by Zahra Stone
Capture the Night
The Enforcers: Book 4
Zahra Stone
© 2021, Zahra Stone.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Editor: Marcia Batton
Cover & Graphics Designer: Alex Calder, Addictive Covers
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Arcane City
PO Box 72
Brighton, MI 48116
Contents
About this Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
What’s Next?
Sneak Peek of BURN THE NIGHT
More from Zahra
More Books Like This
About Zahra
About this Book
No matter how fast you are, you can't outrun your past.
I lost everything when a tragic accident stole my family away. Not caring whether I lived or died, I signed on for the most dangerous job possible, hoping to do some good in the world before I met my maker.
Flash forward three years, and I'm still at it, protecting our fractured world from the cruelest and most corrupt paranormal entities. But when a band of powerful magical villains team up threatening a supernatural war that could destroy humanity it shatters the delicate balance between good and evil.
It's up to me to stop this apocalyptic nightmare before it can destroy everything good that's left in the world... No pressure, right?
Author’s Note: Capture the Night was originally released as Marked in Fire in the SIA Series by Jane Hinchey.
Chapter One
Holding my breath, I slowly turned my head and studied the man sleeping next to me. He was sprawled on his stomach, his face turned toward me, and I couldn’t help but admire the pure perfection of him. From the dark hair sweeping across his brow to the long eyelashes and sensual lips, he was put together just right, and my lady bits clenched in appreciation. Only one question. Who the hell was he?
Memories from last night came back to me in a rush, and I bit my lip to hold back the groan. I’d been at a bar. He was there. He bought me a drink. One thing led to another, and here we were. Only, who was he? All I knew was that he was a fire demon, like me. Initially I’d been curious, but then it hadn’t really mattered who or what he was. He was just a body. But now I had a pressing issue… how the hell do I get out of here without waking him up? I had zero interest in getting to know him, despite the hot sex and his drop-dead good looks. This was a one-off, an aberration on my behalf, and I needed to get out of here before he started asking questions I didn’t want to answer.
Biting back a curse, I slid out of bed as quietly as I could, tiptoed across the room, scooping up my clothes as I went. I debated for a second on how quietly I could dress. Would I inadvertently wake him? Was it safer to dress in the bathroom? But would the sound of the door opening and closing disturb him? All of these thoughts flashed through my mind, and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, causing the floorboards to creak. I froze, eyes zeroing in on his face.
One eye cracked open, then the other. He blinked. Once, twice, then focused chocolate brown eyes on me.
“Going so soon?” he mumbled, rolling to his back and stretching, the sheet dipping low on his abdomen. Fuck.
“Errrr.” I clutched my bundle of clothes and stood like a deer in the headlights. Come on, Katie, I scolded myself, get your act together. You’ve got this. You are a strong, independent woman with nothing to be ashamed of. I bit back a groan when he swung his legs out of bed and stood, gloriously unashamed of his naked body.
“Coffee?” he asked, crossing the room to where a coffee maker sat on the dresser. He flicked it on without waiting for a reply and disappeared into the bathroom.
I had about one minute to get my clothes on and get out of this hotel room. Dropping the bundle of clothes, I rummaged for my underwear, pulled them on, then my jeans, and was almost done when the toilet flushed. Breathless, I tugged my shirt over my head, heard the running of water. Then the door was opening. Shit, shit, shit. I scooped up my boots and headed for the door.
“Wait!” Damn it. I dropped my head, closing my eyes for a brief moment before straightening to face him.
“Yes?”
“I didn’t get your name,” he drawled, his lips curling in a seductive smirk, and while he’d wrapped a towel around his hips, the expanse of naked torso called to me. I had to bite my tongue to keep from licking him like I had last night. I almost groaned at the memory.
“I didn’t give it.” My voice came out breathless, and I saw his nostrils flare, sensing my arousal.
“Will I see you again?” His eyes were darker now, changing from hazel chocolate to almost black. He was as turned on as I was.
“Doubtful.”
“Why?” He took a step toward me, and I held up my hand, palm toward him. He stopped. If he came closer, all my good intentions would fly out the window, and I couldn’t let that happen. Last night had been a mistake. A great blow my fucking socks off mistake, but a mistake, nonetheless.
“It’s just not a good idea. Look, thanks for a great night. I had fun. But this is goodbye.” I opened the door, only to have it slammed shut. He’d moved fast and now stood behind me, one hand over my head holding the door closed. I rested my forehead against it for a moment and breathed in the scent of him, felt my arousal climb, and knew I was scant seconds away from dragging him back to bed. He brushed his lips against the back of my neck, and god help me, I moaned.
“You want me.” His voice was muffled against my skin, but I heard the pure male pride in it. And the thread of determination.
“True. But it isn’t going to happen.” I screwed my eyes shut, trying to push down the riot of lust shooting through my body like a pinball machine on steroids. He froze behind me, and I almost laughed. An honorable man. He wouldn’t force me, even though he knew it wouldn’t take much to convince me to return to his bed.
“Why fight it? You want me; we both know I want you. What happened between last night and now? Regret?” His hot breath blew on the skin of my nape, and I shivered. Regret? No. I’d learned to live my life without regrets. More like self-preservation. There was something about him, something in our chemistry that told me he could be dangerous for me; he could tear down the walls I’d built around myself. He was a risk I wasn’t prepared to take.
“Sorry, I’ve got to go. Work.” I attempted to open the door again, heard him sigh behind me before removing his hand and letting me leave. I didn’t turn back, didn’t look at him again, just darted throug
h the door, boots clutched to my chest, and kept going down the corridor toward the green exit sign. The silence was loud, and I didn’t breathe until I heard the click of his door closing.
Chapter Two
Putting two fingers in my mouth, I blew out an ear-piercing whistle. Silence descended as everyone turned and looked at me.
“Right! Listen up.” I spun slowly, making eye contact with all of my family members gathered together in my parents’ living room. “This is serious. Deadly serious. I need you to listen to me closely. Do not interrupt. There’ll be time for questions when I’ve finished.”
“But Katie—” my mom began, but I shushed her with a finger to my lips.
“No, Mom. Listen first. Please.” The puzzled looks on their faces were priceless, but now wasn’t the time for fun and games. Their lives were in danger, and their safety was my number one priority. I pushed down the inconvenient memory of last night when my number one priority had been sex with a stranger. It was because I was here back home in Maxxan. It had thrown me for a loop, and I was acting out of character, but now that that was out of the way, I had to deal with the problem at hand. Saving their lives.
“We all know about Fire Demons, correct?” Considering my dad and uncles were all fire demons and my brother and cousins gathered here today were part fire demon, this was no surprise to us. I knew what was coming would be news to them.
“And we know about vampires.” They nodded, glancing at each other then back at me, wondering where this was going.
“You probably don’t know about ghouls, but they are out there. There are a lot of supernatural creatures out there that you don’t know about.”
“What’s this about, Katie?” Dad demanded. I eyeballed him, and he crossed his arms over his chest, not pleased at being shushed by his daughter.
“Agent Jordan Buchanan introduced you to the Supernatural Intelligence Agency, the SIA. And, of course, he recruited Rae into the Agency. What you don’t know is that I’m also an agent. I have been for three years. I’m what you call an enforcer—sort of like a detective in human terms.”
“Sweet,” my brother Cody murmured, looking impressed.
“And I’ve come home to protect you from a threat here in Maxxan.” There was a rush of voices, each talking over the other as the shock of what I’d said hit them. I let them chatter for a moment before shushing them back into silence.
“What I’m about to tell you cannot be repeated outside of this room, understood? And I’m sharing this with you because your lives are in danger and I convinced my boss… you remember the Director of the SIA, Nate Wilder? The one who won over our Paige? Yeah, he’s my boss. Anyway, I have his permission to share this with you on the proviso it goes no further. I need your agreement on this.”
I was barraged with a wave of “yeah sure,” “okay,” “whatever.”
“There is a woman, a shifter called Keri Ridgeway, who is working with a ghoul to create a super paranormal. They’re experimenting with drugs to do this. Up until recently, their experiments have failed, and the individuals they’ve experimented on have died. Ugly, painful deaths. But then they took Paige.”
“What the hell!” Dad barked, jumping to his feet. “They took our daughter, and we weren’t notified?”
“She’s fine, Dad. We got her back. She’s okay,” I soothed, moving close and rubbing my hand up and down his back, then gently easing him back into his chair.
“But”—I held up my hand to stop any more interruptions—“they did discover something when they had Paige. They discovered that Fire Demons could withstand the drug they’re developing. We rescued Paige and shut down their operation in Redmeadows; however, they were using a legitimate pharmaceutical company as a front, and that pharmaceutical company has a factory and distribution center here.”
“You think they’re here? In Maxxan?” My cousin Cameron asked.
“We do. And they know the Sheltons are part Fire Demon.” I let that sink in for a moment. “Since they no longer have Paige, we’re pretty sure they’ll be trying to get their hands on another Fire Demon and continue with their experiments. The SIA can’t allow that to happen. And on a personal level, I can’t let that happen.” I couldn’t hide the sudden hitch in my voice.
“Katie.” This time it was Mom who rose and enveloped me in a hug.
“It’s okay, Mom. I’m okay. I’m here to do a job—shut these bastards down once and for all—but I can’t do that and protect all of you at the same time.”
Cody nodded. “You have a plan.”
“Yes. So, Mom, Aunt Deb, and Aunt Martha? You’re human, and while you think you’re not at risk because you’re not a fire demon, you could be taken and used as bait to capture any one of us. So, we need to get you out of town, away from all this. Nate and Paige want you to go and stay with them in Redmeadows—seriously, you’ll love it. Nate has a mansion! You’ll be protected there, more than what I can offer you here.”
The three women looked at each other and started nodding. Good. I had them on board.
“And the rest of us?” my cousin Tyler asked.
“You can go to Redmeadows as well. As I said, Nate has a mansion and can house all of you. Or you can stay here on the proviso that you take training—proper training—on how to use your Fire Demon skills and some basic self-defense training. Our number one priority is not having any of you taken. You need to be aware and on guard one hundred percent of the time. If you can’t do that, you need to leave.”
“How long?”
“How long do you need to stay away?” I shrugged. “We don’t know. A few days at the least, a couple of weeks at the most. It’s impossible to say.”
Uncle Glenn cleared his throat. “I’ll go to Redmeadows. I’m not leaving Martha on her own, and it’ll give us a chance to catch up with the kids.” Aunt Martha smiled at her husband and linked her fingers with his, squeezing. Their children, my twin cousins Vanessa and Travis, ran an Advertising Agency in Redmeadows, and we had the SIA keeping an eye on them there.
“Love? Do you want me to stay or go?” Dad asked Mom, who smiled at him in such a loving way I had to avert my eyes.
“You stay, hon. I’ll take Deb with me, and we’ll go see Paige. Cody, will you be coming with us?” she asked my brother.
“Nah, I’m staying. Tyler and Cameron? Going or staying?” he asked in turn.
“Staying,” they said in unison, but then I’d known they would. They had lives here in Maxxan. Cameron had his garage, and Tyler was studying medicine. Which led me to Tyler’s girlfriend, Sophie. She was human. She could be a problem.
“Before you ask, Sophie and I broke up. A while ago,” Tyler offered. “She doesn’t need to be involved in this, does she?”
“I’ll check with HQ,” I told him. “Does she know you’re a Fire Demon?” He shook his head.
“Okay, so Aunt Deb, Aunt Martha and Uncle Glenn, and Mom—you’re all going to Redmeadows, correct?” They all agreed.
“That leaves Dad, Cody, Cameron, and Tyler staying here.”
“What about Rae?” Cameron asked. “Is my sister coming home?”
“I think she’ll be assigned here. Even though she’s still in training, she knows the people and the area. We’ll take any advantage we can get.” I blew out a relieved breath. They had all taken this better than I’d expected. Now came the tricky part.
“One last thing.” I paused, sucking in a breath. “Grandma’s house.”
“What about it?” Mom asked.
“Grandma left it to Rae, with some terms attached to it. Rae has approved for the SIA to convert it into our Maxxan headquarters…provided you agree.” I looked to my brother and cousins, for the house had been left to all of us grandchildren, on the proviso Rae didn’t want it.
“Vanessa and Travis are okay with it, as is Paige. The ownership will not change hands; it’ll still be Rae’s place—our place—the SIA will be our tenant, but changes will be made, like bedrooms turned into offices, prop
er cells constructed in the cave underneath, that type of thing. The SIA will cover any construction or renovation costs.”
When they all readily agreed, including my parents and aunt and uncle, I was surprised. We’d put such strong stock in the family property that I’d thought they’d want to hold onto the house. Emotions had run high when Grandma had died, and the will had been read. Rae had been furious she’d been backed into a corner with the house being left to her, that she had to live in it for a year to retain ownership. If she left, the house would sit empty for a year and then be sold. Lost to the family forever. Thankfully, that had all turned out okay in the end, and the Shelton family still retained the property.
I wrapped up the meeting. “Those of you going to Redmeadows need to leave today. Go home, pack some stuff, and head to the airport. There’s a charter plane waiting. Nate will have a car waiting for you at the other end that will take you to his home. The rest of you? Report to Rae’s place at eight a.m. tomorrow for training. In the meantime, double, triple-check your locks, be aware of your surroundings, check that no one is following you. If you suspect something is off, call me. Even if it’s a false alarm, call me regardless. You do not want to be taken by these people.”
Chapter Three
“Holy hairy dog balls…is that? Katie Shelton?”
I froze, drink halfway to my mouth. “Duke?” I swiveled on my bar stool. Sure enough, the tall, athletic build of the man standing before me belonged to my childhood best friend, Duke Ellis. Grinning, I placed my drink on the bar and stood, wrapping Duke in a tight embrace.
