“Am… ami…,” Taylor was saying.
“Amate,” Jesse whispered, looking at the marks on her wrists. “He said I was his Amate. That I belonged to him now and he would protect you two until he could give you away to other warriors.”
Jordan and Taylor looked at Jesse in horror. Their eyes glued to her wrists when she held them up. Determination glittered in Jesse’s eyes. She planned on being long gone before the aliens knew what happened.
“We need to escape,” she said. “Tonight!”
Jordan slowly nodded head. She bit her lip and looked out the window at the darkness. She glanced back at Jesse and Taylor.
“How?” She asked. “How do we get out of here without them knowing?”
“I know!” Taylor said with a grin.
Both Jesse and Jordan looked at their little sister in surprise. She had a huge grin on her face and a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She looked back and forth between her two big sisters with a raised eyebrow.
“Okay,” Jesse said. “How do you think we can escape without being seen?”
“You two were out of it when they brought us in but I wasn’t,” Taylor said with a knowing smile. “I did like you taught me, Jesse. I watched everything going on and looked for ways to escape.”
“Alright, all ready,” Jordan said impatiently. “How do you think we can get out of here?”
“With the trash!” Taylor said. “It will cover our scent and they don’t look through it.”
Jordan’s face wrinkled in distaste. “Great, out with the garbage. Just what I was hoping.”
“Hey, if it works,” Taylor started to argue before Jesse interrupted.
“You did good, squirt,” Jesse said reassuringly. “So, now we have to figure out how to get away from the big guy who thinks he owns us.”
Taylor’s grin widened. “I’ve got that covered as well. I had two of the best teachers in the world,” she said pulling a small gun shaped device from her pocket. “I lifted this from medical when the doc wasn’t looking. It will knock him on his ass.”
Jordan grinned at her little sister and hugged her. “I’m so proud of you, Taylor,” she whispered. “Dad would be too.”
Taylor’s smile wobbled for a moment before she nodded. “He said we needed to look out for each other,” she said huskily. “You and Jordan have protected me. It is time I started helping out more.”
“You have definitely done that, kiddo,” Jesse said. “Let’s do this. Gather as much as you can that you think will help us once we get out of here.”
..*
Jesse glanced at the clock. It was almost two o’clock in the morning. Taylor was telling Hunter some ridiculous story about an old cat they had when they were kids. It was time to put their plan in motion.
“I need to visit the ladies room,” Jesse said, standing up.
Hunter turned to gaze at Jesse as she stood up. A dark frown creased his brow. He started to rise as well. Jordan looked wildly at Taylor who nodded.
“I need to go after you, Jesse,” Taylor said, reaching out to grab Hunter’s arm. “Hunter, did I tell you about the Bellamees that lived two houses down from us?”
..*
Hunter shook his head but sat back down. His eyes followed Jesse as she walked around the table back toward the bathroom behind him. He turned his attention back to Taylor as she started telling him about an older couple that lived near them years before.
He glanced at the clock wondering how much longer it would be before he could send Jesse’s two younger sisters back to their room. He had hoped one of them would start showing signs of being tired but so far none of them appeared to be feeling like sleep. Hell, the young one acted like she could go on sharing stories for several more hours.
Frustration gnawed at him. He wanted to get the female alone. It had been a long time since he had relieved himself with a living female and Jesse’s scent was driving him crazy. He wanted her with a hunger that surprised him. He would have to be gentle when he took her so he would not break her but he felt confident that would not be an issue.
He started to turn back around when he heard Jesse returning but Taylor touched his arm and leaned forward, said something to him that he missed. He bit back a growl. He was going to have to ask the little female to repeat what she had said as he had been distracted… again.
“What?” Hunter asked impatiently.
“I said I hope you have a nice sleep,” Taylor repeated.
“A nice sleep?” Hunter repeated with a frown. “What do…” His voice faded as he felt a cold injection being pressed into his neck.
He half rose and began to turn when his legs gave out under him and his knees hit the hard floor. His eyes blurred as he stared in disbelief at Jesse. His eyes moved from the injector in her hand to her eyes. He opened his mouth to howl in rage before they rolled back in his head as the medication worked its way through his system.