get back, Jessie,” Justice gruffly ordered. “I heard gunshots. Are you harmed?”

Jessie caught movement from the corner of her eye and twisted her head in time to

see another attacker rush from the kitchen. She didn’t think, just saw the black clothing, the black, paint-smeared face and aimed the guns. He moved faster than a human but

her bullets didn’t miss. He shrieked loudly, a high-pitched wail of pain and dropped to

the floor to land on what used to be the coffee table. He didn’t move.

“I’m fine. I’ve got your back, honey. Do you want me to shoot the bastard near

you?” Jessie’s voice shook but her hands didn’t.

“Stay out of this and there’s two more.”

“There’s only one besides that asshole you’re fighting. I killed someone who tried to

come in through the bathroom. That’s who you heard me shooting at. I don’t miss.”

Justice growled and Jessie knew he was pissed but she’d deal with his anger later.

She shoved the gun in her left hand between her thighs, using the wall to keep her

balance and dropped the clip out of the gun in her right hand. She dug out a fresh clip

from her vest and popped it in. She grabbed the gun from between her thighs.

“You have your human fight for you?” the man who’d attacked Justice spat. “You

are too weak to lead us.”

“Who are you?” Justice snarled. “I don’t even know you and you dare come after

my mate?”

Justice tensed and a roar tore from his throat as he sprang for the other male. He

pushed up from a quick crouch and sailed into the air. He had to have strong legs to do

that. Seeing it stunned Jessie but she had to admire the beauty of the move. He flew

about five feet until his body slammed into the other man.

202

Justice

They went down together in a roll and growls tore from their throats. They fought

like animals, slashed with their clawed fingers and bit. Justice used his legs too. He

managed to wrap one of them around the other male’s thigh and jerked hard. The guy

under Justice howled in agony, having his leg bent at the awkward position.

They rolled again until Justice ended up under the male but he pushed hard

enough to throw his attacker into a wall. The black-clad figure hit it hard enough to

damage plaster. Justice jackknifed his body and ended up in a crouch. He threw his

body at the man who was trying to separate himself from the drywall.

They went through the wall and Jessie gaped at the big hole they’d created. She

hated to leave the safety of the hallway but she couldn’t see Justice anymore. There was

an archway to the other room she had never been in. Her house didn’t have the same

floor plan. She ran for the archway.

It was a home office almost as large as the living room. Justice and the Species were

separated, on their feet circling each other, each searching for a weakness. Jessie inched into the room and put her back to the wall. She didn’t want someone to creep up behind

her but she couldn’t go farther into the room. A huge glass slider revealed darkness

outside. Someone could come at her that way and it was too risky to get too close.

“We will never be led by a lover of humans,” the other man barked. “You shame

us.”

Justice snarled. “You’re from testing facility five, aren’t you? You stupid bastard.

We built everything when we were freed so we could rescue you. You betray your own

kind because of your hatred for humans? Did you not hear what I said to you? Did you

not understand what our people have accomplished? We have found peace here.”

Testing facility five
? Jessie’s mouth fell open. That was the one in Colorado she’d helped raid. She stared at the man still circling with Justice and knew his guess had to

be correct. The intruder was one of the males she’d help free.

“I am the best and I will win,” the man growled. “I will lead our people when your

body is cold and I will snap the neck of your human female. I will show our people that

is how to deal with humans. Death to them all for they have done.”

Justice roared and attacked. He didn’t seem to notice when the male grabbed for

something behind his back but Jessie did. As Justice reached him, a knife flashed. She

tried to yell out a warning but it was too late. Jessie screamed as the male threw Justice away from him. The man she loved hit the floor on his back, groaning and grabbed for

his bleeding body.

“Hey!” Jessie yelled, pure rage flowing through her.

The man turned and growled.

“Lead this, fuckhead.” She shot him in the face and emptied the clip into his body

after he hit the carpet.

Jessie dropped the empty clip from the gun and ran to Justice. He clutched one

hand over his hip but blood still soaked his boxers. His gaze locked with hers and she

couldn’t miss the astonishment on his handsome features.

203

Laurann Dohner

“He used a knife.”

Jessie jerked her head around, expecting the fifth male to attack. Justice bled badly

and tears filled her eyes. She pushed his hand away and saw the ragged tear in his

boxers. She dropped the guns on her lap, crouched on her knees next to him and tore

the material wider apart. There was a jagged wound next to his hipbone that drew a

sound of anguish from her. It looked bad.

A loud noise boomed and wood split in the living room. It sounded as if someone

had kicked down the front door. She grabbed Justice’s hand to shove over his injury.

“Press here, hold it tight and don’t move. I love you.”

She grabbed the empty gun and reached into her shirt. Her hand smeared Justice’s

blood all over her vest, shirt and breasts as she yanked out the clip. She slammed it into the empty chamber as she rose to her feet. She gripped both guns in her fists and spread

her feet apart to plant them on both sides of Justice’s hips.

It was a bad place to be as far as tactical advantages went. Windows were all

around them—a huge glass slider and the open archway that led to the living room.

There was no cover. Justice was too heavy and too hurt to move. The fifth male would

strike and she hoped he’d come from the archway since that’s where she’d heard the

house breached.

Her eyes scanned the room frantically. The second she saw movement she planned

to kill the son of a bitch. He wasn’t going to get to Justice.

“Jessie, get out of here and find somewhere safe that you can see him coming.”

“Shut up. I’m not leaving you.”

“Please, Jessie.” His hand rubbed her ankle. “Save yourself. I’m fighting to stay

here.”

Jessie glanced down at her mate’s pale face. His naturally tan skin was whiter than

she’d ever seen it. Blood spread on the carpet near his hip and his boxers were soaked.

He smiled when their gazes met.

“You are so beautiful when you are on top of me.” His eyes closed and his smile

faded as his head slumped to the side.

“JUSTICE!” Grief made her scream his name.

His chest rose and fell, assuring her he hadn’t died but she knew he would soon.

Jessie needed to apply pressure to his wound but she’d have to put down the guns to

do it, something that would assure both their deaths. She put her bare foot on Justice’s

bleeding hip and pressed down with as much weight as she thought would help but

wouldn’t worsen the damage.

“Justice!” A male roared from the living room.

Jessie trained one of the guns at the archway when she saw movement. A familiar

face suddenly entered the room and Jessie barely stopped her finger from pulling the

trigger. Tiger stared at her while more males filled the space behind him, nine in all.

Reinforcements had arrived.

204

Justice

“He’s been stabbed.” Jessie’s voice broke. “Four of those assholes are dead but one

is missing. Call an ambulance.”

Tiger’s stunned gaze dropped to Justice on the floor. Glass suddenly exploded from

the right and Jessie jerked in that direction. Something large with a black face came

crashing through the slider right at her and Justice. Instinct saved her life. She shot with both guns. A heavy body slammed into hers and threw her onto her back, away from

Justice.

Jessie lay there hurting under at least two-hundred-fifty pounds of limp and lifeless

Species male. She couldn’t breathe—the air had been knocked from her lungs. Forever