Ryland (21 page)

“I’m always on my best game. Damn, I was
born the best. You just leave it to us, we’re going to fucking smoke them cock
suckers.” He leaned back. “We are so ready for this it’ll be like a walk in the
market.”

Eli hoped so. If he didn’t kill the cats,
then they’d be coming for Bronwyn and she was a female, not a lesser one like
Eli was used to seeing. Now she commanded respect from all cats, including the
one in front of him.

They had ridden over to the house when
Eli looked around for the others. They were supposed to be at the meeting place
in five minutes and there wasn’t a single one of them around. He asked
Crawford.

“I told them to be here.” He frowned. “I
think. Been so worked up…Yeah, I told them. Mikey says that they are running a
bit behind on account of they needed to gas up. You suppose he was talking
about the truck or them? I ain’t riding with some of them if they stopped for
chili again. Christ, they can smell a place up.”

Eli walked away. When Crawford called
his name, Eli continued walking. He had to be on the other side of the gates
when they started the attack and if he was a few minutes early, then that would
be great. He could keep away from Crawford and chill out before he went after
her. He reached into his pocket and touched the dart gun.

He was going to drug her, then drag her
to his car on the other side of the compound. Crawford thought he was coming to
help after they were all dead, but he was planning on Crawford and his ambush being
killed. If he survived? Then there was another gun, this one loaded with a full
clip that had his name on it. He was prepared too.

By the time he got to where he’d parked
the car, he was hurting again. He wanted to take another pain killer, but was
afraid of what it would do to his judgment. He had to shoot left handed and he
wasn’t all that proficient at it. He stretched his neck muscles again and heard
them pop in the waning evening. Looking out over the grounds he saw them;
Crawford’s cats were on the move. He leaned back against the car and waited. He
wasn’t in any hurry right now. Everything at the lab was set up as well.

He’d had one of the doctors, one he
could trust, get the cell ready for Bronwyn. He had told him what he’d wanted
and was sure that it was done. Eli wanted nothing to interfere with his work
this time. The cell was perfect.

The walls were poured concrete. They had
held her before, but there had been a window, as well as a door with a window.
He’d had both of them replaced. The window was gone and the door had bars and no
glass. She would be able to be seen at all times and there would be no her
waiting for them to come inside before they knew what she was up to.

She’d killed three men before he’d had
them tell her to stand back so they could enter to get her. That had worked one
time then she would simply wait until they were inside before she attacked.
He’d taken care of that too. The cell was small, much smaller than before.
She’d be lucky if she could sit much less stand in this one.

~~~

“They’re on the south side now. A dozen
about a mile from here and two more a few feet back. The others on the north
are coming in low. All of them have shifted.” She opened her eyes and looked at
all of them. “And they’re higher than kites.”

“Good. It’ll slow them down. Where is
Cunningham? Has he made an appearance yet?” Ryland stood near the crude map
they’d drawn to keep track of everyone. “He’s probably waiting for them to
attack before he comes.”

Bronwyn shook her head and pointed to
the west side. “He’s here. I think he’s high as well, but…nope, pain killers. And
they’re wearing off. I can play with him a little if you want.”

He grinned at her. “Behave. We do this
fair so no one said we had an unfair advantage over them when we kill them.”

“Spoil sport.” She watched the others mill
about the room talking and joking. They were nervous and she knew it. She
thought about how to distract them and smiled.

“Did you guys know that I can tell when
you’re having sex?”

Sandra laughed, but turned it into a
cough when they looked her way.

“Yeah. And I’m telling you guys right
now, you suck at your techniques.”

“Suck? No way. You’re sleeping with the
oldest man in this room and you think we suck?” Keith laughed at he moved
toward her. “Maybe if you had someone younger, with a great deal more stamina,
then you’d see it differently.”

She snorted. “More stamina might just
kill me. Besides, Ryland knows more about wooing a woman than any of you will
ever be able to learn. He’s got moves.” She danced around the room. “That would
kill a woman less than me.”

They all laughed and continued the
joking. Even Ryland got into it with her and the others. Sandra and Sindy
simply laughed at them. When she went to get Sindy to dance with her, someone
put on some music. For twenty minutes they forgot what they were doing and
simply had fun.

“Stop.” She stilled when she felt a
movement from outside. “They’re moving. Remember what I said to each of you.
Listen to me. I won’t let you get hurt and if you can’t hear me—”

“It means the fucking bastard has you and
we’re to come running.” Alistair cuffed her gently on the cheek when she
started to tell him that wasn’t the plan. “We won’t let anything happen to you
either, Bronwyn. We need you too much not to save your ass too.”

They moved out of the house and into the
darkness. She stood in the living room and felt the moment that each of them
were where they needed to be. She looked at Sandra and Sindy, who were going to
be ready with first aid should anyone need them.

Sindy put her arms around her. “You’re
going to beat him.”

Bronwyn nodded.

“If you don’t then I’m going to come out
there and kick your ass.”

“You and what army?” She pulled back and
looked at her friend. “Don’t leave this house, either of you, no matter what
happens beyond these walls. Unless you hear from me or Ryland, you stay in
here. He won’t be able to come in here, I swear it.”

They nodded and Sandra hugged her as
well. “You will come back here, right? You get hurt, I’ve got two gallons of
juice that I squeezed for you this morning. I’m counting on you to see this
through. Ryland needs you.”

“And I need him.” She looked around the
house. “This is the first home I’ve ever been in. The first time in all my life
that I had a mother that cared about me.” Bronwyn left out the back door,
slipping into the darkness as she felt Cunningham leave his car and make his
way to the house. She was going to intercept him and make sure that when this
ended, there would be no more problems with him or his lab. Ryland touched her
mind before she shifted.

“We never did get to play together as
cats. I’m looking forward to it. As soon as this is over, we’ll go on a long
honeymoon somewhere deep in the mountains and come back when it snows. How does
that sound?”

She brushed at the tears.
“Sounds
wonderful. Do you think we could stay until the following snow? I love to run
in it as my tiger. I think that’s why I like the white one so much.”

He was quiet and she knew that he was
trying to say whatever it was he needed to tell her. She shifted into a sleek
black panther and moved along the shadows, thankful for the cloudy night.

“You don’t think you’re coming back, do
you?”

She stilled, wondering how he had
guessed.

“I got news for you, mate, you’d fucking
better. I have plans to have you large with our baby this time next year or I’m
going to kick some serious ass.”

Lifting her head to the air, she
sniffed. He was close, Cunningham was very close. She dropped to the ground and
waited until he walked past, her thinking about Ryland.
“I would like that
too, but you know as well as I do that we’re working against great odds here. I
can keep you all safe, but Cunningham is unpredictable. The cats aren’t. Kill
is the only thing going through their mind at the moment.”

“You come back to me, love. I can’t live
without you.”

She nodded as Cunningham stumbled by
her.

“Bronwyn, did you hear me?”

“Brock just killed the first cat. It’s
begun. Go to them and, if I can, I’ll be there when this is over.”

Chapter 17

Ryland was afraid. Not of the cats that
now moved along the property, but for his mate. She would save them all and not
herself if it came to that. He smiled when he thought of her dancing with Sindy
and the others. And the look on his brothers’ faces when she told them they
sucked. She was going to be a great leader of these men and he intended to make
sure that she was there to do it. He waited while Cunningham moved past him
before he moved.

“What the fuck are you doing?”
He nearly
leaped out of his skin when she whispered through his mind.
“Get back to
where you said you’d be. You and your brother are supposed to be watching the
north area.”

“I’m not leaving you. You can bitch all
you want, but…are you a panther?”
She growled low through their link, and
he grinned.
“That is why I didn’t see you at first. A fucking panther? Next
thing you’ll do is shift into a fucking dog or something.”

“You get back there right now. I have
this.”
She
moved past him and he followed her. When she stopped, so did he. She turned to
look at him, and he sat down.

“I called in some extra help. Max said
that he would help, as will his four brothers and his sister. They think this
is a hoot. Stan from the building is at the house with his pack. They are
looking forward to kicking some pussy; his words not mine. Oh and Sindy said
she wasn’t staying out of this for all the money in the world. She is a
beautiful cat, by the way.”

She moved toward him and he stilled,
waiting for her to swipe at him, but she
only rubbed up against him.

“You’re going to be home tonight if I
have to kick your ass to make it happen.”

She turned abruptly and moved quickly
toward the house. He wanted to ask her what happened, but she was moving so
fast that he had a hard time keeping track of her. As it was, every time he
lost her in the darkness he had to wait for the clouds to disperse over the
moon to see her shiny coat. Finally, he saw where she was headed.

The man stood still as he took aim. Ryland
tried to see who he was aiming at as he didn’t sense any of either the other
animals or his family nearby. But then he saw the cat stalking toward him. He
moved up behind Bronwyn and lay very still.

“You can’t possibly think that I’d let
you be a partner with me after all this?” The large cat snarled at Cunningham. “You
know, I think I can understand you better now than when you were actually
speaking to me. Amazing. You’re by far the stupidest man I know.”

“He’s planning to blame you for his
murder. He has been planning this for a very long time. Crawford is pissed, but
more than anything, he’s confused. He thought that they had become friends.”

Ryland nodded.

“This is going to end badly.”

She shifted before he could think that’s
what she was planning. She told him to stay there in the event she needed him
and moved to stand in front of the cat. She reached out her hand, scratched him
behind the ear, and everyone went still.

“He’s thinking you might be kidding him.
Crawford wants to know why you’re doing this.” Bronwyn looked at the tiger
behind her then at Cunningham. “He wants you to put down the gun before this
gets dirty.”

“It’s ugly, you moron. Before it gets
ugly. You stupid motherfucker, you could fuck up an escape out of a bag with a
torch to help you.”

Ryland moved slowly forward an inch at a
time.

“What the fuck are you doing, Bronwyn?
Get out of the way so I can kill him and get you back to the lab.”

Ryland was ready to attack when he
noticed that two cats, not his family, were moving toward Cunningham. He took
several steps back and lay down. When another set of them moved in from the
rear, Ryland realized something else. The fighting had stopped.

“You should really have taken the time
to get to know the people who work for you. I was just telling Ryland that the
other day. You can’t be too busy to make sure you’re aware of everyone. They
might come in handy some day.” She grinned. “Did you know that there is a bear
family that lives near here, and that—”

“I don’t give a good damned fuck who
lives around here. I’ve had enough of your shit. Get the fuck away from him and
over here where you belong.”

Ryland nearly snarled, but caught
himself. He looked at the movement from his right and saw the big black bear
making his way slowly toward where he was.

“He’s going to stand with you. Don’t let
Max get hurt
,”
Bronwyn said to him.

Ryland looked at the bear as he came toward
him. He had to weigh at least a thousand pounds. Who was going to protect him
from the bear?