Thomas

Thomas

Lanning’s Leap Book
2

By

Kathi S. Barton

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as
real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations,
or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

WCP

World Castle Publishing,
LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Kathi S. Barton
2014

Smashwords Edition

Print ISBN: 9781629891880

eBook ISBN: 9781629891897

First Edition World Castle Publishing,
LLC, December 19, 2014

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing
Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied
in articles and reviews.

Cover: Karen Fuller

Editor: Eric Johnston

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Chapter 1

Phillip moved along the inside of the
cave slowly. The landslide had rendered the humans’ ability to get
in almost impossible. But once he and his brothers were able to
shift, moving between the small openings was hard but not as
impossible. Plus, their innate ability to smell the hurt or
sometimes the dead was making quicker work of it.

Before he took another step inside to
shift again, someone appeared in front of him. She pressed her
finger to her lips, which silenced the question he’d nearly asked
her about whether she was hurt or needed to come with him. She was
dressed in a dark neoprene outfit that fit her skin like it had
been painted on her. There were weapons all over her body, as well
as a large Glock in her hand. He nodded once to it, and she smiled.
Then when she lifted her hand up and spread her fingers, he watched
as she brought it to her face.

As she looked at him through her
spread fingers, he had an idea she was trying to tell him something
but refrained from asking. Instead he watched as she pulled her
still spread fingers from her face and put her hand in front of her
mouth in a speaking motion. Phillip was still confused until she
put her spread fingers in front of his face about five or six
inches away. He got it then and nodded. But she still held her hand
there, and he had a feeling he had to okay her touching him by
putting his face in her hand. Leaning forward, for whatever reason
trusting her, she curved her fingers over his face once he was
there and touched him.

Her pinkie and thumb touched his ears.
Then her fingers next to those touched his eyes as her middle
finger dug into his scalp. It wasn’t painful, but he could feel her
probing his mind just a little. Before he could move back, even if
he thought he could, she pulled her hand away and he staggered
back.

I’m not going to hurt
you.
He looked at her, and she smiled
again.
You’re not who I was looking for
but you’ll have to do. The leader of you, where is he?

I think he’s coming in
from the north side. He and my other brothers have split up to make
this faster. These people have been in here for over twenty
hours.
She nodded and looked to his left.
Another man, dressed as she was, stood there looking at them both,
and he was armed as well. When he put up his hand, as the woman
had, he simply moved into it to speak to him as well.

I’m Nic, and this is my
sister. We’re here to find a rogue. He might have been the cause of
all this mess.
Phillip didn’t say
anything, but did notice that while he was armed as well, the woman
had put her gun away
. We don’t really need
your help, but we can make this easier on you. Once you’re doing
what you need to do, we can get on with our job and you and yours
won’t get hurt. This is not a safe place for any of us, especially
you guys.

I’ll give you a map in
your head to find all the people left in here. There are
twenty-seven, not counting the one we’re looking for. Nine are
dead; I will show you where they are as well. But the man we want
for our own.
Phillip was already shaking
his head at the woman as she took over for Nic.
You won’t deal with us?

I will if Misha approves.
But I’m thinking it will take too long. What is the
deal?

She smiled at her brother, then looked
at him. Phillip had a feeling that they were communicating with
each other, and he was suddenly a little nervous.

Misha Lanning?
He nodded.
He won’t deal
with us unless he covers every avenue and has a contract in his
hand saying what will need to be given and taken. Your people don’t
have time for that. I can just go and get my guy, leave you guys
here fumbling in the dark while others die, or you let me do what I
want and you get to be a hero.

I’m not really the hero
type.
She laughed in his head, and he
smiled. He had no idea why he thought he could trust either of
them, but he did.
All right, but if he
asks me what the hell you’re doing here, I’m going to tell him
straight up you made me do it.

She put out her hand and
smiled.
Deal. I’ll get my man, you’ll get
the others out. I’ll give you a way to find them, and you’ll…well,
you’re going to need help with some of the areas. There are stones
falling everywhere.

The mountain above them took a sudden
jerk, and she reached for him. He was sure she was helping him, but
a need to protect her had him covering her with his body. For only
about two seconds. Then he found himself not only covered by her,
but by the man as well.

When he was pulled to his feet, he
could see that the huge rock that had fallen had hit her. Phillip
looked at the stone and knew that had they not protected him when
they did, he’d be dead. Her suit was torn, and a big gash had been
torn into her flesh as well. She waved Nic off, but Phillip could
tell she was in pain.

Here’s what you’re going
to need.
She touched her finger to his
head, and he felt as if he’d been shocked with an electrical
current…and he saw a map form in his head.
The red areas are the most dangerous, the blue is where the
living are, and the green is where the dead are. The places that
are circled in the red are where you’re going to need help. I would
avoid the red areas altogether if I was you.

And where are you
going?
He didn’t expect her to answer him,
and she didn’t. When Nic moved ahead of them, she turned back to
him again.

You should really not tell
anyone we were in here with you. We’re sort of…well, we’re not
really a group of people you want to piss off.

What are you?
She looked down the way her brother had gone,
then back at him. She looked…well, he thought, sad for a few
moments. Then anger surged forward. Before she turned to leave him,
she looked back over her shoulder.

I am Genjar.

Phillip stood there for several
seconds, trying to absorb what she’d said. Genjar, as in the
species that had been destroyed centuries ago? He had to have heard
her wrong. They were all dead, he thought. But if she was telling
him the truth, and he had no idea why she’d lie to him about that,
he thought maybe he knew why they didn’t want anyone to know they’d
been there. When she touched his mind again, he had to
laugh.

Mull it over later,
Phillip Lanning. There are bodies to find, and you standing there
thinking things through isn’t going to get them out.
He reached for his brothers, looking over the map
she’d given him.
I’ll go and talk to your
leader when I’m sure you’re not going to tell them we were here. If
you do, you and your entire family will die before the next
sunrise. Understand?

Phillip told her he did, and decided
that other than telling Misha and making him understand what the
hell was going on, he’d never tell anyone. But damn, he’d just met
a Genjar.

Thomas reached him first, then Carter
and Misha. Rider was on his way, as was Andrew, but they were
making their way through the landslide looking for others as he
made his way out and back around. Phillip told him he knew just
where they were and to come now. He was the youngest of the
brothers, but he knew when he said he had information, they’d come
faster. He then reached for Misha as they stood there in the
opening.

I have the information
that we need to get them all out.
Misha
raised a brow at him but said nothing.
I
had help, and she said she’d talk to you later. We can’t tell
anyone she and her brother were here.

And why is that?
He didn’t answer him, and Misha stopped him from
moving toward the first area.
And why is
it you can’t tell me or anyone else who she was
?

Because if I do, she’ll
kill us
. Misha stood there for several
seconds before he nodded. One thing about his brother, he could
read people like a book, and he would know if anyone was lying to
him. So when they got to the first area, the one that had several
of the living inside, they worked together and got five of the
living out, including a newborn. There was one dead among them. He
was helping to pull the living ones to safer ground when he heard
from the woman again.

Our rogue is on the move.
We will protect you as best we can, but you’re not to engage. If
you do, he will kill you.

Phillip relayed the information from
the woman to Misha. Misha told them to stand down. When a flash ran
by them, the rogue he supposed, the man never even looked their
way. But Phillip did tell the woman and Nic where he was
headed.

Thank you. I owe you
one.

The work was slow going in the red
area. They managed to just save their asses when the earth moved
again, bringing down a mountain, it seemed, of mud and mire. They
were able to get out all of the living and the eight dead in a
quarter of the time it would have taken without the help of the
Genjar.

Misha was standing in front of the
police officer talking to him when Nic touched Phillip’s mind
again.

My sister is hurt, and it
will be several days before she can see your brother. Could you
have him set her an appointment for Tuesday a week from now? I know
that she will say sooner, but I’d appreciate it if you’d simply
tell her it was the best you can do.
Phillip laughed and told him he was more afraid of her than
him
. As well you should be. If you know
anything about our kind, you know the women are the strongest. You
will do as she asks then, and I will see if I can hold her off. She
is most…stubborn.

Phillip thought that was an
understatement but didn’t say anything else. Instead he watched
Misha as he walked to the news crew that was waiting for
information.

“
We believe, by a counting
of what the police have gathered, that all the victims are
accounted for. The dead were moved to a safe location, and the
injured are at the local stations set up to transport if necessary.
The good news is, there was one more person within the slide than
we had been told of.” Misha waited for the crews to stop shouting
questions, and Phillip thought for sure that he was going to tell
about the rogue. “One of the victims gave birth to her daughter,
and both of them are doing well. They have been sent to the
hospital for observation. The people with her deserve a pat on the
back for not only helping her when she needed it, but also keeping
them both safe until we could get to them.”