“If you won’t let Doc have it, then it’s got to die,” Kyle added, his voice a growl.
“You can’t keep it prisoner here,” Ian continued. “Eventually, it will escape and we’ll all be exposed.”
Jared didn’t speak, but he took one side step that put him directly in front of the opening to my cell.
My heart pumped hard and fast as I understood what the brothers were saying. Jared had won. I was not to be tortured. I was not to be killed—not immediately, anyway. Jared was keeping me prisoner.
It seemed a beautiful word under the circumstances.
I told you he would protect us.
“Don’t make this difficult, Jared,” said a new male voice I didn’t recognize. “It has to be done.”
Jared said nothing.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Jared. We’re all brothers here. But we will if you make us.” There was no bluff in Kyle’s tone. “Move aside.”
Jared stood rock still.
My heart started thumping faster than before, jerking against my ribs so hard that the hammering disrupted the rhythm of my lungs, made it difficult to breathe. Melanie was incapacitated with fear, unable to think in coherent words.
They were going to hurt him. Those lunatic humans were going to attack one of their own.
“Jared… please,” Ian said.
Jared didn’t answer.
A heavy footfall—a lunge—and the sound of something heavy hitting something solid. A gasp, a choking gurgle —
“No!” I cried, and launched myself through the round hole.
CHAPTER 16
Assigned
The ledge of the rock exit was worn down, but it scraped my palms and shins as I scrambled through it. It hurt, stiff as I was, to wrench myself erect, and my breath caught. My head swam as the blood flowed downward.
I looked for only one thing—where Jared was, so that I could put myself between him and his attackers.
They all stood frozen in place, staring at me. Jared had his back to the wall, his hands balled into fists and held low. In front of him, Kyle was hunched over, clutching his stomach. Ian and a stranger flanked him a few feet back, their mouths open with shock. I took advantage of their surprise. In two long, shaky strides, I moved between Kyle and Jared.
Kyle was the first to react. I was less than a foot from him, and his primary instinct was to shove me away. His hand struck my shoulder and heaved me toward the floor. Before I could fall, something caught my wrist and yanked me back to my feet.
As soon as he realized what he’d done, Jared dropped my wrist like my skin was oozing acid.
“Get back in there,” he roared at me. He shoved my shoulder, too, but it wasn’t as hard as Kyle’s push. It sent me staggering two feet back toward the hole in the wall.
The hole was a black circle in the narrow hallway. Outside the small prison, the bigger cave looked just the same, only longer and taller, a tube rather than a bubble. A small lamp—powered by what, I couldn’t guess—lit the hallway dimly from the ground. It cast strange shadows on the features of the men, turning them into scowling monster faces.
I took a step toward them again, turning my back to Jared.
“I’m what you want,” I said directly to Kyle. “Leave him alone.”
No one said anything for a long second.
“Tricky bugger,” Ian finally muttered, eyes wide with horror.
“I said get back in there,” Jared hissed behind me.
I turned halfway, not wanting Kyle out of my sight. “It’s not your duty to protect me at your own expense.”
Jared grimaced, one hand rising to push me back toward the cell again.
I skipped out of the way; the motion moved me toward the ones who wanted to kill me.
Ian grabbed my arms and pinned them behind me. I struggled instinctively, but he was very strong. He bent my joints too far back and I gasped.
“Get your hands off her!” Jared shouted, charging.
Kyle caught him and spun him around into a wrestling hold, forcing his neck forward. The other man grabbed one of Jared’s thrashing arms.
“Don’t hurt him!” I screeched. I strained against the hands that imprisoned me.
Jared’s free elbow rammed into Kyle’s stomach. Kyle gasped and lost his grip. Jared twisted away from his attackers and then lunged back, his fist connecting with Kyle’s nose. Dark red blood spattered the wall and the lamp.
“Finish it, Ian!” Kyle yelled. He put his head down and hurtled into Jared, throwing him into the other man.
“No!” Jared and I cried at the same moment.
Ian dropped my arms, and his hands wrapped around my throat, choking off my air. I clawed at his hands with my useless, stubby nails. He gripped me tighter, dragging my feet off the floor.
It hurt—the strangling hands, the sudden panic of my lungs. It was agony. I writhed, more trying to escape the pain than the murdering hands.
Click, click.
I’d only heard the sound once before, but I recognized it. So did everyone else. They all froze, Ian with his hands locked hard on my neck.
“Kyle, Ian, Brandt—back off!” Jeb barked.
No one moved—just my hands, still clawing, and my feet, twitching in the air.
Jared suddenly darted under Kyle’s motionless arm and sprang at me. I saw his fist flying toward my face, and closed my eyes.
A loud thwack sounded inches behind my head. Ian howled, and I dropped to the floor. I crumpled there at his feet, gasping. Jared retreated after an angry glance in my direction and went to stand at Jeb’s elbow.
“You’re guests here, boys, and don’t forget it,” Jeb growled. “I told you not to go looking for the girl. She’s my guest, too, for the moment, and I don’t take kindly to any of my guests killing any of the others.”