Slade Read online

  Mila raised a brow, then folded her arms over her chest. Her foot tapped on the floor as she waited for the woman to continue.

  “She’s my daughter!” The woman flung out defiantly. “By the way, I’m Piper.”

  “You have a cat for a daughter?”

  “No…” Her words trailed off as everyone in the kitchen laughed.

  “Actually, it’s a long story,” Quinn told her. The other cats were no longer trembling against the back of the wall. They were all stalking Me’akal before they jumped on him. Their little claws catching his fur.

  The adults were looking at them with smiles as if they were real children whom they loved. What alternate universe had she entered?

  Me’akal endured it for a while. Then he got up and shook gently. The cats came tumbling down from his back and sides. They hit the floor becoming laughing children.

  “No fair I want to play with the big doggie.”

  Mila raised her eyes to look at a young boy maybe eight who didn’t become a cat. His big brown eyes were shimmering with tears. The teen girl next to him reached down to hug him. Siblings, not from the same parents but she recognized that look. She and Quinn shared it enough times when they were growing up.

  Me’akal walked over to the boy lying down before him. The boy let out a watery smile and got on his back holding him close.

  “That’s David. His sister is Lisa. I’m Brandi. I want to thank you and your extremely huge umm hound for making David feel like he’s part of the group. Neither he nor Lisa can turn into cats. I think they feel left out at times.”

  “You’re welcome?” What else could she say to something like that? “I need everyone to get their things as well as your umm cat-children. We need to leave before the big bad comes back.”

  Everyone stopped moving as all eyes turned to stare at her. Mila hated being the center of attention.

  “I know you’re scared, but I’ll protect you. I swear I’ll die doing everything in my power to get you to safety, but we need to go now.”

  “Quinn? What’s going on?” A tall male with black hair and blue eyes entered the kitchen from a door Mila hadn’t seen.

  “My sister, Mila, the one I’ve been telling you about is finally here.” Quinn went to walk towards him.

  Mila grabbed her arm. “No Quinn stay away from him; he's a minion of evil.”

  “Minion?” Mekhi growled. “I resent that, I am no one’s minion, although I have been called evil. Quinn called me evil this morning when I…”

  Quinn ran across the room jumped into his arms kissing him. “If you speak about earlier, it will be a cold day in hell before it happens again.”

  Mekhi tilted his head and wisely bit his lip. His eyes were shining and everyone else was trying to laugh behind their hands.

  “I really want to know what he did to her,” Serenity said to Brandi and Piper.

  “I don’t keep you busy enough if you have to wonder about your sisters bedroom activity,” Akron said stepping into the room.

  “In case you were running out of ideas,” Serenity told him her eyes lighting up with the sexy growl coming from him.

  He leaned over, pulling her close his mouth next to her ear. She shivered as he told her what he would be doing to her when they were alone.

  “Hello, the children are in the room,” Rylee announced as she walked in with Phoenix right behind her.

  “Mekhi was about to give up medical advice on relationships,” Piper told them. She shivered when Thrice’s growl met her ears.

  “Everyone I want you to meet Mila. She’s the sister and best friend I’ve been telling you about. She’s going to stay with us for a while.” Quinn walked back to her engulfing her into another bone-crushing hug. “I’ve missed you.”

  Mila looked around the room helplessly. Each of the women was shadowed by a minion of the big bad. How was she going to get them free before she died a painful death? Her eyes sought out Me’akal who was looking bored as David held him tight.

  She braced herself and pulled out the only weapon she had been allowed.

  “Please step away from the minions of death. I am here to save you and your strange children.”

  “Did she just call us minions of death?” Phoenix asked his brother. Laughter rolled through the room before all hell broke loose. Then the big bad strode into the room, and Mila was the one who screamed in fear.

  Chapter Three

  Maybe her scream of fear sounded more like an eek of need. She wouldn’t be commenting on it. This was her first time seeing the big bad; she was allowed to be taken by surprise. He was tall, her mind told her he wasn’t taller than his minions. Her eyes told her something else. This male was larger than life.

  He was as tall as a mighty oak tree. His legs were thick like a tree trunk unwilling to be moved by the most powerful storm. His arms reminded her of the branches, strong but flexible enough to sway in the wind. Powerful enough to handle the mounds of snow that might pile high on him during the winter.

  What was worse was her desire to climb him like an animal in heat. She wanted to bare her hindquarters and smear him with her scent so that no one else would dare lift an eye to look at him.

  Then there were the mundane things that were so much more with him. His green eyes reminded her of the ocean, but the silver specks in them were like the stars in the sky. His skin held just a touch of a natural tan, and his dark hair was long except on one side where it was shaved short. He looked like he was making a statement with it, but she wasn’t sure what it could be.

  He was wearing a pair of jeans that she was sure encased his ass like they were made for him if only he would turn around. The t-shirt he was wearing was obviously made to draw attention to the muscles in his arms and chest and to make any poor woman forget that he was the big bad out to kill or enslave her.

  He was probably into sexual slavery. She pictured poor women tied to his bed doing his bidding. She would kill them all for having the nerve to touch him.

  That thought brought her back into reality. She needed to get her sister and her friends away from the big bad and his minions. She sent a look at the male holding tightly onto Quinn. It was obvious that he was trying to fill her with his demon seed. She saw the movie. The alien would pop out after bathing in Quinn’s blood and guts, then it would fly over the table. It would head towards one of the children who didn’t turn into a cat and attack them. She could see the blood spilling from their throats.

  “Demon seed?” Mekhi growled in anger.

  “Big bad?” Piper said.

  Lisa’s hands went to her throat. “Quinn’s going to have a baby who will rip my throat out?”

  Oops, she may have said that aloud. “No, don’t worry I will save you.” She gripped the weapon in her hand. She turned around doing her best ninja move. Jumping high in the air she brought the weapon down and whipped it across the chest of the god like big bad.

  She nailed her landing like she was in the Olympics and looked up expecting him to be in two bloody pieces at her feet.

  “Oh shit.” Her weapon failed her. Now she would become the breeding ground for the big bads demon spawn.

  *~*~*~*

  Slade knew he should pick the little female up and shake her enough for her to find her right mind, or as some would say she needed a come to Jesus moment. He couldn’t do it. He was too enthralled with the ramblings of a madwoman.

  She was undoubtedly crazy, but he seemed to be going along for the ride. She was short, maybe five seven with the largest, most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. Her pouty lips looked like they had some kind of gloss on them. He acknowledged that he never paid attention to a female’s lips before. Not even… he shook his head refusing to give that thought credence.

  Her skin was brown and smooth. He heard others describe women her color as chocolate, but all he could think of was the rich life-giving soil outside. She was the brown of the Earth, the planet he now called home. She reminded him that life sprung up here. Th
e only thing on this planet that gave life, besides females, was the soil. He nodded to himself that seemed right. That a woman as strong as she would be able to compete with the actual planet for dominance.

  Of course, the planet wasn’t ape-shit crazy. Maybe he better go back to thinking of her as chocolate. She wore her hair in a way he couldn’t tell the length, but she wasn’t wearing it in braids. It felt like she was proclaiming to the whole world 'I cannot be stuck into a box or a stereotype.’ That thought gave him peace. He never wanted anyone who defined who she was by other’s standards.

  Not that he wanted her. His life was to live and die alone. He’d already made peace with that and no smart mouth; thick-framed female goddess was going to make him change his mind.

  “You think I’m a female goddess?”

  Quinn pulled away from Mekhi. “You’re Slade’s mate,” she gushed over Mila.

  “What’s a Slade?”

  “I’m Slade. You come into my house brandishing a…” His hand pointed to whatever she still held in the palm of her hand. “And don’t even know who I am.”

  “You’re the big bad, a killer of woman and children. You desire to take the earth into submission and use it for your footstool.” Her head came up in pride; her shoulders stiffened refusing to show defeat.

  “You’ve been drinking too much red Kool-aide.”

  Her mouth flew open catching the reference.

  “How dare you!”

  “How dare I? You come into my house throwing my offer of having a place to recuperate back into my face. You attack my brothers verbally and me physically. You demean my sisters and their…”

  “Cat-children?” she helpfully inserted.

  “You are obviously crazy.” He ignored her interruption. “What am I supposed to do with you? If I put you out the world will be in danger. If I let you stay my family will be in danger. All because you are an insane female on a quest to rid the world of an evil you don’t understand. Crazy female!” He lost it shouting the last at her.

  “And don’t you forget it.” She tapped her foot on the floor looking like she wanted to take him down with her bare hands.

  The silence hung over them like a black cloud. The sound of hands clapping broke the silence. Every eye turned to Me’akal who was no longer a hound.

  “Why the hell did you bring a hellhound into my home?” Slade barked moving closer to Mila.

  “Wait, how do you know he’s a hellhound?”

  Chapter four

  “You said a bad word,” David's voice sing-songed in the sudden silence.

  “We’re going to call that an adult word and not a bad word,” Brandi told him. “I better not get any teachers calling to tell me you used it.”

  “Mom!” He flashed his brown eyes and gave her a dimpled smile.

  “I’m immune to your tactics.” She was not immune, but he didn’t need to know that.

  “Ivory could you take the kids outside,” Piper asked.

  They all sighed. Outside was a code word for they were trying to get rid of them.

  “We just thought you might want to swim since the day was nice and winter will be here soon. Why don’t you stay inside instead?” Brandi gave them all smiles.

  “We know what you’re doing,” Tia said. She was the only one among them that was a true cat until she had a blood transfusion with an alien species that made her a hybrid. Then Ivory came along and decided all the cats needed a humanoid shape. Now she was Quinn’s daughter. Her life was perfect, and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

  Sela nodded backing up Tia. Her dark skin and white hair making her stand out. Emo and Elfin nodded to. Lisa came over to show solidarity, and then they picked up the others and ran outside. The pool was calling their names.

  “Mila,” Quinn walked up to her and took her in a hug. “What you just saw is our life. Why don’t you sit down we’ll make you some mint tea with rum? You’ll love it. We’ll let the guys go talk, and then we will come together and get this whole misunderstanding worked out.

  Mila looked at Me’akal pleadingly. He shook his head. “I would never leave you in danger. Listen to them.”

  Quinn led her to a seat, so she sat. Piper hummed as she took out teacups. Brandi put on a kettle for water. Mila’s eyes got big. Wasn’t a kettle a bit old fashioned? She looked around for crumpets. If there were crumpets, she would know she was right and the big bad was trying to make her comfortable before he killed her.

  “Chocolate-chip cookies?” Quinn asked her, taking a pack out the cabinet.

  Mila lungs collapsed as a noisy breath of air left her lips. She hadn’t realized she was holding it. A grin spread across her face. Quinn knew she loved chocolate-chip cookies. She pushed away that bit of doubt that said the big bad knew it and was using it against her.

  “You’re a tad bit paranoid?” Brandi asked it like a question even as she acted like she knew the answer. She poured the water into the teacups as Quinn lifted the bottle of rum.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Umm, yeah!” They all answered at the same time.

  Mila tilted her head to look at the wood cabinets. The stain on them was in the middle of the brown family, not really light or dark. She could see the love that went into keeping them clean. Someone loved this kitchen. She took the time to look at the five women who surrounded her.

  Their eyes were clear. There weren’t any frown lines around their lips and there weren't worry lines across their foreheads. They looked happy. The thought of that made her own head shake. How could they be happy? Didn’t they know what a dangerous place the world was?

  Quinn poured the rum. Serenity passed the cookies around while Mila wondered what was happening to the stable world she thought she knew.

  “We’re listening,” Piper told her.

  “Where do I start? I’m sorry for invading your home and calling your mates minions of evil.”

  “Well to be fair you weren’t with us the first time they broke into a vault on an alien planet for S&G’s,” Quinn laughed her eyes lost in her thoughts.

  “Then there was the first time I visited a prison planet.” Brandi’s smile was huge.

  “The snake has you all beat,” Rylee threw in.

  Piper and Brandi stared at each other before hitting hands. “True that,” Piper said.

  “How many times have I told you not to try to be cool?” Brandi arched an eyebrow.

  Everyone at the table laughed and the tension they were all trying to ignore lessened.

  “They’re males,” Quinn told her. “Mekhi, my mate, would say they were broken for a reason. They don’t run down the street killing people, but they aren’t averse to taking the unconventional method to solve their problems.”

  “All I care about is the fact that they aren’t the big bad.” Mila shrugged as she tried to realign her thoughts with reality.

  “Does this big bad have a name?” Serenity asked her.

  “Maybe, probably. They told it to me once a long time ago. It’s floating in my memory somewhere. It was easier when I was a child to think of it as the big bad and the name stuck. I think when you're young you try to make things seem possible.”

  “You were raised to kill something you haven’t seen?” Quinn’s fists were balled. Her nails were biting into the palms of her hand as she waited.

  “Yeah, I was also sick a lot. The two together didn’t make for the best childhood, but I had you. You were my sister and my partner in crime.”

  “Mila, why didn’t you tell me I would have gotten you away from them.” She was out of her chair with her arms wrapped around Mila hugging her tight as she swayed from side to side.

  “That’s the thing, Quinn. The ones who raised me kept me alive. Maybe they didn’t love me in the traditional sense, but they trained me to kill the big bad. So that you and others like you get a chance at a life.” Mila’s voice was muffled from where Quinn was pressing Mila’s head into her chest.

  “Quinn, are you trying t
o kill her or breastfeed her?” Serenity asked keeping the laughter out of her voice.

  She jumped back with a slightly horrified look on her face.

  “Girl, we’ve had sleepovers. Heck, we even borrowed each other clothes well… accessories. I’ve seen you naked,” Mila mocked whispered. “We’ve even slept in the same bed together, I’m sure I used those breasts at least once for a pillow. Remember, sisters?”

  They grinned at each other as memories of being sisters and best friends spread between them.

  “Do you still stuff your bras?”

  “I never!” Quinn said with a gasp.

  Mila took her cup gulping down a still hot sip before she sat back down.

  “I buy the padded ones now,” Quinn’s face was hot when she sat down.

  “Some of us have a little too much,” Brandi said.

  “Please you know padded is the shit,” Piper told them. They all groaned.

  “Mila you’re going to fit in just fine,” Serenity told her.

  She had come to set them free and with a few laughs, rum, and mint tea, she was the one feeling free. It also left her reeling. For the first time in her life, her mission wasn’t clear. The realization that failure was possible, made her stomach roll.

  What made her want to hurl was the green-eyed oak tree. God, she wanted him. The one thing she was sure of was that she never got what she wanted.

  *~*~*~*

  Slade looked at the hellhound standing in his living room. The hunter who came after them a few months ago was still firmly in his mind. Now there was another standing in his home like he owned the place.

  “I need a reason not to kill you.”

  “If you think you’re lucky, give it a try.”

  Slade felt his claws try to emerge as his body prepared itself to become who he truly was. The change shimmered over the hellhound. He would change too, not into the huge hound they saw earlier. This change would show how deadly he was.