Tiger Read online

  “He’s having a something,” Jaded snarled. “Sedate him.”

  She shoved her bag at one of the human task team members who held it and she withdrew a syringe. Tiger wildly fought at her approach.

  “Get that human away from me. They aren’t safe.”

  “Knock it off,” Jaded hissed. “Give him the shot. He’s strong for someone so injured. Do it before he reopens his wounds.”

  The doctor jabbed Tiger in the hip and jumped back as he fought the two males holding him down. “It’s going to take a minute. I didn’t want to risk over-sedating him.”

  Tiger panted but his thrashing lessoned. “What happened to the others? We were in a helicopter crash.”

  Bestial answered. “You were hurt the worst. The others lived but one of the pilots suffered severe burns. He’s being treated in the burn unit.”

  “Tell me what two plus two is,” Allison demanded. “I need to know if you’ve suffered any brain damage.”

  Tiger growled. “Four. Did they catch whoever shot us down?”

  “Yes,” Jaded said, nodding. “There were six human males trespassing in the woods. We’ve changed the flight patterns to prevent them from trying to shoot at more of us. The helicopter was a total loss. We’re going to be down one for a few weeks. We’ve ordered another but the company said that is the quickest they can do the modifications we need.”

  Bestial growled. “Why the hell did you say all that to Zandy?”

  Tiger snarled. “Mind your own business.”

  Jaded gave him a disgusted look. “She sat with you and wouldn’t leave your side except to go to the bathroom. She threw a doctor out of this room because he called us animals. She held your hand.”

  “She bathed you,” Bestial added. “She talked to you while you slept until she was almost without a voice. I told her how dangerous you could be because we had to give you the healing drugs but she didn’t care. She said she knew you wouldn’t hurt her. She was wrong, wasn’t she, Tiger?”

  Tiger growled. “Zandy doesn’t belong with me.”

  Bestial drew back when Tiger ceased struggling, the sedative taking hold. “I want her if you don’t. I see what kind of mate she’d make. I’m not a fool but you seem to be one.”

  Jaded growled at Tiger. “I’ll definitely take her. You hit your head really hard to have no sense left.”

  Tiger tried to get up but both males moved, pushing him back down. Tiger snarled and tried to fight while they struggled to hold him down.

  “You need to stay put!” Jaded roared at him.

  Tiger snarled and snapped at Jaded, almost biting into his friend’s forearm. Jaded roared again at Tiger, barely escaping his snapping teeth.

  “Hold him down,” Bestial ordered the other New Species and human task team members. His gaze sought Dr. Allison. “When is the sedative going to knock him out?”

  “Any second. His heart rate is high and the adrenaline from his anger is fighting the effects of the drugs.”

  Bestial relaxed his hold on Tiger when the male turned limp and his eyes closed in sleep. “He is strong for someone so hurt.”

  Jaded softly growled. “We should have let him get up and hit the damn floor for what he did to Zandy.”

  Bestial sighed. “He hurt her deeply. I saw the pain he inflicted on her emotionally.”

  Jaded growled. “Asshole.”

  Bestial nodded.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Zandy parked her car in the driveway and just sat there. It had been a long, horrible twenty-four hours. She’d learned Tiger had been in an accident and now she’d lost him. He was alive. That was all that really mattered. Tears threatened to spill again but she pushed them back. Ice cream was definitely going on her list of what to do next.

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open, instantly shocked at the sight that greeted her. Her couch was ripped up and the stuffing from the cushions spread on the carpet. The table next to it lay on the floor in pieces with the lamp smashed. Something red had been smeared on the walls and her nose picked up the smell of paint and something offensive.

  “What the…”

  Someone had broken in and vandalized her house. She took a few steps backward, afraid whoever had done it might still be there. She spun to rush to a neighbor to call the police but gasped instead, jerking to a halt. A tall man blocked her door where he stood on the porch. He appeared to be in his late twenties. He frowned.

  “Hello, Satan’s whore.”

  His words sank in. She heard glass crunch under someone’s heel and jerked her head to stare at her living room again. Two more men in their twenties walked out of her kitchen area. They had paint smeared on their hands—at least she hoped that was the source of the red. It looked a lot like blood. Her gaze darted to the wall and she was sure the nasty words scrawled there were done in paint. Her head twisted back around.

  “I have fifty bucks in my wallet. Take it.” Her hands trembled as she held out her purse in one hand and her car keys in the other. “Take the car too. They are just things to me and not worth my life.” She took a shaky breath. “I never saw you or your friends. Take whatever you want but please don’t hurt me. I swear to God that I won’t even call the cops.”

  The one she confronted snorted loudly. “What would you know about God? We’re not here to steal your possessions. We’re here for you.”

  Fear tensed her entire body. “Why?”

  “You work at Reservation and help the demons who walk this earth.”

  Confusion was her next emotion. “What?”

  He stepped forward and closed the door behind him, trapping her inside her destroyed living room with him and his two friends. “We thought you might be Jessie North but our Brother told us your real name and address. That’s how we found you. He gave us your information before those demons killed him.”

  “He can’t be dead,” one of the men behind her whispered. “Don’t say that, Brother Adam.”

  She darted a glance at the speaker, the youngest of the bunch. He had a severe acne problem and she pegged him to be in his early twenties. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at the man in front of her. She looked at Brother Adam since he seemed to be in charge.

  “He never got out of that den of evil. They either killed him or his soul has been compromised. They spread their evil into others. I’m sorry about your cousin, Brother Bruno. He gave his life to hand us this sinner.” The jerk in front of her stared down at her. “We’ll make his sacrifice count.”

  Zandy knew she was in deep shit. Her terror level notched higher.

  Brother Adam smiled—a cold, scary sight that didn’t reach his dark glare, which was directed at her. “She’s going to set an example to all God-fearing women to stay away from those demons.”

  The third man chuckled behind her. “I think she’ll look good nailed to a cross and set on fire at the gates of that hellish place. It will be shown worldwide to all the potential sinners and dissuade them from stepping away from the righteous path. We’ll call all the media outlets to be there to witness the first strike at evil.”

  She’d heard enough. The three men were nuts and no amount of reasoning would make them sane. Her gaze darted around the room before she addressed the one in front of her. Hate mail had come in from enough religious fanatics that she could guess these were a few of them.

  “Are you with the Woods Church? Your leader has sent in a lot of mail to the NSO. I read it.” She darted her gaze around the room, hunting for an escape route. “We could discuss the grievances he has with New Species.”

  “That hack?” Brother Adam snorted. “He doesn’t speak for God. We do.”

  She lunged toward the kitchen to reach the back door. A scream tore from her throat in hope that one of her neighbors would hear it and call 9-1-1. Her quick movement surprised the men but there weren’t just three of them. She slammed into a fourth one when he jumped around the corner into her path.

  “Got you!”

  She collided with h