Chapter Eight

Jasper stared at the female who wasn't heeding his warnings. At. All.

"Right now?" Leah punctuated her words with both arms in the air.

Good point. "No, but soon." Unable to help himself, he set two knuckles beneath her chin and lifted her face. His lips took hers. Sweetness and spice—all her. Fire lanced through him, landing hard in his groin. She murmured something into his mouth that coasted down to land in his heart. He deepened the kiss, wrapping an arm around her back to keep the rock wall from scratching her fragile skin.

Power and energy roared through him, drowning out caution. She tasted like everything he'd ever need. Partially lifting her against him, he groaned as her breasts brushed his chest, even with clothing in the way.

She returned his kiss, a soft sound of surrender whispering from her.

With more control than he knew he possessed, he released her mouth and gently placed her on her bare feet. Her three-inch heels were across the room as if she'd kicked them there. "Shoes or not?" He had no idea if she could move in them. "We'll have to run."

"No shoes," she breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "My feet are tough, and I can't do much in those. I'd break an ankle."

"I can carry you." However, that would present a problem if he needed to fight.

She shook her head, one trembling finger touching her swollen bottom lip. "The ground is smooth, and I can run for now. If it gets too rocky, I'll let you know."

He'd always loved her practical side. "Okay. For now, follow me." He turned and headed down the lone tunnel, pausing when it split three ways. Straight ahead would lead them to the convention center, but knowing that's where he'd try to go, more than one Kurjan would be guarding that exit. He didn't know about the path to the west, but the left turn went east, and he could pick up weapons at Benny's before heading back to the convention center.

"Stay behind me," he whispered, turning left.

She nudged him in the back. "We have to get that address, Jasper. There are kids who need to be rescued."

He continued moving and looked over his shoulder at her. "Tell me."

"Trafficked ones. I have proof on a pen recorder, but apparently, I dropped my clutch when they sedated me. We have to get to those kids before it's too late, even if I don't have the evidence against the kidnapper any longer."

The desperation in her eyes made sense to him now. "Tell me your initial plan." He kept moving silently, making sure she hadn't started limping.

"To give the recorder and the address to the authorities at the charity auction," she said.

Seemed like a good plan. "Now?"

"To find the guy who trafficked them and get the address." Her voice hardened. "No matter what I have to do."

He was the killer in the family, and she should probably learn that truth sooner rather than later. He sensed a Kurjan up ahead, but the guy had been injured in the fight, and healing cells lightened the air around him. Good. That must be the soldier Jasper had nearly decapitated.

He ducked his head as the tunnel constricted and moved swiftly, keeping track of Leah behind him. Their path twisted and turned, the corridor becoming narrow in some spots and wider in others. Soon, the floor turned damp, and the walls seemed to sweat, even as a depressing chill permeated the environment.

He paused before the final turn, sensing the Kurjan on the other side. He looked over his shoulder and mouthed for Leah to stay still.

She rolled her eyes, apparently none the worse for her ordeal.

He pivoted around the side to see the youngest Kurjan he'd fought sitting on the ground, eyes closed, head back in a seemingly hypnotic state. Apparently, Jasper had almost killed the soldier.

When the Kurjan opened his eyes, they were a bloody purple that almost matched his black hair with its red tips—also dripping deep-red blood.

Jasper leaped forward, pivoted, and kicked the soldier beneath the chin. The Kurjan's head flew back to smash hard against the stone wall, creating a melon-sized impact. He slumped to the side, unconscious.

Jasper reached back for Leah's hand. "Come on, let's go."

He started jogging with her on his heels, still maneuvering through the tunnels until they finally reached the first of what appeared to be many carved ladders in the stone. He listened but didn't hear traffic. The last thing he wanted was to end up in the middle of a busy street.

"I'll go first." Leah tried to push ahead of him.

"Not a chance." If somebody was going to get their head taken off, it would be him.

He rapidly climbed the ladder and pushed open a steel grate before poking his head up to see what appeared to be a storage room in a bar. Liquor bottles lined one wall, along with a couple of kegs. He hefted himself out and reached a hand down for Leah. She grabbed it, and his entire body jolted as he pulled her up to stand. More sequins fell off her dress.

She looked down. "I paid a fortune for this thing."

"You look stunning." He replaced the grate.

She'd left enough sequins in their wake that the Kurjans would easily follow the trail, even if they couldn't sense him or, more importantly, her as an enhanced female. He had to find them both a change of clothing and soon. He pushed open the door to find an Irish pub of sorts with patrons drinking from overflowing beer mugs near several pool tables or at the long bar lining the side wall.

He took Leah's hand and walked out, shutting the door. The bartender looked up and then frowned.

Jasper lifted a hand. "Long story. I'll be back later."

"You were in my storage room? Wait a minute." The bartender slammed a glass onto the counter.

Jasper pivoted, lifted Leah into his arms and started to run. "No."

"Hey," the bartender yelled. "Wait." He and a bouncer bustled from behind the bar.

Jasper kicked open the door and barreled outside into fairly busy Parisian traffic. He jumped onto the hood of a taxi and leapfrogged his way over several vehicles to the other side as angry drivers honked their horns.

The bartender and burly bouncer bellowed at him from the sidewalk. They weren't dumb enough to follow his path, however. He smiled, waved, and kept running, recognizing the area immediately.

"You can put me down," Leah said, her arm around his neck.

"That's all right. I'm keeping you here."

Turning two more corners, he saw Benny's penthouse not too far away. All of a sudden, the world stilled. The air stiffened. He paused.

"What is it?" Leah asked as the traffic flowed by them.

Jasper looked at several busy restaurants on the sidewalk. "I don't know. There's…something." He couldn't place it.

He looked at the building again, which stood tall only two blocks away. The world silenced for the briefest of moments before an explosion rocked the penthouse, blowing every window outward with the sharp sound of shattering glass. Fire roared out of the now-broken windows. Several car alarms blared in answer.

"Shit," he muttered, putting her down. "Apparently, they found Benny's place. Come on."

He turned down the nearest alley. The smell of rotten garbage and rodent feces filled his nose, but he kept going. Leah stumbled behind him without her shoes but didn't complain once.

"I can carry you again."

"I'm good," she said, keeping pace. "But, Jasper, I have to get to the kids. I only have a couple of hours left."

He twisted and turned around several alleys. "I know."

"Why couldn't I have managed to keep that recording pen anywhere but in my clutch?" Irritation coated her words. "Where are we going?"

"We have another safe house. It's not as nice as Benny's, but nobody knows about it. We can regroup there and call the police."

She reached for his hand, sliding her small fingers between his. God, she was fragile. "The Kurjans also kidnapped seven enhanced females," she whispered.

"We'll rescue them." After another hour of winding through the bowels of Paris, they'd nearly reached a small hole in the wall that he and his brothers had used before. Emerging from an alley about a block away from the flat, he stiffened and dropped her hand.

"What?" Leah ran into him and then paused, holding her stomach as she gasped for breath.

He looked down at her flushed face. "Kurjans. Can you sense them?"

She lifted her head. "No."

Wonderful. They really needed to work on that skill.

"They're covering what I thought was a safe house."

Taking her hand again, he turned in the opposite direction, walking silently with her behind him for nearly an hour. He turned and looked at her. Her hair hung haphazardly around her face, and her dress was a disaster, the bottom part ripped and half the sequins gone. Splotches smeared her makeup, and filth covered her delicate feet from running on the cobblestones.

No doubt he looked like a fucking serial killer. Dried blood still coated the side of his face and neck. His jeans were ripped and bloody, and his light T-shirt showed plenty of his blood, as well as that of the Kurjans he'd fought. He knew because it kept burning him. Nobody would help them in this state, and the Kurjans had taken his phone.

He leaned down to whisper to his mate. "I don't think we can get close enough to anybody to pick a pocket." He peered out at the street and then tugged her back into the alley. "We need to find a much rougher neighborhood."

She gulped, a streak of mascara mixed with dirt smudging her entire left cheekbone. "No problem. The charity auction should conclude in about thirty minutes. We can capture George as he leaves. I can jack an older car. Let's stay away from CCTV."

God, she was hot. Sexy, dangerous, and fragile, all in one little package. Now, she wanted to kidnap an asshole and jack a car.

He grinned.