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Chapter 23
Amelia
I rolled out of bed and stayed in a crouched position as Niko strapped his knife to his calf, another to his hip, and checked the clip of his favorite 9mm before settling it on his other hip. His sword in its sheath was the last piece of weaponry to adorn his body, being held snug against his back.
I reached under my bed to my own stash and then decided against it. I would be more lethal in my fur than my skin. I had basic fighting skills, but nothing near what I knew Niko could do.
“No, pet, you stay here.” Niko’s words held the command of his dom side as well as his mated side.
“Fuck that. I’m not going to cower in the corner while you two go fight whatever is trying to come into my home,” I growled. One advantage to having fallen asleep naked, I didn’t have to take time to strip out of my clothes. I leaned forward and let the change take over. My inner tigress was ready for a violent and gory battle.
“Fine, but don’t attack before we know the whole situation.” Niko opened the bedroom door and slunk down the hallway keeping to the shadows.
I chuffed as I let my tigress take the lead. I settled back, giving her the reins for now. We strutted down the hall, head held high, with no fear. This was our territory, and any who entered it without invitation or approval would die. My tigress was very black and white about territorial rules.
I stopped and took in a deep breath, filtering through the scents I knew and searching for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing was abnormal, but it felt like there was an absence of scent rather than none at all. The closer I got to the front door, that non-scent burst forth into a scent that I knew bone-deep from childhood.
“Magic, whoever is outside has magic or is using a spell to cover their scent.” I relayed to my mates.
“How do you know that?” Miguel asked.
“I can’t explain it, but I know down to my bones that tingling in my nose and the void of any scent is magic and not the good kind.”
“Move back out of the way. Let me handle this,” Niko urged, trying to put his will into the command to get us to move.
“Nope, both of you follow me.” I sprinted into my kitchen, moving a small rug by the pantry door out of the way, and tapped the hidden trap door with my paw.
“What do we have here?” Niko bent down, feeling around the edges until he hit the hidden latch.
“An escape route. I want to see this person before I confront them. We need to go in with all the information we can. This will take us out past the fence of the yard, so we can loop around and check things out from around DJ’s house.”
“You surprise me more and more, little one. Okay, lead the way,” Niko spoke aloud as he lifted the door. It was a short leap to the dirt floor of the tunnel. It wasn’t large enough to stand in and went much faster on four paws, but Niko kept up with us easily enough, even crouched as he was.
We burst through the other end into the cool night air.
“This way.” I sped around the backyard, shimming through the small door Kymber had put in their fence for nights I needed to be close to them.
“Amelia, stay there. Miguel and I will check things out. Find a place to curl up and hide.”Niko’s voice held a power of command, and I felt it wash over me. My tigress didn’t care as she continued to the other side of DJ’s house. Kymber stepped out on the porch just after I turned the corner.
“Hey, come back inside.” DJ’s voice cut off. “Amelia, if you don’t stay where you are right this minute, you will have to answer to the Alpha.”
Fuck, I had hoped to be upwind of him; my luck wasn’t so good tonight.
“Get back in the house, Kymber. If Amelia’s close, Niko and Miguel aren’t far. I am going to find out what’s going on.”
“Amelia, don’t push them, okay? Go back home.” I heard the click of the back door moments later.
With honed skills, I pawed the front gate open and wiggled through silently, trying to see who was on my front porch. Miguel and Niko rounded the house from both sides at the same time I stepped from Diego’s yard.
“Freeze.” Niko barked. “Slowly, turn around.”
“Ahh, the mate, or one of them, I assume.” He was tall and thin, hidden in the shadows. He began raising his hands. “So sad your lives will be so short.” Something shot from his fingertips. The air around my body heated, and a loud pop hurt my ears. The world around me took on a deep blue haze, and I realized my feet were no longer on the ground. I tried to whine, but the air was thick, making it hard to breathe. “I suggest you let me leave with your treasure. If I don’t, she’ll die before I get her to our destination. Each second we wait, the less air she has in her shield.”
“Let her go,” Miguel growled out. He had shifted back to his skin and stood gloriously naked in the moonlight. “You have no idea who you are dealing with.”
“Oh, that’s where you are wrong. I know exactly who I am dealing with, and I know you will both let me walk through that hidden door behind the house with your mate in tow; otherwise, I’ll take out everyone in this compound.”
“He’s bluffing,” Miguel scoffed. Niko tilted his head, contemplating the man before us.
“No, he’s not.” Niko lowered his gun.
“Smart tiger. Now, I’ll just be on my way.” He strode toward me. “Come, my kitty. I have someone very interested in finding you.” He twitched his fingers, and I floated behind him. Once we cleared the compound wall, he chanted a few words, and the world around me tilted as the air squeezed out of my lungs. My vision turned dark, and I succumbed to the bliss of utter oblivion.
