Chapter Twenty-three

There was a loud purr from the back of the truck. Tee was on her hind legs looking out the back window.

“I see. Now get up here. I’m sure it’s nothing.” She rechecked the rear-view mirror. There was a black SUV following her. It stayed with her for the last ten miles. Why did her mom have to live so far out? The occupants of the other car hadn’t given her a reason to worry, but her ‘Oh shit’ meter was going through the roof. Now she was on the stretch of road that was empty most of the time.

“There’s nothing to worry about Tee. They are probably just college kids out having fun.” She didn’t believe the words out of her mouth, but she only needed to go eight more miles before she hit traffic.

She reached for the button on the radio to turn it up when a loud growl from Tee made her look in the mirror again. The SUV was much closer and speeding up.

“Hold on I think they’re going to ram us.” They did making her truck go sideways. She fought with the wheel to keep it on the road. When it straightened up, her hand flew to her heart fear making it beat faster. She floored the gas and took off. The truck was fast, but it was old and no match for the SUV that slammed into it again.

This time her head hit the steering wheel, and the truck spun out of control going over the side of the embankment. It stopped at the first big tree it met.

Tee roared while Quinn groaned. The airbags had deployed keeping her alive, but now she couldn’t move and whoever was in that SUV would come looking. Tee’s body grew until she was too big for the cab of the truck. She used her claws to tear the airbags up before shrinking.

Quinn undid her seat belt and got the door open practically falling out of it. Tee jumped down and paced in front of her.

“I know we have to go. My head is killing me. Better that than death.” She followed her cat as she moved out. True she was just a cat, but Quinn was willing to bet she understood the terrain the best.

They moved through the woods trying to be quiet.

“I found the truck. She got out.” A male voice screamed not caring about the sound.

“Alive?”

“Yes moron, alive.”

“Find her and kill her.” A different voice rang out.

She always wanted to star in her own survival show. Not! Tee got in front of her and grew until she was almost as tall as Quinn.

“You’ve been keeping secrets,” Quinn whispered as she went to her hands and knees to follow Tee. Her head hurt too much to keep standing.

“I think I hear her.” There was the sound of someone crashing through the trees.

Tee urged her to her feet and caught the sleeve of her shirt pulling her through the forest.

“Damn, I missed her.”

“Shouldn’t we be quiet?”

“I want her to know we’re coming. She has nowhere to go.”

“Mekhi, where are you?”

“Quinn’s what’s happening?”

She gave him a rundown and told him where she was.

“Hold on our brothers are coming.”

“They won’t make it in time.”

“They will. I want you to listen to Tee. She has the predator senses of two species. Tell Tee out load that she can do whatever it takes to protect you. Now Quinn!”

“Tee protect me, and no matter what happens I love you.” She shook her head like a massive tiger, but Quinn took that as an okay.

“Mekhi?”

“I’m still here. I won’t leave you until Slade, and the others get there.”

Tee came to a stop, and Quinn hunched down behind her. A man walked into the clearing. Tee rose on her hind legs and launched herself at him. She landed on his chest. He fought to get his gun up, but she tore his throat out before he could.

She came back to Quinn, who put her arms around her neck and murmured good girl into her coat.

If she had snacks, think a big steak, she would have given it to her. Tee butted Quinn with her head to get her to move.

“I’ve got you. I’ll kill you, and whatever that thing is with you.” A man stepped out in front of them his gun pointed at Tee.

Slade stepped out behind him and snapped his neck.

“Bring the other one in alive.” He called out to his brothers.

“Damn it, Slade, I told you to leave that one alive I wanted to kill this one,” Phoenix replied before they heard a loud scream. “Now I have to settle for breaking.”

Slade turned to look at her and winked. She couldn’t take it anymore and fell to the Earth laughing and crying at the same time. Part of her mind told her she was having a breakdown, but she told it to go screw itself.

“Don’t tell Mekhi I picked you up. You will never make it to the SUV on your own.

“You came in a car?”

“No, but Akron is bringing it. He should be here by the time we climb back up.”

“What about the other man?”

“We’ll put him in a holding cell until Mekhi comes home.”

“Then we’ll question him and let him go?”

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Tee killed one of them. Don’t get mad at her, she had to.”

“Tee’s a hero, but she already knows.”

“Mekhi calm your mate. She’s so tense in my arms she might break.”

“Tiny warrior, I’m so proud of you. Everything is fine now. Close your eyes, and soon you’ll be home.”

“I want to see you.”

“I’ll be there when you wake up.”

She closed her eyes and fell asleep in Slade’s arms.

She woke up feeling warm and safe. Mekhi was holding her tight.

“What happened? I had a weird dream last night.”

“It wasn’t a dream.”

“Yes, it was. Men don’t come after you in black SUV’s. That only happens in the movies.”

“And in your life. There were three of them.”

“Two are dead. Tee killed one of them.”

“Are you scared of her?”

“No, I mean this sounds weird, but I’m so proud of her. She protected me. He could have killed her.”

“She loves you, Quinn.”

She nodded and bit her lip. It bothered her that he could see Tee’s love but couldn’t see his own.

“What will we do with the man we caught?”

“I plan to talk to him.”

“Not without me.” She got out of bed and put her hand to her head. “Did you do something to my head?”

“I helped to reduce the swelling and take the pressure off.”

“Thank you.” She walked around the bed and placed her arms around him giving him a kiss.

Her mouth opened wide as his tongue went in taking over. She loved the way he dominated her, and then at other times he laid back and let her take charge.

“I love you Mekhi.” She told him before she headed off to the bathroom.

He placed his hand on his chest and rubbed. It ached, and he didn’t know why.

“How big is this basement?” The had walked through the part she had seen before only to find a hidden door. This was where they kept the prisoner, it looked like a high-end detention center.

“Futuristic I take it.”

“Highly,” Akron told her.

It didn’t take this much protection to walk in the basement, but all the brothers insisted on coming until the threat was eliminated. Bile rose in her throat when they said that.

She stopped in front of a cell with a man lying on a bed. He didn’t turn to look when they walked up.

“What happened to him?”

“He broke his arm and leg,” Slade told her.

She took a deep breath. “Can he see us?”

“Not yet.” Mekhi touched the glass, and the man sat up staring at them.

“You’re dead all one of you, especially…”

Mekhi roared making him shut up and huddle in the corner of the bed.

“So far we’ve treated you fairly. I even took the time to heal your wounds.”

“I don’t know why since you’re going to kill me.”

“True. How you die is the only question it can be easy, or it can be slow. I prefer slow, but you may want to skip the pain.” He opened the door and stepped in with Quinn behind him.

“When they told me you were evil; I laughed. I’m not laughing now.”

“What are you talking about? Why did you try to kill me?”

“You have the plans.”

“What plans? Have you and your friends been doing drugs? I own a construction company, of course; I have plans.”

“You don’t know, do you? Your father never told you. Eight years before you were born something fell to Earth. I don’t know what it is. I know it’s worth a fortune. The story goes your dad found it, then he buried it somewhere. The only way to find it is in the plans he drew.

“They came after you several times while he was alive, but you always escaped the traps set for you. When he died, we knew the only person who would have the plans was you. Nothing anyone tried got through so finally, we made plans to kill you and deal with your mother.”

“You planned to torture my mother for plans that you're not sure exist?”

He nodded his head, but he never took his eyes of Mekhi.

“Tell him to let me go, and I’ll never bother you again.”

“No.”

He turned to look at her.

“My life has been turned upside down since my dad died. You and the others killed him for nothing but greed. My mom still cries some nights over the man she loves. She carries his final words around with her, and you were going to torture her, kill her, for the possibility of money.

“When I grew up, there was a saying everyone thought was clever. Live by the sword die by the sword.”

She held out her hand, and Mekhi gave her a long knife. She thrust it into his chest and turned for the door.

The man tried to pull it out. Mekhi stepped behind her and dealt a death blow.