Tactical Magik (Immortal Ops) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that was half-werewolf. Not just any werewolf, mind you, but from his line. A line he thought had no one aside from him, Roi and their soon-to-be children?”
    It took Eadan a moment to follow. “You’re thinking she’s family to him somehow?”
    Jack inclined his head. “And if she’s family to Lukian…”
    “She’s family to Roi.”
    “If I had to guess, they’ll see her as a little sister of sorts. You’re not a shifter, but I am, and I can tell you how I’d feel. How I’d view the young woman if it were me and how I’d probably do something very stupid to save her. And, Eadan, while you might not hold a lot of love for Roi, he’s mated to Missy and they’re expecting twins.”
    Eadan stood as well. “And if Roi does something stupid and gets himself killed over Inara, Missy and her babies are on their own.”
    “Yeah.” Jack touched the door handle. “For this mission, it’s best you leave the I-Ops out of it. I’ve arranged for another PSI Op to meet you in Seattle.”
    “Who?”
    “Duke Marlow,” returned Jack.
    Eadan groaned. “What is with sticking me with all the damn werewolves?”
    Jack grinned. “If we’re right, your soon-to-be wife counts as one.”

Chapter Three
    Inara Nash moved through the streets of the city. The sun had set some two hours prior, taking with it her sense of security, regardless how false it was. It didn’t matter if it was day or night. She wasn’t safe. The sun merely changed what was chasing her, not who. The soles of her worn shoes padded along the cracked pavement. Trash lined the side of the street. At some point it would be picked up, but more would be there to take its place. The people who lived here didn’t care. If she had a place to call home, she’d care. She’d tend to it.
    That was just a dream. She’d never be free to settle in one place long enough to call it home. And if she was in a place too long, it would probably mean it was her grave. There were days the sound of that appealed to her. She understood how messed up that was, but it was the truth.
    As a child she’d visited a few of the shops in this area with her adoptive mother, watching the woman spend money as if it really did grow on trees. Though, back then, she’d thought the woman with her was the woman who had given birth to her.
    She flinched as painful memories assailed her.
    You’re not natural.
    The words still clung to the air around her as if they were only freshly spoken. Funny the weight people’s words held. They were like an albatross around her neck, there to forever remind her of what she was and wasn’t.
    The look in her adoptive mother’s eyes when she’d said them haunted Inara to this day. They had been the last words spoken between them. Inara had taken to the streets that night. She wasn’t welcome in the home she’d known as a child. That was fine. She didn’t need them.
    She blew out a slow breath, and because of the dropping temperature she was able to actually see it. For the briefest of moments she wished she could go back to a time when she’d press her nose to the shop windows and ask for sweet treats from her mother. The area wasn’t the same inviting space it used to be. Once the area had been a prime location. The place every young and up-and-coming transplant to the city wanted to be. It was the life of the city. Gangs and crime entered and all that changed. Now the area was a place no one willingly wandered into after dark.
    Well, no one but her and others like her.
    The unnatural.
    She walked past two women, each dressed in barely anything. One watched her and grinned. “Got a light?”
    “No,” she said, speeding her pace. Her mentor had taught her to avoid the hookers who frequented the paranormal hot spots. They were generally more than met the eye and tended to bring a shit storm of trouble wherever they went. She had enough on her own.
    She missed Jimmy. Especially during times like this. He’d been her mentor. A freak of nature