When Temptation Burns: A Shadow Keepers Novel (Shadow Keepers 6)
Read When Temptation Burns: A Shadow Keepers Novel (Shadow Keepers 6) Online
Authors: J.K. Beck
Raves for J. K. Beck’s Shadow Keepers series
“J. K. Beck builds a dark, compelling world in
When Blood Calls
, the first in a paranormal trilogy.… Sexy, thrilling and teeming with weird creatures and unexpected alliances, this story will have readers eager for the next installment.”
—Book Page
, “Romance of the Month”
“A page-turner! Riveting, dangerous, and not to be missed!”
—#1
New York Times
bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon
“J. K. Beck expertly blends pulse-pounding romantic suspense with an evocative and original paranormal world. The result is a red-hot page-turner.”
—New York Times
bestselling author Kresley Cole
“A compelling blend of dark paranormal romance and gritty urban fantasy.”
—New York Times
bestselling author Lara Adrian
“From the very first page, you’ll be enveloped in the story of
When Blood Calls
and the rest of the world will disappear. Beck has created compelling characters, a story rich with paranormal creatures you can empathize with and a plot that will make readers ask, ‘What would I do if it were me?’ Once you start the book, don’t plan on moving until you’ve finished the story.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Rich with moral dilemmas, steamy sex and a timeless political feud between vampires and werewolves, there’s something for all paranormal fans here.… Sexy, dark and intense.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Right from the get-go, Lissa and Rand’s story grabs you and won’t let go.…
When Pleasure Rules
is a super-fun, action-packed, and let’s not forget sizzling story.”
—Night Owl Romance
“
When Pleasure Rules
lives up to the standard set by
When Blood Calls
. The tension is high, the action is intense, and the romance is scorching.”
—Bitten by Books
“Beck can always be counted on for a fantastic paranormal tale. This third addition to the immensely popular and enjoyable Shadow Keepers series may be the best yet. Tight, action-packed suspense combined with one seriously imaginative plot will have readers whipping through page after page of gripping suspense and sizzling passion. A wonderful world readers will want to visit time and time again.”
—RT Book Reviews
“The passion, twists and turns in
When Wicked Craves
will keep you entranced from the first page until the last.”
—Joyfully Reviewed
“Lovable characters, great action, scary monsters and super-hot scenes, what more could you ask for?”
—Night Owl Romance
When Temptation Burns
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Bantam Books Mass Market Original
Copyright © 2012 by Julie Kenner
Excerpt from
When Passion Lies
by J. K. Beck copyright © 2012 by Julie Kenner
Excerpt from
When Darkness Hungers
by J. K. Beck copyright © 2012 by Julie Kenner
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Bantam Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ANTAM
B
OOKS
and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52568-0
Cover illustration: Craig White
Cover art: Craig White
v3.1
“Your turn, Kevin!” Stu yelled, rubbing his fist, his knuckles red from having just pounded the shit out of Jordan Lowe’s nose and jaw. “Go for the nose. Come on, Kev, nail the fucker!”
Kevin Whalton cringed; Stu’s shouts were making him even more nervous than he already was. He glanced around the darkened alley, half-hoping there’d be someone else in the shadows behind the locked-up laundromat. Nobody.
“Fucking hell, Kevin.
Now
.”
He jumped, scared as a rabbit, but he did what his friend demanded. He tightened his fingers into a fist, lashed out, and watched as his knuckles smashed into their victim’s nose.
No—not a victim. He had to remember that. Had to remember who was the dangerous one here. Because if everything Wes and Stu had told him was true, Jordan Lowe could never be a victim.
With a snap, Jordan’s head slammed back, making a sick crunching sound as it impacted the brick wall. He howled—literally howled. A low, pained keening that bounced off the wall and filled the dark space around them.
Kevin glanced back at Stu, who was miming punching movements and shouting, “Hell, yeah! That’s the way!
Get in another—come on, man, show the freak what you’ve got.”
Wes stood a couple of yards from Jordan, his mouth pulled into a tight smile. “You fucked with the wrong people, puppy dog. We know what you are, and we are so going to take you down.” He swiveled his head to look at Kevin. “Another. Get in another.”
Kevin hesitated, a little sick to his stomach. Less than an hour before, they’d all been having drinks at a bar a few blocks down. Everything had seemed perfectly normal then. Hell, Wes and Stu actually knew Jordan pretty well; they’d been hanging with him for weeks. But tonight they’d pulled Kevin aside to tell him that they didn’t trust Jordan. That they were certain he was a mole. And that Kevin was going to want to see the shit that went down.
Then they’d put something in the guy’s drink. And when Kevin had asked Stu why, Stu had just grinned and said that if they didn’t dose his drink, Jordan would be able to rip all their fucking heads off.
At the time, Kevin had believed it, because why the hell would Stu lie about what Jordan was? About what he could do?
Now, though …
Well, now Jordan looked whipped. Like he couldn’t beat up a six-year-old girl, much less three college sophomores.
“Goddammit, Kevin. Are you a fucking pussy or what? Hit the mongrel bastard! Hit him!”
“Do it!” Wes added, and their voices bolstered him. Made his muscles tighten and his pulse quicken. “Goddammit, do it now—do it and I swear to God the unholy
fuckwad will show you that everything we’ve told you is true!”
That did it. Kevin lashed out, his right fist connecting hard with Jordan’s temple even as his left jabbed into the kid’s gut. Jordan went down, doubling over as he clutched at his stomach. Then he looked up, and Kevin stumbled backward.
Holy fuck—Jordan’s eyes were yellow.
Yellow and wild and full of hate and anger.
Kevin shivered, not sure what he was seeing. Not sure what to believe. He’d gotten in with Wes and Stu and the rest of them because they’d told him what was out there—and that they needed his help to stop it. To stop
them
. But until tonight it had all been theory and conjecture and folks making speeches about what they knew and what they believed. Until tonight Kevin had never actually seen one of them. Hell, he hadn’t even been sure if he believed in monsters or if he just wanted to get on Wes and Stu’s good side.
But he believed now. Fuck, yeah, he did.
“Don’t fight it, pup,” Wes said, giving Jordan a kick. “We wanna see. Don’t we Stu? Don’t we Kevin?”
“Shit, yeah,” Stu said, bouncing like a boxer itching for a fight. He pulled out a knife, the blade glinting in the dim light from the alley’s streetlamps. “Scared, fucker? It’s pure silver. That’s gonna hurt.” He lunged forward, the blade aimed at Jordan’s stomach, but at the last second, Jordan thrust his arm up, moving fast considering how battered he was, and knocked the knife to the ground.
Quicker than Kevin could see, Jordan had Stu pinned on the ground. “Think you’re clever?” he rasped, his body bent over Stu’s. “How clever will you be when I rip your head off with my goddamned teeth?”
Jordan’s skin started to ripple, and Kevin could see his bones shifting beneath his skin. A loud roaring filled Kevin’s head, and his knees started to give out—fuckin’ A, he was about to faint.
“Kev! Kevin!”
Wes’s voice pulled him back, and he blinked, groggy.
“Get Stu’s knife, man! Now!” As Wes spoke, he was lunging toward Jordan with his own knife out. Kevin couldn’t move; he couldn’t do anything but stare at the creature in front of him. Holy shit; they’d told him what would happen, what the kid was. But telling and seeing were two different things. And seeing was fucking terrifying.
“Now, goddammit, or Stu’s dead!”
Jordan was clutching Stu’s head in his hand, and he slammed it against the asphalt with a sickening thud. The noise spurred Kevin to action, and he darted sideways for Stu’s lost knife, then rushed forward, leading with the point of the blade. He felt the resistance as the tip hit Jordan’s skin, then the give as it slid into the muscle, the full force of Kevin’s weight pushing it right to the hilt, right to the bone.
On the other side of the creature, Wes was jabbing, too, his mouth moving, his words a mishmash of unintelligible curses with only a few words like
silver
and
fucking
and
werewolf
coming out clear.
Another roar echoed—only this one wasn’t inside of Kevin’s head. It was coming from Jordan, who’d reared back, arms flailing as he knocked aside their knives and climbed to his feet. Kevin braced himself, certain he would need to do battle with this, this
thing
. But then Jordan turned and loped off down the alley, leaving Stu curled up in a ball and moaning on the pavement.
“Catch him!” Wes cried, pulling out a gun and firing it so close to Kevin’s head that for a moment he thought he was deaf. He wasn’t, though, and Wes’s shouts pushed through the cotton that now seemed to fill his ears.
