Leopard's Kiss (Shadow Guardians) (Shadows Guardians Book 1) (27 page)

"My help, too," Killian said. "You're broadcasting. I'm in."

Slade looked over at him. "We can't do it alone, bro. I get like twenty assassin requests a week."

"Don't you know any other assassins who might be up for a new line of work?" Killian asked, with a raised brow.

"Do I?" Huh. Interesting thought. "We'd have to pay them a shitload. They don't work for free."

Killian gave him a baleful look as the doors rattled as the guards tried to get in the room. "You have more money than most nations."

Slade grinned. "This is true. A guy can buy only so many suits, right?" He glanced at Anya. "Or diamond rings."

She grinned, her smile lighting up her face at his cryptic comment. She'd obviously figured out what he'd tried to convey, because she got him, and she was clearly meant for him. "Is that a proposal?" she asked.

"It might be. My mind is too groggy for proper thought, since I got darted, shot, and almost died, but I think it might be."

She beamed at him. "I'm in. For both the rent-an-assassin-save-the-world thing, and for the ring, if you meant it."

Satisfaction pulsed through Slade, as they reached the window. He slid his arm around her back and pulled her against him. "Oh, I meant it. I'm not going anywhere. Plus, what other guy could pull off the king thing? Only me, and we both know it."

Her smile widened. "You're an arrogant pain in the ass."

"And?"

She rolled her eyes. "And I love you that way."

"Of course you do, just like I love everything about you." He grinned at his brother, who was leaning out the window to check on the ground guards. "We cool?"

"Yeah. They're bailing. They must know Parker's gone." Killian looked at them. "They'll regroup, you know. Someone will step up and take his place. Too much money involved to let it go."

"I know." Slade's amusement faded. "Assassins are all isolated, anti-social bastards, but I know some that I'd trust to save instead of kill, for the right price. I'll find the ones we need to help us."

"Hell. We're really going to start a rent-an-assassin business?" Killian's tone was cranky, but his eyes were gleaming with interest.

Slade grinned. "Rent-an-assassin doesn’t do justice to the highly-trained, deadliness of these guys. We need something better, like Minions of the Black Swan."

Killian snorted. "No worthy assassin is going to be your minion. You're not that great."

"I'm fantastic. Just ask everyone I've killed." People began to pound on the door, and Slade looked over his shoulder. Parker had shifted back to human form, and there was no evidence that any cat had ever been in the room. Just bloody, unconscious armed guards. It was going to be hell to explain, when all the evidence had vanished out the fourth floor window. He almost wanted to stay and make sure everyone knew exactly how much Parker had deserved to die, but he was still the Black Swan, a man who'd killed too many, a man who couldn't afford to greet the cops with a coffee and a croissant for chitchat. "Time to become a shadow again," he said softly. Even as he spoke, he reached out with his mind, and efficiently turned off the spotlights and streetlights outside the building.

He looked at the three of them, including Julia. "I still have enemies. People will always be after Anya. To stay with me, you will all have to learn to become shadows. It's the only way to survive." As he spoke, he reached out to all of them and blurred their images. It wasn't perfect, but it would keep them hidden as they exited.

"Shadow Guardians," Anya said.

He looked at her. "What?"

"Shadow Guardians. Not rent-an-assassin. Shadow Guardians."

Slade nodded, rolling it over it in his mind. "It works."

"Oooh... I like that." Killian peered out the window, no doubt checking the ledge for guards, almost as if he were related to the world's greatest assassin. "That's nice and badass. I'm in."

"And me," Julia said. "I want to help, too." There were shadows in her eyes, the shadows that only someone who'd seen the darkness could have. Slade wondered what she'd endured during her time in captivity, how bad it had been.

"We'll need you," he said, knowing that sometimes, the only way out of the darkness was to find your own power.

Julia nodded, her jaw hard. "Thanks."

The doors burst open and the guards charged in. Time to go. Slade sent out a pulse of psychic energy and knocked them all on their asses. "Everyone okay with jumping four stories down? My car is parked by the front door."

"Let's do it." Killian moved closer to Julia, as the four of them shifted effortlessly. Killian nudged Julia with his muzzle, urging her to go first. She padded soundlessly to the window, and leapt without hesitation. Killian followed a split second later, timing his jump so he was beside her, already going into his protector mode.

As Anya moved toward the window, she turned to look back at him.
You were dead, Slade. Like before. Did you make another deal?

He nodded.
I accepted another assignment. I got another chance.

She narrowed her eyes.
What assignment?

To love you.

She stared at him for a long moment.
You got to come back for that?

And to be by your side forever. It was either that, or become an assassin again. Who the hell wants that?

Anya felt her throat tighten at his words. So nonchalant, and yet, so full of emotion.
You had the chance to go back to your old life?

Yeah.
He met her gaze.
I can't live without you, Anya. You made my heart start to beat again, and you taught me to be brave enough to love. I want life with you, Killian, Julia, and all the trouble that comes with it.

Laughter and giddy happiness bubbled up inside her.
You mean it, don't you?

Yep.
A mischievous gleam flashed in his eyes.
And by the way, your mom says hi.

She froze, her throat clogging up.
My mom?

She's the one who sent me to you, sweetheart.
He winked.
She must think I'm worthy of you. How about that? Mom approved, plus I'm really hot and great in bed. What more could you ask for?

Humility, maybe?

Nah. Overrated and boring.
He nodded at the window as more people appeared in the doorway to the conference room.
Together?

She nodded.
Together
.

Slade moved up next to her, and brushed his shoulder against hers.
And when I get healed, we're going to go to that place Killian was talking about, and we're going to let our leopards run. Sound good?

Happiness flooded her.
So good.

And then they jumped.

S
lade walked
out of the mountain cabin. The wind rushed over him, as if it were trying to wipe away the bloodstains he still carried with him. He breathed deeply, drawing the clean air into his lungs. It felt good. More than good to be there. It had been a week since Parker's death, and the four of them had spent most of it at Killian's mountain retreat, regrouping.

He'd spent more time in leopard form in the last week than he had in his entire life, and it was amazing. He'd had no idea what he was missing. He'd had to sit at the breakfast table with three other people, he'd consulted on Shadow Guardians with the others, he'd cooked dinner for four, and he'd spent every night wrapped around Anya and making love to her until dawn.

Best week of his life.

A low growl sounded off to his left, and he smiled as he looked to the side. Standing at the edge of the woods was the wolf hybrid he'd encountered in the alley when he'd been on his way to kill Anya. "How's it going up here in the mountains, Wolf? You like your new digs?"

The dog waited.

Slade crouched down and held out his hand. Wolf trotted across the clearing, his body loose and relaxed. He'd put on weight, and his ribs were now hidden beneath the slick, shiny fur. He shoved his head against Slade's stomach, and Slade dug his fingers into the thick, silky coat. "Yeah," he said softly. "I like it, too." He raised his face to the sun, letting the warm rays seep into his skin. "Not as many shadows to hide in up here, though. Whatchya think about that?"

Wolf yipped softly, and wagged his tail, making Slade grin. "Yeah, me too." He pulled a dog biscuit out of his pocket. "Come back later for tea and crumpets," he said. "Anya's forcing it on me. I need some backup."

Wolf grabbed the dog bone and loped off into the woods, his tail wafting gently as he disappeared into the woods. Slade rested one arm on his knee, grinning after him. "We're the same," he said softly. "A couple loners who realized that the soft life isn't so bad." As he spoke, he saw Killian up ahead.

He was standing on the edge of a sharp drop off, a tree-covered cliff that enabled them to see for miles, to make sure no one was sneaking up on them. Killian was wearing only jeans. His feet were bare, and his shoulders were rippling with muscle. He was lean and dangerous, emanating fierce deadliness.

His brother.

There were times Slade still couldn't believe Killian was a part of his life now.

Slade rose to his feet and strode across the grassy clearing. He stopped beside his brother. Killian didn't turn, so Slade said nothing, gazing across the valley. Below them stretched hundreds of acres of private, undeveloped Vermont forest, the sanctuary created by Killian's family for leopards to run freely. It was Killian's now, a bittersweet inheritance that Slade knew ate away at his brother.

"I don't know the truth," Killian said. "I don't know if Parker killed my family."

Slade knew which family Killian was referring to, and it didn't bother him that Killian didn't differentiate between his biological family and his adoptive one. They were both family, equally important, equally entwined in the fabric of his soul. "I know. We'll find out. We'll keep looking for answers."

"That woman, Beckett Harper, has disappeared. She was involved somehow."

"I'll find her." Though, Slade had to admit he wasn't sure how Beckett had managed to sever his ties to her. He should have been able to track her, but she'd vanished off his radar. It interested him…and concerned him. "I've gone over my list of assassin contacts. There's a couple I think would be willing to protect instead of kill. Deadly badasses who would shut down any threat. You want to go over them tonight?"

Killian nodded. "I hate every bastard who hurts innocents," he said softly. "Every single one."

Slade considered that. "I killed innocents. Many of them. So have the assassins we're bringing on board."

Killian looked over at him. "Does it hurt? Inside?"

"Yeah." It hurt far more than he'd ever expected, but he was done running from the cost of the life he'd chosen. With Anya's help, he was facing it. It sucked to look at who he was, and who he'd been, but it was okay, because it meant he could change the path of his life, and it meant he could love Anya, and accept her love. "You ever kill an innocent?" he asked suddenly. There was so much he didn't know about his brother.

Killian said nothing, looking across the horizon.

Shit. Killian
had
killed an innocent. Who was it? What had it done to him? "If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."

Killian said nothing, but Slade accepted it. Anya was the only one who would ever know some of his secrets. The front door opened, and Slade glanced over his shoulder as Anya and Julia walked out, laughing. He grinned, unable to keep from responding to Anya's laughter.

There was weight in Julia's eyes, however, and Slade sighed. "You think she's going to be okay?"

"Julia?" Killian turned to look at her. "She's pregnant, you know."

"I know." Slade had sensed it as well. "Anya said she won't talk about who the father is. She thinks Julia is protecting someone, a man from Parker's world that she's fallen for."

"If he's a bastard, I'll kill him," Killian said quietly. "She's family now, along with you and Anya. No one steals from me again.
No one.
"

Slade heard the icy steel in his brother's voice, and something prickled along his spine. There was an edge to Killian that was untamed, on the edge of something extremely dangerous. "You okay?"

Killian shook his head. "No." He looked at Slade, and something dark and deadly flashed in his eyes. "I'm going for a run. I'll be back later." Without waiting, he stripped off his jeans and then shifted effortlessly into his black leopard form. He leapt straight off the cliff, landing a good two hundred feet below with ease, before sprinting off into the woods.

Slade frowned as he watched him. Something was off about Killian. Something he couldn't place—

Anya walked up behind him and slid her hand in his. "Hey."

As soon as he felt her touch, Slade's muscles relaxed. He glanced over at her, and his throat tightened at the sight of her smiling at him. She was barefoot, like he was, wearing only loose shorts and a tee shirt. Her hair was loose, tumbling over her shoulders, and she wasn't wearing any makeup. She was becoming more and more a part of nature, and the cat she'd hidden for so long. She'd always been beautiful, but now, she was vibrating with life. Power radiated off her, making his own cat growl in response. He'd never been so alive, so vulnerable, and so determined to protect.

His heart turned over, and he tightened his grip on her hand. "You saved me, you know," he said softly.

She slid her arms around his waist, beaming up at him. "Of course I did. You were lost."

"Like Killian is now."

Her smile faded. "Like Killian," she agreed. "He's dangerous," she said softly. "I know he's your brother, but there's something about him I don't quite trust."

Slade sighed. "I don't either." He slid his hands through her hair. "Maybe there's someone out there for him who can drag his ass out of hell like you did for me. Some woman as badass as he is."

"Maybe give him a Shadow Guardian assignment," Anya suggested. "Maybe it's time for him to focus on something other than searching for answers we can't find right now."

Slade considered her suggestion. "I received a few assassination requests earlier today from people who don't know I'm out of the business. One of the targets was a woman, and it felt off. I wanted to check her out, but maybe I'll give her to Killian."

Anya nodded. "Saving someone is a good distraction from your own pain."

"That it is." He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her. He knew he would never get tired of touching her, kissing her, and holding her. He'd thought it would take time to adjust to running the Shadow Guardians with her and Killian, instead of going solo, but it had been easy and seamless. "I like having you around, Your Highness."

She laughed, a musical sound that made him smile. "Stop calling me that. I'm just me."

"You're you, but you're also the queen." His gaze slid to the woods surrounding them. "You ready to practice being a leopard queen?"

Her face lit up, and a smile stretched across her face. "You want to run with me?"

"Always." He'd never spent much time as a cat. He hadn't wanted to, and he hadn't needed to. But Anya had changed everything. Her joy the first time they'd gone out in the woods had been infectious, and he'd wanted to spend the rest of his life making her that happy. The thought had been so out of character for the Black Swan, but it had felt so right. She'd turned him into a damned sap, and he loved every second of it. "After you, my love."

She stepped back and grinned at him as she shed her clothes. He had only a moment to enjoy her nakedness before she shifted into a sleek, muscular white leopard. Her joyous voice whispered through his mind.
Tag. You're it.

Then she turned and bounded across the meadow, disappearing into the woods, taunting him as she ran.

He laughed as he shifted, then eased into a relaxed lope as he followed her, basking in the feel of his muscles lengthening, his leopard merging with the man. He knew where she was headed. Two days ago, they'd found a private mountain pool in the woods, perfect for two cats playing…and then perfect for drying off afterwards, naked, human, and together.

Always together.

Alone was no longer his life, and he was fine with that.

More than fine.

He was happy. For the first time in his life, he finally understood what happy meant. It didn't mean safety. It didn't mean locking out the world to keep his loved ones safe. It meant loving, laughing, protecting, and everything else that came up in the messy, volatile, uncertain world of relationships.

He'd never trade it for the life he'd once had.

Ever.

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