He jerked back and she drove a clawed hand into his stomach. His eyes widened as he grabbed her wrist while drawing back to hit her.
Samarra grabbed his arm and jerked it back, breaking the wrist before puncturing his jugular. He gasped and Samarra released his arm and broke his neck.
She let him fall to the ground and Kamari met her gaze.
“Finish it,” Samarra ordered. “I don’t want a body to be found.” She turned and headed into the house.
Kamari did just as she ordered and watched him and Collier burn to ash before going inside to check on her mate.
****
Four days later, Mica stood out on the porch of her cabin sipping coffee and studying the light sway of the trees in the woods. Her cell phone lay on the railing of the deck Samarra had helped her construct in the last four days.
Kamari had headed to Washington for the funerals of her friends, and Mica doubted she’d be back. Kip had said he’d talked to her, and she’d been asked to come back to work as a supervisor.
“She said it was a stepping stone to her dream job,” Kip had said.
And there was no way for Mica to find fault with that. Kamari had always had her life planned out way before her sister became a statistic. Kamari had gotten the justice she wanted, so there was no reason for her to hang around a small town populated mostly by shifters, especially with shifter politics starting to take an interesting turn.
“I want you back on shift tonight,” Samarra told her, her voice drifting from the phone’s speaker.
“I heard you the first time,” Mica said quietly.
“I have you called her?” Samarra asked. “It’s been four days.”
“I know how long it’s been, but she has my number. She could easily call me,” Mica muttered and took a sip of her coffee before setting the cup back down.
The late morning sun was already getting hot, but the heat wasn’t making a dent in the chill in the air. A nasty nor’easter was forecast for two days from now and temperatures had already fallen. The town wouldn’t shut down, but the club might be closed.
Samarra grunted. “You’re a stubborn bastard, Mica,” Samarra murmured. “Listen, we’re closing the club the day of the blizzard, but I’ll still plan to tighten security here in the den. The Coalition is harder on my ass, led by Bradley, not to mention the Snow Dogs leadership questioning their alpha’s disappearance.”
“Jen?”
“He’s taking over, but he’s not alone right now,” Samarra answered. “Jericho’s top four advisors are making a fuss. They want heads to roll over Powell’s death as well as Tiny’s. They don’t seem to understand that their alpha was a son of a bitch.”
“Literally or figuratively?” Mica asked with a hint of a smile.
Samarra laughed, dispelling some of the tension. “They don’t blame Mal so much as they blame me.”
“What did happen to him?” she asked conversationally. “I doubt Kamari would have just left leaving him alive considering she knows he killed her sister.”
“That’s a good reason you should call her,” Samarra said. “But the truth is dead men tell no tales.”
“You or her?”
“Both. I have to go. I’m meeting with Mal in an hour to discuss a few things before our meeting with the Coalition.”
“I’ll get ready so I can meet you there. Where is the meeting?”
“Jerry’s hotel, Mystic Waters,” Samarra said. “Just get to my place in thirty minutes. We’ll all ride in together.”
“Right. Listen. I gotta go, sounds like someone’s breaking into my place and trying to keep it on the QT.”
“I’ll send Syd.”
She switched off the phone and headed inside. Kip had developed an interest in her welfare all of a sudden. There was nothing like a near death experience to bond two cousins together, she supposed.
Silence greeted her and she drew in a slow breath. Coffee and the smell of woods was all that drifted around the room. “Kip.”
The silence had her moving quietly down the narrow corridor with two doors opened along it. Her claws itched to slide free as the identity of her company eluded her.
“I told you I was fine, Kip,” Mica said as her body tensed for an attack.
She wouldn’t put it past Bradley to attempt to go after them in a very subtle backhanded way. But the truth was, they knew very little about Bradley or the other coalition members.
“I guess Kip comes by quite often then.”
Mica turned her head to look into the bright sunny kitchen. Across the room, Kamari stood in worn jeans and a jean jacket looking very much like a fashion model with her hair pouring over her shoulders. A bag was at her feet.
“What are you doing here?” Mica asked going to stand just inside the door. “I thought you’d be shopping for a new place in Washington with your raise.”
Kamari shrugged. “I could be,” she said. “The job’s a step to where I want to be, or where I thought I wanted to be six months ago.” She sighed, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jacket.
“So, you came to tell me … what? “Thanks for a few good nights, but I don’t want to mate you”?” she asked coldly.
Kamari came toward her, holding her gaze, giving nothing away.
“My scent didn’t even stick to you, so you’re free and clear,” Mica said angrily.
“It touched me so deep inside, I’ll never be able to wash you off my soul,” Kamari replied softly as she rested a hand over her heart. “There’s nothing for me there anymore, Mica, unless you’re going with me.”
“I can’t live in that world,” Mica told her with a slow shake of her head. “I’d die there.”
“I know, baby.” Kamari nodded, her eyes warm and entrancing. “So, I came back to you. When I met you, I knew I wanted you, but somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you.”
“Kamari,” Mica said heavily.
“I know. I was all set to take the job, and the raise, ’cause it’s what I worked so hard for. And then, I looked at my first apartment. I felt like something was missing, but I didn’t realize what it was until the realtor asked me about my husband.”
Mica’s heart stopped. “What were you missing?” She’d probably left something connected to her sister or her family.
“You. Not having you with me was tearing me up inside and I knew I’d just die a little every day without you.”
Mica cupped her face with a shaking hand and her breath stuttered from her. “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”
“I mean it. I love you, Mica,” Kamari murmured, her eyes bright with emotion. “As challenging as our relationship will be at first, I want nothing more than to be with you.”
“Mari.” Mica crushed her lips against Kamari’s, tasting the sweet mint of her and sloshing coffee on the floor. Mica withdrew her hand and went to put the cup on the counter and Kamari joined her.
“If you’ll have me, I’m here to stay.” Kamari ran her hand up Mica’s arm, the long sleeves of her t-shirt a barrier to the touch Mica craved with every breath she took.
“Have you? I love you, too.” Mica laughed. “And I’m never letting you go.” Mica pulled Kamari in for another kiss that took her breath away.
“Mica?”
Mica groaned as she broke the kiss. “It’s Syd. I have a meeting to get to. The Coalition.”
“Go. I’ll be here when you get back, waiting.”
Mica shook her head in wonder. “How did I get so damned lucky?”
Kamari laughed. “We’ll see if you still feel that way in a week. Go.”
Mica stole a quick kiss and backed away. “I’m coming Syd,” she called. “I’ll see you later.”
****
Mica rushed from the room and Kamari heard her talking to Sydney in the hallway. The smile faded from her lips as she turned to look out the picture window into the backyard. Something stared back at her from the woods and her vision sharpened.
Kamari exited the hous
e onto the back deck and searched for what she could feel was out there. It was more than the decreasing chill, and the clouds rolling in. Looking up, she drew in the air.
She sucked fresh, sweetness into her lungs. She turned her gaze back to the wood. She still wasn’t alone. There was a wolf out there.
A storm was coming, a bad one. Her new pack had better be ready. Either way, she’d fight with them to the death.
The End
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EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
ZHARA’S FIRE
Midnight’s Jewels, 4
Serenity Snow
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
The delicate scent of lemon and butter sauce snaked around her the second Ryle Kane entered Kensal Obsidian’s office. She trod over the carpeted floor, heading for the massive desk situated between two windows.
The bamboo shades were closed against the harsh summer afternoon sun, casting shadows in the room that was west-facing.
The sun drained the vampire bat shifter of some of its energy and forced it to partake of more blood than normal or blood supplements, which were a little like vitamins, except they were caplets made of blood. Fresh blood was better for nourishment, but the caps served the same purpose as the popular human energy drinks.
“Kensal?” Ryle glanced around, taking in the bookcase lined with books on business, finance, and marketing. The art on the walls contained muted colors of serene scenes and a singular picture she’d recently taken of Kensal and her mate Fallina on their short trip to Spain. The small wet bar was neat with a bare marble top.
“I’ll be out in a minute.”
Kensal’s muted voice came from the direction of a wall. Ryle took a seat in a guest chair surmising Kensal was busy with her mate in the secret apartment finished a week ago, hidden behind the north wall.
The apartment was a contingency in case the building was attacked while they were here. Fallina was no fighter and a small, two-woman team would use the exit there to get her out and to the safety of the cabal’s compound.
However, Kensal’s mating had turned her from a lone bat, as it often did with vampire bat women. It had been the luck of the draw that Ryle worked for the Midnight Agency, which had allowed her to draw this assignment and join Kensal’s cabal. Kensal had agreed to allow her to take jobs out of town should she desire, but Kensal’s sudden summons had nothing to do with her recent assignment in Spain, Ryle was certain.
At that moment a panel slid open, and Kensal stepped out into the room. “I’ve gone over your reports,” she said crisply as she made her way to her desk. “Security looks good, too.”
“I know my job, Kensal. I have been doing it for quite some time,” Ryle replied patiently.
Kensal gave her a questioning look. “Problem?”
“The only problem I have is you treating me like I’m an idiot. If you didn’t trust me, why’d you ask me to come here and join your cabal?”
She and Kensal had been friends for over seventy-five years, but their interest in professions had always been different. Kensal had done mercenary work to supplement her income and fund her education, while Ryle had loved the freedom of travel and lack of restriction.
Kensal gave her an enigmatic stare out of eyes that had gone bat-black, and Ryle snorted. Kensal might be an alpha bat, but she was certainly no slouch. She’d bagged more than one alpha shifter.
“If you wanted a yes-woman, you should have just hired one,” Ryle told her. “I’ve got your back, I’ll die for your mate, but I’m not taking your shit.”
“What about patrols?” Kensal asked, her gaze chilling on her before going back to their normal champagne color, a sign that she was letting this go for now.
“Nothing out of the ordinary.” She ran patrols of the city along with a small group from Midnight Agency. The agency was run by a vampire bat shifter from another cabal.
“Any more information on that small coven staying at the Stryder hotel?” Kensal asked, and her gaze went to a picture on her desk. The gold frame contained a shot of Kensal’s mate.
“I’ve been able to ascertain for certain that they are blue long-tail bee-bats.” Of the bee-bat breed, the blue ones were the most aggressive and in their animal form, they produced venom which was deadly to some bat shifters.
“Damn them,” Kensal snarled. She grabbed the phone from her desk. “We’ve got to deal with this immediately. I’ll set up a meeting with Jeri, and then send them a summons.”
The shifter world was deadly to those crossing into another shifter’s territory without first obtaining permission. Just slipping in unannounced was seen as intent of aggression.
With the long-tail blue bats, nothing was ever truer. They tended to send out scouts to assess weakness, and then the king or queen attacked with deadly efficiency. “Jeri, where are you? We need to talk.”
“I’m working from the club today. Why? What is it?”
As a vampire bat shifter, Ryle’s hearing was better than the average human’s, and Jeri spoke loud enough to be overheard.
“We need to meet immediately.”
There was a silence and Kensal shifted from one foot to the other, expression suspicious.
“I guess you heard about last night.”
Kensal threw Ryle a look and put her phone on speaker. “Not enough.”
“Someone tried to kidnap Zhara from the club.”
Ryle bit back a snarl of rage. There was no reason anyone should have been allowed to get that close to the sexy, leggy club owner.
“Bali’s juggling some people to get me someone I trust to oversee things until I can figure out what’s going on.”
“I’ll loan you Ryle,” Kensal said after a brief glance at her. “She’s capable of dealing with anything that comes up.”
“Come over to the club and we’ll talk.” The line went dead and Kensal met Ryle’s gaze.
“I don’t like this,” Ryle said, barely containing her anger. “Bee-bats and an attempted kidnapping?”
“Jackasses are up to something,” Kensal murmured, eyes glittering with anger. “Let’s go. I’ll have Kyrin take over for you here.”
“Right.” She headed for the door, leaving Kensal to deal with her mate and make the calls. They were going to have to be more aggressive than they’d been in the past with bats, but Ryle just hoped it didn’t mean tearing this city apart. Bee-bats never went down easily.
End of sample chapter
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Getting Nawty With the Coyote Page 18