Touch the Sky
Page 33
Two large men stood near the office building watching them. One wore a cop’s uniform and looked like an NFL linebacker. The other had messy, short dark hair and a several-days-old beard that framed high cheekbones and a strong jaw. Heat rushed into her face as she noted how his broad shoulders stretched the fabric of his blue button-down shirt.
A slap on the arm startled her out of her admiration. “Come on, Iz,” Freddie said. He hopped out of the Bell and swept Rissa into a passionate kiss.
Blushing again, Izzy stepped onto the tarmac, right into the cold shock of winter in Montana. It felt good, crisp and fresh. It reminded her of home.
Wind pushed at her back as she walked around the nose of the Bell. The dark-haired man stepped out of the shadows and her heart jackrabbited. She stumbled. But it wasn’t the cold breeze that nearly knocked her to her knees. The man was staring at her, and the weight of that gaze set off a new kind of fluttering in her belly.
Cocking his head, he inhaled so deeply she could almost feel the air rushing toward him. His body shook as if straining against an immovable force. His eyes flashed greenish-gold in the light of the setting sun.
A low growl sounded in the gathering dusk.
The cop grabbed the dark-haired man by the arm and got snarled at for his trouble. The cop seemed surprised but didn’t let go. He hissed something Izzy couldn’t make out over the whoosh of blood in her head. Obviously, the man didn’t care what the cop said, because he never took his hungry gaze off her.
As she stared into those glinting eyes, another hot flush rushed over her skin, tingling like electricity.
The man’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t look mad.
He looked like he wanted to eat her alive.
She must have tipped over the edge into insanity, because her own hunger intensified, shifting into something primal, something sensual. Instead of running away from him, she wanted to run toward him, wanted—
The shifting wind blew in her face, carrying a scent she’d hoped never to encounter again. Terror weakened her knees and sent icy pinpricks across her over-heated flesh.
In Izzy’s mind, her grandmother’s voice shrieked, “They’re evil! Run, hide, fight.”
Oh God.
The beautiful, dark-haired man. He was one of them. The cop, too.
Her already-primed muscles screamed at her to flee. But she couldn’t leave Freddie and Ris—
Izzy’s gaze whipped to her brother. He stood a dozen feet away, holding Rissa’s hands.
“No!” Izzy covered the distance without blinking.
Grabbing Freddie, she pushed him behind her, and snapped out a kick that sent Rissa tumbling back six feet.
Not far enough. Nowhere near far enough.
Not when it came to these things.
As she tried to wrestle Freddie toward the helo, a well-dressed woman in her fifties burst from the office. Three men ran out of the hangars.
Izzy whipped the knife from the sheath at the small of her back. Her whole life, she’d hidden from these creatures. Now they surrounded her.
Werewolves.
Like Izzy.
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Copyright © 2018 by Kari Cole
Acknowledgments
Writing a book can be lonely and exhausting. If you’re as lucky as I have been, you’ll find people who’ll give you the tools you need and encourage you, the kind of people who revel in the success of others. This is far from an exhaustive list, but it just goes to show how many wonderful, dedicated people you can find in the Romance community.
Thank you Angela James for thinking my work should be enjoyed by others. You and the hardworking staff at Carina Press make dreams come true. I especially want to acknowledge my amazing editor, Mackenzie Walton. She is both cheerleader and taskmaster, and I love her for it.
From the moment I met my agent, Nalini Akolekar, I wanted to be represented by her. The reality is just as awesome as the fantasy.
I am proud to belong to the Romance Writers of America. The support and friendship I have found among the membership has changed my life; from my chaptermates at Capital Region Romance Writers to my Mermaid and Rebelle Golden Heart® sisters. In particular, all my love and I-am-not-worthy bows to my critique partners Autumn Jones Lake, Cara Connelly, and Ginny Frost. Also to Melonie Johnson and Alyson McLayne, who spent months online sprinting with me, and generally keeping me from going insane. I adore you all.
Also available from Kari Cole
and Carina Press
Hunt the Moon
Stay tuned for the next book
in the Mated by Fate series,
coming January 2019
Stalk the Shadows
About the Author
Kari Cole is an award-winning author of paranormal romances. Her action-packed stories have earned several awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart®, Kiss of Death’s Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and Toronto Romance Writers’ Catherine. She lives in upstate New York with her college sweetheart, two way-too-smart-for-their-own-good sons, and a ridiculous labradoodle named for the bravest of Star Wars heroes, Artoo.
She is a member of Romance Writers of America, as well as the Capital Region Romance Writers, the Golden Network, Kiss of Death, and Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal (FF&P) chapters. She is represented by Nalini Akolekar of Spencerhill Associates.
You can find her online at:
www.karicoleauthor.com
www.Facebook.com/karicoleauthor
www.Twitter.com/karicoleauthor
www.Instagram.com/karicoleauthor
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ISBN-13: 9781488099540
Touch the Sky
Copyright © 2018 by Kari Cole
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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