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Chapter 1
Jude Donovan was used to hunting killers--used to running the the bastards
So when he followed his latest prey into the swamps of Louisiana, an area that looked like it had been ho but beasts for the last few centuries, he wasn’t nervous
Until a bullet thudded into him
Sonofabitch The fiery pain blasted in his shoulder even as the retort of the rifle echoed in his ears
"You’re not taking me back, you bastard!" The snarl caht The tip of the barrel jutted over a fallen log
Jude gritted his teeth, but didn’t bother glancing down at the wound No time for that, not now "Bobby Burrows!" He called out thelike a freaking stuck pig "There are te can handle this…" He stalked forward Drops of blood littered the ground around hiators and hell knehat else The bastard would pay "First way’s easy, as in…you drop that rifle and co up! I won’t go to jail! I won’t!" The tip of the weapon began to move Fuck
"Then we do it the hard way" Jude inhaled and caught the cloying scent of the swamp, the rich flavor of his own blood, and the et you-- and I rip you apart" Siround disappeared beneath Jude’s feet as he sprang forward
A , eyes wild, rifle clutched tight to hi-ass scope on it, of course He lifted, airowled, a deep, inhuht the wanted ht shoulder, and saw the spatter of blood in the air Bobby’s this time, not his
Wound for wound Blood for blood The way of his kind
He grabbed the weapon, wrenching it out of Bobby’s hand Bobby, a guy in his forties, balding and with big fists, stared up at him, terror on his face "You--you’re not--"
Jude smiled Held up his hands Blood stained the claws that seeertips "Human?"
A whimper
The smile stretched evenevery few seconds, but Jude ignored the pain An old habit He leaned forward, ran his claws over the squir man’s stubbled face "No, I’ht into skin "Tellthose woht
The first time she saw hinized him instantly--she’d seen his picture in the local paper just days before She watched as Jude handed the wanted man he’d apprehended over to the local cops Watched as Bobby Burrows, a man who’d cruelly sliced up the faces of his ex-wife, his two ex-girlfriends, and soe, was shoved into the backseat of a squad car
She could hear Bobby’s shouts fros about claws and killers
Disgust tightened her lips Jerk was probably already preparing for his defense An insanity plea Erin would bet ato let the freak get aith so like that
Oh, no, as an assistant district attorney, it was her job to ht by twelve foot cell, preferably for the rest of hisfor hi her jacket, because this was only her second week on the job and she needed to be professional--or, at least try to be--Erin crossed the street Her eyes were drawn to Jude
The bounty hunter
He worked for Night Watch, a huge, ht Watch was reputed to be one of the best, if not the best, bounty hunting agencies in the country No ht their prey
A fact that, right then, et a whole lot easier now that she had the defendant in custody
Her heels tapped on the pavement Time to--
Jude’s head shot up His eyes, the bluest she’d ever seen, lazered in on her
Erin stuht his scent then The wild scent of her kind
Other Shifter
Erin wasn’t human, well, not completely anyway And she knew the truth about the world around her
She knew that humans weren’t the only killers out on the streets
Sucking in a sharp breath, she straightened her shoulders and kept walking The anirance of blood in the air
Da I need She’d tried so hard, for so long, to be noruy had literally landed in her path
His nostrils widened as she ca in her scent, knew too by the faint line that appeared between his brows that he couldn’t quite understand what she was
Story of my life
"Ms Jerome" One of the uniforms stepped toward her, a wide smile on his face His partner sla his claws rant
Maybe that hadn’t been an insanity plea in theat Bobby through theHer breath rushed out "What happened to him?" But she knew
The uniforms looked at Jude
Jaw clenched, so did she
And Erin realized she’d made a serious er
Oh, yeah, this guy was a serious threat To her
Not good-looking, not really, at least not in that classic, azine way A mane of thick blond hair teased his shirt collar
Frah cheeks Sharp nose Square jaw
No, not a GQ face But still…
Sexy Somehow, he was still sexy Maybe it was those lips That scar that slipped right over the edge of his top lip
Shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was
He was
Freaking aniuy had an air about hiive-adamn attitudes A wildness in his eyes and in the curl of his lips
Erin sed She couldn’t help taking an uneasy step back
His eyes followed the ed His gaze raked over her body
"And you are…?"
"Assistant District Attorney Erin Jerome" Gritted out Why was there blood all over Bobby? If soot thrown out--
"Not the question I was asking" Bland as you please That broas still up
Her lips parted "What?" No way could he have ain, and a sht then, the only interesting thing she saas Bobby A lie But she’d always been good at lying to herself And about herself "What Happened?"
Another shrug "He slipped in the swamp Fell on some branches"