Chapter One
Present Day
A solitary plant with crusty brown leaves and a hint of green piled over a second-story windowsill in the tall building on the east side of the alley. Rubbish spread across the worn and uneven cobblestones, and while the stucco building on the left showed signs of life with a few hints of light permeating the windows, the other loomed in darkness.
Leah shivered but kept her head down as she continued walking.
“This is a bad idea,” the male on her left said, hunched in a black sweatshirt and jeans. “Nobody should be on the Porte de la Chapelle this late at night.”
“That is why I brought you,” Leah snapped, noting the four shifters angling in a decent formation around her.
“It might not be worth the cash,” the guy on her right said.
She was pretty sure his name was Bonzo or Bonzeq or something like that. Frankly, she didn’t care. She’d only hired them for this job, and considering they were all twice her size, they needed to earn the cash she’d provided. “Just keep walking.”
Bonzo scratched at an obvious rash on his left wrist. The fool had made a move on her the night before, even though he should have known she was mated—an unfortunate side effect that Jasper had not told her about back in 1944. Once they mated, neither could touch anyone else of the opposite sex without generating a horrific—and possibly deadly—rash in both parties.
Although, with her various professions, that fact had kept her safe through the years. Well, one profession with manyaliases. That of a spy—until very recently. The fact that she didn’t age had gotten in the way, so she’d gone private.
The wind picked up, and the stench of rotten eggs and spoiled cabbage filled the air. She turned her head to the side and coughed, making sure her hood still covered her hair.
“Why do we have to be in this place?” Bonzo muttered.
It was a good question, really, but she figured it would be easier to kidnap her in one of the seedier towns. She had to be on the Kurjans’ radar by now. She’d been parading around Paris for two days, knowing they had sensors in place for enhanced females. The asshole she sought worked as a partner with a human trafficker—one she’d take out next. But the bigger fish drew her first.
A drug deal took place up ahead. The exchange went down smoothly without any concern for subterfuge.
She ignored the participants as well as the sex workers down another alley, conducting their business for the night. “Remember, I need one Kurjan alive,” she said to any of the four who happened to be listening.
“Got it.” The shifter on her left snorted.
They didn’t belong to any coalition, and it had taken her a while to band them together, but they’d be very wealthy if they did their jobs right tonight. She didn’t feel it necessary to remind them of that again.
Bonzo stiffened. “I sense them. They’re close.”
Warning whispered across Leah’s skin. She didn’t have the senses of a true immortal, but even she could feel evil nearby. “Remember.”
“Got it. You need one alive to question in order to find Wallace the Kurjan, unless Wallace is one of the squad, then we keephimalive,” Bonzo said. “Take a right here.”
She moved down the next alley, noting no plants, no lights, and even more garbage. It was a good place for an ambush.
Three figures emerged from sunken doorways, and her breath caught. Three to five wasn’t ideal, but it’s what she had. The first Kurjan was tall, at least seven feet, and his pale, translucent skin illuminated the darkness.
The Kurjans were a vampiric race that could not withstand sunlight, unlike most vampires. At least until recently, when science had caught up to assist them. They were tall with mainly purple eyes. Although the new generation seemed to have evolved to have green and maybe even blue irises, which enabled them to blend better with the human world. Truly unfortunate, that. Their hair was black with red tips or, once in a while, red with black tips. These all had darker hair covered by caps, and they wore all black, much like the soldiers surrounding her. When the first Kurjan smiled, elongated, yellow canines glinted ominously.
“Get lost, shifter,” the one in front growled. “The enhanced female is coming with us.”
“I don’t think so.” Bonzo cracked his knuckles.
The Kurjan sneered as his buddies moved up to his sides. “You don’t want to fight with three of us.”
“You might be surprised.” Leah pushed her hood off her head and settled into her stance. She hadn’t spent the last eighty years sitting around knitting. Not that there was anything wrong with knitting—it was a skill she hoped to acquire. But right now, she prepared to fight. “Are any of you Wallace?”
The closest guy’s eyes widened. “We work for Wallace. How do you know about him?”
Darn it. She’d really wanted an easy night. Why couldn’t Wallace just be here?
The roar of a motorcycle had them all stiffening. Who would ride a motorcycle down such an alley at night? She turned, gasping as two black motorcycles, sleek and uniquely designed, roared their way.
