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

and moved like dark
flames in the gloom beneath the pier. The scream was suddenly cut off with what
sounded like a blunt force blow. It was a girl. That was all Ariel could think.
Anger shot hot as lava through her body. She gripped the hilt of her blade.
Time for a little slaying she thought to herself with a grim smile.
    Beside her she
could feel Jax breathing, hear his heart beating loudly. She grimaced. They’d
sense him any second. Hell, she would be able to sense him from the next State.
‘I’m going to fade,’ she told him. ‘And get nearer. I’ll take them by surprise
and drive them towards the gap in the pier.’
    Jax nodded silently.
She made to move but he suddenly caught her hand and squeezed it. ‘Be careful,’
he said under his breath.
    For the first
time Ariel didn’t snatch her arm instantly away but let her fingers linger in
his, feeling the heat travel from his body into her own. Her gaze flickered to
his lips and she had the sudden desire to kiss him. She dismissed the thought
instantly. When her blood was up, it wasn’t just her fighting instinct that got
aroused.

Chapter 5

 
    Jax stepped
silently past her and disappeared into the shadows. He crouched low and made
his way closer to the shore, a feeling of growing disquiet nagging at him. He
felt that tug he’d felt before in the bar, as though a thin filament was
connecting him to Ariel and it was unspooling as he moved away from her, making
him feel slightly panicked. He was worried for her.
    He shook his
head ruefully, reminding himself that Ariel was a bounty hunter, that she was
half Shadow, that she had been collecting bounties for years. She’d put those
bikers down no problem the other night. She knew how to handle herself. But
still, he couldn’t help but feel nervous at the thought of putting her in
danger. Once again he doubted his wisdom in bringing her into this.
    About ten meters
from the shore Jax stopped and crouched down on his haunches to wait. He drew
his blade and held it low so it wouldn’t catch the moonlight and give him away.
He scanned the cavernous space beneath the pier, trying to estimate how many
there were. He reckoned close to thirty. Cy had either got his intel wrong or
more had been sired in the last twenty-four hours.
    Jax edged even closer,
ducking behind one of the pier supports, wishing he could see Ariel. Light
filtered through the slats of the pier and he was just able to make out the
faces of the Suckers. They were high, that much was obvious, though whether it
was just blood lust sending them into a frenzy or whether it was fuelled by
something else, Jax wasn’t sure. Their fangs were glinting, and their clothes
were sprayed with red. They looked as though they’d been hosed down with
crimson paint. They were gathered in a rough circle, pushing and shoving and
shrieking, but thankfully their focus was on whatever was in the center of the
circle.   He had a fairly good idea
of what that might be.
    Somewhat
creepily the scene reminded Jax of kids gathering to watch a playground fight.   Just then the circle broke apart and Jax
caught a brief glimpse of a young girl, no older than fifteen, crouched down in
the center. She was on her knees, bent over sobbing. Her face, when she looked
up briefly, was a fright mask of terror. She held up bloodstained hands and
screamed and Jax saw a Sucker leap into the circle, grab her by the throat and
haul her to her feet. The circle pressed forwards closing the gap, blocking
Jax’s view.
    There was a
stomach-wrenching scream that sent Jax flying to his feet, his saw blades in
one hand, his blade in the other. His whole instinct was urging him forwards,
into the circle to rescue the girl, but stone cold reason stopped him. He
needed to wait and let Ariel make a first pass. He’d stayed alive this long by
listening to his reason, not by rushing in like a fool.
    Once again the
circle parted for a second, giving Jax a broken glimpse of the girl, now lying
on the