Night Whispers: ShadowLands, Book 1 (41 page)

The door slammed shut.

Hunter sat down beside me and offered his left hand in silence.

The cut wasn’t deep, nothing more than a nasty set of scratches from the splintered wood. I cleaned it out thoroughly and dabbed an obscene amount of cream on it before applying the bandage.

“You’re not seriously considering this.”

I looked up. “At least you didn’t call me Shirley.”

The joke fell flatter than a bad pancake.

He put his bandaged hand on my thigh. “Jo, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. Running off on your own is going to get you killed. Hell, it almost got you killed once already. Even in Vegas a good player knows when to walk away from the table.”

I pointed at the folded postcard where it lay on one of the side tables. “Then what do I do about that? He sent it to me, Hunter. He didn’t send it to Toronto to wait until we got home. He didn’t send it to you or to David. He sent it to me, here. He knows we’re here and what we’ve been dealing with. It’s immediate and it’s happening now and I have to go.”

“You think it’s got something to do with Dykovski. Which makes it even more dangerous.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I almost lost you two weeks ago, Jo. I don’t want to let you go running into the street to play in traffic.”

“It’s Harris. I owe him at least the opportunity to hear him out.”

“It could be a trap.”

“It could be. But Harris wouldn’t do that to me. To us.”

“Are you that sure?” Hunter stroked my cheek. “What if he’s hooked up with Dykovski? I know he promised you he wouldn’t go back to the dark side, but who knows what’s happened? If he couldn’t hack it out in the real world, it might be damned enticing to flip sides.”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” I admitted. “But I can’t not go.” I locked eyes with him. “He helped out when he didn’t have to. I trust him not to set me up.”

“So let’s all go. We’ll throw the team onto a bus and chug on out to Buttcheek, Wherever.”

“And make Harris a target for Dykovski,” I shot back. “If Dykovski’s monitoring us through the media, he’s going to follow us out there along with all the news vans. Harris doesn’t have a jammer. If he gets to Harris before we do, jumps ahead of us, the guy’s as good as dead.” I drew a thumb across my throat, the meaning clear. “The more people who go, the more media it attracts. We can’t take that risk, not with Harris or any other supers.”

“Okay.” Hunter stood with a resigned look. “I know when you’re being stubborn. But at least wear my jacket.”

I blinked in confusion as I pushed myself into a sitting position. “Not that I don’t mind wearing your shirt when we pause for a snack, but…”

He laughed. “My mission leather, silly.” A few long strides took Hunter to the giant closet where he pulled out a black leather jacket.

In all the confusion and drama I’d forgotten about our new toys. Jessie had jumped through some fancy hoops to give us a practical uniform we could use, body armor being the most important. No one was pulling punches because we had to look pretty for a photo shoot after the fight.

“I can monitor you nonstop.” Hunter nodded towards the small computer tablet lying on the far table. “At least do that much for me. Between the link and the camera, I’ll be able to track what’s going on, and if you need help, we’ll be on the way.” He threw the jacket on the couch beside me. “Give me something here, Jo. Don’t make this into a full-fledged brawl.” He grinned. “I can think of better things to do for our last night in Las Vegas.”

I picked up the jacket. My own had been shredded in the mine collapse that had almost cost me my life and had cost Lamarr his.

“Lost my pants too.”

“Not interested in replacing those.” He advanced on me with a smile, knowing he’d won a concession. “In fact, I like it when you don’t wear any pants at all.”

I fondled the leather for a second before putting it to one side. “How about we call it a win for me and we order up dinner?”

“And what do I get for losing?”

“Anything you want.” I gave him my best come-hither look. “That is, after we eat. I think I’m going to need a lot of energy for tonight.”

He almost broke a leg trying to get to the phone.

Night Whispers

Alisha Rai

When every night is a battle for survival, love is an endangered species.

ShadowLands, Book 1

Analyst James Bennett has spent the years since humankind fell victim to the Illness living underground. Part of an elite group of survivors determined to save their race, his only interaction with the blood-drinking Shadows roaming the Earth is through surveillance technology carried by his team of search-and-rescue agents. Scarred by vicious events, he has no desire to leave the safety of his bunker for the dangerous world outside—until he recruits a tough, haunted young woman clear across the country.

Former gang member Jules Guerrero learned two things early on: the value of loyalty and never backing down from a fight. Both of those teachings come in handy now that her job description includes protecting humans and kicking Shadow ass. But it’s hard to keep her mind strictly on her mission when all she can think about is the man whose voice keeps her sane through the depths of each dark night.

When Jules is captured and threatened by a rogue organization even more bloodthirsty than the Shadows, James must draw on all of his courage to fuel a furious cross-country chase through the lawless land…before the Jules he loves is destroyed forever.

Warning: Contains a hero who would fight monsters for his love, a heroine out to save the world, a treacherous wasteland, poetry as foreplay and flesh-eating enemies.

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

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Night Whispers

Copyright © 2012 by Alisha Rai

ISBN: 978-1-60928-544-9

Edited by Sasha Knight

Cover by Kanaxa

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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
electronic publication: November 2012

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