Thomas (16 page)

He took a step back, and she staggered
slightly. Her body was on fire. And he was the only way to put it
out. Just as she reached for him, she felt her sister touch her
mind. This time there was desperation in her voice.

He’s back and he’s going
to hurt me again.
Grabbing onto Thomas,
she took them to the restaurant. She didn’t waste any time in
finding the man who had served Timmer, but pushed her way into his
mind to see what he knew. Not a lot but it was something to go on.
As soon as they stepped into the street, Thomas pulled her into the
alley and shifted.

I have his scent,
remember? The day in the field he and I came close enough together
so that I can smell him. I can find him this way.
She nodded and touched his fur.
Christ, do you have any idea how much I want you
to run right now? Let me chase you down, take you to the ground
then fuck you like my cat wants to?

“
I need to find my
sister.” Thomas asked her for the hand she’d touched the man in the
restaurant with. As soon as he licked her, she wanted to beg him to
take her then.

You’re going to be fucked
so hard when we get back to our house. I’m going to tie you to my
bed and eat you from head to toe. Then I’m going to start over
again as my cat.
Her breath caught, she
was so needy.
Follow me. The sooner we get
this over with, the sooner we can go home and play.

~~~

The going was rough. He was going up
what was essentially a rock-covered mountain without much in the
way of purchase for his cat to leap over things. Thomas knew that
finding her sister was going to mean so much more than simply
helping her. It was going to be the beginning. Linyah in his life,
them being there for each other, was going to be the best thing
that ever happened to them. When she told him to stop, he did. His
body, his cat was on high alert. When she pressed her body to the
rocky surface where the scent was, he did the same.

“
Someone is coming. I
think…I don’t know the scents of all your family yet as cats. Can
you reach out and see which one it is before I kick his ass?” He
lifted his nose to the air and nearly laughed when he realized who
it was. Andrew and Rider were coming from the south of them. “There
are more.”

They were all there. Not just his
brothers, but Nic too was moving closer to where they were. He
nearly told him to stop. They were messing with his trail when
Misha held up his hand. No one moved. Nic, a big man, looked back
at his brother as he started to use the hand language that they’d
developed when they had started working together. Each of them
shifted, and Nic nodded before he, too, shifted into a large
leopard. Christ, they were scary and he knew them all.

He heard Linyah say something that
sounded like “show off,” but they were moving around the trail and
toward them now. He watched, and Misha, usually the one in charge,
nodded at Thomas to take direction. He felt his pride in his
brother go off the charts. The man was the best leader he’d ever
known.

His scent is strongest
here, but it’s fading quickly. I don’t know if he went up the hill
or turned south from here.
Andrew took off
straight ahead of them and Phillip to the left.
He’s carrying a large cheese pizza and a salad. I think he’s
taking it to Kendra.

“
He is.” Thomas looked at
Linyah when she spoke to them. “Kendra said she’s in a cave, but
it’s not really dank or dark like she’d thought. There’s power, but
she doesn’t think that Timmer brought it in. Does that
help?”

It does.
Misha nodded to Rider, who went to the right of
them, followed quickly by Nic.
There’s a
silver mine about a mile that way. If he has power, it’s more than
likely there. What else do you have? I’m assuming you’re able to
talk to your sister and she’s helping us find her?

“
Yes. I could always talk
to her or anyone whenever I wanted. It mattered little where they
were, too. She’s hurt but not badly. Pissed off that he’s eating
pizza and he’s feeding her a salad. When this is over, she wants
one that has all meat and a stuffed crust.” Linyah laughed. “She
also wants a glass of soft drink. My sister isn’t really a woman of
the world, I guess you could say.”

Done.
Misha looked up the hill before he said anything else.
I think, for the time being that is, that you
should stay back as much as possible. You’re still weak and could
be—

“
I’m going too.” He looked
at Linyah hard, then at Thomas. “He has no say in this. She’s my
sister and—”

He said that if I stopped
you from going, I’d have to deal with him.
Not true, but Thomas would have fought his brother had he
tried to stop her from helping. He thanked Misha for his
understanding.
Anytime, little
brother.

Darkness was falling fast, and they
couldn’t find Timmer’s scent any longer. As they made their way
across the mountain for what seemed like the millionth time, Thomas
caught something in the air. He lifted his head and nearly cried
out with relief when he smelled fresh urine. Calling the others to
him, Thomas leaned into Linyah when she sat down hard. She was
exhausted and not going to last much longer in her weakened
state.

I can smell him. He’s just
taken a piss
. Thomas looked at Linyah, who
was staring at him glassy eyed. This time he spoke only to
her.
Please let me do this for you. I can
find her and bring her to you as soon as we take care of this.
You’re not well enough to be taking on this man, and it could get
one of the rest of them hurt. Please, let me help you.

I need to be sure she’s
all right. She told me that she loves me, and I have to be sure
it’s not a joke.
He nodded but didn’t stop
rubbing his head on her arm.
I can’t move.
My body is straining now just to keep upright.

Stay here. I’ll bring her
to you, I promise. Even if I have to put her over my back to do
so.
She nodded and he knew how hard that
was for her. Linyah was always strong, but her body had been
through a great deal lately. He hurt for her. When she lay back on
the ground, Thomas licked her face. Linyah was asleep before he
left her.

As they approached the cave, he saw
Nic and the rest of them line up behind him. Even Misha stayed back
so that he was the first to enter. It was something that he did
when someone knew more about a situation than he did. It didn’t
happen often, but Misha knew that to go in unprepared was to get
one or all of them hurt.

Not for the first time, he wondered
why Kendra didn’t save herself and had meant to ask someone about
it. With all their magic, surely they could get out of something as
mundane as being kidnapped. But the moment he saw her, he knew.
Silver affected her kind as it did most paranormals. She was
wrapped up in it like a worm in a cocoon, and she seemed to be in a
great deal of pain and unable to heal from it. Timmer was standing
near an opening in the cave, this one set back far enough that
Thomas had nearly missed him. But when he turned, his body
silhouetted against the fire, Thomas knew that the man was insane.
His eyes looked like those he’d seen on madmen when they’d been
caught in the midst of a horrific crime.

Chapter 9

Kendra looked up from her chains and
nearly wept with joy. They had come for her. She looked at each of
them and was disappointed to not see her sister. But Nic was there
at least. When the big cat in the front nodded at her, she nodded
back and waited. She tried her best not to move, but her body hurt
so badly it just wanted relief. Then Timmer spoke.

“
You think you can take me
on and get her?” Kendra knew that at some point Timmer had gone
over the edge of sanity. He’d been babbling to himself for the last
several hours. And yesterday she’d noticed that he’d been answering
himself as well. She almost felt sorry for him. But not any longer.
She wanted him to pay for all that he’d done. Not just to her but
her family as well.

The big cat only nodded and moved
deeper into the cave. Kendra wondered why they didn’t rush him, but
stopped from asking when her brother touched her mind.

He does not see all of us
yet. If young Thomas can get him to give up without harming him,
we’d rather it happened that way. Thomas believes him to be sick in
the mind.
She wondered again where Linyah
was, and Nic spoke again.
She is weak.
Very much so. Healing nicely now that the young cat has spoken to
her, but not well enough to be here. She has only just lain down. I
don’t think she would have made it had she had to fight with Timmer
for you.

She will be all right
then?
He told her she would be when she
had some proper rest.
She’ll get it even
if I have to tie her down.
Nic
laughed.

She will get it if the
young cat has any say in it. And you, my dear sister, will let him
have his way about this. They are going to work this out and should
be left alone to do so.
Kendra watched
Thomas as he moved around the cave. Her body burned, but she still
watched as the cat moved with Timmer as if they were doing a dance
that only the two of them understood. When Timmer pulled out a gun
and pointed it at her, she watched as Thomas stood in front of her.
He was protecting her with his body.

Kendra, when I tell you
to, I want you to look away.
She nodded
when Thomas spoke to her, then realized he couldn’t see her.
Telling him she would, he thanked her. Kendra wondered what was
going to happen when he told her now and leapt at Timmer. The man
fell back as the cat took him to the ground.

The screams were cut off. The scent of
blood filled her nostrils as she turned away. A shot was fired,
then another, but Kendra didn’t look back. As much as she wanted to
see that Thomas was okay, she didn’t want to see him covered in his
own blood. Nic moved toward her as a man and she sobbed out her
relief. The other cats, Thomas’s family, moved into the cave as
well, each of them shifting to men. And like Nic, they were fully
dressed as they helped unchain her.

Nic lifted her into his arms when she
was freed. He’d turned them so that she couldn’t see what was in
the dark part of the cave, and she was grateful for that. Thomas
asked her if she would mind seeing Linyah before she left, and she
looked at Nic. Her thoughts were that her sister would come back to
their home with her.

“
She’s my mate, Kendra.
And I’ll care for her. But she wants to see you.” Kendra was torn.
She wanted to care for her sister, but knew that she couldn’t.
Nodding once, she was carried out of her prison to a small clearing
not twenty yards from where she’d been held. Her sister was lying
so quietly and still that she was afraid for her.

“
Hi.” Linyah smiled up at
her but made no effort to sit up. That worried Kendra very much,
but she didn’t comment. “You should know that you’re projecting
your fear very loudly. I’m fine. Only exhausted.”

“
You should take better
care of yourself.” Linyah nodded but smiled. “I’m so sorry. For
everything that’s happened between us. I never knew…I had no idea
what to do when you left to hunt. So I did what I do best. Became a
bitch and hurt you. It was never my intention to do more than
protect myself when I was lonely.”

“
It wasn’t just your
fault, you know. I could have been a lot nicer. Or less of a bitch
too. But I’m going to be fine. I need a nap is all.” Linyah closed
her eyes, and Kendra touched her finger to her sister’s forehead.
It cost her a great deal to heal her, but it would be worth it to
argue with her about it. Telling Nic she was ready to go, she moved
to her kingdom and into the waiting arms of her mother. Her dad was
there as well.

After being fed and pampered for an
hour, she found herself in her bed and was just closing her eyes
when Linyah touched her mind again.

I’m feeling a good deal
better if not just a little tired still. But I’m going to see you
tomorrow. We’ll have lunch at the pizza place here in town. Have a
pop and some ice cream if you’re up to it.
Things Kendra had wanted to try.
I’m
going to be fine; there was no reason to heal me.

There was every reason.
You’ll need your strength to play with your mate.
Kendra laughed when Linyah growled.
Go and have fun with your male. You deserve
it.

Kendra closed her eyes. She wasn’t
really that tired, but she knew that tomorrow she needed to look
her best. She was having lunch with someone very dear to her and
she needed to feel good about herself. Kendra rarely felt good
about much when it came to herself. Smiling, she fell into a deep
sleep.

~~~

She watched him pace the room. Linyah
looked around, wondering what was out of place, but as far as she
could see, everything was right where it should have been. When he
stopped moving and looked at her, she wanted to beg him to come to
bed with her.

“
Do you have any idea how
terrified I was when I found out you were hurt?” She wasn’t sure
how to answer him so she didn’t. “And they told me that I wasn’t
allowed to see you. Said that your sister made it so that no one
but her could give permission for me to see you. What’s up with
that? Was she trying to piss me off?”