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 many aliases. 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 keep him alive," 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.

"What the hell?" Bonzo swung around.

The Kurjan hissed and pulled out a gun. Almost in unison, the two riders, who were somehow navigating the middle of the alley side by side, reached into their pockets and pulled out weapons. Green lasers instantly fired through the night, hitting all three Kurjans and then all four shifters before any of them could get off a shot.

Leah frantically searched for an escape. Those were immortal-injuring guns. The lasers turned into metal upon hitting immortal flesh, and all the males around her dropped, still in the act of reaching for their weapons.

The two on the motorcycles, their heads covered by helmets, continued to fire. Damn it. She turned and leaped over one of the shifters, then pivoted and ran down an alley—this one also lacking any light. Both motorcycles followed her. She didn't know who they were, but they were no doubt another Kurjan faction. Rumor had it they were working in small vigilante groups these days.

She ducked her head and ran as fast as she could, reaching a rickety fire escape. Using all her strength, she jumped and grasped the bottom rung, pulling it down so she could climb. If she could reach the roof, she could find a quicker way out.

One of the riders manacled her waist in one smooth motion and pulled her onto the bike in front of him before she could climb a rung. She shrieked and struggled, but he banded one iron-strong forearm around her waist and pulled her against his hard body before plopping his helmet onto her head and swiftly fastening it under her chin as he sped down the midnight-black alley.

She paused, and her ears heated. They'd only spent one night together, but she knew this male. His scent wrapped around her, and her body turned to lava as if she'd been waiting for him with every heartbeat. "Jasper," she whispered.

* * * *

Jasper had never been this pissed off in his entire life. He held the struggling bundle in front of him as he maneuvered the dangerous streets of Paris to reach a tall and luxurious building. There, he parked, tossed his key to the valet, threw his wayward mate over his shoulder, and stalked into the beautiful vestibule without saying a word.

She fought furiously, beating her head, still safely ensconced in his helmet, against his lower back. He ignored her and the shocked looks of everyone in the lobby as he strode to the elevator with his brother, Dax, loping along next to him.

Jasper stabbed at the button for the penthouse, temper heating his blood.

Dax snorted next to him, and it was all Jasper could do not to punch him in the face.

Meanwhile, Leah somehow managed to get the helmet off and threw it on the tile floor, bashing her fists against the top of his ass.

"Knock it off," he said.

She growled. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

He shook his head. She had the audacity to be angry?

Dax wisely bit back a smile and leaned against the side of the elevator until the doors opened. They walked out.

"I'll catch up with you two later," he said, amusement far too evident in his voice as he strode across the expansive living area to one of the many bedrooms, easily sidestepping a series of blue and yellow Legos on his way.

Jasper walked toward the back of a sofa and flipped Leah over his shoulder to land safely on the thick cushions. Her wild hair flew all around her, and she pushed it out of the way before jumping to her feet, turning, and facing him. "What are you doing here?" She threw a teddy bear at him.

He caught it and gently placed the toy on the sofa table.

God, she was glorious. Her hair was thick and black, curling slightly as it hung down her back, and her eyes… Those eyes had haunted his moments—day and night—for far too long. They were dark brown like the mysterious depths of the cosmos, far beyond what the human eye could discern. Yet a light lived in them—one that had always entranced him. She was of average height, maybe five feet six inches, and her skin was smooth over sharply angled features.

She glanced beyond him to the door, obviously measuring the distance.

"Not a chance in hell." He unzipped his leather jacket and tossed the heavy material to the floor.

She shook her finger at him. "Why are there teddy bears and Legos all over this place?"

Truth be told, books, tiny cars, Legos, and stuffed animals were strewn across the luxurious penthouse living room. "It's Benjamin Reese's property. He invests heavily in real estate and often lets us bunk at one of his places for a night or two." Jasper flicked a glance at a miniature science set shoved into the corner. "I think he and his mate are trying to populate the world with miniature Benjamins. They have at least three boys, if not four. Maybe five by now." Which was rare in the immortal world, and frankly frightening, considering Benny had never been all that stable or sane. Still, the guy did share his properties with all his friends.

Leah took a deep breath. "That's great. We should vacate this place and give Benjamin and his progeny their home back."

Benny was probably already back in the States, and Jasper had more important problems right now. His irritation had finally simmered enough that he could talk rationally. "What the hell did you think you were doing in that alley this late at night?"

She smacked both hands against her forehead as if she couldn't believe his lack of intelligence. "I was trying to catch a Kurjan."

The words echoed in his head several times as his temper spiraled into an unhealthy zone. "You were trying to catch a Kurjan," he repeated slowly. There was no way he had heard that correctly.

"Yes," she said. "And you completely messed up my very strategic plan."

He tried not to shake his head, considering he felt like she had sprayed him in the face with water. A headache roared in, threatening his temples. "Why were you trying to catch a Kurjan?" he asked with as much calmness as he could muster.

She took a deep breath as if the idea of explaining herself was too much right now. "I'm doing my job, Jasper, and you blew it." She glanced at a thick watch on her wrist. "Though the shifters should be okay by now. They would've been able to push out those bullets, and I'm sure the Kurjans are gone." She chewed on her lip, her gaze darting away as if she'd forgotten his presence in the room. "I'm going to have to pay them double now."

He reared up, careful to keep his arms loose at his sides so he didn't lunge over the back of the sofa and grab her. "Excuse me?"

She frowned. "Well, we had the op ready to go, and you screwed it all up. Yeah, I'm going to have to pay them double. I'll be lucky if I don't have to pay them triple."

He chuckled then because there was nothing else he could do. "You're not going on another mission." He spoke slowly. Maybe she had a head injury.

"The heck, I'm not. This took me months to put into place." In her dark jeans and form-fitting leather jacket, she looked svelte, sexy, and a little bit dangerous. He liked that about her. He always had.

"Why are you here?" she asked again. "I sent you blood a month ago. You should be fine."

"I sent a message to you that we were done playing this cat-and-mouse game."

Her chin lifted, dare written across her face. "We're not playing any sort of game. We have an agreement, and you just breached it."

"I told you I'd come for you one day," he said smoothly. "Time's up."