New Species 09 Shadow (21 page)

“Beauty!” Shadow roared her name.

She winced. He’d just realized she wasn’t cowering in the bathtub but she at least knew he was still alive. He yelled something else but she couldn’t make it out as more gunfire erupted below. It came from the front of the cabin. Breeze must have engaged the men too.

Beauty wrapped her hands around the largest weapon. It looked like one she’d seen in a video game the women played at the dorm. It was chunky with a metal clip inserted in the bottom and was heavy. She was sure it was some kind of assault rifle. She cradled it, found the trigger and rose to her knees. She rested the weapon on the chest and peered through the broken glass at the bottom of the window.

Two men rushed forward while she aimed and squeezed the trigger. Rapid shots blasted out of it. The thing knocked her back and bullets tore up the window to the ceiling before she could ease up on the trigger. She gaped at the damage from flat on her back where she’d landed. The glass in the window was totally gone now and holes were ugly scars on the wall and ceiling where bullets had ripped through them. She struggled to her knees again.

Now that she knew what to expect, she braced her knees apart, tensed her arms and aimed again. Her finger hesitated this time, hoping the kick of the weapon wouldn’t send her to the floor once more. The men had taken refuge behind a tree but one darted out to rush the cabin. Someone fired from below, probably Shadow. The guy didn’t make it six feet into the cleared area before he went down. He stayed that way, not moving. Blood leaked onto the dirt.

The loud sounds from below assured her both Species were firing weapons. Something struck the top of the mirror over the dresser, breaking the glass. She turned her head to glance back, seeing holes in it and at the top of the wall. It took her a second to realize someone had shot back at her. She ducked.

Heart racing, she leaned back up over the chest and opened fire. Her arms hurt from the strength it took to keep the muzzle down and the gun deafened her but she managed to keep it trained at the forest. She turned the barrel, spraying bullets in a wide arc, not even sure what she was firing at. It didn’t matter. The enemy was out there and the people she cared about were inside. The weapon began to click instead of sending out bullets. It was empty.

She threw it aside and grabbed one that was just a little smaller. Fear no longer hindered her. There was no time to think. Bullets were tearing apart the cabin—most of them had to be aimed at Shadow since she could hear the damage being done directly below where she knelt. She opened fire again, wildly shooting into the woods.

Breeze shouted something but the words were lost to Beauty. It was chaos. She didn’t understand why help hadn’t arrived. The noise from the gun battle had to have been heard for miles. There were officers posted all over the place at Homeland.

The weapon stopped spitting out bullets and she dumped it, grabbing another. She didn’t know how to reload, hating the concept of running out of guns but knowing she’d fight as long as she was able.

It came as a shock when brutal hands suddenly gripped her shoulders and she was thrown sideways. The gun was knocked from her grip when she hit the floor with enough force to cause pain along her right side. A big body suddenly slammed down on top of her. She was wrenched onto her back and pinned down flat. A human face, smeared with black paint, was all she could see as she struggled to breathe under the weight crushing her chest.

His eyes appeared dead, chilling as they stared into hers. He shifted and pain exploded in the side of her face when he clocked her with his fist. It came as a shock and blackness threatened to take her but she’d been hit plenty of times before by angry guards. She fought the urge to escape into unconsciousness.

He grunted in satisfaction as he used the hand he’d hit her with retrieve and then speak into a radio. “I’ve got the bitch. She was the one on the second level. Clear me a path.”

He rolled off her but Beauty couldn’t move, still reeling from the blow he’d dealt. She felt sick, as if she’d throw up, and spots blinded her while she continued to struggle to avoid passing out. Her cheek felt broken, throbbed in agony, and her neck hurt too from being hit so hard.

Rough hands dug under her and she was hoisted up then shifted. He tossed her effortlessly over his shoulder. She hung there limply while an arm hooked behind her thighs. As he walked, the swaying motion made everything worse. She saw guns strapped to his thighs but her hands refused to grab them when her mind urged them to do just that. Instead her arms hung uselessly.

He entered Shadow’s room and another voice spoke. “Eyes got it right. Good thing he caught sight of her with his scope and we didn’t level the second floor the way we thought we’d have to.”

“You want to take her down, or me?”

“You. She’s not big, is she?”

“Nope. Doesn’t weigh shit either.” He stepped up and turned. “Follow me.”

Beauty stared down, realizing the man holding her stood on the windowsill of Shadow’s bedroom. It was a long drop to the ground below. She felt a flash of fear as he released the back of her thighs. Would he just let her fall? It was a horrifying concept.

Instead both his arms rose, trapping her hips between his neck and biceps on one side. He jumped. They fell about five feet, but then his boots hit the side of the cabin when their momentum slowed. He rappelled the rest of the way down with two more jumps until he roughly hit the ground. Gunfire was loud, the battle still raging. He hesitated a moment while the second man left the cabin and then the arm hooked back around her thighs. He ran into the woods, carrying her with him.

“No!” She tried to scream but it came out more of a ragged hiss.

“Shut the fuck up,” he panted. “You’re a lot of trouble but you’re worth a hell of a lot of money, Mud.”

No. NO!
Her mind yelled when her voice refused. They were going to return her to Master and the life she’d once led. He kept running, taking her farther away from the cabin.

The gunfire suddenly ceased and another fear struck. Did that mean Shadow and Breeze were dead? She couldn’t hear anything but the panting of the men as they ran.

“She was more trouble than I thought she’d be.”

“Yup,” the one holding her replied.

“She doesn’t look like a million bucks to me.”

“The customer is always right.” He slowed to a fast walk. “When is our helicopter coming?”

“Three minutes out. We have to make the clearing. You want me to take her yet?”

“Nope. She is fine and we’re close.”

Once they got her into a helicopter, it was over. She’d disappear. There was a chance the NSO would locate her again but she didn’t believe in luck. Being freed once had been a miracle. She licked her lips and closed her eyes, trying to get control of her body. She was hurt but she was Species. Tough. Her jaw clenched and she opened her eyes.

The guns on the man’s thighs were unsecured for easy access and the holster straps flopped with every step. She stared at one and clenched her hands. It had to be done fast. Keeping her body limp was key to making him think she wasn’t a threat.

The guy next to them moved slightly ahead and some bushes separated them a little. It was probably the only opportunity she’d have. She lunged and grabbed at the butt of the weapon. Her finger somehow found the trigger and she squeezed as she twisted it slightly. The gun went off, loud, and then the one holding her cried out.

He staggered, blood pouring from the wound where she’d shot him. He went down, crashing to his knees. She managed to tear the gun from the holster as she was thrown away from him. Her back hit the grass but she was prepared to have the air knocked out of her lungs this time.

She lifted the gun and fired at the other man. He threw his body to the side, falling into a bush to avoid the bullet. She was already twisting, struggling to get to her feet.

“Fuck!”

She swayed on her feet but ran. It didn’t matter where she went, she just had to get away. Shadow and Breeze needed help too. She might be able to find some of those Wild Zone residents.

Something crashed after her and she knew the other guy chased her. She didn’t dare glance at him, afraid of running into a tree or tripping on something in her path.

Run!
She urged her legs to move faster. If there was one instinct she was familiar with, it was terror. She let it take her, submerged all her thoughts and only focused on survival.

Chapter Seventeen

Shadow shoved up from the floor where he’d dived to avoid the last splatter of bullets that had ripped open more of the walls. He saw Breeze crawl away from the fireplace. He could smell blood but wasn’t sure whose it was since they were both suffering from cuts from flying debris. The walls were destroyed from the massive amount of bullets that had ripped them apart.

He raised his arm, just firing blindly from behind the two thick log end tables he’d sandwiched together on their sides to make them thicker. It wasn’t safe anymore to try to target the enemy by searching for them. That would mean revealing his face, something a sniper would hit.

“Shit,” Breeze growled. “What is holding up the cabin?”

He didn’t have an answer. Enough sunlight poured through all the holes that they might as well have been outside. The enemy had massive firepower and, in his estimation, the only thing that had saved them was the rock trim along the outside. It was low to the ground so it had probably kept them from being shot as they were driven to the floor every time the enemy opened fire.

He could only pray Beauty was safe. It was an older cabin and he was sure the tub was made of cast iron. Bullets hopefully wouldn’t penetrate the sides of it. He glanced up but the ceiling had a few holes from ricochets.

“You good?”

Breeze hesitated. “I was hit but it’s not bad. Through and through to my side.”

It was a wonder they were both still alive. Thousands of bullets must have been aimed at them since the attack had started. He was going to yell at Beauty when this was over. He’d heard her firing one of his handguns at the start of it but was sure she had retreated to the bathroom when he yelled at her. After that it had been impossible to tell where the gunfire had come from. His ears were still ringing.

The break in active gunfire was disturbing. He tensed, waiting for return fire. Seconds passed and nothing happened. He frowned and glanced at Breeze. She was hunkered down near the fireplace, weapon in hand. She met his questioning gaze, a frown on her face as well.

“Do you think they are going to rush us?” Her eyebrow arched in question.

He fired another bullet to make sure the mercenaries knew they were still alive. That should keep them from entering the cabin. Breeze fired a bullet from the other side of the cabin, not looking out either. She’d almost had her face taken off by a bullet and had yelled a warning to him. They’d both stayed down ever since.

No one fired back. More seconds ticked by. Breeze shrugged, one hand going to her waist to hold her wound. He spotted the blood soaking her shirt. It didn’t look too bad but he worried.

Hope softened her features. “Maybe help has arrived and they took off. Maybe we should actually stop firing. I’d hate to hit one of ours by mistake.”

He strained to hear but was still having difficulty because a slight ringing noise remained. The bad thing about having oversensitive hearing was loud noises hurt. Breeze made a keening noise.

“What was that?”

“A distress call. Our males will respond if they are nearby.”

They both listened. Shadow watched Breeze. Her hearing might not be as disrupted as his. She shook her head, worry returning.
Shit
, she mouthed.

He had to agree. A howl suddenly rent the air and both of them felt relief. Breeze lowered her gun and grinned. “We’ve got help.”

He hesitated to rise from the floor, not sure if it was safe yet. Minutes passed before something crashed through the bullet-hole riddled door. The male was barely dressed in only a pair of cutoff shorts with a mass of hair that honestly reminded Shadow of a lion’s mane.

“Leo.” Breeze grinned.

The male glanced around and held Shadow’s gaze for a second before rushing to Breeze. He knelt, sniffing at her, and gently removed her hand from the wound. He threw back his head, roaring.

Shadow winced. There was no doubt the male was part feline even without seeing his eyes and facial features. He recognized him as the male he’d seen at the river hunting a female lion. Shadow got to his feet and charged toward the stairs to check on Beauty.

“Are the humans all dead?” Shadow hoped so.

“They ran away. We were being shot at or could have reached you sooner.” Leo forced Breeze down to lay flat on her back, growling when she protested. “Stay still, female! You’re bleeding.”

Another Species male rushed inside the room before Shadow could get upstairs. Blood ran down his neck. The sight stopped Shadow in his tracks. “Are you okay?”

Torrent turned his head, shoving back his hair to show a bloody ear. “A sniper nearly took off my head. They had a few of them perched in the treetops that kept us pinned inside a ravine about a mile from here. Once they moved, we came this way and I sent a few of the males to get help.” He glanced at Breeze, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Through and through,” she responded. “Don’t touch my breast, Leo. The wound is down here.”

“Just checking them,” the male countered and chuckled.

Flesh smacking flesh sounded.

“Stop molesting me.” Breeze growled.

Shadow spun away and rushed up the stairs. “Beauty!”

She didn’t answer. Panic hit that she’d been shot too. The bathtub was empty so he rushed into her room. Discarded weapons were on the floor, some still lined up as if they hadn’t been used. The window was shattered, curtains torn, and there were holes in the wall and ceiling above it. He spun and rushed toward his room. Torrent was in the hallway blocking his path. He just pushed the male out of the way.

The sight of the window kicked out and a rope swaying in the open space made him snarl. He lunged forward, grabbed it and looked down. Beauty was gone. He threw back his head, howling. He was out the window before he even checked to make sure the rope could take his weight. Someone had stolen Beauty. That’s why they’d stopped attacking. The mercenaries had taken her from the cabin.

He landed on his feet hard, pain shot up both legs but he swept the ground with his gaze, hunting for sign as he released the rope. Heavy footprints were easy to spot, two sets, one deeper than the other. No smaller tracks were visible. One of them had to be carrying Beauty. He barely registered the fact that Torrent dropped next to him, also using the rope to soften his landing.

“They took her.”

“I know,” Shadow snarled. “They won’t get far.”

A gunshot cracked from the south. Shadow’s heart stopped. That single shot could mean a lot of bad things. One being that the mercenaries had been given orders to murder Beauty. They’d want to do it in person, perhaps video it for their client or take the head from her body as proof of assassination. The human who’d owned her might want her dead to prevent her from ever identifying him if he were brought to Justice.

He sprinted in that direction, rage spurring him on. He didn’t care if the mercenaries outnumbered him or how heavily they were armed. He just needed to reach Beauty. Alive or dead, they weren’t taking any part of her near the human who’d abused her.

Torrent followed. He heard the male’s harsh breathing as they lunged past trees, jumped over rocks, and sniffed the air, trying to pick up her scent. He caught it, barely, and kept going. The stench of fresh blood made him snarl as he rushed around a grouping of bushes.

A mercenary lay on the ground, holding his thigh with both hands. Blood soaked his leg and the ground as the male groaned in pain. Shadow registered the wound and the missing gun from an empty holster, hope flaring instantly that Beauty had been the one to shoot the son of a bitch.

He dropped to the ground near the guy, disarming him quickly, and just shoved aside the male’s hands. The mercenary’s expression, hazed with agony, met his. Rage burned brighter as Shadow gripped the wound, purposely using his thumb to dig into it. The male screamed.

“Where is she?” Shadow snarled, ready to tear the male apart. He could smell her on the guy.

The mercenary writhed on the ground but managed to point. Shadow was on his feet and moving in the next breath. “Kill the fucker if he moves,” he ordered Torrent over his shoulder.

He spotted a broken stem where Beauty had fled. Heavy tracks marred the softer ones she’d made. Someone had chased her. He was close. Her terrified, sweet scent lingered in the air. He was grateful it wasn’t windy as he followed her more by scent than by the tracks on the ground.

Beauty knew the man was gaining ground. His ragged breathing seemed right at her back. Her leg muscles burned and she was tiring fast. She spun, lifted the gun, and tried to aim. He was so close she actually hit him with it. She pulled the trigger, gasping, too out of breath to scream.

The loud shot missed him but he spun away, slamming into a bush, falling. She almost went down too but caught her balance. The river noises drew her, the only way to make sure she wasn’t running in circles. She broke from the trees and nearly fell into the moving water.

She spun, looking for escape, but there was nowhere to go. Motion to her left made her whimper. Another man dressed in fatigues barreled at her. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. A third man rushed her way. She was trapped as they slowed, knowing they had her.

“Put down the gun.” The one she’d almost shot trained a gun at her.

“I can’t swim,” she warned them. “You shoot me and I fall in.” She aimed the gun, shifting it to point at each of them in turn, keeping the barrel moving. “Master wants me alive, doesn’t he? I’ll purposely stay under until I drown. I’d rather die than go back to him.”

Uneasiness skidded across their features. They believed her and the drop into the water had to be eight feet. She stood at a curve in the river where the earth had eroded the bank. It looked deep too.

“I’ll be gone once I hit the water. The current is strong. You blink, I’m gone.”

They froze but two more of them pointed guns at her.

“Drop the gun,” one of them demanded. “We’re not going to hurt you. Our boss wants you alive. Drowning is a horrible way to go.”

She laughed bitterly. “And being returned to Master is better?” Her heart rate began to slow now that she wasn’t running for her life. “I’d rather die.”

They glanced at each other, obviously not expecting that.

“Do you not get paid if I’m dead?” She could guess money was the only reason they’d come after her. It would have to be a lot for them to enter NSO lands, beyond suicidal to attempt such a thing. Species weren’t known for being kind to trespassers. “Back away from me.”

“She will struggle when she hits the water. It’s instinct,” one of them muttered. “She’ll surface and we’ll grab her.”

Beauty twisted her wrist, pointing the gun at her chest. “Will I survive a bullet to the heart? One shot and it’s over. You’ll have done all of this for nothing. I’m not going back.” She hoped they believed her bluff. “Get away from me.”

“Goddamn crazy bitch,” one of them swore. “You won’t shoot yourself.” He looked unsure though.

“I was caged and chained, kept in the dark and only brought out when Master wanted to see me.” She raised her chin as she inched a little closer to the edge near the water, her gaze darting around for an escape. There wasn’t one. “They kept me weak from lack of food and water, bathed only when Master decided I should be clean when he put his hands on me.” Rage deepened her voice into a soft growl. “Do you think I won’t prefer to die before being sent back to him?” She paused. “A bullet is kinder and faster than suffering that fate.”

A low branch kept drawing her attention. She kicked off her shoes and the men frowned.

“What are you doing?” One of them stepped closer.

She reacted by jerking the gun away from her chest and firing at him. It didn’t matter if she hit them or not. He dived out of the way but so did the other two, the way she’d hoped. She shoved the warm gun into her pants and jumped at the branch, her feet hitting the tree trunk. She was a primate and hoped instinct gave her a strong ability to climb.

She scrambled faster than she’d thought possible, getting higher as her hands curled around the branches, moving as fast as she could. The bottoms of her feet burned a little from the rough bark but she didn’t care. She was in a tree!

“Get down here,” one of them yelled. “Fuck! Climb after her, Bob.”

“She moves fast,” he complained. “Damn, look how high she’s going.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” the first one snapped. “Go after her!”

“What is she? A monkey?”

“She kinda looks like a chimp,” one of them stated. “Did you see her eyes and nose? She’s small for a woman too.”

She kept climbing until she couldn’t get any higher without fear of the thinning branches snapping from her weight. The one she hugged swayed when the wind blew. A sick feeling gripped her stomach as she looked down. She had to be fifty or so feet in the air. All three men stared up at her.

“Get down!” The one in charge pointed a finger at her. “Right now! We don’t have time for this.”

“The chopper is incoming,” Bob announced. “It’s about to land.”

She looked out to see if she could spot it but too many trees blocked her view even from that height. She listened and heard the noise then, probably too focused on the men to notice before. She turned her head and spotted it. It was flying low, just over the treetops, and coming closer.