Jump Up - Susi Hawke Page 0,7

turns spying on the OPEN EYES people and entertained each other by reporting back. Too bad Mr. Dickhead Sal Dominguez wasn't as familiar with shifters as he pretended. If he were, I doubt he would have camped so close to a village made up entirely of them.

Clay volunteered to stay with Luis and guard the bus when Gil pointed out that while the villagers were friendly, other tribes and peoples in this jungle weren't as trustworthy. Plus, the locals weren’t above curiously going through our shit if we left it unguarded.

Logistics settled, I took off running with my other brothers in puma form. Shifting and letting my puma take control was a relief. Following the Jeep’s tracks had been child’s play. Even after all these days, the gas fumes could still be detected in an otherwise pristine environment. Plus, the occasional tire track when they went through muddy areas didn't hurt.

My brothers and I ran ahead, our pumas easily picking up the trail while Gil and the brood followed in human form. I'm not sure what they were expecting, but I was amused when they met up with us, fully outfitted in tactical gear with enough weapons to take out several rebel armies.

Not only had they come prepared, they'd also been thoughtful enough to bring the clothes we'd left behind after shifting. With a flurry of hand motions, Gil had a couple guys dropping our clothes in front of us, while the rest spread out and circled around the small hut. Out of tradition, my brothers and I did a quick rock-paper-scissors match to decide who was going to check it out.

After I took the best four out of five, Gil rolled his eyes and motioned for me to follow him. Okay, I guess we're going to be a team for this part too. I gave a mental shrug, and the two of us slipped over to the hut and carefully listened outside the sole window.

Before we even got close, I heard the screams, so I wasn't surprised to see Shane being brutally interrogated when I peered through the window. His eyes were swollen shut, and the parts of his skin not sliced or flayed open were battered and bruised. Clearly, he'd spent his six days of captivity being tortured by the two large—but entirely human—men inside the hut.

Gil sucked in a breath when one of the men poured salt over a fresh wound before laying a piece of silver over it. Fuck, these guys weren't taking any chances. After his screaming died down, Shane moaned nothing but gibberish as the other man questioned him.

"This is your last chance, Shane. We're done playing nice. A chopper is picking us up at the rendezvous point tonight so we can catch our flight to Glasgow. If you want to be on that plane, then fucking tell us who you've been talking to and every detail of this double-cross you tried to pull. If you don't talk, we will leave you here for the bugs and rats to eat. Based on the creepy-ass ants we saw yesterday, I doubt they'll even wait until you're dead to start chowing down."

Both men paused while Shane moaned more nonsense. The man doing the interrogation ran a frustrated hand over his bald head with an audible huff. "Keep an eye on him, Tommy. I'm going to step outside and have a cigarette while I check in."

We didn’t need to hear any more. Gil and I slipped around the corner and waited. The clicking of his lighter was my cue our mark was out in the open. I held a “gimme a sec” finger up to Gil and motioned for my brothers, who I knew were not only watching but raring to go.

While the man focused on lighting his smoke, Gibby and Dear—still in puma form—pounced toward his front. Dan and I came at him from opposite sides, our guns pulled and leveled at him before he had a chance to go for his own. He screamed for Tommy, like that would save either of them.

As soon as the door swung open, several members of Gil's brood backflipped down from the fucking roof and pinned Tommy flat on his back, while a bunch of others efficiently swarmed from the sides to tie him up. While his partner took in a lungful, I lifted an eyebrow and scowled at the man’s stinky cig, clicking the safety off my gun.

I held my gun against his head. "Okay, buddy. You saw