Page 41 of Guarded By a Monster

The man sighed, but relented, and Jade ended the call.

“Is she okay?” Nanna’s voice didn’t tremble, but her upset was clear to my senses.

As was Jade’s fear. Outwardly, she was calm and collected. But her heart raced, her breaths were shallow, and the scent of fear was strong.

“She’s shaken, her neck is sore, and she has a small cut on her neck. Apparently, they were waiting in the house. They grabbed her hair as she passed the kitchen door and yanked her head back. Put a knife to her throat, but stopped when they saw it wasn’t me. Then they ran off.”

She looked up at me.

“They want me to go into police custody.”

I shook my head again. My throat closed up at the idea of her not being with me. My hands fisted at my sides, claws cutting through their caps and into my palms.

She nodded. “I told them no. I feel safer with you.” She turned to Nanna. “I want you to stay here, too. It’s not a leap for them to go after you to get to me.”

“What about my friends at Sunset Springs?”

“I think that’s one degree of separation too many. They should be fine, but call them and tell them to be extra cautious.”

Nanna nodded and scurried back inside. I stepped forward, wrapping Jade in my arms. She sagged against me.

“I got my friend hurt.”

My teeth ground together. “No. Your attackers hurt your friend.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her breath warming my chest. “I want to go see her.” She pulled away and looked up at me. “And I need to figure out what to do about my cats.”

“Bring them here. I’ll get my brothers to help so we can get them all in one trip.”

Her mouth fell open. “You’d … you’d do that for me?”

I ran the back of my finger over her soft cheek. “I would do anything for you.”

She swallowed and we stood, stared into each other’s eyes, and the minutes ticked by. She shook her head and straightened her spine. Took a step back, and nodded.

I wasn’t sure what decision she’d made, but she seemed determined.

“Okay then. Let’s do it. We’ll need to hurry so we can get it done before dawn.”

It wasn’t hard to marshal my brothers. Even Kendal came, as an extra pair of hands. We made the trip to Jade’s house in good time. Once there, we showed her our military precision and obedience. She pointed and commanded. We did as she said. In short order, we had the cats in carriers, their food, dishes, and litter boxes packed. Kendal scooped as many toys as she could find into a bag. Quin put giant bags of litter on each shoulder. The rest of us grabbed two carriers a piece, and within forty-five minutes, we were on our way back to the compound.

Most of the cats were silent. The smallest of them, a kitten Jade said she’d adopted only a few weeks ago, screamed like it was being tortured. We winced every time the small ball of fur let out its meow. They seemed to rise in volume and duration.

It was the first one set free inside my house.

“Sorry about Cameow. She hasn’t fully adjusted and still thinks she’s going to starve if she doesn’t remind me of her presence. Loudly. And often.” Jade winced.

My brothers assured her it was fine and then beat hasty retreats. I watched as Jade set up the cat’s supplies around my house. Two water fountains and a bowl sat along one kitchen wall, twelve matching food bowls along another. She distributed litterboxes around the entire house, with cats following behind, eager to christen each one as soon as it was done.

I also followed as she moved through her tasks, not wanting to leave her for even a second. This crime organization was getting bolder. They didn’t know where she was, I was certain of that, but my nerves were on high alert.

“It’s very nice of you to house my cats like this. I know they’re a lot.”

She was turned away from me, stroking the back of a solid white cat. Her head was bent and she looked tiny and tired in that moment.

“I enjoy having them here.”

She jerked her eyes to mine, disbelief clear on her face.

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