Slade Read online

  The cedar chest was pushed in front of the door with the couch. For good measure, Moon shoved a heavy side table against that. Harley ran to the kitchen table and flipped it over onto the floor facedown. The legs were snapped off with a little help from his boot and strong hands. He lifted the heavy, thick wood of the tabletop and ran for the windows near the door. He dropped it in front of the glass so only inches of sunlight showed at the top. He shoved the loveseat in front of it to keep it in place.

  Brass rushed inside the kitchen to tear out the fridge from the hole where it sat and shoved it against the back door. It completely blocked the entire opening and he grabbed the stove.

  “Gas line!” Trisha yelled.

  Brass froze and peered at her. “Thanks. I wouldn’t have remembered.” He leaned behind the large appliance for a few seconds to remedy the potential problem before he tore the disconnected stove away from the wall. He shoved it against the fridge.

  “The top floor should be secure,” Moon called out. “There’s nothing around it high enough for them to climb up there and they can’t leap the way the felines and primates do.”

  “I have no signal.” Harley cursed viciously while he gripped a cell phone.

  “Parts of the cabin seem to block it,” Brass informed him. “I had to walk around a bit to get service. Try by the base of the stairs. It seemed strongest there.” Something broke inside the kitchen.

  Trisha watched as Brass tore apart the counter, using his massive strength to just rip off a section, which he slammed over the single kitchen window. He turned, studied the kitchen for a second, before he hurried back into the living room.

  “Get your duffle bag,” Brass ordered Moon. “Use the top floor to take out as many of them as you can. You’re authorized for deadly force. It’s my call and I’m making it.”

  Moon nodded grimly and turned his head to stare at Trisha. “Should I take her up there with me?”

  “No. She’s safer there, better protected from stray bullets. You’ll be drawing fire when you open up on those terrorists.” Brass glanced at Trisha and held her gaze. “Do not move your ass no matter what happens. Do you understand me? If one of us goes down, doctor or not, don’t move an inch. You think of that baby.”

  Fear gripped Trisha when the trucks were close enough for her human ears to pick up the sound. Moon dragged out a duffle bag from a closet near the front door and tore it open. He hadn’t packed clothes inside the large, long bag. Instead he unloaded two rifles and gripped the hand of the duffle, taking it with him as he hurried up the stairs.

  Harley walked to his bag and Trisha watched him unloading handguns and ammunition. He glanced at Brass. “Do you want the front or the back position?”

  “I’ll take the back. Humans always seem to think they can creep up on us. I think the attack along the back side will be far worse and I’m a better shot.”

  “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―

  “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.”

  “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 p