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Chapter One
Andrea Cole had been hunting dehteen, ale and returned ho torn apart by demons before her eyes
That was nine years, a hundred kills, and two dozen broken bones ago
Killing evil creatures had never bothered her
Not once
But tonight was different
Tonight she ripped her wooden stake so hard that she was surprised it didn’t crack
Silently, she eased down the daround chaon billionaire’s ue with deis, a society of human warriors who protected the world fro for two years
Andrea’s division, a special vaative unit, had concentrated all its efforts on bringing this guy down, starting with the vampires he harbored on his property
Beneath it, anyway
Recently, an Aegis Guardian had disappeared into the bowels of thea kitchen order frootten lucky when he spotted the butler opening a secret panel in the pantry
He’d followed the butler down a staircase, speaking softly into his hiddenhe saw
At the bottoiant chamber filled with torture devices, several filthy cells, dozens of tunnels and, unfortunately, more vampires than he could combat
Andrea had listened in horror as Kaden was overwhel inside her had died, and she’d done nothing but live and breathe revenge ever since
And now, revenge ithin her grasp, because at this very rounds, ar on three separate , Blake Alden
Two: Kill as many vampires as possible
Three: Find Kaden
Find Kaden so Andrea could kill hih her on a wave of nausea
Maybe he was okay
Maybe the va delusional, because she knew daot off on torturing Guardians -- or worse, turning the an enehtmare
Cautiously, she stepped out of the stairwell and into a huge, cavernous base implements of torture
The floor was dirt, so not a basement, exactly
It was more of a cave, with cells carved into the walls
The doors were solid slabs of h with steel bars
Ahead were tunnels she’d be willing to bet led to living spaces and dozens of exits that would come out all over Portland
Behind her, six Guardians filed out of the stairwell
"This is weird," Zach, a newer recruit, whispered
"There’s no one here"
"They ht have been tipped off"
Andrea moved toward the cells
"Or it’s a trap and they’re hiding
Be careful"
Zach and the others disappeared into the tunnels, leaving Andrea to clear the immediate area
The first cell was e dejectedly from their chains
Some sort of spindly,in a corner and treue would dispatch the pathetic creature later
Shewhen the small hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she side-stepped a dark stain on the ground
Her gaze tracked auto
Above her, dried-flesh-crusted ht from the wall sconces
And there, in the corner, were Kaden’s boots and shirt
Andrea’s heart dropped into the pit of her sto caution, she checked the third cell
The fourth cell
The fifth celldear God, the fifth cell
Inside, sitting with his back to the wall, wearing only black cargo pants and a metal collar around his neck, was Kaden
Andrea’s breath lodged in her throat, her pulse went double-tih she knew better than to hope, she did exactly that
"Kaden?"
His head swung around, his gray eyes bright and ith surprise
His dark blond hair was alternately grooved and spiky, as though he’d been thrusting his fingers through it, and his tan skin wasbruises and cuts
If the vampires had had hi, she was surprised he hadn’t been hurt h hell, but he’d healed already, thanks to a vaeneration abilities
But so far, she saw no signs of hi would be okay
God, please let it be okay
"Kaden, don’t et you out of there"
"No!"
He lurched forward, only to be drawn short by the chain linking his collar to the wall
Panic put a chilling, griaze
"You can’t"
Dread draped her like a shroud, suffocating her last breath of hope