“Are you telling me the truth?” Drakon asked very softly.
He settled his weight—his heat, his maleness—beside her on the bed.
“I—” For a moment Phoenix forgot what she was about to say, enveloped in the blatant desire emanating from him.
“It would be safer for me to turn you in,” he said. “You wouldn't do that.”
He sighed. “You don't know what I'm capable of,” he said.
She'd been prepared for this, prepared to offer her body.
The problem was that her mind was refusing to use her body as just a tool in a war for the Enclave's survival. Her nerves hummed in response to the aura of sheer sexual need that surrounded him, and she realized that in the brief time she'd had contact with him, she had developed a very personal interest in her “savior.”
Her enemy.
SUSAN KRINARD has been writing paranormal romance for nearly twenty years. With Daysider she began a series of vampire paranormal romances, the Nightsiders series, for the Mills & Boon® Nocturne™ line.
Sue lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband, serge, her dogs, Freya, Nahla and Cagney, and her cats, Agatha and Rocky. She loves her garden, nature, painting and chocolate … not necessarily in that order.
Shadowmaster
Susan Krinard
With thanks to Lucienne and Leslie,
who have never given up.
Contents
Chapter 1
“We don’t know who he is,” the director said. “We know it’s a he, and we believe he goes by the name ‘Drakon.’ There are certain unconfirmed reports that he has connections in the Fringe, here in the city. We don’t know where he’s hiding, if he’s working alone or if he has contacts within this very agency.”
Aegis Director of Operatives Julia Chan swept the table with her gaze, pausing to search each pair of eyes locked on hers. Phoenix was only one of many, but she felt as if Director Chan were looking into her soul. Weighing strengths and weaknesses. Going over a mental checklist of successes and failures in Phoenix’s relatively brief and undemanding career—mentally studying her psych eval, deciding if the agent’s abilities and qualifications were up to the task.
No doubt the director was wondering if an agent who was only half-dhampir like herself—only a quarter Opir and three-quarters human—and had never had a major mission in the field, could possibly be capable enough for a job that could mean life or death for the largest Enclave of humans on the West Coast of the former United States of America.
Then the director’s gaze moved on, and she nodded brusquely. “You’ll have full, detailed reports on your tabs. Study them thoroughly. We’re sending only one agent during the initial stage of the search. We’re betting that the assassin is heterosexual, and like most Opiri, he’ll naturally be attracted to dhampir blood.” She swept the audience with a cold stare. “Let me be very frank—you may have to use sex as a way of getting to him, not to mention your blood. As always, if you feel or believe you’re not up to the task of using every personal asset to find this killer before he brings down our government, tell me now. You’ll receive no black mark on your record for declining, under the circumstances. And, as always, every word spoken in this room is strictly confidential. Any leaks will be investigated and the traitor will face the harshest possible penalties.”
She closed her tab, gathered up a few printed notes and left the room.
“Well, that was clear enough,” Yoko said close to Phoenix’s ear as they rose from their seats at the table. “We always knew what we were getting into when we joined Aegis.”
“Joined?”
