Chapter Eighteen

Ceno loved Sela’s childlike awe as they rode in the shuttle. She gasped when he took her to the med bay and showed her the way things worked by healing each and every one of her wounds.

Clyde, acting his usual self, ran from viewer to viewer with the exuberance of a man half his age, exclaiming over the beauty of their land from above.

“Will you take me into space, Geno?” he asked. “What’s it look like up there? Is it dark? Are the stars beautiful? Does the Earth really look like a giant blueberry in space?”

“Gramps.” Sela shook her head with a laugh. “Leave the poor man alone.”

“It’s okay, newest daughter,” his father said with a smile. “He is an adventurer much like myself. It would be my honor to show him your world as we have seen it from space.”

“It’s just ahead. Maybe we should set your craft down here and walk the rest of the way.” She looked around. “Can you lock this thing? I’d hate for Johnson’s men to get their grubby paws on it.”

“Yes.” Geno landed the shuttle and bent to kiss her cheek. “We can secure it. Never fear.” He glanced at his sons. “Okay, everyone grab a blaster and a shock light, and head for the cave.”

“Shock light?” She turned to Ceno, her eyes wide.

“It’s a non-lethal weapon, and a flashlight rolled into one. Our enemies here won’t suspect that we can defend ourselves with them should they take us by surprise.”

“Where is the cave, baby?” Ceno asked, unable to keep himself from tucking her beneath his arm to keep her close to him and safe. It didn’t escape him that Reno had done the same with Birgit.

“It’s ahead about two hundred feet.” They moved forward, their lights bobbing in the darkness.

“Has anyone thought about how we’re just advertising we’re out here? If there’s anyone around, we’re sitting ducks,” Deno said as he followed their father through the brush.

“Nice observation, stranger,” someone drawled from the darkness. “Drop your weapons, or we’ll shoot you so full of holes, my wife could use your shirt to strain macaroni.”

“Drop the blasters boys.” Geno dropped his first, keeping hold of his shock light.

“Do you mind if we keep hold of our flashlights,” Clyde asked. “My vision isn’t quite what it used to be, and I’d like to see if I’m about to step in a hole and break my damn fool leg.”

“Keep your lights, but drop the guns, or we’ll shoot the women first.”

Ceno’s beast rammed against the shield holding it inside him. He could only imagine Reno fought a similar battle. He wasn’t sure about his father. Did he have better control of his beast since he’d lost his mate, or did the tiger’s protective instincts stretch to cover to his grown sons?

“When all hell breaks loose,” he whispered in Sela’s ear, “grab your grandfather and dive to the ground.”

Reno gave Birgit a look that told Ceno he’d given his mate similar instructions through their mind link.

Now! Geno snarled through the link connecting father to sons.

Ceno pushed Sela and Clyde to the ground when his father and every one of his brothers pressed the shock button on their lights.

A sonic charge threw the men to the ground; all of them knocked several feet backward as the charge released from several lights at once.

“Tie them up.” Clyde snarled as he got to his feet. “We don’t need those varmints coming back to haunt us before the authorities get here.” He shook his head. “And that’s going to take a while. If I’m not mistaken, this one is a sheriff’s deputy.” He spat on the ground near the man’s feet.

“Oh, my,” Birgit said as she followed Reno into the cave. “You guys need to come see this.”

“That bastard Johnson didn’t even wait to force us off our land. He just kept us busy enough to keep us from finding out he was robbing us blind.”

“Language, Gramps,” Sela said absently, as she stared at the large crates of gold stored just inside the large opening. “How much do you think this is worth?” She picked a large chunk from the crate and held it up for inspection. “I think this one weighs at least ten pounds.”

“Ten pounds!” Clyde’s eyes rounded, and he swallowed. “The price of gold is around thirteen hundred dollars an ounce.”

“Yeah, but gold ore isn’t worth as much, Grandpa.”

“That isn’t ore, darlin’. That’s a chunk of pure gold pulled from a rich vein. Ore doesn’t look like that.”

“It looks like you’re rich, baby,” Ceno said with a grin. “Just remember, I was interested in you before you found out you were a rich gold miner.”

“If anyone is a rich gold miner around here, it’s me.”

“What are you and your goons doing on our land, Johnson?” Sela spun around and glared at the man who stood just inside the cave entrance, surrounded by more of his hired guns.

“Drop your weapons, gentlemen. All of them.” He snarled as his men spread out, some of them hiding behind the crates in case they used the shock lights again.

“Do it,” Ceno said as he placed his body in front of Sela. He hoped she’d stay behind him and do as he asked. He didn’t need to fight her while his beast kept ramming the edge of his control.

“Now that we’ve established who’s in charge here, you and Sela move to the back of the cave.”

Ceno backed up, keeping her behind him. The last thing he wanted was to give the man a clear shot. He barely managed to hold his beast under a tight rein. He knew if he lost control, Johnson and his men wouldn’t hesitate to kill all of them with their automatic weapons. As much as he wanted to attack, he knew he couldn’t if he wanted to keep Sela alive.

“You heard him, baby. Move back into the cave.” He kept his body in front of her until he felt her stumble backward. A red haze settled over his vision as he turned to her. “When you manage to back into the darkness, get down on the ground. Make yourself as small and inconspicuous as you can.”

Ceno almost sighed at her slight nod. Thank the Goddess she’d decided to cooperate.

He almost smiled when she reached out and grabbed her grandfather by the back strap of his coveralls and dragged him with her. Ceno stood still, using every ounce of strength he possessed. His beast was gaining more and more control.

Both sets of twins moved back as well. Apparently, their father or Reno had instructed them to keep out of the line of fire. The hair on the back of his neck rose as the tension in the air thickened.

Get ready to release your beast from his bonds.

Yes, Papan, he and Reno said at the same time.

Get ready... Hold on a minute... Now!

In less than three seconds, the three men shifted. Their bones popped and cracked, their faces widening as their bone structure changed from human to tiger.

At first, their enemy stared at them in abject terror, like a horror movie come to life. Their eyes widened, and their mouths opened on silent screams as three huge tigers filled the space between them and the rest of their group.

Four of the nine men dropped their weapons and ran screaming from the cave.

I’d hoped for that. It evens the odds a bit, his father said through their link.

I want Johnson. Ceno mentally snarled the words.

Then, you’d better take him out fast, or I’ll do it for you. No one threatens my sons and their mates without paying the price. His father pounced, taking out one of the remaining three who still held automatic weapons.

The sound of gunfire filled the cave as the man went down. Orange blood sprayed from his neck when Geno clamped his large incisors onto the man’s neck. When the holographic image sensed the death of the wearer, the image pixilated and shifted back to that of an Argarian.

Wasting no more time, Ceno leaped toward Johnson, intending to take him out. How long had the Argarians been on Earth? Was Johnson also an alien, or had the reptilian horde just taken advantage of the man’s position to mine the resources of the planet?

As Zolon raiders, mining the resources of Earth had been their priority until they’d found sentient life on the planet. Their crash landing meant nothing. Had they managed to keep themselves from falling to the surface, their code of honor would have precluded the gathering of resources. The Argarians had no such code.

Another jumped in front of Johnson, protecting him. Ceno landed on the sacrifice, ripping its throat out.

A scream from the darkness spun him around as Reno attacked yet another of their assailants. The flash and sound of gunfire both helped and hindered his ability to track his enemies.

He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw Deno and Xeno take another out by knocking it over the head with a large rock.

The sound and flashes of gunfire spun him around, his vision tracking the light of the hot projectiles as they flew through the air.

Cal Johnson had dropped to the ground, hiding behind an outcropping of rock as Sela shot round after round from the semiautomatic rifle she held to her shoulder.

“Come on out, Johnson. If that’s even your name.” Another shot rang out as she stepped closer. “What’s the matter?” She took another shot. “Face me, you son of a bitch!”