Chapter 5

Idid not like lying to my mate. Letting him think we needed to escape to Cleveland in order to alert someone to my situation was a lie. If I had stayed in that small room where they had been holding me, my soldiers would have found me. If I had stayed in Quincy's basement, my soldiers would have found me. And both rescues would have led to me being separated from Quincy.

One sexual encounter was not enough to solidify a mate bond. At least that was my understanding when attempting to secure such with a human. I knew Quincy was attracted to me and trusted me with his body—an excellent start to our relationship. I was already prepared to make him the center of my personal life, but I knew from observation and overheard conversations that humans needed far more courting to come to the same conclusion.

I did not have time to court Quincy. Once we arrived in Cleveland, I could not in good conscience continue to force him on this journey under the pretense of rescuing me. He might not even respond well should I attempt to explain why I had wanted to remain with him for as long as possible.

Watching Quincy defend and protect me was thrilling, though. His commitment to my safety was clear and had me smiling to know it was sincere. My Quincy Boone was a good man. The way he moved, reacted, and planned reminded me of my own training, in fact.

"Have you served in one of Earth's militaries?" I asked him as we sped down a road that seemed designed for unhindered acceleration.

He spared a glance at me. "Yeah, I was. Am? They kind of reactivated us all when you guys arrived. I don't have orders or anything, just a vague requirement to be ready. But I'm a Marine with the United States Marine Corps. You know the different countries of Earth, right?"

"Somewhat. This is America."

"Right. So I serve America against anyone who threatens us." His mouth quirked and he shrugged.

"Did you lose your leg in battle?" I put my hand on his thigh, running a finger along the edge of where his artificial leg hugged his natural one.

Quincy chuckled and briefly touched the back of my hand. "Most people assume it was a bomb, but I actually got shot three times in my calf, the bone shattered, and then there was an infection. Taking it was… Well, it was the best option to save my life."

He sounded unhappy but also resigned, like he wished for something better but knew that was unrealistic. I moved my hand away from the edge and curled my fingers around his inner thigh, offering comfort. In the few minutes of silence that passed, I caught scent of his desire and stuck my tongue out to gather more of it. One touch from me and he was aroused. I opened my mouth to ask him to find a place to stop the vehicle, but we were suddenly bumped by another driver.

"Son of a bitch," Quincy hollered. "Murray stole my goddamn truck!"

I looked around and found three men crammed into the front of a silver vehicle with a fourth man in an open area behind them. These humans were very determined. While I did not want to leave Quincy, I did need to alert the delegation to these abduction efforts. Boupha and Munni would have already explained everything that had happened to us, but they did not know about the humans' disturbing level of determination to contain me. Other patrols would need that information.

As I watched, the driver of Quincy's truck swerved toward us. Quincy must have seen the move coming because he quickly slowed our vehicle, letting the truck cut us off instead of hitting us. Horns sounded behind us as Quincy veered us to the other side of the road and took a large curved roadway that connected us to a different route. Looking behind us, I saw the truck follow at the last moment, their tires tearing up grass and leaving several vehicles stopped to avoid hitting them.

"They are following," I told Quincy.

"Goddamn it," he growled and accelerated toward a pack of vehicles.

I knew Quincy was driving to avoid capture, but that he reminded me of a fighter pilot in space—where there was very little to run into—had me gulping to keep my breakfast down. The speed was dizzying and it seemed the slightest movement of the wheel had enormous impact on our trajectory. And were we top heavy in this van? More than once it felt as though we might tip over on a turn.

Horns blared all around us as we disrupted the path of other vehicles, the sounds having an angry tone. I could tell Quincy was trying to not to bump anyone else, but twice I heard the screech of metal on metal. Our pursuers also rammed us, and the backend of our van pitch sideways.

Which was when we did tip over. It happened so fast, I barely had time to brace myself as the van rolled over several times. Had Quincy been strapped into his seat? Goddess, I hoped he was. I hit every surface within the vehicle until it thudded to a stop on its side.

"Quincy?" I hollered as I scrambled onto my feet. I'd tried to protect my head, but I knew I had taken a few hits and felt disoriented.

"I'm okay." He was strapped in, dangling now from being attached to the opposite side of the van than the one touching the ground. "Are you alright?"

I managed to get to him and brace him up so that he could remove the straps holding him. "Worry not about me. I believe they are stopping beside us."

Standing beside me now, Quincy took his gun from his pants. "That's it. I'm shooting the first one to look at me sideways."

I did not understand that reasoning, but it sounded as though Quincy was done with sparing lives. Truly, I could not blame him for his stance. The chasing and aggression needed to end. Not only were our lives being threatened but those of innocent bystanders as well.

I kicked open the back doors of the van and led the way out. Immediately, someone hollered for us to freeze.

Humans were delicate creatures. They had no natural protections, like scales or a thick hide, and even in times of conflict like this, they did not wear additional gear that might prevent injury. I made quick work of knocking three of them unconscious.

The fourth man, though, had a small torch. I needed to be careful with that as the fire could have dire consequences for me. I'd lost a member of my team to injuries from an explosion not so long ago when the burns had tunneled into his flesh and incinerated his spine. Though bullets were also a concern, fire was the one thing that could destroy me.

The man was nervous and twitchy, probably thrown off by being the last of his fellows still conscious. I lunged to try and grab his arm, but he spun and swung the torch toward me. I flinched away, and that seemed to give him more confidence because he came at me again and again, driving me back with the heat of that flame.

Suddenly, Quincy was there and grabbing the man from behind. He had ahold of the man's arm, the torch waving toward the sky, but the man was now struggling like a crazed animal. He twisted and bucked, worrying me that Quincy would now be the one to be injured.

I leapt forward to separate them. The man broke free of Quincy's hold. In an instant, I cried out from the intensely painful sensation of fire hitting directly where my bullet wound was still healing. The tender flesh immediately blistered as the burn sizzled into my arm.

Grabbing the spot and fighting through the pain, I saw Quincy spin the man around and punch him in the face. He went down immediately, his torch going out before it hit the grass. Desperate to get that thing away from someone who clearly had no issues with hurting me, I scooped the torch up and threw it into the road. A large vehicle immediately destroyed it with a satisfying crunch.

"Are you okay?" Quincy asked as he came over to me.

I removed my hand from the wound to look at the spot. I winced and looked away, Quincy catching my hand so I couldn't cover the spot up again.

"Jesus! How is that doing that? The burn's like… It's going right through you like kindling!"

He took his shirt off and wrapped it around my arm, pulling tight. Sweet of him, but nothing could help me now. I was going to lose my arm.

"We need water," he said as he looked around. "Come on, there's a building over there. I think it used to be a restaurant."

I concentrated on following him across the wide expanse of grass and shrubbery toward the building. It looked abandoned to me, but perhaps he knew something else about it. The pain was increasing, no doubt approaching the bone now. I needed to get him somewhere safe before I was rendered unconscious. If the humans rallied again and hurt Quincy while I was incapacitated, I would never forgive myself.

The building was abandoned, a fact that had Quincy cursing even as he kicked wooden boards away from a door. We went inside where it was lit only by what sunlight could seep through the cracks in the boards covering windows and other doors. I was breathing heavily now and the air smelled stale and musty. Most every useful item seemed to have been removed from the space, though there were several bench seats lining one wall and a pile of off-white linens on a leaning countertop. I grabbed one of the cloths and shook off the dust before stumbling over to one of the seats.

Quincy was right there when I dropped down to sit, and I hated to do this to him. It would be horrible, traumatizing, but it had to be done and I needed his help.

"I am sorry, Quincy," I began.

"Sorry? For what? It's not your fault that shithead burned you." He crouched down in front of me, a hand on my knee. "Just tell me how to help you. What do you need?"

"We must amputate my arm."

"What!"

"When the burn reaches the bone, it will spread along it. Nothing can stop it and it will continue throughout my entire body if left unchecked. The pain will render me unconscious soon." I could not stop the whine that left me as a sharp stabbing sensation happened. "I think it is close now. We have to do this. I am so sorry."

"Christ. Fuck." He swallowed hard and stood, keeping his hands on me. "If that's what has to happen, I guess just tell me what you need me to do."

"Take my hand and pull. I will do the rest with my claws."

Quincy took my hand, the both of us trembling.

"There will be blood," I said, "but it should stop quickly. Wrap my shoulder in the cloth to protect it. I will likely be unconscious."

He petted my fingers and nodded, his eyes wide and frightened.

"Ready?"

Quincy nodded again and held my arm out straight. I extended my claws and dug them into my shoulder. I was fairly certain both of us screamed as he pulled.