Best Friends (New Species Book 15) Read online

  “Those Species have my Darren! I saw them take him away. Why haven’t they brought him to me?”

  “I told you. They only took him in for questioning but then released him into my custody. I drove him to county lockup. Are Jennifer and Zack alright? Let me talk to them again.”

  “You aren’t getting anything until I have my sons!”

  Mary sniffed. “He shot one of them. I know it!” She twisted in his arms. “Oh God, Lash!”

  His vision was excellent at night. He could see the pure terror and panic in her pale blue eyes.

  “I have to do something.” She struggled, trying to break free again. “Let me go! He’s in the front of the house. Even I can tell that. I’ll enter through the back. There’s a spare key under the rock next to the stairs to the mud room. I’ll sneak in and hit him from behind or something!”

  “No.”

  “Sheriff Cooper isn’t doing shit! What if one of my parents are bleeding to death?” A sob choked her.

  Timber growled low from about twenty feet away, grouped with their males. “Fucking humans,” the male whispered. “We’d have dealt with this already if they’d let us. As officers, we swore to follow orders. I know this is tough for us all. Just remain calm.”

  Brass and Jaded had come with them. They approached the group. “None of us like this,” Brass admitted. “But the humans are in charge.”

  “The hostages are the parents of a Species mate,” Jaded paused. “We could argue that.”

  Lash watched his mate suffer, her agony clear on her face—and he’d enough.

  He suddenly lifted her, walking fast, taking her to Mel and Snow where they sat on a blanket.

  Mary fought, kicking and smacking at him. “Put me down!”

  “Silence,” he snarled, and then practically dumped her on top of the other female. “Hold her.”

  Mel hesitated but then did as he demanded, wrapping her arms around Mary and trying to keep hold of her. His mate didn’t use her elbows on her but she did struggle.

  Lash crouched, grabbing Mary’s face to make her look at him. “I’m going to get your parents.”

  Mary froze, her eyes widening.

  “Promise to stay here. I’ll get them.”

  “Lash…” She paled.

  “Promise me,” he growled. “You stay safe.”

  “I’ll keep her down,” Mel swore, throwing one of her legs over Mary’s.

  He rose up and turned, slamming right into Timber.

  The male shook his head. “No.”

  “I’m not an officer. I made no promises.”

  Timber appeared conflicted.

  Jaded cleared his throat. “He is a Wild Zone. They do whatever they want. Let him go.”

  “You’re encouraging this?” Brass sounded pissed.

  Jaded opened his mouth but Lash cut him off.

  “Look at my mate,” Lash hissed. “She’s suffering.”

  The males glanced around him to where Mary sat with the other human mate. She was clinging to the other female now, appearing both scared and teary eyed at the same time.

  Brass softly growled. “Don’t take out the wrong male, Lash. Try not to kill just in case you attack the female’s father. Be careful and go in the back. Your mate is right. His voice came from the front, somewhere near the door on the big porch area. Do you even know how to use a key?”

  Lash stepped around the male, moving toward the side of the barn. Species stepped out of his way, not trying to stop him. He paused there, studying the open ground to the house, debating how to get there without being seen.

  Jaded bumped into him. “Take to the trees to circle around. I scoped it out. Fuck using the back door. Get in by going onto the roof. Land softly to muffle your sounds. Few humans lock windows too high for them to reach. There’s an attic window back there. I saw it. It’s three floors up. I doubt an old human would hear you force it open.”

  Lash studied him. “Why are you helping me?”

  “We’re all Species but I never get to do the fun shit. Go get your mate’s family. She’ll appreciate it. I’ll ask Brass to make his way to where the sheriff is, to ask permission to take over. He won’t agree, but it should distract the shitty human inside the house.”

  Jaded walked toward Brass.

  Lash lunged toward the tree line slightly behind them. His mate’s father hadn’t cleared those. He ran fast, heading opposite the very back of the house. Then he turned, running full speed at the house. He leapt when he was about ten feet away, landing quietly on all fours about fifteen feet up.

  The roof was a little slippery, but he dug his claws in, trying to be quiet. Then he climbed higher, toward the window that had to be the attic.

  Chapter Twelve

  The window wouldn’t open at first. Lash figured out it was one that slid to the side, and he used his muscle to do as Jaded had suggested. There was a small pop from inside but it moved. The next problem was trying to fit his big body through the small opening.

  He got inside and had to put his finger to his nose to avoid sneezing. There was a lot of dust. Boxes and sheets covered things littering the floor. He scanned the area and saw narrow stairs leading downward. He crept forward, hoping the floor under him wouldn’t creak.

  The small stairwell had him stifling a snarl. He had to turn sideways and the steps barely fit his big feet. The door at the bottom wasn’t normal-size either. At least it wasn’t locked as he turned the handle and pushed it open. He had to hunch down to get his head through, then he stood in a long hallway. A few lights were on up.

  The low ceiling brushed against his mane as he silently moved down the hall, ignoring the open dark doorways. He could hear a voice from below, identifying it as the male who’d yelled from the house.

  “That moron cop is fucking with me,” the male raged. “He’s going to get the both of you killed. I know he’s got my boys. He’s probably waiting for SWAT to drive here from somewhere else.”

  Lash paused, hoping to hear a response. That would mean at least one of Mary’s parents were still alive. There wasn’t one.

  Rage burned through him. What if the male had already killed them? Humans could be unstable and murderous.

  He reached the top of the stairwell and peeked downward over the railing. It showed the front door and an open area. Nothing moved down there.

  There was a thump, something hitting wood. “That fucking cop is lying to me about those New Species having Darren, too! I saw them haul him out of that cunt’s apartment and put him in one of their black vehicles. I didn’t dare follow since it was night, but they headed out of town, right toward that fucking place they live at.”

  The voice came from the right, on the lower floor. There was a large archway Lash could see when he moved a little. A light was on in there. Lash thought about leaping down but it would be loud. He frowned at the stairs. Some of them could make noises.

  Lash studied the thick wood running along the stairwell, with metal bars holding it up. Humans used them to hold on to while walking up and down stairs, to avoid falling. After a moment’s hesitation, he lifted his leg, putting his ass on top of it. His loincloth was between the wood and his skin.

  He paused, keeping his gaze trained on that archway for movement. He waited.

  “I’m not going to wait around for SWAT to get here. I just want my fucking sons. Brad was always an idiot, but that’s his mother’s fault. She let him be friends with that dipshit Johnny. I warned my ex that kid was fucked in the head. He had a hard-on for lifers in prison, thinking they were cool.” The male thumped something hard on wood. “Telling my boy they get fan mail and lots of chicks wanting to marry them.”

  Using the leg still on the ground, Lash slid along the thick wood, inching down. He balanced with his toes, keeping most of his weight off the steps. It was slow going but he didn’t make a sound.

  “Brad needs treatment for being stupid. Not prison time. Darren understood that. We just wanted to find Brad and take him home. Is