by S. E. Smith
*.*.*
Tansy’s skin felt chilled even in the heated interior of the limo. She focused on slowing down her breathing. She palmed several of the small silver balls in her hand. She had five of them. She had appropriated them from the front of Mak’s vest without him knowing earlier in the day and hooked them into her hairband. She had been more than a little impressed with the holes they left back at the farm outside of Moscow and figured they might come in handy. If she couldn’t shoot or stab the sons-of-bitches, she would blow them up. Even if it meant blowing herself up with them. At least the world would be down a handful of assholes. She could only hope the information she had sent to several of the other agents, her handler, and the Director of CPAT was enough to encourage them to go after Avilov.
Tansy turned her head when the limo driver opened the door for Craig to slide out. She hated it when he motioned for her to slide out next. She didn’t like the thought of Drew being at her back. Trying to minimize the amount of time her back would be turned, she slid across the seat while pushing one of the small pins into the ball. She hoped the information she got from RITA was accurate, otherwise she was about to become a bloody blob on the concrete floor.
She hissed when she felt Drew’s hand slid down her ass and between her legs as she reached for the door to help her stand up. She dropped the silver ball into the door grip and moved away from the limo as far as the driver and Craig would let her go. She counted down in her head as she did. She had maybe forty-five seconds to get away from the car before it exploded. When she was down to twenty, she swung around catching Craig in the chest with her knee and pushing him into the driver.
“You bitch!” Craig gasped out as he fell against the man standing next to him.
Tansy didn’t wait to see what happened next. She sprinted for one of the beams supporting the roof of the warehouse. She heard Drew cussing as he struggled to get out of the car. Several other men yelled out as she ran and she heard the sound of gunfire. Since she didn’t feel any striking her, she had to assume Craig still wanted her alive.
She reached out, grabbing the cold steel beam just as the car exploded in a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the building. Palming another explosive, she didn’t bother with setting a timer to it. She threw it in the direction of the men. As soon as she released it she kicked off her sandals and took off running ignoring the frigid concrete beneath her feet. She had to get out of there before she was trapped. She knew Craig would not bother waiting to kill her any longer. The explosion shook the building with such force it knocked her off her feet, throwing her a good three feet before she fell.
Tansy rolled as she hit the hard floor. She looked over her shoulder trying to determine who was where. She could see what was left of the limo lying upside down and burning. The driver was dead, his body twisted in an unnatural angle. She shuddered when she saw Craig roll the body off of his own. He was bleeding in multiple places from what little she could see. His right arm lay limply against his body as he rolled over and slowly got to his feet. His right pant leg was torn and bloody as well. Tansy glanced frantically around looking for Drew. She didn’t see him anywhere. He had either not gotten clear of the limo before it exploded or had been thrown away from it.
All she knew was she had to find cover before they recovered. Rolling over, she stumbled to her feet. There was a set of stairs leading to the upper floor. If nothing else, she could find a place to hold them off. She had three explosive devices, a small nine shot pistol, and one knife. She would just have to make sure every shot and explosion counted. She was almost to the stairwell when she felt the burning heat of the bullet as it struck her in the arm. She cried out as it cut through her.
Forcing herself forward, she fell onto the metal steps, ignoring the way the sharp edges cut into the side of her thigh as she hit it. She pulled the small pistol from left arm which was hanging useless beside her, blooding pouring from the agonizing wound.
“You’re dead, Tansy!” Craig called out hoarsely. “There is no escaping. I have twenty men here. No one can help you.”
“Fuck you, Craig,” Tansy yelled back. “And I think you need to work on your math. You might have had twenty men but not anymore,” Tansy responded moving up a step at a time while keeping her eyes open for anyone coming at her from either above or below.
“Doesn’t matter,” Craig responded wiping the back of his hand across his face and smearing blood from the numerous cuts on it. “I shot you. You won’t last long with being wounded.”
Tansy laughed bitterly. “Like you think I haven’t been shot before? I escaped Avilov and I was shot worse than this!”
Tansy was over half way up the steps now. She refused to think about how cold she was beginning to feel or how tired. She was always tired and cold. A small movement out of the corner of her eye had her rolling over to the wall. She fired, relying on experience and intuition. Both served her well when the body of one of Craig’s men fell over the railing above her to land with a sickening thump on the floor below.
“Another one down,” Tansy muttered through her clenched teeth. “God only knows how many more,” she wearily added under her breath.
She only hoped that if she were going to die to tonight it would be swift. She had no intentions of letting Craig or any of his men get hold of her. Tansy scooted up several more steps. She was almost to the top. There was a thick beam at the top of the stairs and an open door off the end. Pulling out another one of the explosives, she gathered her strength. She would throw it and haul ass up the stairs into the room. She could only hope there was no one else up there.
“You might as well give up, Tansy,” Craig said moving closer. “If you do, I might just kill you quickly.”
“Did anyone ever tell you, you would make a lousy politician?” Tansy called out. “How about I do the world a favor and just kill your ass. I tell you what. I won’t even make false promises! I’ll do it quickly,” she added just as she tossed another precious explosive over the railing.
Tansy pulled herself up and with a burst of adrenaline she ran up the remaining steps, throwing herself through the doorway just as another explosion rocked the warehouse. Tears poured down her cheeks as she landed on her bad arm. It was necessary so she could slide on her back with her gun aimed at any possible targets. The room was blissfully clear.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to enjoy the brief rest her body was screaming for her to take. She rolled over onto her knees cursing the nausea that was threatening to overtake her. She breathed rapidly through her nose and fought to focus. She reached out for Mak, desperate for just a brief touch of his warmth and strength. When all she encountered was a black void it nearly suffocated her in the emptiness she felt all the way to her soul.
Had something happened to him? Had he given up on her? What if he was hurt? Fear unlike anything she had ever known threatened to break the last fragile hold she had on her emotions. A soft sob caught in her throat as she reached out over and over for him only to encounter the same emptiness.
Pushing up to move further into the shadows, she found herself in a small room with no windows. There was only the one door leading in to it. The echo of hushed voices coming up the stairs drew her attention as she moved as far back into the room as she could go. There was nothing to hide behind, nothing to squeeze through. Her luck had run out.
Tansy let her body slide down to the floor, leaving a bloody trail on the wall behind her. She pulled her legs up to her chest in an effort to counteract the tremors shaking her slender form. She reached for the last two explosives, laid her gun on the floor beside her, and waited as the voices came closer.
Chapter 20
Mak moved through the gateway that opened into the still, frigid darkness outside a group of warehouses near a river. They were in an alley between two buildings. A high fence separated the buildings between them and another set that ran down to the waterfront. RITA had explained she was opening the portal far enough away they would
not be seen but close enough for them to get to Tansy’s GPS position.
Mak felt his father touch his arm briefly before he nodded his head toward a dark figure standing across the road at the entrance to the fence. The man was staring intently through the fence at something closer to the water. They watched as the man stamped his feet before the bright glow of a flame light the night briefly. A moment later the scent of an acidic smoke drifted to them. Teriff motioned with his hand he would take care of the man. Mak nodded. Derik moved up silently behind him. He pointed to the back of the alley and made a circling motion with his hand. He would go around and take care of any threats that way. Mak nodded looking up. He would go up and over the fence.
Each man focused on what they needed to do. Mak jumped up silently and gripped a metal bar attached to the side of the building. Once he was sure it could hold his weight, he moved stealthily up the side of the building until he reached a small ledge. Perching on it, he could see the area surrounding the warehouses. He scanned the region for threats. There were four men moving cautiously around the perimeter of the warehouse closest to the water. Each had a weapon in their hand and from the looks of it, they were waiting for something. Mak pulled the GPS tracking device out of the pocket in his pants and looked at it. Tansy’s signal was coming from the same place.
Sliding it back into his pocket, he watched as his father moved in along the building. At first he wasn’t sure what his father was doing. He appeared to be walking as if he had drunk too much. His father stayed in the shadows but made just enough noise that the man at the fence took notice. His father’s voice, muttering in a low tone reached him. A grim smile curved his lips as he realized his father was using a distraction method to pull the man away from his post.
The man at the fence called out to Teriff who ignored him and staggered back until he slid down along the side of the fence still in the shadows. It looked like he was a drunk who had passed out. The man at the fence muttered a curse and tossed his smoking stick to the ground, crushing it under his foot. Mak turned his gaze to the other four men. None of them were paying attention to what was going on by the fence. They were too intent on whatever was happening in the building. Mak jumped down on the other side of the fence landing silently on the balls of his feet, one hand barely touched the concrete before it moved to grasp one of the knives sheathed across his chest. He sprinted along the edge of the warehouse, keeping to the shadows as much as he could.
Behind him, he heard a soft gasp followed by silence and knew his father had dispatched with the man at the gate. The knowledge of years of training was the only indication Mak had that his father was joining him. Mak turned and held up four fingers. He pointed straight ahead and lifted two fingers then pointed around the side of the building where two of the men disappeared and indicated two more. Teriff nodded and took off around the side of the building. Mak was just moving in on his two when the ground shook and the sound of an intense explosion from inside the warehouse sounded.
“Shit!” One of the men said under his breath. “That is the third damn explosion in there. I’m not getting anything but static on my ear piece. Are you getting anything?”
“Shut the fuck up and listen. I heard gunfire too,” the second man bit out. “We’re not getting paid enough to go in and find out what the hell is going on. We were told not to let anyone in or out unless it was cleared. I’m sticking my ass right here where it is safer.”
“Hold up, I’m getting something,” the first guy muttered. “Shit, they need backup. Seems the bitch is setting off some kind of fucking explosives. She’s killed four guys but they say she is hurt.”
The guy turned to look at his partner when he didn’t reply. His eyes opened wide and he fumbled to bring his gun around at the beast coming at him but it was already too late. He could see his own death in the silver flames. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. His hands instinctively went to his throat, his gun clattering uselessly to the ground. He dropped to the ground dead.
“She is not a bitch, she is my mate,” Mak snarled out in rage.
His eyes moved to the warehouse. He could see the glow of flames through the tinted glass. Smoke drifted out from under the door. His eyes followed along the outside wall of the warehouse until he saw a side door. Running over to it, he jerked the door off the frame tossing it behind him. He was in such a rage at the knowledge Tansy was hurt he was beyond thinking rationally. His only thought was to get to her.
Je talli, where are you? Mak fiercely demanded.
Mak… Tansy’s faint tearful voice whispered.
Where are you, je talli? Mak asked as he moved in to the smoked filled space.
His eyes narrowed on the burning remains of a large transport. He could see the remains of at least one man. He smelled the mixture of blood and burnt flesh. He narrowed his eyes as he saw his father coming in from another entrance of the far side of the warehouse. He met his father’s eyes for a moment before they both moved with the speed of their kind. Mak heard a man shouting for some of the men to get up to the upper level. Several groups of men were climbing up the remains of a staircase while others were running to another set of stairs on the far side. He could see three up on the top level already moving slowly toward the end of upper level where a small room opened up. Shouts burst from the men as the ones on the staircase jumped over the side. They did not make it before another explosion destroyed the staircase. Twisted metal hung suspended in the air. Three of the men were thrown a good ten feet by the explosion. Mak took care to make sure they never got up again.
*.*.*
“Tansy,” Craig yelled out from behind a thick metal beam. “Give up. You aren’t going to get out of here alive.”
Craig wiped at the blood and sweat burning his eyes. How the fuck did she have so many explosives on her? He didn’t know where the fuck she had them hidden considering the dress she was wearing. And where the hell was Drew? He saw the asshole running for the door after the explosion. He was going to have his cowardly ass assassinate for running. He wouldn’t hesitate killing either one of them. He should have done it years ago.
“Kill her!” Craig shouted out to the men on the upper level. “Blow her up if you have to but I want to see the remains to know she is really dead.”
Craig watched as eight of the men moved along the narrow catwalk above him. His eyes widened when he saw a dark shadow moving up behind the group. He blinked his eyes again to clear them. What the fuck was that? He raised his good arm and aimed. He fired a shot but the shadow had already moved beyond where he was aiming.
“Behind you!” Craig shouted out before he felt a hand wrap around his throat.
Craig was jerked roughly around. He dropped the gun in his left hand and grasped at the hand with his good hand. Choking, he looked in horror at the dark silver flames blazing in the eyes of the largest man he had ever seen in his life. The dark face and short dark hair were clearly etched in stone.
Teriff held the man responsible for harming his new daughter. He would not kill him. That privilege would go to Mak. Teriff slid a translator up to the man’s ear and inserted it. He wanted this human male to know what the leader of the Prime had to say.
“You have harmed my new daughter. The Right of Justice falls to my son to kill you. You have been sentenced to death,” Teriff said with a grin letting his canines extend so Craig could see just what devil he had woken up. “I look forward to watching him kill you.”
Craig stared in horror at the creature in front of him. “What the fuck are you?” He choked out hoarsely.
“Your judge,” Teriff said with a grin enjoying the stark terror scenting the man.
Teriff squeezed his hand until the man he had pinned against the metal beam went limp. He would make sure this one went back with them. He quickly secured the man to make sure he did not go anywhere. Teriff was finished with human males. From the few he had met they were dangerous creatures that had no appreciation for the male’s right and res
ponsibility to protect the more fragile female. Maybe this was why these human women, who appeared so delicate and fragile, were in fact fierce and strong. All he knew was he would not tolerate any human male besides Angus Bell. He would never let any human male near his family again.
Teriff turned as he heard gunfire from up above. He saw Mak moving through the group with a cold efficiency. Bodies flew over the railing as he quickly dispatched with one after another. Teriff looked around to see if Derik had appeared yet. He knew his younger son was after one of the men who had tried to escape. When he had gone around the side of the warehouse after the other two men Mak had seen there had actually been three men. Though, two of them seemed to be roughing up the other one. He had quickly dispatched with the two men but the third had escaped. Derik was pursuing him and would take care of him.
He watched as the last body fell. His was proud of his son. He was a true warrior. Teriff knew the challenges his son had faced. He knew of the rejection of the females because of his son’s size and strength. He watched the fear in the eyes of the other warriors when he walked by for the same reason. When Tresa insisted he be allowed to travel to the human world he had been resistant. Not because he worried about his son’s safety or even Terra’s. He knew he could protect them both. He worried for his son’s heart. Only his family knew of the warm heart that beat under the intimidating skin of his second son.
Watching the fierce rage in his son’s face as he fought to protect his mate gave Teriff an appreciation for his own mate’s wisdom. She told him that Mak had found his bond mate. Teriff gave thanks to the gods and goddesses who worked in their own ways. He was proud that his second son had found a female fierce enough to match him.
Chapter 21
Mak’s shoulders heaved as he fought to calm the fire burning through him. Bodies littered the upper and lower levels. He had shown no mercy as he cleared a path to his mate. He turned in a tight circle to make sure there was no other threats before he moved to the location the men were so focused on.
