The Shadow Zone 2: Winning Madeline Read Online Free PDF Page A

child were really there she might be in the store where it was safer, waiting.
    Vincent and his soldiers pulled back into the shadows of a small, abandoned shack next to the store. They’d watch their bait, wait for any sign of the recruiter.
    Maddox considered his options. Shit. He really wanted to take out Vincent and his men. It would keep them from learning anything about the cult, which was his objective at the moment. But he could well imagine the reaction of the Elders if he did that -- regardless of how satisfying it would be. And they might have already communicated what they’d learned to others of their kind.
    He could take the recruiter himself but he wasn’t supposed to interfere with the cult either, just learn more about them so an intelligent course of action could be decided on. Vampires took plenty of time to plan anything. They had time. Problem was, Madeline didn’t. She was in danger now and he had to make a decision.
    Basically he had to keep the wolves and recruiter from meeting up. That was the order of the Elders.
    And he would take Madeline. That was the order of his heart.
    Ignoring Vincent and his men, he could feel them watching behind him, he made his way into the store, looking for Madeline.
    He found her quickly, already talking to a short, balding man with eyes black as obsidian and a short, stocky body. He wore the shoddy clothing most humans did -- to blend Maddox supposed. But little details gave him away. The way the sleeve of his jacket was frayed looked so because of a razor and not from wear and over use. He had a gold ring around the smallest finger of his left hand, no human would be able to afford a ring like that with everything so scarce. He’d either barter it or keep it in a safe place. He’d never wear it.
    Maddox cleared his mind, listening to what the man said. He’d see if his suspicions were correct.
    “What did she look like?” the man asked, smiling at her in a way that made Maddox uneasy.
    Madeline described little Ivy for him, her voice quick and frantic in her growing anxiety.
    The man kept his voice pleasant and reassuring. “I saw the child. Not twenty minutes ago. I’d be glad to help you look for her.”
    Maddox knew in an instant that Madeline had likely found the cult recruiter. Even if he wasn’t, and he was lying for another reason altogether, he didn’t care for the covetous way the man’s gaze raked over her slender form.
    Even in the rags that were supposed to be her clothing, Madeline was beautiful, fragile. And at the moment, she also looked terrified. Her amethyst eyes were wide, haunted.
    Maddox had had enough. It was cruel to put her through any more of this.
    The man’s eyes met his as Maddox approached them and his expression turned hard. He’d be staring in fear if he had any idea of the danger he really faced. As it was, the man gazed at him with an expression of anxiety mixed with irritation. And both emotions could make a man desperate.
    Madeline turned to see what the man was staring at just as Maddox reached them. Those amethyst eyes on him, finally on him, momentarily caused him to lose his purpose. He lost everything in that moment as he stopped, mesmerized by the woman he’d wanted so badly for months. A small, slender, frail slip of a human, but the object of his desire nonetheless.
    That same desire jarred him out of his daze, spurred him to action.
    “I’m sorry about this,” he whispered to Madeline before he clutched her slender neck with just the right amount of pressure in the correct place.
    He eased her to the floor while the recruiter watched in horror. Yet his movements were too fast for the recruiter to make an escape and he was grateful that Madeline wasn’t awake to see him kill the man.
    * * *
    Maddox felt Rick’s presence behind him as he headed for the bedroom he’d been using in the mansion. He didn’t pause until he’d carried her to the enormous bed he rarely used and settled her under the luxurious