Laurann Dohner - Slade

“Yeah,” Harley snorted. “We’ll see about that. I bet I can take out more of those terrorists than you can.”

“I’m sure they are just lost,” Trisha urged, hoping that was the case. “Please don’t shoot someone unless you have to.”

Brass met her gaze. “There are two trucks of humans trespassing inside the wild zone and Slade would never send them in this direction with you here. They would have a Species escort and Slade would have warned us to move you to keep you out of sight if they had permission. They are here to do harm. Keep your ass where you are.”

He grabbed a side table and shoved the lamp to the floor where glass shattered as it broke. He pushed the table near her to block the hole and trap her there.

“You move from that spot and I’ll blister your ass with a leather belt,” Brass growled at her. “Do you understand? You won’t sit for a week.”

Shocked, Trisha stared at him. Brass suddenly grinned and winked.

“I know enough about human children to know that’s an effective threat.” His smile died. “And I mean it.” He spun away, heading for the back wall of the cabin to a window.

Trisha heard brakes and engines died, letting her know the trucks had stopped outside. She heard male voices. It just has to be some kind of mistake. The guys are just freaking out and overreacting. They have to be. No one knows I’m in the cabin and no one is coming to hurt me or my baby. It is all just a big misunderst―

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“Are any of you fucking animals inside there?” a male voice yelled from outside.

“Come out and let us put you out of your fucking misery.”

Laughter sounded and Trisha tensed. Okay. It isn’t a misunderstanding. They’re here to do harm. The men outside weren’t looking for her personally but instead were searching for any New Species they found. She locked her focus on Harley by the front window and knew he would be able to see them best. He looked calm to her. She felt anything but. Her terror mounted as the seconds ticked by, praying they’d just leave. She didn’t want Brass or the guys to get hurt protecting her.

“Let’s go in and get us some animal skin,” another jerk laughed.

“We will kill you where you stand if you come any closer. We’re heavily armed,”

Harley warned loud enough for them to hear his threat.

Male voices laughed from outside. “You hear that? One of the animals thinks we’d allow a dog or cat to chase us off. Spread out and shoot the son of a bitch. We’re going to show it who the masters are.”

Gunfire erupted, the sounds loud and horrible. Trisha’s gaze flew toward the loft when she realized that Moon had opened fire. Trisha stared in horror as Harley lifted his gun, pointed it out the narrow opening at the top of the window uncovered by the kitchen table, and fired his weapon. Her hands lifted to cover her ears. She heard multiple gunshots and men shouting outside though she tried to block out the sound.

* * * * *

“Fuck,” Slade roared.

“We know where they are,” Tiger spat, grabbing his radio. “We need help at the wild zone at cabin six. We have active gunfire. Our people are under attack.”

Slade snarled at Tiger. “Sit.” It was all the warning he gave before he twisted the wheel hard and the Jeep left the road. He had to violently spin the wheel again seconds later to avoid slamming into a tree.

Tiger cursed and grabbed hold of anything he could. Slade had left the pavement and drove at a dangerous speed through the woods. The Jeep bounced roughly, the ride nearly terrifying as they dodged obstacles and barely missed trees. Tiger held his breath a few times, thinking the Jeep wouldn’t clear between thick trunks a few times. One of the side mirrors didn’t make it when it slammed into a tree, exploded from the impact, and Tiger heard paint scraped off the side of the door.

“Don’t drive out into the open when we get there. We’ll sneak up behind them and take them out. They won’t hear us with all that racket.”

“Fuck that. I’m hoping to draw them away from her.” Slade snarled the words, too enraged to care what happened to them as long as they fired at him instead of at Trisha.

“I want them after me instead.”

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“They are humans,” Tiger growled. “They don’t fight that way. We won’t draw them off, at least not all of them. Listen to me. I know you are enraged but do what I say. You aren’t rational.”

Slade nodded, knew his friend spoke the truth, but he couldn’t seem to think past the fear of Trisha getting hurt or killed. He knew he’d left rational behind at the first sound of the gunfire when he’d driven off the road.

“Fine.”

* * * * *

Trisha watched Harley flinch, jerk back and grab his bloody arm when a bullet struck him. He didn’t stop firing his gun though. He just gripped his injury for a few seconds before he ignored it.

She wanted to help him but knew it would be suicide to try to reach him. Bullets struck the cabin repeatedly and holes opened up along the wall by the door in a sudden flurry but Harley threw himself down at the last second. He crawled, cursed, and moved to a new location. He stood and began firing again. More bullets tore through the cabin walls as the men outside returned fire. A framed picture hanging on the wall near where the couch had been shattered from a bullet, sending glass raining down.

Trisha turned her head to check on Brass, who leaned against a thick support beam while he fired outside. He’d obviously guessed accurately that some of the men would try to sneak up along the back. Trisha heard a noise and stared at the kitchen as the countertop Brass had wedged against the window came crashing down. It hit the sink and slid to the floor. Trisha saw movement as the long barrel of a gun entered from where someone had obviously gotten the window open.

“Kitchen window,” Trisha yelled.

Brass dived for the floor and slid across it a few feet on his belly until he could see the kitchen. He twisted onto his side, gun in hand, and aimed. Brass shot the intruder in the head when a man attached to the barrel of the gun climbed through the window.

The body jerked before he collapsed with half of his body slung over the sink. Brass turned and blinked at Trisha before he dumped an empty clip from the handgun and shoved in a new one. He lunged to his feet to reach his post by the support beam again.

His gaze peered out the window he guarded.

“Tell me if you see anyone else, Trisha,” Brass ordered. “Don’t look away. You’re our eyes.”

Trisha mutely nodded but remembered he wasn’t looking at her. “I’ve got your back.” Her voice came out shaky but she knew he heard her when he didn’t repeat the order.

She stared in horror at the body draped through the window. Blood ran down the cabinet under the sink and pooled on the floor. She forced her attention away from the red and the grotesque sight of what was left of his head where pieces were missing. She 174

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focused on the window opening instead. If someone used it to enter the kitchen they would be able to shoot at Brass and Harley. Their sole focus needed to be on the outside.

The shooting stopped suddenly and Trisha held her breath. She was afraid to look away from the window and she didn’t. The lives of men she cared about depended on her keeping a steady visual.

“They are reorganizing,” Brass growled. “How you doing, Harley?”

“Two hits but just grazes on my arm and lower leg. I’m good to stand.”

“Moon?”

“Still here and fine. I’ve gotten six of them for keeps and winged two more. They are staying behind the trucks or sneaking through the woods to circle around. Right now they are huddled, probably trying to come with a plan to rush us. I don’t have a good shot from the back. The porch roof blocks my view.”