Bad Cat Baby Blues (Shifter Squad Six 3) (20 page)

Heavy footsteps thudded somewhere above them and the wild-eyed look Ari gave him left Dutch no question. Whatever these fuckers had created was coming for them now and this fight could only go one of two ways—either it died or they did.

With Ari and Roman on his mind, Dutch was going to make it very damn clear that the only way he would see this ending was with the bastard dead at his feet. Whether or not it took him with it scarcely mattered as long as she would be okay, Ro would have at least one parent, and Carter made it out of here in whatever intact form that could be managed.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ariadne

Her ears were flat against her skull as she skulked along the outer perimeter of the room, trying to distinguish where the scientist that Jola had referred to could be. Not only him, but she had yet to see Soyo either, and she would be damned if she’d be leaving this place without getting that wretch of a man.

The footsteps came closer, or they were really less footsteps and more the ceaseless thrumming of thunder, moving in uninhibited. Ari saw the ghostly glow of the lights of the vats, startling her slightly when one went from blue to red and the man inside seemed to take a labored breath, his strong body keeling over in the odd coagulating goo.

Keep your mind clear,
she told herself.

That kiss still lingered in the back of her head, enticing in the way it wanted to distract her. But she had a mission to see through, a job, even if the only thing she dreamed of was a chance to curl up in Dutch’s arms and tell him how fucking sorry she was for everything. She’d have to hope that fate would give her that chance.

Finally, her keen ears picked up another trail of conversation, hushed, hurried. They must have heard Tro’s screaming as well and she’d half-expected to be surrounded by endless armed troops now, but none of that happened. She moved closer to the noise, one ear still listening intently to the threatening approach of the beast, the
puppy
, as it had been so affectionately named. It was unlike any puppy she’d ever seen, though.

“We must move, sir. There is not enough time. The beast will be here and whoever is out there…”

“Shut up,” Soyo’s voice barked, so close she could almost taste his last breath as she imagined the vile man finally dying. “We need the powder extracted. Without it, the rest of the teams will be useless in Delaware.”

“But I can’t do it this fast! We have a small store, we can manage—” the other voice protested, oddly sniveling.

“No, we need as much as we can. Get it, then we get out. I can’t go out there guns blazing. Last thing we need is one of those unstable red fuckers tumbling out of their containments and going fucking berserk on us. Two is enough.”

“Yes, sir,” the other voice answered and Ari could hear tears at the back of his throat.

At that very moment, Ari heard the crash of something big slamming through the front door that they’d glided in from quiet as mice. A chilling roar echoed through the room, a mix of a wolf, a dog, and something so satanic she couldn’t name it. Her coat rose in a long trail from her neck to the tip of her wide tail and her long fangs were bared instinctively, the jaguar reacting immediately.

She turned around, hearing grunts and growls and the distinct shatter of glass. Dutch would be no match for that thing alone. Before she could control herself, knowing well that their first mission was to stop anything harmful from getting out of Haygrove, she was running through the room at top speed, right toward the noise.

When Dutch and his attacker came into view, Ari’s whole body rebelled against throwing herself into that scene. The beast was even larger in person than it had been on the screens, covered in dark, midnight-black hair which was now doused in blood. She had no way of knowing whether it was the blood of her people or someone else.

There were scratches and wounds along its flank and bullet wounds in its chest, but they seemed to barely hinder him at all. Its eyes were entirely red now, not a hint of gold left anymore that Ari had seen when they first emerged, the two deathly brothers of destruction.

Dutch was panting, favoring one side. They’d obviously clashed once already and it was a miracle he was still standing, what with the deep gash in his side. The beast came at Dutch again, not caring for the conventions of battle, stomping right through shards of glass and plastic left behind from a broken vat, its inhabitant now slumped on the ground. The man shook like a fish out of water.

Ari couldn’t stand by, a part of her knowing that if the beast got its jaws on Dutch, he would be dead and there would be nothing she could do about it. So she lunged, forgetting all about personal safety, going tooth for tooth for the man she loved. Her claws gripped into the beast’s back and Ari perched on him, ripping through the powerful muscles there.

It let out a horrified wail and flung itself to the side, attempting to shake Ari off and crashing into another vat as it did so. But she held on. Her teeth thrust into the beast’s shoulder, trying to thrash through to veins she knew to be hidden under the mountains of muscle, while she was holding on for dear life. The body of the beast seemed to be in constant motion and the blood tasted disgusting on Ari’s tongue, ten times worse than the werewolf she had cut down outside.

But then just when its claws managed to grip her by the scruff, Dutch pounced as well. He went for the front and for a terrifying moment, Ari thought the beast had gotten hold of Dutch before Dutch could get a solid grip. Dutch’s destructive jaws tore at the beast’s neck and Ari joined him, two werejaguars putting all their might into mauling the most delicate places they could think of.

It managed to fling Ari off, sending her tumbling into the slick goop, but she scrambled to her feet in time to see the beast take one last labored groan and then fall to its awkwardly bent knees, blood gushing from its neck.

Dutch crawled out from under him, doused in the beast’s crimson blood, but he didn’t stop to admire the outcome. Ari had to work hard to catch up with him as he sped through the room and toward the door she had found. He was tired, though, made evident by the fact that Ari could outrun him. She burst into the room first and before Soyo could do a damn thing about it, she was on him, catching him with his hand already on the door leading out.

He screamed something unintelligible, but Ari didn’t care anymore. Victory thrummed in her veins and she relished the moment she felt his life leaving him under her claws, payment for a horrible life.

She was panting heavily when she released his carcass. Only now did Ari realize that her vision was swimming and her muscles were screaming at her. Something in the beast’s blood was intoxicating in a way, but it also made her weak and disoriented. She managed to find Dutch, who had shifted into his human form and was taping a scared-looking man to a chair, his movements labored as he slung the duct tape around his wrists and ankles.

Ari shifted back, shining green eyes blinking with surprise when she couldn’t stand up straight the moment she took to her human form. She sunk to her knees, meeting Dutch’s gaze as he came over to her on wobbly feet, falling down hard into a seated position as well.

“I know, baby. It’ll be fine. Whatever that was, we’ll be fine,” he said, his words already slurred.

Ari nodded dully, liking the sound of his voice, it being seemingly the only thing that could pierce her haze now.

The last thing she heard before she blacked out, her head hitting Dutch’s chest as he slumped over as well, was him saying “I love you.”
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Dutch

Everything was most certainly not fucking all right.

The moment that Dutch’s consciousness came back to him, he practically flung himself from the cot he’d been placed on, his eyes wild and his hands itching to grab hold of something or someone. He wasn’t sure whether it had been the constant nightmare he’d been seeing in his head for what seemed like an endless length of time or if it was the fact that he couldn’t immediately sense Ari anywhere, but he was off the bed like a bullet and looking to put his fist through the first unsuspecting skull he could.

“He’s up!” Tex’s voice called, the tall werewolf pushing himself off the wall with swift ease opposite of Dutch.

Dutch could see that Tex had been patched up—his shoulder was taped and he was walking with a slight limp—but while his rational mind recognized his friend and squad mate, the darkness that was swirling in him definitely didn’t. Dutch bared his teeth, lunging at him like a man possessed, and Tex’s eyes went cold and golden in a second, the wolf coming close to the surface.

Dutch could almost feel the warmth of Tex’s skin under his outstretched hands when he was tackled from the side, two bodies on top of him, holding him down on the cold, cool white tiles as he thrashed like a madman against their weight.

“Stand the fuck still, Dutch,” Connor growled.

“Spirits above, it’s like he’s been shooting steroids behind our back,” Grim’s voice noted with a grunt as Dutch felt him slamming his elbow into his neck, choking him out.

“Got it!” Grant called, the pinprick of a needle in Dutch’s arm marking the point from which the shadows drifted apart in his head and he could take his first breath that he was actually aware of.

“Come on, big guy. Let’s get up,” Grim said as he and Connor hauled Dutch up and put him down on the edge of the bed.

For a second Dutch thought he was going to throw up as he looked down at his shirtless body, the big bandages looping around his torso, already bleeding through from the violent fighting. He looked up, his eyes muddled with confusion. Grim had a black eye and bandages running up both arms, Grant looked a bit woozy with long gashes down his face, and Connor was being as unflappable as ever, despite the fact his left leg was in a cast.

“What the fuck?” Dutch finally managed, his voice alien to him.

“Okay, I think he’s back. Bring her in?” Connor said, glancing at Grim.

“All right. But if they go off the deep end again, I won’t be happy. Dutch, you see this shit?” Grim asked, pointing at his black eye. “Your girl gave me that before we could get her down. Tough chick. I like her. Well, not currently, but in a general sense,” the werecougar noted with a smirk, heading out the door.

“Anyone wanna tell me what’s going on here?” Dutch asked, his words slurring slightly like they had in the lab where he’d caught the scientist.

“Give us a sec,” Connor said, inclining his head.

Ari was rolled in on a wheelchair, which she looked none too pleased about. As soon as she could, she flung herself off of it and lunged at Dutch, his arms locking around her firmly. He pulled her into his lap and he kissed her like his life depended on it and as far as he was concerned, it might as well have.

It was Grant who finally coughed in an effort to get their attention, leading Dutch to flip him the bird as he kissed Ari once more, his hands slowly rolling over her to make sure she was still in one piece. She seemed mostly unwounded, thank the spirits.

“Okay,” he said, pulling himself away from Ari finally. Her eyes twinkled with glee and dammit if he didn’t want to fuck her right there and then. “Can
someone
explain to me what the hell happened now or do I have to go and get mangled by some super-werewolf again for that to happen?” Dutch asked, sliding Ari down on the cot by his side, suddenly very aware that his injuries were not exactly minor.

“Ah, the prodigal son awakens,” Thatch said as he strolled in, looking no worse for wear, until he turned his back for a moment to take a seat on a nearby cot in the large, grayish-white room, revealing open cuts on his back that were in no state to be bandaged up yet. “Thought you’d come back as one of those things for a moment. And I was not looking forward to that, let me tell you,” Thatch said, gingerly lowering himself into the seat.

Dutch could recognize the beast’s work when he saw it. He had a matching set on his back.

“Grant, come on. Before I get Ari to give you a black eye too, so you and your brother could match,” Dutch said with a growl, though a smile was firmly on his lips.

Ari’s hand was in his and he could see that every single one of his squad mates had come out the battle alive. That was a lot better of an outcome than he could have expected.

“You’ve been out for three days now,” Grant started, causing Dutch to immediately cut him off.

“
Three?!
You have to be kidding me,” he snorted, pulling his hand through his hair and feeling a couple of bumps there that didn’t used to be on his head last time he checked.