A moment later, Dagger and Saber were standing next to him. Both men looked around the area. Hunter could understand their surprise and appreciation for the human’s resourcefulness. He had not expected to find himself in a cavern below ground.
He held up his hand when he heard the soft murmur of voices. He shook his head when Dagger and Saber looked at him. He held up two fingers then a third. They nodded. There were at least two others down here in addition to the female they had been tracking.
They spread out. Hunter took the front while Dagger and Saber each took a side. They would come up on all sides of the group. Moving silently, they stepped closer to the area where a small fire burned.
..*
Jordan held the cloth over her mouth to muffle her cough before she lay back on the blankets. Her eyes were glazed with fatigue, pain and fever. There wasn’t a part of her body that didn’t hurt.
“Where is Jesse?” Jordan asked as Taylor brought her over some of the soup she had warmed up. “It shouldn’t take her this long.”
“She said she had a cut she needed to clean,” Taylor said, helping Jordan to sit up so she could eat. “She’ll be back any minute. You need to eat. This will help you get stronger.”
Jordan sighed tiredly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be strong again,” she said in resignation.
“Don’t!” Taylor said, holding the cup up to Jordan’s lips. “We promised each other we would never give up. It is okay to feel down. You deserve it after… well, you deserve it but don’t ever give up, Jordan. We need you. I need you,” she said fiercely.
Jordan took a sip of the hot soup and moaned in pleasure as the warmth filled her stomach for the first time in days. She greedily sipped some more. With a shaky smile, she reached to take the cup from Taylor.
“I can do this,” Jordan whispered. “You need to eat too.”
Taylor reluctantly handed Jordan the battered cup of soup. She brushed Jordan’s tangled brown hair back from her face. A dark bruise covered the right side from her cheekbone to her chin where one of the men had hit her.
“I love you, Jordan,” Taylor said. “I’ll be glad when you are feeling better.”
“Me too, Taylor,” Jordan whispered tearfully. “I hate being like this.”
“One day we’ll have a house of our own. Maybe we can talk Jesse into stealing a car and we can go up to Wenatchee,” Taylor suggested. “We could live in the cabin.”
“If it is still…,” Jordan’s voice faded and her hand started trembling uncontrollably as her eyes widened.
“What’s wrong?” Taylor asked, turning around.
A low cry echoed throughout the parking garage as three huge forms stepped out of the darkness. Taylor stepped back with another cry, trying to shield Jordan who sat frozen on the pallet. Both girls stared in horror as the aliens they had avoided successfully for the past four years stepped into the light of their makeshift campfire.
Chapter 5
Jesse faded in and out of consciousness. She felt her body being gently turned until she was lying flat on her back. She immediately tried to turn back so she could curl up into a ball but something prevented her from rolling onto her side.
She pushed weakly at the arms picking her up. She didn’t want to be moved until she felt the heat radiating from the source trying to hold her. She immediately turned into it and burrowed as close as she could get. She didn’t care where the heat was coming from as long as it warmed her. She was freezing.
A low cry echoed in the air dragging her back to consciousness. It took a moment for her to realize it had come from Taylor. Her little sister sounded frightened.
“Taylor? Baby, it’s okay,” Jesse forced out in a slurred whisper. “I’ll protect you.”
“You have to help her,” Taylor’s voice was saying before it faded.
Who has to help who? Jesse wondered vaguely. Jordan. Jordan was sick. Was she doing worse?
“Jordan!” Jesse cried out sharply. “Jordan!”
“Shush, she will be well soon,” a deep voice responded.
“I have… protect…,” Jesse choked out before the world started to fade again. “Please… don’t.”
“Don’t what, little female?” The deep voice asked.
Jesse forced her fevered eyes opened. “Please… don’t hurt them. They… they are all I have… left,” she begged, staring into the dark yellow eyes.
“I will protect them with my life,” the dark voice promised.
Jesse didn’t respond. She stared intently into the familiar but not so familiar yellow eyes for several long seconds before she closed her eyes in exhaustion. She had no other choice but to believe the strange alien male would keep his promise. She was too weak to do otherwise. She turned her face into the warmth of his body.
She had nothing left inside of her to give. She had used up all her strength to get back to her sisters. She didn’t trust anyone but her sisters anymore. She hoped she wasn’t making a fatal mistake in believing that the alien male holding her would keep his word.