“Jesse, she will be alright,” Hunter said quietly. “Saber says she is alive. She needs medical attention. You all do.”
Jesse turned to look at him with dazed eyes before they cleared and bitter anger replaced the shock. She pulled the torn remains of her shirt up but it fell back down the moment she released it. She looked around her. Her face twisted with grief and rage.
“Take them,” she ordered hoarsely. “Take them with you.”
Hunter frowned in confusion as he looked around at the dead bodies. He did not understand what she meant. He turned when she stepped further away from him. His eyes narrowed as she bent and picked up a knife that was lying on the ground next to one of the males.
“Jesse,” he said. “What are you doing?”
Jesse ignored him as she pulled her boot out from under the body of another male. She stumbled sideways as she tried to put it on. It took her two tries before she was successful. She glanced around the ground until her eyes narrowed on her father’s hunting knife that had fallen from the boot when it was ripped off. She reached for it and turned as Saber and Dagger approached. Each male held one of her sisters in his arms.
“Take them with you,” Jesse said in a cold, emotionless voice. “You promised to take care of them. You promised to protect them. I am keeping you to your word. Protect them with your life. Do… not… let… anything happen to them,” she said slowly.
“Jesse, what are you doing?” Hunter asked, stepping toward her.
Jesse straightened her shoulders and looked first into Jordan’s eyes before turning her dark brown eyes to Hunter. She felt dead inside. She knew she could no longer protect and care for her sisters. She had not done a very good job of it. She was making too many mistakes. Mistakes that would get them killed. At least if they were under the protection of the aliens they stood a better chance of surviving with them than with her. It was time to admit defeat before she got them all killed.
“Take them,” she whispered, looking at Taylor’s battered body one last time before she turned away. “I’m done with having a family.”
“Jesse!” Jordan’s distressed cry echoed through the air.
Jesse ignored it. She closed her mind and body off to everything. The last bit of hope in humanity had been killed inside her. She could only hope the alien world would be a better, safer place for her sisters.
Chapter 8
Hunter released a curse under his breath. Jesse was walking away from them all. Her head held high and her back stiff. He could see the spots on the back of the tunic where fresh blood stained it from additional cuts. He glanced at Dagger and Saber before he nodded his head.
“Get them to the transport,” he ordered. “I will meet you there.”
“She won’t come willingly,” Saber commented in a dark voice filled with anger as he held Taylor’s body gently against his own.
Hunter’s mouth tightened in determination. He expected nothing less from the human female. She had been stubborn and completely unpredictable since the moment she risked her own life to save his.
“I would expect nothing less from her,” he muttered before he started after her.
“Hunter,” a soft feminine voice called out from behind him.
He turned to glance at Jordan who gazed back at him with sad eyes filled with tears. Her hand shook violently as she pushed her hair back from her face. His face softened when he saw her lips tremble as she tried to speak.
“Yes,” he said.
“She is hurting,” Jordan whispered. “She has tried to protect and care for us since our mom died and our dad was killed. Please, try to understand. She has never really let anyone take care of her.”
Hunter frowned before he gave a sharp nod. His eyes swept the area narrowing on the dark alley between two buildings. Already, Jesse was trying to disappear again. This time would be the last. He would tie her down if he had to. It was time she understood that he was going to take care of her and protect her from now on. She belonged to him.
..*
Jesse stumbled over the fallen concrete that blocked part of the alley. She ignored the sting of new cuts to the palms of her hands. It didn’t matter anymore. She was looking for trouble. She wanted it to find her. She wanted the pain to end. She wanted to scream as the image of Taylor’s limp body burned in her mind.
Guilt threatened to choke her as she fell, skinning her knees. She pushed herself up, forcing herself to continue moving. She stopped when she reached the next street. She looked up and down it trying to decide which way to go. It didn’t really matter. She was no longer searching for a way to get to the cabin her parents had owned. She didn’t plan on living through the night.