Page 13

Something simmered in Noah’s blood the moment his lips met Jade’s.It was a simple pressing of the lips, yet powerful.He couldn’t help as he swiped his tongue against her lower lip and groaned when she opened for him.For that one moment in time, everything else fell away.

He explored her mouth, savoring the cool mint and the taste of pure Jade.His hands explored her back and when he encountered her hair, he itched remove it from the tight knot on the back of her head.Noah hadn’t seen her with her hair down in the time they’d known each other.

Shaking his head, he realized then they had gotten too distracted from what they were meant to do and with reluctance, Noah slowly broke the kiss.

Noah had to blink several times in order to focus, and when he did, a smile played on the corner of his lips as she still had her eyes closed and there was a faint blush on her cheeks.She brought her fingers to her swollen lips and brushed them lightly against her skin before slowly opening her eyes and looking at him with a dazed expression.

“Was that your first kiss?”

She nodded.

“How is that even possible?”

“None of the men I’ve ever met were my mate, so I never bothered.Not even for experience.”

“What about before you transitioned, when you were human?”

She shook her head.

Noah had noticed the sky had started to darken, making the air around them cooler.He was dressed so warmly he hadn’t noticed.He took a moment for a quick glance around.They were in a ravine underneath an open sky and they would be hard to find in that spot unless you knew exactly what you were looking for.“We should make camp here for the night.”

Jade agreed, but when he reached for her backpack, she was slow to turn.He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.

He unpacked what they needed for the night before setting up the tent.With a perusal of the terrain map of the area, he determined they were ten clicks away from their destination and decided it was safe enough to build a fire.

As the fire crackled and the warmth seeped into his body, he ripped open the chicken with egg noodles and vegetables MRE and handed it to Jade, choosing the brisket one for himself.They listened to the animals moving in the dampened quiet only the snow could provide and the crackling of the fire that warmed them as they ate.

“I don’t remember anything about being human.I can’t remember my transition, or anything before Ghost found me in a deserted cabin on the outskirts of Snowfall fifty years ago.”

“Xander, Reaper, Kai, and Aubrey all remember theirs.Is it weird that you can’t remember yours?”

Jade smiled.“I’m glad you had a chance to get to know them.Especially Silas.”

“It’s easy to like Silas.And I notice that he’s curious about everything, so you end up talking about yourself without realizing how much you divulge.”

Jade laughed and he found himself wanting to hear the melodic laugh more often.

“It is odd that I don’t remember.I did have my birth certificate in a pocket, but everything but my first name and my date of birth was blocked out.Ghost tried to get document experts to find out more and Xander had taken a crack at it, but every turn was a dead end.All I know is I’m Jade and I was twenty-one when I became a red fox shifter.I sometimes wonder if I left behind a family, if they worried about me or if they were glad to be rid of me.”

Noah reached over and squeezed her hand.He refused to placate her because in reality, he couldn’t know the situation she’d left.

“Was your fighting innate or was it training?”

Jade laughed.“Training, definitely.When Ghost first hired me, I had no clue what to do and would refuse to hurt anyone.When I realized it was needed in order to save my life and make me a better assassin, I was all in.Learning was easy for me and I truly enjoyed the sparring.But tracking, that’s something innate in me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Choosing a direction is more than picking up a scent or a physical trail.Both humans and immortals have motivations and once you understand them, tracking is easy.These immortals need room but an area that is undetected.I searched farms within a thirty-mile radius of Crested Butte, the town you remember driving through, and found what farms and ranches had been deserted long ago but hadn’t fallen into disrepair.The only one that fit is the one a short walk from here tomorrow.”

Noah nodded, understanding.“But what is this crew’s motivation?”

“They are unorganized and lazy, but greedy.They believed Anzu, their old leader, when he said they could destroy Dark Company and kill all of us and then they can take over.Dark Company has an exclusive contract with the government.We’re considered deeper than black ops, only getting the contracts where human methods have failed to eliminate the target.

“But when they fought us, they were decimated.It was because we are trained and work well together as a team, but they only saw that we had numbers on our side.There are many more assassins who are stationed all over the country and world, and they came together for Xander and Silas.And because these men saw they were defeated by so many, they believe numbers are the one thing that will win a war.”

Jade squeezed his hand, and Noah swallowed hard.

“They know that they will fail at the transitions, but it doesn’t stop them from trying.Humans, to them, are disposable unless they suit a purpose.”