Taming Jax (First Wave Book 5) (6 page)

They argued and fought so much; she couldn’t remember ever having an actual conversation with him. About anything. It was a lot more pleasant than she expected it would be and didn’t mind continuing, even though she knew he’d piss her off eventually. He wouldn’t be able to help himself; she thought almost sadly.

Jax was so deep in her own thoughts that she almost ran into him when he stopped and turned to her. She looked up into his swirling eyes as he looked deeply into hers.

“He is a scared little boy who watched his mother die in a horrible way. If he is not encouraged to redirect that anger and fear he holds, into personal strength, he will self-destruct or turn mean. I will not allow that to happen to such a sweet boy.”

“I will make him strong, so he will never fear that he will let someone else down again. So he will never have to watch helplessly while someone he loves dies in his arms again.”

Reven stopped abruptly and turned from Jax’s eyes as if he’d said too much. Jax didn’t miss it though. She also didn’t miss the riot of emotions that was bleeding through his energy.

“Wolfen it is.” Jax said as she ran to catch up to the swiftly moving man.

She ran through what he’d said in her mind until she had it memorized. There was much of this man that she didn’t know, she thought. It was about time she learned. Jax ran through everyone in her mind that she could think of that would give her some files on the man.

After careful thought, she sent a call through the Shengari’ to the one person she felt she could trust the most not to say anything about her request. Jax smiled when the reply came quickly, promising information as soon as they could get it.

They continued in silence, covering several blocks as Reven struggled to think of a way to bring back the easy conversation they had shared before he’d become too serious and ruined it all. He mentally kicked himself several times for saying too much when Jax finally spoke.

“We’re at the end of the search perimeter. We need to head back the other way.”

Reven looked around and realized she was right; they had reached the end of the parameters they had set to search. Even with the silence that had stretched between them the last half hour, it had been the most pleasant time he’d ever spent with her, and he didn’t want it to end. Reven stood for a moment, trying to think of a way to extend their time together when he saw an excuse.

“That was not on the map.” Reven said pointing to the new home development under construction at the end of street.

Jax had also noticed it and was eying the entrance suspiciously. It looked like a new home development that had only been partially completed before it was abandoned.

The brick sign out in front of it was weathered and untended. The letter ‘M’ was missing from the ‘Meadow’ part of the Meadow Hills name, only the outline was now visible. The small planter under the sign had also grown wild, with weeds taking over.

The streetlights in the development weren’t working, and the eerie darkness drew them both closer to the sign and the paved entrance. Jax stopped when she was level with the sign and able to look more closely at the development. Reven came to stand right beside her.  

“I have an odd feeling about this.” Jax whispered cautiously to Reven as, she pulled her gun and moved into the shadows of the sign.

Reven understood what she meant since he also didn’t feel right about this. There was a sense of urgency that he couldn’t seem to shake. He slowly drew his gun and moved into the shadows on the opposite side of the street from Jax.

Jax gave a silent nod to Reven before running silently to the corner of the first house she came to. Staying in the shadows, she waited for Reven to get into position while she listened for any sound or indication that the children were near.

When Reven was in position, Jax moved quickly to the next partially completed house. She turned to watch as Reven moved to his next position when she thought she heard something. She listened for long minutes to hear it again when Reven gave her a mental nudge to move.

Shaking off her unease, Jax moved quickly to the next home and stopped in her tracks when she heard it again.  

“Listen!” She told Reven through the Shengari’ as she stopped her breathing so she could hear better.

Reven’s head jerked up the second he heard the slight cry that barely carried on the night air. Holding his hand up to Jax to stay put, he jogged to the opposite side of the street and a little farther up than her.

Both of them remained still as they listened for the cry again. When it came, Jax looked to Reven, who nodded at her and pointed further down the street from where he had moved.

Jax ran across the street to Reven, and they both walked slowly down the road listening for the cry they had heard to come again. Jax sent a call out to any animals that may be in the small, darkened neighborhood while Reven looked more closely at the homes they were passing, to get a feel for where they were and any limitations they might face if the girls were found here.

This time when the cry came, they were so close they could pinpoint the home it was coming from easily. Using only combat hand signals Reven told Jax that he was heading around back. Jax nodded her head and moved towards the open garage at the front.

She and Reven dove for cover as a beat-up car exploded out of the garage in a squeal of tires and burning rubber. They barely got to their feet in time to see a shock of blonde hair barely peeking over the dashboard. The giggling of a small child drifted back to them as they watched the car skid around a corner before disappearing.

Reven just blinked for a moment before turning to Jax. “Was that…?” Reven asked, not sure what he just saw.

Jax looked up at him, just as stunned. “Yeah, I think we can bet that was the two we’re looking for.”

Reven looked back down the road where the car disappeared. “Sooo, we just got punked by a child and a toddler?” He asked Jax with a grin.

Jax stared at the empty road and nodded her head with an answering smile. “Yup. We just got punked.”

Opening her mind to the Shengari',’ she called to their teams. “Listen up guys, we just had a sighting of the targets. They are driving a beat up, red, late model, four-door sedan. Driver can barely see over the dash and has light blonde hair. Toddler is standing in the back seat, unrestrained, with all of two teeth and two dark curls.”

“They are traveling west of our location. Let’s circle the wagon's guys and see if we can corral them in!” Jax said before grinning at Reven and hitting a full-out run after the swerving car.

They had gone seven blocks and were out of both home developments when Jax stopped abruptly, studying the image in her mind that one of the birds above them was showing her. “Follow me!” Jax yelled to Reven as she cut through a yard and hopped a bike laying on the ground.

Reven shook his head at the excitement he could feel coming off of Jax as he easily kept pace with her. He had no idea where she was taking him, but if there was one thing, he could count on; it was that Jax would find trouble.

He avoided plowing into her by mere centimeters and stumbled as he righted himself. He turned back towards Jax in time to see her draw her weapon and approach a vehicle that was driven halfway into the woods on the side of the road.

Recovering himself quickly, he drew his gun and covered her from the other side of the car, looking inside the empty interior as they passed from the trunk to the hood and back.

“Damn it!” Jax muttered.

Pounding and muffled screams erupted from the trunk of the car causing Jax and Reven to swing towards it, weapons raised.

“I have to pop the trunk from the driver’s seat. You got this?” Jax asked him through their private energy path.

Reven braced himself near the back of the trunk, readying himself to either hide the weapon if it was the children or fire if attacked. Jax leaned in the vehicle and waited for Reven’s nod before popping the trunk.

She hit the button and ran back to Reven in time to see a grown man start to crawl out of the back. Looking around she briefly wondered where the children were, when her attention was drawn back to the man in the trunk.

“Who the hell are you and where are those bitches?” The man asked Reven, barely acknowledging the guns pointed at him.

He was at least six feet tall and looked like he’d been sweating in that trunk for hours. There was something off about the guy that put Jax immediately on guard. Reven must have felt the same way because he continued to hold his weapon on the man.

“I think the better questions are who are you and what have you done with the children?” Reven said through gritted teeth. There was nothing about the man that he trusted. Even the scent of his sweat had the taint of evil to it, and he was pretty certain what they were dealing with.

“Better yet, you sick son of a bitch, how about you tell us what you want with those children?” Reven demanded angrily.

The man eyed Jax with a sneer on his sweat-soaked face, before he turned to Reven. “That’s none of your business. In fact, I suggest you hand me your phone and your weapons now. Before my people get here.”

The human’s casual pose as he leaned up against the trunk didn’t fool Jax. He was nothing more than another weak, small dicked jerk with sub-par intelligence but a lot of arrogance. She’d dealt with that kind more than she’d ever wanted to.

The man had immediately dismissed her as a threat when he’d first glanced at her with a sneer. He would regret that, Jax thought as she broke his nose with the butt of her gun before grabbing him by the hair and leading him a little way into the woods.

“What the fuck! You crazy bitch! Do you have any idea who I am? My people, my God are going to rip you apart…” Jax’s boot to his groin dropped him to the ground gasping for breath and clutching his balls.

“Do you know who the fuck you’re dealing with?” Jax asked as she covered his hands on his balls with one of hers and squeezed as hard as she could until he was writhing in pain.

“If you don’t tell us where the children are, you will lose much more than these…” Jax looked down with a sneer of her own. “These walnuts and golf tee you’re screaming like a girl about.” Jax said before stepping back from the man and making a show of wiping her hand on her pants.

“Fuck you whore! When my people find me, I will show you your place before I kill you! You are beneath the greatness of me and mine, and you better learn to show respect…” This time Jax knocked out a few front teeth, and the man sputtered blood from between his fingers as he covered his mouth.

“Damn, it’s hard to believe the human is so stupid.” Reven said with a grin and shake of his head as he kept an eye out for the kids or passerby as Jax beat the hell out of the fool.

“Fuck you pig! I will enjoy watching you die! My God and my people will destroy everything you love! Everything!” The man screamed at Reven with bloody spittle flying.

“Your God is a made-up delusion by an arrogant man. No true omnipotent God would ever ask for the slaughter of those who didn’t agree or believe. That is the arrogance and vanity of a man, not a God. Even most followers don’t truly believe the twisted words being fed to them; they follow because they are sick bastards and just as twisted, like you.”