Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (36 page)

FIFTEEN

The SUV approached the gatehouse and Brock rolled his window down. “We’re here to see Liand.” The guard pulled a clipboard from the narrow counter and scanned it.

“We don’t have anyone here by that name. Do you—”

Erica pointed to a man walking from the building in the parking area. “That’s him. That’s the man I saw.”

Ruveen rolled his window down and stuck his head out. “Liand! I want to talk to you. Now.”

The man jogged to the chain link gate separating the SUV from the compound. “Good evening, Premier Leader,” Liand smiled full-on, “I’ve been expecting you.”

“Sure you have, asshole. Let us in. I’m taking both females back.”

Liand put his hands on his hips. “Are you now? Do you have the money?” He pulled a phone from his pocket. “Liand here. If I don’t call you in ten minutes, kill both girls.”

Tony tensed. His tiger was not happy. The animal pushed on the skin cage, ready to burst through and peel Liand’s flesh from his body. The gate slid to the side and Brock drove through, parking next a huge blue tarp attached to the side of a white warehouse.

Liand came up the side. “Leave all your guns out here.”

Brock grunted. “Not happening.”

“No,” Ruveen said, “do what he says. We’re not used to weapons on our planet.”

Trent joined in. “On Earth, we are. Brock, you can’t go for this.”

The boss’s jaw clenched as he remained quiet. After a second, he glanced in the rearview mirror at Cyn. She gave a slight nod. Brock turned off the engine. “We don’t need weapons. We each have a reason we’re in FPU. We’re going in. Unarmed. Everyone out.”

Tony burst from the back side door, wrapped a hand around the abductor’s throat and slammed him against the tin wall. “If you’ve hurt her in any way, I’ll slice off your balls with a spoon.”

The man smiled anew. “Quite an ardent one you have here, Ruveen. He can’t be one of yours. You wouldn’t tolerate such recklessness.”

Everyone got out of the SUV. Brock stepped forward. “Tony, let him go. Trust me.”

His tiger wanted to eat this man’s face in one bite. He didn’t move, staring angrily. The man casually looked at his watch. “You’re down to nine minutes, young one.” Inside the building, all six were frisked then followed Liand. The space looked like a huge bomb had gone off. Ground zero with the tarp tied over the side.

They came to an elevator on the far side and piled in. One floor down, they followed Liand through a maze of halls. They slowed at a set of picture windows overlooking an expanse below that resembled an active military base. Marching groups, Humvees, different pieces of equipment. Liand opened a door on the opposite side of the hall and walked in. The group slowly filtered in.

Cyn glanced around in shock. Liand’s office was surprising. It was like walking into a northern Colorado snow lodge. Warm, dark colors; wood beams across the ceiling; large fireplace with roaring fire; plush, oversized furniture. She was glad Brock had read her mind and followed her advice. They really didn’t need the weapons.

Cyn watched Trent take a deep breath, verifying the scents from the cabin matched those here. He gave a quick nod her way. They matched. The scents were the same from Jane’s room through the open window earlier.

Ruveen raised a brow, but remained stoic. “We’re here, unarmed as you said, Liand. Call off your kill decree. Bring both females here and we’ll be gone.”

“My god, Ruveen. You sound like an Earth television police show. You’ve been on this planet too long.”

“Shut it, Liand. Just bring me my sister and the girl.” Everyone remained standing, filling the space. Brock and Cyn studied the area, learning what they could about the owner. Cyn took in the vibes from the man and realized something different. Their host truly believed he was doing the right thing. A chill ran through her. Her experience had trained her that fanatics were the most dangerous of people. He wouldn’t back down to save his own life.

Liand looked hurt. “Aren’t you interested in what’s going on here?”

“We already know. Make the call.” Their stare was a stalemate. With a smile, Liand pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Liand here. Bring the ladies to my office now.”

The room let out a sigh of relief.

“How can you know what we’re doing?” Liand looked like a child who didn’t get what he wanted for Christmas. Ruveen said nothing, but kept his stare.

Liand smiled. “It matters not. Your little band can’t do anything to stop our progress. We’re almost ready.”

“Then why ransom the girl?” Ruveen stood back and crossed his arms.

“Money rules this planet; you can get anything with money. We need a lot of it.”

Trent snapped his head up. “He’s lying. I smell it.” Everyone looked from Trent to Liand.

Liand’s face scrunched, his lips making a white line. “The child is a means to an end.”

Ruveen frowned. “What does that mean?”

Their host’s eyes darted through the room. “Where is the wild one? We came in with six. There are five of you.”

Tony was missing.

* * *

Tony stood in the back of the elevator, staring at the buttons on the keypad. The second button was pushed and they went down, so the underground bunker Jane described was accurate. He also noted there were four floors. He remembered Jane said they were held on the third.

When the doors opened on the second floor, their host led everyone out, but Tony pushed the three button and moved to the other side of the lift so anyone passing via the side hall wouldn’t see him.

The doors closed and he released a strangling breath. He would risk his life to save his mate, even if she wouldn’t accept him.

Lifting his nose to the air, he followed Jane’s scent through a maze of corridors. This place was massive. Using his animal’s innate abilities, he guesstimated to be about one-quarter mile into the mountain from the warehouse. He couldn’t tell how deep, but neither elevator jaunt seemed long.

Tony’s next whiff filled his lungs with his mate’s awesome smell. She was very close, in fact, coming toward him along with two others—one was male. He snapped to a serious face and stiff posture, posing as one of the paramilitary. Turning the corner, he saw another man dressed like himself, escorting Jane carrying a young girl with a blindfold over her eyes.

To her credit, his mate never flinched, never hinted that she knew him. Tony kept his focus straight ahead when passing. One step behind the escort, Tony spun, grabbed the man’s head and snapped it farther than humanly advisable. The body crumpled and Jane looked back, then leaped into Tony’s open arms.

“Tony!” Her arm squeezed around his shoulders while her other still held Sariana. After a lingering hug, Tony pulled back a bit.

“Who do we have here?” he asked.

“Tony,” she slid the blindfold down to drape around the little girl’s neck, “this is Sariana, my new best friend.”

With his nicest smile, Tony said, “Hello there. I’m Tony, Jane’s mate. I’m here to take you two home.” Jane threw him a look he didn’t understand. Sariana turned shy and hid her smile in Jane’s neck.

“Let’s get going.” Hand in hand, they retraced Tony’s journey of the third floor. Almost to the elevator, the hall dimmed and red lights flashed. Tony bit back his curse due to little ears close by.

They were surrounded within a minute. Liand must have sent every man available to their floor. One man with a phone to his ear quickly reapplied the blindfold hanging around the girl’s neck. “Either of you take this off and I will kill you both.” The guard walked away, talking into his phone. “Yes, sir. The woman. Right away.” The leader gave a head bob and the group headed back to the cell.

Jane started to drag from carrying the extra weight. Tony held his arms out. “Jane, let me take her,” and blindly, Sariana slid into his hold and laid her head on his shoulder. Strange, warm feelings stirred in him.

Turning the corner, the door to the cell stood open, awaiting their arrival. The guards led Tony and the child in first. He stepped in and glanced around, taking in strategic data. He heard shuffling behind him. He turned to see the door close with Jane still on the other side. “Tony!”

SIXTEEN

Liand slammed the phone’s handset into the cradle. “Damn you, Ruveen!” The traitor pulled a small caliber gun from his top desk drawer. “What keeps me from killing you right now?”

Ruveen played cool. “The battalion on its way, due any time now. Ordered to find and kill you if I’m not around.”

Trent smelled the lie, but believed the act. But did Liand? Silence bounced between them, a quiet game of chicken. Liand smiled, “So predictable,” and waved the gun. “Everyone, have a seat. Please be comfortable.”

Eyes discreetly turned to Brock. He stepped around the sofa, and all followed suit.

A phone rang and Liand pulled his from his pocket. “Good. Bring me the woman. Everyone else goes into the holding room. Make sure the kid’s blindfold stays on. Oh, and send up an armed crew in twenty minutes.” He pocketed the phone and sat, relaxing in an oversized, cushy chair.

“So, Ruveen, I don’t recognize anyone in this group. Surely you wouldn’t bring in new guards on such an important mission.”
              “Of course not, Major.” Liand frowned at Ruveen’s use of his old title.

“Here, I’m General.”

“Ah,” Ruveen gave a smug smile, “I see.”

The door opened and Jane entered, followed by a guard. Her eyes became glassy and she ran for her brother. Head buried against him, tears flowing, her mumbling was unintelligible. Liand grabbed her arm and pulled her away from her brother. When they separated, a look passed between brother and sister. No tears dripped. Why the act?

“I’m glad I could be part of this family reunion. Now, sit here next to me, Princess.” Liand pulled her into the oversized chair and put his arm around her, gun in the other hand resting on the side of the chair. “Tell me, Ruveen, when does this battalion of three hundred men arrive?”

Ruveen glanced around the room as if bored. “Soon. That’s about all I can say. They will crush this compound.”

“I doubt the ruler will allow the princess and her brother, heir to the throne, to die for little old me.” The FPU group rustled. Liand raised a brow. “Who are you people that you don’t know that?”

“That’s none of your business, Liand. They’re here to retrieve the princess and the girl.”

“I’m sorry to say I will be needing the princess’s abilities before she goes anywhere.”

Jane scoffed. “Like I’m going to help you.”

Liand’s hand rubbed her arm. “You will or the heir will meet an early death with several bullets in his brain.” Jane stiffened. He gave her a squeeze and laughed. “No worries, Princess. Once the battalion lands, we’ll get things rolling.”

Ruveen frowned. “What do you have planned, Liand?”

“That’s none of
your
business, Premier Leader.”

Trent watched Ruveen carefully. He waited to see what was coming.

Jane’s brother shook his head. “You never were the brains, were you, Liand?”

“Fladoq said the same thing and he’s dead.”

“Yes, I know exactly what happened. I would’ve much preferred to keep Fladoq. He was so much better than many.” Liand didn’t take the bait to get him to talk about his plans.

Liand’s eyes narrowed. “How can you possibly know what happened? You weren’t there.”

“That’s your first of many mistakes, Liand. Don’t assume you know everything about the royal family’s powers. It’ll get you in trouble.”

The traitor’s face reddened and his grip tightened around the weapon in his hand. “Well, you’re not all-knowing, otherwise you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to give away the princess’s whereabouts.”

Jane jerked in the chair. “What are you talking about?”

“It was very smart of you to come with the Asian group then come to America. We’ve been searching the wrong continent for years. Imagine my surprise when Fladoq lead me to a place a couple of miles from the compound.”

“Wait a minute.” Jane sat forward in her chair with Liand. “None of this is about a ransom, is it? You kidnapped the girl and brought her to Earth because you knew my father would send someone to find her, and that person would more than likely contact me.”

Liand wore a smug smile. “Do I know my royals or what?”

Jane growled. “Stop dicking around, Liand. You have me. Let the girl and my brother’s team leave.”

“Sorry, Princess. We have to wait for the battalion to arrive.”

She snorted. “Are you really that stupid?” The barrel of the gun jammed into the side of her head. The room tensed.

“Careful, Princess. I’ve found these Earth weapons are effective, even if crude. And no, I’m not stupid. You’ve seen some of this underground compound. Granted, I didn’t start it, but I’ve utilized it to its fullest. Even made a few discoveries over the years. I know exactly what I’m doing and what I need from you.”

“Really?” Ruveen seemed almost uninterested. What was this game he and Jane played? “What could she possibly do—What
are
you trying to do, Liand? What is your grand plan? Impress me.” Maybe Liand’s ego would give away more than he intended.

“Your princess is going to help me kidnap three hundred men.”

She turned in the chair to face him. “I will do no such thing.”

“Then others will start to go away. Like this.” He pointed the gun at Trent and fired, sending him and the chair over backwards.

* * *

In the locked room on the third floor, Tony pounded on the metal door, leaving dents. “Jane! Jane! Open this door. Jane!” He felt a tug on his jacket and looked down on scared eyes. He fell to his knees in front of the child. “I’m sorry, baby girl. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He felt awkward, not knowing if he should hug her, put his hands on her shoulder, or back away. They stood looking at each other. She answered his question when she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing wet eyes to his skin.

He was gone--hook, line, and sinker. His tiger was just as bad. Apparently the little cub’s scent didn’t bother the animal and now they both felt protective of her. Now, along with his mate, he had a cub to save. But how to get out of this concrete room? He leaned back and stood. “Okay, Sari, can I call you Sari?” she nodded with a slight smile. “Okay, Sari, we need to find a way out of this room. Got any ideas?” Tony blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair, looking around.

Sari grabbed the door handle. A grinding and quiet
scnick
sounded. She pulled on the door. Tony jumped forward. “Was the door unlocked?” She shrugged and slipped her hand into his.

Tony put his nose in the hall’s air and sniffed. “No one’s around. Let’s go.” He looked down at her and smiled. He hadn’t consciously noted all the electronic card readers on his way through to find Jane, but now everything registered. Jane wasn’t kidding when she said every door was secured. That meant only one thing: they were hiding a lot of things.

Tony started for the elevator, but then thought it would be guarded, if this Liand dude had any good sense. Instead, he followed his nose as it led toward the heaviest concentration of smells. The location where the most people gathered could easily lead to another exit.

They were extremely fortunate it was nighttime. No telling how many people they would normally pass during normal work hours. He felt a slight pull on his jacket again. He looked down at Sari and she pointed at a door with “Armory” on it.

“Well, that’s an interesting room.” He smiled down at her. “I’d like to see it for myself. Shall we go inside?” She reached up and pulled down the door handle. After the short noises, the door opened. The light popped on as soon as they stepped in. Tony’s jaw hit the floor. “Holy sh—eisterbots.” No cussing in front of the cubs.

Never had he seen so much munitions. There was no question they were an army. He stepped up to a metal shelving unit and started packing his pockets. He stuck with the smaller weapons he recognized. Some items had to be from Jane’s planet. A light tap touched his leg. Sari held out several gold pencil-like things.

“Thank you,
bebé
. But I don’t know how to work those. Put them back carefully.” She pushed them toward him. “No, sugar cub. Those are Jane’s, not mine. Do you understand?” She nodded, and he went around the corner to the handgun section. After loading down as much as he dared, he found Sari waiting patiently by the door. They continued their way through the maze.

There had to be more than one way out of the compound. Wasn’t that a safety law of some kind? Like aliens were really worried about building code. On their way past a door, he caught the word “Laboratory.” What would a lab be for? They weren’t turning a lump of coal into gold, were they?

He looked down at his companion. “Let’s take a look in there, want to?” She opened the door with the usual sounds from the locking mechanism.

When stepping in, he knew this wasn’t a normal lab by any means. It smelled bad. Like death. Not only did it have a wild mix of elements like vials, beakers, and tubes, but newborn baby beds seen in maternity wards at hospitals, and bottles, and a lightweight sledge hammer. What?

Machines and monitors beeped and chimed from the tiny beds on the other side of the room. Tony lifted the blanket from a tiny baby. Its cheeks turned red like it wanted to scream. But instead, the face split open, spurting blood, revealing a deformed insectile face. The body lay motionless.

Tony stifled his shout and dropped the blanket and stepped back. That was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen. He might throw-up what little of his lunch was left.

Another bed had an ivy runner coming from the inside. Did they put the plant in with the child to eat? He slowly lifted the blanket to see a fleshy baby, but with vines as arms and legs that reached toward him. What the hell? Were they mixing plant and animal DNA with human bodies?

How long had they been doing this? Was it successful? He looked around for crawling plants or giant roaches with two legs. This would give the cub nightmares, and him, too. Time to go.

Back in the hallway, Tony let his tiger lead while he brainstormed how the hell to get them out of this. He found himself at a white door and Sari opened it. They stood in a bright white room filled with tables, countertops, chairs, and scattered food packages. Of course, where would the animal naturally go? Food.
Bite it. The cub hasn’t eaten. She grows weak.

Tony glanced at her, then picked her up. “Let’s see if we can find something to eat in here.” Scrounging sparse cabinets, they quickly snatched up breakfast bars, fig cookies, a small bag of BBQ chips, and juice from the fridge. Bottom cabinets held a few pans and bowls, but were mostly empty. He realized he hadn’t eaten since lunch. The group was going to start supper when they discovered Jane was gone. A few more breakfast bars went missing from the cabinet.

A door on the other side of the break room didn’t require a badge to open. Where did it go? He peeked through to see the beginnings of a working platform. He couldn’t see much more without opening the door further. He closed the door and looked back at Sari. She had her head resting on her hands on the table, eyes closed.

On a snap decision, Tony walked out the door. He swore he just stepped onto the Deathstar, fully operational. Keeping to the shadows, he pulled a clipboard from a wall bin and pretended he belonged there. At an entrance wide enough to fit a house, he turned the corner and stopped. His tiger eyes stared down an aisle as long as a 777 airbus landing strip.

Lined in row upon row were car-sized, one-man space crafts. They looked like giant chrome M&Ms lying on four metal legs. He hurried to one of the contraptions that looked to have its “hood” up with parts scattered around a partially empty crate. Reaching the craft, he rubbed his hand across the rear end of the sleek curve. The machine vibrated and a section of the belly folded down, revealing a ramp into the M&M’s middle.

Without a second thought, Tony walked up the ramp to peek inside. At the top of the incline sat one seat bolted into the floor, with a heavy harness attached. In front of that was a black glass control panel with a monitor attached to the wall above it.

In his imagination, he pictured himself strapped into the seat with a touch control command center before him where his fingers danced over buttons guiding the small craft between deadly laser bolts, attacking enemy ships. Holy shit. That’s what this was—a single-man spaceship fighter.

There had to be a few hundred sitting there ready to go. He wondered where all the pilots were. His town didn’t house nearly enough people, even if the cows were trained.

He launched out to the platform then scuttled toward the dark corner. Okay, this was a bit much for him to comprehend at the moment. He needed to get back to his little partner in crime.

Hurrying back around the corner, Tony saw two camo-dressed men talking and walking toward the break room. Even with his tiger, he would never make it ahead of them.

He took off in a sprint, his tiger and his brain scolding him for doing such a stupid thing as leaving the cub alone. He prepared to shift and kill to keep what was his safe. He’d have to walk around naked, then. Maybe shifting wasn’t the best idea either.
Shit
.