Most Wanted - A Fantasy Romance Novel (The Shadow Blade Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

gave him a
rugged, wolfish intensity. It made her cautious, like she didn’t want to turn
her back on him.
    ‘So how do you
want to do this?’ Ariel asked, feeling her cheeks start to flush once more.
God, she needed to get a grip. He was just a guy. So what if he was hotter than
a Hemsworth?

 
 
    Jax lead the way
off the pier and down onto the boardwalk. ‘They’re apparently hanging around
here,’ he said over his shoulder to Ariel.
    She seemed
skeptical, prickly as a thorn bush. Tonight she’d worn all black - tight jeans,
a figure hugging T-shirt visible beneath her jacket, but her cleavage
mercifully wasn’t on display. He was pleased, he really didn’t need the added
distraction. It was hard enough having to watch her walk ahead of him, her hips
sashaying in time with her stride. That was why he was keeping pace with her as
she marched down the boardwalk like they had no time to spare. He’d been hoping
for some casual conversation before the slaying began but he guessed she wasn’t
the kind of girl who went in for chitchat.
    ‘How’d you know
they’re here?’ Ariel asked.
    ‘Someone told
me,’ Jax answered. He was starting to have second thoughts about bringing her
here. Not only because he couldn’t take her eyes off her, or because his head
was swirling with her scent, but because he wasn’t sure what he was doing
asking for help from a bounty hunting demon. If he’d really needed help he
could have asked another Blade. The obvious truth, which he had to admit to
himself, was that he’d just wanted a reason to see her again. He wondered if
she had guessed as much.
    ‘There’s a group
of them under the pier causing trouble,’ Jax explained. ‘A few kids have gone
missing in the area and some of the homeless guys.’
    ‘So why’s that
your responsibility?’ she asked, her expression bored.
    ‘This is my
sector,’ Jax answered calmly.
    She cocked an
eyebrow at him.
    ‘LA’s divided
into quadrants and sectors,’ he explained patiently. ‘Broken up, with a Blade
or several Blades policing each sector. Venice is mine.’
    She considered
him, seeming unimpressed, then shrugged. ‘So how many are there of these
things?’ she asked, glancing over his shoulder. Jax caught the flash of silver
at her waist. The hilt of a knife.
    ‘Twenty or so.’
    She looked at
him dubiously then yawned. Admittedly twenty Suckers wasn’t a lot. She was
probably wondering why he was bringing her into this. Maybe she’d figured out
it was purely a self-interested request.   ‘They’re apparently not your average Sucker,’ he told her, aware that he
had already used this excuse back in the bar but feeling like he needed to
justify himself. Cy had said something about them being harder to kill, faster
and stronger, but he hadn’t been paying much attention; he’d been distracted by
Ariel walking into the bar.
    She glanced at
him curiously, her eyes glimmering like a predator’s in the darkness.
    ‘I figured maybe
you might know something,’ Jax said, unable to prize his eyes away from her
lips. Now was really not the time to be thinking about kissing her.
    She shook her
head. ‘I’ve been out of town for a few weeks.’
    ‘Holiday?’ Jax
asked, unable to hide his curiosity. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might
have a boyfriend, she just didn’t seem the type. A lover maybe, but he couldn’t
imagine her in a long-term relationship. Something about her brittleness and
her attitude told him she was single. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe she did
have a boyfriend after all. Maybe he’d been stupid to assume otherwise.
    ‘A holiday?’ she
said, pulling a face. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had one of those. I was
in Montana on a job. A Chameleon who was wanted for some betting scam.’
    A wave of relief
rushed over him. Not a lover then. He was about to ask her whether she’d managed
to catch the Chameleon she was after, but his question was cut off by a
high-pitched wail that