by Lia Davis
The truth was Vance had taken all the control of research and strategy from her when he took over the unit. That annoyed the hell out of her, and it also left her feeling as though she was going into an OP blind.
She swore he let out a low growl before he called the meeting to an end. Gathering her notebook and pen, she moved toward the door, only to stop when Vance stepped in her path. She fisted her free hand by her side and silently counted backward from ten. One corner of Vance’s lips lifted. She wanted so badly to punch that smirk right off his face.
Or just shoot him.
If there was a rogue, it was him for sure.
“What’s the rush?”
She stared into his dark brown eyes and squared her shoulders. “I skipped lunch.”
He moved to the side, and she stepped forward. He gripped her biceps and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Tell the brats to stay safe.”
She jerked out of his grip and stormed down the hall to the lobby of Shield HQ, away from the bastard shifter-acting-human. Only then did she allow her heart to pound uncontrollably and let fear consume her.
Pulling out her phone, she sent a one-word text to an untraceable cell.
Marco.
A few seconds later she got a reply.
Polo.
Relief flooded her system and threatened to make her knees give out. She had to get a grip. The twins were safe and very smart. But still she insisted on the text codes for her own piece of mind.
Although Vance had just threatened her niece and nephew. At least that was what she took it for, a threat. Maybe he knew they were wolves. No. He’d never met—or even seen them.
She had to get out of Shield and disappear. Fall off the radar for good.
But how?
When she reached the lobby door, she jerked back as it flew open to reveal a large man with black hair and bright green eyes that bored into her as he moved forward. She sidestepped him, but he was too quick. He snaked one arm around her waist, drew her into the hard length of his side, while he held a gun straight out, and fired at everyone around them.
She screamed, but no one heard her over the gunfire. Shield soldiers came from the back offices, weapons drawn. Two more men stepped up beside her and her captor then rushed the wall of Shield soldiers, killing them with ease like trained assassins.
Christa twisted and kicked with no results. The man had a death grip around her waist. “Let me go. We don’t have money in here.”
He didn’t reply, which was no surprise to her. She didn’t expect him to. Think, Christa. She scanned the large lobby, and her heart ached for the men and women she’d worked with for the last eight years. They were giving it their all, but it wasn’t good enough. One by one, they fell.
And she was helpless, trapped in the arms of the murderer.
One of her captor’s allies, an auburn-haired man, advanced down the hall. He came back a few minutes later and said, “He’s not here.”
The man holding her firmly to his body growled. “Let’s go.” He shot the last soldier before turning her around to face him.
She gasped. No fucking way. He was a shifter.
The way his eyes reflected off the light told her that. Frantic, she shoved against his chest. He wouldn’t budge. “Let me go!”
He lifted a brow and studied her for a moment or two as though he was trying to read her mind or something. Oh, no he wouldn’t. She yanked her knee up and connected with his balls, hard. He cursed and let go of her as he doubled over.
She didn’t waste time. She ran for the door, only to skid to a halt as the auburn-haired man appeared in front of her. What the fuck? A teleporter? No, he hadn’t materialized in front of her. She’d seen it done before. Fucking shifter speed was what he’d used to reach her so fast.
Christa patted her hip. Damn. She’d left her gun in her car because it was always too tempting to shoot Vance if she took it into the meeting.
She tried to fake a left and then moved right to move around him when the other man gripped her by the arm. A sharp stick in the arm made her jerk. She peered at the man as he pulled a needle out of her arm.
Son of a bitch.
Her vision blurred, and her legs wobbled, no longer able to hold her up.
“Bastards,” she managed to say before everything went black.
****
“What the fuck did you do that for?” Hayden gritted out as he straightened, his balls still throbbing.
Damn female.
Kirk, the leopard sentry, capped the needle and slid it into a red plastic bag. “She’s a runner and a liability. Unless you preferred me to let her go, because I wasn’t going to be the next one she racked in the balls.”
Tanner, who was currently holding the female steady, bent to scoop her up in his arms, but Hayden sent him a warning growl and halted his brother. With a raised brow, Tanner waited for Hayden to hobble over and take the female from him.
Hayden led his brother to the Range Rover while Kirk stayed behind to wait on Blaine, the new leopard Alpha of Ashwood, to teleport in with another sentry to clean house. Blaine normally couldn’t teleport to a place he’d never been, but he could flash to someone who was linked to him. Kirk, as well as Tanner and Hayden, were tied to the leopard Alpha by a blood bond. So Blaine could teleport to them without effort.
It was a good thing too.
Hayden had left a mess of dead, mutant-infected humans in that office building.
He tossed the keys to Tanner and climbed into the back seat with the female. Before he settled himself in for the long drive back to North Carolina, he checked her pockets. He found a small zippered wallet and a cell phone. Opening the wallet, he smiled as he pulled out her driver’s licenses.
Christa Baker. Age thirty-nine.
He slid the card back inside the wallet then handed it to Tanner. “When we get to a secure place, call Dane and see what he can pull up on her.”
“Will do.” Tanner opened the console and tossed the wallet inside before starting the Range Rover.
Hayden slid her cell phone into his pocket and propped Christa up the best he could and fastened her seatbelt. He leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes. This had been one fucked-up operation. Not only had they failed to catch Vance, Marshal of the rogue Pack Onyx, but Hayden had stooped to a new low.
Kidnapping.
Good one, asshole.
Did you enjoy this selection? Why not try another romance from Fated Desires?
From Ann Mayburn’s The Chosen series
Cursed
Locked in a demonic curse, Carmella Ramirez has lost the will to love. Once she was the star of the Ramirez Samba School and lived a charmed life. Now, thanks to an old enemy’s thirst for revenge, she's the school's reclusive seamstress and living in the dangerous ghetto of Rio de Janeiro. But that's the least of her problems. When the sun sets, a succubus overtakes Carmella’s body and uses her beauty to lure men to their death. As the corpses pile up, those controlling Carmella plan to sacrifice her to their demonic god and blame her for the killings.
Her only hope is Sean Kalmus—a world famous musician and warrior of the Celtic god of Music, Maponus. While in Brazil to work the Carnival, Sean’s orders by Maponus to find and rescue Carmella turn into something more than they ever could have imagined when Carmella captures Sean’s heart.
With Sean's help, Carmella will have to call on her strength, his magic and their love to break herself free before she becomes known as Brazil's most notorious serial killer.
Did you enjoy this selection? Why not try another romance from Fated Desires?
From Virginia Cavanaugh’s Order of Night series
Secrets of Night
When the tenuous peace between the sorceresses, vampires and shape-shifters is shattered, Kierra, sorceress senator for the Order of Night takes it into her own hands to discover the reasons why.
As the vampire member of the triad for the Order
of Night, Kale is no stranger to war, but isn’t eager to battle anew without cause. His investigation into the allegations that the shape-shifters are the breakers of the peace treaty are thrown askew when the woman who has haunted his lusty dreams is found doing recon of her own.
As the body count rises and more women disappear, Kierra and Kale race against the clock to uncover the secrets the shape-shifters are keeping. Imminent war and forbidden attraction threaten to implode their progress, while Kierra’s secrets may very well tip the scales of power.
