Captive's Kiss Read Free Page B

care.”
    She melted into the throng of creatures. He watched her go, unable to look away until she was completely gone. Her scent lingered on his skin, a heady combination of hot seduction with an unexpected tendril of promise. She’d spend time with him again, if he pursued her. He knew it. But one night was all it would be.
     

     
    Saige pushed through the crowd, needing fresh air. The oxygen in Hades was saturated with arousal and her skin carried Tanner’s scent. Her lips tingled from his kiss and she could still feel his arms around her. Reaching the door, she shoved it open and stepped into the dark night.
    She hadn’t wanted to use her power on Tanner. Not him. He was a good, honorable male, like Watchers usually were. That was part of the reason they never lacked for female company, at the solstice or any time at all.
    They fought hard and played hard. Warriors to the core. Steadfast and noble.
    Unlike her and the criminals she was forced to work with. She wasn’t a warrior, despite the fact that she, like all Lash, could summon demonfire in her palms. No, she was as far from warrior status as anyone could get. Her hours were filled with either deception or worry, and every day she’d race to the compound to check on Logan, praying her brother wasn’t sporting any new cuts or bruises.
    And that awful situation was in direct correlation to the males she was able to bring back to the Viper nest. She idly traced the choker around her neck. The silver links resembled gnarled, thorned branches. It looked tough. Went along with the leather she wore. But held within in the branches, looking like an innocent black stone, was a tracking device. She couldn’t remove it and couldn’t leave the city limits, or the Vipers would take retribution on Logan.
    Her captors, the Vipers, would have loved Tanner. They would have crowed in glee to have him fighting in their underground ring, drawing huge crowds and fattening their pockets.
    No. She wouldn’t. She had brought in several young Lash males recently, and she hoped that would placate the Vipers. And the Vipers weren’t here at Hades, so they would never know she’d had the chance to snag a Watcher, yet let him go. The scents on her could have come from any of the pushing, grinding bodies in the club.
    But she had to return with something . A lead, a name, a future date or, even better, a male who could fight, could hold his own in the ring. If she didn’t, Logan would be beaten and then forced into a bout. He wasn’t a born warrior either and, like her, he’d had no fight training. He would die in that ring. She couldn’t lose him. They were all they had left in the world.
    Swallowing hard, she thought of the Deserati bartender inside. She could come back at three, when his shift ended, and coax him to go with her.
    She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. Opening them, she saw the residents of Halice all around, wrapped in passion. Thinking of the moment. Unaware, or seeming to be, of the ugliness that lurked beneath the streets.
    She walked away from Hades, toward the roughest part of town. Not that the males there deserved what she was about to do, but neither did her brother deserve death.
    Her heels clicked on the pavement. One day at a time. If she thought too hard about her life, about the mess she and Logan had landed in, it made her crazy.
    Sleek metal buildings gave way to crumbling stone structures and cracked sidewalks. The crowds were nonexistent here. Just Saige and a handful of rats scurrying by. But rough voices carried to her ears. Low chuckling, and a burst of male laughter.
    She crept closer and glanced around a rough wall into an alley. Two dark elves huddled, peering at something in their palms. They were counting…counting gold pieces, it looked like. Probably stolen. Saige eyed them, debating. She could take them both. Their minds weren’t as strong as the minds of the more fierce predatory demons, so she could overpower both of them and