Project Trouble X Three

Dedicated to PenumbraMINE, N.Y.O.B. and oddball. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I love all your comments and the way y'all push me to be better.

Thank you all

Recap

He took a deep breath and stood in the guy’s path. “Am iI invited to join too?”

I watched the men stiffen and stop in their tracks. “You want to join? I would have thought you were tired of the women after that scratched you,” one of the guys asked. I knew there was more to the story than Martim wanted them to know. I didn’t believe a word the men were saying, knowing Martim had scratched himself. I don’t know how I was so sure but I was.

“I can handle a little wild cat,” Martim said but I could tell he meant me. I flushed again as my jaguar started yipping in excitement. I rolled my eyes at her, knowing full well she would be testing to see if Martim was worthy of us. I was made to watch a lengthy and uncomfortable video on jaguars mating rituals. I wasn’t sure who they used for the jaguar porn but I never wanted to see it again.

“But, now you are imagining our mate as one of the jaguars, right?”

Cats POV

Dammit she had me there. I shook my head at my jaguar and ignored her before I could catch fire. All I needed was for the jaguars to smell me.

“Well, by all means, if you want to join in while we gang rape her,” the stupid man voiced.

Uh-oh.

“But there won’t be a gang rape. I’m going to take her for my own and you won’t touch her when I find her,” Martim purred as the men dropped back into a fighter stance. I could already see how this was going to go.

Fucking idiots!

The idiots didn’t get one step closer to Martim before he snapped a blade into each of their chests. I knew he was going to kill them quickly. I watched as he dragged the bodies away from our home, making sure they couldn’t be traced back to him. He sprayed some chemical on them and laid them down in a double grave he had dug for them.

The next thing I knew he was walking through the door into the tree house. He was quick and silent. I realized he had used the vines he had used to get down to the first guy’s.

Damn, quick and deadly.

I like.

I heard the hatch open but I didn’t move. I was waiting on him to call my name and when he did I quietly scrambled out of the hole. I hugged him and checked him over as if I was patting him down as he laughed.

“I don’t have a scratch on me, Cat.”

“Okay, Tarzan,” I joked, smiling at the crazy man. “Impressive swing through the trees.”

“Oh, shit, back in, Cat. Be very quiet, it’s the twins.” He helped me in and I watched as he moved to the kitchen and sprayed something in his cup, sloshing it around and dripping some on the floor. I moved slowly and quietly. When I was around the bend I snapped into the harness and noticed a quick release and a diagram on the wall, only it was in some code, one I had seen before. I read it quickly and understood what I needed to do if I saw someone by the tube entrance.

I heard one of the twins call up to Martim, asking him to come down. I made sure to watch him climb down as I looked the twins over. I could tell one of them was the cartel leader and the other was an enforcer. It was the way they stood that made them stand out. Their backs were straight, heads held high, their eyes taking in their surroundings. The enforcer’s eyes and head swiveled all around him, taking in his surroundings. He was very watchful of any sudden movements towards his brother. I made sure to study him first. I was trying to see if he had a weak side.

I focused on the leader. He wasn’t as careful of his surroundings, knowing his brother kept watch. By no means did this make him less careful. He was wary of his surroundings but more laid back for some reason. It came to by the way he was talking to Martim. He trusted Martim to have his back. He trusted him because he thought Martim was like him - cold, cruel, willing to do anything he needed, and dangerous. I knew he could be dangerous by the flash-back I had. He fought as if he was a demon.

Like, the devil himself.

Martim was acting as if he was somewhat tipsy but by no means drunk. As soon as the twins were gone he climbed back up to the porch and stood there for a while. I know he was checking his monitors and listening. I wondered if he had directional microphones and then remembered that I could hear him talking earlier.

After another fifteen-minutes, he walked in and checked his big screen monitors, carefully sifting through each one and listening. I couldn’t hear what was being said but i could tell it was something he didn’t like. His mouth was in a grimace. I wondered what was going on but I didn’t move from my position.

I almost jumped out of my skin when he let me know that more fuckers were coming by. I had forgotten about my earwig. I softly let him know I was okay. I didn’t ask any questions, not wanting to upset him even more. I had a feeling I knew what the twins were thinking and saying. I was okay not knowing right now. I was okay not knowing what they said ever, but I knew it was something I would need to know.

Martim didn’t wait for the men to call him down, he slipped down the backside of a tree and leaned against it. He was half covered by some of the brush, not moving a muscle, a move I had been trained to do since I was two. Have you ever tried to corral three two-year-olds? I learned after the first time, but my brother and sister took forever. They still mess up when frightened or angry. I had learned to harness my anger at a young age.

“Hey, Tomas, get your ass down here!” A guy yelled up at the tree house, almost making me snicker.

“Don’t make me come get you!” Another man told Martim.

Martim stalked around to the back of them. “I’m coming up.” A man started to climb up the tree. “I don’t want to get blown up. Tomas, come down. Now!” He screamed as the monkeys went crazy.

“Or what?” He asked softly,, causing the men to jump and turn quickly. They fell to the ground in their haste to see if they heard right. “Or what?” Martim hissed.

One of the men got to his feet quicker, noticing how close he was to Martim. He took a step back and then another one as the rest of the men followed his back-steps. As soon as their backs were up against one of the largest trees Martim stopped.

“I asked you a question,” Martim told the men, his low and deadly.

One of the men gulped. “We were sent to ask you if you had seen the men with that girl.”

“Do NOT ever yell at me again.” The men nodded quickly. “Or, do I need to teach you a lesson? I wish you could ask Nate how he liked his punishment.” I shivered at his voice but it wasn’t because of fear, no, it was because of his voice and the husky tone.

“No,” all three men quickly answered as they tried to push their bodies further into the tree.

“No?”

“No, what?” A guy asked, looking confused as did his two buddies.

“No, I don’t know where they are,” Martim told them.

“Okay, we will just go now?” Another man asked, not sounding positive if he should go now or not. Martim nodded his head and stepped back. The men didn’t wait but a second before they hauled ass away from my mate. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they left scorch marks in the grass.

I snickered quietly but quieted immediately. The monkeys were agitated at first and then quieted to next to nothing. I watched the video feeds. I caught movement in the leaves, as if an animal had breathed on the leaves. I looked closer and looked to see if Martim had noticed the cat yet. Martim was gone from his last position. I tried looking for him in the other videos but he was nowhere to be seen, well, until I looked up.

I watched as Martim stalked someone or something. I caught a flicker of movement from above him but Martim stepped sideways and slapped at the cat, hissing quietly. Hollywood ducked and nodded his head, gesturing for the other three cats. I noticed my parents weren’t here yet. I was surprised they didn’t come with some of the Shadow Cats, but they may be waiting to see what happens or they have another place.

The three cats followed Madrid to the porch and into the door, changing as soon as they walked in. Martim threw them some shorts as fast as he could. I was sure he knew I was looking at the video. I had my eyes closed until I heard the soundproofing switch turn on.

I watched as Martim checked the cameras again and set them up with a warning light. I knew him enough to know whoever showed up would be blown to smirthereens as soon as they stepped close to the porch.

I heard the cap quietly slide open and Martim call my name. I quickly and quietly went to the opening. I popped my head out and smirked at the guys. “Hi, guys.”

“Hi, Cat. I see you made it out alive, but what of the men who took you?” Dragon asked, an eyebrow cocked.

“They got really sick. It seemed someone poisoned their rabbits.” I snickered. “But, I saved them for later. I decided I wanted to kill them when they thought I couldn’t.”

“You laid the princess on hard, didn’t you?” Digger asked as I nodded my head, a smile on my face.

“She did a perfect spoiled princess routine. They bought everything she told them. It was highly amusing,” Martim told the men as I looked at their faces. I looked down and pulled on Martims shoulder, showing him my wrist.

“Holllywood, you’re with me, the rest of you down the rabbit hole, but quietly.