New Species 04 Justice (40 page)

He rushed out of his room, down the hallway and into the living room. The lights

were still on from when he’d brought Jessie home so he dashed into his dark office,

moved to the front window and shifted the curtain slightly to peer outside. An SUV

pulled over and parked down the hill a little, past Tiger’s home, in the empty lot next to Jessie’s old home, and the engine died.

His heart raced. Something was wrong. They hadn’t had the headlights on before

they parked and no interior lights came on when the four doors opened. All the NSO

vehicles had fully working equipment and that included lights. Someone had removed

them to make sure they failed. The five dark figures emerged and left the doors wide

open. The only reason to do that was to avoid noise.

His gaze narrowed, fixed on the five. He realized they wore all black from head to

foot. Their faces were either covered with dark masks or had been painted to disguise

their features. They approached the house next door where Jessie had lived. He studied

them long enough to notice the way they moved and used too-familiar hand signals to

communicate. They were going to divide up and surround something or someone.

Justice fled the office to rush down the hallway to one of the spare bedrooms where

he had a better view after they moved out of sight. He saw one dark figure leap over the

gate that led from the front to the backyard of the cottage next door. It was clear their target had to be Jessie.

Rage flashed through every fiber of his body. He dropped the curtain, backed away

and yanked up the phone on the nightstand. He punched in Tiger’s home number, his

mind plotting what to do. It rang until the machine picked it up. He hung up and dialed

his cell phone. It rang three times.

“It’s four-thirty in the morning,” Tiger growled, a little out of breath. “This better be really good to disturb me when I’m busy.”

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“Five of our males surrounded Jessie’s cottage. They came in stealthily, dressed to

hide their presence, which means they plan to attack,” Justice growled. “Call males you

trust and get to my house. Move. They obviously don’t approve of my choice in mates.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tiger snarled. “I’m not at home. I’m at the women’s dorm. I’ll grab

some of the males still here and we’re coming. Don’t engage them until we arrive.

You’re outnumbered.”

Justice hung up and dialed the gate shack next. It rang six times, no one answered

and he clenched his teeth. Either the officer on duty was in on it or the five males next door had done something to him. He had no immediate backup. Justice ran back

toward his bedroom.

He reached the bed and lunged for Jessie. One of his hands clamped over her

mouth while his other one gripped her hip. He dragged her body from the center of the

bed to the side of it, lifted her off the mattress completely and Jessie gasped against his palm. He leaned down to hiss in her ear before she had time to struggle, “Five Species

are at your house. Be quiet, get dressed and stay at my side. I can see in the dark well

enough to lead you.”

Jessie nodded in understanding. He eased his hand from her mouth, lowered her

until her feet took her weight and snagged her arm. The closet was close. He opened the

door and pulled her inside. The door closed and he flipped on the inner light,

momentarily blinding them both.

Jessie grimly studied him with her beautiful blue eyes and pride surfaced that his

mate seemed so calm. She wasn’t wasting time battering him with questions or reacting

with hysterics to what he’d said. He released her, grabbed a shirt and thrust it at her. He tore open a drawer, got them both boxers and dressed next to her in the tight space.

“You said five?” she whispered as she rolled the waist of her borrowed boxers.

“Yes. Species, and I assume they are male.”

“Shit.”

He couldn’t agree more. He allowed his anger to take control and he knew blood

would be spilled if the males realized she wasn’t home and dared come to his house to

search for her. It would be death for them without question. He’d kill or die to protect

his mate.

He wanted to flee with her but there could be more of them out there waiting,

coming on foot. Inside the house he at least could hold ground until Tiger arrived with

reinforcements. He pushed back shock that his own people had come after his mate. It

was horrifying and something he’d never considered.

Jessie tried to hide her terror as she yanked on the shirt Justice had given her. She

didn’t care if was inside out or on backward. The information he’d shared barely

registered in her sleep-fogged brain but they were in deep shit, he’d said they were

Species and that had to be pretty bad. They wanted her.

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She watched Justice face the back of his closet, grab the hanger bar filled with his

suits and yank the entire thing out. He released it, everything hit the floor and he

pushed on the wall near the top, his fingertips searching for something. There was a

click and it sprang open on one side. He grabbed it and the hidden cabinet door

opened.

Her lips parted but she pressed them together, not saying a word about the two

handguns mounted to the wall and the bags of spare clips next to them. She just

watched as he grabbed a bulletproof vest. He spun, shoving it at her.

“Put it on.”

“You.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do it. We don’t have time to hold a debate, Jessie. I heal and

move faster than you do. My kind will fight another Species hand to hand but you are

human and I’m not sure they’ll give you that respect. They might have guns and shoot

you. Wear the vest.”

He had that determined look that clued her in that arguing with him would be a

waste of time. She accepted the heavy vest, put it on and tried to make the too-large

garment fit. Justice wasn’t strapping on weapons but instead turned, thrusting them at

her. His weapons stash was impressive as she glanced at them.

“Nice. I take it you’re keeping the shotgun?”

He shook his head. “We don’t use weapons on each other, Jessie. We fight with our

bodies. You on the other hand are not Species. You would lose to one of our men if it

came to that. I won’t lose you. You need help surviving if it comes down to it.”

“Do you think they’ll come here?”

“They will figure out where you must be since you are not next door. They must

want you badly to risk so much and I’ll assume they’ll come here next.”

“Shit.” Jessie checked the safeties on the guns, made sure they were off and popped

the clips, seeing they were fully loaded. “I’m so sorry. This is because of me.”

Justice moved lightning fast to grab her chin, forced her head up to meet his gaze,

and softly growled in anger. “You didn’t do this. Mates are precious, to be protected at

all costs and considered Species. Those males are to blame for betraying us.” His hand

dropped away. “I want you to go sit in the tub in the bathroom. There are only two

entries there. Kill anyone who gets past me. It means I’m dead.”

Her mouth dropped open. “They wouldn’t dare hurt you. You’re their leader.”

He grabbed four clips for the handguns and shoved them down the front of her

vest. “I guess they want to fire me. Move, Jessie.” His gaze softened. “Tiger and some

men are on the way. Trust him. He’ll get you to safety and back to your father if

something happens to me.”

“You gave me both guns.” She offered him one, butt first. “Please take one.”

“Species don’t use guns to fight each other but you need them. Don’t fight them

hand to hand. Just pull the trigger before they can attack.”

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Jessie stared into Justice’s dark eyes. “I’m not hiding inside the bathroom while

you’re facing five of them by yourself. I can shoot and I’m staying by your side. These

guns and I can even out the numbers pretty quick.”

He suddenly leaned forward to kiss her lips. “I love you.” His smile died and his

eyes narrowed. “We don’t have time to vote on my plan.”

An alarm screamed throughout the house and Justice cursed. “They have breached

our home. Get inside the bathroom. I can’t concentrate if I don’t know where you are.

Do it or you’ll get us both killed.”

He flipped off the light, grabbed her arm and shoved open the closet door. She was

propelled forward by his strong hold, led into the bedroom where he quickly checked

before he left her there.

Son of a bitch.
He was going to face off against five Species males alone because she had breasts…or it might be because she was human. She couldn’t see him telling any of

the muscular Species females to hide in the bathroom while he fought. They were

kickass and he’d have kept a Species female at his side to help even out the odds.

Jessie resisted the urge to follow him, knew it would distract him since he seemed

certain she needed his protection and hoped that no one would really dare attack

Justice. Species adored him and appreciated all the sacrifices he made. It was

inconceivable that any of them would wish him harm.

She could barely make out the dim interior of the room, seeing more shadows than

anything. Her gaze drifted to the best location to set up an offense—that being the far

corner away from the one window and the open door to the bedroom.

The tub was the exact size and model of the one inside her old home. It was perfect,

would provide cover and she climbed into the big thing, crouching down to make a

smaller target. She shifted the clips inside the large vest so they weren’t digging into her breasts and gripped the guns in both hands. Her gaze darted back and forth from the

window to the door.

The window was big enough for a person to come through and the open doorway

to the bedroom would allow her to keep track of what was going on in the rest of the

house. Of course the screaming alarm grated on her nerves. It was muted somewhat in

the back of the house but she wished for a com link to Justice. It was a mental “to buy in the future” on her list of things to do.

The alarm cut off and only eerie silence remained. She hoped that was a good thing.

Maybe the males had fled when they realized security would hear it and come rushing

to Justice’s aid. They sure came when he roared so sirens would definitely bring them

running.

Time ticked by and not knowing drove her a little insane. She bit her lip, stood and

stepped over the edge of tub. She wanted a view outside, a chance to see if anything

was going on and hesitantly approached the window. She shoved one gun between her

thighs, listened to make sure nothing moved on the other side and felt for the lock. She

pushed it down and slid the glass open along the track, breathing in fresh air. Her hand

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gripped the second gun again, lifted it and felt safe with the weight of both resting

against her palms.

Nothing moved in the dark backyard or near the outline of the pool, where the dim

glow of lights at the bottom of it provided some sight. She backed away. Her gaze

turned to the doorway to make sure nothing crept up on her. She heard a soft thump

and her focus jerked back to the open window in time to spot a large figure rush from

one side of the yard toward her.

Maybe it’s security but what if it’s not?
Fear had her backing away from the window and hurrying back to the tub where she stepped in and crouched. She aimed the guns at

the backyard, held her breath and her heart raced.

A shadow darkened a corner of the window. They sniffed loudly and growled. It

was a soft, vicious noise and assured her it wasn’t anyone happy to catch her scent. A

Species male would smell her since she’d stood there. Her fingers tightened on the

triggers while she waited for him to make a move.

Justice heard the faint sound of a footstep on tile and it gave away the location of

one male. He was near the end of the hallway that led to the bedrooms. The

approaching intruder wore shoes that squeaked, new ones did that sometimes when the

soles weren’t broken in and it clued him to the fact that these males weren’t well

trained. None of his officers would make that mistake. They were too skilled in stealth

to make noise.

He wondered if he’d made a mistake, judging them to be Species, but no humans

could move the way he’d seen the males outside walking. Their grace and fluidness was

too animalistic, whereas human men were stiffer and stepped heavier. It confused him

since all his males had to undergo training yet these weren’t skilled. He leaned against

the bedroom wall next to the open door to the hallway. He didn’t want to go far from

Jessie. The position allowed him to protect the bedroom windows and the entrance

from the hall. He glanced at the bathroom door to be assured she was safe so far.

Another sound caught his ear, one he identified as a window sliding open. He

gritted his teeth after determining it had come from the bathroom where Jessie hid but

gunfire didn’t pierce the quiet house. Jessie would have shot anyone trying to breach

the house through the smaller room. It must have been another window and he’d

misjudged the direction.

He heard another slight sound, wood scraped plaster, and he realized the intruder