“Got it, Taber.” Callan’s voice was hard, dangerously cold. “O’Brien’s with her; he’s good. I have a pretty good idea where he’ll head, and I’ll contact him when you get airborne.”
“Helicopter’s warming up, Taber,” Sherra reported. “It’s being loaded. Tanner and Cabal are heading out to it now. Everything’s a go.”
Taber’s eyes narrowed as he memorized the faces of the men holding her. A few were citizens of the small county where she had grown up; the other two were strangers. They would all pay.
Roni’s scream echoed around him again, her eyes large, terrorized, her face pale. His fists clenched in fury and only then did he become aware of the low, ominous growls issuing from his throat.
He didn’t speak before leaving the room. He turned on his heel and headed quickly out of the office to the front door of the three-story mansion. Outside, a Jeep awaited him. The young Feline Breed driving it put the gas to the floor as he sped to the landing pad where the helicopter awaited.
“Good luck,” the younger Breed called out as Taber jumped from the Jeep and headed to the waiting aircraft.
He ducked as he ran to the open door of the small, sleek little copter and jumped inside. Fifteen months he had waited, never certain, unwilling to force his life on any woman, but especially one he had tried for so long to protect.
“Ready,” he yelled out as Tanner glanced back from the cockpit.
He pulled the headphones over his head, strapped in and braced himself as they lifted off. Every second it took to get to her now was too long. A smile edged his lips. He had respected her wishes over the months because he was unaware of the instinctive mating process. Now the beast inside was free to claim what was his. She could rage, she could bitch, she could hate him until hell froze over and cracked wide open. But she was his. And soon—very soon—she would find there was no longer a choice…for either of them.
Chapter Four
This wasn’t happening to her. Roni tried to convince herself that the mad dash from town into the mountains rising above it was all a nightmare. She would wake up soon. Of course she would. It was just the stress. It wasn’t every day you learned you had mated with a new species of human that you hadn’t even known existed.
“You doin’ okay?” John glanced at her worriedly from the driver’s seat of the parts truck, his red brows lowered over the light blue of his eyes.
Roni gripped the overhead strap tighter as he swung around another curve. Sure as hell he was going to end up going over one of the treacherous cliffs and kill them both. He drove like a madman. Her life may have deteriorated rapidly, but that didn’t mean she wanted to die any time soon.
“Aren’t you going a little fast?” she asked, striving for calm despite the frantic pace of her heart.
“We’re almost there. I want to make sure we aren’t followed.” He turned quickly up yet another side road, bouncing over a rough gravel path that led through a densely wooded area. “I’m heading for my hunting cabin. Thankfully, it’s up high enough that the cell phones will work and Taber won’t have a problem landing there.”
She blinked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
Taber wouldn’t come for her; he wasn’t going to rescue her. Didn’t they know? Weren’t they aware that he had washed his hands of her months ago?
He sighed roughly. “That was a live feed, Roni. The world knows now, and I’m sure Taber’s on his way. When he gets close enough he’ll call me. Taber knows and the bad guys know. You aren’t safe here anymore.”
She swallowed past the thickness in her throat, fighting the roiling of her stomach. She had seen reports of the “bad guys.” Monsters were more like it. Holding on to her control wasn’t an easy thing to do. God help her, she had seen more than one report on the news regarding the fate of the poor souls the Council had targeted. It was the worst nightmare she could have imagined.
“God,” she whispered bleakly. “I’m sure I’ll wake up soon. But Taber won’t be here, John. He didn’t care when he made that mark and he sure as hell won’t care now.” He had spent a decade pulling her out of one scrape after another. He had reached his limit and now she knew she couldn’t depend on his help to pull her out of this one.
John grunted as he cast her an incredulous look. “You keep dreamin’ that, Roni, and when you see Taber be sure to let him in on that little secret.”
She shook her head and started to pray. She was running seriously low on any other options to pull herself out of this particular problem.
Roni closed her eyes and drew in a deep hard breath as the shrill sound of the cell phone began to ring.
“Yeah?” John barked into the small phone. He was silent for long moments.
“On my way there. What’s your ETA?”
Roni wished she could pinch herself awake. She listened only distantly to the one-sided conversation, trying to avoid the fact that the past was about to bite her in the ass. Just what she needed, something else to disrupt the nice little routine she had established for herself. She might not be happy, but she was content. Content was a good thing.
“Told you so,” he announced softly, his voice triumphant. “Taber will be here in thirty minutes. We should be secure that long.”
Incredulity spread through her. He would be here? After fifteen long torturous months of letting her scrape by on her own, he would be here? That was right friendly of him, she thought, considering it was his fucking fault she was in this mess to begin with.
Roni glanced over as he clipped the cell phone back to his belt. She frowned, watching him intently. She hadn’t known John long, she admitted, but he was suddenly different, harder edged than she had been used to. It reminded her uncomfortably of Taber. That narrow-eyed, dangerous look that assured anyone daring to oppose him they could be in for a world of hurt.
She clenched her teeth, refraining from saying anything in reply. What could she say that wouldn’t be less than complimentary toward Taber? He created this mess, then left her to suffer the consequences. Fixing it would be a damned good thing for him to do.