Justice

  It was a bad place to be as far as tactical advantages went. Windows were all around them—a huge glass slider and the open archway that led to the living room. There was no cover. Justice was too heavy and too hurt to move. The fifth male would strike and she hoped he’d come from the archway since that’s where she’d heard the house breached.

  Her eyes scanned the room frantically. The second she saw movement she planned to kill the son of a bitch. He wasn’t going to get to Justice.

  “Jessie, get out of here and find somewhere safe that you can see him coming.”

  “Shut up. I’m not leaving you.”

  “Please, Jessie.” His hand rubbed her ankle. “Save yourself. I’m fighting to stay here.”

  Jessie glanced down at her mate’s pale face. His naturally tan skin was whiter than she’d ever seen it. Blood spread on the carpet near his hip and his boxers were soaked. He smiled when their gazes met.

  “You are so beautiful when you are on top of me.” His eyes closed and his smile faded as his head slumped to the side.

  “JUSTICE!” Grief made her scream his name.

  His chest rose and fell, assuring her he hadn’t died but she knew he would soon. Jessie needed to apply pressure to his wound but she’d have to put down the guns to do it, something that would assure both their deaths. She put her bare foot on Justice’s bleeding hip and pressed down with as much weight as she thought would help but wouldn’t worsen the damage.

  “Justice!” A male roared from the living room.

  Jessie trained one of the guns at the archway when she saw movement. A familiar face suddenly entered the room and Jessie barely stopped her finger from pulling the trigger. Tiger stared at her while more males filled the space behind him, nine in all. Reinforcements had arrived.

  “He’s been stabbed.” Jessie’s voice broke. “Four of those assholes are dead but one is missing. Call an ambulance.”

  Tiger’s stunned gaze dropped to Justice on the floor. Glass suddenly exploded from the right and Jessie jerked in that direction. Something large with a black face came crashing through the slider right at her and Justice. Instinct saved her life. She shot with both guns. A heavy body slammed into hers and threw her onto her back, away from Justice.

  Jessie lay there hurting under at least two-hundred-fifty pounds of limp and lifeless Species male. She couldn’t breathe—the air had been knocked from her lungs. Forever seemed to pass but it was really only seconds. Suddenly the body was thrown off her and she gasp in air as her gaze locked with Tiger’s. He bent and offered her a hand.

  “The medics are with me and they’ll do everything to save Justice,” he promised. “Let me help you up.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Justice is going to be fine.” Dr. Treadmont smiled assurances. “He pulled through surgery and we’re using drugs to help his healing accelerate.”

  Jessie closed her eyes and fought tears of relief. “Thank you.” She opened her eyes and gave the doctor a grateful look. “Thank you so much.”

  Tiger cleared his throat and drew her attention. He and about fifty other New Species were crammed inside the medical center reception area with her. Some of them sat in chairs, on the long counter near the front doors and on the floor. She’d taken up residence sitting on a desk she’d pulled next to Justice’s room while he’d undergone surgery.

  “Can we get you showered and changed now?” Tiger inched closer.

  Jessie glanced down, noting she hadn’t removed the vest and her bloodied clothes. She shook her head.

  Tiger frowned deeply and worry narrowed his catlike gaze. “You know Justice would want us looking after you while he can’t. You’re in shock and you’re covered in blood. Please allow us to care for you, Jessie.”

  “I won’t leave him.”

  Dr. Treadmont sighed. “You can shower here inside one of the rooms. I’m sure someone can fetch you clean clothes.”

  Breeze stood from the counter. “I’ll have one of the women do that.” Her gaze met Jessie’s. “Justice will want to see you clean when he wakes.” She smiled faintly to soften her words. “You look scary.”

  Jessie shrugged. “Probably, but I won’t leave Justice.”

  Tiger bit his lip. “Can I have the guns?”

  Jessie tightened her hold on them. “No.”

  “The only New Species allowed access to Medical are those from Justice’s testing facility or those he trusts the most, Jessie. He’s safe. No one here is going to hurt him and none from testing facility five are here.”

  “I trust you because Justice does. I trust Breeze because I know she’s my friend.” Jessie glanced around the room, meeting concerned gazes. “I don’t know who else to trust.” She stared at Tiger. “I’m not leaving him when he is down.”

  Tiger backed up. “Okay, Jessie.”

  Breeze walked closer but paused ten feet back. “How about this plan, Jessie? Tiger and I will sit right there and no one but the doctor and Nurse Paul will go inside the room. We swear we won’t let anyone near him. Will you go down the hall to shower? Will you hand me the guns? You’re in shock. Justice is safe now but we won’t move from his door until you return so you are assured of that.”

  Jessie blinked at tears. “I let all of these people in because you said they’d never want to hurt him and they had a right to be here too since they love him. Would you shoot any of them if they tried to get past you to his door?”

  Long seconds ticked by. Breeze looked stunned.

  “That’s what I thought. I’ll kill anyone who poses a danger to him. I’ll sit right here.”

  Tiger stepped forward again. “I would kill anyone to protect him. Justice is my best friend and a brother to me, Jessie.”

  Jessie hesitated but Justice had told her to trust Tiger. She slowly moved, slid off the desk and stood on shaky legs. “Okay.”

  He held out his hand. It was obvious he wanted the guns.

  “Do you swear?” She hesitated.

  “You have my word, Jessie. No one will get past me. Breeze and I will guard him and I’ll shoot anyone but the doctor and nurse if they try to go to Justice.”

  Jessie slowly placed a gun in Tiger’s waiting hand. “Don’t budge while I’m gone.”

  “The other gun, Jessie.” Tiger opened his other hand.

  She shook her head. “I keep this one.”

  Halfpint stood and crept slowly around the counter. “Jessie? Why don’t you let me help you? I know where a room is close to this one with a shower. I’ll walk you there and Tiny will run to the dorm for clothing. Is that all right?”

  Jessie allowed Halfpint to lead her down an opposite hallway to an empty room. There was a hospital bed inside and a bathroom tucked into a corner. Halfpint followed her into the small room and closed the door behind them.

  Jessie placed the gun on the sink, unfastened her vest, removed the last ammo clip and laid it next to the weapon. Gentle hands helped her strip bare and her friend turned on the shower, adjusting the water. Justice is going to make it. I’m suffering from severe shock and I want to curl into a ball and sob. Exhaustion also gripped her, along with guilt. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t pushed him into publicly claiming me. It’s my fault for not being happy with the nights we spent at my house.

  “Jessie? The water is warm. I’ll stay right here.” Halfpint rubbed her arm. “You look so sad but it’s going to be okay. Justice is a strong male and he’ll survive.”

  She shook her thoughts away to stare at her friend. “Don’t touch the gun. I want to keep it and I don’t want to risk you accidentally firing it, thinking you’re doing me a favor by getting rid of it while I’m in the shower.”

  Halfpint glanced at the sink, then back at Jessie. “I wouldn’t ever. They scare me.”

  Jessie believed her and stepped into the warm spray of water. She looked down to stare at the water that turned red at her feet from the blood coming off her body. She’d killed Species. It was their blood going down the drain,
along with her future happiness. One night had torn her world apart.

  “Jessie? Are you okay? You’re not doing anything.”

  She lifted her head and forced her limbs to move as she accepted the washcloth handed to her. She used lots of soap to scrub her skin, washed her hair and allowed her friend to wash her back where she couldn’t reach.

  “I’m not glad this happened,” the other woman murmured. “But I’m happy I’m here to help you this time. You took care of me when I was rescued. It’s going to be fine, Jessie. You said those words to me and I believed them. You were right. It’s your turn to listen to me say them and believe me. It’s going to be fine.”

  Jessie knew it couldn’t turn out well. Justice had claimed her and some of his people had attempted to kill him. She should have listened to him when he said no one could know about them. She had thought he was being overprotective and paranoid, a mistake on her part, and now Justice lay recovering from surgery. He’d come close to death and the only way to fix the problem would be to leave him. Her heart broke.

  She dried off quickly and someone tapped lightly on the door. Tiny opened it and peeked inside, then entered quickly to close it behind her. She studied Jessie as she held out folded clothing. She glanced at Halfpint.

  “With her large breasts I didn’t think our shirts would fit and I know humans wear bras. We don’t have one to give her but I borrowed a shirt from a male outside who had a spare clean shirt inside his Jeep. It will prevent her free breast movement from showing to keep her modesty. The pants should fit. How are we doing?”

  Halfpint hesitated. “Good. She’s not talking much.”

  Tiny gave Jessie a weak smile. “Everyone is talking about what you did. You saved Justice. They think you are very brave and you should be an experimental prototype female, which is a compliment. Some of our males said you were guarding Justice with two guns aimed at them when they reached the house and that you killed four males. No one is upset over the deaths. Are you afraid of that? We are not mad. We’re grateful.”

  “I killed four Species males. How can you be grateful?”

  “They were wrong to go after you and Justice. Their heads were not right and ones who would turn on their own shouldn’t live. They are not safe to be around for anyone. We are grateful you and Justice live and they didn’t kill you.”

  Jessie needed to sit down, not caring that she only wore a towel. She collapsed on the toilet seat. “Not everyone is going to be grateful. That means it’s going to piss some Species off and they will try to come after Justice again because of me.” Tears slid down her cheeks unheeded. “He told me no one should know about us and that it would be dangerous. I never thought his own people would try to kill him. I’ve caused a civil war.”

  Tiny appeared baffled. “Here are the clothes.” She left.

  “Let’s get you dressed,” Halfpint urged softly. “Come on, Jessie. It is going to be fine. You want to go back to sit with him, right?”

  Jessie put on the pair of borrowed stretch pants and baggy T-shirt that fell to her thighs. She didn’t have a bra or panties but didn’t care. Her reflection mocked her when she faced the mirror. She was paler than usual and her eyes looked wrong—their blue depths were darker than normal and red rimmed from crying. Her hand closed over the gun blindly and she glanced down at the implement of death.

  “I’m ready to go back.”

  “You don’t need the gun, Jessie.”

  “I’m keeping it.” She fisted the spare clip. “This isn’t over.”

  “Okay. Keep it if it makes you feel safe.”

  They walked back to the main room and she aimed right for Tiger. He stood from sitting on the desk so she could take up her position guarding her mate.

  “Jessie? Can I please have the gun?”

  She shook her head. “Not until he’s up and able to defend himself.”

  “It could be days,” he tried to reason. “They’ve given him medication to help him heal but it still takes time. It was a bad wound.”

  “Then you can have it in a few days.”

  He sighed. “You have to sleep sometime. You might shoot yourself or someone else by accident.”

  Jessie held his gaze. “Look up civil war, Tiger.”

  He frowned.

  “It’s something that has happened a lot. Do you want to know the worst part about history? It repeats itself usually. I’m not giving up the gun and I’m not leaving Justice unless I have to use the bathroom. You can guard him then.”

  “I know what a civil war is but it won’t happen with Species. Those five males who attacked were too new to freedom and didn’t understand how things are on the outside. This will never happen again.”

  “What about the others from that testing facility? You don’t know if they’ll be a danger to Justice for sure. You weren’t subjected to the Mercile staff that made them so hateful of anyone not Species and have no idea what went down inside there. They haven’t been freed long enough to know that all humans aren’t like the ones they lived with all of their lives. I’m the enemy to them and they accused Justice of betraying them because he claimed me.”

  The medical center door opened and Jessie tensed. Ellie and her husband Fury came in and approached her.

  “Stop,” Tiger ordered them. “She’s sworn to kill anyone who comes within ten feet of Justice’s door.” Tiger glanced at Jessie. “Can they come to you? Ellie is human and Fury is one of Justice’s most trusted friends too.”

  Ellie paled. “Jessie? It’s okay. We heard what happened. We’d turned the phone off last night and slept late.”

  “I trust you.” She studied Fury. “You too since you’re with her.”

  Ellie’s gaze widened at the sight of the gun in Jessie’s hand. She bit her lip and inched closer. “Are you all right?”

  Jessie shook her head.

  Ellie lifted her hand and held out a travel mug. “I have some coffee. Why don’t you drink it? You look as if you could use something warm.”

  Jessie hesitated but lifted her hand. “Thank you. I’m thirsty.”

  “She wouldn’t take anything to drink or eat from us,” Tiger said softly. “She’s afraid we’ll drug her.”

  Ellie passed the mug over. “They wouldn’t do that to you. We’re all on your side. What happened to you and Justice is horrifying. It was a few crazy males who didn’t realize how stupid they were being. You know how that is. There’s a few of them with every group.”

  “Thanks.” Jessie sipped the coffee. “I know that but I’m not willing to risk Justice’s life. This is my fault and I won’t chance being wrong a second time. He didn’t want anyone to know about us but I thought he was making too big a deal over it.” She fought more tears. “He was right.”

  “No,” Ellie shook her head. “You two love each other and no one gives a damn here that I’m full-on human. No one treats me badly, Jessie. They have accepted me with open arms. It was a few bad apples who created this mess. I’d kill and die to protect Fury. I understand why you’re so scared though and why you have a gun.” Her gaze flickered to it. “Will you please put it down while I talk to you? Just set it next to you? Those things terrify me.”

  Jessie placed it down on the desk next to her thigh. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. Are you hungry? I could go home and fix you breakfast. I could bring you back more coffee.”

  “I would appreciate that but you make it. I should eat to keep up my strength.”

  Ellie nodded. “Okay, Jessie. Drink that and I’ll get you more. I only have the one mug with a lid. What do you want to eat?”

  Jessie drank the rest of the coffee and handed the cup back. “Anything easy. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want…”

  Jessie tried to clear the spots that appeared before her eyes. She swallowed, her lips feeling numb and her tongue heavy. She tried to reach up to feel her mouth but her arms refused to lift. The meaning of her symptoms sank in but it was too late. Her eyes widened with shock as she
stared at Ellie.

  “You drugged me.”

  Ellie stepped back. “I’m sorry but you’re in shock and wouldn’t listen to reason. You and Justice are both safe. Just…”

  Tiger caught Jessie as her body slumped. He grabbed the gun and handed it to Fury. He lifted her into the cradle of his arms, sat on the desk and held her against his chest.

  “Thank you, Ellie. I know it was a lot to ask but I thought if she’d take food or drink from anyone, it would be you because you are human and you love a Species. She knows you can relate to her situation.”

  “I feel like shit,” Ellie admitted. “Did she really kill four of them?”

  Tiger nodded. “The son of a bitch leading them used a knife and stabbed Justice with it. When I came in she stood over Justice to protect him with two guns in her hands. She nearly shot us. The remaining son of a bitch decided to make a last-ditch effort to try to kill her or Justice when he threw himself through the slider door. She reacted before any of us could and sank five bullets into the bastard before he plowed into her. He was dead before he ever knew what hit him.”

  “Jessie is afraid she started a civil war,” Halfpint informed them.

  Ellie spun. “She said that?”

  Tiny bit her lip. “What is it?”

  “Not something that will ever happen here,” Fury growled. “It’s where members of the same group of people turn on each other and fight to the death. It is when one splits into two and fight for dominance.”

  “That will never happen,” Breeze agreed. “We have enough idiots to fight without taking on each other.”

  Laugher sounded around the room. Tiger didn’t laugh.

  “We have secured everyone from testing facility five here and at Reservation,” Tiger growled. “Jessie doesn’t trust them and I have to agree. We can’t be sure of what they had to deal with in Colorado. Some of them might attack again.”

  “Do you want to put her down?” Ellie glanced at Jessie on Tiger’s lap.

  “I will put her in bed with Justice when the doctor says it is fine. He would want her there and I want to keep her close to him.”