Read Enemy Mine for Free Online Page B

This was the last place
    he wanted to be. Out in the open, exposed.
    He hated bringing her here, but he knew
    when to pick his battles. The moment they
    stepped out of the vehicle, he knew they
    weren’t alone. Two distinctive heartbeats
    were very close by. He heard others in the
    vicinity but these two were very close.
    Two teens, one black and one white,
    stepped out from behind a Dumpster. Each
    had a gun held loosely in his hand, and
    from the bulge under one of the teens’ T-
    shirts, Kiernan knew he was packing
    more. Immediately he stepped in front of
    Melina, blocking her body with his. As a
    shifter she should be able to heal almost
    as fast as him, but something about her had
    been different after that car accident.
    She’d been too weak, almost disoriented.
    He bared his fangs at the two youths
    before they even had time to raise their
    weapons.
    With wide eyes they stared at them. One
    cleared his throat. “You’re Melina, right?
    You’re here to help Raul?”
    Melina peeked around Kiernan. “Yes.
    Hand those weapons to my friend here and
    you can come inside while I help Raul.”
    For a moment it looked as if they might
    argue, but after another look in Kiernan’s
    direction, they did as she said. There were
    certain laws in any jungle, even a concrete
    one, and Kiernan could kill these two in
    seconds whether they had weapons or not.
    And they knew it.
    Kiernan cleared his throat when they
    only handed him the two visible guns.
    “All of them.”
    The white boy cursed but handed over
    his other gun as the door flew open. A tall,
    attractive blond woman Kiernan assumed
    was Irene rushed out. She gave the boys a
    quick glance before zeroing in on Melina
    and Kiernan. She stopped short as she
    looked at him. “Melina, who is this?”
    “He’s okay.” Brushing past him, Melina
    let her friend guide her inside into an
    industrial-sized kitchen that smelled of
    cleaning supplies and the faint aroma of
    lasagna.
    Kiernan stayed close, conscious of the
    two boys following them, but not worried
    about the young humans.
    “What happened?” Melina asked as she
    stopped in front of a young teen maybe
    eighteen years old stretched out flat on his
    back on a large metal table likely used to
    prepare food. Blood spilled profusely
    from a wound in his shoulder, dripping
    onto the shiny surface and trailing to the
    floor below.
    Kiernan’s fangs faintly ached at the
    coppery scent. He’d learned to control his
    bloodlust over a century ago but some
    things were biological.
    “Shadow shot him,” the black kid said.
    “Shadow?” Irene asked as Melina
    pulled away the cloth that had been
    pressed against the wound.
    “Yeah. His real name’s Clyde. That’s
    just his street name,” the same kid spoke
    again, obviously the spokesperson of the
    two.
    “Why’d he shoot him?” Kiernan asked
    this time.
    The same kid eyed him for a long
    moment then shrugged. “Raul went after
    him because Shadow was messing with
    Raul’s little sister. She’s fifteen, man.”
    Another shrug.
    Kiernan looked back at Melina as he
    spoke to the kid again. “When you say
    messing with her . . .”
    A snort. “What the hell you think I
    mean? He tried to rape her.”
    Now his fangs ached to unleash for a
    completely different reason. “What’s
    Clyde’s last name?”
    “Bricker,” the kid said after a short
    pause.
    Kiernan filed that information away as
    he watched Melina work. It was obvious
    this wasn’t the first time she’d helped her
    friend considering the display of medical
    supplies already laid out. She cleaned and
    disinfected the wound with an impressive
    quickness.
    “You’re lucky this went all the way
    through,” she murmured to her patient. To
    give him credit, he hadn’t uttered more
    than a few cursory groans.
    As she finished cleansing him, Irene
    turned to the other two boys. “You two
    need to wait outside now.”
    They left without argument. When Irene
    turned to him, as if she planned to tell