by Cat Miller
The men reached the bottom of the stairs and Tessa took aim. Without warning she put a bullet through the thigh of the man that was carrying JR. The man fell to his knees while the cacophony of gunfire echoed off the walls and ceiling. She only wanted to disable the men, not kill them, but a leg shot was too dangerous to take on the man holding Griffin by the shoulders. With Griffin’s body hanging between the two men trying to balance the weight of his long body, she risked hitting him if the bullet when straight through the bad guy’s leg. So she raised her aim and hit the guy in the shoulder, causing him to drop Griffin to the floor. The guy at Griffin’s feet released him and ducked into the hall at the right of the entryway. Tessa knew he would get away so she didn’t give chase.
Right on cue the lights blinked on in the entryway and there she stood when Sarah came to the landing at the top of the stairs. Tessa had a gun in one hand and a syringe in the other. Two of the house guards were bleeding from wounds she had inflicted and Griffin and JR were both out cold. Shit. Tessa had to admit it had to look pretty bad from Sarah’s point of view.
“You bitch! What have you done?” Sarah screeched at her.
Three things happened simultaneously in the next few seconds. Tessa had to get to JR, so she ran for him. Guards began to pour in from a hallway that led back into the center of the house and Reilly busted through the front door. Right on time. Tessa was still running and Sarah was screaming that Tessa had killed Griffin and JR. Tessa leapt the distance between her and JR to jab the needle into his leg. He didn’t move but she could her him wheezing when the guards tackled her to the ground.
“She stabbed my baby! Oh God, save my baby! Did you see her stab my baby? There’s a needle hanging out of his leg! Oh God! There’s a needle hanging out of his leg! Doc, help my baby!” Sarah was wailing but she didn’t move to descend the stairs.
The men she had shot were members of the warrior class on duty at the Vaughn estate. So when they agreed with Sarah and stated they were shot in an effort to save the Vaughn men, they were believed.
Reilly was struggling against several warriors that had been restraining him until Sarah ordered him to help the boy. Tessa was being roughly held to the ground with her arms behind her back in an awkward position and what she believed to be a boot on the back of her neck when Reilly knelt in front of her to reach JR. He pulled the needle from the boy’sleg and rolled him over to get a look at his face. The boy’s eyes were swollen nearly shut and his lips were twice their normal size. A shuttering hissing sound came from his throat. Tessa tried to speak with what little air she had in her lungs due to the pressure being applied to her back.
“Allergic. He’s allergic,” she whimpered. Reilly looked down at the needle.
“It’s an epi-pen. I think Tessa was trying to save your son’s life, Sarah. His airway is still closed. I need a knife. I’ll have to perform an emergency tracheotomy to reestablish an airway.” The guards all pulled their knives.
Sarah flew down the stairs, “Why? What’s wrong? Is he still breathing?”
“Reilly! Bag! Black bag!” Tessa got out just before he cut the boys throat open. Reilly scanned the hall and found the bag. When he came back the light in his eyes was breathtaking.
“Tessa, you are a genius and a savior,”Reilly praised.
Tessa had taken the time to grab an extra epi-pen and the smallest intubation kit she could find in the clinic supply closet. Reilly began the work of feeding the tube gently down JR’s throat after tilting his head all the way back to open the airway as much as possible. Reilly had the tubes inserted and the bag attached faster than Tessa would have thought possible. He squeezed the bag at regular intervals to provide the much needed oxygen to JR’s young body. Sarah knelt by his side weeping over her son.
She relaxed against the floor and let the rest of the evening play itself out. Tessa had done what she had come to do. Even if the men had gotten away with the abduction, JR wouldn’t have made it past the gates. The boy was allergic to something in the drug he had been injected with. Anaphylactic shock had a tight grip on him by the time they made it the bottom of the stairs.
“She shot me when I caught her with the boy. She’s no savior. She’s a human piece of trash out to kidnap another one of our children,” the guy with the hole in his thigh shouted. The other guy had passed out without putting in his two cents.
“I want her arrested. Take her strait to the Council chamber. I want this bitch executed by sunrise. Call the available Council members now,” Sarah hissed at the warrior that seemed to be in charge.
Reilly’s back stiffened, “Sarah, you have no authority to make such demands and you know it.” He turned to the warrior who was in charge.
“How much sense does it make that she shot one man in the back of the leg and the other in the back of his shoulder if they were coming at her? Trying to capture her would be very difficult while running away.” This seemed to give the warrior just enough plausible doubt to make him pause.
“We will detain her at the Enclave until Mr. Vaughn is able to shed further light on this mess. I have a feeling his statement is going to make all the difference.” The warrior commanded that she be loaded in a van and cuffed to the floor. Reilly was still working on JR but shouted to her.
“You did good, honey.” That was all there was time for before she was hauled bodily out of the wide red double doors and stuffed into the back of a van. To her surprise, Brandi climbed in after her.
“What are you doing?” Tessa asked. “You should be with your family.”
“You are my family. You are my sister’s mother. I’m going to stay with you as long as I can. JR is in Doc’s capable hands and my dad will be fine when he wakes up. That could take anywhere from hours to days depending on the dose he received. You, on the other hand are in the custody of people who are unsure of your guilt and some who hold a grudge against your daughter. I’m just going to ride along and keep an eye on things.”
****
“No way, man. No way in hell are we getting in there,” Nate said from behind Derek.
He had been losing his mind since the news came into The Nest the night before. A three man team had been sent to apprehend the youngest of the House of Vaughn. The intention had been to trade the kid for Danielle. Somehow these idiots had bungled the job by trying to walk out with Griffin Vaughn as well. Only one of the warrior traitors had returned from the mission and he hadn’t lived long after he gave the Master his report of the events that had led to the capture of two other men. The Master had executed him painfully and publicly for deviating from the mission plan given to him.
Derek knew that Brandi had been home at the time of the debacle because he had followed her from a martial arts studio she had been attending regularly until she disappeared up the driveway to her family’s palatial home. According to the rogue warrior, several shots had been fired. Other sources at the Enclave reported that six people were transported to the Enclave. Two of the males were identified as Griffin and Griffin Vaughn Jr. aka JR. The two other males were the injured rogue warriors and two females were identified as Brandi Vaughn and another unknown human woman. Brandi had returned home but that didn’t mean shit. They had operated on her in the damn kitchen and toted her off to her bed once before. They could have simply taken her home to die. Derek needed to see with own eyes that she was in one piece.
“No way man,” Nate repeated. “They have this joint locked down. I’ve seen at least one man on the roof and several others circling the house.”
“You don’t have to go, Nate. I’m going in with or without you.”
Derek checked his weapon and tucked a shot of Hypno in his belt, just in case. He would always disable a man before he killed him if given the choice. As if on cue, the man on watch at the rear entrance, used for deliveries and as an employee entrance, left his post to take a little stroll. Derek left the tree line he and Nate had been hiding in without warning and strode across the lawn like he belonged there. Nate wa
s left to catch up.
“You could have told me one of our guys was letting us in,” Nate hissed when they made it inside undetected.
“It was too much fun watching you sweat,” Derek whispered back.
The two men moved quietly through the house, unhampered by anyone. The house was silent. Derek began to wonder if the reports from his contacts had been incorrect. Maybe Brandi was still at the Enclave. Maybe she had been injured. Getting into the Enclave to check on her would be much more difficult than a trip to the Vaughn Estate.
He reach for the door knob he was told led to Brandi’s bedroom and was surprised when Nate slammed into his back and the door opened, allowing him to fall face first on the floor with Nate on his back.
“If either one of you move, I will blow a hole through your chest. No heart, no life, boys. Do you understand?” A husky female voice calmly asked from the doorway.
They both nodded understanding. She collected their guns. “You got your gun ready, B? Don’t hesitate to shoot his ass. He came into your room with a gun.”
B? Her room?
“Sparky, it’s me. This is my friend, Nate. Remember I told you about him?” Derek needed to look up. He needed to see her face but wouldn’t move until he was sure Brandi felt safe.
“You told her about me? Are you trying to get me killed? Shit, Derek!” Nate complained.
“Let them up, Karrie.” Brandi backed up slowly while still holding her gun on Derek to turn on the bedside table lamp.
“You can take the one that seems to know you, Sparky, but this bastard has too many hidden weapons for my peace of mind.” Karrie instructed Nate to roll over slowly with his fingers laced behind his head. He did her bidding and she promptly straddled his chest, putting the barrel of her gun directly against his forehead. Brandi rushed to shut the bedroom door.
“Derek?” Nate said.
“Yeah man. I’m sorry about this.”
“I think I’m in love.” Nate smiled up at Karrie, “Do you think this is an odd way to meet your mate? Damn man. This one is really hot. I really think she would kill me, too. Is it sick that that turns me on?”
Karrie tried unsuccessfully not to smile at Nate’s antics. Nate gave her a wide smile in return. “Baby, if you don’t have a man, you do now. And if you do, well, I hope you’re not too attached to the bastard.”
“Please let him up,” Brandi said before turning her attention to Derek.
“Derek, huh? May I point out that you never told me your name? What are you doing here?” Brandi was pacing a hole in the floor. Derek stopped her by wrapping her up in a tight embrace. For the first time since he heard the news about the failed mission, Derek felt as if he could breathe.
“I heard about the attempt on your brother. I knew you had been transported to the Enclave. It scared the shit out of me. I had to see you. I needed to touch you,” he confessed quietly against her ear. Brandi wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to bury his face in her hair.
“God, you smell so damn good, Sparky. I haven’t been able to think of anything but you since that night at Candy’s place,” heconfessed.
“I’m fine. I wasn’t anywhere near the action until it was over,” she soothed while stroking the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I’d like to know how you knew I was at the Enclave though?” she asked.
“Yeah. I’d like to know the answer to that question as well,” Karrie piped in,but Derek gave no response to either woman.
“How did you girls know we were coming?” Nate had to know how these girls had gotten the drop on them.
“I’m going to be staying with Brandi for a while. The security around here sucks. I snuck in myself, just to prove a point to her,” Karrie explained.
“The guards have been doing very regular rounds for the past twelve hours. I knew something was coming when the warriors missed the last round. We just sat back and waited for you to creep into our web.”
A noise from the hall alerted Karrie and Nate. They both started giving hand signals to their friends to communicate an approaching threat. Brandi waved them all into the bathroom, but Derek refused to go. He scooped up his gun and stood behind the door waiting. It was just a warrior resuming his rounds. Derek and Nate hadn’t been there long enough for that to have happened unless his contact on the Estate was having trouble. He stood with Brandi at his back and listened to the warrior pass Brandi’s door and continues down the hall without stopping. He would circle back around and then they would have fifteen minutes before the next rounds.
“Let’s get out of here. We have fifteen minutes,” Derek whispered against her ear and hoped she would agree to leave with him. The uniquely warm feminine scent of her crept into his brain, causing his pants to feel way too tight.
To his relief, Brandi nodded and went to free Nate and Karrie from their hiding place in the bathroom, but she stopped and gave him a stern look before opening the door.
“I’m going with you, but I will expect some solid answers to all my questions. If you aren’t willing to talk you should just leave now. Leave now and don’t ever come back. I deserve the same trust I am giving to you.”
She glared at him and dared him to argue with her conditions. Derek knew he could be making the biggest mistake of his life, but he had to take the chance. He needed just a little more time with the woman that haunted all of his waking and sleeping hours. He finally nodded in agreement.
Brandi opened the bathroom door and stood in stunned silence for a moment. Derek leaned around the door see what held her unwavering attention. In the few moments that Derek and Brandi had been listen for danger from the hallway and talking, Nate had talked Karrie straight out of her panties. Only a night light lit the bathroom. The counter was covered with weapons of various types from guns to knives and even what Derek suspected was a garrote. He couldn’t help wondering who that belonged to.
Nate had Karrie nude from the waist down and was pressing her against the opposite wall. Karrie’s long legs were wrapped around Nate’s waist. Her head was thrown back in ecstasy. Nate was whispering soft words of praise against Karrie’s neck while he thrust into her body. Derek thanked God that Nate had managed to keep his pants on, only lowering them enough to work himself free. Derek did not want to have the image of his friend’s bare ass seared into his memory. The couple didn’t seem to notice they had an audience. Brandi quietly shut the door.
“We may have to wait until after the next round passes before we leave.”
A moan of pure pleasure escaped the bathroom, causing Brandi’s cheeks to heat beautifully with color.
“Or maybe the one after that,” Derek chuckled.
NINE
It was a really bad idea and Brandi knew it. She should have called for security the moment the two men came crashing into her bedroom, but she just couldn’t. He, apparently his name was Derek, had spared her life months ago and had saved her from a forced bonding more recently. He had protected her until she was able to protect herself. There was something different about her dark intruder and Brandi needed to get to the bottom of her obsession with him, once and for all.
Derek had become a distracting shadow that cast its shade over everything in her life. She thought about him constantly and worried for his safety. She knew he worked for the Rogue and she needed to know why. How could a man capable of saving lives, a man capable of risking his life to sneak into her family home just to see if she was safe, be capable of doing the things the Rogue would expect of him? And how could she be so attracted to him after what she and her family had suffered at the hands of the Rogue? The fear in her said, yes, he was capable of really bad things. He had helped to kidnap Dani, after all. Brandi stuffed that thought down. Freaking out wouldn’t help her now. If nothing else, she could prove to herself that he was an evil minion of the Rogue and put him out of her mind. She may even be able to gather some valuable information for the Wrath.
They bobbed and weaved through the corridors and the se
rvant stairway of her home and exiting through a rear delivery door. Brandi followed Derek across the wide expanse of moonlit lawn behind the house. He led Brandi to a wooded area of the Vaughn estate where she had spent many long days romping around as a child. It amazed her that Derek knew exactly where he was going, as if he had been there many times before. They entered the woods with Karrie and Derek’s friend, Nate, bringing up the rear. Nate held Karrie’s hand tightly grasped in his own while he practically dragged her behind him. Karrie was whispering something to the mulish, angry man but, he ignored her.
Brandi had the feeling Nate was serious about the mating business he had been spouting back in her room, in spite of his joking demeanor. Nate stopped and whistled like a bird to get Derek’s attention. A few hand signals passed between the men. Karrie watched the exchange and began shaking her head in denial. Brandi had no idea what they were saying but it was obvious Karrie did and she was not in agreement with the plan they were devising. When Nate turned to stride away, dragging Karrie in his wake, she struggled to free herself. Brandi enjoyed watching Karrie’s performance only because she knew Karrie could easily free herself if she really wanted to be free. Karrie was a warrior, trained the same as any other guy at the Enclave, thanks to her father and brothers. After a few staggering steps Nate halted his forward motion to turn and sweep Karrie’s wriggling body up into his arms.