Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) by Evangeline Anderson

metal canister in her hand.
    Six had followed her in and had quickly
realized how dangerous the situation was. Mei-Li was confronting a male nearly
twice her size and making demands and threats when she clearly had almost
nothing to back them up. He hadn’t wanted to get involved but it was clear she
or the young one she was trying to defend would be hurt if he didn’t. However,
before he could do more than speak a few words, Mei-Li had used her metal
canister, which appeared to be some kind of extremely acrid chemical weapon,
and had rescued the young one without his help.
    It had amazed Six to see her act so
bravely and decisively—like a warrior. Also like a warrior, she had refused to
be slowed down by her injured knee.
    But it wasn’t just the way she had dealt
with the Earth male or her wounds that impressed Six, he was also impressed by
the way that the little female had reacted when she first saw him.
    He had seen the fear in her eyes when she
first looked up at him and had expected her to faint or cry or act in some
other irrational, emotional way. Hadn’t the Earth female Tess warned him that
it might be so? Instead, Mei-Li had turned that fierce anger on him, telling
him that she couldn’t go with him and demanding that he acknowledge her ability
to care for herself. Reluctantly, Six had been forced to do just that.
    She doesn’t need me, he told himself as he started the shuttle’s engines. Doesn’t
want me either. For some reason the idea caused a kind of constriction in
his chest—a tightness that he chose not to acknowledge. After all, rejection
meant nothing to him—he had no feelings for her to hurt. In fact, he had no
strong emotions about the female he had come to claim at all. Well, except
maybe admiration.
    He couldn’t stop thinking of how she had
faced down a male twice her size with no sign of fear at all. Her dark, lovely
eyes had flashed with rage and her long, silky black hair had whipped around
her delicate features. Truly, she was very pleasing to look at—if he’d had
emotions he might even had called her beautiful. Her body might be frail, but
her spirit was one of a warrior.
    Against his will, Six found himself
intrigued by her. Truly, she was a female to be reckoned with. He wondered what
other surprises she had hidden beneath her demure exterior?
    It was a pity he would never get to find
out…
    * * * * *
    “Well, it’s wrapping up in there. The
police have their statements—now it’s up to us to do the paperwork.” Claudia
came out onto the porch where Mei-Li was still sitting in the shadows on the
rattan couch.
    “Great,” Mei-Li said tiredly. “Did they
say if they caught Randy Dungston yet?”
    “Nope, but they’re looking for him.
Hopefully they’ll get him before too long.”
    “Before he comes back to bother Kristin
and her little sister again, you mean,” Mei-Li said darkly. No matter how many
times they were picked up by the police and sent to jail, men like Randy
Dungston kept showing up, like bad pennies. She just hoped it would be awhile
before she had to deal with him again.
    “Mei-mei, are you okay? If you don’t mind
me saying so, you look awful. ” Claudia put a hand on her shoulder, a
concerned look on her face.
    “Gee, thanks—you really know how to cheer
me up.” Mei-Li tried to smile but she found it almost impossible—the corners of
her mouth simply refused to turn up. Her head was throbbing, her cut knee was
stinging and she felt absolutely horrible.
    “Seriously, what happened? I mean, not
with all this…” She gestured to the shabby little house where Angry Mom and her
kids had finally settled down. “I know what happened here. I’m talking about
what happened with you?”
    “You don’t know? Angry Mom didn’t say
anything about him?”
    “About who? She was babbling about some
big guy but I thought she meant Dungston.”
    “No, she was talking about him. Him, Claudia,”
Mei-Li emphasized. “He came for me after