Plaster gave way from the force, the male hissed in surprise and pain and the fight was on.

A punch caught Justice in the jaw, the force enough to make him stagger back and he lost his hold. His opponent hit the floor in a crouch and pounced, slamming into his chest. Justice used his teeth to rip into skin. The male tried to crush his ribs in a bear hold.

The male cried out and Justice grabbed the man’s chest, dug in and broke bones.

The body was dead under him when they crashed to the floor. Justice pushed up off the body and spit out blood. He tensed, seeing movement at the end of the hall. He roared again and rushed after the retreating shadow.

Jessie heard Justice roar, then a loud hissing noise and a big boom. There was no mistaking the vicious sounds of a fight and she wanted to rush out of the bathroom to jump right into it. She held still though since the dark shape remained at the window.

The person still waited to attack and she kept her attention on him. She knew Justice was still alive when he roared out again. The fight seemed over and she could only pray he’d won.

There was movement at the edge of the window. A hand gripped the frame and a large shape filled the space in the blink of an eye. It crouched on the windowsill. The male sniffed and his head seemed to turn to stare directly at her. The menacing shadowy shape didn’t appear human or Species. It looked scary as hell and large. Jessie squeezed the trigger on both guns, fired repeatedly and the shadow fell backward after she nailed it with four bullets.

She held her ground, waited to make sure he didn’t rise up to attack again but he didn’t. Seconds ticked by and the sound of another fight filled her ears. Furniture crashed at the front of the house, animalistic snarls and fists hitting flesh tormented her.

She lifted up, stepped over the tub and risked rushing to the window to make sure she’d taken out the threat who’d come after her.

She peered outside, made out the shape of a male and he wasn’t moving. She pushed the window closed, locked it with her thumb and ran toward the bedroom.

Anyone trying to come through the bathroom window would have to break it to get inside and it would warn her. The need to find and help Justice drove her fear back and made her reckless as she flipped on lights, more worried about being blind in the dark than giving away her location.

Glass broke down the hall as she lunged in that direction, only pausing to flip on a switch to light her way to the living room. The sight that greeted her was shocking and horrifying. A big male lay sprawled on his back, his shirt torn away over his ribs and his skin was torn open. She fought the urge to be sick as she visually examined the dead body. Blood was all over the place—sprayed on the walls and pooled in the carpet. The man on the floor wore black, his face was smeared with black face paint and he had a black cap on his head to hide his hair.

It wasn’t Justice so she moved forward. She had to step over the body, her bare foot sank into warm wetness and she knew it was blood. She kept going though. The sound of the fight still raged nearby. She kept her guns trained and ready to fire at anyone who came at her until she reached the large, open, dark area of the living room.

She hit the light switch with her elbow to turn on the lights and gaped at the destroyed room. The couch was knocked over, the glass coffee table shattered, a bookshelf was sprawled facedown to spread a mess of books five feet to her left but what held her attention was the two fighting males who sprang apart in the center of it.

Justice wore boxers, blood smeared over his body and he looked fierce as he snarled at the black-clad male. He didn’t spare her a glance as he circled his opponent but she couldn’t stop staring at the deep scratches on his back, arms and the damage to one cheek where he’d been struck hard enough to show the forming bruise.

The other man bled heavily from his face—his nose broken, his lip split and one cheekbone damaged. His black outfit hid any other injuries but one arm appeared wet, probably blood, and some skin near his side showed where the material had torn.

“Get back, Jessie,” Justice gruffly ordered. “I heard gunshots. Are you harmed?”

Jessie caught movement from the corner of her eye and twisted her head in time to see another attacker rush from the kitchen. She didn’t think, just saw the black clothing, the black, paint-smeared face and aimed the guns. He moved faster than a human but her bullets didn’t miss. He shrieked loudly, a high-pitched wail of pain and dropped to the floor to land on what used to be the coffee table. He didn’t move.

“I’m fine. I’ve got your back, honey. Do you want me to shoot the bastard near you?” Jessie’s voice shook but her hands didn’t.

“Stay out of this and there’s two more.”

“There’s only one besides that ass**le you’re fighting. I killed someone who tried to come in through the bathroom. That’s who you heard me shooting at. I don’t miss.”

Justice growled and Jessie knew he was pissed but she’d deal with his anger later.

She shoved the gun in her left hand between her thighs, using the wall to keep her balance and dropped the clip out of the gun in her right hand. She dug out a fresh clip from her vest and popped it in. She grabbed the gun from between her thighs.

“You have your human fight for you?” the man who’d attacked Justice spat. “You are too weak to lead us.”

“Who are you?” Justice snarled. “I don’t even know you and you dare come after my mate?”

Justice tensed and a roar tore from his throat as he sprang for the other male. He pushed up from a quick crouch and sailed into the air. He had to have strong legs to do that. Seeing it stunned Jessie but she had to admire the beauty of the move. He flew about five feet until his body slammed into the other man.