Best Friends (New Species #15)(114)

Lash stepped around the male, moving toward the side of the barn. Species stepped out of his way, not trying to stop him. He paused there, studying the open ground to the house, debating how to get there without being seen.

Jaded bumped into him. “Take to the trees to circle around. I scoped it out. Fuck using the back door. Get in by going onto the roof. Land softly to muffle your sounds. Few humans lock windows too high for them to reach. There’s an attic window back there. I saw it. It’s three floors up. I doubt an old human would hear you force it open.”

Lash studied him. “Why are you helping me?”

“We’re all Species but I never get to do the fun shit. Go get your mate’s family. She’ll appreciate it. I’ll ask Brass to make his way to where the sheriff is, to ask permission to take over. He won’t agree, but it should distract the shitty human inside the house.”

Jaded walked toward Brass.

Lash lunged toward the tree line slightly behind them. His mate’s father hadn’t cleared those. He ran fast, heading opposite the very back of the house. Then he turned, running full speed at the house. He leapt when he was about ten feet away, landing quietly on all fours about fifteen feet up.

The roof was a little slippery, but he dug his claws in, trying to be quiet. Then he climbed higher, toward the window that had to be the attic.





Chapter Twelve



The window wouldn’t open at first. Lash figured out it was one that slid to the side, and he used his muscle to do as Jaded had suggested. There was a small pop from inside but it moved. The next problem was trying to fit his big body through the small opening.

He got inside and had to put his finger to his nose to avoid sneezing. There was a lot of dust. Boxes and sheets covered things littering the floor. He scanned the area and saw narrow stairs leading downward. He crept forward, hoping the floor under him wouldn’t creak.

The small stairwell had him stifling a snarl. He had to turn sideways and the steps barely fit his big feet. The door at the bottom wasn’t normal-size either. At least it wasn’t locked as he turned the handle and pushed it open. He had to hunch down to get his head through, then he stood in a long hallway. A few lights were on up.

The low ceiling brushed against his mane as he silently moved down the hall, ignoring the open dark doorways. He could hear a voice from below, identifying it as the male who’d yelled from the house.

“That moron cop is fucking with me,” the male raged. “He’s going to get the both of you killed. I know he’s got my boys. He’s probably waiting for SWAT to drive here from somewhere else.”

Lash paused, hoping to hear a response. That would mean at least one of Mary’s parents were still alive. There wasn’t one.

Rage burned through him. What if the male had already killed them? Humans could be unstable and murderous.

He reached the top of the stairwell and peeked downward over the railing. It showed the front door and an open area. Nothing moved down there.

There was a thump, something hitting wood. “That fucking cop is lying to me about those New Species having Darren, too! I saw them haul him out of that cunt’s apartment and put him in one of their black vehicles. I didn’t dare follow since it was night, but they headed out of town, right toward that fucking place they live at.”

The voice came from the right, on the lower floor. There was a large archway Lash could see when he moved a little. A light was on in there. Lash thought about leaping down but it would be loud. He frowned at the stairs. Some of them could make noises.

Lash studied the thick wood running along the stairwell, with metal bars holding it up. Humans used them to hold on to while walking up and down stairs, to avoid falling. After a moment’s hesitation, he lifted his leg, putting his ass on top of it. His loincloth was between the wood and his skin.

He paused, keeping his gaze trained on that archway for movement. He waited.

“I’m not going to wait around for SWAT to get here. I just want my fucking sons. Brad was always an idiot, but that’s his mother’s fault. She let him be friends with that dipshit Johnny. I warned my ex that kid was fucked in the head. He had a hard-on for lifers in prison, thinking they were cool.” The male thumped something hard on wood. “Telling my boy they get fan mail and lots of chicks wanting to marry them.”

Using the leg still on the ground, Lash slid along the thick wood, inching down. He balanced with his toes, keeping most of his weight off the steps. It was slow going but he didn’t make a sound.

“Brad needs treatment for being stupid. Not prison time. Darren understood that. We just wanted to find Brad and take him home. Is that too much to ask? Fuck no! But it turned tits up.”

The male made another cracking sound. Lash was halfway down the stairwell when he finally caught a glimpse of movement. He froze.

It was an older male, his back to the archway. He held a long, thin baton in his hand. He hit the floor with the end of it, accounting for that cracking sound, before talking again.

“I’m going to kill you both if they make me! I don’t care what happens to me, but my boys are all I’ve got. I’m a good damn father. See how far I’ve gone trying to find Brad, and now Darren? This is really that dipshit Johnny’s fault. I know he talked Brad into trying to kill those New Species. The little fucker killed a cat when they were teens. I should have guessed he’d grow up to be a killer. He couldn’t just go get himself sent off to prison for life alone. He had to talk my idiot son into going with him!”