by Milly Taiden
“Tony, don’t think that.” Jane reloaded and scowled at him.
He gave her a quick glance before casing the area again. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”
She snorted. “Because you’re my mate, dipshit. And I’ve worked with you for the past ten years.”
Despite the possibility of death, Tony smiled. If he died, it would be with his mate--his accepting mate.
Bullets zinged over their heads, becoming much closer than either cared for. Tony launched a grenade from another pocket, giving them a second to breathe. Both adults’ eyes glanced toward the cub with her hands on Ruveen’s chest. Something small popped up through his blood-soaked shirt and rolled to the floor. The offending bullet.
Drywall debris fluttered overhead. Another small missile meant to kill one of them.
Crawling back, Jane’s feet hit the wall. They were cornered into the far side of the warehouse with no doors or windows. “Tony!” She couldn’t keep the fright from her voice. “I promised her I’d get her home.” She inhaled hard. “I want her out of here safely.”
His gun clicked, out of ammo. He threw it aside and scooted the four of them closer. “I promised to get her out, too.” No questions about who “her” was. “Unless either of you have magical powers you haven’t used yet, we may be proved liars.”
Jane fired off rounds until her clip emptied. One last grenade before the party ended.
Tony cupped Jane’s face in his hands and kissed her. “Baby, we didn’t have long together, but I’ve loved you since my eyes saw your beautiful face that night in the bar. I understand why you hid what you did from me, but it was still a dumb idea.” He kissed her again.
She pulled back from his hold. “I’m sorry. I panicked. And the longer it went on, the harder it was for me to make things right. But know this, my furry mate, I have loved you since that night I first saw you in the bar. Even though I thought I was dying from some human disease.” Both chuckled, remembering the happy moment, trying to ignore what could be their last moment.
Jane felt a tug on her shirt. She turned to see Sari pull two gold pencil-like exdivs from her back pocket. “Where did you get these?” Jane stared at the bombs with disbelief. “Not that I mind, mind you, at the moment.”
Sari gave a slight grin and pointed at Tony. He huffed, a gleam in his eye. “Sure, blame me.”
Jane hit him on the arm. “We’ll talk about this later.” She turned her focus to the objects in her hands.
Tony pursed his lips. “We’re not even mated yet, and I’m in trouble?”
Jane snorted. “When haven’t you been in trouble?” She turned to Sari. “Okay, baby, we need a lot of your help, all right?” Sari left Ruveen’s side; the blood flow had stopped. She settled between Tony and Jane and took their hands.
For a second, Jane felt more peace in her soul than she ever had. She glanced at the young, determined eyes, then into loving, desiring ones. If her plan didn’t work, that would be fine. She’d go with those she loved.
Chips of concrete scraped from the floor by a bullet broke her thoughts. “Sari, quickly. Bring everything in front of us closer to make a barrier. Cram it against us.” Like magic, huge mixers, shovels, bags of gravel, chairs, everything not attached to the floor lunged toward them. Jane’s heart skipped at the feeling she was about to be smashed to death, but items screeched to a stop in front of them.
“Perfect. Tony, throw these as far as you can toward the back wall.” She handed the exdivs to him and he hauled back and flung his arm forward. Sari stared at them intently and they all watched as the bombs soared farther than any person, or shifter, should be able to throw.
Tony took on a smug face. “Damn, I should try out for a professional football team as quarterback.” Jane pushed them all to the floor and caught Sari’s covered giggle. They shared a funny secret, if they survived.
Within a heartbeat, the floor rumbled and they were pushed back and squished against the warehouse’s front corner walls. Heat flashed above them, then warm dirt rained in small clods.
When quiet prevailed, Tony asked, “Is everyone okay?” He and Jane pushed away tin roofing and other debris that covered them to reveal cool night air. Straggling airborne shrapnel crashed around the tree-covered area, some burning.
Voices reached the group. Jane instantly recognized Erica’s panicked tone. “Erica! We’re okay. Over here.” She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face to rid the dust from her breathing air.
Three bodies rushed toward them in the night, backlit by one parking lot security light. The area resembled an apocalyptic scene from a movie. Trent smirked. “So much for not drawing attention from outside or in.”
Ruveen moaned and brought a hand over his injury. “I smell smoke. Please tell me we’re cooking steaks over charcoal.”
Jane cleared a pathway to him. “Veen, you okay? You were shot.” She knelt next to him, helping him sit up.
His eyes unfocused for a second. “Yes, I’m reattaching veins and muscle now. The bullet isn’t there.”
Jane nodded with pride. “I think Sari pulled it out.”
His brow raised. “Pulled it out?”
Jane smiled and glanced at her mate hiking a six-year-old in a piggyback ride. “You’ll be interested in meeting her. She’s like no one I’ve seen at her age.”
Headlights turned onto the rock drive from the road. The SUV stopped and was quiet for a second. Then, “Ramirez, get your butt over here. I leave you for fifteen minutes, and you have to blow-up a mountain.”
TWENTY-ONE
In record time, a group of Department of Defense and FBI helicopters landed, and the area was secured. Seemed the U.S. government had known about the place and had spies within. That would’ve been nice to have known yesterday.
After a short debriefing with the lead agent on site, the bedraggled group finally made their way to the cabin and collapsed onto the front room chairs.
Cyn leaned against Brock and sighed. “I’m going to suggest a vacation next week. And it’ll be on a beach somewhere far away from mountains.”
“No kidding,” Jane added, “I might even sell Mom’s cabin.” She smiled down at Sariana sitting between her and Tony on the sofa.
“Ruveen, what will happen with Liand? Will Jane turn off his memories of the place? I’m assuming you guys have jails, right?” Erica asked.
Tony watched brother and sister glance at each other. Then Jane gave Ruveen a nod. He shifted in his chair. “I’m going to tell you something about the ruling family on our planet that few know. And that’s for the safety of the family members. If the public was aware of…certain things, then our lives would be in constant danger from people like Liand. But you’ve earned that trust from Jane and me.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“The ruling family has been in charge for thousands of years. There are abilities the bloodline possesses that others are unaware of. Most on our planet have some advanced mind development, but nothing compared to the ruling families. Which brings me to Sariana.” He paused and all eyes turned to her.
She pressed into the sofa, trying to hide. Ruveen smiled. “It’s all right, Sariana. I want you to know I’m impressed with how you handled yourself and your ability out there. You’re very strong for someone your age.” She stared wide-eyed at the adult, then began to shake. Jane scooped her into a hug, whispering soft, sweet words into her ear.
Ruveen continued. “Jane, since her parents are deceased—”
“What?” Tony looked between brother and sister. “Deceased? Who will take care of her? You can’t just leave her by herself.”
Ruveen nodded. “No worries, Tony. Our planet has a good system to provide for young ones who have no one to keep them. She will be well cared for.”
Tony’s frown didn’t go away, but he was mollified for the moment. Ruveen looked to Sariana. “Sari, can you look at me a minute? Please?” She slowly turned on Jane’s lap, fingers in her mouth. Ruveen smiled. “Can you lift
that book on the coffee table into the air?” She stared down at it. The cover twitched, raising slightly, then closed. She shook her head. “You can scoot it across the table, right?” The book slid to the other side.
He leaned forward, grabbed a magazine from the table and slid it under his chair, out of sight. “Can you move the magazine out?” The young one stared at the bottom of the chair, then shook her head and buried her face in Jane’s shirt.
“Thank you, little one.” Ruveen laid his hand on the floor and the magazine slid forward. He set it back on the table.
“That’s amazing for her age. I know adults who can’t even do what she does. What do you think?” Jane asked.
Her brother sat back. “I think she’s worth our time. She can’t defy gravity yet, and she can only move what she sees.”
Jane gasped. “That’s why you always had to wear the blindfold, so you couldn’t see to move things.” She rocked the child and kissed her soft pink hair. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Ruveen stretched in his chair, wincing at his wound, eyes on the child. “Did she do anything else out of the ordinary?”
“She was able to open the locked doors. How did she do that without looking at the mechanism?”
Ruveen tapped his chin, contemplating. “It’s entirely possible that if she looked at the inner workings and saw what had to be done in order for the knob to actually turn, then in her mind she could recreate that movement, thus ‘seeing’ it and using that.”
Jane felt the girl nod against her chest. “I think you hit it on the nose, Veen.”
“If she develops to what I think her potential could reach, we may have our first female premier guard.”
Jane gasped and tears filled her eyes. Tony scooted closer. “Jane, love. What’s wrong?”
She wiped at tears and kissed the top of Sari’s head. “My dream growing up was to be the first female to be in the premier guard. All my brothers around me trained every day and always talked about what they’d do if Father were ever in danger.”
Her brother smiled. “I suspected as much. Why didn’t you say anything?”
She blinked repeatedly. “Ha, right. Mom and Dad wanted me to marry and have babies until my uterus fell out. There was no way the ruler’s family would be anything except what they’re expected to be. That’s why I left. I didn’t want to end up like Mom.”
Ruveen frowned. “What do you mean, like Mom?”
Jane handed Sari to Tony then stood. She shuffled to the glass wall and stared toward the east, noticing faint light over the hills. “Just that. I didn’t want to be a baby maker, forever changing diapers and cleaning up baby puke. Mom was chained to the house, never able to go anywhere or do anything for herself. I always wondered if she ever wanted to run away from it all and do something else.”
“But that’s what Mom wanted.” Ruveen shook his head.
Jane spun with anger in her eyes. “How do you know? Did anyone ever ask her?”
Ruveen looked taken aback. “Of course.” Her face froze, mouth open.
“Jane,” her brother went to her and rested his hands on her shoulders, “you’re the second to last child in the family. By the time you were born, life’s routines had been set for a long time. After Dad married Mom, for several years, she worked beside him in the background running everything. They didn’t have me until later when Mom decided she wanted her own family. She wasn’t forced into anything, and Dad never pushed for another child,” a snarky smile graced his face suddenly, “that is until Mom said she wanted another baby, then he pushed—”
“Okay, brother,” Jane raised a hand, “I get the idea. For being so much older, you can easily act like an immature teenager.”
Ruveen chuckled. “Eh, it’s how I stay young at heart. You’re too serious sometimes, Jane. Whenever appropriate, let go and do something silly. You’ll be surprised how freeing it is.”
Grinning, she walked to the sofa and sat on the arm. “So, Mom chose everything she did. She knew what would happen and wanted that life.” She couldn’t believe it. She’d been under the impression her mother had been forced to be a baby-making machine and hadn’t done anything else her entire life. To know otherwise turned her beliefs upside down.
“Yes.” Her brother returned to his chair. “And you’d be interested in knowing that our population has increased exponentially. More and more couples are cutting back on having their own baseball team the past five years. The mindset is changing, which must happen to stay with the times. Which, incidentally, leads me back to our family’s secret.”
Jane gave a short guffaw. “That’s smooth, brother. How’d we get off that subject anyway?”
He winked at her, then turned to her boss. “Brock, the elders in our line have, over time, developed the ability to basically see into the future.”
The group gasped as a whole. “How can that be? I find that impossible to believe.”
Ruveen raised his hands to pacify them. “Let me rephrase. They have developed the mental ability to take events and carry out result after result ad infinitum.”
Trent rubbed his chin. “How about rephrasing one more time.” Erica elbowed him. “What? I’m a male. My thoughts are still back when he talked about making babies and his dad pushing his—”
“Trent,” Brock and Cyn chorused, warnings in their eyes. Yeah, they really were great bosses.
Cyn continued. “Trent, I’ll put it in terms you’ll get. It’s like taking the odds of which of your children will be full wolf, partial wolf, or no wolf. Then taking the odds of which will have psychic abilities like Erica’s, and meshing all those together to get the likely outcomes of what abilities your descendants will possess.”
Ruveen nodded with a grin. “Cynthia, well done. I’m impressed with your ability to simplify the concept. A child’s mentality could grasp that.”
“Hey.” Trent sat up straighter. “I resent that—” Erica kissed him, saving everyone from having to listen to him. He pulled away and smiled. “Works every time.” He stood, mate securely in his arms. “Jane, do you mind if we get lost in a bedroom?” Erica’s face flooded beet red.
Jane shook her head. “Down the hall, first door on the left.”
The honeymooners’ sexual escapades seemed to put an embarrassed quiet over the remaining group.
A sudden yelp from Erica and a wolf’s growl set the group in motion.
“Sorry, everyone. We’re good.” Nyl’s voice echoed down the hall. “Everything is fine. I fell asleep waiting. Sorry, w-wolf.” He came around the corner, pushing a shaky hand through his hair. His eyes glanced toward Cyn then looked to the floor. “Jane, can we finish our conversation outside, now?”
Tony growled and his hand snapped out, grabbing Jane’s wrist. “No. She stays with me.” On his lap, Sari leaned away, startled. His hand smoothed her hair. “Sorry, baby girl. Everything is fine. Go back to sleep.”
Jane gently pulled from Tony’s grasp. “It’ll be just a second, Tony.” She stopped, smiled and spoke again. “Mate. I’ve made a decision he needs to relay.” She kissed him before catching up with Nyl already at the door to the front porch.
TWENTY-TWO
Jane closed the cabin door behind her. She didn’t dread this conversation like the first one. She was confident in her answer and knew her path. After listening to Erica and then her brother about how her mom worked and still had children, and realizing she wasn’t bound to her world’s old ways--that she could do as she wanted, she felt positive she could have the family she and Tony would love.
Granted, she’d have to get into the baby mindset. For so long, she’d brainwashed herself into thinking having a family meant the end of a life she loved. But it really wasn’t that way. She could have everything she wanted. Between her and Tony, they would make it work because she loved him.
There was a reason she was attached to children cases and had immediately taken to Sariana. She loved kids. She shouldn’t deny it any longer. She wanted her own. Not a foot
ball team like her parents, but maybe they’d get lucky and she’d have a solo child to start with instead of a set like everyone in her planet.
The sun still remained behind the mountains, casting soft shadows on far away clouds. The cool air was refreshing after being inside for so long. Nyl led her to the wooden swing in the yard next to the path that led to the ship parked at the bottom of the hill. He motioned for her to sit then sat uncomfortably close. In fact, his leg brushed hers. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pushed her toward him, effectively pinning her arms to her sides.
“Uh, Nyl —”
He looked straight ahead, eyes no longer focused on the ground. He gave Jane’s arm a squeeze. “You know, Jane, a lot has happened in ten years. People come and go. Tragedies and joyous occasions pass and fade over time. But memories stay with you forever. You know that because you’re able to turn them on and off at will.”
She bristled at his connotation. “It’s not like I abuse—”
“I apologize, Jane. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. I know you think of yourself as an honorable person.”
Jane tried to jerk away, but he held her too tightly. “What the hell do you mean by that? I always try to do the right thing.”
He smirked and shook his head. “That’s the problem with our planet. Everyone wants to do the right thing. What do you suppose will happen to Liand now that his plan has been discovered and stopped?”
The question caught her off guard. Actually, Nyl’s entire character change caught her off guard. “Well, I-I don’t know. I’d think my father would forgive him,” after a bit of memory changes, she knew, but couldn’t say, “because Liand’s goal was to protect the planet. His means to an end were skewed, but I think Dad would gladly commission the fighting fleet Liand built, in case we ever need to fight.”
“You think talks between us and the others will go as smoothly as planned?” he asked with enough sarcasm to make her scowl.