Havana leapt down, grabbed his head, and sharply twisted it—breaking his neck in one smooth movement. She lowered him to the floor just as Aspen and the others descended the stairs, closing the latch door behind them.
Havana turned to the cells, and her chest squeezed. Three young men. An elderly woman. Four teenage girls. A middle-aged man. And, oh God, a little boy—he couldn’t be any older than eight. Unlike the others, he hadn’t stood or moved to the door of his cell, he sat huddled in the corner.
“Please stay as quiet as you can,” she said to the captives. “My name is Havana Ramos, and these are my pride mates. We’re here to free you. But we have to do it quickly and without drawing attention.”
One of the teenage girls gestured at the dead guard, a glitter of disgust in her eyes. “He said someone will come for us soon to escort us upstairs.”
“Well, my pride mates are currently up there, and they’ll take care of those assholes, so don’t worry about them.” Havana snatched the set of keys from the guard’s pocket and tossed them to Deke, who then began to free the lone shifters.
She’d half-expected to find them in dirty, tatty clothing. But although they looked tired and undernourished, they were all clean and dressed in decent clothing. Probably so that they’d look presentable for their potential buyers.
One of the girls marched to the dead guard and spat on him. Recognizing her from the description Dawn gave her, Havana asked, “Are you Keziah?”
The girl stilled. “Yes.”
“Dawn has been very worried about you. She asked me to do my best to find you.”
Keziah’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I didn’t think anyone would even notice I was gone.”
Havana looked briefly at the guard. “He hurt you?”
She gave a tight nod. “He wasn’t the only one. You’ll kill the others, too? Gideon? Earl?”
Her jaw hard, Havana said, “I can assure you that none of the fuckers on this yacht will survive what my pride mates do to them.”
“Havana,” said Deke. He tipped his chin toward the little boy’s cell. “Need some help there.”
Havana crossed to the cell. The kid still hadn’t moved an inch, and he didn’t look inclined to. Poor thing was terrified. She crouched down and kept her voice low as she said, “You’re safe now.” He didn’t appear convinced of that.
Just then, Aspen came over in her bearcat form. Unsurprisingly, the boy’s eyes lit up just a little at the adorable sight of her.
“Can she go inside to see you?” asked Havana.
He frowned. “It’s not a good place. It’s small and cold.”
“I see. Then maybe you could come over and pet her. She likes that.” Havana tilted her head. “What do you think?”
“It’s okay, Robbie,” said the elderly woman. “These people aren’t here to hurt us.”
“The man said others would come for us, Mary,” Robbie reminded her. “That they’d buy us and take us away.”
Havana shook her head. “We’re not those people.”
“It really is okay, Robbie,” Keziah told him. “They know my friend, Dawn. She asked this lady to find me. Dawn wouldn’t have done that if Havana was bad, would she?”
He chewed on his lower lip for a moment. Then, ever so slowly, he unfurled from his position and exited his cell. He stroked the bearcat. “Can we go now?”
“We certainly can,” Havana replied, standing upright. She looked at the other loners as she said, “Please don’t race ahead of me when we leave the room. Some of my pride mates are on the dock, ready to take down any fleeing bidders. I don’t want them to mistake any of you for one of them.”
“I want to fight,” declared Robbie.
Deke looked down at him. “There’s a very important job that needs to be done. A man’s job. Mary needs someone to stick close to her to stop her from being scared. One of the other men could do it, of course. Up to you.”
Robbie’s chest puffed up a little. “I can do it.”
“I thought so,” said Deke.
Havana ran her gaze along each of the loners. “Stay quiet and follow us, we’ll get you to—” A loud cry came from far above them, and then there was a roar. Shit. “Come on, let’s move.”
Havana stayed close behind Aspen’s bearcat as the animal raced up the stairs. The bearcat pushed open the hatch and stepped out.
Two people in uniform skidded to a halt in front of her, their mouths parted in surprise. Their expressions softened. “Aw,” they said in unison.
The bearcat leaped on one of the men, swiping out with her claws like a damn housecat, and knocking him flat on his back. More uniformed crew members came dashing around the corner just as Havana and the others reached the ground level. For a moment, everyone just stared at each other. Then claws sliced out, upper lips peeled back, and snarls sounded throughout the large space.