New Species 02 Slade (9 page)

limp around the SUV and knew she would suffer from

deep bruising.

The SUV appeared in really bad shape. She assessed

the crushed side panels and the dented-down roof. The

back of the SUV had taken the worst of it on the crushed

roof. There was a large tear near the front driver’s side

door and the engine compartment in the front corner had

been mangled badly.

She stared at it while Slade opened up the driver’s

door. It looked as though they’d smashed into something

in the front of the SUV on the way down. Trisha’s guess

was a tree, maybe even a few of them from the damage to

the entire front section of the vehicle. It was a miracle

they were all alive.

She turned her head and stared up the mountain. She

couldn’t see the road from where she stood but she could

tell where the SUV had rolled before the debris

disappeared into dense trees. Broken glass, ripped-off

parts of the SUV, and some clothes were scattered in the

path of the crash.

She saw her broken suitcase near a tree. It was

smashed and torn as if someone had taken an ax to it. She

shivered. That could have been her or Slade if either of

them had been thrown from the vehicle.

“No!” Bart screamed.

“Be a man,” Slade snarled at him. “You can’t hang

there all day. On the count of three I’m going to slice

your belt and pull you out. Your ass will fall but I have

your head. One. Two—”

“Don’t,” Bart screamed, sounding panicked.

“Three!”

Slade sliced the belt and dragged a howling Bart out

of the vehicle. Trisha limped the remaining few feet to

the man crying on the ground as Slade released him and

stepped back. The look Slade flashed toward Trisha

showed pure disgust. Slade shook his head, clenched his

teeth, and stormed away.

“You deal with him. I’m going to salvage what we

can. It’s going to be dark soon.”

Trisha lowered to her knees to examine the softly

crying Bart. Sympathy welled inside her for the kid who

was in his early twenties but was acting much younger.

She understood how frightened he had to be. Her hands

roamed over his body, the only thing she could do

without her medical bag. All she had to assess him with

was her touch and vision to try to triage him.

She examined his hips and her hands cupped one of

his thighs and inched down his leg to his ankle. He

didn’t appear to have broken feet or ankles. She wasn’t

about to remove his footwear to find out for sure,

knowing that if he had broken any bones there the shoe

would keep it immobile and control the swelling for the

time being. She rose and gripped his other thigh, circling

her hand around it high up, and inched her way down.

“Do you want a room?” Slade sighed. “You touch me

that way and I hope you have a wedding ring to give me,

Doc.”

“I’m checking for more broken bones.” She didn’t

even glance over her shoulder at Slade. “So far so good.”

Trisha leaned back and frowned at Bart. “Where does

it hurt?”

“My hand.”

She’d explored his stomach and his head until she’d

run her hands all over him. “How does your neck and

back feel?”

“They are fine. My hand hurts.” Bart cried softly with

his arm cradled to his chest.

Trisha turned her head to gaze up at Slade. “He

could have internal injuries but I won’t know without

getting him to a hospital. The only ones I know of for

sure are his wrist and hand. Can you get my suitcase and

pick up some of my clothes? I need them.”

A frown marred Slade’s lips. “You want to change

clothes? Give me a break, Doc. You can’t be that

conceited.”

“You stupid son of a bitch,” Trisha ground out, her

anger flaring instantly. “I need to tear up some cloth to

bandage his hand. The handle of my suitcase is the kind

that extends. I can remove it and use it to splint his entire

arm to the end of his fingers.”

Slade blushed a little. “I’m on it. Sorry.” He walked

away.

Trisha sighed, allowing her anger to fade. They were

all under stress. Slade returned within minutes. He used

a knife to slice her nice shirts into strips. Trisha splinted

Bart’s broken hand. He fainted when she did it, which

was a good thing because Slade seemed really pissed

that Bart kept crying. Bart wasn’t doing that for the

moment while he was passed out cold.

Trisha took advantage of it and bandaged his

bleeding hand and secured it to the brace. She carefully

assessed it, deciding that if they didn’t get him to a

trauma room soon he’d lose the entire hand. She stated

that assessment softly to Slade.

“I’ll get right on that.” Slade frowned at her. “Right

after I sprout wings to fly us out of here. What do you

want me to say? We’re screwed.”

“You could walk up to the road to flag someone

down instead of standing there making smartass

remarks.”

“What about the two trucks up there that tried to

drive us off the road? Oh yeah. They did that and they

could still come back to make sure we’re dead. They did

go to all that trouble to try to kill us in the first place.

They also have guns.”

“You didn’t see them coming down here, right?”

Slade’s expression hardened with anger. “They

might be picking up the jerks from the red truck I shot

holes in. There’s possibly even more of them coming

after us. Maybe they want to make it a party. They might

be heading down this way right now. I’ll go check while

you stay put.” He spun on his heel and disappeared

around the SUV.

Trisha sank down on her butt. Her head hurt and her

knee throbbed. She avoided moving her sore shoulder.

Every time she stirred her right arm she wanted to wince.

She reached up with her left hand to rub her injured

shoulder. It wasn’t dislocated and she didn’t feel

anything broken. She hoped it was just a strained muscle

or just a deep bruise. Bruising in soft tissue could be

very painful.

Bart came around. Trisha smiled at him. “How are

you feeling?”

“I hurt. I don’t want this job anymore.”

Trisha nodded. “I don’t blame you. Why don’t you

try to sit up?”

“I don’t want to. When is the ambulance going to

arrive? Did Slade go for help?”

“He went to go make sure those people who ran us

off the road aren’t trying to come down here to find us.

He’ll be back and we’ll get out of here soon. Don’t worry,

Bart. I’m a doctor, remember? You’re doing fine.”

* * * * *

climbed the hillside, every one of his senses on high

alert. Gasoline messed with his nose, making it difficult

to distinguish smells. Some of it had spilled from the

destroyed SUV to leak through the debris he navigated

and his gaze darted above for any sign of unnatural

movement.

Trisha could have been killed. Rage gripped him at

the thought. She’d definitely been hurt. The smell of her

blood still lingered in his memory despite the horrible

gas smell. He half hoped one or two of the assholes

who’d attacked them tracked them. He’d love to kill the

bastards for harming her.

A huge mass of rock stopped his progress as he

peered up a twenty-foot wall. The SUV had dropped

from above. The sight made him realize how lucky

from above. The sight made him realize how lucky

they’d been to survive. The front of the vehicle had taken

most of the damage but if they’d hit it on the side… He

shivered. Trisha would have died.

The memory of trying to grab her, to shield her body

with his through the worst of the crash would haunt him.

She’d been torn from his hold at the end when his head

had smashed into metal. It had dazed him enough to

make his body go limp. It terrified him to realize how

close she’d come to being ejected when he saw she’d

ended up in the very back of the SUV.

The human male at the wheel should have been

stronger, tougher, and driven them to safety. Instead fear

and panic had gripped Bart until he’d lost control of the

situation and crashed the vehicle. He clenched his teeth.

He should have insisted upon driving but Justice

had wanted a human at the wheel to draw less attention.

The tinted windows shielded the sight of Slade from

passing vehicles on the road. He swore that was the last

time he followed that certain order again. He’d be the

one to drive if Trisha traveled in another SUV.

Gratitude gripped him over demanding he ride with

Trisha. The idea of her having been attacked without him

there left him cold inside. He continued to scan the area

above, watching for any signs of their attackers. Humans

would follow the path of destruction to locate them.

Perhaps they assumed they’d died.

He relaxed. His people would realize they had met

trouble when they didn’t arrive soon. It would be dark

before help arrived but he could keep Trisha alive

regardless of how long it took his people to find them.

A sound reached him and a small rain of dirt trickled

to his far left. He instantly honed his senses.

“Fuck,” a male voice cursed. “I need gloves.”

“Be happy we had some rope. Think they died?”

“I’m not leaving it to chance,” yet another male voice

stated. “We need to find the bodies to prove we killed

those animal freaks. We’ll take pictures with our cell

phones.”

“I hope these hold. Are you sure our combined

weight won’t snap the ropes?” The man who spoke had a

slight accent. “Did they have to go off the road here? It’s

pretty rough terrain.”

Slade spun, moved fast, and hid behind trees to get a

better fix on the sound from far above. He spotted six

males, all in various states of dress, but the thing they

shared in common was the shotguns secured to their

backs. His lips parted, his fangs flashed, but he held back

the growl that threatened to burst forth at the sight of his

enemies.

He could fight them, lie in wait to attack, but what if

he failed? He’d lost his weapon during the crash. He

couldn’t shoot any of them to even out the numbers. It

would leave Trisha defenseless against them if he failed

to kill all of the men before they took him out with

bullets. Humans would have her at their mercy.

A soft snarl got past him as he spun to quickly return

to her. He wouldn’t take any chances with her life. Bart

didn’t strike him as a tough enough male to travel with

injuries. As he moved quickly but quietly, to avoid

alerting the men above him to his presence, he came to a

grim decision.

He’d have to leave the human security guard behind

if Bart refused to flee. Trisha might protest. She had a soft

heart but regardless of what it took, Slade would save

her. Even if he had to knock her out and carry her over

his shoulder. Determination made him travel faster to

reach her.

* * * * *

from behind Trisha.

She jumped and twisted her head, wincing. Her

shoulder screamed in protest at the sudden motion.

“What’s wrong?”

“Six men are on their way down to us. They have

ropes and guns with them. I think that’s what took them

this long to try to come down. It’s steep where we flew

off the road.”

off the road.”

“Maybe it’s help.” Bart sounded hopeful.

“With shotguns strapped to their backs?” Slade

snapped. “Give me a break. They will be here soon.”

Slade spun. “Get up. I’m grabbing what I found that may

be useful for us to survive and we’re going on the move.

It will be dark soon and that will help us lose them.”

Trisha struggled to stand and tried to get Bart to take

her hand to pull him to his feet with his good arm. He

adamantly shook his head.

“No. I’ll stay here. It’s got to be those anti New

Species people. I’ll just tell them I’m human and they’ll

get me help.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Trisha gasped. “They

tried to kill us and you think telling them you’re human

is going to matter to those types?”

“They hate New Species and I’m sure that’s why we