Chapter Six
Becoming a Siren…
It had been eight weeks since Kaelen left, and I hadn’t heard a peep from him. Was he hurt? Dead? Or had the explosion destroyed our link, and the Central Molecular Zone prevented him from contacting me again? Who knew.
Dad refused to let me anywhere near Uncle Ben or the portal.
So, General Jones moved me to his very secure ranch complete with an underground bunker to recuperate.
He told me to call him Uncle Saul and introduced me to his nieces.
Kaylee, Sarah, Samantha and I became instant best buddies.
We had some wild parties and a lot of good times.
They taught me how to ride a horse, herd cattle and psychically track the Tai-Kok.
Once I learned how to search our solar system with my mind, I was drafted into becoming a Siren. The Tai-Kok fighters don’t show up on our radar, and we are the early warning system that keeps the human race from becoming an all-you-can-eat banquet for the Tai-Kok.
The one good thing that resulted from the Tai-Kok's attacks was that they unified humanity. For the first time in recorded history every country on Earth joined forces to fight the alien invaders and Central Command was born with General Saul Jones at the helm in the United States.
With the loss of so many ships, the Tai-Kok retreated to the moon and changed their method of attack.
They began hitting us with an electromagnetic pulse that knocked out the power and our communications.
After that you had about ten minutes to find a hiding spot before the Marauders unleashed their stun rays.
Anyone caught out in the open woke up to a monster chowing down on their innards.
To counter that, Central Command immediately started building underground bunkers for civilians to take cover in when the Tai-Kok attacked.
After three months of convalescing, Quinn Jones, the head of the Siren program, called me. “The doctor has cleared you to return to duty.”
“Great! I can finally take out that Tai-Kok ship hiding behind the moon.”
“No. You have been assigned to me. You will continue your Siren duties and your education at my bunker.”
I scowled. I had my GED and had been taking online college classes. “I can be a Siren anywhere and I’m really good at killing monsters.”
“You are still a child, and you will do as you are told.”
I wasn’t a stupid kid, I was a warrior, and he needed to realize that.
“Pack your bag. I’ll pick you up in an hour.” Quinn disconnected before I could respond.
An evil smile curved my mouth. When the jerk arrived, I would be long gone. Dad would be pissed, but what the hell. The Tai-Kok needed killing. I quickly packed my stuff, grabbed my Glock, and strapped on the gun belt Uncle Saul had given me.
Stopping in the kitchen, I helped myself to some bottled water and trail mix. Since Uncle Saul had been a great host, I left him a note on the counter and headed to the garage.
It took me five minutes to hot-wire Uncle Saul’s old Ford truck. I calmly drove it up to the guard at the front gate. “Hey, Bill, I’m heading into town for some female hygiene stuff. Need anything?”
“No.” Bill blinked and frowned. “You’re not sensing any hostiles?”
“Nope and I’m armed if anyone is stupid enough to attack me.” I gave him a big smile. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Okay.” He opened the gate.
Keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, I drove off, muttering, “Don’t call Uncle Saul. Don’t call Uncle Saul.” I blew out a relieved breath when he closed the gate.
I headed west. It would take me about eight to ten hours to reach Uncle Ben’s bunker. Once Quinn realized I was gone he would call Uncle Saul or my father, and it would get interesting.
Forty minutes later, I turned north onto Highway 77 and was forced to slow down to avoid all the potholes. Damn. I hadn’t realized the road was this bad. The last thing I needed was a flat tire.
“Where are you?” Quinn demanded in my head.
Rats. He had arrived early. I strengthened my mental shields and ignored him.
“Answer me!”
Not a chance in hell. I was pretty sure he wasn’t strong enough to breach my shields.
Quinn probed my mental defenses. “I will find you.”
Now he sounded like Battle Commander Kaelen. I eased around a huge hole. At this rate, it was going to take me two days to just get to Nevada.
The pressure in my head vanished.
Hmmm. Was he giving up? Not a chance. Who would he call first? Dad or Uncle Saul?
A horrific clanking noise sounded from the engine. “Shit!” I had left my satellite phone behind, and I knew nothing about fixing cars. “C’mon. C’mon. Just get me to Show Low.”
“You stole Uncle Saul’s old truck,” Quinn announced smugly.
I didn’t steal it. I borrowed it, sorta.
“There’s a reason Uncle Saul doesn’t drive it. It needs a water pump.”
There was a horrible grinding screech and a geyser of steam suddenly sprouted from under the hood. “No! No! No!” The truck went into a series of sickening little lurches, gave a hissing gurgle and died.
“It’s going to be a hundred and eight today. Enjoy your walk,” Quinn said sarcastically.
God, did I want to hit him. I restarted the engine. There was an ear-shattering screech, the truck crow-hopped about fifty feet, shuddered and died again. I banged on the steering wheel. “Sonovabitch!”
Through the windshield all I could see was an endless vista of cactus, sand and sagebrush. Damn.
Jake announced in my head, “It’s never a good idea to piss off Quinn.”
“He’s a prick and I’m not working for him.” I stuffed the water and trail mix into my bag and started walking.
“You’re a kid, you don’t really have a choice.”
“Yeah, I do.”
Jake sighed. “He’s calling your father.”
“Gee, I’m shaking in my boots.” The sizzling caress of the sun turned my hike into a nightmare. What little breeze there was felt like it came straight from hell. I eased my sweat-soaked T-shirt away from my body. Maybe working for Quinn wouldn’t be so bad.
“Tired yet?” Quinn inquired.
I gave him a mental one-fingered salute and wiped at the sweat slithering down my face.
Through the quivering waves of heat a weather-beaten building appeared like some kind of mirage. The rusted sign proclaimed: Pedro’s Cantina.
Every nerve in my body coiled with tension at the sudden awareness of danger. I frowned. There had to be at least a dozen fancy armored vehicles in the parking lot.
“What’s wrong?” Jake demanded.
I sent him a mental picture of the parking lot. “Doesn’t it seem a bit odd to pick such an isolated spot for a meeting?”
“Dammit! Those are Mexican plates. We got intel that the Sinaloa cartel was meeting with the Sonoran Mafia. Get out of there,” Jake growled.
My psychic radar went on red alert. I was surrounded by heavily armed men. “Too late.” Drawing on my limited acting skills, I moaned and fainted under a convenient Palo Verde tree.
Someone took my Glock and jabbered something in Spanish.
All I understood was El Jeje and Siren. El Jefe was Spanish for boss. I should have paid more attention in class instead of flirting with Oscar.
A man reeking of body odor and tequila picked me up and grunted.
I smothered a grin. I was six feet tall and weighed one hundred and seventy pounds. Bet, I just gave him a hernia.
“Pretending to faint is the best plan you could come up with?” Quinn groused.
Jake interjected, “Enough Quinn, she’s surrounded by gunmen.”
Mister Stinky huffed and puffed as he carried me inside the cantina and dumped me on the bar.
Cracking an eye open, I took a quick look around. There were about twenty men inside the bar and all of them were armed to the teeth.
“Why did you bring her inside?” A harsh voice asked in English.
Mister Stinky held up my right arm and tapped my bracelet. “She’s a Siren. You said you wanted one.”
“I do. Wake her up.”
The ass dumped a pitcher of water on my face.
Sputtering, I sat up and went into my not-too-bright bimbo act. “Where am I? What happened?”
“You passed out,” Mister Stinky replied.
I frowned in confusion. “I did?”
“How did you get here?” El Jefe was an ugly Hispanic man in a ten-thousand-dollar suit.
“My... My… My truck broke down,” I stammered. “Could I use your phone to call a tow truck?”
El Jefe looked at Mister Stinky. “Check it out.”
Mister Stinky nodded and left.
“You’re a Siren?”
I beamed at him. “I am. I just finished my training and I’m being assigned to Siren headquarters.”
“You work for me now,” El Jefe snapped.
Pasting a bewildered look on my face, I gasped, “I do? Central Command never said anything.”
El Jefe backhanded me. “You will do as you are told.”
“We are five minutes out. Don’t do anything stupid,” Quinn commanded.
Wiping the blood off my busted lip, I dropped my eyes submissively and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Are you a virgin?” El Jefe demanded.
My temper flared to life. If that ass put his hands on me, all bets were off. “None of your business.”
“Never mind. I’ll find out for myself; I like breaking in virgins.
” Grabbing a handful of my hair, El Jefe ground his mouth against mine and squeezed my left breast painfully.
An icy rage vibrated through every cell of my body.
No one touched me but Kaelen. I hit El Jefe with every ounce of telekinetic power I could summon.
His mouth hanging open in surprise, El Jefe flew backward. His body slammed into the blacked-out window, shattering it into a million pieces and he landed with a thump on the hood of a Humvee in the parking lot.
Quinn bellowed, “What the hell, Lexi?”
“He touched me.”
“So what?”
“No one touches me but Kaelen.” I frowned. Where had that come from?
A gun battle erupted outside the cantina. “Keep your head down,” Jake ordered.
I dove behind the bar as El Jefe’s goons started shooting at me. The barrage of bullets blew apart the fancy mirror and the display of expensive bottled liquor. I flinched as shards of glass rained down on me. I needed a weapon, or I was going to get dead fast.