Leaf, Erin M. - Tango Trio [Dream Marked 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

Jared closed his eyes, reliving the attack on the restaurant for a split second. All those innocent people hurt because of this. Tessa sent a soothing mental touch his way, and he forced himself to speak. “This means that the military is buying ‘Path on the black market. Aside from the questionable ethics of them dosing soldiers without their knowledge”—Jared broke off, thinking—“the soldiers don’t know, right? Please tell me they don’t know, Charlie.”

“They don’t know. I know they don’t know because they’re good kids. And after I took the big dose, I could read their minds. They have no idea,” Charlie assured him.

Jared took a deep breath, relieved at least a little bit. “Okay, aside from dosing soldiers without their knowledge, the military is funding the kidnapping and assault of innocent people because that’s how they get the blood to manufacture the drug. They’re encouraging this. And how much ‘Path do they need to dose those kids? Probably a lot.”

“Yeah. As far as I can tell, it’s been going on almost a year. That’s a lot of ‘Path,” Charlie agreed, his voice weary. “I suspect Johnson and Brown are in contact, although how Brown is still getting her hands on enough blood to make this amount of ‘Path is beyond me. Didn’t Duncan Green and his bond-mates stop her last year? The timing isn’t coincidental. She must’ve run straight to Johnson and gotten his help after that because the dosing didn’t stop, even after the news broke about the kidnappings.”

Jared resumed pacing. “That’s sick.” He could feel Tessa’s disgust in the back of his mind. He swallowed, trying to get rid of the nasty lump in his throat. The woman that had started all this was Tessa’s
mother
. He didn’t know whether to be grateful or horrified. Without her, he wouldn’t have Tessa and Parker as his bond-mates, but all those innocent people— Jared gagged, trying not to throw up. Parker sent him a quick burst of soothing energy. Jared accepted the help gratefully, using it to calm himself down a little, but it didn’t help as much as he’d hoped. His claws unsheathed with Charlie’s next words.

“Yeah. That’s why I called you. You have to stop this.”

Jared spun around. “Me? How the hell can I stop it?”

Charlie slumped down into the couch even more, as though the last bit of his energy had left him with the last of his explanation. “I don’t know. I just know that it has to be stopped, and I can’t do it.”

Jared stared at his friend. He wanted to help Charlie
live
. He didn’t want to watch his friend die and then run around trying to stop an enormous drug conspiracy. Unfortunately, he knew in his heart that he was too late. He could smell his friend’s death. Charlie had only held on this long through sheer strength of will. “Charlie—” Jared began, and then some indefinable something told him to drop to the floor. He felt Tessa’s sudden surge of fear and Parker’s mental shout and rolled himself under the metal coffee table just in time to protect himself from the shots that hit his friend.

“Charlie! No,” Jared whispered as he watched his friend’s eyes go vacant. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
What just happened?
His hands ached, though his claws were already out, punching through the thin rug into the wooden floor. His head hurt. His back felt like it was on fire. Had he been shot? Tessa screamed his name, her mental voice shrill, and then everything faded to a dull roar. His body slumped to the floor.

Chapter 11

Parker was on the floor of his trailer. Thank God he’d remembered to lock the fucking door when he first came in because now his claws were out, and he was afraid Jared was dead. He felt Tessa screaming in his head, but he couldn’t move. What the hell happened? He ran through the last few minutes in his head—Jared’s friend Charlie was dead, the blood on his chest so bright the holes looked like flowers.
Jesus
. He’d felt Jared’s grief and rage like they were his own, his heart pounding so hard his ribs ached. The next thing he knew, he was down on the floor. He tried to connect with Jared again. No go.
Fuck
. He tried again to move and was able to lift his head this time. Everything looked different. He
felt
different. His eyes hurt. Everything was too bright— Parker blinked until his pupils adjusted, and he realized that not only was his eyesight sharper, his sense of smell was incredible.
He scented coffee, pencil shavings, even the fucking electrician’s disgusting cologne. Arnold hadn’t been in the trailer with his nose-killing perfume since last Friday. What just happened? He tried to stand up and almost fell on his face. When he looked down, his paws were digging into the linoleum floor, the sharp claws scoring long grooves in the flooring.

What the fuck?
He tried to speak, but instead of words, a long, low growl came out of his mouth. Abruptly he slumped down. No way. He lifted his paw again, flexing his claws. In, out. In, out. He let it drop back to the floor. He was tempted to think he might be tripping, except he hadn’t taken any illegal drugs since high school. He flicked his claws again, watching as they easily scored the linoleum floor.
Shit
. He had to believe what his senses were telling him. He was a cat. He laughed at the absurdity of it, but the sound came out as a soft whine. Ugh.
A really fucking big cat
, he thought as his tail knocked over the folding chair he used at his desk.
Shit
. His clothes were in ragged pieces around him.

Tessa?
He reached out to his bond-mate. She responded immediately.

Parker! Oh my God, I just shape-shifted into a mountain lion!
Her mind voice was frantic, disbelieving.
How is this possible? My clothes are wrecked!

Me, too, darling. Me, too
, he sent to her.
What do you look like? My paws are huge.

I’m looking in the mirror in my bedroom
, she replied. Parker received an image from her—a lithe, nearly white puma stood in front of the floor-length mirror she had bolted to the back of her bedroom closet. Her frilly pink bedspread looked absurd in contrast to the lethal creature standing in front of it. It made him feel a little better. If Tessa looked that awesome, what did he look like? Bigger, probably. He looked down at his paws again. Definitely bigger.

Holy shit, you’re beautiful
, Parker sent. He felt her preen inside for a moment, and then her worry came back.

Can you sense Jared?

We were connected with him when all hell broke loose, but I think the distance makes it harder. Let’s try again now.
He felt her agreement, and they both concentrated. Almost immediately they realized Jared was still under the coffee table at his friend’s house, but it wasn’t the Jared they knew. Instead, their lover was a jaguar, black and sleek and really fucking pissed. Jared was too enraged at the moment to understand that Parker and Tessa were trying to reach him.

Oh my God
, Tessa sent, awe in her mind voice.
He’s gonna rip those people to shreds.
Parker agreed with her. Through Jared, he watched three men dressed all in black, similar to the ‘Path addicts who’d attacked them at the restaurant, walk into the cabin. One of them gestured to the other, obviously telling him something. Then he walked over to the back door near the fireplace. He opened it, and four more men piled into the room. None of them noticed Jared under the coffee table.

“Griffith, where the fuck is Moyston’s friend?” the man asked one of the newcomers.

The only one dressed in military fatigues responded. “I have no idea. I watched him pull up and enter the house, but he didn’t leave. He must be hiding somewhere.”

Holy shit, that’s Charlie’s aide
, Tessa sent to Parker.
Jared remembers the name.

Charlie was right not to trust them
, Parker thought. He waited, wondering what Jared was going to do. Then he heard men outside his trailer. One of them tried the door.
Shit
. How the hell was he going to get out of there?

Don’t worry about that now
, Tessa sent.
Look
.

Parker turned his attention back to Jared. Thankfully, Jared’s anger didn’t prevent them from seeing through his eyes. Obviously, the bond was stronger in this form. He settled down, trying not to make a sound. He hoped the workers outside would think the trailer was empty. Last thing he needed was for them to hear growling. He watched as the intruders ransacked Charlie’s living room, coming closer and closer to the coffee table. He felt Jared dig his claws into the floor in preparation. When the coffee table was shoved away, Jared sprang for the nearest man, slashing at his throat. The man went down, gurgling, but Jared was already ripping up the next one. Shots rang out, and Tessa flinched in the back of Parker’s head, but neither of them sensed pain in their bond-mate.

Jared! Get out of there
, Tessa tried screaming at him. Parker approved. No way was Jared going to get out of there uninjured against those weapons. Jared paused, and for a split second, Parker thought he heard her, and then Jared’s gaze fell on Griffith, Charlie’s aide.

Damnit! Jared, no, get out of there!
Parker yelled, but Jared ignored him, growling as he stalked forward. Parker felt an answering growl fighting its way out of his throat. He forced it down. The aide just stared at Jared, frozen.

Probably has no idea what’s going on,
Tessa mused, a hint of satisfaction in her mind voice. Jared hissed at the man, and Griffith lost control of his bowels. Parker winced.

He fucking deserves it. Traitor.
Tessa’s mind voice was scornful.

Yeah
, Parker responded as Jared leaped, his mouth going straight for the man’s jugular. It was over so fast Parker could barely follow it, even though he was inside Jared’s head.
Get out of there, Jared
, he sent, hoping to get through.
There’s too many for you to fight them all
. Parker sensed a faint acknowledgement, and then Jared wheeled around and leaped out the back door, barely avoiding the bullets raining down around him. He dashed into the woods behind Charlie’s house, and Parker relaxed as he sensed the calm weight of the forest swallowing up his bond-mate.
Now I’ve got to figure out how I’m going to get out of here.

We’re going after him, right?
Tessa asked, anxious.

Of course. But I have to get out of this trailer first. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I seem to be missing my thumbs
, Parker thought to her.
And I locked the door so no one would bother me.

Oh. Shit
, Tessa sent.

Yeah. Precisely
. Parker wondered if he could just shove his way through the door. His cat form was huge, and the trailer was flimsy, especially the door. He eyed the thin metal, gauging just how much force it would take to break it down. Thank God he didn’t keep anything valuable in here. He hated to destroy company property, but he really had no choice. He had no idea how to change back into his human body. He looked at the remains of his clothes strewn about the trailer. He wondered what the people on-site were going to think when they saw the mess then shrugged internally. Nothing he could do about it.

Okay, I think I can just force the door
, he sent to Tessa.
Can you get out and meet me in the woods?
He pawed at the thin metal, disgusted when it didn’t budge. He lifted himself up to peer through the small window. No one was directly around the trailer, but like usual, the construction site was crawling with workers. He looked at the river behind the old steel mill. He could probably hide along the bank if he kept to the shadows cast by the huge steel stacks. Once past that, he’d have to risk city streets to get to the woods on the far side of town. This wasn’t going to be easy.

She sent an affirmative along with a picture of her unlocked screen door.

All right. Here goes nothing.
He stepped back and then ran at the door, ducking his head down and angling slightly to the side to let his right shoulder take the brunt of his attack. The door ripped off the frame like foil, and he almost fell on his head.
Holy fucking shit!
This body was a lot stronger than he expected. He looked around quickly but neither scented nor saw anyone close. Immediately he
loped
to the steel stacks and their comforting shadows.

* * * *

Tessa let the scent of the woods wash over her as she ran. Everything was more intense in this form, sharper somehow. She catalogued her surroundings with her new senses—the way the leaves fluttered on the trees, the rich loam of the forest floor, the fresh smell of the brook she leaped over effortlessly. When she first left her house, she’d worried about finding Parker, but no longer. The distance that seemed so far in her human body was nothing in this one, and Parker’s mind was open to hers. She knew exactly where he was.

I’m almost to the top of the mountain
, she sent to him, slowing down and sniffing the game trail she followed. Two deer passed this way at dawn, a mother and a fawn. Squirrels. A groundhog. She turned her head, scenting the air. Three college students played Frisbee half a mile downwind.

I sense you. Stay put. I’m almost there
, Parker thought to her.

Tessa stepped off the trail and melted into the shadows. It was early afternoon and sunny, but the light didn’t quite penetrate into the dense undergrowth of the trees. She raised her head and scented the air again, not surprised when Parker’s sandalwood essence floated to her on the breeze. She sensed him moving carefully up his side of the mountain.
I can smell you.