Different from a human’s. He’d known that fact from the first sip. He’d gotten a staggering rush of power and a hit of stark hunger from the precious liquid.
So the rumors were true.
The blood of a shifter was much, much stronger than a human’s. And his Sadie, he’d bet his undead life she was a shifter.
The glowing eyes. The claws. The teeth.
That sweet little purr she’d made when he’d had her against the wall and her body had gone all soft against his.
Damn, but he’d wanted to fuck her.
Now, she was chasing after someone else. Another man. One who smelled like some kind of wet animal.
His teeth snapped together. Not the way the night was going to end for Sadie.
She was fast. Leaping and running so quickly that he struggled to keep up with her. In and out of the shadows. Around the corners of buildings. Over cars. Out of alleys.
Make that damn fast.
Shifter.
How had he missed that? What other secrets had Sadie kept from him?
Just then, she zipped between two parked cars and headed into the darkness of an abandoned lot.
Good thing her blood was pumping through him. He leapt over the cars. Charged into the woods at the back—
And found Sadie facing off against a crouching leopard. A right ugly beast—matted fur, yellow, spotted, and with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.
Fuck me.
“Get back, Liam! The bastard’s shifted—”
Yeah, he could see that for himself. But no damn way was he about to back off. Liam Sullivan had never run from anything before.
Well, except from her.
The leopard sprang forward, launching an attack right at Sadie. They crashed onto the ground. The beast’s broad head and snapping teeth went for her throat.
Sadie screamed and managed to hold him off, just barely. His teeth were inches away from her delicate neck.
A neck Liam particularly liked. He shot forward. Grabbed the shifter around the middle, and jerked back with all of his considerable vampire-enhanced strength.
The leopard let out a roar of fury and twisted, swiping his claws at Liam.
Luckily, the big cat missed.
A very near thing.
Liam stepped in front of Sadie. “You want to play, do you? Well, come on…”
Instead of springing forward, the leopard padded back. The animal paused, its body close to the ground. The broad head tilted up, and glittering eyes measured Liam as a long, pink tongue flickered out.
“Not…your…fight…” Sadie’s voice was strangled.
He grunted. Like he would have walked away and left her alone.
“Don’t…watch…” The last of her words ended in a growl.
What?
Don’t watch what? He jerked his gaze away from the leopard, for just a second, and glanced back at Sadie. She’d stripped off her shirt, giving him a truly splendid view of her lacy black bra and those gorgeous breasts that he’d never been able to forget. She was on her knees. Head tossed back, arms up, and—
Her bones began to snap.
Oh, for the love of—
A train hit him, knocking Liam off his feet. No, not a train. A stinking, snarling, teeth-snapping one hundred thirty pound jungle cat.
The beast’s breath choked him. A foul stench. Saliva dripped onto his face, but Liam held the cat back, using a white-knuckled grip around the animal’s throat.
“I’m not…easy prey…”
Liam gathered his strength, then hurled the beast toward the line of trees.
But the damn cat twisted in midair and landed agilely on his feet.
Piss.
Liam rose to his feet, brushing off his hands. Okay, time for another round.
He stepped forward, just as a blur of gold and black fur streaked past him.
Snarls.
Growls.
Claws and teeth.
His mouth dropped open. Two leopards were before him. Muscled bodies moving. Tumbling across the earth. The second cat was smaller, its fur a rich gold dotted with dark circles—rosettes. The cat’s long tail swished behind it—
No, not it. Her.
The second leopard was Sadie.
And she was fighting for her life.
Like he was just going to stand on the sidelines.
He dove into the fray, grappling with the larger leopard, pounding him with his fists, avoiding those dangerous claws as best he could.
They’d take the beast down, together, just like they’d taken down so many other bastards.
His Sadie was a fighter.
And, apparently, a large, spotted cat.
The wail of sirens cut through the air.
The larger leopard’s head rammed into Liam’s chest, knocking him back. Then the cat leapt away from Sadie, shaking his body and swishing his tail.
The sirens screamed. Tires squealed as patrol cars came to a shuddering halt nearby.
The bastard leopard disappeared into the woods. And Sadie tried to go after him.
“Sadie!” The demand was fierce.
Humans were around. Even now Liam could hear people rushing toward them. She couldn’t be seen as a leopard. She had a job. A career with the FBI.
She couldn’t afford to be careless.
She glanced back at him, whiskers twitching.
“Change.” An order.
The leopard bared her teeth, but her ears were up, and he knew that she heard the approaching footsteps, too.
His gaze locked on her as the change began. In seconds, the fur melted away. Bones reshaped. Supple female limbs reappeared. Soon he was staring not at an animal, but at the nude form of a woman.
A woman who had been his for all too short a time.
A woman who was about to be discovered naked by half of the Miami PD.
Liam shrugged out of his jacket and reached for her. “Sadie…” He kissed her. A hard, fast kiss. Lips open, tongues ready. Mouths stayed locked as he wrapped the jacket around her.
“Freeze!” The yell came from less than ten feet away. “Put your hands up and step away from the woman.”
Liam’s mouth lifted. His gaze met hers.
A bullet wouldn’t kill him, but it would make his night suck even more.
Slowly, he raised his hands, but he didn’t step away from Sadie.
“I’m with the FBI,” she said, her voice clear and cool. Her hands fumbled with the jacket, managed to zip up the front. She was such a tiny thing, the heavy leather fell all the way to midthigh. “Agent Sadie James. I’ve been tracking a suspected killer in the city and—”
“Christ, James, save the explanations.” A darker voice, one tinged with a Chicago street accent. “I told them who you were.”
Liam stiffened. No, no bloody way.
Talk about sucking.
He turned slowly, hands still up, but fury boiling his blood. Special Agent Anthony Miller blinked when he saw him. “What? Sullivan.” Surprise, disgust. “Dammit, you were supposed to stay on the other side of the ocean, you bas—”
“You knew!” Sadie stormed past Liam. A few of the cops gasped when they caught full sight of her, clad only in his jacket. Liam couldn’t help it, his gaze dropped to the perfect lines of her legs.
Oh, to take a bite.
“Sadie, you don’t understand!”
She punched the special agent right in the face. He stumbled back, swearing. The uniforms around him lifted their guns and pointed them right at Sadie.
Hell, no. Not an option. “Stand down!” The order was Liam’s. Shouted. “Miller, tell ’em to drop their weapons.” A bullet in the heart or head would kill a shifter. A scenario not about to happen in front of him.
“D-down…” Blood dripped from Miller’s nose. The agent stumbled to his feet and only looked at Sadie’s exposed legs three times.
Liam felt his teeth begin to burn—from the lure of the blood and from his growing fury. He’d wanted to rip out Miller’s
throat for a long time.
Ever since the thick bastard had turned his back on Liam and left him struggling with his new life alone, and with the guilt of ten dead men and three dead women on his soul.
Screw the hands-up crap. If they wanted to fire at him, he didn’t care. Right then, he wanted to know just what the hell kind of case Sadie was on and why she’d been tracking that other shifter.
“You let me cry for him—and you knew? You knew?” Her claws were out, and if Miller didn’t watch it, he might be losing some flesh.
His muddy brown eyes swept the circle of armed men and women. “We can’t talk about this here, Agent James. You know better.”
A growl was her answer.
Miller swallowed. “Wh…where’s the suspect?”
She jerked her thumb back toward the waiting darkness. “Long gone. The sirens alerted him, gave him a chance to run.”
His stare narrowed. “The perp got away from both of you?”
“Wasn’t your typical perp,” Liam said blandly. “Something else I don’t think you want us discussin’ here.” Oh, but the smug bastard was due for a serious set down.
Soon.
Miller swore. “Spread out,” he yelled to the cops. Obviously, they thought the wanker was in charge. Fools. “Search the woods. We’re looking for—”
Oh, yeah, this should be good.
“A man in his late twenties,” Sadie interrupted. “Blond hair. Blue eyes. Six-foot-four, two hundred pounds.” A pause. “He’s quite prossibly naked, too.”
Definitely naked. The guy’s torn clothes were less than a foot away. Of course, the shifter could have stashed spare jeans or a shirt somewhere close by. Shifters usually had a backup clothing plan.
“He should be considered armed and very dangerous,” she continued. “Approach with extreme caution.”
“Shoot first.” From Miller. “Not a kill shot, but take the bastard down.”
The cops scrambled to obey. Sadie didn’t move. The wind tossed her hair.
Damn but she was sexy. Soul as hard as nails. Skin as soft as satin.
“You’ve got some explaining to do.” Her hands were on her hips. “You should have told me, you should have—”
“I didn’t know what you were, Agent James, until about five months ago.” His upper lip curled. “You didn’t exactly go around advertising your true self, now, did you?”
Liam didn’t like the tone the guy was—
“If you hadn’t bugged my house, you would have never known.”
Ah, so that was how the Bureau had discovered Sadie’s not-so-little secret. Interesting.
Liam had long known that the Bureau had a special division, a group of agents with particular…gifts. But he hadn’t realized exactly how most of the agents for that unit were recruited.
He should have known the agency would be screwing over its own people.
Big Brother liked to know everything, and use everyone.
“So I didn’t tell you that your ex-lover had turned bloodsucker.”
Liam’s teeth snapped together. “You’re pushin’, Miller.” It wouldn’t take much more to send him over the edge.
“I figured you’d be grateful, after what happened to your friend Jasmine—”
Sadie swayed. Stumbled. “Bastard!” The snarl was directed straight at Miller. “Don’t talk about her, ever. I agreed to stay on with this unit to help—”
Instantly, Miller went from attack mode to kind friend. “You are helping, Sadie,” he murmured, brows lowered. Fake bastard. “Only someone with your talents could work this case. You’re going to catch another killer, keep the streets safe—”
“I didn’t catch anyone tonight.” She shook her head. Looked fragile, as she’d never looked before. “Just let the jerk get away—and tipped him off to the fact that another shifter is hunting him.” Her hand rose and raked back the fall of her hair. “I’m going home. The guy’s long gone tonight. Tomorrow, tomorrow—I’ll start tracking him again.”
She turned away, never once looking at Liam. She headed in the direction of the bar. Her steps were slow, steady.
He watched in silence, willing her to glance back, just once, and look at him.
But soon she disappeared into the shadows and left him with the bastard who’d sent him off to die two years ago.
Miller began to edge back. Cautiously, moving like a snake and—
Liam’s hands flashed out. He grabbed Miller, effectively halting his exit. “Goin’ somewhere?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed as the special agent gave a frantic shake of his head.
“I didn’t think so.” Liam stared into those lying eyes. “Who’s Jasmine?”
Miller’s lips thinned.
“Who. Is. Jasmine.” He let the power of the vampire sweep through him. Knew that his voice had deepened. That his eyes had darkened to black.
But it apparently took more than a few theatrics to rattle the special agent. Miller inhaled on a rasp. “You weren’t put on the extermination list, Sullivan. That’s the only favor you’ll be getting from me.”
The extermination list. The list the Bureau kept of the Other who’d gone bad and needed to be eliminated. A harsh laugh broke from his lips. “Let me clue you in, Miller. In the last two years, I’ve learned that famous list of yours? It’s not worth a shit.” The handful of names. The list of paranormals who’d blatantly killed.
Barely scratched the surface of the evil out there.
He leaned in close to the special agent. “And even if you’d sent your men…” His teeth came together on a snap. “They wouldn’t have stopped me.” Less than three months after turning, he’d killed the bastard who’d transformed him and slaughtered his team. A few humans would hardly have slowed him down.
He let his gaze drop to the man’s throat. “I’ll ask once more, and then I’ll stop playin’ so nice.” He smiled. “Who is Jasmine?”
Miller began to shake. Liam knew the truth about the bastard. He wasn’t human, either. Not really. A charmer. A being gifted with the ability to talk to animals.
Liam didn’t know precisely what animal linked with Miller, but he was betting it was a rat.
His hands tightened around the bastard, the enhanced strength easily bruising the flesh, and, if he just applied a dash more pressure, he could break—
“V-vampire killed her. When she was sixteen.” The words rushed out, nearly tumbling over each other. “Jasmine—she was Sadie’s best friend. She died in her arms.”
Well, fuck.
Liam shoved the special agent away from him.
That explained a few things.
Like the way Sadie had come at him with a stake.
What a damn tangled mess. Sadie wouldn’t want to be around him, not knowing what he was. She’d never agree to be with him, unless—
His lips curved.
Miller flinched.
“Tell me about the man Sadie is huntin’ for you.” Not a man, though, he knew that. “Tell me why she’s after him.”
“Th-that’s confidential. Only FBI—”
Liam laughed again. He couldn’t help it. “Right. Save the bullshit for someone else.” Someone who didn’t know the real score.
Miller’s brows raised. “Only if…you agree to help on this one.” More confident. But then, maybe the fear had been a show. Cagey, that was Miller.
Sly jerkoff. “Talk, then we’ll deal.” The way of the world, living and undead.
The agent began to talk—about blood and death, bodies found in trees, and the claw marks of a monster.
And Liam began to plan.
He followed the woman back to her house. He’d transformed, picked up the clothes he’d hidden, and blended in so easily with the humans milling on the streets.
He’d passed right by two uniformed cops and they’d never given him so much as a second glance.
Humans. Not even worth his time most days, but she was different.
A female shifter. A leopard. Someone with his
strength. His cunning.
He’d never thought to find a female like her.
So perfect.
He used the wind, knowing exactly how to manipulate the breeze to hide his scent.
And he hunted.
He watched her through the windows of her house. Watched her silhouette. The supple curves. The veil of hair.
He’d been settling for humans, enjoying the prey’s screams, when he could have had…her.
She opened the balcony doors. Let her gaze sweep over the block. Stared right past him.
Leopards were so good at blending in with their surroundings.
She should know that.
Her head tilted back as she glanced toward the sky, exposing the slender column of her throat.
A sign of submission for his kind, from one lover to another.
He purred.
Chapter Three
She’d left her balcony doors open. The better to let in the gentle breeze of the night.
And him.
Her back was to the doors when she sensed him. She caught the whiff of the ocean. Heard the faintest rustle of sound.
Sadie had known that he would follow her.
Just as she’d known that she wouldn’t be able to kill him at that bar. She’d missed his heart, not because he’d turned, but because she’d weakened.
Liam.
She hadn’t seen the monster when she’d looked at him, just the man.
And her aim had wavered.
Her head lifted and she moved, very slowly, to face him. “Into scaling buildings these days, are you, vampire?”
He strode forward, looking so sexy and strong that an ache lodged above her heart and heat bloomed between her thighs.
His lips curved into a smile that had her breath catching. “Ah, love, the trellis made it too easy for me.”
Love.
Her gaze dropped to his chest. To the dried blood. “I’m sorry, Liam. I-I shouldn’t have—” tried to kill you “attacked you back at the bar. You just—um, caught me by surprise.” When I saw your teeth, I remembered that other bastard and the way he’d laughed.
Fury, instinct—she’d moved too fast. The stake had been over his heart when she’d glanced into his eyes and seen the stare of her lover.
And she hadn’t been able to kill him.
She was too weak where he was concerned. Always had been.
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