Anna had just put Shawn to bed when she decided it was time to get a shower. They had had family dinner and a game night. Shawn had picked "Chutes and Ladders" for the first game then Aggie wanted "Candyland". In both games Shawn had won. They had even had chocolate cake for dessert.
It was an unspoken rule in the house that chocolate cake was reserved for special occasions. Shawn had even asked what was going on that they needed to celebrate. When Anna had told her nothing, she had shrugged and dug into the chocolaty goodness.
They had watched a television show until nine. Then it was time to get ready for bed. Shawn had raced up the stairs as Anna chased after her. She had slammed the door and locked it. After a few minutes Anna had heard the shower running and Shawn singing a song she had learned in the school that day. It had given her about ten minutes to load the dishwasher.
When she had gone downstairs, Aggie had already been doing just that. She had smiled when her daughter had stared at her with nothing to say. She had shooed back up the stairs and had finished what she had started. Anna had gone up to her room and separated her laundry, changed into her pajamas, and washed her face. By the time Shawn had gotten out, she had been ready for bed as well.
Shawn had come racing in her room in her favorite PJs. She had jumped on the bed with a book. They had read for twenty minutes then Anna had chased her into bed. They had said their prayers and she had tucked her daughter in. After she had turned out the light, Anna had watched her settle in for the night. Serge had run right past her, and the big floppy dog jumped up on Shawn's bed. He turned once then settled down at the foot of the bed.
It was nearing ten-thirty and Anna was getting ready to go to bed as well. She was coming out of the bathroom when she heard a noise. Thinking it was her mother, she called out to her. Aggie didn't answer so Anna walked carefully down the hall to her mom's room. She was in her room listening to music. That knowledge set Anna's instincts on high alert.
As she went down the stairs, she didn't hit a light. She didn't want whoever was in her house to know she was on to them. She hit the bottom step and reached for the drawer to the desk. She pulled her gun from its holster and flicked the safety off. Quickly and silently, she looked through her house and found nothing. She did one more sweep then started back up stairs.
She had just deposited her gun back in its spot when she was grabbed from behind. Her training kicked in and she tried to fight back. She connected with her attacker's face once because she heard his nose break. She went for the solar plexus and hit it hard. The instep was next then she connected with the attacker's nose again, this time with her elbow. Not wanting to turn around, she aimed for the groin area. No matter what anyone said if a woman got hit in the groin, it hurt. Not as much as when a man got hit but it still hurt.
Anna was freed by using something she had learned off a movie. She grabbed her gun and ran up the stairs. She yelled for her mother then ran into Shawn's room. She woke her daughter up then yanked her from her bed. They went across the hall to Anna's room. Aggie met them. Anna slammed the door shut and locked it. She could hear Serge growling on the other side.
"Mommy, what's going on?" Shawn asked as Anna began putting her shoes on.
"Quiet, sweetie." She tied the final knot in the girl's shoes then looked to her mom. "I need you to climb out the window and take Shawn went you. Someone is in the house. I need you safe."
Aggie shook her head even as she pulled her shoes on. "Dear, what do I do once I get outside?"
"Get in the car and drive to the police department. Tell them what happened." She reached under her bed and pulled another handgun. "Take this. It's another one registered in my name. They'll know it's true."
Anna was helping Shawn go out the window when the door fell in. Shawn screamed as a man attacked her mother. Aggie yanked her granddaughter through the window as Anna went toe to toe with their attacker as Serge dodged in and out nipping at his ankles.
***
Paycen jerked awake. He was feeling Anna's fear. Something was going on at her house. He didn't waste any time. He contacted Keldin and Alex then woke Emery up. His best friend was disoriented but when he said their hunch had been right, the other man was up and stuffing his feet into shoes. Keldin and the other nine showed up in their living room ready to go.
Due to Paycen being the only one who knew the address of Anna's home, they had to hold hands to Shadow-Walk. It was a really sickening feeling when nine people were floating around in a head while a person was bending space and time to get to another area. When their feet hit solid ground, they had to take a minute to clear their heads.
Emery was the first to move. He went through the back door just as Keldin commanded his team to secure the house. Alex's team was to secure the outside of the house. Paycen's goal was to find Anna and get her and her family to safety. He would let the others take the guys out. He moved into the house and was pulled towards the upstairs. Landen moved with him, quickly going before him when he sensed something that wasn't right.
Paycen didn't know what happened. One minute Landen is in front of him and the next he's wrestling with a man on the floor. Paycen jumped over the two and went into the bedroom. Anna was fighting another guy as Aggie and Shawn stared in horror out on the ledge. Paycen saw red as he yanked the guy by his collar and slammed him down into the floor. He stared at the guy just before he slammed his fist into his face.
He heard Abby, Keldin, and Cougar call out all clear. He had to call but there was no way he could. Anger had taken over and he had to protect his mate. Out of the corner of his eye, Aggie handed Shawn off to someone. It had to be one of the men outside. Then Aggie dropped from sight.
He was still holding his man when he felt a soothing hand on his arm. He looked over and saw Anna trying to calm him. She sucked in a breath when she looked him in the face. His eyes were blazing silver by now. It happened when they were really angry or really tired. Either way it always scared normal people when it happened.
But Anna was taking it all in stride. She was talking to him, trying to calm him down. She was doing what he had wanted someone to do all his life.
Without realizing what he was doing, he had dropped the man and pulled her into a hug. Anna didn't pull away; she simply melted into his touch. He felt her exhilaration because he had initiated contact first. He didn't care that he had to be careful not to pull her too far into this just yet. She had been in danger because of him and he wanted to make it right.
"Payce." Emery's voice was soft as he came in the room. He saw his friend tense then turn his head ever so slightly. "Aggie and Shawn are safe. The home is secure. We need to get out of the house before we contaminate the crime scene."
Anna grabbed his face and made him look at her. "Paycen, he's right. We need to go outside. Come on. Let's go."
Emery was in slight shock as his best friend listened to her. Anna took his hand, stood, and led him from the room. Landen stepped back and let the trio leave the room. He looked at Emery and the other guy shrugged. They followed the two down the stairs and out the door.
Shawn ran straight for her mother. She jumped in her arms and buried her face in her neck. Anna tried her best to console her child but she was starting to shake as shock set in. Sirens interrupted the quiet neighborhood. Neighbors started to filter out of their houses to see who was getting arrested. None of them knew what had really happened.
Alex and Keldin handled the police and the transfer of prisoners. Emery and Deuce kept a tight perimeter around the four sitting on the steps. Paycen was still hyped up on energy so having him talk to someone was not a good idea. They needed to get his mind off everything.
"Why don't we move them to our safe house," Emery said. He got his friend's attention. "The only ones who know where we are staying are the ones who came with us. We can work in shifts. Some can stay with us at the safe house with the mother and daughter while you work with Anna at the department."
"Anna," Abby said. The blond headed woman turned to look at the woman who had helped save her life. "Shawn and Aggie will be safe. We won't let anyone touch them."
"This won't work if Paycen doesn't agree," Cougar said.
They all looked at the man in question. He was holding his head in his hands. Emery could feel he was suffering from a headache. He motioned to Deuce and the other Healer placed his hand on the back of Paycen's neck. It took a few seconds for it to take effect but when it did, his shoulders slumped. Deuce nodded when he pulled his hand away. It was Keldin who got Paycen's attention.
The auburn haired Leader snapped his fingers. "Paycen, listen to me. Take them back to your house. We'll reconvene in the morning. Right now they need sleep and you need to come down from your high." When he didn't say anything, Keldin looked up at his team. "Cougar, help Emery get him home. Abby, take the ladies with them. I want them off the streets. We're about to have a shit storm of media come through."
"They're about to have a field day with this aren't they?" Landen asked. Keldin nodded. "Deuce and I will stay behind to help handle the media."
"Just don't lose your tempers. We can't handle three guys off the handle," Abby said as she patted the guys on their chests. She extended a hand to Anna. "You're going to have some questions but make sure you ask them after this."
Anna didn't know what she was talking about, but she took her hand and followed her in the house. They all walked inside. Cougar cleared the area once again then took Paycen under his arm. Abby took a hold of Aggie and Anna. Anna tightened her hold on Shawn seconds before they were yanked from this plane of existence. She wanted to scream but it died in her throat.
Seconds later she appeared in a nicely furnished beach house. Shawn was suddenly giddy as she squirmed to get out of her mother's grip. Anna set her on the floor as she tried to wrap her mind around everything that was happening. Men had attacked her family, Paycen's eyes had turned silver, and now they were miles away from her home. She had no idea how the latter had happened but she was here.
The others were sitting Paycen on the couch. She couldn't stop Shawn from running over to him and climbing in his lap. She started pulling at his eyelids. Shockingly, Paycen allowed her to do what she wanted. He watched her with tired eyes. She must have said something because the man suddenly smiled. Everyone who knew him shifted uncomfortably. This was obviously a side of Paycen they had never seen.
Shawn yawned then snuggled into his shoulder. She was playing with the pendant of his necklace when she fell asleep. Paycen leaned his head back and looked content just to sit there with the child on his lap. Assured that their friend wasn't going to do anything stupid like lose his temper, the others sat down across from Anna and Aggie. They were all serious now. Aggie broke the silence.
"So you're members of that race that recently came out?" she asked. Anna sighed. Leave it to her mother to get right to the point.
Abby smiled, enjoying the bluntness of the older woman. "Yes, ma'am, we are."
"How did we get here?"
"It's something we call Shadow-Walking. We can bend space and time to go from one place to another. The way it works is we have to use our telepathic powers to bind your mind to ours for the transport. If we had slipped, we could have easily lost one of you in a wall." She stopped then turned to Paycen and Emery. "Didn't Austin get his foot stuck in a wall one time?"
Emery laughed. "Yeah. It served him right too because he was showing off for Connor."
"Who's Connor?" Anna asked.
"Connor is Austin's son. He's expecting his second child in a few months."
"Who's after us?"
Everyone directed their gazes to Paycen. He was relaxed with Shawn in his lap. It relaxed them but he had to explain all of this. It could only come from him. Since it dealt with his mate, he had to be the one taking control of the situation. He stood and passed Shawn off to Abby. The woman understood the silent order, took the girl then headed down the hall. A door opened and closed.
"We're still working on the people who have been attacking those working in law enforcement, medicine and fire departments. Tyler's gone through half of the people working in Alex's office. It's a good thing Alex is here because it would have been harder to do all of this with him breathing down their necks. He tends to get a little defensive over his stuff," Paycen said.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Upon going through everyone's names, Tyler found a notice that said the next target. There was a reason behind it too. Your name popped up and it was stated that your mother and daughter were to be killed. They had names, birthdays, ages, and your address."
She stared at him. "You knew about it?" He nodded silently. Then something hit. "That's why you left Serge with me."
Paycen knew it wasn't a question. He had been up front about it. He had told her their suspicions. He just hadn't outright said that it was going to happen. In reality they hadn't known it was going to happen so soon. They had thought they had a couple of more days before they attacked. But Anna was on a two day leave so it made sense.
The woman surprised him yet again with her resilience. She leaned forward with her hands dangling between her knees and met his eyes. He was certain they were still silver but she wasn't backing down.
"What do we do?" she asked.
The other men laughed. A tremor of anger went through Paycen as her face hardened in annoyance. He turned his gaze to his friends. They quit laughing but the smiles were still there. Anna felt as if they knew something she didn't and she was going to find out what it was.
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"I don't think there's any way you can help," Cougar said.
She bristled. "And why not?"
"We have a feeling Paycen would kill us if you did," Emery replied.
"I've worked this case until now. There is no way you're going to take me off of it."
There was a popping noise and eight more men, plus one floppy dog, appeared from the kitchen. Keldin led the way. His eyes swept across the room then settled on Paycen. His face was set in hard lines. It took two seconds to understand what was going on.
"You might as well tell her now," he said. "Remember what Rowan went through when Camille found out."
Camille had lost her absolute mind when she found out she was Rowan's mate. Rowan hadn't told her because he had been afraid someone would have gone after her. He had been right and the news had come out in the middle of the fight. The Sector 8 Healer still had scars from where she threw a butcher knife at him. And he was the strongest Healer in the States.
Paycen ran his hands over his dog's face as the white animal plopped his butt on his shoes. He looked up at Anna. She was still staring at him. He had to give her answers before she freaked out on him and figured out how to contact Austin. Once she did that it was all over for him. He would rather face forty armed men than one severely pissed off Sector Leader.
Aggie scoffed. "Son, there's nothing you can say that would make us think you are any scarier than you are now. Your eyes are glowing silver and you have a gun strapped to you thigh. What more can you say?"
Paycen dropped his hands to Serge's scruff. "The reason we… No. The reason I want to pull you off this case is because you're my mate."
That's when all hell broke loose.