Jared (19 page)

“Good shot!” Nicole took her shoes off doing the same thing, but her throwing had a lot more power behind it almost knocking him off balance.

He stopped
,
looking up at them with a loud growl. His eyes landed on Tessa and he grinned. “There!” He pointed right at her as the others looked up moving faster.

“Dammit!” Nicole stood up making the basket rock dangerously. “Come on!” She started to climb out of the basket.

Tessa grabbed the back of the basket and the railing to steady herself as she stood. “You might not splatter, but I will.” She followed the way Nicole had gone, but she couldn’t reach the rail.

“Come on Tessa!” Nicole looked past Tessa and the look in her eyes told her she was about out of time.

Looking down Tessa saw others had follow
ed
suit and was throwing shoes and whatever else they had at the three
half-breed
s climbing quickly up the Ferris Wheel, but it was only pissing them off and not slowing them down at all.

“Just go!” Tessa demanded. “Get out of her
e
.”

“Grab my hand dammit.” Nicole reached down, their fingertips touching. “Jump!”

Tessa did
,
su
rprised when Nicole grasp
ed
her hand.

“I am going to swing you up and you better grab on tight.” Nicole yelled.

Saying a prayer Tessa felt herself being lifted so fast her eyes closed, but then popped open looking for something to grab on to.
Glancing
down she screamed. “Watch out!”

Nicole looked under her in time to see the
half-breed
reaching for her foot. Bringing her leg up she let loose with a kick straight down to the top of his head knocking him down a few feet. “Go! Go!” Nicole swung to the other side of the rail climbing up.

Surprised at how fast she could climb Tessa kept close to Nicole trying not to look down. The thought of all the scary movies she had ever watched and bitched at the actress being an idiot for going up to the top of a building or in a house
…
she now understood. There was no way she was going to go down.

“You’ll pay for that bitch!” The
half-breed
snarled making a leap toward them.

“Damon!” Nicole screamed at the top of her lungs
when
the
half-breed
landed on her legs
, quickly crawl
ing
up her body
. Hanging on with one hand Nicole back elbowed him in the face.

His howl of pain turned into a growl of outrage
. “You’re going for a ride bitch
.”

Tessa reached around clawing him down the face. “Get off her!”

His grip tightened around Nicole’s stomach trying to pry her from the rail, but her grip was true and strong. His fangs elongated as he reared his head back to strike at her neck.

“No!” Tessa screamed trying to kick him off Nicole without losing her grip.

Damon landed on the opposite rail grabbing the
half-breed
by the hair stopping the fangs inches from his mate
’
s neck. “You will die for that breed.”

The
half-breed
hissed at Damon
,
his eyes a deep
burning
red. “Fuck you warrior!”

Damon looked at Nicole for a split second then gave a slight nod. Tessa watched Nicole’s grip tighten on the rail as she leaned her chin into her chest
slowly then
with
lightning
speed she whipped her head back butting the
half-breed
in the face. Surprised at the attack
his grip on Nicole loosened enough for Damon to get a grip on him and pull him away
,
tossing him in the air and away from them as the breed had wanted to do with Nicole.

Before Tessa could breath
e
a sigh of relief she
felt a hand on her foot. Panicked
,
she looked down meeting the mismatched eyes of another
half-breed
. Lifting
her other foot she kicked down feeling accomplishment until he looked back up at her
,
his eye flashing red, his mouth curled in a nasty snarl.

“Ah crap!” Tessa tried to pull herself up and away from him, but he caught her leg again giving her a rough tug. Her hand clawed at the rail, but it was useless, she was going down.

Her shoulder rammed a basket as she tumbled down
,
her arms grasping at anything, but only catching air. Her th
ought
process at that moment went to the moment Jared had said he would keep her safe. She could even hear his voice and his face was so clear in h
er
mind
it was startling
. Where the hell was he?

Pain like she had never felt before gripped her head. “Where you think you’re going?” Another
half-breed
caught
her
by the hair
.

Tessa’s scream of pain echoed throughout the fairgrounds. Tears
of pain
soaked her
cheeks
as nausea pushed to the back of her throat.
She lifted
her hands to the hands
clinging to
her hair
trying
to take
some of the pressure off. He shook her by the hair causing Tessa to scream even louder.

She couldn’t believe he hadn’t pulled her hair out by the roots. Deep down she wished he would
just
to stop the excruciating pain. Suddenly the pressure was taken off her scalp
when
strong arms grabbed her around the waist
tossing
her
into one of the baskets.

“Watch out!” Tessa shouted seeing movement behind Jared. The
half-breed
who had held her by the hair fought his way from Sid and threw himself at Jared jumpin
g on his back. People still on the Ferris Wheel near where Jared and the
half-breed
fought
screamed,
their baskets swayed dangerously. Tessa was too frightened to scream, it was frozen in her throat.
She watched in horror as the
half-breed
pulled out a thick silver chain trying to wrap it around Jared’s neck. With no thought to her own safety she tried to grab it before it could make contact with Jared.

“Get back!” Jared shouted at her as he punched the breed in the face repeatedly hissing when the chain made contact.
“How the fuck do you kill these bastards?” Jared grabbed the breed around the throat.

Adam was climbing up toward them. “Stab them in the heart.” He shouted to the warriors.

Jared did
n’t
question the kid
,
he caught the double edged knife Sid tossed him sinking it deep into the
half-breed
’s
heart. “Son of a bitch.” Jared eyes opened
wide as the
half-breed
dropped dead. Tossing him away he
threw
his body in front of Tessa as a gunshot went off.

“Guess I forgot to tell you we have a heartbeat.” Adam cringed.

“Ah, yeah
.” Jared snarled. “You left that
important information out.” He had never heard of a
half-breed
having a heartbeat.

“Tessa Pride!” A male voice bellowed throughout the fairgrounds. Another gunshot went off. “Tessa Pride!
Come
out...come
out wherever you are.
”

Looking over the railing Tessa watched
half-breed
s fall in behind a large man who was walking toward the Ferris Wheel.
Chills like she had never
felt
before chased up and down her body.
Jared pushed her back further in the basket.

“I know you’re here, but if you want to play then I can play too.” His voice boomed across the suddenly quiet fairgrounds.

Tessa saw a familiar figure being pushed toward the front of the group. “
Gramps
!
” Tessa cried out almost falling out of the basket.

Jared cursed
,
grabbing her around the waist to hold her back. The large
half-breed
’s
eyes zeroed in on the movement, on Tessa. “There you are.” His smiled turned to evil glee.
“Come on down here Tessa.”

Looking up at Damon something passed between the two warriors, but all Tessa could do was stare in horror at her
grandfather
who looked so frail and frightened. “Please Jared.” She struggled to get away from him.

“Don’t even try it warriors.” The
half-breed
in charge and the one calling for Tessa growled. “I will kill him with no remorse.”

“What do you want?” Jared snarled down at him.

The
half-breed
s cold laughter echoed throughout the grounds before his mismatched eyes shot to Tessa. “My mate.”

“I hope to fuck he said plate.”
Sid sighed shaking his head when Jared growled deep and loud. “And my hopes are dashed.”

Never had Jared felt more rage then he did at that moment.
It stormed through his body making him want to leap to the ground and kill the
half-breed
, but his training stopped him.

“Where in the hell is
our
back up?” Jared scanned the area below, but only s
aw
half-breed
s and they were way outnumbered.

“On their way.” Sid poised outside the basket. “I’m good for about three
…maybe four of those
ugly ass
bastards
.”

“You go for her grandfather.” Jared looked up at Damon and the rest sending them quick messages. When they all nodded he looked down at Tessa whose frightened eyes looked back to his. “Listen to Nicole.”

“
What do you mean listen to Nicole?
What are you doing?” Tessa clung to his arm a little tighter.
Looking back at the crowd under them all she saw was mismatched eyes staring up at them.
“
You can’t go down there. It’s suicide.”

“It’s what I do.” He pulled her a little closer to him leaning close. “Stay with Nicole until I can get back to you. She knows what to do.”

“There has to be another way.” Tessa glanced at her
Gramps
and knew in her heart that if she wanted to see her grandfather again th
is was going to be the only way.
“Let me go. He wants me, then you can get my grandfather.”

His growl was low, but deep. “Never would I hand you over to anyone.” His eyes turned blacker if that was even possible. With everything that was about to come down
,
a smile tipped his lips. “Trust me.”

Tessa’
s heart beat a quick tempo in her chest. Her instinct fought for control, but her heart won out and she nodded. “I trust you.”

“Stay safe.” And with a wink he flipped out of the basket to the ground in one fluid movement, his focus on what had to be done. He didn’t even flinch as Sid, Damon, Steve, Adam and Jill landed
by
his side. As a unit they moved forward.

“
You got a plan?” Sid eyed
Gramps who stood
to the left of him. Only one
half-breed
stationed
by his side.

“Yeah…win.” Jared’s eyes swept the enemy assessing the situation. It didn’t look good.

Damon nodded. “Good plan.”

Sid snorted shaking his head.
“I love this shit.”

Adam glanced over at Sid. “Are you crazy?”

“Oh yeah.” Sid grinned. “Just wait. You’re about to get as crazy as me.”

The cocking of a shotgun
turned everyone’s attention. “Thought you all might need a little help.”
Sheriff Otis Bowman stepped up beside them. “Seems you’re a little outnumbered.”

“Guess you got silver bullets in that shotgun?” Sid rolled his eyes.

“Hell ya.” The sheriff spat out. “Don’t use anything else.”

“Silver don’t faze us.”
Adam said looking toward his grandfather. Even though he hated the sheriff he knew they needed help
.

“But I thought silver was deadly for your kind.”

“Not for
half-breed
s.” Adam sneered. “
Guess you’ll have to find another way to kill our kind.”